We drive 12 hours across land that’s flat and beige as far as the eye can see. Antelope graze on sage behind miles of listing wooden fence. The wild west’s Great Wall unfurls under low-hanging clouds. Heat bounces off scorching asphalt as I roll the big blue suitcase across the motel parking lot. Hand across my brow, I squint at shimmering foothills in the distance.
The next morning the minivan climbs, chugging between cliffs that loom like rugged skyscrapers, plunging into lush valleys, trees just now budding, grass the fresh green of early spring. I lean my forehead against the cool window, dizzy and breathless but unable to stop looking at the glittering stream that wends through emerald far below.
The first couple of days in the Grand Tetons are a whirlwind as we clamber over glacial boulders and crumbling scree, frigid mist from roaring falls settling like a web on our hair. We pose and snap and scramble through charred aspen and pine. Young fir, needles soft, push through decaying wood.
It’s easy to make that mistake on vacation, isn’t it? You want to see it all, squeeze in every possible activity, hike every trail, admire every vista. And you end up exhausted, frazzled, the scenery and memories a blur, smudged in racing from place to place.
We spend the next afternoon perched on the shore of Jackson Lake. Rowan fashions a driftwood boat, complete with twig-and-leaf sail (we marvel when we find it the next day on the far side of the harbor, still intact).
Noah methodically hauls stone after stone to create what he calls Splash Rock Island three feet from the beach. I kick off my sandals, turn my face toward the sun and read Henri Nouwen while Brad excavates an old coin from the dirt.
One evening during a power outage (we had three during our stay in the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone!), Brad and I sip merlot and snack on crackers and hummus outside our cabin while Noah and Rowan construct a hotel for carpenter ants out of pine needles, stones and sticks.
So tell me…what’s your favorite do-nothing vacation “activity?”
** And might I invite you to come back Friday for a new special summer link-up here? You might have noticed my “Graceful Summer” series that I started two weeks ago… Well my friend Diana suggested it might make a fun community link-up, and I agree. Each week we’ll share how we are enjoying the slower, quieter moments of summer. See you there?
And Emily…
Click here to get Graceful in your email in-box. Click here to “like” my Facebook Writer page. Thank you!
The Grand Tetons is on my “someday” vacation spots. You've made me long for that day with these wonderful photographs. It's so beautiful. (Love that photo of you and the boys!)
My favorite do nothing vacation activity involves sitting on the seashore with buckets with any littles around and building sandcastles. Relaxing.
Wonderful post, Michelle…and those photos are awesome!
My favorite do-nothing vacation? A cottage on the gulf beach in the fall with nothing to do but read, listen to the waves and shore birds, and wiggle my toes in wet sand while watching the sunset on the beach.
Gorgeous photos! We were in the Grand Tetons last year when Randy decided he didn't want to watch our crops burn up any longer during the drought. So we left. We have a tendency to be those vacation people who try to pack more and more into each day. There are two ways to look at it, I suppose, but it sure looks like you chose the right thing for your family. Hope you returned refreshed!
Michelle, what beauty–both in the images and in the words. Being is becoming a rare skill.
I'm determined to cultivate it, though.
Oh, the landscape, Michelle, looks unreal! What beauty! And the activities sooth my soul just reading. I'm having a mini stay-cation here with the kids. My favorite activity: to finally read my book while they are resting. No laundry, no cleaning, just reading with my feet kicked up.
STUNNING photos. 🙂
Love this!
Oh how I love those mountains! Your pictures took me back. Sounds absolutely lovely. And your boys seem to be the perfect age for this kind of vacation–not so young that they get overtired and whiney while experiencing the parks, not so old that they've become too cool to appreciate the wonder. I think you'll treasure memories of this trip for years to come.
But did you see any grizzly bears?
Beautiful, Michelle! Beautiful photos, beautiful kids, beautiful vacation 🙂 Y'know, we all want to RELAX, UNWIND on vacation. That inner coil must relax. Then we cram 3x as much doings into the vacation as anyone could possibly accomplish with pleasure! I find myself mentally relaxing when I focus on a small, specific task or object that isn't too challenging. Doodling. Jigsaw puzzle. Or doing the things your boys are doing in these photos – examining little things in nature, laying them out and organizing them. It calms the brain. I hope you all found real peace on your trip!
Great photos. Did you know i lived in Jackson Hole for ten years, working as a Postmaster there? It was like living on vacation full time. Looks like a wonderful visit
Oh wow, how could you ever leave Jackson Hole?! We ate lunch at a super cute little restaurant there…I had the best grilled cheese EVER.
Once I realized that we needed to widen the margins and work in some down time, I found MUCH peace and relaxation. It really was a beautiful trip.
Grizzly bears (mama and cubs), wolf, bald eagle, moose, buffalo — what didn't we see?! Seriously, it was a great time to visit — lots of wildlife…and young.
Thanks, Duane – glad to see you here. {and I see you turned the comments back on at your place!}
I am a homebody by nature, so a staycation sounds perfect to me. Reading would be at the top of my list!
I'm not naturally good at “being” — but my kids teach me well!
I wouldn't say I exactly returned refreshed – the two days of driving to get home again kind of did me in (I am not a great road trip traveler!). But there were so many great moments on the trip – both busy ones and do-nothing ones. I especially loved the Grand Tetons portion of the trip — it got much more hectic when we got to Yellowstone because there was so much ground to cover.
