YELLOWSTONE: AUG. 11-13

When we drove into Yellowstone, we went immediately to see the geysers. They were all cool, but I got bored after the first couple of hours, but we stayed around Old Faithful for a few more hours anyway. Well, at least I can say that I've seen them even if I didn't appreciate seeing Old Faithful do its thing three times. The next day we went fishing by a campsite called Slough Creek. We went up a little tributary of the creek. We caught lots of small Rainbow Trout. Of course, now that I'm obsessed with fly fishing, I caught them all on a fly rod. We also found a full-on elk rack, skull and all. It was so cool. - Jackson

Fishing and wildfires

Yellowstone traffic jam

Skipping rocks

Finally, we let the kids build a campfire and roast some marshmallows.

We drove right into Yellowstone and to the geyser area. I loved Old Faithful, but my true favorite is Sponge Geyser. Every minute or so Sponge Geyser bubbled over the top. Then all bubbles went back in like it is being absorbed by a sponge. The next day we went fishing.  - Hannah

We woke up early in Grand Teton National Park and drove straight up to Yellowstone hoping to get in a campground before it filled. We got a spot at Grant Village Campground and headed for Old Faithful. So far our national park tours, while a bit crazy at the visitor centers and along the roadsides where there were wildlife sightings, had otherwise seemed peaceful.  We had remarked that all of our fishing hikes had involved catching more fish than seeing people. I'm sure the sense of being out in nature is possible in Yellowstone, at Slough Creek for example, but mostly we felt like things were a little too crowded.  Old Faithful was not a fun scene for John.  It felt more like a trip to the mall at Christmas time than a walk through nature. I think we did it right though. We used our bikes to get to some of the further out geysers, ate lunch at the car and then did a 1.5 mile hike to see some of the closer geysers.  We saw Old Faithful do its thing three times.  One too many times for the boys in the family, but Hannah was fine.  That evening we went on a six mile hike searching for fishing, found nothing and returned to camp that night tired and hungry. Also we were ready for a shower (it had been about three days) and to do some laundry while we had the chance. The next morning showered and recharged we headed to Slough Creek hoping to find a campsite for the night, but it was full. We stayed to fish anyway. At the suggestion of the camp host, we went up a small tributary instead of the main creek and had a great day wading and rock hopping up this creek catching fish and sloshing around. There was a fire nearby and we chatted with the fire crew that was keeping an eye on it, but no one seemed too concerned or thought that they would have to close down the campground. Another odd thing about fishing in Yellowstone was that we were supposed to kill (or keep and eat) any non-native fish that we caught.  Basically Cutthroat were the only native species, so in theory we were supposed to keep or kill all the Rainbow that we caught that day.  Hannah refused to comply and insisted that we release them. We all agreed. We left that afternoon and headed toward Livingston hoping to find a campground once we got cell service.

Biking and geysers go together.

Look what we found near Slough Creek

GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK - AUG. 11-14

In Grand Teton  we went on a couple of hikes and went fishing. I caught a Teton trout on my Teton Trout fishing pole. We caught a bunch more on the first day and then I made Dad let me use the fly rod. I caught seven and got obsessed with fly fishing. In Jackson Hole on the second day in Grand Teton, we went downhill mountain biking. It is where you ride up a ski lift and then get to ride down on your bike. It was extremely fun, especially these three trails: Bronco, Bandit and Buckaroo. - Jackson

Even though you can't see it because it's so small, Jackson caught a fish.

