Thursday, July 2, 2009

Yellowstone/Island Park





Sorry we only had B&W film and Kristi has all the group shots.

This past weekend we went on a camping trip with the Hartman Family. We rented a pop-up trailer and went to Island Park and Yellowstone for 4 days.

Thursday we stopped in Rexburg and stocked up on food and then set-up camp at the Buffalo Run camp site. Minutes after the guys finished putting the trailer together Brody fell out and hit his head on the pavement. :(So for the rest of the trip he had a pretty bad cut on his forehead. Then to make matters worse we were all eaten alive by mosquitoes. By the end of the trip I had 20 bites on my right foot.

Friday was better when we headed to Yellowstone; it was a perfect day with sun and rain. We saw many buffalo and elk and thankfully no bears. We stopped at the geysers, Old Faithful, and then we went to the Upper and Lower Falls.Despite the horrible lunch we had at the Geyser Grill it was awesome! Then that night we went to West Yellowstone and had pizza and listened to Addy tell us about some scary lizzard and other funny stories. They had a live band playing that night and it was so cute watching Addy and Brody dance. Addy would do the air guitar while Brody would do the worm on the floor. They got a lot of attention from people in the bar.

Then Saturday we had the grand idea to go to Max's Inn to float the famous river. Once we got there and realized that it was a 3 hr trip we decided that Brody probably wouldn't last. So the other 2 back up options were paddle boating or canoeing. So after the boat ladies told us that the canoes were really steady we decided to give those a whirl. Their only instructions were to not go under the bridge or we would get caught in the rapids.

So Kyle. Kristi, and Addy head out first and the current is carrying them right towards the bridge---at this point Addy keeps saying this is a bad idea! :) We have Brody double life-vested and we get in the canoe and start paddling. A few minutes later the current gets us and slams us into the dock and our canoe flips. Brody and Dustin go completely under water and I get pulled down the river while trying to save the canoe! Dustin's shoes and once dry clothes are floating down the river along with our paddles. Some guys on the dock grabbed Brody and held him while we tried to gather our things. Meanwhile Kyle and Kristi are long gone under the bridge. Moments later we find them walking up the shore--DONE with the dang canoeing idea. It was the longest and shortest canoe trip of our lives. Then we tried the paddle boats...it just was not our day. Kyle and Dustin would paddle us up the dock and the current would take us back to where we started. So after that we finally packed up and went to the Bear and Wolf exhibit in West Yellowstone where they had 2 bears and 2 wolves and that was it. They give you a 2 day pass and we kept joking saying why would you need to come back? As if people are like kids we can only see the bears today and then we will come back tomorrow to see the wolves. But despite the lack of animals we had a blast!

Then Sunday we packed up and stopped in Ashton for lunch and then went to Mesa Falls and headed home! It was a great relaxing trip. Brody and Addy are little buddies and Addy did a great job of keeping him in line. We would ask who is the boss of Brody and she would say "I am" and then if Brody was getting into something she would say: "Brody you know better than that!" It was an eventful trip and we cant wait to go again next year! Thanks guys!

6 comments:

Johnsens said...

Sounds like a lot of fun and I'm glad everyone survived the canoeing (at least it made for a good story...right?)

m@R(! said...

that sounds awesome. i LOVE island park. our family cabin is right by mack's inn. so jeolous! you gusy are awesome.

Amanda said...

UMMM! hello my parents have a cabin in Island park You did not need a pop up trailer just a Key call me next time. I have to say about the the Black and white fil, is FILM!!! what. Just kidding looks like a blast and the river trip in macks in is only an hour and a half in a canou. Unless it is a down pour than if you row your guts out you can get it done in an hour. speaking just from experince though. Sounds like you had a blast. We are playing a little get away on the weekend of July 18th if you want to experice Island park not in a pop up trailer.

Jen said...

Looks like you guys had a blast. I was laughing so hard reading your canoe story. Sounds like quite an adventure!

Courtney said...

Oh Chels.... what great stories. You always have the craziest things happen to you! I thought your extended family had a cabin in Island park? Remember when we tried to go there on Spring Break? Yeah... that is another great story! We also go canoeing by Macks Inn and it is a great trip! Next time try that!

Wilson said...

The canoe trip sounded pretty scary and the paddle boating sounded hilarious. Those paddle boats are hardwork. We need to come up to Logan it has been to long.