Monday, August 06, 2007

Summer Adventures

Well this summer has been a blast, we got back yesterday and I began all my meetings today. This is a picture collection of our 3 1/2 week vacation. We had so much fun, and ninja (the civic) did very well. It was fun spending time with friends and family, and being very adventurous as well. My favorite part was probably back-packing. It was tough but very rewarding. Let me just say that there were a few dark hours. The second day was by far the most difficult, we weren't exactly sure we were on the right path and we climbed some serious mountains with a lot of weight on our backs! It's not a good feeling doing switchbacks for three hours and thinking the mountain goes on for eternity. BUT.. we made and it felt good to reach the top. There wasn't a whole lot of talking for those hours, to me it's just best to not say anything at all. We went about 24 miles in three days. It feels so good to accomplish something like that. Anyway, we had a great time! Enjoy all the pics!

Here is Drew after we climbed some sand dunes
Here we are looking at the dunes from afar



We found a waterfall nearby but we had to walk through the river to get to it. It was freezing.



A nice sunset

The waterfall was in a cave



The beginning of our backpacking trip, I didn't even know what was ahead of me.


This is our first night, and a lovely dish that we cooked up. It's funny how anything tastes great!


A little lunch break


This was how we got water, it was very slow and there were lots of bugs, notice that Drew is doing it, that happened a lot:)


Drew was real excited about this one, yes... it's very scary.


We crossed a lot of rivers


This is where our campsite was the second night. It was awesome.



Ok, it's a little out of order, but this is where we went when we got back. A few hours after we started we discussed where we would go right when we got back. We agreed on Pizza Hut. We were happy campers:)


The first day we saw a ghost town a little ways off the trail.


Inside the house.

Look at how good I am at making a fire!


What a man!


This is the second day after the long hike up, look how happy I am going down hill.


Very nice


Goose Creek!


Best friend Emily gets engaged!


We stayed at a nice bed and breakfast in Cody, and had fruit for dinner.


We had such a great time with the Worland Foster's. Joy is so good at styling hair.


This is Yellowstone. It smelled a little.


This is the Grand Canyon (in Yellowstone). This is the lower falls.


She's gonna blow! (Not me, the geyser)


These Buffalo where everywhere, they just walk across the street. We also saw a mule deer, with some sweet antlers.


This is at Jena's wedding. It was so fun to see some of the my girls. They are awesome people.


It was a country wedding in Montana. The car was a nice touch.


7 comments:

Goose said...

WE had a great last three weeks. I got to see some of the most pretty country with the most pretty girl on earth. I had a great time. I think that mt favorite was the backpacking as well, although the Worland visit was very fun an the sand dunes were a blast. It was just a great time.

Tankfos said...

Quite the adventure!!! I should of got a picture of Drew doing a flip off of the sand dunes. That's what I would have done!!! Looks like it was a ton of fun!

Danalin said...

Oh, these pictures took me back! Our first summer as a married couple also included a backpacking trip (my first) and had some very dark moments as well. Tyler looked back at one point to find his wife silently in tears, trying to make her husband think she was tough. He was very concerned because we still had something like 13 miles to go that day. The hike up had been super hard, but it was the going down (hadn't clipped my toenails and had shoes that were a tad too small) that really killed me. I lost 2 1/2 toenails. But afterward I also said that was one of my favorite things we did that summer, and we did a LOT of fun things!

I LOVE the pictures! I am happy for you to have had such a great summer. I love you two as a couple. I am so glad that you are in the family, Kristen, and I am getting very excited to see you guys in a few months. Okay, more like 3 1/2. And, as Mickey said, I'll be big as a house by then! Love you both. Good luck with school, lady, you are going to be GREAT!!!

Mark said...

That's what summer's are for! Outdoor adventures, road trips, national parks . . .

I'm surprised that you didn't list the "Blue Thunder" waterslide in Thermopolis as one of your top moments.

Let's just say it leaves it's mark on you. Literally, as in it scratches your back to shreds.

Enjoy these carefree, childless summers! They will soon be a fond memory . . . :)

Wendi said...

Ah, beautiful Yellowstone -- Matt and I have been meaning to get up there for some time now. Perhaps next summer?

The Sand Dunes we did last year, and although I had a pretty rough time of it getting to the top (logging boots are not good dune hiking foot gear), with Matt's help (and some muttered expletives) I eventually made it. Great views up there -- made me feel like an extra in the movie "Dune". :-)

I hope you and Drew enjoyed outdoors excursions this summer (sure looks like you did), and that you're good & ready for back to school, whether as teacher or student. Keep us posted!

Elizabeth said...

Great pictures Kristen. I especially like the one of your new hairstyle by Joy. It's very becoming. I think your students will love it. We just got back from Yellowstone last night and it was amazing. So many natural wonders contained in one park. We felt like we only scratched the surface. We'll be back next year for more! I love National Parks...except the Petrified Forest. If you've seen one petrified log, you've seen em' all.

Matthew said...

The Dunes are amazing. Wendi and I had quite an adventure there last year. Your trip looks like it was a lot of fun. Man, I have got to get into the hills again. Next time you guys come back to Denver, we have got to go hiking.