Just as good the second time around...

We headed south from Cody and headed for Colorado. We were actually planning on staying in Cheyenne (which I like to pronounce as chien-like dog in french) a night, but after Kelly talked to RJ and he said we could get to Denver a lot sooner than we thought we figured we might as well giv'er and get down there. No point in paying to spend the night somewhere when we have friends close by. And we were heading there anyways...

Aurora is always a good time. I say that like I've visited there a million times, but I guess the company is what makes the difference. So we arrived a day early. We crashed again. A whole day of driving wipes you out!

Friday was pretty relaxing...well for RJ anyways. After a massage from Kel he got a short one from me, but it soon turned into me doing his hair all pretty. lol. He quite enjoyed it, and it was actually his idea. Later we went to the Movie Tavern and watched 'The Hangover', which by the way is hilarious. So hilarious! Especially since we had just been in Vegas. We didn't just watch the movie, we got to eat too! It's not like a normal theatre, half the seats, big comfy chairs and a menu with good food and drinks!

The boys went to a wedding that night and Katie and I hung out at the house, put together some videos, hung out with their roomate Cassara and drank some wine. We only remembered RJ's warning about drinking in altitude the morning after...if you're not used to it, it'll kick you in the ass A LOT quicker than you think!

Saturday night was just as fun. After a day of movie after movie after movie, 'Fired Up' is a great flick by the way. 'Fired Up' is actually really funny. I thought it was gonna be another stupid movie, but it was another stupid movie that was actually funny. We decided to try our hand out at our own gymnastics! RJ and I had handstand contests, although I'm not sure we were really competing, but that quickly turned into skating...singles then pairs! YES! I finally got to be a pairs skater. That was my dream my whole skating career but I was too tall! RJ and I had the most amazing lift and I am so proud! Thank god RJ is big enough and strong enough to lift me so smoothly! :D

Rodeo in the Rain

Cody, Wyoming. We arrived in the rain, we played in the rain, and we slept in the rain. I guess that whole theory of 'we bring the sun with us wherever we go' isn't so true anymore. lol. Well we are the sunshine...just sometimes mother nature has to do it's thang, yes?

It rained and rained and rained, but that didn't stop Kel and I from having a good time. When we were in Billings we picked up a brochure for the Cody Rodeo. Said there was a rodeo every night in the summer. I think that's the only reason we choose Cody to stay the night over alllll the other cities in Wyoming. lol. But it was a good choice! The rodeo was a lot of fun and got us pumped for the Calgary Stampede!

We camped at a place called Ponderosa something or other. The man who checked us in reminded me a bit of David Koechner, the sportscaster in the movie Anchorman with Will Ferrell. He was bald, very animated and loved to talk. He was pretty excited that we were all the way from Ontario, as most people are, and that we were so gung ho about the rodeo and Cody!

In the morning we had breakfast at The Irma, which is a really old hotel downtown Cody. It's very western and very cool! And had a lot of character. If ever there I suggest checking it out. A lot of the stuff downtown is still original, but with obvious maintenance and upgrades. Lots of log/wood cabins and stores and faded signs on the tops of buildings. Irma's or 'The Irma' as they call it is the original hotel/saloon of Buffalo Bill (one of them western peoples I need to learn about someday).

We then headed south and made a stop in Douglas for an oil change. Ok, so we get there and there are these rabbits with antlers...everywhere! Not real ones, but there are statues and posters and even designs of them on the bridges and benches. I had no idea what the hell they were or better yet WHY they were plastered all over this town. I later found out that they are jackalopes. And they are supposedly mythical creatures. You should read up about it on Wikipedia because it's actually quite interesting and funny. Anyways, long story short, today they are mostly used to play tricks on tourists (haha, it worked!) President Reagan apprently started the joke when he mounted a jackalope on his wall and claimed he killed it. Obviously a fake. Douglas, Wyoming just so happens to be the 'Home of the Jackalope' and they even give out hunting licences to tourists. Hunting season is only one day of the year. haha. And get this, in Rock Springs there have been sightings of real jackelopes. Not sure about that, but who knows!!

Funny, I had a dream about a jackalope last night...haha.

WILD HORSES!!

From Montana we headed to Wyoming. More specifically Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area. W-O-W! It is quite small compared to the usual large National Parks we're in, but it is beautiful and totally worth it!!

And the best part....WILD HORSES! It doesn't sound like much, but it is unbelievable. They are such beautiful creatures and watching them run was amazing. I swear it's almost like your watching them in slow motion because your brain can't register how beautiful they really are in real time. And then before you know it they disappear over a hill or something and you wish you could watch them all day. It's so incredible!! I love horses by the way, if you didn't get that already. :)

When we arrived at the park we didn't see any, and we were thinking maybe it wasn't gonna happen for us. Then as we turned a corner we saw a mama horse and a babay. As we turned the next corner there was the most gorgeous blonde male horse waiting for them at the top of the hill. So cool! So we hung out with them for awhile and then cruised looking for more. We were blessed near the end of the day when we got the chance to see two horses running together in the hills in the distance. Awesome!


Along with the horses the landscape was amazing. It was actually really rough and harsh but still amazing. And it's clear Mother Nature rules the show here. Kel and I were thinking about camping but it was a little intimidating. I think the land belongs to the horses anyways...there are about 250 of them. I would love to see them all!! lol.

Bighorn was amazing. Katie pretty much hit it on the head. It was absolutely magic.

Montana...Big Sky Country

After being in Yellowstone for a couple days I was ready for a long hot shower and a nice comfy bed. So thats's basically all we did in Montana.


