our trip // the sights

Get your patient pants on because this post is going to be a tad long and full of photos and facts. Although, I'm proud of myself for cutting it down to under 20 photos of all the sights and "attractions" we saw and visited both in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. One thing you may notice is the lack of people/tourists in the pictures and that's not because I photoshopped them out. There just weren't that many people there. It was awesome! I had done a lot of research and reading about the best times to go and not be surrounded by crowds, and there seemed to be two very definitive answers: May and September. If you don't mind some chilly evening temps, I would HIGHLY recommend going in May - everything is very fresh, there's lots of new baby animals everywhere, and hardly any people. Also, if you're planning a trip to Yellowstone and/or the Tetons, this book was a crazy awesome resource. I read it for hours before our trip and always had it with me during the trip. It's full of tips, maps, hikes, restaurants, and reviews.

Now for the real reason we're here...

hello Wyoming! so glad I could finally add you to my list of "states I've been to."

we spent a night in the shadow of Devils Tower on the way to Yellowstone.

a photo op (thanks to this fence) with the Bighorn Mountains. also notice the lack of cars...on the interstate. so awesome.

lots of snow during a mountain pass through Montana.

my favorite feature at the Mammoth Hot Springs.

at the north entrance of the park before we went to explore Gardiner, MT.

an early morning walk around the boardwalks at the Norris Geyser Basin. this place was completely amazing and free of any other humans.

a hot-spring fed lake

a steaming stream in the Norris Geyser Basin

the breathtaking Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. I was half expecting John Muir to be sitting on a rock in the distance.

one of many boiling hot springs around the Old Faithful area. the water in these things was so beautiful and clear...and stinky.

Old Faithful...not gonna lie, but sort of a let down.

the boardwalk leading to the Grand Prismatic Spring, which would have been more grand if there wasn't so much steam

Tim taking the most scenic off-road pee of his life with this view of the Tetons.

before our trip, I had been in contact with a ranger out at Grand Teton National Park and we were able to get a behind-the-scenes tour of the Grand Teton Rescue Cache and see a bunch of Bob's (Tim's dad) equipment that was destroyed during his climb of the Tetons back in July 2010. Read more about the storm and the amazing rescue effort here. It's a long, but extremely good article about the events of the rescue.

the money shot taken from Mormon Row.

we ended the week by spending some time in the town of Jackson amidst the high-end shops, awesome restaurants, and elk antlers.

our trip // exploring

Well folks, we've made it to the last two "categories" of our trip - "exploring" and "sights" - which coincidently contain some of my very favorite photos from the week. We'll start with exploring, the things we found while off-roading or hiking. While there are so many main attractions of the Yellowstone/Teton area - Old Faithful, Hot Springs, Tetons - the entire area is one giant mess of beautiful scenery everywhere you turn. Here were some of our favorite moments spent exploring.

at the top of the pass through the Bighorn Mountains

the valley by our campsite near Mammoth Hot Springs, and the Absaroka Range in the background

crystal-clear Jenny Lake. Tim is demonstrating his "Life Straw" - a tube the filters water so that it is drinkable.

cooling off in the snow during a hike

Tim's summit attempt of Teewinot. This is a sort of "Where's Waldo Tim" type of photo. Hint: look for a big rock.

splashing in the river near the Tetons. this is where we saw the marmot.

our trip // animals

All my reading and research leading up to our trip to Yellowstone sure set my hopes high for amount of  birds and beasts we'd see. I was a little nervous that we'd get out there and see nothing but robins and one lone buffalo. That was not the case, thank goodness. Within the first 20 minutes of entering the park, there were animals galore.

We saw many creatures throughout the week, but by far the largest concentration of animals was in Lamar Valley. We got up early one morning, made some instant coffee, grabbed some muffins, and drove for 45 minutes in the sunrise to this valley that plays host to hundreds of buffalo, antelope, and elk. It was beautiful. And I can definitely see why people get attacked/gored - the animals are so close and there's hardly ever anything separating you from them. It's amazing.

