Yellowstone is Incredible!

To be completely honest with you, I wasn't that excited to go to Yellowstone National Park. I like some forms of camping, but I'm kind of prissy. I like to have certain things available to me at all times, like a shower, a toilet, water to wash my face; you know the basic essentials. But we stayed in West Yellowstone in some what of a ghetto spot - a motel parking lot's RV hookup area. We had showers, and bathrooms, and running water. As odd as that sounds, that was very pleasing and I didn't complain.

Another reason I wasn't thrilled about going to Yellowstone was because it's Yellowstone, I live close, and I could go anytime. I like to go on vacations some place far and see new things. After getting there though, my mind changed and I kind of felt like an ass for thinking that. Yellowstone is worth a trip, anytime. It is one of those places I could go to more than once. We saw so many things while we were there that (from what I hear) not many people get to see. 

This first picture is Old Faithful. We sat and waited for probably 30 minutes for this big geyser to go off and when it did, we were NOT disappointed. I've heard that the size of the eruption isn't what it used to be but I will tell you this, it is still impressive! I took about 100 pictures of the eruption and I think we deleted half. I went snap crazy! 

While we were there, there was a meteor shower. So Rob and I decided we would go see if we could get some rad pictures. Well, this is quite the story. We loaded up the car with the camera, our guns, and some very warm clothes. We drove down the highway and pulled off on a dirt road. We drove down the dirt road for about 1/2 mile and saw what looked like a power building, electric building. I'm not really sure what to describe it as other than a big building with a chain link fence the size they put around prisons with barbed wire on top around the building. Here we decided to turn left. We drove down this road, Power Line Road, for about a mile and decided to park. 

It was definitely in the middle of the forest! It was pitch black when we got out of the car. We put a blanket on the hood of the car and then Rob pulled the camera out and started changing the settings to take pictures of the shooting stars. 

About 20 minutes later, the camera was all set up, taking pictures for 30 seconds every 30 seconds, and I thought I heard leaves crunching nearby; so I asked "Did you hear that?" He had not heard it but asked if I wanted to get in the car and I said no. We're sitting there, watching the shooting stars, hoping the camera is capturing some of what we could see and then I heard it again. I repeated my question, "Did you hear that this time?" Rob said, "Yeah, should we get in the car?" I said, "Hell yeah." So we threw everything in the car except for the camera and we're sitting there listening to the sounds around us and we heard footsteps louder and closer. 

Rob pulled the camera in the car and he realized we forgot a flashlight, so we couldn't see where the noise was coming from, we could only hear it, and we both knew it was a big, hungry animal (or maybe a serial killer). All we had was our guns to shoot at whatever it was and that was too risky. So I stated the obvious, "We should leave." 

We drove back down Power Line Road and parked in front of the fenced off building trying to decide whether or not we're going to set up shop here. Well, we had not even turned the car off and we heard loud, stomping steps on the dirt somewhere around the car. "We should probably get out of here. That could have been a moose or big foot." So we turned the car around and headed for the highway.

After all of this, we did drive around for a bit trying to find a spot to set the camera up to get the meteor shower, but we weren't successful. We found the airport in West Yellowstone and probably saw Dee Snider's jet there. We saw him the next morning at a restaurant; he was sitting 2 tables away having breakfast with his family. But back to the story I was on. After not finding a good location, we went back to camp. Here is a picture of the Big Dipper that we captured. Or I should said Rob captured. 

Oh buffalo, they roam...and they stampede...and they cause road blocks. And yet, even though they are silly  and stupid, I still find them cute. After our trip, Rob said he hates buffalo and hopes to never see another one again. We were stuck in two traffic jams that were directed by the buffalo. They acted as if they were in charge, and they were. 

We went to Earthquake Lake which is west of Yellowstone. The next few pictures are from this place. I believe it was in the 1960s, people were camping down in this valley, which is a gorgeous area. At 11 PM, there was an earthquake, and shortly after, all the water from the lake above the valley came rushing through the area and drowned the people camping below. It's a tragic story and one that would make a person sad to visit this place. But it was beautiful and was really interesting to see what Mother Earth does. 

