Another successful family vacation to Signal Mountain and Jackson Lake in Grand Teton National Park too place the end of August. We couldn't do it over Phil's birthday, but the weekend after was the next best option. This year we camped with our friends, Jake & Cassie and their awesome kids. The rat race to get camping spots was on again and I left the house about 5:15 to snag some spots. It was crazy and I realized when I got there that we should have left even earlier, the site on our favorite loop were already taken!! In the end and after talking to the camp ranger about the handicap sites, we ended up with what may be the best sites in the whole campground. We got two flat spots right next to each other with tons of room. We realized later when we came back over that the back of our sites led right up to a beautiful overlook of the lake with a quick little climb down to the actual water. The views at sunset were incredible!
Saturday wasn't as warm as we would have liked it to be, but we still spent the entire day at the lake swimming, skipping rocks, kayaking, paddle boarding and just hanging out with other friends that came over for the day. It's one of my favorite days of the year. We were thrilled to find out that Beth and Brennen would be joining us that day too! They arrived in the late afternoon and we got a little more time out on the lake before we headed back to camp to have dinner! Phil made his delicious buffalo chicken and potatoes and it did not disappoint. The Birch's stayed for dinner and we had a fun evening. It was also a really great opportunity to get to know Brennen a little better and we couldn't like him any more! Plus Boyd got to share a tent with Brennen which might have been the highlight of the whole trip for him. Is it worth mentioning that night Brewer's catastrophe? Probably not, but it was really bad and really stinky. Fingers crossed that never happens again!
Sunday morning we had a super yummy breakfast, packed up camp and headed to the Jackson Lake Lodge for their Sacrament service. We smelled and were the few that didn't dress up, but we laughed when we found out that the speakers for the day were Phil's Uncle Bill and Aunt Cheryl. Bill actually talked about Phil's accident in his address and it may have been a bit exaggerated which caused us to slink down in our chairs a bit. They were really good talks though, they do such a good job. After Sacrament we headed over to Phelps lake to hike out to the rock! It was kind of crazy and we didn't realize that the trail wouldn't allow dogs, so Jake's crew wasn't able to come. We were also pretty unprepared for the adventure and didn't have a hiking pack for Lola, who was a bit tired and not her usual star, amazing self. But we all put our best foot forward and made it the few miles out to the rock. Phil, Beth and Brennen jumped. It was amazing and so beautiful. After it was over Boyd was disappointed with himself that he didn't do it. Maybe next time. And next time I won't be pregnant and I'll do it too! The lake and scenery was so beautiful that we want to go back again and take our paddle boards and spend the day there.
I'm so happy that this has become a tradition for our family and honestly can't wait for next year. Although I will admit that thinking about getting camping spots gives me anxiety any time I think about having to do that again. Ha!
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