Theme Park Thrill Rides and Waves

On our way home from our road trip to Wyoming we made a day/night stop at our regions largest theme park. I had thought it was sponsored by Six Flags, but I learned after the fact that I was incorrect. All television commercials, written literature, and word on the street made it sound like stopping was a great idea and we were very excited.

I am here to state that my husband and I were not impressed. The kids are boarder line about their opinion.  Perhaps we've been spoiled with Sea World San Antonio and Disneyland, but I tend to think that it had nothing to do with visits prior to the highly professionally run parks. I feel this was purely adequate, but not worth the money to endorse or return in our opinion.

Did the kids have fun?  Yes.  But could they have had just as much fun at the neighboring lake and beach for just as much money spent towards a boat or jet ski rental?  Yes.

My son had seen a video clip on YouTube of a person riding this theme park's famed wooden roller coaster titled Tremors.  He was so excited to ride while it was our turn at the park. He could not wait.  My daughter and I opted to watch while we sipped a frozen lemonade, which turned into a Blue Raspberry Icee, because the lemonades were sold out, and our back-up Cherry flavored Icee was all water.

The whiz of Tremor rolled by so fast that the ground shook while we sat in a spot of shade on the grass.  My phone rang from my son using my husband's phone. They had reached the front of the line and would be the next seated.  And yes, they had chosen the front car of the coaster.

My son admitted as soon as we saw him face to face that it was the most scariest ride ever. As it should be as it has a 103 foot drop into a tunnel at a speed up to 60 mph (again, our homework not completed, we learned after the fact).  Scary.  My husband was proud of my son for following through on the ride, but understands and agrees that the ride was over-the-top.  The ride itself took 2 minutes to ride. The line took 50 minutes to stand in before launch.

We cooled off on a more gentle approach to the 90+ degree day.  We stayed at the Water Park to ride family inner tube rides and wave pools for the rest of the day. My son was not interested in anything adventurous and the rest of us were okay with that. It had been a great ten days of travel and fun prior, and now it was time to chill out.

No photos of our Water Time, as the camera was packed away safely dry in the locker. But mental memories will stay of our yellow family tube of four being lifted high on the sides and low in the middle to drench us with water.  And of the time when my husband and I shared a tube for our final ride, and we got dunked sideways in the pool at the bottom, rolling under the tube, emerging out the other side.

The theme park may not have been a 5-Star-Rating-Park in our book, but we had a 5-Star-Family-Day-Together enjoying some extreme thrill in extreme heat braving it with lots of extreme laughter.

God Is Faithful

My friend shared this on her Facebook page this week and I have played it over a dozen times at the request of my children. They absolutely love this video ... and I do to.  My, my , my ....

Can't help but smile when you see this little spunk walk away, can you?  Happy Thursday!

Just Sayin'

I interrupt my scheduled Yellowstone Vacation storytelling to bring you this message.

Apparently there is a reality television show on a music entertainment channel titled J*ersey S*hore which follows eight young house mates vacationing on resorts along J*ersey S*hore. The cast members of this reality show are to work at various boardwalk t-shirt shops, performing tasks set by the manager, and failure of performance equals elimination.

I only know this because I used Google to look it up.

Why did I care to look it up? Because I overheard that one of the characters on this reality show was a kid referred to as the S*ituation (yes, as you've guessed, I really don't want the world to look up this blog while Googling to fill up my inbox with spam messaging).  I guess he has the abs-of-steel and all that. That is why he is called the S*ituation.

Do you know how much S* makes?  He is set to make, through endorsements and payment per episode, five million dollars. That is not a typo. 5 Million Dollars. For possessing rock-abs on a reality television show about kids on a beach working t-shirt shops.

Here is a situation ... let's do a reality television show about the real world. How about a reality show about life in the poorest of countries who struggle to survive on a daily basis due to malnutrition, HIV/AIDS, malaria, killings, being orphaned or widowed with no income.

How about a reality show featuring my sponsored child through Wiphan, who only gets to attend school at the age of 11 because I am helping fund the monthly cost.  About her mother who is a widow. About the fact that my child probably only eats a "nourished meal" while at school with the odds that she has no shoes and walks over rocks and dirt and muck cutting up her bare feet easily inviting disease and infections.

Or a reality show about the killings and rape in the African Congolese villages.

Or a reality show about the daily life of an orphan grouped with seventy-plus other children being cared for by someone who are not their mother or father in an institution set apart from the rest of their society.

Let's talk about a Real Situation ... the Reality show that is worth every dollar to help the error of a real Situation.

"Once our eyes are opened, we can not pretend we do not know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our soul knows we know and holds us responsible to act. Proverbs 24:12"

Just sayin' .... the real situation is currently not on any entertainment network.  The real situation is in the real world right now. Help.

