Day One: A long drive ending in Rapid City, SD and seeing the lighting ceremony at Mt. Rushmore. We also got to see the world's largest peanut butter cup, but that only resulted in plots to make our own bigger peanut butter cup.
Day Two: First up to the reptile museum where we saw giant turtles and Komodo Dragons. We also saw a billion snakes, each more poisonous than the last and the crocodile that starred in the James Bond movie Live and Let Die. Then a drive to Cody, WY.
Day Three: The large museum in Cody was our first stop, it has 5 sections: Old West Art, Wildlife & Nature, Plains Indians, Buffalo Bill tribute, and Firearms. (Guess where Captain spent all his time
lol) After a visit to the old trail town, the others decided to partake in the classic rodeo while I rested up for the days to come.Day Four: Off to the parks today, we left for our final campground, got set up in the Teton Resort park and had dinner at the Jenny Lake Lodge. First bear sighting as we drove in and elk sighting as we left the lodge.
Day Five: A long tour of Yellowstone National Park took all of this amazing day. We began at Old Faithful and hiked to a secluded area where we could see the entire geyser, also managed to see the other geyser which only goes off every 12 hours, so it's much harder to catch. We stopped at the Grand Prismatic Pools which were absolutely gorgeous. From there we headed to Yellowstone Falls (For anyone who doesn't know, I am a LUNATIC for waterfalls
). Then we went to Mammoth Springs and crossed into Montana for dinner (the first time in the state for 3 of us). More elk, some buffalo, a moose and an adorable baby bear sighted throughout the day.Day Six: This day began with a trail on horseback (my first time on a horse
) and a visit to Jenny Lake where Captain's dad worked as a cowboy during his younger years. A long hike took us to what is aptly named "Hidden Falls" which was without a doubt my favorite part of the trip. This waterfall was smaller than Yellowstone falls, but you could get up close enough to feel the spray on your face. 
LOVE LOVE LOVE They had to drag me away from it!! This evening concluded with a wagon ride to a cook out cowboy style, hosted by the most adorable old couple ever!!Day Seven: This was the fourth of July and began with the kids and I going White Water Rafting (a close #2 on the fav list). We toured Jackson Hole and then headed over the Wilson pass to Idaho, another first for the same 3. Then we watched fireworks over the mountains to conclude our amazing time in Wyoming.
Day Eight: We headed down through Nebraska, staying at the Cabela's in Sidney, NE.
Day Nine: We all got up bright and early, ready to get home. A great trip with great people!!
Other highlights:
-A billion signs for Wall Drug all across SD
-Our nephew convincing a couple of cowboys and Captain to do the hokey pokey!!
-Guys commenting on Niece's hotness, not realizing we were with her, lol.
-Forging through rivers on horseback
-Purple Mountain's Majesty
-Running the heater in the camper over July 4th weekend
-Huckleberries!!!!
-Nephew being the snake whisperer
-The girls whooping the guys at cards several nights in a row
-The AMAZING food, never ate a bad meal the entire trip!!
So many great memories were made on this trip!!
