TRIP #1: Pueblo
Mom and Dad weren't going to be able to visit soon and meet their granddaughter because of Dad's new job. Easy fix? Send the one on maternity leave! So Allie and I found a great price on a flight and off to Denver we went. I was a little nervous about flying with her so young, but Luke was there in Salt Lake to help with luggage, and then Mom and Dad were on the other end. The trickiest part was security. In Salt Lake, Allie was great. She slept through the whole thing. It's definitely a challenge going through by yourself though. I had the car seat and stroller, both of which had to break down and go on the security belt. Not easy when you've got an infant in one arm and are trying to collapse and lift a stroller with the other. TSA helped me through, since there was no one in the security line. Once we were through, it was smooth sailing. Our flight was delayed because of the rains in Denver, but no worries: Allie slept the whole four hours we were in the airport.
Once we landed, Allie woke up and met some very excited grandparents!
I love that outfit on her. It's zebras on the pants and the hoodie has ears. Unfortunately, she'll probably outgrow it very soon. It was already snug two weeks ago! Baby girl only started crying after we changed her diaper and started walking to the car. Once she got a bottle, it was a nice quiet drive down to Pueblo.
Sunday, Mom had the whole family over for lunch and to meet Allie. I learned quickly that this trip meant Allie was going to be sleeping in everyone else's arms but mine. Not a bad thing, as it was nice to have a break. It was great to see everyone and Allie enjoyed the party, though she slept through most of it.
The rest of the week was pretty quiet. Mostly it was us three gals (Mom, me, and Allie) chillin' at home. We watched Ellen, went to visit Grandma Shirley at the nursing home, and had Grandma Persons over for dinner one night. Mom and I drove up to Beulah and had a picnic at Pueblo Mountain Park one day. It was kinda weird, because almost no one was there. And it was tricky trying to find a picnic spot because all the bathrooms REEKED. But it was pretty, and the rain held off while we ate our ham sandwiches and shared an apple.
It's been a long time since I've had a week at home with my family, since usually we're off on a trip together or the visit's only a weekend. It was really nice to spend some quality one-on-one time with the parents, something I've not done in years. Every night when Dad came home from work, Allie was passed from Grandma to Grandpa for the evening. Grandpa even got to be Allie's first babysitter while Mom and I went for Blizzards one night. He was pretty excited.
On Friday (Sept 20) Dad gets time off, so we went out for lunch at Angelo's on the Riverwalk, another first for baby. She slept the whole time and was a good girl. We then got some pics with the parents:
This one is my favorite :)
The week went by too quickly, as visits always have a way of doing. It was hard to say goodbye, and I half expected that somehow the grandparents would sneak Allie out of the car seat and take her back home with them. Here was Mom's attempt to hide her:
This picture really put in perspective just how small my baby is! That was the one comment I got the most over the week: she's so small! Can you guess which one she is? :)
We said goodbye to Gramma and Grandpa on Saturday after having a nice birthday breakfast with Aunt Judy at Le Peep. It was tough to say goodbye, but I'm sure we'll see them again soon. Allie was good until we got to the security line, where she decided she was hungry and was going to let everyone know. The great thing was I had lots of help this time from fellow travelers. I'll admit, before I had a kid of my own, I wasn't always so tolerant of travelling parents. I'm so grateful that there are people who don't think the way I used to and lent a hand as I'm struggling to get everything on the belt and settle Allie. It was definitely a moment of "you don't know until you have a kid."
Unlike the last trip, where Allie and I had an entire row of seats to ourselves, this flight was cram jammed. Luckily we had an aisle seat, and I waited until dead last to board the plane. Allie and I both slept on the way home, her snuggled in my arms. It was a good first plane trip!
TRIP #2: Yellowstone
Luke and I had made these reservations for fall in Yellowstone almost a year ago...when we had no idea Allie was going to be joining us for the journey. This was a trip for Luke's entire family, so it would be a nice time for Allie to spend more time with the Northrups, and again, many arms means a little break for momma!
Usually when we go to Yellowstone in the fall, we go near their closing weekend. There are no crowds, the weather is beautiful in the 60s and the leaves are changing. This year we got temps in the 30s, snow flurries, and a ton of tourists. It's like someone told them now was the time to go, because I've never seen so many crowds in the fall. The boardwalk around Old Faithful might as well have been a picture from July. But it wasn't too bad.