One day we were gone for a very long time. We drove to Cody, Wyoming then up to Cooke City, Montana, and back down to West Yellowstone. Getting up ridiculously early on my vacation made me very grumpy, but we did get some cool pictures. Can you see the wolf in this picture? 

Everyone needs a pictures with the Yellowstone sign. This was my attempt at planking but as you can tell, I was not successful. 

On our way back into the park, I spotted these bears and told Rob to pull over. He thought I was nuts because you couldn't really tell from a distance what the animals were, but there are definitely black bears. 

Here is a pretty coyote. 

We drove up to Mammoth Hot Springs. The town was really cute. Whether it was the heat or being tired, we weren't that impressed with the area. It was very crowded and very hot, so that could have played a factor in our feelings for this place. 

After Mammoth, we went to Norris. Norris was awesome. I think we were there for several hours and we still didn't see everything there. This place was like visiting another planet, it was unreal and incredible. 

We did go to Upper Falls but didn't realize we were there. When we went to the Lower Falls on the last day of our trip, we realized we had went to Upper Falls on our first full day in Yellowstone. But to be honest Lower Falls is WAY more impressive. This was such a beautiful area. We did a strenuous hike down 300 or something stairs to get close to the Falls and one of the pictures below is us on the stairs near the Falls. A true beauty of nature. 

We went to Biscuit Basin twice. This was a neat area and the walk around the geysers and pools is very short. The reason why we went back is there is a hike to Mystic Falls behind the Biscuit Basin area and the first time we went here I had sandals on which are not hiking shoes, so I made it a point to stress I wanted to go back to do the hike. We completed this short hike to see the waterfall and I think we felt like this was a great way to end the trip. It was a nice hike and if we go back, I would love to do more hiking to places like Mystic Falls. 

This about sums up our trip. We saw so much and we did a lot. I think we probably have 500+ pictures and there are more stories I could have shared but didn't for the sake of space. I highly recommend taking a trip to Yellowstone at least once in your life. It is one of those places that reminds you of the beauty of nature and why it's important to take care of our planet. I love it here and hope we do return in the future. 

Whoa! Now that was a time out!

It has been way too long since my last post. I think I just got sucked up by life and forgot how much I enjoy sharing here. My dear friends Ferren and Natalie brought me back with the slightest encouragement. 

Since last winter, not much has changed in my life, at least not my daily routines. But I have done a lot. I graduated from SLCC in May with an AS in Sociology. I was accepted at the University of Utah and started there in August. Starting school at the U was very intimidating. As I got going into the Fall semester I found that it was very enjoyable, the professors are so full of knowledge and they don't lecture straight from the book. Hence, it is very important to be there for every single class or you miss valuable information. I was worried I was going to struggle too. SLCC  was my comfort zone. I had it all figured out there. I knew how their systems worked and I knew what was expected of me as a student there. It isn't like that for me yet at the U, but I'm sure in time it will be. I'm going to be dead honest though, the U of U is harder, takes a lot more time, can be frustrating, but the education is very good. I'm happy to be attending school there even though I'm kind of burned out. Oh well, only 2 more years after this semester and I'll be done...maybe.

When I graduated in May, I felt very bored at first. I didn't know what to do with myself. Cleaning really didn't sound all that entertaining and so I decided to start reading books I love again. Since I started school a few years ago, I find it very hard to make time to read the things I enjoy reading. I found this website called Goodreads.com and signed up; it's basically social networking for readers. I really like this site. I challenged myself to read 10 books by the time summer was over. And you know what...I DID IT! It was nice to set that challenge for myself, then complete it, and it reignited my fire for reading all over again. I'm a bookworm at heart. If I could read books all day, every day I think I would be very satisfied with life. 

Another thing we did this summer was finish our patio. Okay, it's still not 100% done but we're close. I would say 95% done. I really should post pictures, and maybe I will tomorrow. This was so much work and it's such a relief to have it done. Some might ask why we didn't finish the bathroom first. But my response to this is this, "I like barbecues, I like sitting outside reading books and drinking wine, I like having an escape from the world; and having the patio done creates an oasis for me to enjoy the things I love and get a piece of mind." It's simple really. And now I won't have to clean Moose's paws every time I let him in from the winter cold this year. Thank goodness to no more mud being tracked everywhere! Hopefully we will finish the bathroom this Christmas break. It's been a year and a half since we ripped it out and it is time we get it done. Cross your fingers for us! 

