We had SNOW much fun in Yellowstone! ...Day 3 of our "Grand" holiday!

Our 13 hour Yellowstone National Park adventure was one for the Rahn memory books! Definitely a day full of fun and LOTS of snow!!

We awoke to a winter storm warning for Yellowstone and Teton National Parks and reassurance that excursions don't cancel unless there is a "crazy" amount of snow...so we were on!

6:00 a.m. and we were in the lobby of our  hotel waiting to be picked up by Scenic Safaris for our 12 hour Snowcoach tour into Yellowstone to see Old Faithful and other stops along the way.

We were picked up and driven in a regular bus/van type of vehicle to the boundary of Yellowstone. It was about 1 1/2 hour drive in pouring, blowing snow and dark...luckily Cooper, our guide for the day was ready to go and not worried at all.

We arrived at Flagg Ranch, 2 miles outside of Yellowstone to transfer to our snowcoach. First we had a delicious hot breakfast buffet that was included in our package. The ranch was the home base for Scenic Safaris and there was a row of vehicles ready for the many tours that were scheduled for today.

eyes closed, but great breakfast!

We boarded our vehicle for the rest of the day! It was an oversnow vehicle because Yellowstone is closed to car traffic from Dec. 15 to March from the south entrance. The only way to get into Yellowstone from the Tetons in the winter is with a tour like this one or a snowmobile tour.

Our first stop at a valley as the sun was trying to pop out as it continued to pour snow!

Cooper our tour guide, checking out where the cliff started in the deep snow...so that we wouldn't get too close to the edge. He works winters doing these tours and summers at Signal Mountain Lodge.

The beginning of our winter wonderland adventure! SOOO much snow!

We made it to some of the geothermal sources in the park that are visible in the winter. Pretty amazing how the hot water/ground surface just keeps bubbling with all of the snow around it!

This tree below is covered with the frozen water from the little geysers that constantly erupts and sends hot steam into the air. It was so pretty!

It was pouring snow and blowing it sideways as we posed in front of a geyser that was erupting while we were there. If you squint you can see the steam in the background from the geyser erupting.

We then headed to Old Faithful and tried to catch it's eruption. The times are publicized and are within a + or - 15 minute window. We arrived at the beginning of the window and it was going off. We didn't really see it, except for the end....below is Carleigh walking up to the spot and Old Faithful is finishing in the background.

After Old Faithful, we had lunch that was included in our tour and then began the LONG journey back! Being on the snowcoach with the track tires was very beneficial for the snow we had today and for traveling over the snow that hasn't been touched in Yellowstone AND it is one of the slowest moving vehicles I have ever been on. They can go up to 25 mph and due to all of the soft snow it was fighting against, we were nowhere near that for the entire trip.

On our way out we stopped to watch the lonely bison in the distance. He was beautiful and probably very cold.

that was about how far we were from him. We were up on a bridge.

 Our next stop was at a waterfall. It was so pretty, looked like a postcard.

the winter scenery is so beautiful

We then found Lewis Lake and Lewis falls. More great photo ops and the scenery looks fake - like we are standing in front of a fake background. It was truly magical with the snow pouring down on top of us.

I think this pic in particular looks fake!

 As we were finally exiting the park at 5:00 p.m. we stopped for the obligatory picture at the park entrance.

We drove the additional two miles to the Flagg Ranch and were never so happy to see this little guy!

While we waited for Cooper to clean off our snowcoach, we hung out inside. He finished his "chores" and then we transferred back to the bus to shuttle back to our hotel. We forgot that it was ANOTHER 1 1/2 hours through the Tetons to get to our hotel.

We finally arrived back at Teton Mountain Lodge at about 7:45 p.m. and ordered carry out dinner from another restaurant across the way for dinner and relaxed.

It was a beautiful and LONG day!! Tomorrow is a relaxing day and the last day of 2018.

Stay Tuned as we hang out in Teton Village all day with many New Year's Eve activities including:

• riding the Tram to the Top of the World

• riding the Bridger Gondola to mid-mountain for lunch

• watching the Torchlight parade down the mountain after dark

• watching the New Year's Eve

• Watching New Year's Eve fireworks over the mountain 

It's always Seldom A Dull Moment with the Rahns as we welcome 2019!!

It's Lovely Weather for a Sleigh Ride...and walking in a Winter Wonderland! - Day 2 of our Grand Holiday!

Day 2 was packed with more adventure and very little rest! We woke on east coast time at about 5:00 a.m. and were ready to go by 7:30 for breakfast.

Day 2 ready to go!

 We drove the 20ish minute drive into the town of Jackson for breakfast and shopping before our sleigh ride. Our hotel is in Teton Village, the mountain resort about 20 minutes outside of Jackson and close to Grand Teton National Park

Downtown Jackson has a town square that has genuine antler arches on each corner of the town square and is surrounded by so many fun, quaint shops and restaurants.

We chose to eat breakfast at The Bunnery, a favorite of ours. It is delicious and so much fun!!

Salmon Eggs Benedict for Don

 After breakfast we bought tickets and checked in for our sleigh ride and found out that we were going to be on Sleigh #1! That's huge for a holiday week and that we didn't have reservations.
Don and I did this sleigh ride when we visited for MLK weekend 9 years ago and loved it. We couldn't wait to share it with the girls. You spend an hour on a horse drawn sleigh going through the National Elk Refuge with a guide who shares all of the local history and stories about the elk with you. You also get up close and personal with all of the wild elk that have migrated into the valley for the winter. By February last year there were over 10,000 wild elk that had migrated into this area. They are just starting to come down from the mountains right now, so not quite that many...yet. :)

It was a cloudy day and basically snowing the whole time, a very light "fairy dust" type of snow for most of the day.

Truly a winter wonderland...

Our guide Michael - his family runs the sleigh ride tours and he was amazing!

Not ours, but a good visual of what we were on.

After the sleigh ride, we headed back to Teton Village and wandered for a bit. We didn't come to ski, but quite a few other people did!

After wandering, we found lunch and then headed back to do some more animal searching! A favorite pastime of ours when we visit here. We love to wander the parks and look for bison, moose, elk, bears and anything else that we can find. We headed back to the National Elk Refuge and entered on the back side...we were successful!

We found a large group of wild mountain sheep! They were fun to watch for a while.

We then went into Teton National Park and wandered for a bit. Success again, from a distance.
We found two moose - looked like a mother and child in the snowy distance.

 We then headed back into town to do some more shopping and of course, we had to get the traditional Antler Arch picture.

It was so pretty after dark with all the lights, so another arch picture at dusk!

As I said, Jackson truly is a winter wonderland! I highly recommend visitng in the winter...even if you don't come to ski!

We then ate dinner at a restaurant in town and headed back to the Teton Mountain Lodge - our home away from home!

Right out the back door of our hotel on the village commons was the small, yet so adorable ice skating rink! Carleigh convinced Katie and I to put on skates and get on the ice! It was so much fun and I was so proud that I've still got it. :) I used to LOVE skating!!

Don enjoyed the fire-pit and took pictures

As we closed out the evening, the snow was coming down at a good clip and the forecast is for 3-5 inches through the day tomorrow. I can't wait!!

Day 2 is officially wrapped up and we are looking ahead to day 3!

Stay tuned for our 12 hour adventure into Yellowstone National Park on a snowcoach tour. We've got a 6:00 a.m. pickup in the hotel lobby and will return at 6:00 p.m.

Yellowstone in the snow with a lunch stop at Old Faithful Lodge and watching Old Faithful erupt - truly Seldom a Dull Moment with the Rahns!