To get you started:
Wiphan
Sole Hope
Sixty Feet
Serving His Children
BrightPoint for Children
All God's Children International
Compassion International

Grand Teton National Park

When I was planning our Yellowstone vacation I had no intention of driving South to Grand Teton National Park. I knew it was within driving distance, but based on the number of days and the activities that we had planned I did not want to add it to our itinerary. I figured that we would have seen enough wild and landscape within Yellowstone (YS).

It wasn't until our last full day in YS that we met a traveler that came by way of Grand Teton. Asking him questions, we found that Grizzly, Black Bears, and Moose were well known sights of the Park and that gave us our interest.  We also heard from him (and others before we left on this vacation) that the Teton Mountain Range was breathtaking; and that we could get there in 1.5 hours.

We decided as a family that we were so close, that if we never came back to this part of the country, that we would have missed out.  The next day was a travel day to Old Faithful and the West side of Yellowstone.  We could easily reach that destination by Noon and our day would be over.  Why not insert the Teton?

We did and we are so thankful!! Side note: the photo above was set with a self-timer as nobody was around to help us out. We tried and tried and this was the best we came up with - but the memory of us laughing because not all of us got it right all of the time makes this a keeper.

Although the photos my family team captured are fantastic in my book, they do not even come close to doing the essence of this National Park justice.  If you venture to Yellowstone, you must also include the Teton. To me, you can't have one with out the other. To see it Live is worth the adventure. To take in quiet, nature, nothingness was captivating.

(my daughter's photograph)

I have mountains around my next of the woods and have been through my fair share of mountain ranges while traveling. So what makes this so different? Wide Open Spaces.  You see the bottom of the range and you see the tippy top.  You do not drive through the range and only see half. Or stand from a distance to view trees blocking the lower portion of the mountain. It is full-on-view-of-enormous-portion-spikes of earth that sweep your breath away.

True, if you see one Grizzly, you've seen all Grizzlies, and if you find a Moose, what's the point of seeing a handful.  But there is nothing like the scenery that can compare.  The two parks are different in that regards.  YS is more browns and yellows and the Teton are more blues and greens.  Bold, sharp, massive, color catches your eye that you don't want to escape by blinking. It is truly that inspiring.

Jackson Lake Lodge is the place to stay.  Granted, this is as far as we traveled on Hwy 89/191/287, but it was far enough to know that this place was the hot destination. Our guide book shared the scoop with how much there was to do with lake and river rentals, hikes, bikes, and exploration for us to want to go back and stay awhile.

(my son's photograph)

While we did not spot a Moose, our most hopeful of animals to spot, it was well worth the journey.  We could have stayed another five days.

Fish On

In my opinion, when looking at a map of Lake Yellowstone compared to the land surrounding it, it does not look substantially large. I have seen one of the Great Lakes, and after visiting Lake Yellowstone, I now fashion it similar to my one Great Lake experience. However, I am willing to state error if an opposing view comes from those in the Great Lake states.

Massive, with a beach and big waves, and an endless view of water, Lake Yellowstone has it's own known weather pattern.  When we rented our 18 foot, 40 horse powered engined boat from the park, the kind lady behind the counter made it clear that we were not to travel passed this point and that point of the lake; otherwise it would be easy to reach 6 foot waves that would make boating a rescue mission. It was also recommended that every 20-minutes we look up, check the sky for clouds, because they could roll in quick making for treacherous waters.

Thankfully, our boating fun was beautiful!! The water was choppy at first as we hunted for the best fishing hole on the lake. We went fast, quoting movie lines from On Golden Pond, to which our children kept asking, What's this Golden Pond thing you keep talking about? We finally found a cove and set up for fishing.

My son has gone on a fishing expedition on our neighboring lake; during a time when they stocked the lake and it was a sure-thing that you would catch a fish. In addition, my son said that the fish he "caught" was actually on my husband's pole and he did the work.  To my son, wetting the line in Lake Yellowstone on that day, should he would catch anything, would be his first fish ever.

My husband brought the first fish onto our boat shortly after we found the cove.  A nice Cut Throat Trout about 20 inches and 6 pounds. It was thick and relatively pretty (considering it was a fish).  On Lake Yellowstone it is illegal to kill and keep a Cut Throat. I should rephrase that, perhaps illegal is too strong of a word. If you are found with a Cut Throat, then you pay the government $500 per fish. Luckily our family is into catch-and-release for any fish we reel on board or on shore, so we had no qualms about sending the fish back into the water alive and well.

As soon as my husband had returned his fish, and was trying to get his pole organized and back into the water, my son casually states that he has a fish on his line.  I tell him that we really shouldn't joke about that, especially since dad was working at trying to get organized.  My son got more excited and said, "No, really! I have a fish on my line!!!" and stood up to start reeling in his pole.

We have video, which I will not be sharing because it gives waaaay too much information about our family ... however ... I will admit that my shriek-excited-Mom-voice-was-in-full-effect.  It was fantastic and my son was bouncing around the boat reeling in his first fish.  I will never forget that moment my entire life.

