Super Busy Fun-Filled Days!

So following my previous post, Kayla and I headed out and drove through the night (alternating one of us driving and the other sleeping) to get to Badlands National Park in South Dakota in the morning. We arrived to a beautiful sunny sky which made our hike on the Notch Trail that much more amazing. The trail was fun and the views were great. We continued on and drove through the rest of the park stopping here and there to take pictures. After making a pitstop for coffee, we headed back out in search of Mount Rushmore. As we got close to the monument, we stopped for about an hour in a local Starbucks to do a little research and make reservations for some adventures that we had set up for the next day. Then back on the road. We saw Mount Rushmore and took a few pictures before heading back out to Sundance, Wyoming. We stopped there and found the statue of the Sundance Kid which Kayla thoroughly enjoyed. Then a little more driving to get to Devil's Tower. We stopped and took pictures a little way from the base of it because there was a thunderstorm threatening to break at any minute-which we got caught in during our next bout of driving anyway. Then it was a long trek to our campsite over a snow covered mountain. We didn't get there until two in the morning and since we had to get up at seven, we decided to use all of our time for sleeping rather than assembling and disassembling a tent, so we just slept in the truck.

The next morning we got to shower and all that and then headed for Crossed Sabers Rance where we had arranged for a two hour horseback ride. The people have all been so friendly, it's so much different from back home. Our guide's name was Jacob from Arkansas. He helped us with out horses. Kayla's was Smokey, mine was Rowdy. If I could've brought my horse home with me I would have, I loved him. We also had a girl named Bayley riding with us. She worked for the ranch but had never actually ridden before. So the four of us headed out and had a great time. We took some pictures along the way and Jacob offered to take a few of us in scenic areas. After I sadly had to say goodbye to Rowdy, we drove to Yellowstone National Park. The park is so beautiful and we stopped a lot to take pictures. We saw Bison really close to the road in a few spots so we stopped to take pictures. Then We drove up to the Falls and took some beautiful photos there. Then on to Old Faithful. We lucked out (again, not so sure I believe in dumb luck these days...) but we got there with less than a half hour of when it was supposed to go off so we were fortunate enough to see that. Then we drove out of the park through Grand Tetons National Park. As we were driving we saw a bunch of cars along the road so we stopped and found out that there was a moose just in the woods who had given birth to a baby moose just minutes before our arrival. The umbilical cord was still attached and everything. So after being super excited to see that, we drove into Jackson Hole to meet up with Julie, a friend of Kayla's. She led us to her home in Victor, Idaho where I met her husband Josh. They took us out for dinner and after downing half of a pie myself I was finally full after a day of not eating much but junk. When we got back to their house we talked for a few minutes before Kayla and I passed out. We slept for a long time which was much needed. Now we're trying to catch up on some things like our blogs before venturing back to Jackson Hole to tour and visit with Josh and Julie.

Everything has been so exciting and amazing for us thus far and we're only on our fifth day. I can't even imagine what is in store for us in the next few weeks. All I know is I feel truly blessed and and thankful for everything everyday. That's all for now though, I'll update again when I can!