This I Miss

One day, while sitting in a tube marveling at the mountains around me, I took this picture so I would never forget the feeling of being there.

I knew I was going to

miss it terribly.

There are several things that I miss about being out West.

I miss watching my kids soak in the view.
I miss being grungy and being OK with that.

I miss the smell of sage as we were riding horses in the mountains.

I miss spending a lot of quality time with my parents. It was so nice to have them with us.

I miss just hanging around and playing games.

(I especially miss seeing my dad relax!)

I miss seeing my kids being themselves and just having good, clean fun.

I miss seeing wild bears . . . oh wait . . . I don't really miss that. I miss going for walks in nature. I miss the beautiful and unusual scenery.

(doesn't John look handsome in that shirt? . . . just sayin')

Believe it or not, I actually miss the long hours in the van.

The scenery was absolutely beautiful and the company was great.
My parents were with us (yes, that makes SEVEN of us in the van!! . . . with all of our stuff). It was fun to have them with us.

We drove over 4,000 miles!!!

I miss seeing wild animals along the side of the road. Can you believe that I let my children get this close to a wild moose??

What was I thinking?
A local woman in her pickup truck drove by and yelled at me.
I won't do it again . . . I promise.

(Unless it's a really cool animal that I just have to have a picture of.) I miss seeing the mountains during the "golden hour".

(sigh)

I miss tubing in a chilly mountain river.

I miss seeing so many rainbows.I miss eating out at unique restaurants.
I miss being together as a family 24/7 . . . really being together.(By the way . . . this was the view outside of the cabin that we stayed in.)
I miss looking out the car window and seeing buffalo.
I miss feeling like I was flying in an airplane even though I had both of my feet planted on the ground.
I miss being able to have a snowball fight in August!!
It was COLD up at the top of those mountains!

(we had to drive OVER the mountain to get to Yellowstone)

We want to go back!

But until we can, we will just enjoy the memories.