Fantasy Run 5k, Hot Springs State Park, Yellowstone, Family, etc
Sean and I decided to take a trip north for my birthday to do a cute race we found in Utah and visit Yellowstone for the first time!
We left Vegas the day before the race to make it to packet pickup. The location:
Gardner Village
1100 W. 7800 South
West Jordan, Utah
From packet pickup, we went to Scheels (sporting goods store) for a look around and to confirm that they'd removed the DDR machine we'd played on there a few years back. (A friend had told us it'd been taken out. It had. :/ )
For dinner then, we cashed in some birthday food coupons I'd received for free and cheap food.
Then we went to a Walmart for bread, bananas, and to park and sleep.
Day 2 - 5/7/16 (Fantasy Run 5k):
In the morning, we drove back to Gardner Village for the race. It was the Fantasy Run 5k. There was also a 1/2 marathon and a 10k but we'd opted for the 5k this time. They were supposed to have trophies for top 3 overall in each distance but ended up doing plaques and medals instead. Still cool! They had medals for age group winners too. Sean ended up getting 1st place overall. I got 1st place female and 2nd overall (after Sean). We each got our 1st place plaque and a medal but the best part was actually the fairy wings (for ladies) and bug antennas (for guys) they gave us to run with! Oh, and the ice cream sandwiches they had at the snack table after the race!
Post race, we refueled ourselves at Starbucks using a Groupon deal we had and even got free refills with our recently acquired gold card membership (complicated to explain but also thanks to Groupon usage). We got some work done using WiFi there while sipping drinks.
Then we used more Groupon deals to get a bunch of tasty sushi from a nearby place called Simply Sushi!
While getting sushi, it started hailing and then just raining.
Unsure of what to do next, we decided to drive up to Yellowstone for the first time ever now to celebrate my birthday in the wilderness! Unfortunately, the GPS took us WAY the wrong way, leading us down random country roads instead of a main freeway. It not only added 2 or more hours onto the drive but it took us to the south entrance, which was to be closed for the season for another FIVE DAYS, rather than the West entrance, which was not only open but was at least two hours closer.
On the way down this very wrong road, a deer sprinted out in front of the car. It dashed one way but when Sean tried to avoid it it turned the other way. Luckily, we weren't going super fast and Sean handled it really well and managed to keep it from doing any serious damage but we still hit it hard, sending us scraping into a nearby barrier. Both side of the car got dented up, a headlight got broken, and the passengers side got pretty scratched up but all things considered we got off pretty lightly. The deer somehow crapped on the side of out car during that split second and it lost a little fur and a tiny bit of meat but it went galloping away into the hills and trees and such nearby.
We started seeing shit tons of bison, I guess they were, and deer or elk or something shortly after that. There were lots of big herds of them right next to the road and crossing the road. There was even a herd of bison that decided to cross and stand in the road right after we got to them, humping and playing and just standing there in the middle of the street causing a traffic jam.
Beyond that point, we didn't see almost any more cars at all! We wondered why. It was not only a little eerie but also worrying. We didn't get an explanation til we arrived at the south entrance to Yellowstone though. We drove ALL THE WAY THERE, ALL DAY, EIGHT HOURS FROM WHERE WE'D STARTED, and were faced with a closed entrance and no alternative but to turn right back around. I was NOT going all that way for nothing though. I couldn't help backtracking a fair amount but I was going to salvage as much as I could to at least get something for our efforts..
I decided we'd head further east through Wyoming to a place called Thermopolis 3.5 hours away to visit Hot Springs State Park. Well, it actually took WAY longer because roads were wet, it rained a bit during the drive, there was a lot of melted snow on the road (and still plenty of snow just off the road!), we were driving thru clouds in some sections, and we were still spotting big animals just off the road here and there.
There was an adorable little town (population 971) on the way called Dubois. Nothing open at the time but could be cool in the day!
On a sad note, there were 0 ddrfreak listed machines locations in Wyoming! Maybe they'd all been removed long ago. Maybe there were a few machines but just not listed because no one uses that site anymore. It was sad seeing a state with the number "0" next to it on there though!
1 hour from our destination, we finally stopped for the night at a rest area. There were TONS of bunnies running around there. So cute! It was officially my birthday then so we finished the night by watching the first Ninja Turtles movie with spam sandwiches and wine we'd brought! Then we got a few hours of sleep.
