Operation Yellowstone Ranger: Ma 'n Pa

When I last wrote, I was very excited for the impending arrival of my parents. Well, they have come and gone since then and I miss them so much! We truly had a wonderful time!

Tuesday was a fairly uneventful day. As I try to remember the events at work, I truly can't remember much. All I remember is working the Wildlife Olympics in Mammoth and almost having the tent blown away by winds. We were literally holding onto everything as the winds blasted.

After work, I went to my house and met up with mom and dad! It was so exciting. They had landed and were driving to Gardiner from Bozeman. I hoped in the car and met them at the Raven. So delicious. We spent a ton of time catching up, hearing about Yellowstone and their elaborate Mediterranean adventures. Not jealous. Not jealous. A little jealous.

After dinner, we walked around Gardiner a bit. Then we ran to Mammoth, I showed them my home, then I said farewell for the night.

The next morning, I went out with Bill Wengeler. He is a wildlife specialist in the park. He travels around, stopping at animal jams and helps people keep moving. He also specializes in wolves. The funny thing is that we spent more time stopping, talking to people, crashing a Tower Junction fourth of July dinner for staff and doing a touch table then actually looking for animals! At the end of the day, we set up a touch table at the Tower General Store. While Bill was giving a wonderful talk about wolves in the park, who do I see but mom! They had unintentionally run into me! It was great because they got to see me in uniform and on the job! Yay!

After work, we took a short little walk on the Grizzly Lake trail. It was really fun to go explore the wilderness with mom and dad! After that, we ran to the Lighthouse restaurant. It was really interesting. I got a dish called Bengal Beef, which the chef found at Disney World. Imagine that! They also had the most delicious, free refill, chai latte! Yummy!

Following dinner, we decided to celebrate our fourth of July in a Hot Tub as we watched the sunset over the mountains! It was glorious! Then it was back to Mammoth and then to sleep.

The next day was spent with me in one room with 4 other people getting certified in CPR and First Aid. After being a lifeguard for many summers, taking an 8:30-5:00 certification course was SUPER boring. Luckily the other 4 taking the class with me were really fun. We had a good time.

After work, I snagged my parents and my friends and we all went to the Iron Horse for dinner. Luckily they had their full menu again, and it was GLORIOUS! It was so fun to introduce my parents to Christina, Udeitha, Eric and Matt. They loved my friends and my friends loved them. It was wonderful. We could have stayed there the entire night, chatting and conversing about life. But, we resisted and left after two hours because I really wanted to show my parents Lamar Valley.

On the way to Lamar, we came across a Black Bear. It was so exciting to be there with my parents as they saw their first bear, this time around, in the park. As we finally reached Lamar and drove the entire length we unfortunately did not see any wolves. What we did get to see was a glorious sunset. We hiked out by Lamar River and watched the sun dip below the mountains, shooting vivid colors across the sky and dipping the mountains in delicious hues. When darkness began to overtake everything, we headed back to the car and out of the valley.

As we got to Mammoth, mom started to transfer to the other car. Dad jumped out to go get her shoes. And, in the midst of the hustle, mom let out a quiet gasp. "GRANT! THERE IS A BISON!" I looked out past her, into the darkness, and saw nothing but blackness. But, then I saw the light peeking around far to her left and right. And I realized the darkness RIGHT NEXT TO HER WAS THE BISON! We are so lucky that mom was not attacked. Oh, daily life in Yellowstone!!!

The next day, we all met at the Tumbleweed for some breakfast and coffee. It was super chill. We definitely left later than we intended (and it was my fault!). The destination: visiting mom's cousins, aunt and uncle in Jackson, WY. On the way down, we stopped at the Lake Hotel because I heard it was delicious. Delicious, it was. It also had a BEAUTIFUL view of Yellowstone Lake. We took some time to take in our surroundings: Yellowstone Lake Lodge, the beach, Fishing Bridge and several shops. Eventually, we dragged ourselves back into the car and continued on our way.

Finally, we entered Grand Teton National Park. Those mountains are just spectacular. Probably one of the most majestic ranges in the world. This is attributed to the fact that the Grand Tetons do not have foothills around them. They just seem to jut straight out of the ground into the air. Mix that with the razor defined peaks and you have pur majesty.