Us three went up on Wednesday (Sept 25) because we knew the drive would take longer with a baby. We stayed in West Yellowstone that night in a room that was like a sauna. Apparently the temperatures on the dial meant nothing: if the heat was on, it was on full blast. The good thing was it helped Allie sleep almost through the night! Thursday morning we took our time getting ready and got into the park about 11:30am. We wanted to take the long way around, but the road between Canyon and Tower was closed due to snow. So we headed to Canyon to take the lower loop the long way around to Old Faithful. It paid off, because we saw our first bear! A grizzly, looking for winter snacks shortly before the Upper Falls trail pull out. I didn't get a photo, because it was pretty far away, but take a look at bear #2 we saw just before the snow gate at West Thumb!
We saw this guy too by Mud Volcano. He crossed the road in front of us, and at first was far away. He then walked right up past the car, probably 20 feet in front of me.
We made it to the Inn a little early and sat waiting for the rest of the family. Thanks to the excess people, we ended up having dinner at the Snow Lodge around 9pm, but it was kinda fun because we pretty much closed down the dining room.
Friday was more adventuring. Luke and I took Allie up to try and hit Lamar Valley for some wolf scoping. But this time, the road to Mammoth was closed due to an accident blocking the whole road. Apparently going North just wasn't in the cards for us this trip. So we went to Hayden Valley where there was...nothing. I don't know if it was the weather or what, but we hardly saw even bison this trip. But we did see bear #3 on our way to the East entrance of the park:
So apparently after bear #3, I've now become the lucky bear-finding charm for Luke's family. Saturday, the Foxes and Grandma & Grandpa all came along to go see the Lower Falls of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Katie told me she wanted to see a bear, and was going wherever we were going since I was good luck. Of course, we drove all the way around West Thumb, Lake, Hayden Valley, and Canyon without so much as a bison in sight.
We stopped at the Canyon and got out with Allie. Don't worry, she was wrapped in about 3 layers. Luke was carrying her, and it turned out Allie was more popular than the waterfall! We were walking down the stairs to look at the falls, and I look back and Luke's still at the top, surrounded by Japanese tourists. I don't know why, but wherever we went, the Japanese were Allie's biggest fans, cooing over how cute she is. The waterfall was lovely as usual, and it was really cool to hear that Grandma hadn't seen it since she was a little girl. Tells me we need to come up with the whole family more often!
We stopped at Canyon's gift shop for some lunch and I bought Allie her first National Parks Passport and stamped her first stamp. I'm so grateful my own parents did this for me growing up, because we took so many road trips and saw so many parks that keeping up with when and where we visited would have been impossible. It's nice to have that chronicled now that I'm an adult. Hopefully Allie's will be filled by the time she graduates high school.
We decided to go back around the Lake, since there's really no wildlife on the west side of the park. Sure enough, just before the turnout to Lake Hotel, we see what looks to be a dying bear jam. The ranger is leaving, the cars are leaving. We stop to see if we can see the bear, but no luck. That's when I notice the truck in front of me is driving slow, so I decide to follow him. It occurs to me, "we're by the lake. There's only so much land between the road and the lake. Maybe we can see the bear on the other side!" As soon as I turn into the Lake Hotel turnoff, I'm right. Probably a hundred people are along the side of the road with their massive lenses and scopes, and we see bear #4! (which I didn't photograph, because sometimes it's nice to watch the bear instead of focusing on getting a good shot.) So I've pretty much cemented my reputation with the family as the Bear Whisperer.
That night we had dinner with everyone at the Inn, where I had a big bowl of my favorite soup. So good! After dinner, the Inn was crowded with not a game table to be found, so we walked over to the Lodge. It was completely empty. Half the family played hearts, while DD, Mark and I put together a puzzle. We finished about 12:30am.
It was a good trip, but a bummer it was so cold. I was really hoping to get out and stretch the legs with a nice hike, but there's always next year!
So that's been our adventures as of late. I'm sure we've got a few more in us, as I'm not going back to work until October 21st and Luke takes his paternity leave on October 14th. Where to go next? :)
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