Ah, the Tetons. I LOVE these mountains. The drive to them, the drive by the time, the drive into them. It’s all amazing, every view.

Parking was impossible in this park, but we found ways around it and even though we only got to spend part of our day here it was so worth it!

We went on a magnificent hike around Jenny Lake.

Levi kept a very close eye out for a moose, but the closest he ever came was this one.

I’ve decided they are just mythical creatures.

The Oregon Coast trip last summer went so well Alli and I decided to try another trip with the littles in June. Admittedly, our plan was ambitious for the summer of Covid, but we started out wanting to do Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park, and Arches. Reality hit in small doses. First we cut Arches, then Bryce and settled on just Zion. Then Covid Reality hit. To limit the number of people in the park, Zion was closing its doors as soon as all the parking spots were taken. Consequently, people were lining up before dawn just to get in. No thank you. So we decided on Yellowstone because Levi has been dying to go ever since Reagan’s trip there last year. Covid cramped our style a little bit, but not too much.

We arrived in Rexburg in the late afternoon and checked into our Airbnb armed with clorox wipes and hand sanitizer. After scouring the place (Alli is SUPER thorough) we went to dinner at Millhollow. Best sandwiches and fro-yo EVER–STILL! We couldn’t eat inside-cause Covid-and the ordering process was quite the ordeal-their drive through menu is antiquated to say the least-but it was worth it. Then we drove around campus so I could show the kids where 25 years ago I slipped on ice and dropped my planner, scattering pages all over the road, where my roommates and I sledded down a hill on a hamper lid and the apartment where I decided to go to Jerusalem.

The next day we headed for Yellowstone. Though we didn’t see nearly as many Bison as we did on Reagan’s trip, we saw plenty of animals. We even saw a bear ten minutes into the park! Sometimes we wore face masks, but most of the time we could stay far enough away from people. The kids got tired of us handing them the hand sanitizer every time we got back in the car after a stop. Luckily, there was plenty of parking and no traffic thanks to Covid.

We drove all the way up to Mammoth in the hopes of seeing elk lounging around everywhere and we were rewarded for our efforts! Levi loved it! I have got to go back to Yellowstone when their antlers are big.

We stopped to see the Prismatic Pool and then tried for Old Faithful, but missed it by a few minutes. We were all exhausted so that ended day one in Yellowstone. The plan was to do one day in Yellowstone, one day in the Tetons and then drive home the third day. However, when we headed out the next morning, we couldn’t even see the Tetons and the forecast was for rain and clouds all day. Alli had only agreed to do Yellowstone if she could spend a day in the Tetons so when we had to pull the plug on the Tetons for that day she threw a little bit of a big girl tantrum. I felt terrible and was not willing to give up on the Tetons completely, so I convinced her to go home by way of the Tetons. And after much deliberation on a farm road somewhere in Nowhere, Idaho, we decided to use the day to go see more of Yellowstone. Levi was bound and determined to see a moose, since that was the one thing Reagan hadn’t seen when he went. So back to Yellowstone we went, this time to do the top half of the park. I was happy because I LOVE this part of the park. The drive from Mammoth Springs to the Lamar Valley is breathtaking and I was excited to do it again. We decided that when driving that portion of Yellowstone you need to have the Lord of the Rings soundtrack playing in the background.

All in all we saw bison, antelope and some of us saw a bear, though Alli is still bitter she missed the bear. We also saw three coyotes, two of which caused a major traffic jam until people realized they weren’t wolves. But NO Moose. Levi was holding out hope that the Tetons wouldn’t let him down. Stay tuned.

Well, it’s time to look back and remember what we did on Memorial day this year.

We decided it was time to get out of the house and take a trip. Quarantine was over and we needed to “see something other than our backyard, neighborhood and park”-as my kids put it. So we drove up to McCall for beautiful views and our favorite foods. We stopped along the river to explore.

Next stop was the McCall cemetery to see if we could find any war veterans.

McCall was the emptiest I’ve ever seen it, but there is ALWAYS a line at My Father’s Place, and this day was no different, though it was five times as long thanks to social distancing. We had to order take out and then ate at a little park. No trip to McCall is complete without a trip to Ice Cream Alley, so after getting ice cream we headed home, stopping along the way to play at the river again.

Levi tried for a solid half hour to catch one, while Liberty chased butterflies and Dad and the older boys snoozed in the car.

And that was Memorial Day 2020-remembered.