A Grand Adventure- Living Life to its Fullest

Alright, here we go! blog number two!

Most of you that know me, know I looove a good adventure. Caleb and I both agree that life should be lived to its fullest and one of our passions is traveling. Its our dream to travel the world even though I must admit neither of us have ever left the good ole US of A yet. But! we have plenty of time for that ;)
Anywho, with Caleb being in the Navy one would think we would have plenty of time for adventures and traveling, and the truth is we dont...really...at all. Taking leave and all the other shenanigans the Navy throws our way makes it difficult for Caleb and I to take trips that are out of the area and longer than two days. So, when Caleb has time off we seize the moment, drop everything, and GO! And this past week, we had a moment ;)

Right after Caleb's Selection on Thursday (Selection is when you find out what aircraft you will be flying...Caleb got helicopters!yay!!) we found out he would have a week off. This NEVER happens.Without thinking twice about it we knew we had to take advantage and go somewhere.Caleb had talked about going to the mountains (like the really big "for real"mountains out west!) a while back, especially since I had never been before. That evening we were consumed with researching different places, hotels, airfare,and yada yada yada,,,By Friday morning we had our hotel booked and plane seats reserved for Grand Teton National park in Wyoming. BOOM just like that. ;)

So real quick, to be honest, I didn't know what to expect. I was raised going to the beach and never really did the whole "mountain vacation" thing. Caleb laughed at me while I packed shorts, flip flops, and a light cardigan. But, after a few changes in my packing (I brought my running gear and a few heavier jackets..The weather changes out there pretty drastically from day to night) we were ready to go! I was stoked.

Saturday morning we boarded a plane heading for good ole Jackson Hole Wyoming. I was so excited! I had a window seat, some snacks, and a big cup of coffee.  I was ready to see some mountains! (I know, who would of guessed, Mandy excited about Wyoming ;) )

Of course, I must have coffee!!!(pre coffee= terrifying...)

Flying into Jackson Hole Wyoming!

As soon as I looked out and saw the beautiful snow capped mountains I knew I was going to love the place.

Our  little plane with the Teton Mountains in the background. (and some random man's reflection in the glass...)

Before we even landed I was in love with the place. I had never been in such awe before. There was so much natural untouched beauty! (God is one creative God!) I couldn't wait to get off the plane and start exploring with Caleb! 

After waiting for and finding our luggage (probably the most stressful part of the trip for me...I always think my luggage isn't going to make it) we were off to get our rental car. After picking up the car we also got some bear spray. Apparently during the early summer months there are quite a handful of bears pow-wowing around the mountains, especially mama bears with their cubs. We were told that this spray even works on  grizzlys...I guess this stuff made me feel "safe." :/

We stayed in Teton Village, which is about 12 miles outside of Jackson Hole (such a quaint town!!) in a hotel called Teton Mountain Lodge and Spa. It was super nice and just one mile outside the national park! woo!

Okay, so real quick on a side note I want to talk about the culture of the place. (I know this is a long post and most of you are just skimming it wondering when it will ever end! haha...its not.) Coming into Jackson Hole I had no idea what to expect of the place!...especially the culture. The very first night I was blown away by how fit and into nutrition the majority of the people were! Everything was fresh, organic, and "clean." Also most of the people living there were into running, hiking,  biking, mountain climbing, ect. You name it, they did it! Everywhere you looked there were nice paved sidewalks, hiking trails, and nutritious goodies! It was so easy to live an active, healthy lifestyle out here! The fitness side of me wanted to explode with excitement!  On top of the fact that the people of Jackson Hole Wyoming were into a healthy lifestyle they also were some of the nicest "down to earth people" I have ever met. Was this place Heaven? (Im pretty sure it was because the Thai we had for dinner our first night was AMAZAZING.)

DAY 1- The start of a Great Adventure

Okay I have so much to share and I'm getting a little tired of writing (which means you're probably getting tired of reading), so I'll tell of our great adventures though pictures!

We had a wonderful breakfast that morning with amazing views! I had coffee (I was on my first cup, thus I look like a zombie in my top pic) and a power packed egg, mushroom, and spinach wrap with salsa! it was superb. Caleb had some manly breakfast with a lot of beef and cheese ;) We had to be supercharged for our day!

First stop was Jenny Lake! (Possible Christmas card photo...Im thinking ahead!)

