Hi everyone! I’m back from vacation, and feeling quite refreshed from the long trip we were on. 18 days of camping and traveling across the country. A mere 5,000 miles of driving! I’ll have a camping recap soon on my blog, but right now I’m taking a break from my millionth load of laundry to say Hi and take a peek at some the other blogs since I haven’t had time to catch up on them yet. You’d think I’d have plenty of time to read blogs in the car when we were driving for 10-14 hours at a time, but nope, I didn’t! I hope everyone is doing well!
On my trip I did get to do a little bit of running (not much!), some bike riding, and a whole bunch of hiking. We went to 4 National Parks – The Badlands (South Dakota), Grand Teton (Wyoming), Glacier (Montana), and Theodore Roosevelt (North Dakota). Even though it was a long trip, it really went by so fast. Even the hours and hours of driving! (my husband may have a different opinion on that because he did all of the driving)
Here’s some highlights for now…
The Badlands were “out of this world” unique. Had an amazing sunset too!
We did some fun hikes at the Badlands.
The Grand Tetons had amazingly beautiful scenery. OMG at every turn.
We saw so many animals in the Grand Tetons too!
And hey, a bear was on our trail. OMG for sure.
I ran in Victor, Idaho. Pretty flowers and mountains in the background 🙂
Some days it rained. We still hiked anyways!
This one might be on my Christmas cards!
We saw wonders of the world… or maybe just fun stuff 🙂
The lakes and streams at Glacier were clear and blue. Just breathtaking.
And speaking of breathtaking, our bike ride in the cold rain was breathtaking for a number of reasons. Did anyone say “bear encounter” again? 😉
I did a few runs on the trails.
All in all, we had an amazing time. It was so wonderful to spend time with my family, and especially with my kids. On so many other days, my kids are too busy with their own activities, but for these few weeks, it was our activities. Lots of great memories were made.
I’ll leave you with this funny story… last night (our first night home), I woke up in the middle of the night and was disoriented on where I was. I thought I was still camping. Then my black cat jumped up on me in bed and I freaked out because I thought it was a wild animal attacking me!! LOL!!!!!
Need some more inspiration? I’m linking up with Deborah at Confessions of a Mother Runner and Kim from Running on the Fly for their Weekly Run Down. Check out all of the fun blogs there!
Q: Did you go to see fireworks or to a party for July 4th?
Nope, not me. Spent most of the day in the truck driving home!
Q: Has anyone ever been to any of those National Parks?
Oh wow looks like a fantastic vacation. I cannot wait to read more about it.
This trip really went well. You just never know how a family will fare when spending 110 hours together in a truck but we rocked it!
Nope, no fireworks this year (except for a few random ones in the ‘hood). We’ve been to the badlands a few times (as a kid, and with the hubs and family). I loved seeing all the pics in Insta, and the stories with them 😉 Glad you made it home safely!
I’m not sure how the trip went by so dang fast! Sigh. I’m looking forward to taking another trip already!!
Your trip looks awesome! I’ve never been out west and really want to go.
It’s hard to believe that some people get to look at that amazing scenery every day! So beautiful out there.
Oh, gosh! How stunning! I am so glad you were able to get away to enjoy so much beauty. That’s a vacation that looks right up my alley!
And that bear! Eeek!
I have been to about 14 national parks, but none of those! I’ve recently been reading some books about national parks, so Badlands is now on my radar (and Teddy Roosevelt, too) — the other two were already on my park wish list!
Sounds like an amazing trip. So glad you had a good time. That’s too funny about your cat “attacking” you!
Welcome back! Your pictures are great. Sounds like you all had a wonderful time.
I’ve never been to any of the National Parks.
Your cat was happy you were home.
So Happy For You And The Family!!
Reading through the adventure and enjoying these photos of yours. You are so right about the Badlands. Its a mini Zion and littered with moon rocks. Also, tones of dinosaur bones as well as fossilized sea creatures.
Embarrassing enough, haven’t made it to the Grand Tetons. Such a blow it on my park. Side note here, I should be in Montana right now for a Biathlon event. Your photos are beautiful from the GT and everything is a little more amazing with those peaks in the background.
Love the jolly green giant and wall drug jackalope photo!! Looking forward to the rest of the adventures. Welcome Home
Cheers
Thanks! I went to Yellowstone two years ago and I didn’t even know that Grand Teton existed! It was a really enjoyable vacation and I’m so glad we could go.