5 states, 4 national parks, 3 days, 2 fugitives, 1 awesome weekend (final cut)

there we were. at the genisis of the third day of the most epic road trip in my life to date. though the final day there was still more fun than we could imagine ahead. we woke up at abigial's. thankful for showers. we all left clean. we called abigail to summon them to breakfast with us before we headed out of town. we figured while they got ready we'd seek out a nice bottle of something or other to thank abigail for the accomodations. much to our surprise the liquor store was open at 8am on a sunday morning. god bless wyoming! then of course we had to stop at the jackson loaf 'n jug.

by the time we finished our loaf 'n jug business it was time to meet howie and abigial for breakfast. the virginian. it was a hoppin' place. we saw fellow lovers of sturgis and felt right at home. our hearts were still in south dakota. our table was right by this fellow.

i tried my best imitation...

after a great breakfast we loaded our full bellies into the element and were on our way to the tetons and yellowstone. giddy out of our minds. again. we stopped at the teton visitor's center. lots of fun there. and the perfect book for me.

i found this vest and borrowed natalie's hat for the photo.

then we were off to see the tetons. they were amazing. huge. i could live here. seriously. i think i will. we also made a stop at jenny lake. gorgeous. i got in. it was cold. so cold.

yes, my tetons went to the tetons.

and we had a stamp in our national parks passport for this highway. so of course. we had to take a picture with the sign. duh.

and then it happened. we were almost out of the tetons and on to yellowstone. i was behind the wheel. suddenly. on our side of the road a huge black animal was spotted eating wildflowers on the side of the road.

A BEAR!!!!

it was a real live bear in the wild and we were there. witnessing it. watching it eat wildflowers. scratch behind its ears. lick his..... really. we got to see it. the trip became complete at that moment. i could have died and been whole. but i didn't and we still had more fun.

yep. it was real. and so close to the road.

then we arrived at yellowstone.

there we met this guy. he was from AK. had ridden his bmw motorcycle all the way from AK! not for sturgis. just because. cool guy if you ask me.

the sticker he rocked on his motorcycle.

and then there we were. fulfilling another one of natalie allen's life dreams. watching old faithful.

after old faithful we had lunch in the lodge cafeteria. that was some goooood lasagna. the bread was a bit hard. but the old faithful ale by grand teton brewing company was real tasty. i coulda had another. and another. and another. but we still had a drive ahead. and work tomorrow. silly grown up responsibilities.

after eating we decided another spotting of old faithful was in order. while waiting to see the beauty this time we found ourselves standing next to these fine folks. ron and judy. they are great. so glad we met them.

and old faithful never gets old.

when old faithful was over for the second time. we shopped in the gift shop. then in another gift shop. i found the wooden post card i'd been looking for all weekend. it's become tradition. i don't know what i'll do if i ever take a trip and can't find one!

after gift shop number two the jouney continued on. but not without more fun and excitement. there was a buffalo jam.

so of course we got out to see the buffalo. they were crossing the river and the daddy buffalo was gigantic! so cool.

a few miles down the road we found elk. so close to the road. yikes!

then there we were. out of the park on the other end. we were in state number 4 of our 5 state road trip. montana. i do have a fondness in my heart for montana. i got a bit frisky with the bear.

jaymee and i found the hotel we would stay in should we ever overnight in west yellowstone...westward HO.

and i found my next big rig.

after stopping in at the souvenir shop in west yellowstone we were on the road again. headed home through idaho. there was one last warning that we were in bear country.
and then i turned into a bear and slept in the backseat for the rest of the drive home.

to sum up this weekend couldn't do it justice. it was the best road trip. with the best people. seeing the best stuff we could see. i want to do it again. i think we will. until then. stay cool.