the amount of snow on the top the Mountain at Jackson Hole
Old Faithful Geyser
Getting ready to hop on the boat to go across Jenny Lake!

Day Five and Day Six

Well Hiddy Ho Neighbor Joe,

Sorry this blog is a day late but we didn't get in till really late last night and we didn't have internet....SO i am going to try my best to get you up to date on the latest and greatest news of the RV...Yesterday, day five, was just another venture here on the RV. We started our day out at Jenny Lake. We jumped on a boat that took us across Jenny Lake to skip the 5 mile hike, which Drill Sargent, i mean Fabulous Tour Guide Tipton so badly wanted to do...we started our first little hike up to hidden falls, and hidden it was...We had to create our own little path to get to it because of all the snow...after a few pictures we headed up to Inspiration Point, which was an overlook that looked out over all of Jenny Lake...it was definitely a sight to see, and much needed inspiration! On our way up to Inspiration Point Uncle Mark kept getting in the back of the line...Lori thought he was doing it to be the protector of the group, you know, bring up the rear and make sure everyone is doing okay...but boy was she wrong...the only reason he wanted to stay at the end was because he didn't want his farts to linger to those of us who might possibly be behind him...(yes aunt lori completely through uncle mark under the bus on this one, if thats true love i think ill pass on the whole marriage thing)...on our way down we passed a Japanese family (as you can see we love the Japanese) and aunt lori waved and said "He Yo" or at least thats what the rest of us heard anyways, she still denies it and says she said Hey Ya'll...i guess the good Lord is the only one who knows the truth. After we hiked down and road the boat back across Jenny Lake off to Jackson Hole it was...WAHOO...i was really excited about this one...We got to Jackson Hole just in time for lunch so we ate at the Mangy Moose, it was a cute little restaurant...after eating we did a little shopping and off to the lift we went...The lift took us to Rendezvous Mountain, 11,000 ft...can i just say breathtaking...we did a little climb in the snow to reach the tip top, and of course take pictures!! After pictures Lori and Payton went on their own venture...we thought they went off the side of the mountain they went so far...what they saw over there that we couldn't see from the top we will never know...

Day Six...lets see here...we started the morning off by getting to sleep late...well at least i did:) We still had about a four hour drive to get to Estes Park, Colorado to do out Jeep Tour...Before we left, however, uncle mark thought he was going to have to play paramedic to the guy that was in the bathroom, he was moaning and groaning, struggling to say the least, luckily after his poop had passed he came out with a smile on his face...that was definitely a close one...Once we arrived we had to stop at the visitor center to get our pass then we went to taco bell for lunch, because someone on this RV was having taco bell withdraws...bet you can't guess who that was...We had a three hour jeep tour, or should i say the longest game of freeze out i have ever played. We were in this huge jeep that fit 12 passengers that was basically an oversized jeep wrangler, yes we had the windows rolled up on the top so we could see it all...little did we know we would be headed to the top of the mountain where it was raining, sleeting, snowing, and SOOOO windy (ok so it wasn't our smartest idea ever, but hey don't judge us)...on the way down we got smart and put the windows back down...we saw tons of elk and some big horned sheep...after the tour we headed to our RV park, which is by far the best one yet...we ate some good ole hot dogs here at the Elk Meadow Lodge and RV Resort...and what a Resort it is...we have cable, internet, and BINGO in the lodge tonight...Jordan won three times: two candy bars and 5 dollars, and Aunt Lori and I had to split the big money on the blackout game, so we got four each...not to bad if i do say so myself...well peoples its off to the shower house...more stories to come...

Animal Sitings so far...Buffalo: too many to count, Chipmunks: three, Prairie Dogs: three, Moose:eight, Elk: thirty, Big Horn Sheep: seven (very rare sighting, but thanks to jordans eagles eyes we all saw them with our own two eyes), Wild Mustangs: three (some of you are catching on...)

Things we have learned...Tour Guide Tipton informed us yesterday that the Grand Tetons got its name because it looks like two titties...also, the majority of the people on this RV have never heard of Prairie Dogging before...if you our one of those people then you can ask me later...anyways we got a good laugh out of that...

Love you all, thanks for reading my craziness, i hope it all makes since...if only you all could be here to see if for yourselves these stories would be so much funnier!

Brandi: your number one RV reporter

JAMES TUCKER TIPTON...WE ARE COMING TO SEE YOU...WE CAN'T WAIT...HOPE YOUR READY FOR US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day Four

Well Well Well...

