Amidst all the fun the guys had visiting Grandma & Grandpa Nack in Big G this past summer, I neglected to share photos of our evening out exploring hot air balloons in Galena Territory with our Murray/Mahoney cousins. So, taking a little break from Yellowstone pics, here’s a little gallery. Note that this was during Hen’s unfortunate but mercifully brief “roll eyes to ruin every photo” phase, so at Finn’s urging I added a little something extra to the final shot. 🙂
“Hey Dad, call me ‘Hannibal Deflector!'” yelled Finn as he & G-Man duked it out with me in our long-awaited “epic snowball fight.” We’d climbed some 4,000 via the tram at Teton Village, where we were staying at the local hostel. While Margot wisely kept her feet dry, the rest of us trudged to the top of the snowy hill to glimpse the Grand Tetons poking through the clouds. Mippy (Finn’s robot dinosaur) made the ascent & an appearance, and we were treated to seeing a paraglider toss himself off the mountaintop. Oh, and happily we didn’t need bear spray. 🙂 Check out our little gallery from the adventure.
Driving up from Salt Lake City, we happened upon the charming little town of Lava Hot Springs. Although we found some amazing pizza & square-shaped ice cream cones (!), we didn’t have time for a dip in any of the local springs. Happily Margot was able to rejigger our travel plans & book us a place to stay on our return trip.
Check out a gallery & quick video showing the amazingly beautiful evening we got to spend taking a dip with our dudes!
The first full day of our Yellowstone trip saw us make our way to Jackson, Wyoming for a whole bunch of adventures, including:
For our first night’s stay en route to Yellowstone, Margot somehow found a super funky, sword-filled Quonset hut with its own treehouse. After driving through hours of snowy darkness (what we dubbed “the jellyfish,” given its appearance in our headlights), we were greeted by colorful & charming retired fire chief Jonathan. He told us that he’d built the treehouse for his grandkids & that he now runs ropes courses for student groups. The cabin itself had been built to house workers who’d been constructing a nearby dam, after which it was disassembled & moved up to its current location.
As you can see in our photo gallery and in the video below, we all had a blast staying there—especially the dudes!
Last weekend Finn & I joined his Webelos scout crew on what proved to be a rather epic hike in the Santa Cruz mountains just off Highway 1. As you can see in our gallery, on Saturday we climbed & climbed over the course of a six-mile trail, then set up our rather sad & bizarre little pup tent. Thankfully Sunday was mostly downhill, and upon returning to civilization, Finn was more than happy to take me up on my offer of an immense burger.
…add one Hen, apply liberally; observe from a safe distance. :-p
