June 23, 2008
Got the tire replaced and we were on the road by 10. The landscape really started to change today. Especially once we hit the Big Horn Mountains. This has to be one of the most beautiful mountain ranges in the world. Constant changes between dramatic rock outcroppings, forested mountainsides and meadows filled with yellow, purple and white flowers on a back drop of green grass. We passed several crystal blue lakes and streams. There was still quite a bit of snow too. The roads were incredibly steep and the car died twice. It does that in town when you flutter the gas pedal. This is no big deal in town, but on a winding mountain road it can be a bit stressful. Martha and I both felt kind of like we on a roller coaster ride. We stopped at a visitor center at the top of the mountains and something told me to ask whether we should take 14 or 14 a down the back side. I had intended to take 14 a as it looked like a better road on the map. The kind woman told me no, that way had 15 miles of 12 % grades. She said the other route also was much more scenic, and boy was it ever! It was like driving through a smaller version of the Grand Canyon, but with a lot more green vegetation.
We finally made it to Yellow Stone at around 3 and found out we had to drive 50 miles around the lake to our camp site. At least it was an impressive drive. Lake Yellow Stone is the deepest turquoise, and clear you can easily see 7 feet under the water. On the way in we saw buffalo, a couple of coyotes, some elk, ducks, pelicans and a number of other small animals which thrilled the children. The camp ground has very strict rules about not leaving anything that might attract bears out of the car so we had to rearrange our packing. The sites are ok, but as we pulled in our battery light came on. Needless to say this was another bit of stress I didn’t need. I cleaned the terminals and the light went away. As they say at home in the south, “Thank you Jesus”.
Our neighbor, John English came over an asked if we wanted some fire wood; he had a sick comrade and had to leave for home. I asked if he needed any help he asked me to take his site pass back to the ranger station. I noticed from his plates that he was from Utah. I asked if he was LDS and if he thought is friend might like a blessing. The answer was yes, on both accounts. John was not active and didn’t feel that he could do the blessing and neither of us had any consecrated oil. John did have some olive oil so I ended up consecrating the oil anointing Brother Quist, and giving the blessing. I had no idea what was wrong or who this guy was, but I tried to listen to the spirit, and it must have worked, because both men were crying when we finished. This whole incident put our little problems into perspective and set a better mood for the rest of the night.
June 24
The day ended particularly well, after a delicious dinner of “Darn Good Chili” that we all worked together to make, we roasted marshmallows around the fire and told stories and sang songs. Here is the thing; today we saw some of the earth’s most beautiful land marks on the planet, including Old Faithful, the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, incredible mountain ranges, white water rapids, crystal lakes, and ten or twenty others. As spectacular as these were, none of this more powerfully touches my heart than to be able to see that my children love one another, they like one another, and they want to be a family.
On a worldlier note, it was well worth the considerable sum of money we spent to take the Circle of Fire Tour. We were able to see five or six times more sites than we could possibly have seen on our own, and with no stress. I was able to just enjoy being with Martha and the kids, and to concentrate on the scenery rather than driving and making decisions. The guide was funny and personable and shared one historical, geological or nature story after the other. Rebekah, Adam and Sarah learned more today that they would in a month of schooling. Miriam just loved seeing all the Animals, and the “hot water geysers”.
(added on the 25th) Last night I had one of my really ugly nightmares and woke up feeling very uneasy. I had just begun to calm myself down and get back to sleep when Martha decided to add to my emotional distress with the statement every father wants to hear while sleeping in a tent in bear country.
“I just heard a bear right out side snuffling around”. I jumped up, in a near panic.
“Where?” I asked nervously. “Right outside”, she replied in a tense whisper. We both waited for two or three minutes with baited breath, straining to see or hear something, trying to decide what to do. “Oh wait,” Martha finally said, “that’s Bekah’s snoring”
After a trip to the restroom, and short view of the full moon and zillions of stars, my heart slowed down enough to get back to sleep. Thank goodness.
June 25, 2008
Today was a great family day. We slept in till 8, woke and had French toast for breakfast, and hot showers for desert. Martha and Bekah went to the pay showers. Adam, Sarah, Mim and I did it wilderness style. I hung up a tarp; we boiled some water and used buckets to wash. To my surprise it actually worked well! I think I’ll do it again tomorrow. I might even hide all the money and make Martha and Bekah use my “shower” too ; ).
