Northern Lights

 It's always been a dream of mine to see the Northern Lights. I didn't think it would ever actually happen.  But on May 11th, we heard that they might be visible nearby.  We drove up to a hill overlooking Emmett and we waited.  At first, you couldn't see much.  But we kept waiting and the colors got brighter and brighter. The pictures make it look brighter than you could see with the naked eye, but when it was it's brightest, you could see the colors in real life. They were muted but it was amazing. Here are some pictures we got that night.

Look closely above for the Big Dipper

These tree pictures were taken when we stopped on a small side road on the way home because the lights were still out.

This one above you can see Squaw Butte, which is a favorite landmark of mine.

This was truly an unforgettable night.  Even though the colors are much lighter in person, it was still so cool to see the bands of light shimmer across the sky.  I'm so glad we took a chance and were able to see this.  Such a blessing.

Disney World Days 3 and 4

We started Day 3 at Animal Kingdom again. I really love it there. This beautiful faux tree is massive and the trunk is shows various carved animals.  So cool.

Then we had a behind-the scenes elephants tour. We got to see some of the males hanging out and sparring. 

These elephants put their trunks in each other's mouths. The caretaker said this was unusual and showed that there was a lot of trust between them.

We got to see sparring between the younger males. It was pretty aggressive for a few minutes.

It was great to see them up close!

Then we ran into Kevin, it was like he stepped right out of the movie "Up".  So fun!

Then we went back to the hotel to rest and have a snack.  They have such yummy, fancy food there!

That night we did the after-hours party at Epcot. I liked the frozen ride and Mark loved the Cosmic Rewind Ride. 

The next day we went back for another elephant tour (they're my favorite). We got to see the Mom and baby up close for just a minute and it was so fun.  Right before the tour ended they trotted past, such a blessing.

Then we went on the safari ride and saw the mom and baby elephant again and some other animals.

After the safari ride, we made a last minute decision to go to Tusker House for dinner.  The food was amazing and it was surprisingly fun to have the characters come visit us.

We ended our trip with a visit to Hollywood Studios at Sunset.  We did our favorite ride- Rise of the Resistance and we watched Fantasmic.

Overall the trip was wonderful. I hope we can go again someday!

Disney World Day 2

On our 2nd day we took the Skyliner from the station near Hollywood Studios to Epcot.

It was kind of hot, but we got to go see the different countries and some more topiaries.

Then we went back to the hotel and rested a bit before we went to Magic Kingdom. I was having an issue with my shoulder, it was pretty painful (possibly from the bumpy safari the day before). But we took it easy and Mark wheeled me around in a wheelchair.

That night was another highlight of our trip. We got to go to a fireworks dessert party and we were able to sit up front. The food was great and the view of the fireworks was perfect.

You can kind of see Tinkerbell flying overhead in this picture, she went nearly directly over us.

It was a great show!

 

Disney World Getaway

Mark and I went to Disney World in April to see the baby elephant that was born there in December.  We stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge and it was amazing.  Most of the windows looked out onto Savanna where there were all sorts of animals.  

This is a huge window in the lobby, so cool.

This was the view from our room.  We saw lots of giraffes, Watusi cattle, zebras, ostrich and other animals.

On our first day, we started at Animal Kingdom. I love the entrance sign.

I'm not a big fan of the Avatar movies, but the Avatar world is very cool.

Then one of the highlights of our trip came on this first day. We did a special safari that included a lunch in an area overlooking some of Animal Kingdom park.

I didn't expect to see the elephants that first day, but they just wandered out while we were eating lunch. The baby was born a bit smaller than usual, so she's still quite small and so adorable.

So cute!

On our safari we got a great view of some of the other animals too.

There were some rhinos right by and even in the road for awhile, so we got to stop and watch them. So close you could almost touch them.

This tree is a centerpiece of Animal Kingdom Park. It's hard to tell, but it's covered in carvings of various animals. So cool.

The plants there were amazing. These flowers on a tree were some of my favorites.

Later that day we went to Epcot. The flower festival was going on and there were beautiful/fun topiaries everywhere.

It was a beautiful day and we went right before sunset, so the lighting was gorgeous when we got there.

Love this topiary near the France area.

Then we saw some fireworks at Epcot and headed back to the hotel

This sweet towel arrangement was waiting for us.  And yes, I usually travel with at least 4 of my own pillows 😆.  It was a truly magical day.