Route 66 deja vu?

 I don't know what you all have been doing with yourselves since the last time we talked but I drove from the east coast to the west (almost coast) for the second time this year!  Who would have guessed that my life would take me to so many different places in such a short time?  I certainly wasn't expecting a second 2,200 mile drive in 2015.  But hey, I'm not complaining.  I've got a pretty amazing life right now!

Because of the route I took west, I have a few new states to add to my list of those visited which I started a couple posts ago.  They are: Kentucky, Iowa, Nebraska, and Wyoming.  I've never been to any of them before and most of them I want to go back to for another visit one day.  Nebraska would be the only one I don't wish to re-visit.  I literally thanked God while driving through it that I was not born in that corn-filled windy state.  However, I did get a cool selfie with a bison out of it... so I guess its not all bad.

When I got to Wyoming it was much the same as Nebraska at first.  In fact, it was so empty it reminded me of the moon.  But as we kept driving, the landscape changed quite drastically to red rock cliffs, blue mesa-esque mountain sides (like what Danielle and I saw in the Petrified Forest NP), and crystalline rivers flowing by the side of the highway.  The red rock cliffs reminded me of Arizona along Route 66.  It was all I could do to stay on the road.  All I wanted to do was take pictures and stare out the window at the landscape!

 

 The absolute best part of the drive was arriving at Grand Teton National Park!  After such a long time on the road and spending 4 nights at different hotels, I was ready to be settled for a bit.  Getting out of the car for the first time was amazing.  The weather was cool, the air felt crisp, and the elevation made me dizzy for a while.  I'm still getting adjusted to it.  Bonnie (my traveling partner) and I had to stop and take pictures because we were so excited to finally be at our destination! 

 

The next best news was when I learned where I would be staying for the next three weeks.  I have a little cabin all to myself (not pictured here) at the foot of the Teton mountains!  The first few days were pretty smoky so the view wasn't great but since then it has gotten clearer.  The clearer the air, the closer the mountains appear.  I am already in love with this park and I'm having an amazing time working here.  I wake up every day excited to go to work and to see what adventures I will experience.  It has been quite a while since I've felt that way and I want to hold on to that feeling as long as possible.