...day THREE...

This morning brought more happiness upon our rising, everyone got a bit more sleep last night except for Grandma who said it was 500 degrees where she was sleeping. Lol Have I mentioned that she gets the GRANDMA OF THE YEAR AWARD for sleeping in the bottom bunk of a motor home! She rocks and is the most agile 74 year old I know! Did I mention she's 74 years old???

And why we are on the subject of grandma, I almost forgot to mention that we put together a little welcome basket to help her cope and make it through this "adventure!" It included some unmentionables, lots of chocolate, lots of dollar store reading glasses ("where are my glasses?" {said in persnickety old lady voice}), smelly soaps and lotions, a reading light, a flashlight, several pain/headache relievers (not that the noise level in this tin can might ever get on someone's nerves! Lol) and some fancy ear buds.

The Mr hooked us up to water so we could take showers (at least the adult women)! We got some breakfast in everyone and LOOKED for the coffee grinder! Hmmm..... coffee beans - CHECK, French press - CHECK, half n half - CHECK, grinder.... NEGATIVE! So onto priority #1, remember what that is?  Lol Starbucks! 

But before taking off we all went for a little jaunt around the beautiful campground and river. 

The campground property was a bit in clean-up mode after just opening from the winter the middle of April but we came upon this cute little playground that the boys were sure to make good use of! 😄 

And my snugly sweet daughter rode along next to mama so my hands could be free to keep her brother OUT of the river! 

Some fun photo ops before departing the campground heading into Jackson Hole for priority number #1! {just pretend you haven't seen those above pics before... remember I'm new to this blogging thing}

With the help of our handy dandy phones we determined that the ONLY Starbucks in Jackson Hole, Wyoming was an Albertsons Starbucks. I really couldn't believe this but Kevin reminded me how some small towns are anti-big-corporation, so maybe that was the reason there was not a normal corporate store Starbucks. Whatever the case was we went around a few extra blocks than necessary, no sharp turns in this puppy, to finally get to Priority #1. We had a few groceries to get anyway so an Albertsons Starbucks wasn't the end of the world.

It.was.the.nicest.Albertsons.I.have.ever.seen. exclamation point.

Now I have to admit... I did think, oh okay, well maybe the Starbucks is above par for a grocery store Starbucks as well. So we went up to order our drinks and strike no. 1 occurred... they do not accept the Starbucks app for payment. Okay, well I happen to have the original Starbucks card still in my wallet, so that sufficed. As I was ordering my drink, the first lady went off to make it and a guy came up to ring us in. She repeated my drink to him and he didn't understand it.... UH OH! She explained it again and then he seemed to get it. But not a big deal, right, he's not the one making it, she is. So we go to the other end of the counter to await our long-awaited priority #1. I decide I will be a loving wife and take my husband's out to him in our tin can before we do our bit of grocery shopping. As I am exiting the store, I, of course, begin to indulge on my drink.... and I realize.... it's WRONG!!!! Please enthuse me for just a moment...

CORRECT DRINK... grande decaf americano with steamed breve and foam + 4 raw sugars (don't judge)

WRONG DRINK... grande decaf breve latte + 4 raw sugars

 = BIG DIFFERENCE (at least to me!)

All of the Starbucks in Bend, Oregon can seem to get this right but NOT this grocery store Starbucks in Jackson Hole, Wyoming! And let me just tell you that when this is priority #1, it's VERY important to get it right! Come on, remember, I'm traveling with 6 other people (2 still in diapers!) in a tin can for 17 days going through 7 states... need I repeat that.

So upon my severe disappointment I re-enter said enemy store and purchase said necessary grocery items. I asked the (NOT) nice check out lady if there were any other Starbucks in town and she said... "Oh yes!" (Cue the hallelujah chorus please!) She explained where they were and I picked up my step on the way out the door and so sweetly asked my husband if we could just make a little jaunt (in our traveling tug boat on wheels) to the REAL Starbucks, but really only to see if they had a city/state mug, of course!

We arrived at the REAL Starbucks, and it was the most delightful experience EVER. Not only because the kind, knowledgeable and gracious crew member GAVE me my CORRECT coffee order but also the oh so chatty and nice local resident (you could totally tell) who told me all about the sinking hole in Jackson Hole (no pun intended!) that we never actually saw but apparently drove right past, why the first REAL Starbucks went out of business a few years ago and why she despises (that's putting it nicely) the lady at the Albertsons Starbucks who first attempted my drink and I'm sure numerous other things which I have forgotten by now. I said thank you and almost did cartwheels out the door with my new CORRECT drink but no Starbucks mug.

