Sunday through Tuesday

Hello everyone, apologies for not writing in a few days. The service has been spotty at best and it’s been busy as well.

 

Sunday we slept in, cooked a huge breakfast over the fire, dressed and went out on a hike; which was very entertaining.   We hiked the Storm Point Nature Trail.  It passed the shores of Indian Pond and then along the shores of Yellowstone Lake for about half the hike.  We got to eat our lunch while watching a bison from a safe vantage point, but close enough to laugh at the numerous tourons (noun, a tourist that behaves as a moron) as they drew up close to the powerful animal and took pictures at a very unsafe distance (bison are able to cover a distance of twenty five yards in less than three seconds). Luckily none of the dumb people were gored and we enjoyed a great rest of the hike.   

 

Later that afternoon, we rented a motor boat and toured Yellowstone Lake.  Everyone took turns at the wheel and we had a great time before we headed back to our campsite to cook dinner and get the fire going.  This was our last night in Bridge Bay Campground.  Around 10:45, we realized that our battery was critically low, and recalling our experience 4 years ago at the Grand Canyon, and knowing that generators are not allowed after 8pm, we decided to take a drive down by the marina to power up.  Anna called this the “Midnight Ride of our RV”, and it really did feel like that.  All the kids were already in bed.  They were all thrilled to be cruising through the park in the dark to a place where we could power up!

 

 

Tomorrow we are headed for the Canyon Village Campground.  When we made reservations on Saturday morning for Canyon, we had secured the last available spot.  All of the campgrounds had been full all week.  For Tuesday night, we are not going to make a reservation but see where the day takes us, and hope to get an available spot somewhere close to the west entrance so we can visit the Bear and Wolf Discovery Center on Wednesday morning before we head North towards Glacier.

 

Monday:   OK, so if yesterday didn’t sound all that relaxing to you, just read on to see what we found to do today.  Mike and I got up before 6, and started driving toward Roosevelt Lodge, a pretty rustic lodge in the park where President Teddy once vacationed.  We went there to meet our “Wake Up to Wildlife” tour.  The four hour tour took us in a 13 passenger historic Yellow Bus.   Our tour guide was really great, and stopped frequently to let us take pictures, look through binoculars, or peek through his scope.  It was chilly, but we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have him roll the roof back.   The kids piled under blankets in the back in the chilly morning air, but it was really an incredible way to see the Lamar Valley.  We saw pronghorns, bison, mule deer, great blue herons, a few mountain goats, and an osprey.  With powerful binoculars, we were able to watch the mother osprey feeding her young!

We were dropped back at Roosevelt Lodge at 11:15, and got on board our RV to eat some lunch and get changed into jeans and boots for our afternoon trail ride.   We had signed up for a two-hour trail ride that started at 12:45.  The kids were a bit disappointed that this stable wasn’t as laid back as the A-OK Corral in Jackson.  They made all kids under 18 wear a helmet.  (Anna was mad because she couldn’t wear her cowgirl hat.)  Then, the woman in charge went over all the risks, including death, and we were assigned to horses.  Anna and Will rode up front with the lead wrangler.  Mike and I rode in the middle of the pack, and Em and Jack rode toward the back.

Anna...

During horseback riding we went up and down hills.  I had a horse named Cotton.  He was cute.  It was funny because there were only boy horses.  One of the cowboys rode ahead to watch where the moose was, and be sure that the trail was safe.  We rode by and you could see a moose’s antlers sticking up out of the tall grass.  It was almost time to go back to the corral.  I was happy that our ride was almost 3 hours, but Emma and Mom and Will were walking funny when we got off the saddle!  I wish that Cotton was my horse. 

Deb.....

We left Roosevelt Corral and headed to Canyon Lodge to stay for one night.  We showered (well worth the $3.75 fee) and put in our laundry while we made dinner on the RV stove in the guest services parking lot.  (There is a lot to be said about the flexibility of RV living).   Now clean and fed, we went to check out the dessert offerings at the Canyon Lodge restaurant.  The restaurant was a cute place, with some internet access, and good desserts.  Mike had some work to tap out, but unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to get our blog sent out before our session timed out. 

Emma...

Tuesday we awoke on the earlier side and got on our way to Uncle Tom’s Point (happy birthday Uncle Tommy!!) where we met Ranger Mike and three other people for a guided ranger hike at nine. The hike was beautiful and we learned a lot about the plants and animals of Yellowstone and even saw some bison, ground squirrels, and elk walking around near us. We then returned to our RV for lunch and then back out on another hike out to Artists Point, which proved a bit disappointing due to the immense zoo scene that was taking place there but if you could ignore all the people, the view of the waterfall was nice. Shortly after, we realized that we had actually been wanting to go to a different vantage point but were headed in the wrong direction so we headed back and then down. Dad, Jack, Will, and I went down over 330 stairs and were rewarded with a beautiful close view of the falls and minimal people. The only downside was having to hustle up the stairs the whole way back up (thanks Dad ha ha). Well, it’s been a great day and will be even greater if we find a place to sleep for tonight!

 

Deb and Mike...

We left Uncle Tom’s Point, and headed west toward Madison, stopping at the Museum of the National Park Ranger.  The retired ranger on duty had worked for the NPS for more than 35 years, and at over 15 National Parks.  He said that his favorite was Bandolier in NM.  We moved on from there to see if there was any space at the Madison campground.  The ranger at Madison said that all of the parks were full, so we prayed on the way.   While we preferred a campground in the park (as it meant dinner at a reasonable time as opposed to driving another 2 hours to find one outside the park that might have space) we would be happy with whatever He gave us.

I got in line at the registration area and was asked if I had a reservation.  The sign read “full”.  I said that no, I didn’t have reservation, but could there be any cancellations?  The kind man went away for a few minutes and came back to me.  “It is your lucky day,” he said.  “An hour ago, someone cancelled for tonight."  I responded that God had sorted it out for us. 

With reservation in hand, I climbed back into our bus, and told everyone the story.  We took a minute to say a prayer of thanks.  And now we are making dinner on the campfire at a beautiful campsite in the woods.  Mike is reading Swiss Family Robinson, and all is right with the world.