Throughout the week, we saw:
buffalo (by the hundreds)
elk
antelope
wolf
coyote
black bears
sandhill cranes
marmot
moose
black billed magpie

But by far the most exciting animal spotting of the entire week was the mama grizzly bear we encountered on a hike. JUST KIDDING. We never spotted a grizzly bear, even from the car, which looking back I'm kind of disappointed, but I'm sure I would've been a little freaked out in the moment.

one of many buffalo

a moose chowing down

our lone bear sighting, which was sort of tainted by the fact that they were crossing a bridge

sandhill cranes

early morning elk

a nasty little marmot

our trip // food

I have to admit that I haven't always been a hiker/backpacker/camper. My family would go on the occasional camping trip, but it was far from rugged. We're talking massive 4-room tent, 2-burner Coleman stove, pancakes for breakfast, and homemade casserole for supper. And then I met Tim. He introduced me to a whole new world of camping and being outside. The first backpacking trip I ever took was a long weekend on the Superior Hiking Trail. I carried everything I needed for the weekend on my back, so the luxuries for pretty minimal. And the food = dehydrated noodles, apples, peanut butter, and hard blocks of cheddar cheese; things that could withstand several days in a pack without refrigeration. It was all so exhilarating and uncomplicated. This is the type of camping we have fallen in love with.

So when it came to our trip out west, we were a little overwhelmed because this time, we would be "car camping," as we call it. We would always have access to our car which could house food and coolers. This meant we could actually have "real" food for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner. And that's exactly what we did. I spent the week leading up to our trip planning and shopping and cooking and freezing what meals I could so that when we would get back to our camp site at night after a long day of exploring, all we had to do was light a fire and reheat the food. Lunches had to be easy and accessible since most of the time we would be in the middle of sight-seeing, i.e. tuna and cheese wraps, fruit, peanut butter sandwiches. And breakfasts needed to be more than a granola bar, i.e. corned beef hash, sausage, fried egg and cheese sandwiches. I'm happy to say that all the prep was worth it and we ate good.

Lunch on the road (Murdo, SD) - chicken salad and cherry tomatoes.

Supper in the shadow of Devils Tower - Pad Thai and fruit.

Lunch break at our camp site in Mammoth - cold roast sandwiches, pickled veggies, and salt and vinegar chips.

Supper on a cool evening - chicken corn chili and banana muffins.

I also owe a huge thank you to both of moms who contributed things like meatballs, mashed potatoes, spaghetti pie, and muffins to our food cause of the week. It was all so delicious!

our trip // lodging

A good thing about all this rain and chilly weather we've been having so far this week is that it's forced me to be inside and tackle all the elements of our trip - going through photos, video, adding up receipts of expenses, etc. The photos have been downloaded and edited, the loads of laundry complete and folded, the camping gear aired out and stored, and the costs/savings totaled. It's a good feeling.

I thought I'd break down our trip into categories so I don't have one huge blast of photos all in one post. Plus, this way, I can look over our photos just a few more times and relive the beauty of the week.

Today's category is...

Our main "home" of the week was our REI Half Dome tent, and while I usually sleep pretty awful on the ground, my bro-in-law was kind enough to lend me one of the poshest Thermarests I've ever seen in my life. We're talking 6 inches of padded, insulated comfort as opposed to the usual 2 inches. Add in a quilt, sleeping bag, and real pillow = I slept like a baby.

One thing of the week that we both loved was getting on nature's schedule. We were usually up with the sun (and the birds) around 5:00am and cozied into our sleeping bags by 9:00pm. It was so wonderful. And the stars....oh, the stars! When I'd wake up in the wee hours of the night thinking my bladder might burst, checking to see what the stars were like was my motivation to crawl out of my warm sleeping bag cocoon.

Our camp site for 2 nights by Mammoth Hot Springs. The camp host told us that if we had to get up in the middle of the night to look around a little first because buffalo frequently hang out in the camp ground. And while I didn't have any midnight run-ins with a buff, there were plenty of cow pies right around our tent.

How cozy is that?

A view of Grand Teton from our camp at Jenny Lake Campground.