The first day in the Tetons we went on a hike to two lakes (Taggart Lake and Bradley Lake). We only caught one fish the whole time and Jackson was the one to catch it. It was a Brook Trout. Then we hiked back down. The next day we went downhill mountain biking at Jackson Hole Ski Resort. It was so much FUN! My favorite runs were Bronco, Bandit, Buckaroo and Lucky Charm. After we did about 10-15 runs we left. Then we hiked up the trail we did the day before and fished. The next day we went to Yellowstone. - Hannah

The really nice thing we have discovered about the national parks is that they are at least partially prepared for people like our family who can't make plans months in advance.  They have a number of first come, first serve campgrounds.  While we didn't end up staying in a national park campground in RMNP, we did in the Tetons.  We spent two nights at the Gros Ventre Campground.  While it wasn't super private, (our next door neighbors got upset when John left the rear lights on the van for too long) it was a perfect base of operations for some mountain biking and fishing. It seems that we have finally arrived in bear country.  Now wherever we go people are carrying bear spray and the campgrounds all have bear boxes and rules about where you can keep food and personal items that have a scent. John is excited about the prospect of seeing a bear.  When we were fishing the first evening, there was a moose about 25 yards down the stream chomping down on some willows leaves. It was probably a little too close, but the boys were catching fish and there was no way they were stopping! One thing we have noticed about the parks is how crazy people get when they see a moose or bison or bear along the side of the road.  They pull over suddenly or hang out of car windows or jump out of the car and start running after the wildlife with a camera. I REALLY loved hitting the downhill trails at Jackson Hole with the kids. Even though I'm the kind of person who'd much rather earn my downs by climbing up, it was a great equalizer for the kids.  We could do it together perfectly. So we did, all day long! Then we went fishing for the evening and I finally caught my first fish of the trip on the fly rod.  It was tiny, but I'm hoping the spell had been broken. - Hillary

SALIDA, CO - AKA MOUNTAIN BIKING WITH DOORNBOS FAMILY: AUG. 5-7

The gang gets together again!

We ended up back in Colorado mountain biking again, and it is all my fault.  I take all responsibility for insisting that our earlier weekend in Crested Butte just wasn't enough mountain bike time or Colorado time and we had to have more.  Luckily, the Doornbos family could swing it too, and we picked Salida because the Freeman's have a "place" in town.  We were going to camp at the Freeman's, but weather forecasts were ominous, so at the last minute Dan found an adorable ramshackle 1800s semi-log cabin near Monarch Crest. Salida was a good base of operations because in addition to biking, we did a little rafting and fishing and rock collecting. We managed to get in three different rides with the kids. Weather concerns kept us from doing the "epic" Monarch Crest Trail day the guys had planned to do with the kids; however, we took them on an out and back instead.  It was so fun to see them all riding through the alpine meadows above treeline! It was great to have the Hanna(h)s together again to encourage each other on the climbs. We also enjoyed seeing their new puppy Wheeler again.  He is such a mild-mannered, great puppy. - Hillary

"Good dog, Wheeler!"

Everyone needs a puppy who can bring you a beer.

We arrived the first day about 2:00.  We went on a mountain bike trail and rented a cabin with Hanna's family. The second day we went on a ride that went up and down a lot. Then we went white water rafting! It was exciting. The next day we went on a trail called Monarch Pass.  It was four miles straight up hill and then four miles back down the hill.  That afternoon we left for Fort Collins. - Hannah

The Hanna(h)s swim through the town hole....Hannah....

Hanna

The boys take a more casual approach.

In Salida we fished and mountain biked. I caught nine fish those days.  There was a hotel pond near the cabin and a lake near town. We did three mountain bike trails and whitewater rafted one day. All things considered, it was fun. - Jackson

The view from Freeman's yard.

FT. COLLINS AND ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK: AUG. 8-11

At Fort Collins we stayed at my dad's friend's house. My dad's friend is named John Riley. He has a daughter named Katie. She is the same age as me! That night Jackson had to babysit us because the parents went to a bar. It wasn't bad. We watched T.V. practically the whole time. The next morning I woke up before Katie, so I went fishing with my brother and my dad. (Katie has a big lake in her neighborhood.) When Katie woke up we ate pancakes with whipped cream, blueberries, strawberries and syrup. Then we played demi-gods. Then we left for Rocky Mountain National Park. Our campsite had disk golf, a tennis/basketball court, a playground and a horse ranch! The next day I went on a one hour horseback ride on a horse named Mandy. And then I went on a hike to fish. I caught my first trout! The next day we went on a long hike. The next day we left. - Hannah

Hannah and Katie had fun playing together.

