The last bit about our Wyoming trip...

 

 

I have been dying to share my photos from Wyoming but with all of the traveling there has been no time to upload and edit.  Now that things are finally starting to slow down, I had the chance yesterday to look through the hundreds of pictures that I took (seriously... hundreds...).  I will not bore you with all of the pics but here is just a glimpse of our time in beautiful Wyoming....

One of the first things that we saw once we got to Wyoming

 

 

 

Being a Southern girl, I didn't often see leaves changing in the fall.  This is one of my favorite things and I loved that we were in Wyoming at the absolute perfect time to see the season change.

 

 

Sightseeing in Casper

 

While in Casper, we spent a bit of quality time with Joe's fabulous grandmother, Earlene.  She's probably one of the most fantastic women that I have ever met.

 

Dobs learning that he was as agile as a billy goat :)

 

Fall colors... LOVE :)

 

The beautiful drive to Yellowstone (and beginning to look a little preggy-poochy :)

 

Hooray for Yellowstone!

 

The minute that we were settled, we went hiking in the woods that were right next to our campsite.  The whole time, I was watching for bears... 

 

What I should have been looking for were buffalo!!!  When we first got there, spotting buffalo was like playing a game of "Where's Waldo."  These magnificent beasts can hide in the grass and then immediately pop up out of nowhere!  I'm pretty sure that we walked right next to this buffalo and had no idea that he was there!

 

My honey fishing... 

 

And my precious pup having the time of his life!

 

 

Old Faithful

 

So, I had no idea what to expect at Old Faithful.  I thought that you saw a big ole geyser, cool, and then that was it.  Joe and I actually spent the entire day walking through the park and seeing tons of geysers and natural springs. 

 

Photo fun with Old Faithful! :)

 

 

These natural springs looked like they belong on Mars...

  

I'm not really into geology but this stuff was kind of cool.

 

Hello, buffalo!  We found another weary traveler who was also checking out Old Faithful that day!

 

 

 

 Just wandering along...

 

 

So, spotting buffalo was this fun game... until we found a herd of hundreds of buffalo and then realized that they were everywhere. 

 

 

 

 The Lower Falls of Yellowstone

 

The Upper Falls of Yellowstone

 

 

 

Love this view!

 

 

Mud pits and steam coming out of a cave... I can totally see where the idea of dragons came from...

 

 

After Yellowstone, we moved onto Jackson Hole and saw the beautiful Teton Mountains.

 

And then we made our way to Dubois.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Just a glimpse of the way that we lived for nearly two months...

 

Cooking dinner!

 

 Twilight in the mountains

 

 Hoover Dam

 

 

As my hubs heads back to work today, I can't help but feel grateful.  Not many people can take nearly two months off to have an amazing adventure before starting a new journey.  It wasn't all smooth sailing but it will definitely be a trip that we won't forget.  Can't wait to see what's in store for us next!

 



San Diego: Lions and tigers and... Shamu??? Oh my!

Close your eyes and imagine with me, if you will... On second thought, don't close your eyes.  That would defeat the purpose of you reading my blog.  Just follow along...

Place yourself in your bathroom.  Grab your blow dryer and point it at your face.  Put your blow dryer on high and hold it there until it gets uncomfortably hot.  Now throw a handful of sand in your face and imagine that you are surrounded with a lovely, well, not so lovely, hue of boring brown.  Brown sand.  Brown plants.  Brown hills.  Welcome to Fort Irwin.

Now, in this little mind journey, let's relocate ourselves.  Imagine: beautiful blue sky, massive palm trees, beaches, surfers, dogs frolicking in the waves, people milling around eating ice cream.  It's a perfect, balmy 85 degrees and when it gets just a little too warm, a cool breeze caresses your face and you sigh happily.  Hello, San Diego!  Practically Paradise, right???


Last week, after we had finally made our way to Irwin, our first order of business was to check out the housing situation.  We looked at eight pretty horrible apartments that were last updated in the late 1980s, had decided that two weren't so terrible and then were blessed with a Saint at the Housing Office who gave us the inside scoop on a townhouse that wouldn't be ready for a few weeks.  It didn't take us long to figure out that this place was worth the wait.  

