The last day: Salt Lake City

Today was our last day of vacation.  We had breakfast at a cafe in Ennis with our friends, and then headed out, because we had five hours of driving to get to Salt Lake City.  However, the flight leaves at 8:00 pm, so we had plenty of time. 

We had planned to go to the Great Salt Lake, but when we arrived at Salt Lake City, a storm was brewing, so we went to the library instead.  It was a beautiful building on the outside and the inside.  

 The first floor was actually a bunch of shops, but the other four floors were the library. This library won the 2006 Library Journal award for best library. 

I love visiting libraries, especially beautiful ones like that.  We were getting hungry, so we went to an In N Out one last time. We got through customs pretty fast, so now we are just waiting for our plane!  This was an amazing trip, and we saw so many amazing places, but it will be nice to be home!

Yellowstone

All of us got up and out in reasonably good time for our trip to Yellowstone.  We bought some pastries from a local restaurant, put N.'s car seat in our car so that all five of us could travel together (and get in free with our National Park Pass) and set off for the hour drive to Yellowstone.  After about a half hour, we came to Quake Lake, and stopped to use the bathroom and show the others this fascinating place.  The visitors center wasn't open, but an outdoor toilet was, and there was plenty of information to explain about it.

When we got to Yellowstone, there was a big line. Reminder to self: do not go to popular national parks on a weekend in the summer.  However, we eventually got through the line and found a place to park.  First we went to the paint pots.  This is an area that is full of clay of different colors.  The Indians collected clay from here to make paints.  However, the clay was also boiling, and there were many warnings about bad things that can happen to a person who steps off the board walk (such as being boiled alive!). 

Then we wanted to do some more serious hiking, so we hiked down to the Lower Waterfall.  Here are Josh and N. at the top of the path.  Josh pushed N. in the stroller for most of the way down the path. 

 Here are Janine, N., and Josh at the bottom of the path, overlooking the waterfall.  It was really lovely. 

Here is a picture of me and my good looking rugged husband.

Then we had to hike back up the stairs.

I will say that N. was a trooper when it came to climbing back up all the stairs.  I was tired by the time we reached the top.  We were also all getting hungry, and tried to find a place to eat.  Eventually we found a pull off on the side of the road with picnic tables where there was almost no one!  We had a very nice lunch and we did not see any bears.  As we were driving along later, we did see a bison wandering across the road!

One of the last places we visited was the Dragon's Mouth Spring and Mud Volcano.  The bubbles from the ground, and at the end of the boardwalk is a cave where sulfuric smelling steam comes out and it makes a roar just like a dragon.  You really have to be there to experience it, but here is a picture. 

It was almost time for Old Faithful to go off, but we just missed it.  Janine said that she did not particularly want to wait another hour, so we left the park and headed back to Ennis. 

Josh said maybe we could get ice cream, and that made N. very excited.  She would not stop talking about the ice cream, and how much she wanted it, and Josh kept egging her on, until Geoff said that we should stop talking about the ice cream.  Then N. told me her knock knock joke: knock knock, who's there? Buff. Buff who?  Buffalo!  We told knock knock jokes until I couldn't think of any more.  Then we sang many verses of "Down By the Bay."  Then I suggested that we play the quiet game.  The person who can stay silent the longest wins.  After about 2 minutes, N. declared that this was a dumb game.  Finally we got back to Ennis, and there was an ice cream place, so we finally got our ice cream!

There was one tired little girl, and some tired adults, so we all went to our cabins and went to bed shortly afterward.  Yellowstone was fascinating.  I hope that I can return someday and see more of it. 

Museum of the Rockies, Bozeman, Montana

Today we visited the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, MT.  It is most famous for its dinosaur exhibit, and Josh and Janine hoped that N. would find it interesting.

They also have a planetarium.  Since that was near the entrance, and a show was about to start, we went in there first.  The show was about black holes.  The production was very flashy, but at the end I came out very confused, and Geoff stated that he was concerned that it was bad science, and that it would confuse young people and old people too.

