Yellowstone

Josh, Annabelle and I had the awesome opportunity to go on a vacation with my entire family over the 4th. We left on Wednesday night and returned home Sunday night. It was SO much fun and SO beautiful! I always seem to forget how stunning Yellowstone and Montana are--so worth the drive! Josh and I have officially decided that we MUST have a cabin in Montana; we even have the stretch of land picked out where we want to build :) Needless to say, we both LOVE nature and its beauty; we both LOVE the mountains; we both LOVE cabins, and we both LOVE the outdoors! This vacation is perfect for us, although there is always a lot of driving when you venture through Yellowstone and the "back country." As a result of this, all three cars had a walkie-talkie, as well as a nickname: Liberty One, For Allegiance, and Freedom Fighter...you may've guessed the theme. :) It ended up being super fun because even though we were separated between different cars, we could still jabber away, warn the other cars of upcoming animals, tell jokes, make fun of each other's driving, advise each other of needed pit stops, and of course talk smack and share old memories of the places through which we were driving--such a good time!
We left Wednesday night and stayed in Idaho Falls. Our room was SO small I almost had a claustrophobic, panic attack! The first 30 minutes of Thursday morning were spent telling Annabelle "No" more times than I do in a typical 24-hr period. Josh sensed my huge frustration, raised body temperature and irritability level, and thankfully took Annabelle out of the room and down to her grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins, who all had welcoming arms. I got ready as fast as I possibly could and then we headed out the Falls, which was much more fun :) Annabelle loves exploring, and actually loves rocks too! She likes to hold them, climb over them, throw them, and even kiss them. In almost every gift shop we went in, she would head right over to the colored rocks.

From Idaho Falls, we headed to Island Park, ID, where we stayed in a cabin with the entire fam. It was BEAUTIFUL, and right on the river! We got unpacked, then Josh, Annabelle and I headed out to see Quake Lake (the above 2 pictures). I have always loved visiting Quake Lake since I was a kid--not sure why, other than I've always gone, and I always loved this vacation. The Lake gets its name from a 7.6 magnitude earthquake that struck the area. As you can see in the above picture, there is a portion of the mountain that actually separated and slid down, burying a campground filled to capacity, and creating a lake. The air displacement from the mountainside sliding down created hurricane-strength winds, which actually caused clothes to be blown right off people's backs! Trees are now beginning to grow again over the portion that separated. Such a tragedy.

This is Josh and I on the deck of the cabin--nice view! However, I must say there are always 2 sides to the coin--it may have an awesome river, but rivers come with lots of bugs!! Brady and Angie left their window open for a few hours so their room would be nice and cool at night, but when they opened the door to go in to bed, they realized their screen had a small hole, and they were infested with bugs! I can still hear the constant pounding and swatting that was coming from their room all night :)

This is Josh helping Annabelle climb over another rock, and at the same time preventing her from getting close to the water. She didn't want to get back in the car after this; it's so hard to leave those rocks behind for a car seat and more driving :(

On our way to Idaho Falls, we stopped at this famous burger joint, as featured on "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives," for all you Food Network watchers. Here is my review: AMAZING fries and so-so burgers. Worth a stop if you're passing through town, but not worth a special trip. Annabelle LOVES fries, and just couldn't help herself when Papa got his before she got hers--she dug right in--we owe you an order of fries Papa :)

I'm now suffering from Post-Traumatic Vacation Disorder (aka: I want to go back)! Coming home to a stack of laundry and a stack of bills is no fun when compared to good, relaxing times with family in a beautiful setting...sigh. I'm already looking forward to Thanksgiving weekend with the Bos family at the cabin. November??? What will I do til then? Suffer I guess :)

More on the Yellowstone/Montana adventure to come...