Ladies and Gentlemen it is our fourth day here on the 'recreational vehicle' and i must say we are having a divine time...If you were one of the lucky few to get to look over our itinerary for this trip you would know that we were suppose to arrive at Yellowstone at FIVE O'CLOCK this morning let me repeat...FIVE O'CLOCK in the morning!! needless to say Mrs. Tipton was quickly shot down by a unanimous vote from the other six of us that five o'clock was out of the question! We arrived at Yellowstone National Park at eight o clock this morning...and the sploring started right away...we were greeted by beautiful scenery...snow covered mountain, iced lakes, and breathtaking beauty...we were just driving right along when we saw out first buffalo, so of course we had to stop...Aunt Lori, however, thinks that the buffalo are her friends and tried to get a little too close, they both stopped what they were doing and stared us down, according to uncle mark a stare down with two 2,000 pound buffalos was not a good way to start this venture...Our first stop of the day was artist point...it was an overlook that looked over the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. It was a gorgeous overlook of a huge waterfall...also at artist point we were joined by a tour bus of japanese tourist...story to follow about that....after artist point we went to our next destination which was a hike to the bottom of a waterfall...this trail was called Uncle Tom's Cabin it was a 'strenuous' hike...but to our dismay after a .2 mile walk down we see that this trail is close do to DANGEROUS conditions...whatever that means, snow can't hurt that bad...Lori was so upset but don't worry she found us another trail to hike...We went to the Brink of the Lower Falls for a near death experience of a hike!! Going down was a breeze, the view was breathtaking...it took us to top of the waterfall that we saw from a distance at artist point (it would really help if we could post pictures so 'you guys', my western accent i have picked up here, could see what i was talking about) but the hike back up....well lets just say it was more of a workout then i have had in the past year...After that we went to get out national park passport stamped...a must on this trip...then off to meet TARA...Tara is a park ranger at Yellowstone, but she is also one of Uncle Marks high school buddies...we had lunch then hurried out to see Old Faithful...it was definitely a sight to see...but the real sight was seeing uncle mark get run over by a japanese man who was half his size...uncle mark aunt lori and tara were talking after we took a picture of them and this little japanese man, who was clearly running late to something, shoved them out of the way, not politely went around them, he literally shoved them apart and ran right through...we laughed and reenacted it for the next thirty min...After that we headed out to see Morning Glory, once again it would be great if i could upload a picture so you all could see it...after morning glory we had a cup of ice cream and on to the RV park we went...

Now for the good stuff...we have created chores here on the RV...you know to make things run a little smoother...todays duties requires payton: make all beds, jordan: to dry and straighten everyone's hair, mark and mike: well thats obvious...they are driving us for hours a day so we can't ask much more of them, brandi: entertain everyone, and write the blog daily, leslie and lori: cook dinner and clean the crapper, yes the cleaned it like wild mustangs today!!

just a little poem...

Hello everyone! In the midst of all the updates you have been receiving, I would like to enlighten you all with a bit of poetry and insight to the great western front.

We traveled afar, by foot and by RV
From South Dakota to Wyoming, a long day you see.

We talked, we laughed, we slept, and we ate
And tonight we are planning on staying up late!!

We stopped along the way to play in the SNOW
I think it had to be about 100 degrees below. (freeezinggg!)

As we approached our destination, we smelled something foul
The bathrooms we later found were the guys best pals! (ewww.)

We finally arrived to the fine and friendly city of Cody
And ate at a nice restaurant that was everything but grody.

Our beautiful campground, also called Ponderosa
Has a DQ right beside it, blizzards come closa!!

Well now we’re all just chillin, one big happy bunch
Hopefully none of us will be the first to throw a punch.

Goodnight, goodnight, we love you all
As we are here on this recreational vehile, simply having a ball!

P.S. The mountains here in Wyoming, the Tetons, are as grand as you’d think. They are simply breathtaking!!! They just seem to dominate creation out here towering over everything! Thank you Lord for making them with Your strong hands!

Adios. Keep it real, Cleveland!
-Paytie

Day Three

Well hello folks!!!
It is early morning of day three and we are still in Hill City, South Dakota!! Yesterday our venture started at the BAD LAND...which were incredible to see...we went on a mile hike up to this gorgeous overlook...pictures are coming soon...the internet is horrible at the Horsethief campground, so hopefully next stop we will have better internet! After the Bad Lands we went to see the infamous Mount Rushmore! After taking lots of pictures and getting our passport stamped it was off to the campground...Uncle Mark grilled some amazing chicken, while mom and aunt lori made baked potatoes and baked beans! For dessert mom tried to make us some chocolate chip cookies...key word here is TRIED...she put a plastic plate in the OVEN...she's smart i promise...just wasn't using her brain at the moment...the plate created a very nice flower shape but is now ruined do to the lack of thinking before sticking it in the oven..needless to say we are down to two plates:) After that we made smores...these weren't your typical smores though because guess who forgot the Hershey's chocolate bars....ill let you guess:)...so we created a new invention...graham cracker, cookie dough, and roasted marshmallow...can i just say mmmm mmmm good!
Soooo...we are living the good life on this here recreational vehicle...which brings me to another point....we have all been diagnosed with RVS...Recreational Vehicle Syndome...this means that once you are and RV for more that 24 hours and then get off you still feel like you are on the RV...we are still feel like we are moving when we are sitting still...not a pleasant feeling...but i guess it just is part of the venture.
Here are some quotes of the week...."Can you climb me?" This was said by non other than Mrs. Lori Tipton...Uncle mark was needing to get to the back to fix the air and had to climb over lori who was sitting in the floor, but instead of can you climb over me she said can you climb me...we laughed for a looong time:) " Ummm wrong babe" Lori asked if uncle mark needed anything and mike turns around and says "no babe" haha then lori obviously says ummm wrong babe. "Is she a midget?" This was precious little payton...we stopped at a truck stop to wash our bug infested windshield, when payton looks out the window to see a little girl and says "is she a midget?" come to find out she was...good observation paytie..."I guess i should take some clothes!" paytie was getting ready to head to the shower house to get a shower and was planning on coming back to the RV in just her towel...let me remind you we are at an RV camp with a hundred people we don't know:) this is not camp cherokee payton, they do require you to wear clothes from the bath house to the RV...this leads in to the next quote..."YOU SHAMELESS HUSSY!!" was said by uncle mark to his precious little girl, who didn't want to wear clothes back to the RV...and last but not least...."Are those DICKLES" hahaha aunt lori wanted to know if the pickles were dill and it came out dickles...
Well folks we are getting ready to head back out on the road...next time we post we will end up Cody, Wyoming!! Love you all!!

Brandi: your number one RV reporter:)