Vacation!

Jake and I just got back from vacation to Idaho Falls, Yellowstone, and Jackson Hole. We had an amazing time. Our first few days were spent with Jake's best friend Britton in Idaho Falls. I got to meet her and her family for the first time. It was such a fun few days. They took us out on their boat one day to go skiing and tubing. It was Jake's first time doing both. The water was freezing, since it's snow runoff from the mountains. Seriously, coldest water ever.

From there, we traveled to West Yellowstone, Montana. We spent the next few days driving around Yellowstone looking for fun wildlife and beautiful scenery. We were lucky enough to see 7 bears, a bunch of bison and elk, and bighorn sheep. We also saw beautiful waterfalls, geysers, hot springs, and of course the amazing mountainous backdrop.

Friday was Jake's 29th birthday! We started out the day at the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center where we got to see grizzlies and wolves close up. Then we headed to the Paintpots and walked around looking at more hotsprings. Old Faithful was next, and then I talked Jake into a 3 mile hike to see Morning Glory, supposedly one of the most beautiful hot springs. Then we drove down to Jackson, checked into our hotel, and then went to the Granary for a delicious mountain top dinner! The food and view were amazing.

Saturday we started out with white water rafting down the Snake River. I had rafted the same stretch when I was 13. Needless to say, it wasn't quite as scary this time around. Then we acted like children as we went down the alpine slide! It's a 2500 foot slide that goes down the mountain. Then our vacation was over as we began the trek back to Colorado.

Picture 1- Some of the cracked mud near a hot spring.
Picture 2- Jake working up the courage to jump in the water.
Picture 3-Our first black bear siting. There's a cub too, but you can't see it.
Picture 4-Jake and I in front of the Lower Falls.
Picture 5-Just a cool picture I took.
Picture 6-The hilarious sign warning people not to step off the walkways.

I left the camera in the car, so I'll add more pictures tomorrow, including Morning Glory.