- May 27, 2026
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Winter Garden’s Joyce and Randy Rouse are accustomed to the bumper-to-bumper traffic jams of Orlando.
The hustle and bustle of Orlando tourism and a booming population have made travel times longer and roads more congested.
While driving through Yellowstone National Park, they couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw the reason for the traffic jam.
It wasn’t a plethora of cars making their way through the nearly 3,500-square-mile wilderness recreation area to see some of the country’s natural beauties such as Old Faithful, the Grand Canyon or the Grand Prismatic Spring.
It was a herd of bison.
Creatures standing at least 5 feet tall and weighing more than 1,800 pounds.
The sheer size of them left Joyce and Randy Rouse speechless as they sat in their car waiting for the bison to clear the roadway so they could advance to their destination.
“You hear about the traffic here, but more than once, we had to wait on the bison,” Joyce Rouse said. “That was just mind-blowing.”
From the bison to how every few minutes of the sun rising changed the beauty of the Rocky Mountain landscape to seeing snow for the first time, the Rouses’ explorations of Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park were part of a once-in-a-lifetime trip Monday, May 4, through Monday, May 11, to celebrate 50 years of marriage and the love and support of a family that would do anything for each other.
Joyce and Randy Rouse’s three children and three children-in-law knew the couple would never take a trip for their own enjoyment.
Vacations always involved the entire family. Whether it was the annual summer beach trip or camping, the Rouses’ three children and their families always were there.
For 50 years, Joyce and Randy Rouse had built a life based on faith and family.
It’s how they were raised as they grew up together in Winter Garden, spending time together at church and at then-Lakeview High School.
The couple dated for three years before tying the knot in 1975, when Joyce Rouse was 19 and Randy Rouse 18.
“It just always felt right,” Randy Rouse said.
Throughout their years, the couple had three children, who all married, and the family kept growing as they had children of their own.
Now with three children and 11 grandchildren, the Rouses said their family is tight-knit and strongly bonded.
The Rouse home in downtown Winter Garden is considered home base to the family. No matter where they go in life or what they do, anyone in the family always knows they can return to the Rouse home, which once was Joyce Rouse’s childhood home. The lifelong Winter Garden residents never wanted to be anywhere else.
“We have a small house, but we all fit in here, and they enjoy coming,” Joyce Rouse said.
The house overflows with love the moment you walk into it and especially made evident by the numerous small canvas prints with a photo of each child and grandchild, along with family photos.
When their 50th anniversary rolled around Aug. 16, 2025, the Rouses felt it was simply another year of blessings, love and family.
They knew their children were planning a party, but they didn’t see the magnitude until arriving.
Not only were their children and grandchildren in attendance, but also lifelong friends and other family members, some of whom they hadn’t seen in years, to celebrate the happy couple.
The Rouse children wanted to thank their parents for a lifetime of love, support and dedication to their family, so they surprised them with a once-in-a-lifetime trip for the avid nature fanatics.
Their son, Ryan Rouse, stood before the couple with a giant poster to unveil the surprise.
The family secretly had raised funds to send Joyce and Randy Rouse on a seven-day trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.
“We were very blessed that somebody would do that for us,” Joyce Rouse said. “It just meant a lot.”
Randy Rouse said the couple never would have taken the trip on their own.
“We’ve been out in nature all our lives and things like that, but to see the grandeur of Yellowstone where every corner is something new and as the sun comes up, it changes and becomes even more (breathtaking),” he said. “That was a big deal to be able to spend our time there.”
But what made the trip all the more grand was taking it together.
“To experience it together was a huge part of what made it great,” Randy Rouse said. “You didn’t have the distractions, and it was just to focus on the two of us. It was something that we normally don’t do.”
From the moment the couple stepped off the plane on the tarmac of the airport in Jackson, Wyoming, they were in awe.
Even as they were flying, they saw how massive the Rocky Mountains were and were astonished to see them towering over everything.
“It was just mind-blowing,” Joyce Rouse said. “I cried a few times. It was just something I’d never seen before, and it was massive.”
The sheer beauty of the mountains, animals and nature before them had them captivated the entire trip.
They were awake and roaming around the national parks by 6 a.m., opting for a microwave breakfast instead of having to wait until 6:30 a.m. for the restaurants to open. Walking and driving around before the other tourists were awake allowed them to embrace the peace and quiet of nature and see the animals frolicking around every morning.
Every wind around a mountain led to a new view, a new beauty, they said.
“You see pictures, but until you see it in person, it’s just completely different,” Randy Rouse said.
On a raft tour along the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park, they didn’t see as many animals as they had hoped but the views of the mountains from the river were stunning.
Captivating landscapes were all around them. They recalled taking a moment to reflect as they arose early enough to capture the moment at Schwabacher Landing when the shallow water was crystal clear and calm enough to reflect the Teton Ridge.
Heading into a restaurant, Joyce Rouse couldn’t believe it when she saw an elk minding its own business walking down the sidewalk as if it were just another visitor taking in the sites.
Throughout the trip, Joyce Rouse said she found herself overwhelmed seeing the mountains, the animals and all the grandeur of the two national parks.
But a special moment was when the couple arrived at their hotel.
The woman checking them in was upset at the sight outside. Joyce Rouse recalled the woman saying, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
But for Joyce Rouse, the reaction was the opposite.
She was thrilled to walk outside and see a light flurry falling from the sky, landing on her dark jacket, seeing snow for the first time in her life.
The next day, she was tempted to make a snow angel but decided against it. She didn’t want to trek too much snow into their rental car.
The Rouses returned home more in love than when they left, adding more memories to their 50-year adventure.
Although the time alone together was worth every second, they can’t wait to return to the beach with their entire family for the Fourth of July, a tradition they hope never ceases even as the grandchildren age and live their own lives.
But no matter where the Rouses or their children or grandchildren go, they know they can return to the Winter Garden house that always has been home.