Then we went to the dinosaur exhibit.  It traced the geology of the area from the beginning of time to the time of the dinosaurs.  Montana had many of the traditional dinosaurs, including the T-Rex and the Triceratops.  They had an almost complete skeleton of a mother Triceratops and her baby.  (The picture is taken from the museum website). 

 

The most exciting part was the T-Rex.  (This picture is also taken from the museum website).

 After the dinosaurs, there was a short exhibit on regional history that contained artifacts from life in the olden days.  N. was getting bored, so her mother took her outside.  Geoff and I continued on to the traveling exhibit, which was about chocolate.  It was very interesting.  I learned that cocoa was drunken by the Meso-Americans as a bitter drink, kind of like coffee.  Also, soldiers in the world wars were given bars of chocolate to carry, and to only be eaten if necessary, but it tasted like potatoes, so there was little temptation for them to eat it.

We met up with the others in the lobby, and decided to watch one more planetarium show, called "Back to the Moon for Good."  It was essentially a propaganda piece about the Google Lunar X Prize Competition.  There is an award of $30 million to the first privately funded team that sends a robot to the moon and travels 1650 feet, and sends back evidence of this accomplishment.  Although there are teams all over the world working on this, no one has actually accomplished this, although the end showed one team winning.  I had never heard of this, although both Geoff and Josh had, and a quick google search found that no one has won the prize, and the deadline is December 31st of this year. 

The Living History Farm was located outside.  At the Living History Farm, there was a working farmhouse, with costumed interpreters working in the kitchen.  Upstairs, another interpreter was spinning wool.  In the dining room, an interpreter was making dolls, and she made one for N., who named her doll Anna.  There was also a large garden outside of the house, and a blacksmith shop.  

 

By now, it was getting kind of late, so we decided to head on to Ennis, MT.  It was about an hour drive.  We checked into our cabins- we were staying at a place called El Western.  We had a cabin, and our friends had a cabin next to ours, and they were very reasonably priced and clean.

 The inside of the cabin was very cabin-like!

We went back to Nacho Mama's for supper, and went walking down by the river after that.  It was getting late, even though there was still light in the sky.  Josh had brought some games, and he came over to our cabin while Janine put N. to bed.  We played a game called Red November.  It is a cooperative game where there are a bunch of gnomes in a submarine and they have to save the submarine before time runs out.  It was interesting.  Eventually Janine wandered over with a book in hand.  When we finished the game we stayed up talking for a while, then made plans for the next day and went to bed. 

Great Falls, Montana

When I wandered into the kitchen this morning, Josh was up, and so was the adorable little girl, N.  N. looked at me and didn't say much as we ate yogurt with granola together, but Josh thought she would warm up, and she did.  Janine was working on her proposal for an honors program at the college, so I hung out with N.  First, I gave her a blanket that I had knit for her dolls, and she showed me all of her dolls.  Many of them were named Anna.  Janine had told me that after she met me several years ago, she started naming all of her new dolls "Anna."  Then we read a book together.  Then she took me outside and showed me her play kitchen that grandma had given her.  What an adorable little girl!

Now that everyone was up, Josh and Janine suggested that we go see the town.  We went to Giant Springs State Park.

We parked by some springs and a fish hatchery, and walked down a path by the river to the great falls.  These falls are famous because Lewis and Clark passed through this area and had to portage around the waterfalls.  There was a strange statue of Lewis and Clark and Sacajawea.

Finally, we arrived at the falls.

Janine told us all about the history of the place.  Meanwhile, a bunch of white moths started flying around us and some got into the stroller.  N. started crying because the moths were attacking her.  She was also hungry, as it was getting quite late.  So we went to eat.

We went to a place that Josh recommended called The Faster Basset.  It had crepes, among other things, so I ordered a crepe that was quite good.  N. did not like her cheese crepe and fussed.  Janine said that there were two history museums in town, and one was not very good.  She suggested that we go to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center after lunch, the better one, but said that it was not a good museum for children.  So Josh took N. to the store to buy groceries and bear spray, after talking up how much fun it would be to buy bear spray, and Janine, Geoff, and I went to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. 

