Empty Nester Vacation

Well, we did it. We are officially "Empty Nesters" and we

took an awesome vacation to celebrate. We started Friday,

September 4th, driving to Bonnie's cousin Barbara's house

in Riverside where we spent the night. Saturday morning

we loaded up Barbara's daughters Katie and Rachel, who

are also attending BYU Idaho, and drove to Salt Lake. We

stayed with Mary and Bob in immigration Canyon. We spent

most of Sunday with them then left about 3:00 p.m. and

drove to Rexburg. It took us about 3hrs and 15 minutes. We

stayed with Seth and Linda and got a nice little tour of the

campus.Monday is when our empty nest syndrome really

began.

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Monday September 7:

We drove to campus in the morning to get Jared checked in.

Katie and Rachel told us that last year the lines were long

and it took a few hours to get everything taken care of. We

got there fairly early and got his ID card and books pretty

quickly. We then got him checked into his dorm room. It

was funny to see all the moms setting up their sons rooms

for them. Yes, Bonnie made Jared's bed just like most of

the other moms. Jared's room mate got there later with his

family and got everything moved in. Jared's room mate's

family was in our ward years ago when he and Jared were

in primary. We went to a parent's meeting given by the

school President that afternoon. He talked about "helicopter"

moms that hover over their kids and that they need to let

them grow up. The President's wife spoke previously and

said that her husband wouldn't let her make their son's bed.

We also stayed that night at Seth and Linda's.

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Jared sure looks happy to be away from home.

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His fridge had enough room for a

six-pack of B.. Soda.

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Tuesday September 8:

This morning we left Seth and Linda's and headed for

Yellowstone National Park. Linda said that we should

take a little detour on the way and see Mesa Falls,

which we did and were glad we did. We then drove to

Yellowstone and entered the west entrance. We spent

the day and drove to the south and then to the far north

end of the park where we stayed the night in our truck

at Mammoth Hot Springs.

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Mesa Falls was very beautiful.

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There was a nice walking trail with

walkways for taking pictures.

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Bonnie at the West entrance to Yellowstone.

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This was the first thermal that we saw. It had no name

but was interesting to see a boiling hot spring in the middle

of a cold river.

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This is Ojo Caliente Spring. We saw a sign on the way out

that warned not to go closer than the rock perimeter. We

found out later that many people have been scalded to death

as they fell through the unstable ground. There were large

animal bones in the bottom of this spring.

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Bon on some of the miles of wooden

walkways throughout the park.
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These bacteria mats grew well in the hot spring water.
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Silex Spring

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Clepsydra Geyser
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Clepsydra Geyser "erupted" constantly.

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The lodge at "Old Faithful".
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Everyone waiting for the show, which occurs about

every 90 Minutes.

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Old Faithful putting on a show.

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Looking out over the basin.

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Heart Pool

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These thermals sprout right out of Yellowstone Lake.

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Beautiful but deadly.

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Wednesday September 9:

We got an early start and checked out the Terraces before heading back south. We exited the south entrance and drove through Grand Tetons National Park and then to Jackson Hole Wyoming to the ski resort. We then drove on to Provo and got to Stacy's house about 11:30 p.m.

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We stayed the night in Mammoth Hot Springs and when we got

up in the morning, the lawns were covered with elk.

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Waiting to drive around a cow.

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This bull meant business.

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With the size of this guy I'm surprised the sign is necessary.

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"Liberty Cap". A dormant hot spring cone.

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This whole hill side was "active".

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Fascinating.

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Mammoth Hot Springs is known for the "Terraces".

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Years in the making.

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More Terraces

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Looking down on the town of Mammoth Hot Springs.

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There were lots of chimpmonks everywhere.

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Bonnie and Dave at the Upper Falls.

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Upper Falls.

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The Lower Falls.

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Dragon's Mouth Spring made a roaring sound

as the steam exited this hole. You could actually

feel it.

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The Mud Volcano

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Churning Caldron

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Bon on the walking trail

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Contrast of a beautiful lake and a barren thermal

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Jackson Hole Wyoming

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The lift at the bottom

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The lift at the top

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Dave at the top. The lift machinery was huge.

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The lift used 15 Miles of 1.25 inch diameter cable

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The top of the last peak in the Grand Teton range was

visible from the top of the lift.

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Thursday September 10:
Thursday we spent the day with Stacy and watched Lance's soccer game that night.

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Friday September 11:
We drove south to Arches National Park and spent the afternoon there. It was pretty amazing. We then drove west and slept at a rest stop near Bryce Canyon.

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Self explanatory

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This is what we found waiting for us at Arches. Beautiful

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Cool Rock

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The Three Gossips

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Balanced Rock

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Hangin out

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One of "The Windows"

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Bonnie thought it was funny that I struggled to hold up

my camera to take our picture.

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The Windows

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Turret Arch

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Double Arch was enormous

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Sand Dune Arch was one of the few arches that wasn't huge

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Broken Arch

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At 306 feet, Landscape Arch is the longest natural arch

in the world

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Delicate Arch was my favorite

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Natural Amphitheatre at Delicate Arch

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Everyone just hanging out at Delicate

Arch waiting for sunset

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Photo op

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Saturday September 12:
This Morning we drove into Bryce canyon and went to all the lookouts. We then went to Zion National Park to finish the day. We then drove to Saint George where we stayed at the Judd's home. They were kind enough to let us stay at there house even though they were out of town.

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Thats right. We're at Bryce Canyon

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Road Arch

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On one of the trails

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Interesting formation

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Sunset Point

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On the trail at Sunset Point

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Inspiration Point

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"Hoodoos" at Inspiration Point

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More beautiful Hoodoos

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Natural Bridge

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At Agua Canyon

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The "Poodle" at Rainbow Point

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You guessed it. Zion National Park

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Checkerboard Mesa

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These bighorn sheep came within 30 feet of our truck

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Then disappeared over the hill

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One of the four Galleries in the mile long tunnel

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Partial Arch

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Bon boarding the bus tour

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On our way out

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Sunday September 13:

Today we drove down to Cheryl's and spent a couple hours with the Grand babies and then drove home. What an amazing vacation. ( With no kids )