Sunny & Miles Do Teton and Yellowstone National Parks

We had an incredible national parks trip in late September with Jeff, Courtney and Miles. We rented a Suburban and trailer in Jackson Hole, then drove north to meet the Munther family in Teton. We enjoyed an incredible sunset view - smoke from nearby fires made it look mystical.

Sunny was quite attentive to little Miles, and she tracked his (and his brother Leon's) whereabouts at all times.

We hiked with the Munthers to Jenny Lake - it turned out to be more rugged than expected - I'd encouraged Jeff to bring the BOB stroller. So we just portaged through about 2/3 of the rocky, twisty trail, taking turns carrying the BOB like a litter. (That took me back to our Canadian Rockies trip when Sunny was 3 months old! Lots of BOB carrying then, too. ) Jeff and Courtney were great sports about the long, rugged surprise of our little excursion - 4 miles later, we all agreed (during a tasty lunch at Jenny Lodge) that it was one of the more beautiful hikes around.

Sunny loved our "little house-" what we called the trailer. She was enchanted by the mom and baby deer all around, too.

Exploring our Signal Mountain campsite, about an hour before a big black bear walked right through it! The campsite neighbors called, "Bear!" and we whisked the babies into the trailer while it passed. Then we came right back out. Sunny pointed and repeated "Bear!" as it ambled toward an unsuspecting guy approaching the bathroom. Boy was he surprised when Jeff and Max yelled "Bear" to him as it rounded the bathroom building's corner. I bet he pooped his pants.

Sunny and Miles were great travel buddies whenever we all packed into the Suburban.

We enjoyed Norris Geyser Basic at twilight in Yellowstone - beautiful!

What a cute family those Munthers are. On our drive back to the campsite, we saw 3 big wolves right on the road. They hung around the car for a few minutes - neat. Too bad Sunny slept through it. She did a lot of wolf howls during the trip, though.

Since we had charging issues with our trailer's battery, the heat failed for 4 nights. So Sunny bundled up as a Duck fan inside her tiger suit with 2 pairs of socks. As you can see, she needed to sit in the warm car to get toasty in the a.m. That's her national park Owl friend, whom she selected. She loves owls above all others...except maybe elk.

Campsite pixie sighting.

It really warmed up (80s in late September!) the day we explored Mammoth. The geothermal sites were all much drier than we've seen them on past trips, and bleached out, too. Hopefully the water and colors come back for future visitors.

Yum, yum - huckleberry ice cream from the Mammoth General Store was a sweet, cool finish to the day.

Swimming near our Gardiner campsite. We saw elk and bison in/around this meadow during our stay.

Jeff, Leon, Max & Sunny soaking up the rays.

This happy-arms-behind-back stance is one of Sunny's (and my) signature moves.

Daddy's ideas are fun - bathing al fresco.

Sunny loved her outside bath. Her shiner is from a tumble down the trailer stairs though I was just a foot away. Never trust a latched trailer door - lock it, too. She walked to the closed door, smacked it sharply with both palms, and it popped open, tipping her head over heels out the door. I felt so terrible!

"Whoo-hoo! Staying up late!" We enjoyed the meadow near our campsite at twilight, and when a big bison started following us back with a little too much focus, we realized we're now a little wary about doing the kinds of things we'd not have even thought about, pre-baby.

Miles is such a sweet little guy - he was happy and flexible with our changing schedule. Jeff and Courtney are incredible - they made it look easy to take a 2 1/2 month old all over the parks. That's awesome - I want to do many more great trips together with our kids.

Team Adventure-Won't-Be-Stopped at Yellowstone Falls.

Whoa - what a funny move to avoid the pine needles tickling her back!

Our horse & chariot. Ponderous at times, but highly convenient! Especially when we figured out how to properly charge the faulty battery.

Sunny loved her close-up elk encounter - a male, several females and some babies were hanging out at West Thumb Geyser Basin. Ever since this day, she's asked where the elk are at least every 6 hours. "Elk? Elk? I dunno?" She even spots and names "ant-lers!" (trophies on the wall, on figurines, etc). So of course I had to take her to the Oregon Zoo to visit the elk once we'd been home a week.

Max took the best care of us on the trip (as always) - making sure we were happy, comfortable, and wanting nothing. Plus he thought of some cool stuff to do! We are so lucky.

Back in Jackson, Sunny loved the animal art.

"Ant-lers!"

Flying home in a seat ALL HER OWN! For free, even. What a treat for all 3 of us. Thank you, Max, for sweet talking the flight attendant. I like to send him over to smile and talk to folks - it gets things done!