Our one night of "luxury" - the Buckrail Lodge in Jackson, WY. 

home again

The Tetons - my favorite destination of the whole week

We're home! And I'm very happy to report that everything pretty much went off without a hitch - the weather was phenomenal, the car didn't have any issues, and gas prices didn't make us want to scream and cry. As it is after any long vacation, there are mounds of laundry, dishes, and to-do lists to be tackled, but I just have to remember that they are all the result of one awesome week spent unplugged and unhurried in the rugged American west.

I am currently sorting through the photos from the week and am actually proud of myself. I had a goal of not "over-taking" photos during the week. It's so easy (for me, anyway) to think, "It's a digital camera so I'll just take 10 photos of every scene/shot just to be sure." And then I get home and find that I've got hundreds of photos to sift through. Not cool. But this time, I've found myself with just a little over 100 photos documenting our 9 days of adventure. Cool.

Highlights and more photos (and maybe video?!) coming soon. I promise.

p.s. - "What's in Tim's hand?" you may be asking. Yep, it's a knife. I didn't realize that until I saw the photo on my computer tonight. He said he had to be prepared. Classic.

but before we go...

As excited as I am for our trip, this week is significant for another reason, too. Did you know that I've been keeping a secret for the past 12 weeks? That's right, we're taking a "hitch hiker" all the way to Yellowstone a.k.a. there will be another Miller in the world come November 2013! Holy cow, I can't even believe how awesome it feels to say that! I've honestly relished the fact that this has been our little secret for the past few months, passing the evenings of "morning" sickness by pinning things to my secret baby Pinterest board, but with the first big appointment under our belts (we heard our baby's strong and fast heartbeat!) and the fact that everything is pointing to normal/healthy, I just can't keep it in any longer. So this trip will be even more special than we even thought it would be. We are so blessed and happy and ecstatic. God is so good!

So with that, I'd like to leave you with a little video that captures just some of the joy that has already come from this little one. To give a little context to the video, I had just handed Grandma D. a skein of baby yarn and asked her to make something for me. She didn't quite get it right away, but when she did...

we're having a baby! from Erica Miller on Vimeo.

away we go

via

I have been waiting for this week for a long time. For the past couple of years, I've been daydreaming of taking a trip out west. Just me, my man, the open road, and the great outdoors. And this week, my dream comes true. We have spent the week cooking, freezing, packing, prepping, downloading, and charging in preparation to hit the road early Saturday morning for Wyoming where we'll split the next week between Devil's Tower, Yellowstone National Park, and Grand Teton National Park. Our itinerary is set, the campsites reserved, the maps highlighted and routed, the bear spray purchased, and the road trip playlist finalized. All that's left is one more night's sleep and we're off into the wild blue yonder! Stay tuned for what I'm sure will be an obscenely large photo blast documenting our trip after we return. It's going to be epic.

miss south dakota

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I LOVE surprises. I seriously can't get enough of them! I love being on both the receiving and the giving end. And this past weekend, we pulled off a surprise party that has been in the making for about 25 years. It all started when my mom turned 21 and her BFF Tara kidnapped her, blindfolded her, drove her around, and had a big surprise birthday for her. Since then my mom has been patiently waiting and planning on "revenge," and since Tara has a milestone birthday coming up, mom thought it would be the perfect opportunity.

So to Platte we went, hauling everything you need to make a party for a past beauty pageant queen complete - hot pink streamers, sashes, rhinestones, and crowns. With the help of another friend, we had the whole evening planned, from snacks to games to gifts. By total chance, we even got one of Tara's pageant dresses that I wore for part of the night. It was hysterical. And she was SO surprised!

What a fun night to celebrate one of the most important women in my life. Tara, you are one of my most self-less, giving people I know. You make everyone around you feel special and important. I cherish all the road trips and late night conversations (and dessert plates!) we've had over the years. I am very blessed to have you in my life. Love you and happy birthday!

The invitation I designed for the party.

Surprise!

So many fun women in one place.

"Tara's 50 - let's show her some support!"