We drove down to Old Faithful Geyser and spent the entire day viewing the amazing features there. Adam earned his “Young Scientist” badge by observing and writing the answers to a number of questions in a manual. I could try to describe the beauty that we saw, but I believe I would not be very successful. I do not believe that even pictures do this place justice. Come here if you ever get the chance, or make the chance. I told the children that we had decided to make this trip despite the increasing costs, and all the things that could go wrong for two reasons. 1. I like being with my family, and this was a perfect opportunity to be just us with no distractions pulling in other directions. 2. I remember the big trips we took when I was young. I recounted a number of these memories: Like taking the Liberty Trail in Boston. Following that painted line all over the city, learning about our history with my mother. I also remembered sitting in the back seat of the car eating fresh cherries purchased on the roadside, and spitting the seeds out of the sun roof just to see them fly back wards and high speed when the wind caught them. I remember staying at the VOQ in some southern state, so mom could visit the doctor because she had an infection in her wrist that was making driving difficult. Well, I could go on about that vacation, and I did with the kids we went back and forth with questions and stories for the entire 30 minute drive to Old Faithful. The point of which was to say that were making memories that will bring them happiness for the rest of existence. Just to side track again, I can not believe my mother did these trips with just two little kids. I have a strong partner and least two children who can, and often do take the role of the adult when necessary to help, and I am still stressed. She was either totally insane, or an amazingly strong individual, or maybe a little of each.
So let’s get back to our story. Martha is now a federal fugitive, and Adam almost turned her in. It is posted everywhere in this park, not to throw things into the geological features. Martha left a cookie wrapper back in Beauty Pool. To Martha’s utter horror, this dastardly act was witnessed by twenty to thirty other visitors. Ok so, it was an accident. Martha bent over to pick up her bag, and just as she did, a gust of wind blew the piece of trash left over from lunch out of the purse and straight into the Geyser. When Adam was testing off on his Young Scientist award, you could just see the guilt on his face, and his desire to just get it off his chest, by telling the Ranger what had happened. I have since explained that this was just an accident, and there was no need to feel guilty. The rangers would have pulled the trash out by now any way… If you happen to visit Yellow Stone in the future, and the trash is still there, please keep this information to yourself. Neither Martha, nor Adam needs the stress.
Well it’s time to go cook some sausages and chili over the camp fire, so bye for now.
Got the tire replaced and we were on the road by 10. The landscape really started to change today. Especially once we hit the Big Horn Mountains. This has to be one of the most beautiful mountain ranges in the world. Constant changes between dramatic rock outcroppings, forested mountainsides and meadows filled with yellow, purple and white flowers on a back drop of green grass. We passed several crystal blue lakes and streams. There was still quite a bit of snow too. The roads were incredibly steep and the car died twice. It does that in town when you flutter the gas pedal. This is no big deal in town, but on a winding mountain road it can be a bit stressful. Martha and I both felt kind of like we on a roller coaster ride. We stopped at a visitor center at the top of the mountains and something told me to ask whether we should take 14 or 14 a down the back side. I had intended to take 14 a as it looked like a better road on the map. The kind woman told me no, that way had 15 miles of 12 % grades. She said the other route also was much more scenic, and boy was it ever! It was like driving through a smaller version of the Grand Canyon, but with a lot more green vegetation.
We finally made it to Yellow Stone at around 3 and found out we had to drive 50 miles around the lake to our camp site. At least it was an impressive drive. Lake Yellow Stone is the deepest turquoise, and clear you can easily see 7 feet under the water. On the way in we saw buffalo, a couple of coyotes, some elk, ducks, pelicans and a number of other small animals which thrilled the children. The camp ground has very strict rules about not leaving anything that might attract bears out of the car so we had to rearrange our packing. The sites are ok, but as we pulled in our battery light came on. Needless to say this was another bit of stress I didn’t need. I cleaned the terminals and the light went away. As they say at home in the south, “Thank you Jesus”.
Our neighbor, John English came over an asked if we wanted some fire wood; he had a sick comrade and had to leave for home. I asked if he needed any help he asked me to take his site pass back to the ranger station. I noticed from his plates that he was from Utah. I asked if he was LDS and if he thought is friend might like a blessing. The answer was yes, on both accounts. John was not active and didn’t feel that he could do the blessing and neither of us had any consecrated oil. John did have some olive oil so I ended up consecrating the oil anointing Brother Quist, and giving the blessing. I had no idea what was wrong or who this guy was, but I tried to listen to the spirit, and it must have worked, because both men were crying when we finished. This whole incident put our little problems into perspective and set a better mood for the rest of the night.
