Carey Family

Scott

Tuacahn 2012

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We traveled to St. George during a little heat wave that made it quite hot in Southern Utah, but had a great time anyway.  We took Mark and his girlfriend, Lauren, and saw both shows.  “Aladdin” was awesome and had lots of surprises with a revised script from the movie version and lots of bells and whistles.  They had lots of live animals, a flying carpet, great dancers and singers, flames and explosions, and 3D glasses for the audience.  We really enjoyed the show and the Genie was amazing.  The next night was “Hairspray” and it was also totally awesome.  The actors were great and there were some fun stagings.  The choreography for “I Can Hear the Bells” was simply hilarious and all the dancing was high-energy and fun.  I couldn’t sit still in my seat during some of the songs and just had to tap my feet and shake my shoulders.

Wherein I turn 50

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Scott did something truly unexpected for my birthday: he threw me a surprise party.  I had not a clue.  He did it on Monday the 2nd, which was the night before we left for Yellowstone.  Mark came up in the evening to hang with us and spend the night, but that seemed normal because he wasn’t going to see us on my birthday and we were leaving for a week.  The mom and daughter that I read with took me out for frozen yogurt for my birthday.  This also seemed totally normal and the daughter made me a matching bracelet and earring set that’s totally cute!  When they dropped me off, the mom wanted the daughter to come in and see my Willow Tree collection so we walked in the front door and there were crepe paper and balloons everywhere.  I said, “Oh, looks like Mark did some decorating. Fun.”  We walked over to the shelf and then I saw all these people in the family room and they yelled, “Surprise!”.  Honestly, I am so dense.  So I was really surprised and we had cake and ice cream and it was really fun and nice of people to come.

On my real birthday we were in Yellowstone and went to breakfast here:We chose this place so we could have breakfast served to us by this waiter:Now that all the shows are up and running and daily rehearsals are over, Brian works a breakfast shift three days a week at Buckaroo Bill’s.  He rotates between prepping, cooking, and serving.  We ate in the back where each table has its own covered wagon and had some yummy food plus hot chocolate, too.

After our late breakfast we checked out some stores while waiting for Brian to finish his shift, then went back to the restaurant’s outdoor seating to open presents! Yay!  Scott got me a wooden wheelbarrow planter that we left at home, some books, a subscription to a quilting magazine, and then an offer to take me shopping around West Yellowstone.  That was also the present from Brian so off we went.  I got scrapbooking supplies, Wildflowers of Yellowstone seeds, and a framed pressed flower art piece with yellow columbines.  Awesome!

Brian went off to an emergency rehearsal because of a cast member’s accident, and we drove to Yellowstone Lake and did some sight-seeing via the car.  Then it was back for the second show.  Because it was July 4th, the theater had early shows so after the 4:00 show, the cast ran to the start of the West Yellowstone parade and walked the parade route to advertise for the shows.  The town parade was super fun!  Then we saw the 7:00 show of “The Drowsy Chaperone”.  During the variety show the cast brings up audience members with birthdays and they announce their names and sing to them.

I got a special announcement that I was a cast member’s Mom AND that I was turning 50.  Double applause!  I also got a kiss!

The show was great and afterwards we were invited to the cast BBQ.  We ate on a blanket on the sidewalk in front of the theater and watched the town fireworks show which was long and wonderful.

It was a fun day and now I’m officially over the hill.  The best is yet to come.

Grand Tetons NP

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We left Yellowstone via the south entrance and headed into Grand Tetons National Park.  This is another park we haven’t been to since we were kids, so it was fun to see it again.

We wanted to do some hiking in this park, so after a stop at a Visitor Center for a stamp to our National Parks Passport and a chat with a ranger, we headed off to his recommendation: a scenic trail to Leigh Lake.  There were people in canoes and kayaks, but it was quiet, tranquil, secluded, and lovely.

Leigh Lake

We left the park and headed for dinner in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  Even though it was raining, we wanted to do a little walking around the downtown and the park, and I got my picture taken at one of the iconic antler arches at the park.

On the way to Idaho Falls after dinner we had some heavy rain and a lovely rainbow.

The end of our vacation.

Glimpses of Yellowstone

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Here are some varied shots of cool stuff we saw at the park.

Madison River
pool in the Lower Geyser Basin

Geyser in the Lower Geyser Basin

Upper Geyser Basin

river in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone between the falls

Bison herd

This was a beautiful falls we could see from the road.  I saw it out the window and yelled for Scott to stop so we could get out and hike up closer.

Lewis Falls

another shot of me gazing at a waterfall

Bye, bye, Yellowstone.  That was our last stop before exiting the park to Grand Tetons National Park.

 

 

 

Upper Geyser Basin

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Scott and I went to the Upper Geyser Basin on our way out of the park and hiked the basin.  We walked around the back of Old Faithful and huddled under a tree to keep out of the rain while we waited for it to go off.  It did not disappoint and was spectacular.

Scott and Old Faithful

The basin around Old Faithful has a boardwalk over the fragile thermal crust so you can walk around and get pretty close to fumaroles, pools, and geysers.  We were amused at the sign in many languages meant to scare you silly so you don’t walk onto the hot ground.

It was fascinating to see how many people were NOT deterred by the scary sign, even though it was obvious just by looking that the crust is VERY thin in many places and you would be boiled like a frog if you fell in.  Whatever.

We were obedient tourists who stayed on the boardwalk.  Also Scott, the geologist, has a healthy respect for geothermal features.

There were some fascinating geysers that pumped, bubbled, spouted, and gurgled.  Because it was cool and overcast there was a fair amount of steam all over the place and it really looked amazing and otherworldly.

We were halfway to Morning Glory Pool when the rain started up again.  Since we were in the middle of the basin, there was nowhere to go but onward, so we pressed on and made it, albeit totally drenched.  Because of the cloud cover our picture isn’t too impressive and doesn’t show the great colors.  It’s really a pretty blue in the deep part.

Morning Glory Pool

On the trail back to the car we were pretty much alone, came around a curve, and found a bison just standing by the trail next to a warm geyser.  We approached quietly and I couldn’t resist the photo op.  Scott says I was closer than the requisite 25 yards, but I never left the trail, so I felt justified.  He kept his eye on it the whole time and was giving instructions for where I was supposed to run if it charged me.  (See previous post on how out of shape I am and you’ll laugh yourself silly at the thought of me racing for the trees in front of a charging bison).  Anyway, we got a good shot on my phone and I posted immediately to Facebook because the Old Faithful area has cell coverage.  The wonders of technology!

We quietly headed off down the trail with the bison not deigning to acknowledge us, and farther on we were herded off the trail by rangers who were cordoning an area where a bison was eating.  Scott tried to tell one of them that we had just passed a bison much closer to the trail than this one they were protecting, but he was being harassed by non-cooperative tourists and didn’t really get it, so we moved on.  Hope nobody was trampled later.