John Riley shows Jackson where to fish.

 RMNP was really beautiful.  We were lucky because Jen's parents had a campsite reserved at the Winding River Resort near Grand Lake on the west side of the park, and they weren't going to use it so we were able to take their spot.  It was definitely high tourist season in the park, so to get over to the west side and have a spot reserved kept us out of the fray. The kids loved the campground because it was so civilized with horses and disk golf and water at your campsite. At the visitor center we asked one of the rangers about fishing.  He told us that he was far too well-adjusted to fish; however, one of the other rangers had fished every lake and stream and had documented what he had caught there.  He showed us the map. We took a photo, and we were off on our national park fishing adventure. At first I wasn't really interested in the fishing. It was just an activity to keep Jackson motivated on our adventures.  But then I realized it was such an awesome way to get the whole family into the back country doing something together.  We had so much fun hiking into these small meadow streams. Jackson and John and even Hannah were catching fish left and right.  I didn't catch anything, but I loved to see my family having fun together in these beautiful locations. - Hillary

It's so hard to hold onto!!

Exploding the van at our campsite.

Fish we caught and where we caught them:
Fort Collins
Small Mouth Bass
Yellow Perch
Walleye or Sauger (Hannah caught it. It was big.)
RMNP
Brown Trout (By Winding River Resort. There were only two, but, hey, that's still fish.)
Brook Trout (We caught these on Onahu Creek.)
Cutthroat Trout (We caught these in Timber Creek on the way to Timber Lake.  It was a small stream but the fish were bigger than the day before.)

Cutthroat

Hiking back from Timber Lake rods in hand.

BACK ACROSS THE COUNTRY: AUG 4-5

Lisa lives in Nashville, and Nashville is on the way to Colorado. So we stopped at a coffee shop and drank coffee and ate cookies. - Hannah

Wet drive through Kansas

CHATTANOOGA: AUG. 1-4

The first day in Chattanooga we went mountain biking and went to a really cool lake. The lake was cool because it was a swimming pool also. The next day we went to a lake house and a bunch of people came over and swam in the lake. The next day at about 11:00 we left the lake house. That night we had a dinner at the Sumida's house. They had a swimming pool and they also had three pigs, three cats, one horse and one donkey and a dog! The next morning we left. - Hannah

We stayed at Jimmy's house. The next day we went mountain biking. Then we went swimming, and I completed a one and half flip. That night we went to dinner. The next day we went to Jimmy's lake house after some early morning fishing. I fished some more at the lake house and ended up catching 11 fish that day. The next day we went to dinner at Mark Sumida's house. They have a pool there, so I swam some more. All and all, Chattanooga was fun. - Jackson

Why are the girls paddling boarding away from Jackson?

Thanks, Steve, for taking me fishing!

Fishing from the bike boat

We only get back to Chattanooga every two to three years, so it is usually a blur of seeing people we love and miss.  Jimmy is always so great about letting us crash at his house and hosting a party at his lake house.  We really appreciate his hospitality.  The whole outdoor scene in Chattanooga has matured since we lived there.  People were calling it the Boulder of the southeast.  We went mountain biking on the trails at Raccoon Mountain. It was my first time on them--pretty impressive.  In the old days it was Edward's Point, Stringer's Ridge, Five Points. We dodged broken toilet bowls and baby doll heads on Stringer's Ridge.  I'm pretty sure they've cleaned up the trails since then.
Stan invited us to McCallie to swim.  I haven't been in the lake since I was an employee of the school, so there was something pretty special about jumping off of the tower holding hands with my kids. I wish we had taken a photo of it.  Hannah described it correctly.  It's a giant swimming pool with a natural bottom at the deep end.  It still has a giant tower in the middle with a diving board down low and stairs to the top where you can either go down the slide or jump off. We loved seeing everyone and wish more of our friends from Chattanooga would come visit us in Portland. - Hillary

Bella wants to come on our trip too!

Thank you Jimmy!!