Craig and I had an awesome opportunity to head over to Eastern Idaho and Montana for a Vision Source conference (work). My sister Melissa came and stayed at our place and took care of the kids while we were gone. We left Wednesday February 6th after Craig got home from work and drove to Rexburg and stayed at my sister's house. Thursday morning we got up and drove to Grand Targhee to ski for the day. I had not skied in over 8 years so I was pretty nervous, but after we rented skis and my little brother helped us get discounted passes, we headed up the hill. It was -18 at the top of the mountain and man could you feel it. Out fingertips instantly froze, Craig's came back pretty quick but I had to keep warming mine up every time on the lift. Craig would head off into the powder and I would ski down a groomed run and meet him back at the chair lift. We completely lucked out with the conditions, the resort had gotten over 2 feet the few days before, but it was clear skies and the sun was shining the whole day. It was truly the best snow we have ever skied, I even ventured off into the powder a few times.
After our legs were burning and we could go no more, we decided to drive south and head to Jackson Hole, WY. We walked around some fun shops, bought the kids some stuffed animals, tried on some awesome fur hats, and grabbed a yummy dinner. It was a fun little town and hope to go back when we have a little more time to spend there. It would also be a blast to drive through the Teton Pass in the spring time. After dinner we then drove back up north to West Yellowstone, MT where we would spend the next few days.
Friday morning after breakfast we met up with all of the other doctors, wives and reps to go snowmobiling. Craig grew up snowmobiling, but I had only ever been one time and it was for like 20 minutes. Luckily West Yellowstone was a little warmer than it had been previous days, I think it was a whopping high of 8 degrees. Once we were all outfitted with all of our gear and our snowmobiles we headed off towards Island Park. We had a group of 36 and got separated a few times, but eventually made it all the way to Island Park for lunch. Craig only got his snowmobile stuck one time when he was off playing in some powder, but luckily there were plenty of people to help pull it out. Craig also had to help pull out a snowmobile after one of the doctors wives ran off the trail and into a small tree. Luckily no one was hurt, but the snowmobile was a little damaged. After lunch we played around in a big meadow, we were able to get the snowmobiles up to 52 mph. We finally made it back to the hotel after 5:00 p.m. We then had to shower real quick and then head to dinner and listen to some speals from some of the reps.
Saturday morning after Craig went to a breakfast with the other doctors, we got onto this huge bus thing to go on an excursion through Yellowstone. I had never been to Yellowstone before so I was pretty pumped to see a little bit of it. We had a great tour guide that showed us water falls, geysers, mud holes, hot pools, wild life and everything in between. We eventually made our was into Old Faithful and ate our lunch while we waited for the next blow. I guess it was kind of a wimpy blow comparatively, but it was still very cool. It was really amazing to see all of these amazing natural phenomenons and I am so excited to see it all again in the summer when we head back with the kids.
That evening we were supposed to go to another dinner, but because of a storm that was coming in the next morning, we decided to head back to Rexburg that night so we could get a little head start the next morning. Luckily my sister was willing to let us stay another night. Sunday morning we got up early to start our drive back home. We drove through a blizzard for a little bit, but it would have been much worse had we waited. We made it back home to the kids right about nap time, McKay was a little too excited and didn't end up taking a nap that day. According to Melissa they did pretty well. We talked with them each day and they seemed to be having a lot of fun. Luckily McKay slept pretty well for her, well actually a lot better for her than he does for me. I know Melissa was exhausted by the end of it, but everyone was all smiles by the end of it. It was a great weekend away, especially because it is not something that we would have done on our own.
