One More Thing

I had some technical difficulties getting the last post up and did not get to write everything I wanted to.  My aunt and uncle are amazing second-parents to me and are the reason that their boys are so fun to be around. ( I couldn't find a satisfactory picture for them) Mrs. and Mr. Alders are fantastic third-parents to me and graciously let me inhabit their house when I need to. We have grown up with all ten of their children and are blessed to have them living so close to us. The Lord has been gracious to us by surrounding us with many, many friends (more than I can name), all of whom are great, godly people who influence our lives no matter where they live and He has been so compassionate to place some of the best friends I know so close to us.

Finally Home

We are finally home after way too many hours of sitting in the car. On the way home we stopped at South Pass City, Wyoming, where there is an old gold mining community, and Bandelier National Park in New Mexico, where there are age-old Pueblo Indian cave dwellings.

Bandelier National Park. Bryce would have been overcome with joy if we would have left him there to live in the caves. He loved it.

South Pass City

 Both places were really neat and very educational but I couldn't help the nagging desire to get home fast. I will miss many things about Wyoming, including cooler weather, but I won't miss anything there more than I missed the familiar luxuries of our home town. Nothing can replace frequent visits from neighbors or the hot Texas sun that makes 50 degree water feel refreshing, not unbearable. Bryce says he is ready for "a proper swim." What I've missed more than anything is the company of my neighbors (on both sides ;)). Robert Frost once said, "Good fences make good neighbors" but in our case I think the phrase would go, "No fences make better neighbors." There are next to no boundaries between our house and the neighboring houses. We have known each other for ages and I am extremely blessed to have my neighbors (and cousins) also be my best friends in the whole wide world. So, naturally, after being gone for ten days I was ready to come home to these wonderful people. 

You know what they say: Cousins are as close as brothers. Actually, they don't say that...I made it up. But it's true. These four boys are my brothers, no matter what anyone else says.

I am convinced that material things can contribute a lot to making one's life pleasant, but, basically, if you do not have very good friends and relatives who matter to you, life will be really empty and sad and material things cease to be important. David Rockefeller

Last Day in the Tetons

Today was our last day in Jackson and it was a great one. We got up and went to Nora's for breakfast, which is a restaurant that was featured on Diners, Drive-In's, and Dives. They make delicious breakfasts.

We met some really nice South Africans who took our picture.

They make pancakes that are the size of the breakfast plates!! They are huge!! I got banana bread french toast with chocolate chips. It was extremely delectable. Then we went to the grocery store to get food for the trip back home and then met Aunt Susie at Shirt Off My Back, a Jackson Hole souvenir shop. We got some great souvenir shirts. We were originally planning on going fishing this afternoon but it started raining so we hung out at the house for a while. We finally came up with an alternative plan and went to an old Mormon village across from Grand Teton National Park.

After that, we went to The Village in the park where people ski in the winter and rode the gondola to the top of one of the mountains. We had a beautiful view of the surrounding mountain ranges from up on the mountain top.

On the way home, we had the privilege of seeing a bald eagle sitting in a field. It's so much more awesome to see one in the wild than it is in a cage in the zoo because it is there of its own accord. When you see a bald eagle in a zoo, you are seeing the symbol of American freedom in a cage. 

On the way out of the park, we stopped at Roadhouse Brewery for the adults to try some beer and us kids got some ice cream and played around outside. 

We saw some trumpeter swans after we left the brewery.

Then we got pizza from Pinky G's and watched The Help. We are heading out early in the morning and making some stops at national parks along the way. We have had a fantastic time here and hope to come back sometime in the future. It has been an incredible experience.

Hump Day in the Tetons

Today we returned to String Lake with a rental paddle board, two kayaks, and four tubes. My aunt, Susie, gave us a quick demonstration on how to paddle board and my brothers took off in the kayaks. When we got there, it was still pretty chilly outside and none of us were really ready to get into the water so the tubes weren't really of much use.

