Wyoming Trip 2010

So we just got back from a trip to Wyoming with Jeff's family...celebrating his parents' 30th anniversary! Only 6 days, but there's a lot to cover...I'll split it into 2 blogs so as not to (entirely) overwhelm.

Monday, July 5th:
We headed to the airport for Charlotte's first plane ride, and my first flight using the omni-pod for my diabetes. (It's attached to my body and I was so worried that I would set off an alarm going through security.) But fortunately the airport was uneventful...except that Jeff had stowed Charlotte's full water bottle in his check on bag, which had to be investigated by security. (No problems with my pod!) Charlotte also tried her first happy meal...

and was INCREDIBLE on the plane. Slept through the first flight, and hardly fussed during the 3+ hr flight from Dallas to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. (WHAT a tiny airport...we climbed off the plane on stairs.) The only sad thing was that she made friends with a 2 year old boy, Drew, who was sitting in front of us (they were holding hands and everything) and when we got on the second plane she kept looking for him expecting him to be right in front of us still.

By the time we got to WY we had just enough time to go out to eat in town...at Pizza Hut. (Everyone knows it's better in Wyoming.) Afterward we headed into Grand Teton National Park, which is actually where our cottage was located! Then off to bed- because with a time zone change 2 hrs earlier than ours, the clock may have said 10pm but we were exhausted like it was midnight.

Tuesday, July 6th:
We actually woke up before 9AM! Then Jeff, Charlotte and I did a little snooping around the cottage...we were right next to the pool area, and there was a tiny playground that we took Charlotte on. Her first slide! (Lots of firsts on this trip.)

Then we met Jeff's family for a cook out style breakfast on Jackson Lake. (Go pancakes.) The mountains were absolutely gorgeous...you really couldn't take a bad picture- although it was colder in the morning than I would have expected, getting down to around 38 degrees (F) at
night.

After pancakes we headed back to our lodge for a nap so Charlotte and I would have energy for the kiddie pool. Charlotte loved it...although with the water being 18 in. deep, whenever she decided to try sitting down, she was in way over her head and came up coughing. Also met a family with 10 kids...8 boys, 2 girls. I swear half the people at the pool must have been from that family. While we were sunbathing, Jeff went fishing with his Dad, Sister, and her boyfriend. We all met up again for burgers and dogs at Jackson lake to end the day!

Wednesday, July 7th:
Now the fun begins! By now I had found a little coffee shop in the lodge near our cottage, and was thrilled to drink my sugar-free Hazelnut latte in the mountains. :o) (Although with a surcharge of $1.25 for cream cheese, a decent bagel was quite pricey.) Charlotte and I went back to the pool- which, by the way, has a cafe and a BBQ buffet at night for the low low price of $28/adult. YIKES.

Anyway, after a relaxing morning, we took off with Jeff's family in the afternoon into "town"...Jackson Hole (population 8647), which was a good 40 minute drive from our cottage. The town is sooooo touristy that, although set up to look like an old Western town, it comes across more like a manufactured Disney World town. (I'm sure parts were authentic.) Anyway, we did some shopping and ate at Bubba's BBQ...very good food.

And after, we went to our first ever Rodeo! I enjoyed the experience, although parts were slow. I had to laugh at the rodeo announcer, however...who was blatantly both Southern and Christian. We were barely 5 minutes into the event when he said, "Let's all now take a moment and pray, each in his own way." I thought that a nice moment of silence would ensue while everyone "prayed" or meditated as they chose. Not so much...10 seconds later he launched into his own prayer, filled with southern phrases and some comical spiritual metaphors. I will say, there was one 8 year old girl in a competition where women ride a horse around 3 barrels trying to get the best time. She was the youngest in her division- could have sworn she was going to bounce right off the horse...but she probably came close to 3rd place! Anyway, Charlotte fell asleep there, and since the rodeo ended at 10pm, we all drove back to the lodge to follow suit.