Week Fifteen

It only seemed appropriate that it we were basically rained out on our second to last week in Yellowstone. Our hearts were heavy and I don't think that we were quite ready to leave. We again have fallen in love with this place and are sure that it will be in our future for many years to come. If not the town of West Yellowstone, we will make Montana a place we always come. It stole our hearts in the same way that Kauai has. It's a place you never can quite get out of your mind when you leave. It's always there, calling for your return.

 

The town is starting to wind down as the cold weather approaches. Although we did have pretty decent weather when Mom and Marty came last week. Now the nights are getting colder and colder and the rains are coming more often. We blast our heater and drip our sink so the pipes won't freeze. Then we basically curl up in blankets to read books, watch movies, or mess around on the computer. There isn't much to do without a car in the rain. All the kids and college students are going back to school so the only tourists we have are over the age of 60 or internationals. It almost feels like a ghost town around here compared to July!

 

I did have to go to work one day when it was pouring rain. The funny thing was that it was half hailing the size of peas and then it was still half raining. I have never quite seen this kind of weather before. I layered up in all the warm clothes I could and then jumped on my bike to head to work. I was hoping to catch a ride with Charlotte but she had called in that day. So I just went for it on my bike. I could barely see because it was coming down so hard. I thought if i just peddled faster than I would get less wet. I think it back fired on me. I was getting pelted so hard by the hail and the rain was literally running down my body. I had sunglasses on to try and shield my eyes from the madness. That also backfired on me. Water was collecting on the top and then just streaming down my face. By the time I got to work (1 mile away) I was beyond drenched. My hair looked like I had just gotten out of the shower. Mascara was running down my face like I had been crying for days. My jeans were soaked, my shoes had puddles of water in them. As I stripped away the layers of clothing I had on, there was only more water to be found. But I didn't really have any spares so I just borrowed a t shirt from my work and decided I would just have to wait for my jeans and shoes to dry on their own. There was nothing I could do but laugh.......even though all I wanted to do was cry. Haha! Such is life with no car!

 

That is basically the only exciting thing that happened this week. We are just hoping that the weather clears up so we can do one last camping trip at Hebgen with all of our friends before we leave. Crossing our fingers!

Week Fourteen

It was Monday night and Jordan and I were just getting off of work. We headed home pretty exhausted from a long weekend of work. Just as we were getting settled in I got the strangest text from my mom. She was asking me for my address saying she had to send me something. It was strange to me because it was late and I am pretty sure I had already given her my address. But I gave her our post office box anyhow. She replied almost instantly saying that she couldn't send it to my post office she needed my physical address. I just kept thinking how weird she was being about it... and I honestly did not even know my physical address haha. We just use other landmarks to tell people where we live. Then suddenly she called me.... saying JUJU give me your address. It was just all so weird... I was asking her why she is up so late and trying to explain that I didn't even know my physical address. That's when the news came out.... her, Marty and the kids had surprised us with a trip up to West Yellowstone. She was HERE in our town!!!! I almost had a heart attack when she said that. I tried to explain where we lived and they came over to say hello before they went and parked for the night. I was just in complete shock. I had absolutely zero idea that they were coming up and my mind was just blown.

 

About five minutes later they pulled up in front of our little RV spot towing a trailer they had borrowed from Uncle Gil. It was just unreal. We gave each other lots of hugs as they tried to explain they were trying to make it to town to surprise me at work... that really would have killed me ha! They also said they were here for the next four days and wanted to hang out! We planned for breakfast in the morning and they pulled away to their campsite and I just stood on the curb in awe for a while. I have been dying to show my mama Montana and now I get to!

On Tuesday morning we met the four M's for a late breakfast and then decided since both Jordan and I had the day off that we would take them into the park! We decided to hit up the south loop to check out some different geysers, mud pots and mostly to see Old Faithful! We had such a great time exploring and we even got to see some things that Jordan and I have never seen before. The big storm that hit last week had cleared up and we had some fairly nice weather. It was perfect to explore in!

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It happened to be Mr. Martin's 11 birthday so we had a little birthday dinner and he got to open some presents! He always makes things fun with his great little entertaining spirit!

 

 

DAY TWO ADVENTURING
On the next day Jordan had already made some plans that he couldn't bail on so I jumped back in the truck with the fam and we did some exploring of the north loop. It has a lot more driving involved but we all survived. It was also pretty amazing because we got to see a lot more animals. It seemed that every time Mackenzie said....I wish we could see a .... the animal would appear in the next five minutes! She was our good luck charm. We definitely enjoyed the day and once again I got to see parts of the park that I hadn't seen yet! We even got to take the kids fishing for a bit. A storm was rolling in though and we got soaked. But it definitely will be a lasting memory that is for sure and they were in good spirits!

 

On Thursday I had to head back to work which kind of felt like torture knowing that my family was there but they came in to visit and walk around town. For the next couple of days while there were there we would just go visit before and after work and they did some exploring on their own. To say the least it was probably the best surprise I have ever had! It was a much needed time too. We were hitting our four month away from the family and we are always antsy to see a familiar face! I am so incredibly grateful that they secretly planned this whole trip and took the time off of work to make the long 1000 mile journey up to visit. My heart is so full it could explode!!!!