"Be soft. Do not let the world make you hard. Do not let the pain make you hate. Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness. Take pride that even though the rest of the world may disagree, you still believe it to be a beautiful place."
-- Unknown
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Wednesday, July 29, 2009

I'm baaaack....

And feeling so good! My trip out west was just what the doctor ordered. We had such a good time.

Y'all, I've never in my life seen such gorgeous scenery. I still can't get over it. We flew into Billings, Montana, and over the course of a week, circled Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park before flying back home (at 6:00!) yesterday morning.

The weather was warmer than we expected - they would have a heat wave the week we roll into town - but it was still pleasant. The lack of humidity was a wonderful thing. My hair actually stayed straight everyday instead of turning into a big frizzball like it does down here.

I can't begin to describe the landscape. Everywhere we went was so different. One day we'd be looking at rolling fields of wildflowers in front of a mountain backdrop, then the next day would be an uninhabitable terrain of boiling water and bubbling mud pits. Still another day was an arid landscape of red rocks jutting from bare earth. I, personally, really enjoyed the Tetons, which were still capped with snow in some areas.

As a family, we shared a lot of laughs over the week (mostly at each other's expense - at least we can joke on each other). It was wonderful to spend a week with my little brother, who is growing up faster than I'd like to admit. I got to see, first hand, how smart (and goofy) he is becoming.

I'm sure I could ramble on and on about my time out there, but it wouldn't do it any justice. So, without further ado, here are a few pictures from my trip. I'll try to get a Flickr page up and going soon with the rest - I don't want to bog Blogger down with too many right now.


The Tetons
The Tetons

South of Cody, Wyoming

My mom and stepdad

We saw SO many of these guys - one even crossed the road in front of us.

Elk - we actually saw a lot of wildlife. We saw antelope, bison, big horn sheep, a wolf, grizzly bear, mule deer, bald eagle, moose... and probably lots more that I'm not thinking of right now.

Old Trail Town in Cody, Wyoming - home to several old cabins, stores and saloons from the days of Jeremiah Johnson, Buffalo Bill Cody, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

During a hike in Alta, Wyoming

Lower Falls at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

The canyon

Part of the Yellowstone River

Outside the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana

16 comments:

Unknown said...

Gorgeous pictures Heather! Welcome back and so glad you had an enjoyable and refreshing vacation. Looking forward to seeing more pictures too!

That is definitely a trip I'd love to take someday! My parents have made that trip a couple times and loved it as well! What's not to love though?

Little Ms Blogger said...

Thanks for posting photos - it brought back so many memories of my trip in 2003.

Brigitte said...

those pictures are amazing! I love to see all that wildlife in their natural habitat. It's such a refreshing sight, isn't it? I love buffalo. They're such graceful creatures and seem so full of wisdom! Like Mountain Druids of the animal kingdom.

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Dan Felstead said...

Heather! Welcome back!!! I just saw your post on my blog and thought I would visit your blog...I didn't know when you were getting back.

The photos are OUTSTANDING! I have to get out there...I am eating my heart out! The grand canyon shots are my favorites. Let us know when you get the flikr site up and running. I am glad you had a great time!

Dan

Brunch at Saks said...

Oh I love all of your photos! The picture of the Old Trail Town looks so neat- I'd love to visit there! :) XOXO

Children of the 90s said...

These pictures are beautiful! Looks like a great trip. I can't believe a buffalo passed right in front of your car, too!

Sally's World said...

wow, the scenery really is great, the waterfall is incredible!

septembermom said...

Thank you for sharing these terrific photos! Really beautiful scenery. I would love to take this trip someday. Welcome back!

~Thought's By Dena~/ JDs Gift Shack said...

WELCOME HOME!!!! So glad that you had a great time and that it did wonders for you!!! Thank you for sharing your pics with us....Im only in Nebraska and I havent seen all of that...guess I know where I should plan our next get away!!

scarlethue said...

Beautiful pictures! And your little brother is too cute. I'm glad y'all had fun!

Diane said...

Welcome home!! Great pictures! I'm so glad you had a great time... I knew you would :). I'm heading out tomorrow for my little camping trip... the scenery won't be as spectacular but it'll be fun :)

Anonymous said...

H, the pictures are breathtaking! It must have been so hard to get on that plane and come back home after seeing all that beauty. I'm so happy you had that time with your family in such a great place!

AJ

Kim said...

I knew that some of these parts of the US were gorgeous but I had no idea. It's just amazing. And your mom looks so cute next to your stepdad and your brother is adorable!! I'm looking forward to more pictures and more details.

RileyScott said...

Glad you had a good time Heather. I'm heading out to Colorado next week, and be getting some of that kind of scenery myself, so hopefully it will have a similar effect.

Jenners said...

I'm glad you had such a good trip!!! Isn't it just gorgeous out there? Having lived out there, I kind of took it for granted after awhile...but now I'm remembering why my dad and brother refuse to leave!

Lacey said...

Wow, you weren't kidding! Every single one of those shots looks like it could be its own post card. I. am. amazed.

Welcome back!