stinky sulphur

Yellowstone, of course, was full of stinky, steaming water. We saw Old Faithful, but somehow those pictures are just too cliche and uninteresting. Some of the other hot pots were most artistic looking.

Mmm... smell that stinky smoke...

We saw loads of buffalo, but no bears.

We were a little more prepared this time. We called and reserved a campground somewhere in the middle of the smaller loop. We set up the family size tent that the Robison's lent us, staked it down, and even put on the rain cover. We were pretty pooped by then, so we just relaxed and did some serious reading of "Ender's Game".

The next morning was Saturday, the day of the reception, so we thought we should find some showers. It was wonderful to be clean. Then we headed out of the park and stopped at a few waterfalls along the way. Oh, not to mention we saw tons more buffalo.

We stopped for some chips and salsa alongside a river for a snack...

And then, came to the beautiful lake. This time, all the stones were ripe for skipping. And Aaron, looking like a true stud, skipped his heart out. Even I finally perfected the necessary wrist action and was able to skip several rocks one after the other.

Driving out of the park, we could no believe it was June 18th. Not to mention that June 18th was the day Aaron left on his mission 3 years ago, and the day he got back 1 year ago. Quite momentous.

holy grandeur

Aaron and I went to Teton National Park and Yellowstone last weekend. Two of our friends were getting married and having their reception in Cody, WY, so we used it as an excuse to get out of Provo for a bit. And we loved seeing our friends happily married, or course.

Neither of us had ever been to the Tetons. When I saw them, and Aaron asked me what I thought, my words were "Holy Grandeur!" I will warn you now, I absolutely loved these mountains, so there are a lot of pictures of them. I had a hard time choosing which ones to include.

We arrived at the park after 7 hours of driving, around 5:00 p.m. and decided to go on a little hike to Taggart Lake, since my friend who's reception we were going to is Catherine Taggart.

It was beautiful and serene. But it was cold, and we were hungry, so we walked back to the car and headed back down to Jackson Hole for burgers and some hot chocolate.

By the time we got back to the park, it was already dark. All the campgrounds in the Tetons cost $20 a night, and it was already late. After much debate, hindered by the fact that we were both sleepy and had been in a car for a whole day, we decided to pull over and sleep in the car. We were freezing cold, and quite uncomfortable. When 6 a.m. came around, however, it didn't matter how sleepy I was. As soon as I saw the sun coming up and shining on the Tetons, the misty clouds hanging low, I was pumping with adrenaline. "Holy Majestic Grandeur!" Aaron kept sleeping in the back seat, finally warm and comfortable, as I drove through the park taking pictures. It was really hard not to wake him up, but he was really tired.

After a while I could not stand it anymore. Aaron was missing the most beautiful scenery on earth. So I woke him up and brought him down to the lake. His energy came when he saw all the stones to skip. We even found the perfect stone. Aaron was in awe.

After we got all the stone skipping out of us, and I was frustrated enough because I couldn't skip any, we warmed up in the nearby lounge of a hotel, checked some e-mails, and headed north to Yellowstone.

the first fruits

"Sometimes Pangloss would say to Candide: 'All events form a chain in this, the best of all possible worlds. After all, had you not been expelled from a beautiful castle with great kicks to the behind for the love of Mademoiselle Cunegonde, and had you not been turned over to the Inquisition, and had you not roamed American on foot, and had you not run the Baron through with a fine thrust of your sword, and had you not lost all your sheep from the good land of Eldorado, you would not be sitting here now eating candied citron and pistachios.' - 'That is well said,' replied Candide, 'but we must cultivate our garden.'"

it's not much yet, just some lettuce, kale, and peas, but it sure is rewarding to get to harvest something that you helped produce.