Friday, October 25, 2013

San Rafael and Green River

Ryan and I decided a while back to take a trip to Zion National Park. the weekend of October 12.

Well the government really put the kibosh on that one.  We headed to the San Rafael Swell near Green River, Utah instead.  *Note: Utah opened it's national parks that Friday, but it was a little too late at that point.

We stayed at Robbers Roost Motel, and ate at the dinky restaurants in Green River.  We bought a watermelon from a stand near a gas station.  It so happens that Green River is known for their watermelons.  It was really good!  We used Ryan's pocket knife to cut off the top and ate from the melon like a bowl, finishing it by Sunday.  We had dry bison burgers at the "Tamarisk" restaurant a few blocks from our motel.

The highlight of the trip was canyoneering in Little Wild Horse Canyon.

We had to take off our socks and shoes at a few places and wade through some pools of muddy water.  It was a long canyon and actually looped through a second one.  I really enjoyed it.  It was challenging, but it was also fun so that you forgot you were working hard.

We stopped at Goblin Valley State Park and walked around the "Goblins" for a while.  This was about a week before the now infamous video of those guys pushing over a rock formation came out.  I will say, some of those rocks look like they are about to fall, but it also looked like those guys had to put a lot of effort into pushing that one over.  Anyway...

We hiked "Crack Canyon" on Sunday and drove back to Salt Lake Sunday.  It was a really long drive back because we took a detour though now-open Capital Reef National Park.  By the time we got there we were parked-out and just bought our magnet at the gift shop and headed on.

We stopped in Bicknell to attempt and sweet-talk a few piece of pie out of a diner/motel that is closed on Sundays, but we couldn't find any employees.

By the time we got to the city we were starving as it was 8pm.  We stopped in Provo, but everything but Applebees-type joints were closed.  We ended up at the Belgian Waffle and Omelette Inn - the 24 breakfast joint right by our apartment.  It was really good and hit the spot.

The pictures of Ryan haven't been uploaded to the computer yet, but here are a few of me:


uh oh...

Almost knee deep in cold muddy water

Goblin Valley

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Belated anniversary weekend

Since we weren't together on the actual day of our anniversary, we decided to celebrate this weekend. Saturday we had pancakes at home and cleaned the whole apartment and I think we finally got some mysterious spots off of the carpet. 

We went to Sports Den and rented some skis for winter. They were a good price! And now we just have to find the best price on a pass. We walked the pipeline trail in Mill Creek afterwards. It was pretty crowded due to the nice weather and changing colors. 

When we got home I carved a pumpkin while Ryan made dinner. Then we (he) watched the Buckeye game and went to bed. 

This morning we used our gift card from Mom and Dad Williams to go to The Foundry Grill for brunch at the Sundance resort. 

Wow. The Foundry did not disappoint. The spread was full of delicious offerings. We enjoyed smoked salmon, huevos rancheros, french toast, pancakes, bacon, sausage, potatoes, veggies, beet salad, granola, berry crisp, bread pudding, cheeses, olives, salads, and that wasn't even everything!  We really enjoyed it. We are going to go back maybe in the spring some time. 

We drove the scenic route home through really nice aspen changing colors. Then we did some grocery shopping, went on a small hike, and now we are in for the night. Really great weekend. 

The Foundry
Egor the pumpkin
Aspen grove
Passed this sign on the way out :-/
Our rentals

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Weekend Trip to Yellowstone and Tetons

Last weekend Ryan came home from Blanding and we almost immediately headed up to Yellowstone National Park.

We headed out on Friday morning and realized that we forgot our french press to make coffee.  We stopped at a Marshall's about an hour away and bought a personal sized one so we could have our coffee in the mornings.

We stopped again in Pocatello, ID for lunch.  TripAdvisors number one pick was closed, so we ended up at Cafe Rio. It was kind of a clown show and the staff didn't really know what they were doing.  I ended up getting my salad for free because they overcharged me for it initially (all I wanted was for them to fix the price, but they just took it off completely).

We finally were almost to the park.  On one of the final stretches of road before reaching West Yellowstone, we went over a small bridge and Ryan notices two moose in the water.  We turned around and went back to get some pictures, a few other cars did the same thing.  We werent even in the park yet and already saw two moose!

Can you spot the moose?

We drove into the park to our campsite.  Yes you read that correctly.  The lady at the check in desk said "Oh you're brave" when we said no RV, just a tent.  There turned out to be lots of other tent campers, but ours looked like the smallest one.

