More adventures - Jackson Hole and Yellowstone

Laura Ingalls Wilder Books

Myself and the boys have enjoyed reading the Laura Ingalls Wilder book series of nine I purchased before leaving.  As we travel over all the vast open prairies, through mountains and snow we imagine how Laura and her family's arduous journeys were by wagon.

I was initially surprised by the hunting in the first book Farmer Boy, the story of Almanzo. As one journeys through all the series of these wondrous little books, it is miraculous to learn how they survived in the wild, with relentless weather conditions, living in total isolation, completely depending on nature for survival. So much is taken for granted in our modern day life.

Old log homes from the early settlers

We were thrilled to see a reproduction of the log homes built by the early settlers. Laura's pa built most of their homes himself.  They survived cruel fires and unyielding blizzards.

Log Homes

The wooden creaky old wagons that were pulled by horse over vast prairies and though great rushing rivers and creeks.  Our next book will be Little Town on the Prairie.

The boys in a wagon

The children playing on a wagon.  We found a miniature wagon for them to play with.

Grizzly Bear

How fortunate we were to see a few bears in the yellowstone park.  Watching them amble about the sage brush, looking for grubs and slugs.  They looked so cuddly and warm.

Bison grazing alongside the steam near the warm spring geysers

The bison, so powerful in the herds.  I remember how the great herds used to roam in Africa, it's hardly seen with their restricted land.  The animals struggled with the late winter and deep snow in Yellowstone, many calves were lost.

Moose

We were delighted to finally see a moose.  Moose is a popular animal in our home as Sania's favorite plush toy is a moose whom he's been loving for 3 years and shares life with us.

Bison on the freeway

This impressive fellow was moseying along the freeway all by himself.  He must have climbed down one of the mountains.

Scenery from a park in Yellowstone

Overlooking Yellowstone Lake.

Knitted scarves

It was so cold that I quickly knitted up two scarves for my little boys from some amazing hand spun pure wool, kettle dyed from Uruguay that I purchased at a cosy little knitting store.  What a pleasure it was to knit with such fine wool.

First time in Snow

The boys found a small mountain of snow in the alongside the road to play in.

Sliding down a snow bank

We then took them up the tram in Jackson WY for some REAL snow.

Trying to climb through the thick snow

I slid down a small snow bank

I managed to climb to the top of a small hill after continuously sinking so deep in the snow, obviously not dressed for it, to slide down and enjoy the fun with the boys.

Brrrrrr

A wonderful snow experience but next time we will be dressed for it because the boys wanted to play more but their feet were almost frozen.