Western Vacation

A photo posted by @rggates on Jun 25, 2016 at 6:33am PDT

Our western vacation has concluded, and it was a fun whirlwind of activity.

A photo posted by @rggates on Jun 28, 2016 at 4:57pm PDT

A photo posted by @rggates on Jul 4, 2016 at 11:37am PDT

Jenn and the kids started their adventure before I did, flying out to Jackson and experiencing southeastern Idaho for a time. My adventure started in the most frustrating of ways, spending nearly 24 hours of delayed travel, mostly in O’Hare airport. Weather in Chicago delayed my leaving Cleveland, and by the time I arrived, I’d missed my ~9:30am flight to Jackson. Then it was mechanical trouble and more weather that kept me in Chicago. Finally, just before midnight I was able to catch a flight to Denver and then rent a car to Jackson Hole. This completed 28 hours of travel on 0 hours of sleep. While the circumstances weren't my ideal, driving through southwest Wyoming at the crack of dawn with no other traffic on the road was definitely a neat thing.
How cool was it to have dinner in front of the Tetons, lunch next to an erupting Old Faithful, and lunch on the Going To The Sun Road?!!
We enjoyed wonderful accommodations on the footsteps of the Grand Tetons, not the most spectacular accommodations in Yellowstone but great observation of wildlife, long drives through big states, a beautiful stay on the east and west sides of Glacier National Park, and a place that exceeded our expectations in Kamiah, Idaho.

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A photo posted by @rggates on Jul 2, 2016 at 8:21pm PDT

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A photo posted by @rggates on Jul 2, 2016 at 8:42pm PDT

The much-anticipated launch of our travel blog, Gates50States, is just around the corner. I'm most excited about this because Jenn will be more involved with it, as she'll write most of the content. This blog will still fuction as the family milestone marker, but most of the travel details will be over there. Stay tuned!