Good Times At National Parks

As promised a few weeks ago, here are some vacation shots from a couple of national parks.

Photos do not do the Grand Canyon any justice, but here's one anyway! My kids enjoy describing my mental anguish while there (I'm deathly afraid of open air heights). "Here's the Grand Canyon; here's the paved sidewalk; and here's Mom." I stayed a few feet beyond the path, in my own personal comfort zone.

This is a great before and after shot at the Petrified Forest. Before: Son having a grand time. After: He had asked me to hold his camera and I accidentally wasted one of his precious photos by snapping a picture of my foot. People really need to learn to carry their own stuff on these trips. I'm tired of being the pack horse.

One of the many geysers at Yellowstone. Middle Child and I both are hypersensitive to odor. The stench that clung to your hair and clothing while visiting these geysers was unbearable for both of us. She was a bit concerned that it wouldn't wash out of her favorite t-shirt. I'm happy to report that it did.

This was taken at Prairie Dog Town in the Badlands of South Dakota. As innocent as this little guy may seem, he managed to chase College Daughter back to the van. We had stopped to get out and take a few photos and this guy took an instant dislike to her. He shot out of that hole and began advancing on her. She's not an animal lover and she hightailed it back to the van and slammed the door. We still laugh about this.

One of my favorite photos at Yellowstone. We were driving along and, around a bend, came upon a huge herd of bison. Many were walking alongside the road. I rolled my window down to get a good shot of one of them and my son, who is usually not one to panic, was yelling at me to roll the window up. A bison up close is quite a beast with its scruffy coat and slobber hanging off its beard, and the growling sounds are like no other. I will never forget my son yelling at me that "it's a monster - roll up your window!!!"