pkondz
Brace yourself for immediate disintegration
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2007
I made an executive decision for this TR. This is the beauty of running a dictatorship.
The TR, yes. The family?
You're more like the prime minister. Julie's the dictator.
Then I can do a wrap-up and move on to a TR for my weekend getaway with Julie to Disney World, which you have all been clamoring for over the last few weeks.
Well, some of you.
<cricket><cricket><cricket>
Ok, nobody’s exactly clamoring for it, but we did get some nice photos I can post.
Ooh. Pictures.
Some of you folks do multiple TR’s at once, and I honestly don’t know how you manage it.
Ditto. I have more than I can handle with one.
Also, today (February 5) is Sarah’s 14th birthday. So now we have both a 14-year-old girl and a 2-year-old boy in the house at the same time. Because we are idiots.
I doubt Julie is... so I'd say your statement is 50% accurate.
Still... dude.
A female teen and a "terrible twos" at the same time????
Anyway, I’m so proud of this young lady. She’s such a sweet, easygoing person. She’s priceless to me. It’s a privilege to be her father.
Nicely said.
Anticipation is always part of the fun, but it doesn’t work as well when you’re anticipating a 7-hour drive across nothingness. Such is the price of visiting some of these remote locations.
I've done those drives. I feel for ya.
It lies on the western shore of Yellowstone Lake, which is the largest body of freshwater above 7,000 ft. elevation in North America.
I like that "7,000 ft" part.
"This is the largest body of slightly saline water in the country!"
"This is the largest lake inhabited by sightless beavers in the country!"
"This is the largest lake between 3,452' and 3,486' in the country! If it rains, it's the 2nd largest."
Or, Julie and I did. The kids didn’t bother getting out of the van.
That amazing, huh?
Julie and I took turns walking around the visitor center to get a view of the lake. We both determined that it was still there.
Probably wet, too.
Before long, we were once again entering Grand Teton National Park.
<snicker>
We stopped at the Oxbow Bend overlook once more to drink in the beauty of the landscape.
That really is an amazing view.
Also, I really wanted to see more moose. Or meese.
Mooses.
We stopped at McDonald’s.
Good choice. After sitting in the van all day, it's nice to get things moving (rapidly).
let’s just hope you have a full charge on your iPods and portable DVD players. Not for me, of course. I’m driving.
Gotta get some of that "head's up" technology.
McDonald’s was very happy with us on this day, since we made a pit stop in Rock Springs for milkshakes to break up the drive.
Milkshakes are okay.
See? I wouldn’t lie to you.
Sure. You scraped that off the internets, didn't you.
We actually made it a full 10 miles before I had to hit the gas pedal again.
Next time try it with the engine off.
I did that once.
Forgot that the power brakes only work for a little while.
Here’s the best dam photo we could get from there.
dam fine foto.
I wanted to re-enter civilization with a touch of class.
Sadly, I had not learned anything from our trip the previous summer, when we’d entered Utah on a Sunday and found that the entire state was closed on Sundays. Three guesses what today was, and the first two don’t count.
Fursday!
(combination Thursday & Friday. Brings the weekend in quicker.)
Domino’s was open. Hey, it beat Chuck E. Cheese.
Wow. I didn't know Chuck E. Cheese was that bad!
…and watched in horror as it immediately froze solid, turned black, and fell off.
Hey! Now you're an honorary Canadian!
The kids, of course, jumped right in.
Yep. Kids are stupid that way.
There could be a dead elephant floating in the middle of live great white sharks surrounded by pond scum in there, and they’d still want to go swimming in the hotel pool.
So I sucked it up and jumped in, too.
And you're stupid too now! Way to go!
You know when you’re in the shower and the hot water suddenly craps out and you get that ice-cold blast on your back, and suddenly you find you can no longer exhale? Imagine that for about 20 minutes.
Been there. Remember the offer to come up here and stop at West Hawk Lake?
Yeah, it's like that.
Julie swam with the baby for a few minute and then announced she would go ahead and dry off and head up to order the pizzas.
Smart girl.
No one knows for sure why so many fossils were concentrated in this one spot.
Superbowl 150million BC.
Instead of harvesting every fossil they could find, the National Park Service has preserved the quarry itself, making hundreds of fossils visible still in the rock itself for all visitors who enter.
Cool!
I know I use the word “unique” quite a bit, but really, where else do you get to see actual dinosaur bones embedded in a hillside?
That's really interesting.
I could definitely see myself visiting.
You can compare a dinosaur’s femur to, say, an 18-month-old toddler (toddler not included).
I hate that.
If they're going to offer something like that, at least include the toddler.
See? They have them floating around the place. Just let everyone use them!
I’m sure he’ll remember this experience forever.
Or.... not.
so we needed to give them some time in our redneck dryer.
Not necessarily because we wanted more McDonald’s, but they had a playground so the kids could bounce off the walls in there for a little while. You do what you gotta do.
Been there.
Took both kids on a cross country drive to visit their aunt in Toronto.
Plotted out all the McDonalds with playgrounds.
and loved the various burger combinations on the menu
Those sound good!
But then I had a big laugh when I saw the name of the “build your own burger” option on the menu.
However, we did learn that every single thing in this place was made from scratch—burger patties, buns, bacon, fries, onion rings, even the sauces and ketchup
Whoa. I'm really liking this place.
Luckily, they had an “I Can’t Decide” option on the menu where she could get 2 sliders in different styles for $12.95. Perfect.
That's probably what I'd do.
Too many choices!
Great, great food, and highly recommended.
Noted!
I decided I would be derelict in my duty as a Trip Reporter if I did not sample this for you.
Thanks. Your sacrifice has been noted.
Ok, maybe they don’t milk their own cows, but still
Maybe they do.
Yes, and I’ll pay with my own money. How will you pay for yours?
Instead, they said the ice cream was actual Oreos that had been creamed(!). Don’t ask me how that works, because I have no idea. Anyway, after they make the ice cream from the Oreos, they also pour more Oreo chunks in.
mmmmm....
And so it came to pass that on the last night of our vacation, after covering approximately 3,000 miles, 5 states, and 10 National Park sites, we spent our final moments eating homemade ice cream on a pleasant summer evening in downtown Denver.
Sounds like the perfect way to end a trip.
and the rental car employee was impressed at how many miles we’d put on the van in 2 weeks.
I like to see the look on their faces when I tell them the mileage... which is free and unlimited.