With our housing settled, my baby doctor appointment finally made, and nothing to do for another week, Joe and I decided that there was no point in hanging out and melting in the desert.  It was time for our first California adventure!  We were off to San Diego.

I will be honest and say that out of all of the places that I have wanted to travel to, California was no where on that list.  With that said, San Diego has completely changed my viewpoint of this chilled out state. 

We loved it.  I'm not sure if it was the stark difference from Irwin or the fact that there was so much to do but hands down, we give this cool city 5 stars. 

Since we are traveling while I am pregnant, there is a need for us to find things that I can actually DO.  As much as I'd love to hang out with my husband, getting crazy and checking out the nightlife, that just isn't possible at the moment.  Instead, we filled our days with visiting beaches (there was a very sweet dog beach that we went to and I'm sure it was the best day of Dobby's life), eating yummy fish tacos (these were surprisingly everywhere), touring Sea World (the sea lions are by far my favorite), the San Diego Zoo (the coolest zoo that I have ever been to), and the U.S.S. Midway (eh... that one was okay).  All in all, another perfect little getaway to add to the many adventures that we have had over the past couple of months.

 

As much as we have enjoyed our vagabond life, I cannot begin to express how ready we are for a bit of normalcy again. I am done with living in a 14 foot camper, in hotels, out of suitcases and backpacks and squeezed in the middle of my hubs and pups. I can't wait to have a kitchen and a bathroom of my own and having my shampoo and conditioner conveniently placed in the shower and not having to make sure I have all of my toiletries in my backpack before making a trek to the nearest shower. Don't get me wrong, I feel so blessed for these adventures... it's just time. :) 9 more days.....

Road Trippin...

When I think about traveling, I usually think about airplanes and foreign countries and exotic cuisine.  I tend to forget about the many majestic places that are located in my own country.  These past few weeks have helped in changing that thought.

So, after Joe and I left Grandma Earlene's house in Casper, Wyoming and spent a couple of days with more of his family at their ranch in Gillette, our adventure really began as we made our way to Yellowstone National Park.

Instead of boring you with the many details of these past few weeks, I will do my absolute best in summing up our adventures.  We stayed at Yellowstone for a few days where we saw: tons of buffalo, coyotes, a bald eagle, chipmunks (which is not a common site for this Louisiana girl), Old Faithful,  the Yellowstone Lower Water Falls (and Upper Falls), the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, and plenty of geysers, hot springs, and bubbling mud pits that I didn't even know existed on this planet.  Call me stupid, but this stuff made me double check the map to make sure that we hadn't actually stepped onto another planet.

After Yellowstone, several days were spent in both Jackson Hole (where we saw a bear just chilling in a tree, munching on berries) and then Dubois.  I had never been to Wyoming, so I really didn't know what to expect from this trip.  The only way that I can sum it up is by saying that this state is full of stunning beauty that changes so drastically.  An example would be that while driving, I looked to my left which had enormous rocky mountains that were brown with very little life and on my right were tons of evergreens and aspen trees, whose leaves were changing to a beautiful golden hue, with a little creek running down a mountain.  Stunning.

After nearly three weeks of traveling, it was finally time to make our way to California.  I'm not sure who this was harder for, me or Joe (I'm guessing it was probably me).  After all this time of being in Never- Never Land, it was time to go back to reality, and move to a new and very foreign (and very desert) place that was far-far- farrrr away from home.  I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed and scared about this reality that was finally sinking in. 

So, what do we do???  Take a massive plunge into the World of Fantasy and head to Vegas!  Now, this is not the ideal spot for any preggo lady but when you are trying to escape reality, it's not a bad place to go!

Our trip has been amazing but like I predicted when we left Texas, it has not been perfect.  Joe and I have both had to learn how to travel while being pregnant: there have a lot more naps needed, some days taken to just sit, relax, and recoup, and there have been frantic searches for bathrooms for momma to be sick in.  We are pretty sick of living on top of one another and in the trailer that seems to be shrinking by the second.  And there have been a couple of meltdowns.  But, at the end of each day, we are still hugging, kissing, and loving each other... and in my book, that is success!

As much as I wish I could say that we are getting ready to settle down and move into our new California home... I won't be able to say that for 16 more days.  And since Joe doesn't have to start work until October 10th, well... we are off to San Diego!!!  Awwww shucks!!! ;)