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Quote of the month...

"Standing tall is a very admirable thing. There are very few stories in history of heroes who slouched to the rescue. Likewise, most individuals don't look up to people who are drooped over."
from Leven Thumps and the Wrath of Ezra by Obert Skye

my family

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Foto Story Friday # 61-- the end of our 1900+ trip

PhotoStory Friday
Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek


(A lot of pictures this time, cause I wanted to finish up our trip.) Monday morning we packed up the truck and headed to Provo. We were supposed to be headed straight home, but decided to make a change of plans. Heather really need to see a chiropractor and family recommended one south, so once again we took the long way around! We made a stop at IKEA, interesting place. We picked up birthday gifts for the twins and had lunch. Guess what, you can see the
Oquirrh Mountain temple from there. I know you're probably thinking I'm crazy, but look closely .... there in the center far off in the distance, it's there. (need a better zoom-- if you enlarge it, you can see it! ) Then we headed over towards the Draper Temple to see all the houses that were never finished.
An abandoned castle at the top of the hill. I like the looks of it in black and white ... gives it a creepy quality..... like an old black n white horror film. I would have loved to taken a peek around, but I didn't think my driving companions would have gone for it..... something about laws, whatever! The house across the street also not finished was just recently reduced to 3 million! A steal, I'll take two!
Just down the hill from the castle is this beautiful temple in Draper UT. Too bad this truck was parked in the way.
We HAD to stop at Cabela's for the experience, ya know! It was mine and Heather's first time in a one, there is a lot to experience. The lamp posts in the parking lot.
I was doing my best to capture every temple I could from the freeway! Here is the Bountiful Utah Temple.
Idaho Falls Temple.
We spent the night in Rexburg with David's sister. After dinner we drove up to the Rexburg Idaho Temple and I got out to snap a few shots. I chose this one because I like how the flag is flying off to the side. It was very windy, as you can tell.
We went for a walk after returning from dinner/picture taking and saw this view from behind... set on a hill ......
Next morning we planned on a long day of driving with a few sights in between. First stop was Jackson Hole, WY.
The entrance to the park in the center of town. It is a tourist town for sure. We decided to have lunch in the park.
This cute little guy was running along the boardwalk.
You can rent a ride in the stagecoach for a bit of Old West feel.
I'm pretty sure it is required to take a picture in front of the antlers when visiting Jackson Hole, WY! (taken by Troy)
Jackson Hole Airport.... in the middle of nowhere a huge jet was taking off! I had no idea that big planes landed here!
The Grand Tetons of Wyoming are truly amazing! I took tons of pictures of these majestic mountains. We headed north to Yellowstone. Troy had never been there so we made a "quick" trip through and saw a few highlights. Only there was construction and it took forever to get through.... several stops along the roadside.
Fast moving rivers flow through Yellowstone National Park. They are quite difficult to capture while driving, though!
Old Faithful is the absolute must see when in Yellowstone. We went in and got and ice cream/frozen yogurt, sat on the porch in the rocking chairs and waited for the show. I love to stand back and watch the people and that is the reason I chose this photos to share.
This shot is not clear, but I just had to take it, it seemed SO perfect. He looked so content just him, the pole and the river.
Raging waters. We did see a couple of buffalo and some big game animals. But we didn't stop like the others who were holding up traffic, errr, I mean, enjoying the park and it's many beauties. Really some people don't think, we saw a woman walking up to a buffalo lying in the grass just off the road..... ummm, yeah that is a huge bison and it is wild!
Mammoth is a cool feature and must also be seen. course we didn't stop, we were trying to get home. It was still quite the drive to the edge of Eastern MT from Gardiner. Once we got out of the park, the traffic was backed up for blocks in that little town..... like we spent an hour stopped-- creeping forward. Finally we got up to the pilot car and the notice of construction for the next 25 miles..... yup had to follow the car the whole way at a whopping top speed of 25 mph! yeah so we ended up staying in Billings and getting home on Wednesday!
Thanks for enduring our couples vacation, next week we take the kids on a camping trip!

19 comments:

Ryanne said...

Great post, and you were right, there are a lot of pictures there! The Jackson Hole pictures make me miss it! I loved working there when I was a college ager! Lots of good memories there! Great job!

Emily said...

That castle is creepy and the antlers...wow! That a huge pile!

Honey Mommy said...

Wyoming is gorgeous! I grew up near Jackson. Did you know I spent every summer in high school driving to Jackson and back for a summer job? It took an hour to get there!

I grew up in a town that has it's own elk horn arch... but the one in Jackson is bigger!

Latree@Dandelion said...

you are the best in finding objects. great pictures...

Maggie May said...

That pile of antlers is the photo that stands out for me and the empty homes.... that is so spooky!
There were some magnificent mountains!

Cafe Mommy - said...

Kudos on those great shots (the antlers would have scared me off - I might get caught in one of them, knowing me). The pictures of Jackson Hole, The Teton and the ragin waters made me want to be there! You done good! Great shots. Thanks for sharing! :*)

Casey's trio said...

You certainly did see alot of beautiful country on your trip! Great pictures!

kayerj said...

you guys had a nice vacation. We went to the Draper open house but missed the Oquirrah (sp). Here’s my photo story. happy Friday!

Holly said...

Wow, that's a lot of temples! They're all so grand. Love the mountain peaks too!

Izzy, Emmy 'N Alexander said...

Seriously, BEAUTIFUL PHOTOS! What a fabulous trip, I've enjoyed reading about it. The antlers are very cool!

imbeingheldhostage said...

This was such a fun post. I was nearly shouting "I've been there!" "I've seen that!" (which means so much more considering how far from those places I am now). I did tell my husband I know where I want to take the boys on our return to the states while reading this.

And that morning temple view!! I can't even imagine waking up to see that every day. I have always lived HOURS away from a temple.
Thanks for the fun!

Carissa(GoodnCrazy) said...

Great pictures! I kid you not I lived 2 neighborhoods down below that abandoned castle! If I dug hard enough I could find out who was building it.. I have friends who live on the East side loop of the Draper temple... :) But now?? We live in teeny tiny southern oregon.. and we LIKE it!

Momisodes said...

Wow! Camping next? You are awesome!

I loved seeing your photos and reading about your adventures. Those views are truly breathtaking!

CC said...

I like the abandoned castle!

And Ikea... is a vacation in an of itself! I went there twice last week to escape the heat and put the kids in free babysitting. ;)

Heidi said...

Yellowstone is so amazing. I love the picture of the old castle best! Sounds like you had a fun adventure. Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Are You Serious! said...

♥ LOVE all the pictues! what a fantastic trip!!!

Darla said...

These are absolutely FABulous pictures! Makes me want to go there! Wow!!!

Unknown said...

There is so much to see in that area of our country that it definitely takes more than one trip! Loved Jackone Hole - next time through you might want to check out Thermopolis and sit in the hot pool - so neat!

Jaina said...

Wow, those are some incredible pictures! I love that castle...I'd have gone exploring with you ;) What a neat place!