We got married on Saturday, May 22, 2010. The whole time Luke planned our honeymoon AND kept it a secret. I had no idea where we were going! So, as the reception was wraping up, Lukes dad went and retrieved my car from its hiding spot (There are Vandals in Idaho you know) Luke went and got his suitcase, I gathered my stuff, some very kind souls helped me carry it down, and then we were off. Except I stil didn't know where we were going. About 5 minutes in I fiigured out we were headed north to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. We stayed there for one night. Final destination: still unknown.
...but isnt this color gradiation of cars in the parking lot cool? Bright yellow, mustard yellow, brown yellow.
Then we were back in the car and once I saw the sign I discovered we were going toward Montanna! After a bit of probing I learned we were headed to Yellowstone! I've always wanted to visit!
Luke fibbed a bit as I had originally thought the stipulations were "We were going somewhere neither of us had been befor," but I've always wanted to go to Yellowstone so I got over it pretty quick!
It wasnt an unsubstantial drive from CdA to Gardiner, Montana. (Town nearest the North Entrance) So we waited until the next day to go to the park. The weather was....well...colder than expected.
Note the snow on the ground!
The springs were hot enough to keep some things warm. Note the grass growing green in the runnoff and the little bird in the bottom left quadrant of the photo. (Thats for you Grandma G)
That was probably the day we did the most driving in the park. We saw tons of wildlife as we made our way up and down the park throughout our trip.
Baby bison!
Road block. Our side was stopped to take pictures (not just us, there were 3 cars in front of us) and the other side well...as you can see they werent going anywhere.
Hidden in the bottom half of this one are some goats, sheep or something.
This elk is impressive because apparently he has quite the rack allready. Hahahahaha
I wanted so badly to brush (or maybe shear) all the animals free of their winter coats. They just looked so uncomfortable with pieces clumpin off.
We were also able to see some whitetail deer, bears and a couple cayote! Quite the wildlife experience!
We got to Old Faithful just after he/she had let off some steam already so we did some exploring. Then we sat around with everyone else and took some funny pictures while we waited .
We tried a bunch of times to make it look like Luke was blowing the steam coming out of Old Faithful but the wind kept shifting. No such luck. We didnt take any pictures of the eruption because, well, we wanted to watch.
Then we went into the old lodge. Wow! Talk about some intricate wood work! I really wanted to go to the top so Luke and I set off up the stairs...
Only to be stopped. Then we snuck a peek into some of the rooms (very cool...no bathrooms.)
On our way back for the night we stopped just outside the West Entrance to the park and visited the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center. Probably one of my favorite parts of the trip!
They had some really interesting and informative displays inside (in the warmth) and out!
Running with wolves. This exhibit had a room with large glass windows for viewing and the wolves were being really active!
Look! They even have a Jacob Black monument! Hahaha
And we finally met someone with biger hands than Luke! No not me...
The bear!!!
Whew!! That was ALL day one! We really covered our bases...the days to follow are a bit more mellow so I'm going to do us all a favor and post that later!
Having recently become addicted to yarn and knitting, I have leapt at any opportunities to find out more about yarn and where it comes from . Neola met Leah at a farmers market and told me about it just so I could plan to make the trip. Jay, Neola, and Luke came with me.
Leah described the alpaca as being like cats, they're rarely the ones to come to you. Alpaca are, however, a little easier to catch. Leah is quite the expert at catching them!
The alpaca's fleece is soooo dense and much thicker than I had thought. My fingers just sank into the fleece.
Here is Leah letting me pose with this little guy! Isn't he adorable?!
Try 2. He wasn't so willing to listen to me.
Neola was very kind to take pictures while I gawked at the alpaca.
Leah told us that this guy likes to give kisses, and that it's the best way to coax him to come closer. Soooo...I kissed a girl ...and I liked it! Hahaha pop culture reference! Don't worry...you can tell by Luke's mildy disgusted face he's not especially jealous. I didn't get any germs, I inherited a rather large nose, and it turned into more of an Eskimo kiss.
I thought this chica was interested too, but right when I thought I'd wooed her...
She took a turn and went for Luke. I guess she knows a good lookin guy when she sees one.
Here's one of the babies. Sooo cute. OoooEEeeeh! Do you notice the fantabulously furry and lovable alpaca sized dog laying on the ground outside that fence? I'm not sure if that one is Max or Molly. They're companion dogs for the alpaca. (They keep the alpaca company, and break up any fights.) There's a board across the gate he's lying by because the way those dogs get from pen to pen is climbing up through the top gap. He's not supposed to get through that one. I'll believe it when I see it, but I'm still impressed.
Here are some of the nice male alpaca. They're kept in a separate pens. The girls are on the left. The more aggressive males have a nice cozy pen of their own.
Trying to make friends again.
So I guess high levels of testosterone in the males makes their fleece softer. Here Leah is holding him so I can feel the difference in this three year old males fleece.
These are the last two Pygmy goats, Christmas (the smaller dog), and Molly/Max. The Pygmy goats are in the same pen as the more aggressive alpaca. It's true, they can hold their own.
Here is the ornery guy himself and his buddy. The little play structure is for the goats. When they were younger, they climbed, now they sleep underneath.
We also got to see lots of alpaca products and I even bought some yarn! I went with a white bulky. Wouldn't you know it, I forgot the name of the alpaca my yarn came from! Leah if you read this would you remind me? 