Oregon Trip Day 3

Morning of Day 3

Day two we had hoped to camp in Yellowstone, but when I was making reservations, all soft sided RVs or popout spots were spoken for. The bear are extremely active this year and many camp sites were sticking to a "hard sided only" RV vehicles. So, I I found a place out of "bear country" who allowed tent sided pop outs that had a playground and booked it.

The kids and I played soccer on the grass and played on the playground while the guys hooked up the camper and Mom got dinner started. Mmmmm a cheese burger never tasted so good!

In the morning we got up early and finished the drive to Yellowstone.

This is the day Andy still talks about. He says, " Member that time we stopped and ate in the camper and got out and there were big animals (buffalo) but we can't touch them. And we drove and got out and saw some big animals (carribou) . Yeah. That was fun."

Right before driving through the Yellowstone gates a black bear ran in front of Ben's van just in front of us. I could hear him (in my in mind) saying, "You guys see that?!" Much of the forest on the east side of the park has been destroyed by the forest fire. I remember hearing about it, but it is overwhelming to see in person. Heartbreaking.

Our first stop was Yellowstone Lake.

My mom just kept saying,"this lake is HUGE!"

But, as we live on Lake Michigan, my kids didn't even bat an eye, they just got down to business.

Throwing rocks.

Collecting sticks.

Getting wet.

Let me take a minute to say how wonderful it is to pull a camper while traveling with little kids. Though the beds pop out, the camper itself, is "ready to go" at all times.

Fooooooor example, we are on a stretch of highway and a 2 year old has to go potty.

Pull over and go in the camper.

Or we are starving, but still have another few hours to go before we get to our campsite for the night. Pull over and eat in the camper.

bathroom.

fridge.

freezer.

microwave.

oven.

stove.

sink.

table.

benches.

All at immediate access.

It was heavenly.

My only concern now is that on our next road trip, Andy will expect to be able to "pull over! I need to poop in the camper!"

We stopped for lunch just on the other side of Fishing Bridge (where, despite the name, you can't actually fish from) because there was a buffalo sitting on the hill. Erica snapped a couple of pictures of him (that I will steal). We guessed there were more up on the hill and found a good place to climb up. We were right. But did not venture closer as more people die from buffalo attacks than bear attacks each year.

My dad is coming up the hill behind Ben- you can just spot his head. I know his thinking: He was thinking he better go over and stand by Ben (who was closer than we were) in case the buffalo charges and he can jump in the way to block Jackson/distract the buffalo, etc. That's just how my dad thinks and that was the reason I had my "danger" thoughts up in the woods with the turkey. He is incredibly protective of his kids and grandkids. I can't write all of the examples, but he is always gently making suggestions for the safety of the kids. He is very aware of them. I think it's sweet and thoughtful instead of crazy and overprotective:) I know you're reading this! I love you, dad!

From buffaloes we viewed the fountain paint pots, geysers, mud pots, Old Faithful and other geothermic wonders. Again, I deferred to Erica for photos. Here she is snapping one of this geyser in Yellowstone Lake.

We did not make reservations for Night 3, as we didn't know what time we would leave Yellowstone/ how far we would drive that night. Dad bought an atlas at a gas station about an hour west of the park and eye-spied Lewis and Clark Caverns and Campground.

Picking this place off of a map, we had no idea what to expect. It was my favorite campground all trip. It had a great playground, shower houses, fire pits, picnic tables, GRASS!

Erica and I took the kids to the playground while Dad, Ben and Nate set up shop and Mom got dinner started. This had become our routine and it worked so smoothly.

This was the first night I felt like we just "hung out".

Night 1 we returned late from Mt. Rushmore and went straight to bed.

Night 2 we got to bed early so we could get up early for Yellowstone.

Night 3, we didn't need to worry about the morning, we were staying there to go to the caverns. We could just relax. We made s'mores. played on the playground until dark. And sat around talking by the fire.

this was why I wanted to come on this trip.

Perfection.

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