Day 3 - 5/8/16 (My 28th Birthday / Mother's Day!):
We were up again at 8am, on our way soon thereafter.
At Hot Springs State Park in Thermopolis, WY, we looked around at the somewhat stinky (from the sulfur) park, caught (and eventually let go again) an adorable baby snake and an equally adorable baby bird, and paid $12.50 each for admission to the Star Plunge hot mineral pools (the only hot-spring-related activity there seemed to be to do there) where we enjoyed warm pools, a waterslide, a diving board (no actual diving allowed-jumping only), hot tubs, and a vapor cave!! The vapor cave was my favorite. Really made us sweat! One of the pools and one slide were closed but we had plenty of fun with everything else and at the end of it all they had showers that we used for a much needed wash!
Back at the car, it was time for me to open some birthday gifts! I opened one from Sean first. He'd gotten me a portable solar charger to use with my phone or whatever else!! We'd be able to do some longer trails without having too worry much about keeping a charge now! The gifts his mom had sent me were next. I opened a card she'd sent first. It was so funny and SO very me! Then I opened the package she'd sent me and found the most delicious UK snacks and various other perfect gifts including red and black bluetooth headphones I'd be able to use for running. She and Sean really know me SO well. I can't believe how they spoil me and how good they are at getting me the most perfect gifts despite me constantly telling them I don't want anything! God, they're really too sweet!!
After gift time, I decided it was time to start making our way back to an entrance to Yellowstone that'd actually be open. We headed towards the east entrance, passing a couple of small towns and munching UK snacks from Sean's mom on the way!
The biggest of the small towns we passed was called Cody. There were a good amount of chain stores and restaurants there and it was a kind of interesting little town but nothing in particular stood out to make us stop til we spotted a sign that said "Arcade" on the way out of town here:
Millstone Pizza Co. & Brewery
1057 Sheridan Ave
Cody, WY
Convinced that there was no way we'd find a dance game there, we passed by, not planning on stopping. A minute later though, we had a change of heart and decided we might as well be sure. We u-turned, I had Sean run in, and amazingly he found a DDR Extreme there! I parked and we went in to play a game together in their downstairs arcade! The pads were a 2/10 at best (we BARELY made it through 2.5 songs) and they didn't have any other music games there but it was only $0.50 for 3 songs and honestly we were just amazed and stoked that we'd managed to find a machine there and get Wyoming technically back on the map on ddrfreak.
Down the road a bit, we saw the Cody Stampede Park (where they host rodeos), the Shoshone River, Buffalo Bill Dam, and tons of other great views. It was incredible! We also saw tons of dead deer on the side of the road and live deer and other animals next to and crossing the road. We eventually passed a bison walking on the side of the road followed by a group of goats (or maybe baby bighorn sheep or something). Weird but awesome! A little later, we found a lone bighorn sheep munching grass on the side of and right next to the road!
Then we got to Yellowstone FINALLY! We got inside and were soon greeted by tons of intermittent snow, small waterfalls, frozen lakes (small ones and the big, breathtaking Yellowstone Lake), steam from geothermal features in the ground, tons of dead trees/forests.. We couldn't believe it! We even saw the mud volcano area, though it was too dark to get much by way of pictures and videos by then. Not wanting to miss the sites of the park, we called it a night when we got to the Canyon Village area. We turned off to Artist Point to park for the night. There was only one other car there then and it was practically pitch black outside. We enjoyed the impressive view of the stars and then sipped some wine and rum while watching more Ninja Turtles. Then sleep. :)
Day 4 - 5/9/16 (Yellowstone):
I was awake again at 7:20am. Once we were both awake enough and ready, we hopped on a nearby trail called South Rim trail and did some mini walk-jogging to some Lower Falls waterfall lookout points. Starting then, it hailed a lot off and on through the day.
