How I Won The West

4270 miles
70+ hours of music
65+ hours in the car
15+ mosquito bites
3 motels
2 cabins
1 hotel
1 campground
lots of nature

.... the end. jk.

We (ie my dad, sister, brother and I) left Saturday at 2:00pm, why earlier I have no idea. I spent the journey (650 miles, 8.5ish hours) listening to my music and my brother complain. We stayed somewhere in far eastern South Dakota and then got up at 8am the next morning to drive some more. We hit Badlands National Park at the 1000 miles mark almost exactly and took the scenic route off the highway through the park. We only got out at the beginning to take pictures up in the rocks (I didn't wear shoes, I'm so awesome) and then drove on through to Mt. Rushmore. There was a flurry of picture taking, my brother bought a pretty rock (idk why) and then we were off for another 5 hours of driving to Buffalo, Wymoming to spend the night; we did manage to hit the Devil's Tower from Close Encounters on the way there. Woke up 8am once more and drove through Big Horn National Park (snow in the mountains, Tensleep Creek aka rushing river!) to Cody, Wyoming, home of Buffalo Bill, by lunch time. We ate at Irma's Hotel, which was the first hotel Bill Cody built in the city, and then scuffed around a couple local shops.

After buying nothing ('cause we're cheap) we headed off to Yellowstone! We did just the eastern section which was mostly forest, mountains, burnt forest and Yellowstone Lake. It was beautiful but after a while I got tired of looking at burnt trees (all thanks to the fire of 1988). A little trip to look at the Yellowstone lodge .. it's yellow btw ... and then we went back to our cabin at Absoroka Ranch. Our cabin was the farthest away and closest to the stables so my sister and I spent an hour or two just hanging out feeding the horses alfalfa and clover then went to the main building for dinner around 7pm. We all played a couple obnoxiously loud games of volleyball, got a bunch of mosquito bites and went to bed fearing for our lives from the bear threats (even though the owners had yet to see a bear near the ranch that year, lol).

Tuesday (yes that's the day I'm on) we woke up, packed up and headed back into Yellowstone to do the northern loop which I would definitely say was the prettiest. We stopped across from the Mud Volcano thermal site and hike down a hill and play a little in the Yellowstone River (very cold!) and I stole a rock. :] The thermal site was the most putrid thing I have smelt ever in my life. Sulfur kills, but the bubbling mud was pretty cool, not gonna lie. The Blacktail Deer Plateau, the very northern track, (where I took most of my pictures) was the best places and it was nice and cool and just beautiful. We saw a lot of buffalo, elk and deer. We didn't get out to see the Mammoth Hot Springs because it was like 95F out and it was way too crowded but we did climb some rocks a little later on and hike up around Lava Creek and collect a few more rocks. Around 5pm we checked into our next cabin at the Bill Cody Ranch and it was huge! It was part of the main lodge building had two rooms, two bathrooms and it was so damn comfortable. There was some random ass turkey scuttling around the ranch so my brother chased it and my sister took pictures, it was hilarious. My sister and I headed out to their stables for an hour or two and fed their horses. They weren't as friendly and there were at least triple the amount as the last ranch but they had a two month old foal and another younger horse with their mothers' in one pen so we spent all our time there feeding them and petting them (very sweet horses). I slept very well that night.

Unfortunately I did have to wake up early the next morning (Weds) but for a horse ride! My horses name was Timber and he was so damn stubborn, he stopped every 3 seconds to nibble at something along the trail I kicked him constantly and my shoulder and back hurt after from pulling up on the reins to lift his head after we were done. My sister's horses name was Marcell but the handlers called him Bob because he had the number 808 shaved on his rump. The ride was 2 hours and we went back behind the ranch with two handlers, Bryant & Trinity, and 6 other people up into the mountains. It was really great and I was very happy to go riding again, I keep forgetting how much I love horses. My dad tried to teach me how to spot the breeds, but I can't remember anything.

We packed up the car again and did just a bit of southern Yellowstone on our way down to Grant Teton National Park. We hit our campsite at Colter Bay, 2 min drive from Jackson Lake and got settled into our incredibly shitty "platform tent". So basically it was a large cement slab with a metal pole and canvas tent. It had 4 beds hanging (two chains at each end and a frame with a mattress thinger) off the walls and this scary little oven. It really wasn't that horrible but I'd expected something a little nicer, my dad was immediately pissed off so he took a 3HOUR NAP and left us to do nothing. We trotted off to check out the woods and the local stables (run by the Amish, we couldn't get close) and I took pictures and then started reading one of the books I brought with me. When my dad woke up he took us down to the beach and we hung out, I tried to get sun, finished my scifi book and then went back to the campsite to roast hot dogs. After (gooey marshmallow and m&m cookie s'mores) my sister and I walked back to the beach to just kick around a little. We ended up with mosquito bites out tha ying yang and I only got 30 pages into my James Patterson Women's Murder Club book. Back to the camp site and into bed covered in itchy stuff and I read half my book before going to bed.