We drove straight to Billings (not sure why) and stopped at the visitor's centre. Not much was going on. Well we stopped in Livingston, which was a beautiful little town, for information. They didn't have much, but we took in the original architecture and the mountain backdrop for a little before hitting the higway. Plus I got a travel book with a Bingo game in it! Kept me occupied the entire way to Billings! We did however meet a very nice lady who worked there, (at the visitors centre in Billings, her name was Shirley) and although she was helping us figure out what to do in Billings, nothing really appealled to us as much as that bed and that shower. lol. (And it was the best shower ever! I must say...I could have stayed in there for hours.)

After eating dinner at Denny's we got a hotel room and crashed! Watched Las Vegas, which cured our desire for more Vegas energy..and we repacked out bags again, always trying to figure out what's the best way to organize all our stuff. But it's usually put back relatively in the same way. Oh well. We have come to the conclusion that when we get back home we are leaving ALOT of our belongings behind. Living simple has a whole new meaning. Even all the stuff we left in Vancouver to pick up when we go back is just too much stuff. You can always pick up what you need wherever you are and really...for the number of shoes I packed in February and the number of times I've worn my runners and flipflops, there's just no need for all the other ones!

Aside from that, Montana is a beautiful state. The mountains in the West and the rolling hills in the East. That big blue sky is forever reaching to the next bend and new heights. One of many pieces of paradise.

Knock knock...Park Ranger

As we made our way across Idaho and into Wyoming we made a quick stop in Jackson Hole to pick up some groceries for our 3 day adventure in the parks. Jackson Hole is quite the happening place. In the winter it's a ski resort and in the summer...well it's pretty much just a party. We headed out to Grand Teton National Park for the night. Not without seeing like 4 moose though. By the time we made it to camp it was pretty darn dark so we decided to sleep in the car...at the campsite. We prepared all our veggies and stuff so that we didn't have to worry about it later and basically just hung out.

It was raining in the morning when we left the campsite so we stopped to take a few pictures in case we didn't have a chance to get anymore, but a few hours later it cleared up enough for us to do a little trail and have a picnic. Katie was a little scared of all the bear warnings and scarfed down her lunch and packed up for fear that bears were going to find us :). In all fairness there were A LOT of bear warnings and maybe I can be a little non-chalant at times...I think that serves me; and my sanity.

Grand Teton was a beautiful place to see, but we soon head up to Yellowstone National Park for some more adventures.


Yellowstone is like the Disney of geothermal activity. I saw geothermal activity in New Zealand when I was there, but this was WAY more impressive! We made it through the geyser section of the east side of the park and then looked for a place to camp. Well the entire park was full so when we decided it was time to go to sleep we found a parking lot in the park and parked. Then 1am rolls around and:

"knock knock...park ranger. Are you aware it is illegal to camp in a parking lot ma'am?"
To which I replied no, while Katie is still sleeping in the back. As he took my license and reg over to his vehicle I pretty bluntly asked, "So are you going to be giving me a ticket or no?" Thankfully the answer was no, well it was 'we'll discuss that later', but I knew it was a no just by the uncertainty in his voice when he answered that.

So we got to spend the rest of the night in the visitors centre parking lot where the park rangers could keep a 'close eye' on us. I mean, we weren't worried about crazed maniacs running through the forrest to attack us, but I guess maybe in our sleepiness we failed to recall the information we had read about the strength of grizzlies and the potential danger wildlife and nature would pose. Lesson...Have a plan before you get too tired!

We headed out of Yellowstone at a good pace the next day...they had our information in the park system incase we'd be camping illegally again! We saw tonnes of wildlife...everything in the paper except for a wolf. Yes, a wolf. That was the only thing I wanted to see, and didn't. But that's ok. I'll be sure to find one next time. I'd go back for a longer time anyday.

Is this what the moon looks like?

So if you've ever wondered what the surface of the moon would look like, I think Craters of the Moon is the closest you're gonna get to seeing it. Not sure if this is what it really looks like, but I wouldn't doubt it.

It's a pretty wierd thing to see. On our way into the park there were rolling, green, velvety hills to the left and harsh, jagged, awkward rocks to the right. Strange. Really strange. The craters were actually once volcanoes, and some still are I believe. Well there are volcanoes, but the craters, I think, are like parts of lava flows that shift and stuff with the earth. I dunno...that's my scientific rendition of it. Although there isn't much there, it is interesting to see. The land, for miles, is all rock. And it's not like anything I've ever seen before. We walked up to the top of one of the mounds/volcanoes and we could see for miles. It was pretty surreal really. Middle of nowhere, standing on an active (well sort of) volcano looking out over all kinds of lava rock formations for miles. Like the moon...eerily quiet and amazingly beautiful all the same.

HAPPY CANADA DAY!!!!

To all things Canadian, eh...

..also Canadian,

Dan Akroyd, Martin Short, John Candy, Chevy Chase,

Wheat, wildlife, free healthcare,

Beer is good go grab a case!

Canadian Tire, Shopper's Drug Mart, Zellers and The Bay,

Degrassi, Airfarce, Rick Mercer, all are A-OK!

Peter Mansbridge is the best,

Celine Dion has passed the test.

East Coast, west coast, Saskatchewan,

David Suzuki, you're the bomb!

Oot and aboot or out and about,

Us Canadians know how to work it out...ya eh!?

To anyone who would like to contribute to our list of all things Canadian, please feel free to leave comments below. :)

HAPPY CANADA DAY!!