Wyoming, Day 3

Day three started like the others...me on the couch in our condo sneaking eating my sweet chex mix in the comfort of my aloneness because my kids had all left to see what their cousins were doing, or still sleeping in Katie Jane's case ;)

Then I hear my orders:  Julie, grab your camera and come here!!

Ryan found a very busy spider, who had made a home in his tire rim during the night.  It didn't end well for the spider.

On the agenda for day 3...Steve had made arrangements for all the brave ones in the family, minus Kristy who would have gone if it weren't for Emery, and Lezlee who would have gone if it weren't for her cute baby in her belly, to go on a rafting/river ride on the Snake River just outside of Jackson Hole, WY.

I would rather bungee jump than go river rafting again.  NOT enjoyable in my book.  Rafts and cars out of control are my biggest fears.  

Hugest!

So while the river-runners raced to get to their near-death appointment, some of us, minus Katie Jane who stayed behind to sleep and watch a movie (borrrring!) went on a little hike to see an intermittent spring.

What's an intermittent spring?  Well...I'll have to show you a picture.

Kristy and Emery...looking at this picture brings back some vivid memories of me and an adventure I had with a backpack...my thighs are burning just thinking about it!

As we drove up, we noticed how high the water level was.  There were a lot of swampy places and places that were thick as pea soup with mosquitoes...did someone remember the mosquito repellant?

Jill commented several times that Holly was probably freaking out about the water, running so fast and high.  Jill was right.  As soon as we got out of our cars at the trail head, Holly voiced her freak.

All the little kids' hands were squeezed to death.

As soon as we got there, Luke was asking us when we were going home.

This is the periodic spring.  We didn't see it happen, but Jill said that on non-record breaking wet years...which we are in now...this rush of water, coming out of nowhere in the middle of this rocky mountain, will start as a trickle and get stronger and stronger until it's pouring out of the mountain and then it will slowly slow down until it's a trickle again and then completely stop.  About every 20 minutes or so it goes through that same cycle.

 When we got there, there was no sign of it slowing down at all and in fact, we couldn't even get to it because the river was so high it had washed out and was covering part of the path, and since Holly was with us, and we had little kids, we just looked at the spring from here. 

Notice the chunk of dirty snow by the spring?

After we had oooo'd and aaahhhh'd at the spring, well...I did anyway...it's water coming out of a rock!!!...we decided to head back down.  When Luke found out that we were going back to the cars, he was the first one down the mountain!

And Treven climbed every other path...whether it was made by man, or mountain goat!

I think we escaped any mosquito bites...it was a little windy...it's always nice to have a breeze around when it's hot and when there's mosquitoes around!

After showers and a little lunch, all the non-river rafting goers, headed up to Jackson Hole to meet the river rafters.  I was starting to get a little concerned because they were supposed to start down the river at 11 and Will said they would be done by the time we got to Jackson.  I'd call...no answer.  I'd call...no answer. Lather, rinse, repeat!

Then the combination of driving in a new town, with thousands of tourists trying to cross the streets...anywhere on the streets, driving Will's huge truck that I'm not used to driving anymore and getting phone calls and texts from my sisters/SIL's about where the rafters were, and then getting lost somewhere by lots of elk horns on very narrow streets and trying to find Bubba's...I was a mess.

Sadly, that's when Will called me.  Finally he calls, and I'm ornery and short with him...an attitude I regretted when I watched them walk into the restaurant...Jay was wearing only one shoe, he left with both shoes on, and they all looked like near-drowned rats, and my dad's eyes were as big as the moon.  My brothers were still shaken after watching my dad nearly drown.

Lunch at Bubba's was rather solemn as we looked up the pictures on our iphones and passed the phones around for a little reminiscing.  Sheesh!!

Apparently, the river raft they were in, lost it's lunch on the "Lunch Counter" !  We haven't gotten the video from their experience but  Here is their slide show  and here is another slide show from the companies that hang out on the side of the river.  My dad's facial expressions make me want to cry for him, and Brad L, Brad S, Ryan, Will, Steven, Easton, Tyler and Eric looked like they were having a blast.  The other kids in the middle look terrified too.  Allie looked at the bottom of the raft the entire time (that would be me) Jay, I'm not quite sure.  It's hard to see and let your kids experience scary things.  But almost harder to see, is your dad scared to death! :(

I probably should mention that an older man died less than a week before at the exact spot  doing the exact same thing. Red flag!

Let's just say that my dad saw a light and was trying to decide if he was supposed to go toward it, or fight!  My dad, Jay and Will were sucked under and swept away from the rest of the group, who were also sucked under the raft and nearly drowned.  It still makes my heart sick to hear some of the stories---which were, and still are non-stop---about panic from the dad's looking and screaming and hoping that their kids were okay.

When Steven plans for adventure...he does not disappoint!

We found a store and bought Jay a new pair of shoes...couldn't have him walking around Jackson Hole like Shoeless Joe Jackson!  Luckily,  the store had ginormous shoe sizes!  Most everyone from the rafting group was exhausted and just went home to the condos, but some of us were determined to fight the crowds...and see the antlers!

We loved Jackson Hole.  It's a place you need to spend a week in to see everything.  Very touristy, but I'd go again in a heartbeat!

Ice cream and good 'ole western shoot-outs...match made in heaven!

And then the stars aligned and Katie and Lauren got to get up close and personal with their favorite "brother" from the play we saw the night before.  I think their "movie star" experience was kind of cheapened when the girls each handed him a dollar for a tip.  

Were we supposed to tip him?  More than two dollars?  I say...if those were REAL guns...then we should have given him a fiver!

Katie Jane was a little taken aback when she said she had to slouch to not be taller than him.  Awww, he's still super cute and a favorite among most of the "girls" in the audience!  He might be the biggest reason Katie Jane wants to move to Wyoming and become an actress!

No pictures of Emma because she decided to go back with the Larsen's to the condos.  Earlier that morning she had made it known (to the world...did you hear her that day??) that Jackson Hole was the dumbest place in the world and she screamed for the good part of an hour that she hated Wyoming and it was the dumbest state and she never wanted to come back.  Oh, and that it wasn't fair!

Maybe we were having a little too much fun and a meltdown was sure to happen.  I just thought it would be me, not Emma.

Being 8 is sooo hard!!  I was proud of how I handled the situation though.  I let her get it ALL out, until my mom came over to see what in the world was going on because she could hear Emma screaming and proclaiming her disgust for Wyoming all the way in her condo.  I did my best to hold my baby on my lap, more like snuggle with her in the bed she had ripped all the covers off of, and gave her some undivided attention...yay for me!!...and some mommy love.  

Don't worry Steven, she was just mad because she wanted to swim.  Wyoming is awesome!   

On the way back, Will wanted to stop by the "lunch counter" to give us an idea of what happened.  Unfortunately, my pics don't even begin to do it justice.  Those rapids were HUGE!!  

Two of the survivors!

We were glad to be "home".  The kids swam in the pool until sunset , another run was made to get foot-long Royals and Mtn. Dew freezes at the Red Barron, and we were all counting our blessings and glad everyone was safe and sound and I was especially glad we had family prayer that morning...thanks to my dad!

And that was the most memorable day of this Strong Family vacation.  Will's birthday dinner at Taco Time took a close second place!  A day to go down in history.  

We slept very well!