The (long overdue) Yellowstone Post

The last week of August (I know, I know...I suck at blogging), my husband and I, along with my Mother-in-Law and her boyfriend, took the long trip up to Wyoming to camp at Yellowstone National Park.  I had been to Yellowstone many times as a kid, but it was a first for everyone else.

It's about a 10 hour drive from Colorado Springs to Yellowstone.  Most of the scenery is...uneventful, to say the least.

After the long, uneventful drive, we made it safely and were able to get settled in and pitch our tents. I will say this, tent camping in Northern Wyoming at the end of August is not fun...it got COLD at night!!

We spent the next several days exploring the park and going on some adventures.

We saw about a gazillion buffalo during our stay.  I got a couple neat shots with my new camera. 

The big guy above was right next to the road as we drove by. I felt brave rolling down my window to take a photo, but one car ahead of us stopped and everyone got out of the car and walked right up to him.  Apparently they missed the signs posted everywhere that say DO NOT APPROACH BUFFALO. If they are fluffy and eat grass, then surely they can't be dangerous...right? I wouldn't mess with that guy, even if he seems harmless.

There was also an elk in rut wandering around the campground bugling all night. We did get to see him one morning, but I was too slow with my camera to get a picture.  He was very majestic.

One day while we were there, we drove down to Jackson, WY and rented RZR's for the day.  This was really fun, but very dirty!

If anyone needs an idea for a Christmas gift for Brian, this is a good one!!

Of course we saw Old Faithful....

We wanted to go on a hike, so we went to the gift shop and bought a hiking map.  We selected a trail that claimed to be a 6 mile loop...turns out it was actually a 12 mile loop in the back country.  

 

We were exhausted by then end, but it paid off with an excellent view of Yellowstone Canyon and the Upper and Lower Falls.

I got to try out the panorama feature of my new camera taking shots of the Grand Teton Mountains. These are some of my favorite photos of the whole trip.

 

 

All in all, it was a pretty fun trip. Hopefully we will be able to go again some day!

New Toy!

I bought myself a new toy for my birthday last week....

It's a Sony a57 DSLR camera.  I have been wanting one for a long time, and finally took the plunge this weekend.  I am in love!

This weekend, I spent plenty of time trying it out, on Saturday we went shooting at our local gun club, and on Sunday we went offroading on a trail called Hackett Gulch.  I also spent quite a bit of time photographing my two favorite models, Diesel and Kitten.  Here are a few of my favorite shots.

I wonder how much grief I will get from my Mom and sister Dana for not getting a Nikon. :)

Memorial Day Weekend (a little late...)

Well, here I am, behind in posting again...

Two weekends ago was Memorial Day weekend, and it was beautiful out.

On Saturday, we ventured out in Brian's monstrosity again.

It's had a bit of a makeover since we last saw it, and is looking quite snazzy.

Brian is a member of a Toyota offroading club, and we met up with a few other members and did a trail called 'Saran Wrap'.  It was a bit more difficult than the trail we did on the previous weekend.



One of the trucks we went with was a little more 'built' than Brian's, and could do things like driving up a big rock....

Now, I don't know very much about off-roading (other than to hold on tight), but I'm pretty sure this is NOT how it's supposed to be done...Don't worry, no one was hurt, and they were able to get it right-side-up in no time.

On Monday we both had a day off of work (yay!), so we decided to go hiking.  We hiked a trail called "The Crags" in Divide, CO.  The end of the trail is at nearly 11,000 feet, and the views are amazing.  It is really wonderful to live in a state with so much natural beauty.  Below are a few pictures from our hike.

It was about 4 miles round trip and our little devil was SO tired afterward.  I think he slept for 12 hours straight!

Hang on Tight!

A few months ago, Brian bought this monstrosity to feed his addiction for all things with four wheels....

This past weekend was our first time taking it up into the mountains for some off-roading.  We went to a trail called Mettbury Gulch, which is Northwest of Colorado Springs.

We had a lot of fun, and the scenery in the area is absolutely stunning. In 2002, this area was burned in the Hayman fire, which was the largest forest fire in Colorado's recorded history.  The forest is still full of dead trees and remnants of the burn. 

We took Diesel with us, and I'm not sure he enjoyed it as much as us humans did.  At one point, the ride got so bumpy that he was clinging to the armrest as if he was going to be bounced out of the truck...

Along the way, we got out periodically to search for geocaches.  We were able to find four out of the five we attempted, with the help of the world's happiest helper.  My Uncle Yogi would have been proud. 

It was quite a bumpy ride, though Brian claims it was "easy."  Below is a picture of the most difficult part of the trail.  Going up was much easier than going down, during which there may have been two wheels completely off the ground at one time.

I promise I will try to blog more often...especially now that it is summer and we are actually out doing things!

Observations from a Hockey Game

I really stink at blogging....I will try to get better, I promise.

Last Friday, I went to another Colorado College hockey game with Hubby, my Mother-in-Law, and her friend.  I tend to become very cynical when surrounded by large groups of people, and I wanted to share some observations from this game....

1.  If you are going to go to a sporting event, please choose the team you are going to cheer for ahead of time.  If you have no strong team affiliation, politely cheer for each team at appropriate times.  Please do not cheer loudly and enthusiastically for both teams, and don't cheer when the team you were just cheering for incurs a penalty.  It is very confusing to those of us around you, and makes it hard to determine whether you are friend or foe.

2.  In this country, we like to celebrate our nation, because it is a pretty awesome place to live.  Please don't remain seated during the national anthem.  Even if you are in a foreign country, it is the polite thing to do.  Seriously. 

3.  After you are done disrespecting my country, please don't pull out a book and proceed to READ through the ENTIRE game.  We are talking about a grown woman here, not a little kid who can't focus on one thing for that period of time.  Why bother coming?  Stay home and read.

4.  Ladies,  a hockey game is not a fashion show.  You don't need to wear dresses and heels.  Your pearl necklace can stay in the jewelry box.  If you do choose to wear a short dress, please be conscious of what is underneath.  Translucent tights that show your undies when climbing up the stairs are probably NOT your best option. 

5.  If your child is screaming at an unnatural decible, it is not the appropriate time to stick your fingers in your ears and laugh.  If your child continues to scream painfully loud, again, putting your fingers in your ears and laughing is not the answer.  I don't want to be deafened because you can't tell your child to stop screaming. 

6.  This one is probably most important....when you are in a tightly packed space, with a lot of people around you.....PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE wear deodorant.