Paddle boarding is one of the funnest things I have ever done. Thankfully, the boards are really stable and don't require much balance from the paddler. Part of the reason the experience was so amazing was probably because of the fantastic view. You are literally gliding through water with the Tetons surrounding you. 

I wished I would have had a fishing rod because there were soooooo many fish (trout I think) in the lake. It really is very hard to describe the feeling of paddle boarding at the foot of the mountains. It was probably the most incredible thing I have ever experienced, to say the least. My mom reminded us to take in the view and record it in our minds instead of focusing on trying to capture it on camera. No matter how long I sat on that board and looked around, I could not take it all in. There was too much beauty for my mind to wrap itself around. It was too awesome. I looked and looked, trying to memorize the landscape and ingrain it into my very consciousness but I couldn't do it. It was actually quite frustrating. Almost as frustrating as taking picture after picture and not even starting to capture the beauty of a place. I took in as much as I could though, and that was enough for me to be in awe at the Handiwork of Our Creator.
After five hours out in the sun, my siblings and I were pretty worn out and so declined the invitation to go to the Jackson Farmer's Market with my parents and Aunt Susie and Sarah(her daughter). We instead hung out at the house and watched Hawaii Five-O. When the adults got back with their produce they started to pack up and we headed out for a "fake camp-out." Originally, we were going to actually camp out and sleep in tents in Bridger-Teton National Forest but when my mom's back started bothering her on the trip up here, we decided it would be best not to sleep on the hard ground. So, our camp-out turned into a cook-out with the family and some of my aunt's friends. By the way, Aunt Susie has two daughters: Sarah and Catherine. They are a ton of fun. We cooked a bunch of chicken bratwurst and had a nice campfire until a storm hit us and we had to evacuate to our cars.

You can see the storm clouds closing in. The wildflowers were beautiful.

That's my Aunt Susie in the center. She's pretty darn cool.

The plan was to roast marshmallows and make s'mores after supper but because of the rain we had to clear out early so we made s'mores on the back porch of my aunt's house. 

My dad went a little crazy on the lighter fluid...he's like that.

Oh! And we saw two bighorn sheep which are apparently pretty rare in the area.

Something to Consider

"In the midst of the complexities of modern life, with all its pressures, the spirit of man needs to refresh itself by communion with unspoiled nature. In such surroundings-- occasional as our visits may be-- we can achieve that kind of physical and spiritual renewal that comes alone from the wonder of the natural world"
Laurance S. Rockefeller

Mr. Rockefeller couldn't have said it better. Nature is a sort of therapy. It's the passage from the "new and improved" world of the 21st century to the old and better world of my childhood. One of the main parts of my childhood was soaking up the natural world. We explored all the time in the woods behind our house and playing in the mud was one of the highest privileges that my younger self could receive. We loved to get to play outside and it made for a happier and healthier childhood. These days, though, many children lack that joy and health because they are growing up in a "more advanced" society where technology is the center of many people's lives. Parents no longer have to teach their young children colors or the alphabet; they can just sit them down with an iPad that will teach them those things. Don't get me wrong, technology is very useful and I think even a necessary part of life but when enjoyment through technology begins to replace enjoyment through God's Creation, that is when something needs to change. God did not surround us with so much natural beauty for us to sit inside and ignore it. Nature is, as Mr. Rockefeller said, "a kind of physical and spiritual renewal" because the natural world declares the majesty of God. When we experience nature, we are reminded of the power and glory of Our Lord. It revives our faith in Him, creating the renewal that Laurance Rockefeller spoke of. 

Piedra Amarilla (Yellowstone)

We spent the whole of today at Yellowstone. My Aunt Susie gave us directions on what to see and what to skip and we headed out. We stayed on the South Loop and stopped at six different attractions. First we stopped at the West Thumb geysers, which were really neat. I can only imagine being one of the first people to discover a huge hole in the ground spewing hot steam and boiling water. They're pretty amazing.

All the colors are so beautiful.

Then we went to  Mud Volcano and Dragon's Mouth, which were awesome.

There were buffalo just hanging out all over the place here.

The Mud Volcano was literally a boiling mud pit.

