Idaho Falls

June 26, 2015 – Day 24

West Yellowstone, WY – Idaho Falls, ID

140 miles/2 hours

Spring Hill Suites Rexburg, Rms 401 & 403

Another rough night of sleep. The beds are uncomfortable at the Grey Wolf Inn. I got up, packed, and gathered the children for breakfast at McDonalds. Our hotel’s buffet only has muffins and apples.

Also, Rich had a few meeting and we had to clear out. After breakfast, we walked around the little town and checked out some junk shops that were labeled as gift shops. When I got the call from Rich, I practically ran back to the hotel – time to hit the road.

The drive to Idaho Falls was easy and pretty. We passed through many one-stoplight towns. Our hotel is actually in Rexburg, ID, which is very close to the BYU Idaho campus. We had lunch at Applebee’s and our waitress was a student at the school. She was from Marietta, GA – and got married in Cumming, GA. How funny is that? She was extremely nice. In fact, every person we’ve encountered in Idaho is friendly. Lots of smiles and nice manners. I like it.

We took the kids to Bear World, which is a drive-through wild life habitat. Thank goodness we were in a car, because we did finally see bears – many of them. Warnings everywhere: “Keep Your Windows Rolled Up” & “Do Not Stop Your Car, Keep Moving.” Do you think Rich obeyed the warnings? No. He all but cut his fingers and dripped blood out the side of the car. He was dying to get a bear to climb on the roof of the car. I asked him why in the world he’d want that. He’s constantly reminding us to be kind to the Suburban. He replied that he really wanted to see my reaction if that happened. Such a funny guy.

Then we went to see the falls, as in Idaho Falls – very pretty. We made a supply stop at Walmart – always interesting, no matter where you are. Then we had a dinner at a restaurant on the Snake River. The highlight of the evening was when we were riding back to the hotel. Barrett, out of the blue, started singing “On the Road Again.” That song is a family theme – we listen to it in the car on our trips, every time we head to a new destination. Audrey said he knew the words to every song on our mix. So we put the CD in and told everyone they couldn’t sing. We turned the volume down low and listened to Bear serenade us. It was very cool. He has a bit of a country twang, and sings right along with Willie. For “Life is a Highway,” he adds his signature hand gestures, and changes his inflections with the beat of the songs. “For I’ve Been Everywhere,” he laughs along with Johnny Cash when June asks him if “he’s ever been to Starkville, Mississippi.”

The Barrett Show continued at the pool, where he terrorized a group of Chinese women in the pool. One woman was trying to swim laps (why, in a small hotel pool, I do not know) and Bear kept jumping into her path. And if he wan’t jumping, he was doing his move where he stayed under the surface forever and emerges when he finally needs to breathe – no matter who’s in his way. We tried to apologize, but she wouldn’t look at us and all the women kept laughing and talking in what I assume was Chinese. I got the distinct impression they were talking about us. Oh well, not the first time, won’t be the last.

Back in the room, Cammy sweet-talked Rich into setting up Netflix on his laptop, so he could watch Chima. It was a to-do, for reasons I would bore you with. Cammy asked Rich, “Why is technology so confusing?” Then he pointed to the digital clock on the bedside table, which was a Boze, with an iPod charger. Then he pointed to the hotel telephone, and said, “Wait a minute, I don’t even know what that thing is!”

For the record, it was a table-top phone with a coiled cord.

Yellowstone - Day 3

June 25, 2015 - Day 23

75 Miles – all in Yellowstone National Park

Grey Wolf Inn

We got a bit of a late start today, but it was more of the same. Beauty all around. The highlight of the day was seeing Old Faithful, which was a bucket list item for Rich. We sat for an hour and a half, waiting for the geyser to blow. I must admit, it was worth it. We also continued our Yellowstone Park license plate game, and by the time we left the park, we’d spotted 46 different states. It was kind of cool to see how money people, near and far, drive to experience Yellowstone.

We put in another five hours of exploration and then called it a day. It was sad to say goodbye to the park, but even I was done with driving around, parking, getting out, walking around, taking pictures, climbing back into the car, and doing it all over again.  Also, it was disappointing to discover how many rude people there are in this world. I smiled and greeted hundreds of strangers who just looked back at me, with no response and nary a smile. Rich wondered if it was because there are so many foreigners visiting. But isn’t a smile an international greeting?

I must confess, I am exhausted and very down about it. At the end of each of our days in Yellowstone, all I wanted to do was lay down, which is quite scary for me. I’ve been going to bed early, but waking up multiple times throughout the night. I saw a sign in West Yellowstone, listing the elevation as 7000 feet. It made me think that perhaps the altitude is getting to me. I vaguely remember my parents complaining about it during the summer we spent two weeks in Colorado, but Edmund and I never felt any effects. Or maybe I’m just getting…you know the word, but I can’t type it. Nope, I’m going with altitude sickness.

