Dunk Road Trip Day 5: Tetons and Jackson

We left Yellowstone early on our 5th day, and enjoyed a relaxing drive through the Grand Teton National Park. The Tetons are amazing mountains. They jut up out of the landscape without any foothills to mask the view of the peaks. In the late afternoon we arrived in Jackson, where we had a blast shopping for cowboy hats. We also enjoyed an old west show at the Jackson Playhouse, where the kids sat on horse saddles during dinner. Old west fun!

Day Five Highlights:

THE TETONS!

MAJESTIC TETONS

ON TOP OF THE TETONS

GRACIE AND TEDDY

DADDY AND GRACIE AND THE TETONS

JENNY LAKE

JACKSON TOWN SQUARE ANTLER ARCH

IN THE BEAR CHAIR

THE OUTLAWS

COWGIRL GRACIE

COWBOY ALEX

GRACIE GIRL

ALEXANDER

MAMA AND THE COWBOYS

SADDLE UP!

Dunk Road Trip Day 4: Yellowstone

I loved Yellowstone, from the white capped Big Horn mountains to the bubbling sulpher pools. Our first stop was the Buffalo Bill Dam, an unexpected little destination on the road towards Yellowstone. We spent the majority of the rest of the day driving through the eastern part of the park, stopping to climb on the snow covered mountains, to hike at a very cool waterfall, and to eat lunch at Lake Yellowstone Lodge. Our destination in the park was a little cabin 1/4 mile from Old Faithful. We faithfully watched Old Faithful spurt and took a two mile hike around the sulpher pits.

Day Four Highlights:

OUR FIRST STOP OF THE DAY - BUFFALO BILL DAM

HEADING TO THE DAM

VIEW OF THE DAM

DAM WATER

WINDY AT THE DAM

BEAUTIFUL WYOMING

YELLOWSTONE!

BIG HORN MOUNTAINS

HIKING IN THE SNOW!

WATERFALL

HIKING AT THE FALLS

LAKE YELLOWSTONE LODGE PORCH

WAITING FOR OLD FAITHFUL

HERE'S OLD FAITHFUL!

SULPHER POOL

HIKING FUN?

WE FOUR

Dunk Road Trip Day 3: Wind Cave (Almost), Drive to Cody

We left the black hills and drove through beautiful Custer State Park to Wind Cave National Park. The drive took much longer than expected, and we decided to skip the cave tour and continue on to our Cody, Wyoming destination. The drive took us through amazing Wyoming and the Big Horn mountains. We saw deer, elk and buffalo. And, we saw one unbelieveable thunder cloud.

Day Three Highlights:

HELLO WIND CAVE!

ROADSIDE BUFFALO

CHECK OUT THE BIGHORN MOUNTAINS ALEX!

MAMA AND GRACIE AND THE MOUNTAIN

PIGGYBACK

SLEEPY KIDS

Dunk Road Trip Day 2: Mt. Rushmore, Waterpark

Day two took us to Mount Rushmore. Gracie was really excited to see one of the four presidents. For some unknown reason, she's developed a crush on Teddy Roosevelt. It was all about Teddy today for her. After some presidential gaping, we went back to the hotel to enjoy the attached water park. During our two day stay at the hotel, we visited the park three times!

Day Two Highlights:

WE STOPPED BY THE PRESIDENTAIL PARK TO CHECK OUT THEIR BUSTS!

HERE COME THE PRESIDENTS

THE FAMILY AT RUSHMORE

WHERE'S TEDDY?

I THINK WE CAN SEE HIM!

OFF TO THE WATER PARK

ON THE LAZY RIVER

ALEX CHECKS OUT THE FUN

TIRED KIDS

Dunk Road Trip Day 1: Badlands, Wall Drug

On our first day we travelled from our home in Minneapolis to Rapid City, SD. We stopped to hike in the Badlands and enjoyed some play time in the big backyard of Wall Drug (a crazy tourist emporium with gadgets, goodies, and oddities).

Day One Highlights:

DADDY AND GRACIE CHECKING OUT THE SIGHTS ON THE WAY TO THE BADLANDS

WE'VE MADE IT TO THE BADLANDS!

HOLY BADLANDS BATMAN!

BADLANDS THROUGH THE BINOCULARS

WATCH OUT FOR THE RATTLESNAKES ALEX!

HIKING THE BADLANDS

PLAYING IN THE WATER FOUNTAIN AT WALL DRUG

WALL DRUG WATER GIRL

RIDE'EM COWGIRL!

RIDE'EM COWBOY?

WATCHING THE FIREWORKS OUT THE HOTEL WINDOW