Arriving in Jackson Hole

In July of 2018, the entire family, all 18 of us, took a trip through Wyoming and South Dakota! We were on the Tauck Cowboy Country tour and traveled through Jackson Hole, Yellowstone, Cody, Wyoming and ended in South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore. It was the perfect vacation for our family of all ages, there was something for everyone and it was so much fun traveling with the whole family. 

During our flight to Jackson, I sat behind Vienne and the two of us passed notes back and forth the entire flight. 

We got spectacular views of the Tetons as we prepared to land!

We were picked up at the airport by our tour company and were driven to the Jackson Lake Lodge. The main lobby of this historic lodge features floor to ceiling windows which showcase breathtaking views of the majestic Tetons. Our family spent a lot of time in this area relaxing and enjoying the view.

As soon as we arrived, James and I grabbed front row seats to the windows and had a fun time taking silly pictures with funny filters.

After checking into the lodge, we all headed out to the patio to grab a little lunch from The Blue Heron Lounge.

The views during lunch could not be beat.

Some of us ordered virgin huckleberry mojitos, and they are delicious!

I ordered the mini tostadas, a trio of green chile pulled pork, goat cheese and cilantro chimichurri.

After lunch, Vienne and I wandered into the gift shop and she fell in love with this little moose and I couldn't resist getting him for her.

She was thrilled.

We were able to spend some time in our cabins to relax, unwind and take a little nap before dinner. While checking in, we noticed a sign for a outdoor western BBQ by the pool and we thought that would be a super fun for the family. 

There was a delicious buffet, with all the traditional BBQ fixins.

We go to enjoy live music while we dined.

The kids went for a quick swim in between dinner and dessert.

And we finished off with some warm, gooey s'mores 

After dinner, a few of us went for a walk around the hotel property and we found were they keep their horses! We spent a long time petting the horses and watching the sunset and enjoying the wonderful, fresh, cold mountain air.

The horses were super friendly and social, and loved to come over for pets.

We even saw a couple of deer wander by on our walk back to our cabins.

Mount St. Helens

On the last day of our tour, we disembarked our ship and drove a little ways to the Mount St. Helen's information center to learn about the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in U.S. history.

The area around the visitor center is lush and green and was the perfect place for us to stretch our legs a bit before heading into the museum.

The Mount St. Helen's visitor center is fascinating, it includes a timeline of events leading up to the eruption on May 18, 1980 as well as a large, step-in model of the volcano, which shows it's different geological layers.

We watched a film that talks about the events of May 19, 1980 as well as the aftermath of the eruption. Fifty-seven people were killed; 250 homes, 47 bridges, 15 miles of railways, and 185 miles  of highway were destroy.

 83 year old Harry R. Truman, who had lived near the mountain for 54 years, became famous when he decided not to evacuate before the impending eruption, despite repeated pleas by local authorities. His body was never found after the eruption.

After touring through the visitors center, we ventured out to the viewing platform to attempted to get a glimpse at the infamous crater that was left behind after the 1980 eruption. Being in Washington, the crater is often covered by low hanging clouds, as was the case for the entirety of our visit.

The areas around the viewing platform were dotted with brightly colored wildflowers, I decided to take a little stroll along some of their walking trails after I had lost hope of actually getting to see the crater. 

The next day, when we flew home, we had perfect views of Mount St. Helens as we flew above the clouds.