#3: Snow in July
My third favorite picture came from scenery that caught me completely off guard. Some of the most beautiful sights we saw on the Yellowstone leg of the trip came just beyond the park boundaries (foreshadowing for the #1 pic). Yellowstone itself had been one of the more personally dramatic portions of the trip as it was the location of our 2nd worst fight of the 13 day whirlwind tour of the Western U.S. But by the time we got to these gorgeous views of the Rockies, the negativity had completely passed. It was tough to be mad at each other when we were playing in snow and tossing snowballs like joyful children. In addition to the snow, the numerous runoff lakes that had been created looked amazing as the sun was beginning to set. Even more amazing was the herd of wild mountain goats we spotted. We couldn't get close enough to get any good pictures, so I just sat back and reflected on the thought that they are the descendants of ancestors who roamed the area for thousands of years.
#2: The Amazing Redwoods
In all honesty, the reason our road trip to get to North Dakota snaked its way through California was because I wanted to see the Redwoods. We would add Yosemite and the Golden Gate Bridge to the agenda because they were along the way. I mentioned before that this had been a dream of mine since I read about the forests in good old Scholastic News in elementary school. I completely nerded out the whole time I was there. Somewhere in my Facebook media there exists a video of me sounding about as excited as the double-rainbow guy of YouTube fame. Seeing, touching, and smelling the redwoods will forever be a highlight of my life. Redwoods will be included again in my road trip plans either this year or next year, with a few days worth of camping in the forest rather than just a day stop.
#1: Our Own Private Waterfall
This is far from the most breathtaking picture of a waterfall anyone will ever see. We saw much more beautiful ones along the way like Yosemite Falls, Bridalveil Fall (Yosemite Park, as well), and Yellowstone Falls. And at each of those locations we battled crowds and fought to get a few good shots and soak it all in for a few moments of tranquility. However, this waterfall was our own. The only interruption we had to deal with was an overwhelming amount of mosquitoes. We stumbled across the waterfall just outside of Yellowstone's Cooke City, MT park exit and it happened purely by chance.
We had just gotten done with the aforementioned fight and were both sitting in the car just letting the tension wash over us. I was begging Jennifer not to let a fight ruin an opportunity to enjoy scenery we may never get to see again. Eventually, I parked the car on the side of the road so that we could look down at the valley below us hoping it would be too amazing for her to stay mad. After that failed to work, I decided to take a walk to blow off some steam and hope she would cool down too. I noticed a trail headed back toward a river that was flowing into the valley. It wasn't very long until I came across a hiking bridge positioned just in front of this fall. In hindsight this probably wasn't the smartest idea, since there was a strong possibility there could have been wildlife near by and also I have no clue if this was public or private land.
I walked back to the car and after more begging and pleading convinced Jenn to go out to at least look at it. After she took a much longer hike after telling me to wait on the bridge, I began to get concerned about the possibility of the potential for a wild animal attack. After worriedly yelling out and going after her, my thoughts of the fight faded away for concern for her safety. Fortunately,she returned safely and as I sat on the bridge with my arms around her, I didn't care about any of the other events of the day.