Back at the car, we carried on driving through Yellowstone, mixing it up by stopping at the cool, car-accessinle sights and doing some shorter paths and trails to the pedestrian-accessible-only spots as well. We visited Norris Geyser Basin where we saw crazy, incredible sights like none we'd ever seen before. The most noteworthy of this was the Steamboat Geyser - the world's tallest active geyser. We stopped and saw the Fountain Paint Pots and other things.. We visited Midway Geyser Basin, which I think was the coolest looking spot we found in the park, and saw Grand Prismatic Spring - Yellowstone's Largest Hot Spring - and other things. We found more buffalo or bison or whatever they were lying around in Biscuit Basin. We saw TONS of geysers and other geothermal pools and features throughout the day but our grand finale was, appropriately, Old Faithful. Around it was the busiest, fanciest part of the park we'd seen with the largest lodge and gift shop and visitor we'd passed in the park. We stopped in the gift store first which, unfortunately, caused us to miss Old Faithful's eruption. After leaving the gift shop and walking over to Old Faithful, we were stuck waiting and watching in the cold for over 1.5 hours before it erupted again. Oh well. Worth it to say we'd seen it! Towards the end of the eruption, we got to see an even bigger (at least seemingly so) geyser erupt just to the left of Olf Faithful (viewing from the visitor's center side), also in Upper Geyser Basin with Old Faithful.
We headed out of the park via the West Entrance then, cutting through the corner of Montana (our first time there!) before heading down into Idaho and later Utah on the way back towards home.
Just outside the park, there was a little town. We stopped at a gas station there for drinks and wound up getting cheap alcohol on clearance, a hot tea for Sean, snacks, and water to make coffee & brush teeth.
Driving on, we made a couple more essential stops for drinks, gas, munchies.
We stopped at Fort Hall Casino when we reached and got some free drinks there for the second or third time ever.
At a McDonald's on the way, we stopped to use their WiFi for work and took advantage of a deal that had going for $1 frappuccinos and smoothies! Yum!
Then we drove to another Flying J to park, watch the second Ninja Turtles movie, and sleep.
Day 5 - 5/10/16 (Family):
We woke at 8:30am and spent the next several hours catching up on work, birthday messages, and more using the WiFi inside Flying J. Got a free drink refill (probably the 3rd this trip) too! (You get 5 free refills when you join their loyalty club.)
Then we continued south for more things on the way home, the first of which was:
Game Grid Arcade @ Valley Fair Mall
3601 Constitution Blvd c128
West Valley City, UT 84119
It was our first time visiting Game Grid. I think we'd found it through Groupon and may have heard of it through a friend as well. Awesome little mall arcade with old games, some somewhat newer but still likely second hand games, and even DDR Extreme (with a Max2 marquee) and ReRave Plus! DDR was out of order (disc had died) but they wanted help fixing it and we took contact info so maybe we could help them later! There was a credit in ReRave at the time so we shared that and then I watched Sean play some other random games.
We only had one more important stop to make before heading home then: visiting family in Sandy, UT. Aside from my cousin Serena who was originally from the area but currently living in Flagstaff, AZ, Sean had never met any of my family there. I hadn't seen any of them in years, aside from my aunt Julia who I'd visited once a few years back. Time to change that! I'd coordinated with my aunt to stop by her and my uncle Frank's house (same house they've lived in for about 40 years now!) so that we could catch up and they could meet Sean. When we arrived, the house was looking just as clean and pretty as ever. I couldn't believe it! My cousin Crystal was there with my aunt and uncle (her parents) waiting to greet us when we got there. They now had a little dog there to greet us too. :) My aunt was making DELICIOUS homemade pizza, she'd baked an absolutely incredible chocolate cake, we'd brought a couple of little snacks and festive beverages to share, my uncle provided additional festive and local beverages for us to try (actually courtesy of my cousin Lisa who's working at a brewery and brings the drinks home to them), and they stuffed us up with snacks and goodies all afternoon and evening! My cousin Melanie and her sons came by for a bit and my cousin Sonya stopped in briefly so we had a fairly full house there for awhile! We spent some good quality time catching up and bonding and had an awesome time doing it too. I got to show Sean a handful of old family photos hanging on the walls there and he and I both got to learn more about my family history. We had way too much fun getting better acquainted with my cousins as well. Biggest highlights, however, were definitely my aunt's cooking and having a couple beers with my uncle! Such a great time! They're so sweet and welcoming and accommodating. Hope we get to return the favor one of these days!
Anyway, after we left their place, we got gas and started straight back to Vegas. We only stopped a couple times for food, to switch drivers, for restroom breaks, and to get more gas but otherwise got back to Vegas as quickly as possible to catch up on things again so we could get back out on our next adventure!
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