Tuesday night Ruffin called me from work and asked me if I wanted to go to Yellowstone the next morning. I of course said "Yes!!" Our friend Bradley Petersen from our ward works in the Philanthropies department at BYUI and was taking a group of people on a snowmobile tour through the park and had a last minute cancellation. The college had to pay for the snowmobile if there was a rider or not so we were MORE than happy to fill the slot!!! After we made arrangements for our girls I could barely sleep I was so excited!!! We left at 6am on Wednesday morning and got to West Yellowstone around 8am. The place we went provided everything so we didn't have to worry about getting all of our winter clothes together which was really nice.Here is Ruffin and I ready to begin our trip. Don't you love the outfits! The second seat on the snowmobile was quite comfortable and it even had a warmer. Ruffin tried to get me to drive but I was much too content to sit on the back and enjoy the ride, besides I don't think I could have done a very good job keeping up even though the snowmobile could not go over 49 mph:)Our guide was Redge Smith from Ashton. I told him I went to school with his son Jake so we got to talking and he asked me what I was doing and I explained that 2 girls was a full time job! He said well if your Jake's age you are way too young to have two kids... I laughed and said sometimes I feel too young because at times I feel like I am still 16. Anyway he was a good tour guide and stopped at several different spots for us to look at the animals and takes pictures.There were 13 of us on the tour and we drove in a single file the whole way just like this picture. There are big fines if you speed or swerve around so everyone pretty much stayed in line and obeyed the speed limit although I didn't see the policeman once the whole trip.We saw so many animals including this wolf. If you look closely you can see it in the picture. We couldn't get any closer (not that I wanted to). The wolf stood there for quite sometime and howled. We also saw a black wolf that kept coming in and out of the trees and I wondered if they had been fighting because when we passed the place where the grey wolf was standing there was some blood in the snow. A guide from another group let me look through his binoculars at the wolves and it was neat to see a close up of them, they are quite pretty animals. Other animals that we saw were Buffalo (I'm pretty sure I haven't gone to the park without seeing Buffalo:) We also saw Deer, two eagles and two bobcats.Here I am by a sulfer pot. This is the stop everyone chose to eat lunch, the smell was a little disturbing but I was pretty hungry so I didn't really mind. For lunch we had sandwiches and chili made by the college. The hot chocolate was the perfect temperature and warmed me up down to my toes!Although we saw tons of Buffalo we only passed them twice on the road. The first time we passed them they were pretty close, but they just let us pass and off we went. (In this picture my camera is not zoomed in, I was actually leaning back trying to get it all in the shot.) The second time we passed some buffalo on the road it was a little more scary! Ruffin and I were about in the middle of the group and as we were passing the leader of the buffalo they began to run. The small herd then cut off the rest of our group and I looked back and I thought it was going to get me! I nearly wet my pants when I looked back and literally right behind me was a herd of charging buffalo! The entire trip I had my camera around my wrist so with my right hand I was snapping pictures and with my left hand I was hitting Ruffin's arm screaming "DRIVE FASTER." I didn't realize buffalo could run so fast! Luckily they only chased us for just a minute and then veered off into the trees. My heart was still beating a mile a minute when we stopped again. Some of the guys that went were from Arizona and they were hilarious. One of the guys thought he could make a wide turn off the beaten path... It didn't go quite as he was hoping. There was SO much snow everywhere! It was so beautiful, it is definitely a great way to experience the beauty of Yellowstone! We saw three big waterfalls and they were all breathtaking! We arrived back around 5p.m. We rode 130 miles and I was very grateful for that seat warmer especially the last 30 miles. It was a perfect day... It was overcast most of the day and occasionally the sun would come out and create some breathtaking views! The last couple of miles it began to snow and that was also pretty to see. We were so grateful that our friend would think to invite us on this GrEaT trip!! We truly had an AMAZING day!!!
I am so jealous--that sounds like so much fun! You look really cute in your outfits :) I love the action shot of the buffalo chasing you. That's classic. Though I think I'd probably wet my pants, too! It reminds me of the scene in Jurassic Park when they're in the jeep and the t-rex is chasing them, and Jeff Goldblum is saying, "Must go faster."
That sounds like sooo much fun. I can't wait to be done nursing so me and heath can go and so something fun. Love the buffalo picture. I would have been freaking out!
12 comments:
I am so jealous--that sounds like so much fun! You look really cute in your outfits :) I love the action shot of the buffalo chasing you. That's classic. Though I think I'd probably wet my pants, too! It reminds me of the scene in Jurassic Park when they're in the jeep and the t-rex is chasing them, and Jeff Goldblum is saying, "Must go faster."
How fun! I LOVED the outfits...
That picture of the charging buffalo was great...I nearly wet my pants when I saw it! :)
You are sooooo Right. That had to have been one of the funnest days of our marriage, and the only way to see the Park. I love you babe!!
How exciting! I think that looks like so much fun!! What an adventure for you guys! :)
PS I LOVE that Ruffin comments on your blog... so cute! Way to go Ruffin! You win hubby of the day award! :) haha.
Wow, that looks like so much fun! I love the park but I have never done it in the winter, I'll have to keep that in mind for next winter.
I'm ready to pay my money and go!!! I think we'll have to plan a trip for next year!
That is sooo cool! I think that might even be better than a cruise. We just love our mountains!!
I just read Olivia's comment and I'm ready too, bags packed and all. That would be so fun for us all to go next winter or something.
That sounds like sooo much fun. I can't wait to be done nursing so me and heath can go and so something fun. Love the buffalo picture. I would have been freaking out!
That is really cool. I'm not sure I would have lasted all day like you did, but it sure looks like you had so much fun!
I'm so glad to finally see the pictures! Looks like an absolute BLAST! I only wish I could have been there too.
Post a Comment