Before reaching Jackson, we stopped at Jackson Lake to meet up with my mom's cousin David. We met up with him and several members of his immediate family for the most enormous nachos one could ever imagine. Literally: MASSIVE. Dad's head looked a tiny blob compared to this monstrous mass of cheese slathered food. After catching up and consuming massive quantities, we went with David and his wife Ellen out on Jackson Lake. I love riding on boats. I placed myself on the front of the boat, despite the fact that it was a bit chilly. We rode around looking for wildlife, gaping in awe at the glorious mountains all around us and watching David catch a Lake Trout. One of dad's life goals has been to catch a lake trout, so David partially fulfilled that for him by catching one in dad's presence. It was pretty cool. David said 'we'll give it one more cast' after spending about an hour trying, and there it was. Boom. Lake trout.

With our mission accomplished, we headed back to shore. We loaded up the boat and headed home. We stopped by David and Ellen's to see mom's aunt and uncle, Walter and Gladys. David and Ellen are caring for them full time. It truly is a wonderful setup. Walter and Gladys are able to have their own home! After stopping by and saying hello, we had to run. It was getting very late and we had not even seen the cousin we were staying with.

We entered Jackson and followed our directions to Rocky Mountain Lodge (I think this is the camp's name). This is the Youth for Christ camp that mom's cousin, Don, owns. Upon our arrival, we felt really guilty because we were so late. Fortunately we ran straight into Don. Immediately after, Don's wife Bev stumbled upon us. They quickly showed us our rooms (which were SOOOO cool). We were thinking of moving toward bed, but Bev and Don invited us to talk in their house. And it wasn't one of those 'we are going to invite you to be sweet but don't really hope you say yes' kind of invite. It was genuine. So we went to their house and talked for about an hour to two hours. Bev was quite the talker. Definitely never a dull moment. But so fun. Unfortunately, sleep does beckon, and we had to go to sleep. Saturday was bound to be a big day!

The next morning, it took me forever to roll out of bed. Once again, it was a later start due to moi. :/

But, Bev had somehow managed to be free and decided to spend the day with us. And oh, what a day it was! We all piled into the car and drove across the road to a delightful coffee shop called Elevated Grounds. We all got delicious coffees and morning pastries. Mine was a feta and spinach stuffed puff-pastry. YUMMM! We spent quite a bit of time talking at the coffee shop, catching up on all the family on mom's side of the family.

After talking, we decided to head over to the Teton Pines golf course. Background information: the land that the Youth for Christ camp that mom's cousin Don owns was donated by Dick Cheney. With this information, it makes sense that Bev and Don know Dick. They also know that he lives in a house in the golf course and that Mitt Romney was in town for a fundraiser. As a result, we thought we could go incognito and see what we could see. Alas, no one was at the Pines. They must have gone somewhere else for the day's events. But the golf course was beautiful!

From the Teton Pines, we drove to Jackson Village to ride the Tram up to the top of Rendevous Mountain. When we arrived, I went scouting for some backpacking supplies I had been wanting. What I found was advice to go to Teton Mountaineering in Jackson's downtown. We will keep this advice for later in the story.

Eventually, we got our tram tickets and hoped in line. And when I say tram, I mean BIG tram. A tram that can fit 60-100 people! HUGE! We crowded into the tram and ensured window seats as the ride began. Once at the top, I began to frolic around. Enjoying the high altitude and beautiful views. We got some excellent views before heading down below.

Once below, we ran to the Mangy Moose for lunch. It was super yummy. Delicious grill food. Don was able to join us. He had been at the car auction, checking out the vehicles and the snazzy antiques. But it was at lunch that Bev realized she needed to get back to camp. So, after finishing our food, we decided to take advantage of one more thing. The tram ticket also allowed us to go up the ski lift. I really preferred this ride to the tram ride. It is open-air and four person intimate. Much better than 60 people in one massive lift. It did not go up nearly as high, but I didn't mind due to the open air and intimacy.