Buffalo everywhere. And it was very sunny. :)

This is called the Dragon's Mouth because the waves rolling out are like a tongue and the waves hitting the sides of the cavern sounded like a dragon roaring.

Next, we went to to Canyon Village to see Lower Falls which was in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The Canyon is huge and beautiful with a river running through the bottom of it. 

Lower Falls is the waterfall in the center and the river from it runs all the way through the canyon.

We took an extremely strenuous hike to get closer to the actual waterfall. It included several steep switchbacks and 328 steel steps down a rocky mountain. The steepness of the stairs combined with the high altitude made for a really hard ascent back to the starting point. Even though I'm very sore, the view at the end of the hike was worth the pain.

We tromped back to the car and drove over to Firehole Falls, a smaller and shallower waterfall. 

Next, we went to the Midway Geysers, which looked very similar to the West Thumb geysers.

Last, we went to Old Faithful, which wasn't set to erupt for another 40 minutes when we arrived so we visited the gift shop and got some ice cream. 

After some delicious ice cream we headed outside and waited for the eruption to begin. There were many false alarms and after a while the show actually started. The boiling water will get up to 180 feet up in the air. 

We had a great day and got to see quite a bit of wildlife, which was exciting because I had been searching for a while to see some. We saw quite a bit of bison, some elk, two ospreys, and a few chipmunks that were too fast to catch on camera. Oh! And we saw several pelicans, which I didn't know even lived in Wyoming. You learn something new every day. We came home exhausted and my aunt had chili ready for us. I don't think I've ever been so happy to see chili in my life. I'm sure we will all sleep great tonight. 

God's Creativity in the Tetons

Today we had a full day. We went on a 6 mile hike to Phelps Lake and back. The big attraction there is a huge rock that brave people like to jump off of. It was a beautiful hike! 

Imagine the sound of rushing water to get the whole effect.

We finally made it to Phelps Lake and it was beautiful. It's amazing to me how God can take something as simple as a large rock jutting out on top of a body of water and make it into a playground for so many people to enjoy. Someone please explain to me how it is possible to look at something like that and deny the existence of an Intelligent Designer. Actually, I'll explain it to myself. Some people are so incredibly ignorant and blind that they refuse to see what is thrown in front of them. A passage of Scripture from Romans comes to mind in which Paul condemns those that do not know God because His qualities are clearly represented through nature. Atoms and amino acids, no matter how long they evolve, do not have inherent creativity or intelligence to construct a natural playground. Something like that requires the Hand of a Divine Creator.

In the end, Anabelle was the only one brave enough to make the 30 foot jump into the ice cold water.

Unfortunately, the water was so cold that even my mom and I could not get in deeper than our ankles. It was so cold that it made our feet ache and it took Anabelle's breath away (literally) when she landed. But the hike was definitely worth it. We were thoroughly exhausted by the end of the sixth mile and so we went and bought tubes and floated down Flat Creek, which runs through the town. What started out being a relaxing, scenic float trip ended up as a pretty fast and intense trip. Every turn had us paddling like crazy trying not to get thrown into the tree branches hanging down on each side of the creek. No matter how hard we paddled we all ended up in a tree at some point. I personally got hit by probably 167 or more branches. But it was still a lot of fun. We went to dinner at Snake River Brewery and had some delicious beer and food. 

Smokin' Mac at Snake River Brewery

Sabbath in the Tetons

Today we took it easy after church at First Baptist Jackson. We had an easy lunch at the house and Anabelle, Bryce, and I rode bikes to the National Elk Refuge (which is currently empty). After hanging out for a while around the house we went downtown and walked around some of the shops searching for souvenirs and just enjoying the town.

Yippi-I-O Candy Co. This place stressed my mom out but for us it was a lot of fun.

After we got back from exploring the downtown area, we packed up food for supper, planning on grilling bison burgers at String Lake in Grand Teton National Park. However, the area at String Lake was not as my aunt and I remembered it and there ended up not being any grills there so we played in the water for a while there and then visited Jenny Lake on our way out of the park.