Tomorrow we head west, to Idaho Falls, our furthest point west. Then we turn around and make the trek home – with a few stops along the way!

Yellowstone - Day 2

June 24, 2015 – Day 22

Gardiner, MT (north entrance) – West Yellowstone (west entrance)

135 miles (all in the park!)

The Grey Wolf Inn, Rm 125

The park is amazing! I took more than 200 pictures today, which is ridiculous! We scaled a mountain, by car and foot. We saw the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and the amazing lower falls of the Yellowstone River, from vantage points that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. It’s very scary when you look down. We also explored the lake area, and rented a boat. We smelled nasty sulfur springs and got up close and personal with some bison.  All in all – a wonderful day. A long day. I am beat!

Hunter's driving...

And Audie's ain't happy about.

Yellowstone Day 1

June 23, 2015 – Day 21

Bozeman, MT – Gardiner, MT – Yellowstone NP

80 miles, then 60 miles driving around in the park!

Best Western Mammoth Hot Springs, Rm 224

Happy Birthday Daddy! We celebrated with a little Starbucks this morning. It’s the little things, right? We were on the road early – on our way to the destination highlight of our trip – Yellowstone National Park. Excitement all around. Okay, seriously, only Mom & Dad were excited. I don’t get it.

It was another pretty (and short!) drive and then we were in front of the Theodore Roosevelt Arch, which was the original entrance to the park (north entrance). Unfortunately, we were detoured due to construction, and I didn’t get a good picture. Our first stop was the ranger station at Mammoth Springs so I could get my bearings.

I won’t bore you with a play-by-play of the day, but we hiked quite a bit and took a stagecoach ride. I don’t think I can adequately describe the beauty of this park without sounding cheesy and over-the-top. I’ll let my pictures do the talking.

Random personal observations of family life in the park:

Barrett likes to hike and is quite fast. He and I will do well as fitness partners in the future. If I’m going to hike, I’m going to burn some calories!

Cammy doesn’t like to hike, and whines about it. He’s gotten too heavy for me to carry, so I basically drag him along, which thwarts my workout - but what am I going to do?

Audrey can take the hikes, or leave them. She’ll complain about it, but physically, she can finally hang. Her competitive nature overpowers her laziness, because she’ll be damned if Hunter is going to beat her at anything.

Hunter and Audrey fight a lot. It can be a joy buster. They both have to have the last word and therefore, it never ends.

Hunter has become a surly teenager. It’s sad. He seems quite miserable spending time with us, and very underwhelmed by the scenery. I think there’d have to be a racetrack in the park for him to be happy. We’re doing our best to ignore his sullenness, but next year we may leave him at home.

Rich is totally in his element. My nature guy gets so excited when he sees wildlife. It’s kind of cute. He’s on a mission to see a bear and said he’s not leaving until he does.

Speaking of bears, the park has hundreds of bears and they have warnings everywhere. They also sell bear spray in the stores. Audrey is freaked out. Rich suggested we get some – just in case. Guess how much they charge for a can of bear spray (which I’m sure doesn’t come with a guarantee)? $50! I told Audrey we’d take our chances. Audrey was not too pleased. “You don’t think my life is worth $50?” Uh-oh. I explained that no bear would get between me and one of my babies. And now, I really hope we don’t run into bears.

We spent six hours in the park and only saw a small fraction of it, so the next two days will be long. We checked into our hotel, and I had to endure a litany of complaints about our accommodations. It seems they don’t care for a Best Western. I should have made them sleep in the car. We’re in one room (a “junior suite”), so you can only imagine. For our first night, we’re staying just outside the park, in Gardiner, MT. I booked our rooms too late for us to get inside the park. Big Mistake.

We took Rich out to dinner for his Birthday and our options were limited in this little town of Gardiner. I apologized, but he didn’t care. He got to spend his day in Yellowstone with his family, He said that it was the best birthday ever!

Quotes of the Day (Cammy’s on a roll):

#1 - A gentleman saw Rich pushing our luggage cart, which was expertly loaded, and he commented that Rich must have played Legos when he was a kid.

Cammy: “Oh yeah, Legos run in our family!”

#2 - Cammy was waxing poetic after Rich and Hunter said they were going to get him a cinnamon roll for lunch, instead of a hotdog.

Cammy: “They replaced my hotdog, and won my heart.”

#3 - Finally, when we were descending the terraces at Mammoth Springs, I offered Audrey the rest of my water. She thanked me and said she’d save it until we got to the bottom. Cammy was holding his water bottle, which was more than half full.

Cammy: “I’m going to die before I get to drink all of my water!” – He didn’t care for the uphill climb.