June 24
The day ended particularly well, after a delicious dinner of “Darn Good Chili” that we all worked together to make, we roasted marshmallows around the fire and told stories and sang songs. Here is the thing; today we saw some of the earth’s most beautiful land marks on the planet, including Old Faithful, the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, incredible mountain ranges, white water rapids, crystal lakes, and ten or twenty others. As spectacular as these were, none of this more powerfully touches my heart than to be able to see that my children love one another, they like one another, and they want to be a family.
On a worldlier note, it was well worth the considerable sum of money we spent to take the Circle of Fire Tour. We were able to see five or six times more sites than we could possibly have seen on our own, and with no stress. I was able to just enjoy being with Martha and the kids, and to concentrate on the scenery rather than driving and making decisions. The guide was funny and personable and shared one historical, geological or nature story after the other. Rebekah, Adam and Sarah learned more today that they would in a month of schooling. Miriam just loved seeing all the Animals, and the “hot water geysers”.
(added on the 25th) Last night I had one of my really ugly nightmares and woke up feeling very uneasy. I had just begun to calm myself down and get back to sleep when Martha decided to add to my emotional distress with the statement every father wants to hear while sleeping in a tent in bear country.
“I just heard a bear right out side snuffling around”. I jumped up, in a near panic.
“Where?” I asked nervously. “Right outside”, she replied in a tense whisper. We both waited for two or three minutes with baited breath, straining to see or hear something, trying to decide what to do. “Oh wait,” Martha finally said, “that’s Bekah’s snoring”
After a trip to the restroom, and short view of the full moon and zillions of stars, my heart slowed down enough to get back to sleep. Thank goodness.
June 25, 2008
Today was a great family day. We slept in till 8, woke and had French toast for breakfast, and hot showers for desert. Martha and Bekah went to the pay showers. Adam, Sarah, Mim and I did it wilderness style. I hung up a tarp; we boiled some water and used buckets to wash. To my surprise it actually worked well! I think I’ll do it again tomorrow. I might even hide all the money and make Martha and Bekah use my “shower” too ; ).
We drove down to Old Faithful Geyser and spent the entire day viewing the amazing features there. Adam earned his “Young Scientist” badge by observing and writing the answers to a number of questions in a manual. I could try to describe the beauty that we saw, but I believe I would not be very successful. I do not believe that even pictures do this place justice. Come here if you ever get the chance, or make the chance. I told the children that we had decided to make this trip despite the increasing costs, and all the things that could go wrong for two reasons. 1. I like being with my family, and this was a perfect opportunity to be just us with no distractions pulling in other directions. 2. I remember the big trips we took when I was young. I recounted a number of these memories: Like taking the Liberty Trail in Boston. Following that painted line all over the city, learning about our history with my mother. I also remembered sitting in the back seat of the car eating fresh cherries purchased on the roadside, and spitting the seeds out of the sun roof just to see them fly back wards and high speed when the wind caught them. I remember staying at the VOQ in some southern state, so mom could visit the doctor because she had an infection in her wrist that was making driving difficult. Well, I could go on about that vacation, and I did with the kids we went back and forth with questions and stories for the entire 30 minute drive to Old Faithful. The point of which was to say that were making memories that will bring them happiness for the rest of existence. Just to side track again, I can not believe my mother did these trips with just two little kids. I have a strong partner and least two children who can, and often do take the role of the adult when necessary to help, and I am still stressed. She was either totally insane, or an amazingly strong individual, or maybe a little of each.
So let’s get back to our story. Martha is now a federal fugitive, and Adam almost turned her in. It is posted everywhere in this park, not to throw things into the geological features. Martha left a cookie wrapper back in Beauty Pool. To Martha’s utter horror, this dastardly act was witnessed by twenty to thirty other visitors. Ok so, it was an accident. Martha bent over to pick up her bag, and just as she did, a gust of wind blew the piece of trash left over from lunch out of the purse and straight into the Geyser. When Adam was testing off on his Young Scientist award, you could just see the guilt on his face, and his desire to just get it off his chest, by telling the Ranger what had happened. I have since explained that this was just an accident, and there was no need to feel guilty. The rangers would have pulled the trash out by now any way… If you happen to visit Yellow Stone in the future, and the trash is still there, please keep this information to yourself. Neither Martha, nor Adam needs the stress.
Well it’s time to go cook some sausages and chili over the camp fire, so bye for now.
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