We set up our tent and and some chili that I had made the night before.  We cooked some vermicelli rice noodles in Ryan's jet boil to have with it.  We ate at the picnic table by our tent.  Ryan very considerately requested the site closest to the bathroom, it was also convenient for getting water for cooking.  
Our tent

We had a little daylight left so we went to Artist's Paint Pots trail.  Its a short loop through some really neat geysers, fumaroles, and a really neat mudpot.  The whole area is steaming and smokey looking.   

A mudpot

We came back, layered up, and got ready for bed.  Here is something I learned:  Do not being a memory foam pillow to camp when the forecast is 22 degrees.  My pillow was like a block of wood.  Luckily I had a small travel pillow in the car.  Anyway, we got into the tent and Ryan helped me get zipped up into our mummy style sleeping bags.  

I found the whole process of getting in and getting comfortable very cumbersome.  It was like a scene out of a movie.  Ryan is laying back all nestled in and reading a book.  I am squirming around trying to get an arm free to reach my water, then being unable to get my arm back in through the tiny face hole, while wriggling and making plenty of annoyed noises.

A few minutes after we go to sleep I hear Ryan said "I think I'm losing air."  I try to plug my nose, but can't get my elbow bent that far.  Just kidding.  He was losing air in his sleeping pad.

I laid in my sleeping bag half-trapped and half not wanting to go out in the cold while Ryan went tent-to-tent asking for duct tape.  He found a piece that patched the hole and we went to bed.  He later said the fix only lasted an hour or two before he was on the ground again.

Not our best night's sleep.  We were up at 6 making breakfast and coffee as the sun came up.  It was so cold that our mugs and the french press were freezing cold.  We had to boil water in Ryan's jet-boil.  Over.  And Over.  The thing barely makes a cup of water at a time and it takes a good 10 minutes to boil it.  Eventually we had our coffee and oatmeal. 

Still dark starting breakfast


We drove all around the park.  The terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs were really colorful and steamy.  We saw elk right near the parking lot.  After that we headed into Lamar Valley.  It had really pretty views especially since the leaves were changing.  We saw a pronghorn, a marmot, and a bunch of bison.

Mammoth Hot Springs

Lamar Valley

We had lunch in the car in Lamar Valley.  We made sandwiches and had some tortilla chips.  On our way to "The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone" we saw a bunch of cars backed up.  Usually this means a wildlife sighting.  We asked a guy walking by what was up, and he said there was a grizzly ahead.  We didn't see it front he road, but we parked down a ways and walked back to the crowd.

We got a great view of the bear when we walked back.  It crossed the street right in front of us and up a hill past the "grizzly lake" sign.  
Bear Crossing

Earlier in the day we saw an osprey in the trees near a river, and a black bear cub climbing up a hill near the road.

We stopped at Yellowstone's Grand Canyon for a look at the falls before heading out of the park to West Yellowstone.

We decided that we'd had enough of the tent situation.  Since our internet service wasn't very good, we called my mom to book a hotel for us after finding on online.  What a life saver!  We had some bison burgers at a cafe across the street, then enjoyed a hot shower and great night's sleep at the Stagecoach Inn.

The lower falls

The next morning was rainy and cold.  We headed back into the park and toured around some really neat hydrothermal features.  The hot springs are really pretty shades of blue.

Hot spring
We had a really neat view of bison grazing in front of a large hot spring and around several steam vents.  Afterwards we headed to Old Faithful.  She wasn't due to erupt for another hour, so we had some tea and cookies in the lodge while we waited.  

Ryan braved the cold and stood outside waiting, while I watched from the visitors center.  It was really neat to see, and the predicted time was really close.  

Old Faithful

After Old Faithful we headed out of Yellowstone and on to Grand Teton National Park.  We didn't get a very good view of the Tetons due to the weather.  Our cabin was in Driggs, Idaho.  It was really cozy and we had a tiny kitchen area where we heated our frozen veggie burgers and boiled some potato.  

The next morning was a little nicer and we headed back into the park.  We walked around Jenny Lake for a while and the weather cleared a little more.  We had a great view of a rainbow over the lake.  On our way back to the parking lot some deer crossed our path.






On our way back to the cabin we stopped in Jackson Hole, WY for some ice cream.  We also stopped in a thrift store and bought a pair of ski pants and a ski mask for me.  

More veggie burgers and a "Breaking Bad" finale later, we were in bed.  

The next morning we headed home just after hearing that the government shut down and all National Parks were closed.  We just made it!  

We had a really good time.  I can see why Yellowstone is such a popular park.  We didn't have the best weather for either one, but they are both really beautiful and we highly recommend them!