Day 3 cont. (Beartooth Highway)

Matthew - our hotel room in Red Lodge, MT

Mountain goats (or sheep?) on top of Beartooth Mountains

Beartooth Highway

Beartooth Highway - West Summit

View from Beartooth Highway

Day 3 - Yellowstone (northwest/north)

Bison on the side of the road

Bison that just crossed the road

Elk in yard at the base of Mammoth Hot Springs

Mammoth Hot Springs

Sign at North Entrance

Day 2 - Tetons, Yellowstone

Norris Geysers in Yellowstone

Black Bear in Yellowstone

"Artist Point" Yellowstone

The boys looking over part of Hayden Valley in Yellowstone

Jackson Lake

Day 1 - Teton National Park

This morning we had breakfast at a great little place in Jackson Hole - The Bunnery. After that we all took a nap and then headed off to explore Teton National Park. We drove to Jenny Lake and strolled the boys around. It was here that we had our first animal sighting - a mule deer. Matthew was the first to spot it, yelling out "doggie". As we were about to cross a bridge over part of the lake the wind picked up and suddenly we were in the middle of a severe storm. Billy grabbed Matthew out of the stroller and tucked him like a football. I was running at top speed pushing Will and we were all being pelted with ice. It felt like beestings all over. The boys were screaming and it felt like forever before we got to the car. Then while driving out of the park, trees began coming down all over the place. We saw a herd of elk running through some trees. It was a brief but very exciting trip! Here are some pics.

Hello from Wyoming!

We're here! The boys did fine at the airport and on the plane. Matthew slept a couple of hours in the air - Will didn't. He was way too excited even with the Benedryl. Because it doesn't get dark here until pretty late, we were able to see everything as we were landing which was amazing! The Jackson Hole airport sits at the base of the Teton mountain range. The mountains are beautiful, sooo big and snow-capped! Here are a few pictures from the trip. The first one is what we saw when we walked off of the plane - the others are from the air.

Benedryl Testing

We leave in just three days! We're very excited, but also a little nervous about flying with the boys for the first time. Our take-off time happens to coincide with their bedtime, so we were thinking it would be great if they would sleep on the plane. We called the pediatrician today to see if we could give them a little "help" with that. She suggested we do a trial run tonight and give them Benedryl to see if it would make them sleepy or have the opposite effect. Well....the results are in! Keep your fingers crossed that we get the same results on Thursday. The next time you hear from us we'll be in Jackson, Wyoming ~ yippee!

Pics from the Trip

Here are a few pics (and accompanying text) Mom & Dad sent us by phone:

"rested full bellies and on the road again"

"BG doing 80 on I-90 while Sue & I sleep in back."

"BG helping Susan drive through Sturgis, SD"

"Storm cloud"

Bill & Susan update

Well, Dad drove through the night on Friday and they made it to St. Louis. Mom took over for a few hours and got them across Missouri, but not before their engine failed to start in the drive-through lane of a Steak 'n Shake. They managed to push the Excursion, trailer and car-top bubble out of the way until they got a jump. I guess Dad earned a few hours' rest. Unfortunately for him, Mom started feeling sleepy fairly soon, so he had to take over again. They headed up toward South Dakota and stopped and got a campsite at Newton Hills State Park, about 20 miles south of Sioux Falls. They were able to get in some solid sleeping and hot showers. From Sioux Falls it's almost 850 miles on I-90 to reach Bozeman. Hopefully they'll be there fairly soon.

And they're off!

Big Billy and Susan are officially on their way. At last word, they had moved from their position in the driveway actually onto the street in front of their house. Packing the car... and then the trailer... and then the "bubble" that was added on top of the trailer took about two and a half days. Finally they were ready to put themselves in and naturally the car didn't start. So, they waited a little longer while the battery recharged. They left the house about 27 hours after they had planned - so a little before the rest of us thought that they would! BB was starting off in the driver's seat and Sue in the makeshift bed in back (don't know where the dog, BG, was stationed - hopefully not snuggled up in the wedding dress - just kidding, Frannie!) Everyone say a prayer that they arrive safely in Montana. If we were smart, we would bolt a camera to Sue's forehead and call it a reality show (her idea) - I feel certain we could at least make enough money to pay for the trip!

17 days ...

Hello Everyone!

Billy and I just got back from a short trip to Destin where my friends Megan and Zach were married on the beach. The wedding was lovely, and we had a great time. We may begin celebrating their anniversary each year with a return trip! The beach was amazing - white sand and crystal clear water.

Now we're counting down for our trip out West (the reason we started this blog). 17 days left until we fly out to Jackson, WY. Will is so excited and asks each day about when we're going to "Hannah Montana" to see Aunt Frannie get married.