Our National Parks Pass once again got us in for free!  It was quite a good museum.  It followed the journey of Lewis and Clark, and had interesting and culturally appropriate information about the various native American tribes that they interacted with along the way.

Afterward, we returned to the house.  Josh and N. had indeed bought bear spray and food for the next day.  We had a cookout with hamburgers and watermelon for supper, and then it was time for N. to go to bed.

Janine had kindly offered to let me use her washing machine to do some laundry, so while Janine was putting N. to bed, Geoff, Josh, and I went down to the basement and I put in laundry while the guys looked at the game collection, which was quite extensive.  Josh owns a game that is a lot of fun called Knights of Camelot,  but we decided to wait for Janine and to play Cards Against Humanity instead until she arrived, which Geoff and I had never played.  I had heard about CAH, but did not realize it was quite so vulgar.  Eventually Janine came down, and asked what we were playing.  When we told her it was Cards Against Humanity, she said she had never played it, but Josh sometimes played it with his church friends.  We dealt her in.  After about one hand, she was like, "You play this game with your church friends?"  We did come up with some pretty funny combinations like "A tiny horse is a slippery slope to riding off into the sunset."  I think that people have dirty minds and that even without some of the vulgar cards (like two midgets shitting into a bucket) people could still make dirty combinations.  Anyway, we did have a lot of fun and laughs playing the game, but I would not buy it for myself.

Finally my laundry was finished and we went to bed. 

Grand Teton

When we entered the Grand Teton park, we found ourselves on a single lane dirt road.  However, the dirt road led to a paved road, and this is the sight that we saw.

 It was very magnificent.  After taking many pictures and admiring the Grand Teton, we drove on the main road. The people at the B&B and the ranger at the entrance station both recommended Lake Jenny as a good place to go, and it was on our way.  Of course, when we got there, the parking lot was completely full, and we ended up parking on the road.  Then there was a long line for the bathroom.  Apparently, there was also a boat tour, which is why so many people were there.  We did not go on the boat tour, instead, we took a path around the lake.  It was a very beautiful lake, with clear, blue water and mountains in the background. 

After that, we drove out of Grand Teton and into Yellowstone.  We hoped to catch Old Faithful, but the parking lot was full there too, so we figured we could catch it when we come back in a few days. 

I really had to go to the bathroom, and saw a building next to a lake on top of a hill that looked like it might have a bathroom. Happily it did, and while I went to the bathroom, Geoff went into the Earthquake Lake Visitors Center.  We discovered that the lovely lake was formed when a terrible earthquake occurred, causing a landslide that killed dozens and injured hundreds of campers. 

Since we plan to stay in Ennis, MT on the way back, we drove through it to see what was available in terms of eating options, and found a place called Nacho Mama's, where the service was fast, and the food was good, plentiful, and cheap.  We decided that could be a good place to go with our friends. 

Because it had taken us so long to get through the parks, it was about 10:30 when we arrived at Josh and Janine's house.  Their little girl was already in bed, and the four of us sat up and ate cake and ice cream.  Then we went to bed too. 

Flying, Utah, Lava Rest Stop, Fox Creek Inn

We flew out of Las Vegas and flew into Salt Lake City.  The flight was uneventful.  However, when we arrived, the airport was full of Mormons welcoming the missionaries home.  I overheard someone say, "The missionaries always fly home on Tuesdays because it is the cheapest."  That would explain the large crowds.  The Salt Lake City airport and Las Vegas airport were just about as different as could be.  There were no slot machines, no screens, not much of anything.  The bags were slow to arrive, and when we went to pick up our car (Toyota Camry this time), there was a long wait.  I had my knitting bag slung over my shoulder, and two ladies who were also waiting for their car struck up a conversation about knitting.  Finally, the rental cars were ready.  This was also in contrast to Las Vegas, where service was fast and good. 