Thursday we woke up around 9 and headed off to check out the rest of the Park, we drove the western route near all the lakes and stopped off at String Lake, Jenny Lake, the Visitor Center near the south entrance and the Snake River. We went back to the camp site for lunch (I had PBJ <33) and then went back down to the visitor center to get picked up for our Snake River raft float. Our guy, Reed, was really nice and we were on the boat with 7 other people. My dad, sister and I were up front with this couple and their cute as a button little girl Kate from Williamsburg, VA and they were very talkative and nice. We stuck my brother with the family in the back with two boys his age, lol. We say a Bald Eagle, a couple Ospreys (fish eagles), three moose and lots of rushing water. They river was still really high from the good winter they had so we were rushing along at 5-7mph. The trip normally takes 3-4 hours and it took us under 2. After the raft we went down south to Jackson Hole for a quick dinner. It's a skiing town so everything is very cute and it was just amazing. Went back to the camp site, got in bed and I finished my WMC book.

Friday we did western Yellowstone on our way up to Montana. Old Faithful was like 15 minutes late and I took a lot of pictures. We went to the Old Faithful Lodge and it was gorgeous, all the timber was shelacked (sp? lol) and it was just giant. We mailed a couple post cards, bought fishing licenses then proceeded a little farther north the try and fish in this little creek called Nez Perce. It was surprisingly warm and we all waded out but we didn't catch anything. In the car again and 4 hours later we were up in Big Sky, Montana at our hotel The Lodge at the Big Sky ski resort. It was beautiful but everything was so expensive. I threw a money tantrum (it happens, I hate spending money) then proceeded to grumble until we found a decent restaurant where I had amazing hot wings but shitty lasagna (weird combinations, I know). Back to the hotel for sleep.

Woke up 9am the next day and had a quick breakfast (mm bagel) and then we went back out to try and find a couple good places to fish. We didn't have much luck and the places we did find had a lot of rushing fucking freezing cold water. It was so cold I thought I was going to cry or collapse, or both. We drove down to West Yellowstone, Montana for some lunch and I went to a local bookstore for a couple minutes then we went over the border to Idaho (no Udaho, lol) just 'cause my dad wanted too (and it was 10 minutes away). Got back to the hotel and went swimming in the pool and almost fainted in the hot tub (they always seem like fun until I can't breath). My dad went out to some music festival and my brother, sister and I ate downstairs at the bar and my dad came back tipsy but he played it off. I really hate that about him, he has absolutely no problem drinking around us (beer in the car, vodka and a box of wine, he's such a girl, at the camp site and hotel) or even cursing around us (he curses like a sailor) and he also likes to talk about the divorce all the time which just ushers complete and total silence from everyone around him.

Okay so anyways, Sunday we woke up 8am, ate breakfast and spent 13 hours in the car. I wanted to kill myself. I listened to music for the most part but watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind when I got bored. We drove through Montana, Wyoming and stopped in the middle of Nebraska for the night. Monday we drove 12 hours, more music but no movies and more fighting, through Missouri and Illinois then back home. I hate cars. My back hurt so bad when I got back and hunching over to write this blog isn't helping much. Got home and had tasty tasty meatloaf for dinner 'cause my mom loves me and then unpacked and collapsed in front of my computer for the night. A friend called me at midnight and we talked for a half hour before we both went to bed.

I woke up this morning, reluctantly, to my alarm and went to work. Lots of little jobs, some web site work and my mom took me to Olive Garden for lunch. I had this 85 different cheeses dish (okay 5) but it was really good. My mom had a couple presents for me (we spread my presents out over the summer), I got a cute little leather purse, the new Popular Science magazine ('cause I'm a nerd and it's my most favorite magazine ever!) and a $25 gift card to Books-A-Million 'cause my mom didn't know what kind of books to give me. We went back to work for a short bit then headed off to another store to do inventory which was pretty fun, I got free oatmeal cookies and a Mountain Dew <33. We're going back tomorrow to finish.

Well now I think I'm going to watch an episode of Women's Murder Club because I have been craving it. One of the things I missed most about being home (besides my Kacey Kacey, hello no duh) was being able to sing at the top of my lungs. For the past three hours I have been doing just that. <33

Album of choice on the trip: KT Tunstall's Acoustic Etravaganza
Drink of choice: Water
My back hurts.
Work is boring.
TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY BITCHES!! (I'm being kidnapped on Friday)
I <33 delicious chocolate cake.

Please listen to "Lucky" by Jason Mraz feat. Colbie Caillat, it's beautiful.

kthxbye.