into the wyoming wilderness

josh and i have been itching for a weekend in the mountains all summer long. we talked to a few friends of ours (kellan and shelly) who have family living in star valley, wy. they have access to horses, know some great camping spots, and star valley is just a short drive from jackson. so, friday after work, we packed our bags and headed to star valley where we met up with kellan and shelly, and mike and ashley (more friends of ours from my program at school). kellan told us about a great camping spot called cottonwood lake so we headed up there. on our drive up the dirt road through the small canyon, all of the sudden josh and i heard a huge thud that scared the crap out of us. we hadn't seen any large rocks in the road that would cause such a large bang but we didn't know what else the noise could be. we continued driving for about a half hour (it was starting to get dark at this point) and finally found a camp sight. the guys put up the tents and started the fire while us girls watched the fire and kept warm. oh, and we prepared the dinner of hot dogs and smores, too. once at the camp sight, josh and i decided to take a look at our car to see if it had any noticeable damage. well, what we noticed was that my muffler was non-existent and my bumper was super loose on that side as well. we figured that a rock or something must have hit the muffler, it detached, hit the ground, but not without boucing back and hitting the bumper. hence, the loud noise.
anyway, we spent the rest of the night eating, talking, and laughing. kellan, mike, and i have been good friends for the last few years because we've been in the same study group since we met the beginning of our junior year. we called ourselves the "a" team because we were bound and determined to get a's in all our classes. our group expanded a bit throughout the year and lauren and kelsey joined us. we were basically an unstoppable group and rocked all of our classes our junior and senior years. we became great friends through studying and it's fun to be able to hang out outside of the classroom, too.
mike, ashley, shelly, and kellan
josh and i realized that we have never really been camping together. we've traveled all over the world and have been friends for years and the only time we've really attempted camping was right after high school... it was that trip that i remember telling stacy i wanted nothing to do with josh because he was too weird for me... too confusing... and i couldn't handle being his friend anymore. little did i know 4 years later we would be married. life sure does throw curve balls at you. anyway, this is me and josh sharing our first tent together. precious. i was freezing and throughout the night i tried to cuddle up next to him. all he could do was push me away. he's a true sweetheart.
the next morning, we got up early, made bagel, cheese, and bacon sandwiches (we forgot the pan to cook the eggs) but they turned out delicious. we packed up camp in record speed and were heading out before our neighbor campers had even stepped foot out of their camper. the drive down the canyon, i kept my eye out for our muffler and it was quite easy to spot once we came upon it. we were just going to leave it off the side of the road and continue onward, but josh had a guilty moment and decided he didn't want to litter. that's a first. so, we threw it in the back of the car and went on our way.
so, josh has never been horseback riding (or at least not any times that he can remember) so that was another reason we headed up to star valley. kellan's brother owns a ton of horses and said we could ride them. all we had to do was "run" them in from the field. being a city girl, i didn't quite know what that meant but i stood with camera in hand waiting for the horses to come. as the boys were getting on their motorbikes and 4 wheelers and heading out to the field, i played on the tractor by the horse corrals.

please don't notice my terrible fashion disaster of an outfit. i know that no one really looks good when they go camping, but i was at an all-time low. not only was i wearing green, brown, cream, and grey all together, but i topped it off with socks and chacos. i know someone out there is envious of my great fashion sense.
soon enough, i saw the horses running towards us...
i wasn't too nervous until this point... they seemed as if they were going to trample right over us. about 30 unfamiliar horses running at you makes your heart jump a wee little bit.
lucky for us, the horses were quite smart (and liked to play follow the leader) and headed straight into the corral.

i immediately started picking out which ones were my favorites and which one i wanted to ride.
while the boys saddled all the horeses up, i got the job of brushing them. i felt so important.
once everyone was on their horses, we headed up the mountain where we got a great view of star valley. i was at the back of the line so i kept taking pictures of the group ahead of me. i especially kept taking pictures of josh because i felt like i was documenting a monumental event in his life! it actually made me feel like a mom who keeps making their kids look at the camera and i think josh was getting annoyed.


what a view

my horse was named bob. he's not the type that likes to be at the back of the line so he kept trying to pass everyone. that made for an interesting ride for me. he kept holding back and then trying to run to catch up. i was bouncing all over the place.
this was some animal (cow, horse, deer, who knows) who bit the dust and all that remains was his skeleton. there were a few of these that we passed and i couldn't resist taking a picture.

josh was such a happy boy. he smiled from ear to ear the entire ride. it was cute.
this is josh's horse, ranger. if you look closely, you'll see he has a beard. this was definitely the right horse for josh.

after horseback riding, we changed, packed into the cars, and headed toward jackson. we made a pit stop at the red baron for some yummy burgers, fries, and shakes, and then headed to meet mike's cousin lj who is a river rafting guide on the snake river. we had a great time going down the river! we had a great group and lj was able to lead us into every rapid perfectly!! after going through the big kahuna, we pulled off to the side and a few of the boys had some tubes that they wanted to ride through the big rapids. us girls just watched. i get nervous on some of the rapids on the bear river... not a chance on earth i'd risk my life on the big kahuna! :) the ride down the river was great and was something i've missed doing the past few summers.

after river rafting, we headed back to star valley where we were staying at kellan's sister's house for the night. not long after we got there, we realized that smokey, the family's dog, had gotten himself into some trouble. he must have come across a porcupine, got curious, bit it, and paid the price.
poor smokey had about 100 quills stuck in his nose, surrounding his mouth, and about 20 were inside his mouth. kellan tried to pull them out himself, but the dog was freaking out and biting and kellan was worried he'd lose his fingers. so, the vet was called. he came over late sat night, tried a mild tranquilizer to mellow smokey out, but it didn't work. so, he said he'd come over the next morning with a drug that would actually paralyze the dog just long enough to get the quills out. it was quite the process and my heart went out to poor smokey! it reminded me of disney's homeward bound where chance comes across a porcupine and the same thing happens!
this was sun morning after the vet had left. smokey was just coming out of the drugs and was still in pain, but the other dogs kept pestering him. especially the little puppy, miley. they are cute dogs though and it made me want a puppy even more than i already did.
we had a great weekend overall despite all the minor setbacks! it's sad to see the summer come to an end, especially since this is one of the best summers i've had in a while. i loved living in alaska, but i was so happy to finally do all the things that bring back many of my childhood memories with josh! we were able to do almost everything on our list of summer activities so i am quite happy about that. we have one more week of fun, laziness, and warmth before school starts up again. it'll be weird being a student again (especially since that will be my title for the next 4 years) but i know it will all pay off in the end, even though we'll be poor college students once again. i hope everyone else has had a fabulous summer as well!