Because we had to be at the B&B by a certain time, we did not have time to go out to eat, but decided to go to Walmart to stock up on bottled water and food.  It was a very strange Walmart.  The parking lot was essentially a parking garage that was attached to the Walmart.  We got our food as quickly as possible, and ate in the car.  Since it was over a 4 hour drive, we knew that we were not going to get to the B&B by 5:00, so Geoff called and told them that we should arrive around 7 pm. 

At some point I had to go to the bathroom, as usual, so we stopped at a rest stop.  It had a little path through a natural area, where lava had bubbled up in the past and left fascinating rock formations.  Since we had some time, we walked on the path, and it was really interesting.  The pictures don't do it justice, but this is what it looked like. You can see the pattern of the lava close up, and the rock formations further out. 

It was a neat and unexpected find!  We drove onward, and eventually arrived at the Fox Creek Inn Bed and Breakfast. It was a cute place, and I was very glad to be done with driving! 

Since we hadn't had dinner, the owner recommended the West Side Yard, which Trip Advisor described as a "gastropub."  Their sweet potato fries were highly recommended.  We went there, and I ordered a sandwich and made sure to order the sweet potato fries.  Then we mapped out our plan for the next day.  

I was very glad to go to bed, and the bed was very comfortable!  The next morning, we went for breakfast.  There were several other guests also eating breakfast, including a family with a little boy and an older couple, who we sat at the same table with.  They were from Southern Illinois, and had been to a wedding in Montana, and had just driven through Yellowstone, and tipped us off that one of the roads was closed.

The breakfast was amazing.  First, in addition to coffee and tea, there was a blueberry smoothie.  Then, they served a baked blueberry french toast with bacon on the side.  It was really good!

Now we are off to the Grand Tetons!

Las Vegas, Nevada

Our time in Las Vegas was atypical, but fun.  I have four good friends from college who moved to Las Vegas after college and all live together in a house.  In college, Ryan owned a house, and rented to his three friends.  After college, Ryan sold the house, and used the money to buy a new house, and continues to rent to his friends.  Ryan, David, and Kevin all work for a company called Pololu.  It is a company owned by David's brother, and they make robots.  Andrea, who is married to Ryan, does not work for Pololu- she is a physical therapist, and had to work that day.   

We arrived at Pololu around 2:00, and got the grand tour.  Apparently, their business model is to buy lots of electronics in bulk from China, and then make things with them, and sell them to robot teams.  We got to see some of their special projects, as well as the machine that cuts and solders the boards.  That was pretty cool!  We also got T-shirts that Kevin had designed.  As we were sitting around, Ryan mentioned something about when the baby arrives, and then realized that he had just let it slip that Andrea is expecting!

After the tour, we went to Red Rock Canyon.  Thanks to our National Parks Pass, we got in for free!  (The National Parks Pass is $80, and has already more than paid for itself at this point, given that most National Parks are about $30).  It was a very hot day, so we did the circle drive, and saw lots of lovely red rock.  Geoff took lots of pictures.

It wasn't all red rocks, though.  There were canyons and rock outcroppings of various colors and shadings.

 It was especially interesting to see rocks from a distance and different angle.

Then Andrea called and said that her last patient had cancelled, so she was able to get off work a little early.  We were all getting hungry and were hot, so we headed back to the house.

It has been really interesting to see how people live in different parts of the country.  The house was quite spacious, but because of the drought conditions, no one has grass or yards to speak of.  The house had some plantings in the front, but the back yard was essentially a concrete patio.  I felt like I was in a movie house.  I bet it is great for throwing parties.  The downstairs was an open floor plan, with an alcove for movies, a large living room, and a very large kitchen.  Upstairs, there were three bedrooms.  Ryan and Andrea had the master bedroom, of course, and David and Kevin had a Jack-and-Jill set-up- each had their own bedroom, and shared a connecting bathroom.  They had made an office room on the first floor into a guest room, and it was quite nice. 