String Lake

Let me tell you about my obsession with mountain-fed water. I get it from my mom. She likes to tell a story of when she and my dad and aunt and uncle went to the Smokey Mountains when she was pregnant with me and they swam in one of the cold creeks in the mountains. She recalls that I started moving like crazy when she got in the water. I think that day was the beginning of my 16 year long fetish. Ever since then, every time I see clear running water I am automatically drawn to it. It has a sort of magnetic force that I can't resist. I just have to get into the water. My mom is the same way. So, naturally, we were the first to enter the icy String Lake. It was wonderful. After we dried off and warmed up there, we stopped in at Jenny Lake and let me just say: words and pictures cannot describe the beauty of that place. The color of the water is beyond description. It is a perfect (as close to perfect as possible) rich blue and every ripple reflects the sun's light like a crystal. I think part of the dark blue color comes from the shadow that the towering Tetons cast over the water. And again, my siblings and I had to get down to the water.

These pictures do not do the landscape justice at all.

We had a nice drive back to the house as the sun was setting, turning the mountains into grey silhouettes across the backdrop of an orange sky. We sat outside and enjoyed the fresh air while we grilled bison burgers. Bison is very similar to beef in taste and texture but it is more flavorful than beef. It was delicious! By the way, Clayton just reminded me to tell y'all that it doesn't get dark until 10 o' clock here and it is completely bright outside by 5 o' clock. And we are one hour behind central time. We had a fantastic day today and have an exciting day planned for tomorrow.

  

Mornings in the Tetons

So, as I mentioned before, the outside air serves as the air conditioner in this house. The only problem is that the outside air was 34 degrees this morning and it's summer so it would be unreasonable to turn on the heater just during the night. So naturally it is quite chilly in the house and I have been walking around in a jacket. Mornings here are beautiful though, the sun rises and shines through the gaps in the mountains, piercing the cold air and creating a beautiful view.

This was around 9 this morning. The hill in the background is Crystal Butte.

We had a great breakfast that included pancakes, eggs, and elk sausage. Elk is delicious by the way! It is sold in stores here along with bison meat (which is also really good).
P.S. New title inspired by a good friend of mine from The Pelican State.

Wyoming at Last

We finally arrived in Jackson Hole, Wyoming after many, many hours of sitting in the car. Here in Jackson we are at 6,209 feet. After eating some delicious chicken fajitas, we walked to the square to get some local ice cream despite the fact that we were shivering while strolling the four blocks to the downtown area.

This place has some of the best ice cream I have ever tasted!

On the way up here I came to a few realizations about people. First of all, so many people lack appreciation for the scenery that surrounds them. I have seen multiple people in cars that we passed in the mountains who were either on their phones or doing things other than surveying the land around them. I, on the other hand, was riding with the window down studying the land around me taking in every rock, tree, and wildflower that we passed, trying not to let the beautiful Hoback and Snake Rivers pass out of my sight. My thought is that if you are going to travel several hours through changing scenery that God has been so gracious to bless us with, you need to absorb every part of it. It's not every day that you get to experience another part of the nation and see things that you don't normally get to see so take it in while you can. The second observation that I made was how accustomed we are to Texas heat. I had the window rolled down trying to enjoy the 71 degree mountain air and a 9 year old brother of mine (who will remain unnamed) was complaining that he was cold. Back in Texas, I bet it was scorching hot and there my brother was, in more than comfortable weather, complaining that he was cold. Anyway, we finally made it to Wyoming, and let me tell you, if you're going to go to Wyoming, you need to go to Jackson Hole. It is a charming little town in a valley surrounded by the Teton Mountains. It is beautiful. I came last summer with my grandparents and was just as awestruck this year as I was last year. The mountains are gorgeous and there are so many hiking and exploring opportunities that I know will keep us very busy.

These are elk antlers that are collected every year from the National Elk Refuge here in Jackson. There are four arches in the square.

Also, because it gets so cool at night, there is no air conditioning in my aunt's house. They sleep with the windows open. I love it!