Once at the bottom, we ran to the car and got Bev back to the camp. It was sad to say goodbye, but we had a couple of things we needed to get to. We decided to drive by a house that mom wanted to see and then it was off to Teton Mountaineering. For my birthday, mom and dad geared me up with some backpacking cooking pots, a 90 lumens head lamp and an Osprey day pack with a 2 liter camelback. THANK YOU MOM AND DAD! I have already used the lamp and Osprey. I can't wait to use the pot this weekend!

From there we stopped by a place called Dolce for some Organic Frozen Yogurt. So delicious. I got the Tart FroYo with blueberries, blackberries and coconut. While at Dolce, we made our plans. Our goal: Jenny Lake. We hopped into the car and began our drive. Unfortunately, (actually, more like fortunately) we came across four bull moose. That's right. Not one. Not two. FOUR! Since moose have rapidly left Yellowstone due to the loss of Old Growth forests after the fire, it is virtually impossible to come across these guys. As a result, we spent over twenty minutes observing these dudes. They were SO COOL! Finally, we pulled ourselves away, and decided it was time for us to head over to our dinner plans.

For dinner, we met with David, Ellen, Walter and Gladys. Ellen had found time amidst her incredibly busy day to make a delectable lasagna, dinner roles, salad and homemade eclairs. It was so wonderful to sit around, eating and conversing. To hear stories from everyone. To observe. To listen. To learn. It was just great. Probably one of my favorite parts of the trip. Walter and Gladys are super cute! Walter really reminds me of my Grandpa Landis (they are brothers). We even had them call each other on the phone while we were there.

Eventually, we decided Walter and Gladys needed to get some shuteye. We moved over to David and Ellen's house where we looked at pictures, watched some home videos and enjoyed their immaculately beautiful home. After a long while, we decided sleep was necessary and made our way our comfy cozy beds.

In the morning, Ellen and David helped Walter and Gladys over for a delicious breakfast. Ham, Eggs and funny cake. Yum! We had such a wonderful time talking that we almost were late getting off for Church. Finally, Ellen and mom realized what time it was and we threw ourselves into the car. We barely had time to say our farewells and thank you's!

We were at the Church that Don pastor's in no time. It was a really great service. But the sad part was that we had to say goodbye to Don and Bev at the end. Hopefully I can come back next year and can hang out with them again!

For lunch we met with Steve and his wife Debbie at the Bunnery. Steve is another cousin of mom's. But he is not brother to Don and David. I really enjoyed talking with them. Very down to earth and real. I wish we could have spent more time with them, but we had to run. Mom and dad needed to get to Bozeman, MT that night to fly out the next morning. Bozeman is roughly 6 hours away from Jackson, WY. We said our goodbyes, grabbed some coffee at the place Steve recommended, and we were off.

We only made a few stops on the way home, per recommendation of cousin David. We stopped at the Glacier and Oxbow Bend Overlooks to get amazing photos of the Grand Tetons. At Oxbow Bend, there were some painters trying to capture the same images. It was so cool to see them working! Once back in Yellowstone, we also stopped at Isa Lake. This is a lake on the continental divide that the West side eventually drains into the Pacific Ocean and the East side eventually drains into the Atlantic Ocean. How amazing to be in such a place. It was probably a good thing that it was raining, otherwise we would have wanted to stay for a longer period of time.

Eventually, we made it back to Gardiner. Mom and dad needed to get on the road, but we decided to take the time for one final meal. We went to Rosie's to grab some grub. It was such fine food, but we found out we weren't really that hungry once the food arrived. That means: YUMMY LEFTOVERS! Hooray!

But, after dinner, it was time to say goodbye. We gave our hugs and kisses and then it was time to go. We parted ways and I headed back to Mammoth. I miss them already and can't wait to see them in Omaha!

Back in Mammoth, I quickly unpacked, got my stuff together and was quickly intercepted by my friends to come out to a campfire. I love my friends here! And I'm so glad my family got to meet them!

Many things have happened yesterday (Monday) and today (Tuesday), but I am going to save that for the next post, otherwise this will be more overwhelming than it already is.
Night all! Until next time.