Andrea arrived shortly after we did, and we talked about what to do next.  Even though they all live in Las Vegas, they rarely eat out, and when they do, they typically do not go to the strip.  I suppose it is like how when I lived near Chicago, I rarely went into the city, or now that I'm only an hour from Memphis, I go there maybe 1-2 times per year.  Anyway, Ryan and Andrea had some gift cards to a BBQ place that they like to go eat called Lucille's, so we piled in the car, and went there.  There was a wait, so we wandered around the streets.  It reminded me of Naperville- the clean streets, the cute little shops.  Andrea and I chatted as we walked, about mutual friends, and Naperville, where she grew up, and about how she thinks this will be a good place to raise her little boy, who she plans to name Midas after a character in an Ayn Rand novel.  She likes Vegas well enough, and there is plenty to do, although they certainly don't go out often, only to see a show every once in a while.  One of her friends had a bachelorette party in Vegas, but it was pretty low key.  Surprisingly, very few friends have come to visit in Las Vegas.  (I have to say, no friends have come to visit in Jackson, TN, but it is also in the middle of nowhere and a rather boring place.) She actually likes living in the house with roommates- its kind of like being in college, except nicer.  Actually, it is kind of like being in the Big Bang Theory, although she hopes she is nicer and smarter than Penny.  Although, when the baby arrives, Kevin and David might move out.  They will just have to see. 

Finally, our buzzer went off, and we went in to eat.  The food was good- the typical BBQ fare.  I had a pulled pork sandwich, and the sauce was very good.  Afterwards, I wanted to see the strip, although I had no intention of gambling, so we drove over there.  There were a ton of people out, I suppose they took a long weekend, and the streets were crowded, but the parking was plentiful and free.  We went to the Bellagio, which had a free botanical exhibit that changes every season.  This summer, the theme was "Under the Sea." The mermaid's tail and the turtle's shell are both made completely of flowers. 

Here, you can see the jellyfish hanging from the ceiling.  They swayed gently in the artificial breeze.

It seemed like all the visitors to Las Vegas had come to the Bellagio.  The exhibit was quite impressive and beautiful, and I can't imagine how many flowers went into that.  After that, we walked through the gambling rooms.  I had no intention of gambling, and when I realized that most places required a $50 minimum gamble, I definitely did not want to gamble.  Geoff told about his friend Nathan who can unconsciously count cards and beat the house so often that he was asked to leave the casino and never come back. 

Ryan told a story about how when Andrea first arrived, he took her gambling in the hopes that she would lose and then not want to gamble again.  She did indeed lose, and was in that way "correctly conditioned" to not gamble.  My friends are all pretty straight edged when it comes to things like that. Instead of gambling, they pursue self-improvement activities like Toastmasters!  Ryan, David, and Andrea have all enjoyed being involved in the local Toastmasters chapter, and Andrea recently won first place in the storytelling catergory.

As we walked out, we saw the tail end of the fountain show.  My friends said that it is good, and it is free, so we waited 15 more minutes, and it was worth the wait.  The water dances and the lights flash in perfect choreography to music.  It was kind of magical.

After that, it was about 9 pm, and I was feeling tired, both from the days activities, and from the throngs of people surrounding me.  In college, I thought I was an extrovert, but now I am not so sure.  Being around large numbers of strangers really drains me these days.  Anyway, we headed back to the house, and sat around and talked for a while.  Andrea entertained with stories of her PT patients, and then David pulled out his scrabble tiles and suggested that we play word thief.  Word Thief is a game that David and Kevin invented in college.  You draw tiles and try to make words, and you can steal other people's words by adding letters and mixing up their tiles.  Andrea went on to bed, but the rest of us stayed up and played.  I hadn't played since college, probably, and Geoff had never played, so we didn't do very well.  By then it was pretty late, and we had to catch our plane in the morning, so we went to bed.

The next morning, we had yummy breakfast muffins that Andrea had made ahead of time.  Andrea is very good at being hospitable and anticipating her guests' needs.  Then she was off to work, and the others wandered in at some point to eat too.  We had to clean out the car and repack, and get rid of about a half a case of bottled water, which my friends were glad to take, as we could not take it on the plane.  Then we were off, to the second part of our trip!