We had so many trails to choose from our first morning but we decided to do..........a 10 mile hike that climbed 3,000 feet to Amphitheater Lake.

This here Mountain was our day's challenge.

At this point we still had a while to go.

I like to make new friends along my hike ;) This was just one of many.

The Mountain side was covered in beautiful yellow flowers! They reminded me of Maryland's Black Eyed Susan, only bigger and brighter! I was one happy hiker. Also! The weather during the day was fantastic! 72 with ZERO humidity.
 As we neared the top the temperature started to drop pretty steadily and we started hiking through snow. Like I said, this was my first time in major mountains and I thought it was amazing how we started off the day hot and ended up pretty cold near the top of the mountain.

Caleb showing off his "guns"

Naturally, I had to one up him ;)

3 hours, 5 miles, and approx. 3,000 ft later we made it to the top!! It was spectacular!

No wonder everyone in Jackson Hole is in such great shape! That had to be one of the most challenging 5 miles of my life! It was right up there with the half marathon I ran back in the Spring. 

The hike back down was a piece of cake compared to the hike up! That evening we stuffed our faces at a little pizzeria in downtown Jackson.

I unfortunately cannot eat a lot of cheese so I only had one small slice of margarita pizza then a huge salad with lots of chicken and mint dressing. It was deeelectable!
That evening Caleb and I picked up a bottle of wine and sat our sore little tooshies  in the roof top hot tub. It was the perfect way to end the evening :)

View of the Super Moon that evening!

Day-2

Alright, so Caleb and I had this HUGE GRAND idea to go to Yellowstone thinking it was going to be just as beautiful and wonderful as the Teton Mountains. It was going to be a long day of driving which was okay with Caleb and I because we were waddling like ducks because we were so sore from the previous day's hike. However, I must admit, we were really disappointed! Yellowstone was not at all what we expected! I guess I thought it would be as grand as Teton National park, but it didnt even compare! However, I took a few pics because I was excited about the Buffalo, but that was the only really good thing about Yellowstone.

My first time spotting a buffalo. I was like a kid on Christmas day ;)

MORE BUFFALO (plus a baby one!)

AND more buffalo.

That is pretty much the only photos I took at Yellowstone.

 ^^^^^^
This was Caleb and my expression throughout most of  the park.
 However! we did witness a mama elk chase a man who got to close to her fawn because he was taking pictures. That was pretty exciting.

But seriously, yellowstone is a beautiful place. I was just not into the geysers and acid pools... but hey! it was an experience.

 DAY-3
So after the Yellowstone flop Caleb and I were anxious to get back out in the Teton mountains again! Thus we decided to try and do a 15 mile hike through Cascade Canyon. It was the best idea ever! Here are a few pics :) 

We started the Journey by taking the ferry across Jenny lake!

Our first stop was a beautiful waterfall that was tucked back in the mountains. This photo does it no justice! The waterfall was so powerful that you had to yell to hear the person standing next to you plus you could feel the cool mist from where we were standing. It was magnificent. 

I still can't get over how spectacular this place was.

Every turn we took there were new and breath taking views. This hike was such an awesome bonding experience for both Caleb and me.

Just like our first hike the scenery and temperature drastically changed as we climbed higher.

The snow got to be about 4 feet deep in some spots as we neared the top of the mountain. It was crazy! I was slipping and sliding all over the place. Caleb was sure I was going to bust my butt...oh ye of little faith ;)

 At the top we found a little dry spot and a rock to eat lunch. However, it was about 30 degrees so lunch took about 2 minutes. P.S. That is a lake Im looking out over, it was still completely frozen!

 

I think its safe to say that this here mountain man turned me into a mountain lady ;)

To celebrate our final evening we splurged and ate some of the greatest food i ever tasted!

This here beauty is Alaskan Halibut wrapped in bacon over a sweet potato!

This here delightful little piece of meat is buffalo! I just loved the buffalo so much I had to try it ;)

oh...and it was SUPERB.

CHEERS!

    This was easily one of the most amazing trips I had ever been in my life. After spending 5 days in the mountains I have never felt so refreshed and alive. Our long all day hikes were exhilarating and challenging. They brought Caleb and I closer together and made us stronger as a couple. The breath taking views and magnificent mountains just reminded me of how great our God is and how small I am.  I am definitely planning on taking another trip out to these beautiful mountains again sometime soon. Anyone want to join? ;)

Thanks for reading! have a lovely week :)

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