There ... on Lake Yellowstone .... Yellowstone a great National Treasure ... hours after seeing our first ever wild Grizzly Bear ... my son at the age of 9 ... caught by himself ... his very first-ever ... Cut Throat Trout ... about 22 inches and 7 pounds. Beautiful moment between father and son, between our family of four.

FISH ON!!!

Melts Me

On our way to Yellowstone we went through the city where I grew up visiting both sets of Grandparents. I love this city, although it is worn down, the city is trying desperately to make a come back. To me, however, it is still home to fond memories of my summers, Spring Breaks, and Thanksgiving holidays for the first twenty years of my life.

Of the six Grandparents that I had, my children only met one; my dad's mother who died recently at the age of 98. What a blessing that she lived so long to meet the following multiple generations of girls and boys that came about because of the marriage between herself and her first husband.

We had a private memorial for my Grandma back in June at my parent's house, but I wanted to see her cemetery plot and I knew this August was my chance. Buying six flowers in a town along the way, I visited all of my Grandparents.

Unfortunately, I never met my dad's dad and I really wish that I could have. My mom shares that he was a very sweet and caring person. He passed away within a few years of my parents marriage. My Grandma remarried, and while I technically did meet that man who we called Grandpa Max, he died when I was only two. She married again and my Grandpa Glen was a man who I considered to be mine. He met my husband, but he too passed away before we had children.  A gentleman in the truest sense of the word who would do everything and anything for my Grandma and her Grandchildren.

The middle names of my children are the first names of my mom's parents. I am sad that they were not able to meet them. I know my Grandmother and Grandad would thoroughly enjoy the one-liners and pure charm of my son ... and marvel at the wisdom and spunk of my daughter.

Without any prior discussion on that warm summer day when we stopped at all the cemetery plots, my children warmed my heart and made me feel like they knew exactly the importance of this day to me. While they were not meeting their Great Grandparents, they were bonding in a way that I will never forget.

Searching for the plots.

Cleaning them off.

Placing the flowers.

Caring and Loving.

Just being us.

I love my Grandparents enormously for the love they created when they joined as husband and wife to take the oath of marriage, to grow their family under God's will and love, to continue the example from generation to generation so that my children, without pre-thought or discussion, would one day show their love and respect back to those who started our family over 80 years ago. Melts Me.

Bison Herds Never End in Yellowstone

Q: What did the father buffalo say to his son when he went off to college?
A: Bi-son!

Our son shared this joke with us throughout our journey in Yellowstone National Park. Were we tired of it? Kinda, until we realized that every. single. time. he told the joke, within two minutes a Bison or other animal sighting would appear.

We decided to start creating our own animal jokes to add to the charm and it worked.

Our first amazing Bison sighting was shortly after we left our first cabin in Mammoth Hot Springs to travel South to our next cabin destination at Lake Yellowstone. The sun was just starting to rise adding a slight tint of white to the shadows of blues and the slight dusting of fog hanging around. I drove our car around a corner to find two Bison walking in our direction in the other lane of traffic on our two-lane roadway. As I slowly passed with my window rolled down, they seemed to swallow my car in height.

They are massive beasts with their large heads, hump back, and two horns. Their legs are so skinny in comparison with their high heeled hoofed sound on the pavement. With their eyes so far apart due to their enlarged head, they stop frequently to turn their head sideways, as if they can not see forward. But at the same time, they will run full speed ahead in a Bison chase when a Bull is too close to a Cow that has been taken. Males have the large, thick heads while the Females have the thinner shaped frame. The above two pictures are females.

Bison make noise.  A lot of noise. Sticking out their blue tongue creating a fog horn sound combined with grunts.  Take a look at this video with no zoom-setting shot by my daughter from the backseat.

The Hayden Valley of Yellowstone is a sure find in Bison Herd watching. Hundreds scatter the landscape; in groups and in solo formation. They walk when they want and where they want.  Never mind the pileup of cars  stopped in the middle of the lanes to photograph and just wait their turn to continue forward; the Bison will just walk between as if the cars were not even present.

Never get out of your vehicle to stand close to a Bison or to get that next perfect close-up shot. There are signs posted along the two lane road reminding human visitors that Bison do charge and will gourd any threats. To prevent this unfortunate mishap, it is best to allow them the right-of-way in all circumstances.

Have you ever seen a Bison roll-over?  No one has because they can not.  Their humps are too huge and spinal cords would be damaged, if not crushed, if the feat were ever successful.  Instead, the Bison will roll in one direction to it's shoulder blade, and then get up, and turn around, and roll the other direction to it's shoulder blade. Once completed, they are a dirty breed who will explode clouds of dust as they shake off.

Massive, shedding, dusty, dirty animals that look like half pig-face and cow-body, comical in their noises and constant talk, unpredictable, always intriguing to witness ... Bison became a top favorite sighting at Yellowstone.

Q: Who is the Vice President of the Buffalo national government? 
A: Joe Bison!