OPERATION WYOMING OR JACKSON HOLE MUG.... fail! :( 

Sorry a bit of a soap box and over use of caps up there.... please forgive me.

There was this cute little town square/block in the middle of downtown Jackson Hole that Grant and I went by on our way into the REAL Starbucks. It had these antler entrances on all four corners of the park, so it was obviously a perfect photo op! :)

Okay, now we may continue. :)

As the day ticks on, we are feeling the push of the driver to "get on the road!" As usual, we have some driving ahead and it's really our goal to be "in for the night" wherever that is, before dark. Did I say "GOAL?" lol That means it doesn't always happen! But now that I had my nice perfect coffee in hand, I could go with the flow! But to my sheer surprise, as we are driving through Grand Teton National Park (on the highway), Mr Chauffeur decides that since we are right here we better at least pull off for some pics by the sign.

We certainly are blessed to live in a beautiful place ourselves but driving by these mountains just made me want to shout PRAISE THE LORD! They were so magnificent and glorious! And I don't usually take pictures of scenery without people, but these were a masterpiece in and of themselves! :D

And on we traveled down the highway, which actually goes right through the Grand Teton National Park. It was gorgeous! But we had a destination to move towards so there would be no gallivanting around! Until the Mr surprised us yet again and said we were right there, we might as well go into the visitors center and get our national park passport book stamped! Yaaaa! We were all so excited! :) So we followed the signs and drove in...

Grandma decided to use her 10 minute break and stay in the motor home while we took the rest of the gaggle into the visitors center. We had fun in there looking around, buying souvenirs and getting our passport book stamped. :)

You'd think this kid had never seen snow before! He was like a magnet to it! Lol And not just playing in it, he ALWAYS wants to eat it! 

Stamping our National Park Passport Book! :)

After our nice little break we took off again towards destination Casper, WY! 

It was all good until we had to pull over to the side to start the generator (normally to heat up a babies food in the microwave). The Mr got out of his permanent seat and came around to the side door to help us get it started and when he left to go back to his drivers seat he slammed the door shut but unbeknownst to him, his oldest son's hand was in the door! And the door latched closed on them! OOOOOOOUCH! 

INJURY #1... 2 of Grant's fingers smashed in the door!

Poor guy! He had two pretty badly dented-in fingers! This picture was after the fact when he was trying to recover. Oh goodness - it makes me cringe just writing about it! We were just thankful there were no broken fingers! Phew.... thank you Lord!

The rest of the day consisted of recovery for the injured, lunch on the road (well most everything is 'on the road,' except for Starbucks, of course!) and some brotherly sister love after nap time! We all covet those times when one of the babies will snuggle! ❤️

And lastly, the last leg of our trip into Casper, WY included some pretty hairy weather going around the Rocky Mtns! But thankfully our chauffeur and Lord kept us safely on the road and arriving at our destination! 

Oh but wait, before we actually made it to our campsite....

- grandma wanted sheets for her bunk instead of her sleeping bags b/c she claims the heating vent blows right at her and it's like 500 degrees at night! Lol Okay, grandma whatever you wish = stop at Walmart = happy grandma!

- coffee grinder NOT on board rolling tin can = stop at Starbucks for grinding please = try new Oprah's chai = sure! Why not! ;)

- grandma's dinner restaurant choice = Perkins (basically Shari's)

- And lastly (have I said that already?), need to find propane! And not nearly as common to find as it is in our neck of the woods! Finally found a place to do it... except EVERYONE out of the motor home for "safety precautions!" That's just great - I'd LOVE to unbuckle the babies at 9:30pm and go hang out in a truck stop! Oh ya - with 50 mph winds going to and from motor home to truck stop! Finally inside... walking around... oops lose a big... bad what-ifs going through my mind... rushing around... FIND HIM!!! Phew! "Well you weren't there so I went to look for you!" (lost child) So we have the "stay where you are" talk for the millionth time in the middle of the truck stop store! Lol Propane finished filling... load up the tin can again!

- drive 20 min away to campsite with wind about blowing tin can over

- arrive in RV spot!

- GO TO BED!!!

...the end!