The Sullivan Family

National Sullivan's Family Vacation

We skipped Walley World and went straight to the National Parks. As soon as we got off the plane, we drove through Grand Teton National Park. The whole time Ryan kept saying, "WOW...WOW...WOW!" After the drive we went back to our hotel to nap and freshen up for dinner.Jack was a trooper, as he had been on a plane or in acar all day. We went to a little (tiny) town called Moose fordinner. Here, we sat outside and enjoyed the view of the Tetons.

The next morning we were offon our first hike. Not a long one, but around String Lake at the base of the mountains. Stunning. Jack took some time out from freeloading on Ryan's back to get in a little skinny dipping. Ryanhad plans to join him but the trail was too busy for that to be acceptable.

Our second full day we trekked north into Yellowstone park. We followed the Yellowstone River up to Yellowstone falls. While there, we took a hike off the beaten path to some amazing views of the canyon. There musthave been 100 people at the scenic lookout and only about 10 on the hike. It was definitely worth the climb. While driving back to Jackson we passed hundreds of Bison lounging by the river. I tried to get Jack to look at them, but at this point we were struggling to keep him happy after about 4 hours of driving.

Our alarm was set for 4:30am the next morning. We had plans to watch the sunrise from Curtis Canyon Overlook. The guide book said to go to a different overlook, but the locals said Curtis Canyon was the place to go. We, of course, took their advice and were notdisappointed. After winding a long, narrow, seasonal road up the side of a mountain, we were the only people at the overlook. We had the entire view to ourselves and laid out a blanket for Jack to sit on and another for him to bundle up with. Ryan and I agree that it was a moment we will remember forever.

Sunrise day was our busiest by far. We ate breakfast in the car and headed straight to Leigh Lake. Here, we took a fairy that brought us across the lake to a trail leading up to Inspiration Point. I was eager to try out the JackPack and Ryan was kind enough to share. Needless to say, I fell almost immediately. Jack was unharmed but I got a pretty wicked raspberry on my knee. Nevertheless, our journey to inspiration continued and I got a lot of positive feedback from strangers who were surprised I was carrying a baby up the side of a mountain. Great workout but I was happy to let Ryan carry him after we reached our destination.

Our last day in Grand Teton National Park and we had to get in one last hike before heading to the airport. We tried to make it to Taggert lake, a 3 mile hike there and back, but were only able to make it to 1.1 miles before we had to turn around. It is supposed to be one of the most beautiful short hikes. I guess we will have to do this on our next trip out.

This trip was Ryan's dream vacation and it was amazing. We saw wildlife (bison, a moose, a bald eagle), ate at amazing restaurants, took breathtaking hikes, shopped, and relaxed with a good book in the hotel at night.