You know how some people are beach babies, and some are outdoorsy and others (like me!) are much more at home in a city. Well, I need there to be a mountain type – not in the hillbilly way – hello, I’m a city girl! And can it include us non-sporty types? Because while I have no idea how to ski, I freaking love the mountains! I’m certainly not outdoorsy – as Uncle D would say, I dislike all the outdoor things – the heat, the bugs, the lack of plumbing, the sweating.
And yet, the mountains call to me with their piercing blue skies and gorgeous vistas at every turn. The high altitudes with their low humidity and lack of mosquitoes. Oh, and can I tell you, my wild curly hair has never looked better!
Where’s all this coming from? See, we took a family trip to Idaho, Wyoming and Utah. Do we call it The West? It’s not the Pacific Northwest, I don’t think; we’re not really close to the sea. It’s certainly not the Midwest – that’s where I live! It’s not High West, that’s the Utah whiskey! I can’t say I went to the Mountains – that could mean any number of things! Do I say The Tetons if I also went to Idaho and SLC?
I dunno. Whatever we call this magical place, it was fantastic.
While we didn’t spend more than a couple days on any of our stops, we did cover a decent amount in our week of adventuring – Salt Lake City, Jackson Hole, the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone, followed by a family wedding in Idaho.
Our journey started in SLC. We barely spent 24 hours there, but we managed to hit a couple highlights – Temple Square, lunch in a canyon and even a quick kid-free stop at a cidery. Let’s just take a moment to talk about that lunch, shall we? I discovered just how quickly a single cocktail could hit me at altitude! A few sips and I could feel the morning’s airport hustle and flight just melt away. By the end of the delicious cocktail I was fully in vacation mode!
Leaving the city, we headed north, with pit stops at Antelope island in the Great Salt Lake and some natural hot springs in southern Idaho. Given that we were traveling through three states with 6 people, the youngest being only 7, we made remarkably few stops in a day full of driving.
When we were feeling slightly boiled at the hot springs, we washed up, picked up some popsicles to cool off and made our way to the next destination: Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Nothing like starting the day with 80 degrees and sunscreen and ending with rain and yanking jeans on ungracefully in the van before dinner!
Over the next three days, we explored the Jackson valley – gondolas and chair lifts in Teton Village, alpine slides at one of the Jackson resorts, strolling downtown, and the cowboy dinner with just the right mix of cheese and sincerity. Of course, with a spiral staircase and a full bunk bed each, the girls probably wish we had spent more time relaxing in our gorgeous rental condo. There’s so much we didn’t do, which just means we have to come back and explore some more!
Close up! The Jackson Hole Gondola
Aside – I’m aware some might say I should start this post over and write like a travel blogger. You know, with tips about lodging and activities. The kind people save on Pinterest. That’s not really where this blog is yet, so I’ll just see where this post takes me. Who knows, perhaps I’ll circle back to a Pinterest-worthy post at some point!
Ok, non-sequitur over. On our final evening in Jackson, we drove into Grand Teton National park to board a float trip down the Snake River. Oh man. The whole 3 hour ride was like being in a screensaver pic. Every few minutes the sky would change as the sun dropped lower in the sky. The girls were cheerful, despite the cold and the need to be quite in order to see wildlife – and wildlife we saw! Racoons, beavers, eagles, and even moose! Yes, I devoted a good amount of energy trying to capture a worthy photo, but I did put down the camera too, to just enjoy the boat ride with my peeps.
Early the next morning we took a really really long detour to Idaho – by way of Yellowstone National Park! (we turned a 2-hour drive into a full day escapade!) Granted, we saw only a teeny corner of this massive park, but we did manage a front row seat to see Old Faithful. Well, some of us did. With the gently winding roads, back row seating and snack free-for-all, the Little ended up carsick.
If you’ve been to Yellowstone or probably other national parks, you’ll know there aren’t many options for emergency stops on park roads! It took all four adults but we managed to clean her up and get up to the Old Faithful Lodge to clean up. Afterward, we stationed the Husband and the Little in the cozy lounge and the rest of us went out to stake out our viewing spots.
With the show over, we grabbed a quick lunch at the Old Faithful Inn. Then the Little and I found a sofa and she took a nap while I sipped wine and people watched. Meanwhile, the Big hung out with her dad and grandparents. She even got to see the geyser erupt a second time before we all piled back into our rental van… in SNOW! Snow. In June. In Yellowstone. It was crazy! By the time we crossed into Montana, snow was accumulating on the grassy fields and dripped down speed limit sides. I know it doesn’t sound like anything special, but it was sort of mesmerizing to see big white flakes falling from the sky as we started the final leg of the drive.
We wrapped up the trip west in southern Idaho to attend a family wedding. It was really quite picturesque – an intimate and very sweet wedding in a beautiful park followed by a reception complete with a taco dinner, a coffee truck and even s’mores after the sun set! The kids had a blast and we enjoyed bonding with a side of the family we don’t see that often.
The day after the wedding we flew home, tired but madly in love with the West. I don’t know if it’s possible to tire of the mountain vistas at every turn. The travel junkie in me is elated to have visited three new states and excited to watch the girls develop this same passion for seeing the world. We’re already talking about how we want to go back and explore more of this area. As luck would have it, the bride and groom now live in SLC so I hope they’re ready for houseguests!
