yellowstone...

on our drive through jackson to yellowstone:
we visited the other side of the tetons
we passed some lovely fall colors...

we also passed the turn off to yellowstone...
and even though it was over an hour in the the wrong direction... we were able to see...
more fall colors
lots of constructions. about 20 miles of it.
a big thing that could have been a big shop
and pretty mountains

i was sorta wondering what was going on when yellowstone suddenly disappeared from the mile signs.
and i kept teasing ryan that we missed a turn. and he asked me to ask the construction lady. we both kinda laughed.
but when ryan found a map to buy in dubois and told me how far away we were. suddenly it was no longer funny.
only the thought of seeing a real live buffalo could cheer up our spirits.
and when we did get there. it was a free day! so that paid for all our wasted gas.

and of course old faithful.

can you see the buffalo??

we were laughing at the people sporting their yellowstone t-shirts and matching hats at yellowstone.
and right after, we bought yellowstone t-shirts and put them on right away. mine is a little kids t-shirt. and it glows in the dark! when we were buying it, ryan asked the man if they had some in adult sizes. he was pretty bummed when the guy said no.

we were kinda in a rush so we didn't get to see much of yellowstone.
i thought it was pretty fun.

star valley again...

when you go to star valley again... you have to get a little creative of what to do. so ryan and i drove around and saw an old tabernacle. it reminded me of logan, they have a tabernacle there too. they are so pretty!
we also did a lot of late night hot fudge sundaes at heggs. and i think i ate at every restaurant in town within 3 days. but my very favorite was the rocky mountain seafood. i ate there twice.

i am so glad that i have friends in star valley. my friend tal took me to a really pretty lake. but man, it was a long drive! maybe that was because she was kind enough to ask me if i get car sick, which i do, so she drove extra slow. i am happy to say... i did not get car sick! how nice of you to ask tal, nobody has ever asked me that. her sweet babies loved the ice cold water, especially the littlest one, and he got extra dirty!

the condo we stayed in was very large. much much larger than the last one. it had 2 bedrooms a big bathroom, a full size living room with a couch and a chair and a full size kitchen. it even had a desk! sorry, no pictures. the only thing i didn't like about this condo was it was not very well furnished? is that the right word? we couldn't find the things we needed in the kitchen. so whatever the word is... we had to get creative (and when i say we, i mean ryan). when we couldn't find a cheese grader, ryan sliced the cheese extra thin with a knife and then he used this bucket we brought when we couldn't find a cutting board. what a handyman! am i right?

I am talking about a place called Afffton...

we headed to star valley, because ryan had work there. we stayed for 4 nights in a super nice condo. it was fun to see our friends we made while living in logan. although we didn't get to see all of them. maybe next time! super funny that ryan had work in the valley they moved to. i can't help but think that the E brothers and their families will be always be in my life. i can't get rid of them. they are everywhere i look!

here are a few pictures of our condo...

{notice the sweet picture of ryan on the monitor} 

and if any of you know me, you know i work for one of the E brothers at directdoorhardware.com

and now im obsessed with looking at door hardware everywhere i go.

you better believe i was impressed with the brand this condo had.

EMTEK!

super nice!

here is the view from the back patio of our condo...

i was able to go out with my friends to a very long lunch. so long in fact, their husbands thought we went all the way to jackson to have lunch or to look for some ruggedly handsome men. they were mistaken. we had some salmon and cod at rocky mountain seafood. soo yummy. ryan asked me later, when i told him where we went to eat, if they had any rocky mountain oysters. that would be kinda funny. and then went and got a milkshake at maverick. yes the gas station. :)

afton is home of the largest antler arch in the world!
over 3,000 antlers...

{thanks stacie for the excellent photography. and tal for the suggestion of where to place myself. i wouldn't have had this sweet picture with out you guys!}

AND.. home of the intermittent spring. we had to see it!

{made out of rock...interesting}

i heard this next sentence quite a bit over our stay in star valley, "that's star valley for ya"... maybe this could count for one of those times?

ryan's great grandparents were from star valley. we took a little drive to go and visit their old farm and we also went to visit their graves.

it was pretty neat.

 {they lived right across the street from the old creamery}

then on the drive home... it was just beautiful...