Trips this year! ...

We went to Texas to visit my dad in July. That trip was very hard. It is always good to see your parents after a long time. You don't realize the value of the relationship in your life until it's not there on a daily basis. I haven't really had either of my parents 100% present in my life since I was 17 or so and I think not having them being an active part of my life forced me to grow up and view relationships differently. But I'm biased to my own views, so what do I know. Anyway back to Texas. We were only there a few days but we did drive down by the coast, which was nice, especially because the breeze was so welcomed. One day, we went to downtown Galveston to see an old ship which also had a museum about the area; the museum was mostly nice because it was air conditioned and allowed us to escape sweating profusely and stinking like transients. We then walked around, found some ice cream which melted way faster than we would have liked. We also found a Wiccan store...I think that's what it was. Basically it has essential oils, natural remedies, witchcraft stuff, religion stuff, and the like. It smelled really good in there, I can still smell the incense of the store, a musky but sweet scent, probably had some rosemary mixed in with lavender. I know it's not something my readers are interested in, but I found this store to be very interesting. It's a totally different perspective on the mundane beliefs of typical society. Then we walked further down the street and saw a street chessboard, which was really cool. If I knew how to play chess I would've made Rob play with me, but I don't and neither does he. Next we went to the pirate museum and a silly haunted house about the hurricane that swept through in the early 1900s. Another day we barbecued frog legs, alligator, and stuffed jalapenos. I really love food. And on the last day, we went to the beach. The water was so warm I didn't want to get out. I really love going to the beach, I feel so connected with everything when I'm there. I don't know how to explain it. Besides the things we did there, the trip had an emotional side to it. Maybe I'll post that another time because this is already a very lonnnnnng post. 

In August, we went to Yellowstone. I had never been to Yellowstone before but I was really looking forward to this. It was a fantastic trip. I think this is also another trip that deserves its own post not just because I want to elaborate about the things we did there, but I want to show you some of the pictures. Yellowstone is truly one of the most beautiful places I've been. It's very peaceful and I definitely want to go back. Maybe not for a whole week, but at least 4 days.

In September, we went to Virginia to watch the Antares rocket launch. This was for Rob's work and I'm so proud of him. He didn't work on this particular rocket, but the next one launching in December he worked on the stage 2 rocket motor part of the rocket. Is it safe to say I married a rocket scientist? Anyway, this launch was incredible. It's difficult for me to explain the excitement and the feelings I have about it because I don't know what to compare it to. I'm definitely proud but I'm in awe that man has envisioned something so great and then made it happen. Science is cool. I don't care what you think, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. This is also another trip worthy of it's own post so I can share the video and some pictures. 

It is now October and we are in the middle of the semester. Our time is spent working, going to class, doing homework, and then hitting repeat. My daily life is a little different from Rob's but for the most part, we are very boring right now. We do have another weekend trip planned though. We will be going to Flaming Gorge again this winter and I'm so looking forward to this. I love going up there in the winter because it's very peaceful and serene, I highly recommend this place for romantic getaways.

Other awesome things I did this year: Our Susan G. Komen 5K Race for the Cure team raised over $4,000 this year and had 30 members. This was so satisfying and I feel the 5K was a success! Hopefully we can keep up the momentum next year. I did a 5K with one of my besties, Ferren, in June. The Color Me Rad was very rad and I hope we do it again next year. Ferren could run the whole race but she's so nice, she slowed her pace to help me out. I completed 3 more 5Ks since then - The Glo Run, The Electric Run, and The Witches Brew HaHa. I think it's safe to say I'm hooked on 5Ks. I'm not a strong runner but these events are very gratifying. Maybe next year I can do a 10K. Guess I better make time for exercising this winter. 

Alright, I think this is a long enough post for now. I gave you a brief run down of the year so far and it's not over yet. I think that some of the events listed deserve their own posts, but that will take me a little time to do. I have missed you all and hope to be back more frequently. 

XOXO, 
Miss Lissa