Can I come? I promise I'll be real quiet!
There is absolutely nothing better than an ocean vacation if you ask me. Living in Nebraska, I pine for those waves and salty air.
Me either, Michelle. Me either.
Ya… 🙂 I'm here every. single. day you post. I just don't always comment. 🙂 But these photos. Can I borrow the fishing pole one and the canoe one? I have a post coming up that needs them! 🙂
I've never done nothing on vacation. (sigh)
Such an incredibly beautiful part of the world I haven't seen yet. Your photos are stunning. And your vacation sounds very similar to ours in Canada on the lake at our cottage. The kids spend days discovering the wonders of nature, immersed in the quiet forgotten. We do a lot of nothing too. It's the only way we do vacation actually. Counting the days until we leave! This post made me anxious to get there.
Our trip to Yellowstone & Grand Tetons ranks as one of my favorites. It is a beautiful part of God's creation, isn't it?
Every year in July, we vacation with extended family at the southern outer banks of North Carolina and all I do is exercise, sit on the beach, read a book, visit with family, marvel at how fast times flies and how fast the nieces and nephews are growing up, have a drink (or two), have dinner, go to sleep and do it again the next day. It is one of my favorite times of year.
I remember when you told me this was your vacation this year…I am thrilled that you got to experience this with your boys and do nothing. It is a worthwhile activity, no?
Hugs~
Mary
This is stunning – every single bit of it. The photos are gasp-worthy, the words are so true – the spirit of it is life-giving. AND I LOVE YOUR HAIRCUT. What else can a reader ask for? Thanks so much, friend, for a great start to this Wednesday.
You can use those pictures, no problem!
Wow. I want to go on a vacation out West. Your photos are incredible. So is your message.
Ahh…doing nothing on vacation is absolutely the BEST! My favorite activity includes a hammock and a book.
What beautiful pictures, Michelle! And what wonderful memories for you and your family. My recent trip to Scotland was lots of soaking time – it was soul-refreshing!
I saw some of your tweets/facebook notes about Scotland – was kinda jealous! 😉
I've got a hammock in my own backyard that I never use – shame on me!
Thanks, Courtney. It was a pretty cool trip.
You made me smile with the haircut comment {and that was roll-out-of-bed unwashed! – not bad!}. I tend to chop my hair when I go through a big transition- so the hair went along with the job!
Your North Carolina trip sounds like BLISS to me, Mary! [and thanks for sending me your Grand Tetons picture!]
You had me at lake and cottage, Shelly!
Well me neither, Megan – my kids kind of forced us in that direction with their constant whining about wanting to throw rocks into the lake and make castles. We simply gave in…and we were glad.
LoveLoveLove the Tetons — the antlers arch, the old time photos, the cold cold cold lake water, the hikes, and the best campsite ever. Do-nothing activities included reading and playing cards by the campfire and then in the tent while it rained. We were there twice in the past 12 or 13 years of family vacations. Best memory of our vacations, pre-electronics: jamming out to a “new” CD while we drove cross-country. Our kids knew the Beatles, the Beach Boys, the Jackson 5 and the Stevie Miller Band before they were 10 years old 🙂
Those pictures?
I'm like stunned they are so gorgeous. What a treasure — what a blessing — and you shared…
When I saw the Grand Tetons for the first time, I made this off hand comment: “They are so perfect; they look like they were created by Disney.”
but they are so perfect, we know who created them, don't we?
I'm showing my man these photos [he never reads any blogs or cares to read any blog] — he loves Jackson Hole.
We've been twice; he threatens to go again.
🙂
Hope your vacation was fun — but I know how they are — fun, but not restful. At all. And you know what gets tired — “the eyes” from of that gawking…
Hubby and I were there in June — and it snowed every day.
I said, “We're on vacation? In snow?”
*shakes head*
Hubby laughed and ate another rattlesnake burger.
*shrugs*
I love these. I do.
Breathtaking pics! I like drawing and singing on lazy daisy days! 🙂
I love the picture of you drawing and singing – that makes me happy!
It snowed while we were there, too – one day we wore our winter jackets, hats and gloves…and we were STILL cold! But we still had fun. Saw a giant snake, too — not a rattler. We were picnicking in Yellowstone…Noah said casually, “Hey, a snack.” And I leapt onto the top of the picnic table in a flash. Me and snakes do NOT do well.
We listened to “Gregor the Overlander” a book on CD all the way across the country – all 4 of us were completely hooked! Rocked out to a few CDS, too. We had the portable DVD player for movies in the car …but we didn't let the kids bring their Nintendo DS – we drew the line at video games!
stunning photos, wonderful clarity.
It's great to be led by my boys when we're on holiday, and usually that's just walking along the coast, skimming stones, building a big sandcastle and watching it get swept away by the tide coming in, eating ice cream….. Though my 14-year old gets withdrawal symptoms if he's away from a wi-fi connection for too long *sigh*
i'm coming too. 🙂
GORGEOUS photos. and yes. i'm craving quiet too. i found it here, tonight, in your words, in your photos, and that picture of you and your boys? stunning.
Absolutely! =)
Yeah!!!!! And then it would be absolutely perfect!
Did this last summer – what a great journey.
Did I not comment on this one? Sheesh. I'm losing it. … Anyway, typical Michelle DeRusha here. You rock. (I never miss a Michelle post, by the way.)