Wyoming Vacation

We are finally on vacation, and I thought I should get some pictures posted. Thanks to Lorna for hounding me about why they are not up on the site yet. :-)

We had a great drive to Wyoming. We stopped at some great Oregon trail sites, and took advantage of a captive Lucy and are working on her potty training. So far, so good. We also got checked out by local critters at our lunch stop (hanging in the tree)...

We stopped in Boise for the second night, and had a great time visiting with friends MeDenne and her daughters Kendall and Bethany. Bethany is also from Pingnan, and I met the family while we were in China together. The girls had a great time, and we had the hotel pool mostly to ourselves - it was great!

We arrived in Moose last Sunday afternoon after a long, hot drive across Idaho. When we arrived it was only in the 80's here, so much nicer. Here is the first look at checking things out. The girls got new dresses at Target, and are so excited to have them on and be hippie girls... Lucy is wearning her new jammies with Dora on them, and thinks they are just as neat as the new dresses. It was tough to tell her that she could not wear them into town.

The scenery is lovely, and it didn't take long to find our first herd of bison the first day out. They are not as many as there used to be - not sure where they are hanging out, but it is not the massive herds that I recall from even a few years ago.

We have gone into town and done some shopping - and on our way home, while we were trying to outrun softball sized hail, we saw these amazing rainbows.

We also had some sad news this week. For the past year we have been planning on sharing this vacation with our friends Lorna, Mati and Penelope. However, about a year ago Penelope was diagnosed with mitochondrial disease (http://www.umdf.org/) - which is not a nice thing to have. Unfortunately, a few days before coming she got sick and they are unable to make it. In both WY and GA there are many of us expressing our hatred and dislike of mito. While it was a good decision for them to stay home, it doesn't mean that we won't miss them.

The first expedition we had was a ride across Jenny Lake, and short hike up to Hidden Falls. It was warm, but the kids did well. Lucy made it the whole way, including up the hill and down - all without falling into the rain gorged river...

The cabin is fantastic. Dad bought this property just about 30 years ago - I remember getting the very first picture of the land from him - just his old '72 Dodge Conversion van parked in the middle of sage, and I thought he was nuts. It did not show the view the property had from where the van was parked. Since that time Dad first built the "little house" - where my grandparents lived every summer for many years. Later on, the "big house" was built, where we are now staying. Dad will retire here in another year or so, and I hope we can still come and take over the cabin. I love being here - when I was a kid, there were fewer homes down here, and I would take off for the river and be gone all day. It's tough to find a way to the river now, with all the new homes - wait - mega-mansions being built down here.

Yesterday, we made our first venture north to Yellowstone. It is such a great place, but I admit that I won't head there on a weekend - and the choice of Thursday worked well. The first thing that we saw was Old Faithful erupt - only a 15 minute wait, so we had great timing.

So far it's been great. We've been having a great time, seeing lots. This next week we are still going on a trail ride (Gwenn, Ella and Viivi), going on a scenic rafting trip (all except for Lucy) and hanging around town and the cabin. Here is the last picture for you to look at - it sort of tells how things have been going!