On Top of the World!

This weekend, I was told to pack my suitcase and to find a sub for church on Sunday. Cory took me on a surprise weekend get-away. I love surprise weekend get-aways!! I was only told to pack some warm clothes and that we would be camping on Saturday night. We left after work on Friday and stayed at a hotel in West Yellowstone. We got up early Saturday morning and drove into Yellowstone National Park where Cory had reserved a camp site. We unloaded our gear and headed off on the motorcycle.

On our way through the park we saw this black bear and a grizzly bear (not pictured). We did not, however, see President Obama (he was in the park this weekend).

We drove for about two hours to get to...The Top of the World (really, that's what it's called). On our way to The Top of the World, we saw this beautiful lake nestled high in between these two mountains. Keep in mind that this lake was at the top of two very tall mountains - and we were looking down on it from our view at the top of the world.

This is the view from The Top of the World. Elevation: 10,800 feet. It was an overcast day and we literally rode through the clouds. In fact, it snowed on us at one point. In case you're not doing the math in your head, that means it was only 32 degrees...on a motorcycle...on top of the world. We were freezing cold! But the view made it worthwhile. We stopped at The Top of the World Store and purchased a pin that declares that "We Survived Beartooth Highway." Barely.

This is one of the beautiful mountain lakes that we saw on our drive. I can't remember if this was in Wyoming or Montana. We kept bouncing back and forth between the two state lines. We stopped in Red Lodge for lunch. I wish that we could have spent more time there because it is such a cute little town (it kind of reminded me of Jackson Hole).

We went back to Yellowstone a different way - we took the Joseph Scenic Highway. The views there were breathtaking too. As we approached Cody, WY, it started to rain. And we were still 40 miles outside of Yellowstone by the time it got dark. So we strained our eyes to look carefully for critters on the side of the road. The ride took a wee bit longer than planned due to inclement weather. But nice weather would have made for a boring story... And Cory never does anything boring. Go big or go home.

We stopped in Jackson Hole on our way back to Idaho Falls and ate at one of our favorite restaurants: Merry Piglets. It's the closest thing to Tex-Mex this side of the Rockies (or the Tetons at that point). Thanks for a great weekend, Mr. Johnson!