Mack's Inn Float & Playmill

One of my 25 in 25th year goals was to float Mack's in River. Well, I found out the proper name for this is "Big Springs". It's such a shallow float...which is the only way we could get Patty in the water! She is deathly afraid of water, not surprisingly since both her husband and son almost drowned in really traumatic experiences!

Anyhow, this float is just so beautiful. It's such a shame none of us brought a water camera...because we passed two moose, a bald eagle, and a blue herring. It was so exciting! But the float was very slow going and we had to row our way through it cause it was so shallow and calm!

We went with Patty, Paul, Makayla, and Allen (Makayla's boyfriend). It was a blast. The weather was great, but the water was SO SO COLD! AHHHH! SO COLD! Needless to say there was lots of sneak splashing going on :)


After the float we ate a little picnic by the IMAX theater in the small amount of shade we could find! Harmoni met up with us for the picnic and then we headed to the Playmill Theater to see Seven Brides for Seven Brothers! Oh my gosh! I love that musical so much!

The Playmill actors are a bunch of locals and college kids. They started out with some jokes and little songs and stuff while everyone was trickling in, then they all sang "Home" by Phillip Phillips and it was SO GREAT! I just loved it. They also sang God Bless America (tear jerker) and did a wierd blue light dance, and then the play started! It was so cute and I loved it. I told Clay, "We need to come here once a year". He just rolled his eyes, but he liked it a lot too!

After the play we walked around West Yellowstone for a while and got some candy (made me miss home) and looked at a tourist shop or two. It was nice.

Then the drive home! It was so beautiful and such a nice sunset.

 This is me and Makayla trying to figure out how to get everyone in the car in the photo. Guess what? Everyone technically is! There's Me, Makayla, and Patty, in the obvious spots. The left back is a slice of Allen's face. To the right of Patty's arm and the left of Makayla's head is a grey shoulder- that is Paul's shoulder. To the right of Makayla is Clay's green shoulder. I call that a success!

Rock Climbing

One of my 25 things I wanted to do in my 25th year of life was Rock Climbing! We did this in June I just haven't gotten around to sharing it.

I wanted to go rock climbing for a few different reasons. One, to conquer a fear...I am quite scared of heights! And there is something about conquering fears that makes me feel like I'm growing...so there's that. Then I also thought this would be a good way to be in nature and enjoy the earth without much of a risk of ticks. I do admit though, the small "hike" to the wall (5 minutes or so) had me feeling anxiety as my ankles were brushing up against bushes! Eck! Will I ever not get worried? I don't think so. Just stepping in taller grass makes me nervous.

Anyway, our friend Lyon loves to rock climb and has been wanting us to go for years, so this was perfect! He offered to take us (he has all the equipment and such) and so we finally took him up on it!

It was so great because he gave us good tips and was there cheering us on throughout.

I didn't make it to the top, but I made it REALLY far and I was so proud of myself! It was actually really fun! I looked down only a couple times and it was pretty nerve wracking! But it is comforting to know that you have someone holding the rope at the bottom if you fall (I did fall at the very beginning...which I'm actually glad happened cause it made me realize how stable I really was in my harness thingy).

Clay made it to the very top! My battery died by the time he got there though :(

It was SO fun and I really want to go again! I need to get Clay to agree before the good weather ends.

(This is Lyon for those who are wondering-he was actually one of Clay's groomsmen for our wedding)

Mesa Falls

One of the things on my 25 things to do in my 25th year is go to Mesa Falls with Clay. On the list I said to ride the motorcycle...but turns out Clay says that isn't the PRETTIEST of rides (mostly highway) so he'd rather take me to Heise and get square ice cream cones, cuase it's a really pretty ride...I'm sure I'll be blogging that here in a few weeks.

So anyhow, we took Dante with us, which was fun...but I kinda regret. It was SO HOT that day, and poor doggies get overheated really easily (they can't sweat) and so he was just dying five minutes out of the car. It made for a bit of a rushed trip, but it was still SO BEAUTIUFL! Oh my gosh, the scenery around the falls was gorgeous, and the falls themsevles were just awesome. I love waterfalls! And this was a great trip because it was all paved/decked and I didn't brush up against bushes at all! (no ticks for me). It was really great. God's earth truly is beautiful.