DAY 4 – Sunday, August 24, 2014
Ayana had been up bright and early, reading her Trixie
Beldon novel, and she volunteered to pop over and get me a coffee and herself a
drink while the rest of the children slept.
She came back with a watery mocha,
but again, like yesterday, it warmed my stomach, and I continued to compose
while she curled up in her blanket with her drink and book. Not too long after, Israel was awake, playing
with his black bear that he bought with his hard-earned cash from all the early
summer jobs the children did. He
implored his loving big sister to give up her cozy and get him a hot drink, so
off they went together, and it wasn’t long before the rest had awakened, and
filled their tummies with chocolate drinks.
Meanwhile, my helpful Ayana came back to the caravan and with my instructions she learned to make a simple oatmeal breakfast. We had blenderized the oats before leaving to make the cooking of them easier for the road, and it was a great plan, because all she had to do was boil 6 cups of water, throw in 2 2/3 cups of oats, a teaspoon of salt, and then ¼ cup of raisins, and ½ cup of brown sugar, and voila - delicious breakfast.
Meanwhile, my helpful Ayana came back to the caravan and with my instructions she learned to make a simple oatmeal breakfast. We had blenderized the oats before leaving to make the cooking of them easier for the road, and it was a great plan, because all she had to do was boil 6 cups of water, throw in 2 2/3 cups of oats, a teaspoon of salt, and then ¼ cup of raisins, and ½ cup of brown sugar, and voila - delicious breakfast.
Once we had cleaned up, we headed out to Yellowstone
National Park to see what we could see!
They gave us an identification map to see what we might find, and the children immediately began keeping track. What I noticed was there really were not the animals like in Banff National Park.
When we went there a number of years ago, the children were able to identify every single animal that they had a sign for on the road. Every single one! This time, sadly, they only saw bison, deer, and some smaller animals.
They gave us an identification map to see what we might find, and the children immediately began keeping track. What I noticed was there really were not the animals like in Banff National Park.
When we went there a number of years ago, the children were able to identify every single animal that they had a sign for on the road. Every single one! This time, sadly, they only saw bison, deer, and some smaller animals.
At one point, there was a moment of great excitement when we
saw many cars parked and realized they were looking at a bison. We parked the
caravan up the road, and then ran down the road to the pasture.
I ran ahead of the kids leading the way to get some great pictures of this lone buffalo eating his grass. He really was majestic!
I ran ahead of the kids leading the way to get some great pictures of this lone buffalo eating his grass. He really was majestic!
After taking our pictures, we made a mad dash back to the
warm car, only to find ourselves running through muddy water. Stopping quickly
and reevaluating our situation, we found a new path, but it was too late. We
discovered we had been running through a healthy amount of buffalo scat! ICK!!
Back at the van, I took water from my faithful water tank in the caravan and
proceeded to help the kids wash down their stinky shoes!
Through the park we saw a number of unusual sites. The
Fountain Paint Pot was a pot of boiling bacteria water. When I saw the sign, I
said to the kids, “Bring your laundry. The water is boiling!”
We saw many geysers, and then the Red Spouter.
This was created when the earthquake of 1959 took place. After driving through
a portion of the park we arrived at Old Faithful. We saw at least a hundred
people sitting on benches around the geyser, but we didn’t sit; we just walked
around the boardwalk in the park, had a good look, and then headed back to the
caravan for lunch. I had been rather surprised that the geyser was so famous,
considering the Fountain Paint Pot was so much more interesting. Wouldn’t you know it, as we were eating lunch
we suddenly saw a huge spray up in the air of a huge amount of steam. The
geyser had blown!! It turned out the geyser would blow every one to one and a
half hours, and we had missed it by minutes! L
Fountain Paint Pot
Churning Cauldron
I should mention something rather funny. There were so many license plates in the parking lot of Yellowstone Park that I could not resist running around the parking lot with the kids taking pictures of all the different plates. We managed to get 26 different states! We didn`t bother with Canadian ones, so there were even more! Isaiah said I probably looked like a detective or something!
We continued on our drive and even though the kids were cold
and voting to head on out of the park to Cody, Wyoming, I put down the deciding
vote to continue on my original plan, which was to go north to Mud Volcano and
the Sulphur Cauldron. We all agreed that I made the right decision, as the area
turned out to be a great surprise! I think was the Dragon’s Mouth Spring. We
made the 2/3 mile up the the loop and around to see a variety of natural sites,
and then headed back to the car to begin the drive to Cody, Wyoming.
The most remarkable thing was when we were leaving the park!! Right there, on the side of the road was the most enormous bison just ambling along as if he were going for an evening stroll!! I was able to drive right up beside him.
Now that was what I call spectacular!! I might not be that
keen on Montana – quite possibly due to the overcast, rainy days, but I will
say that the rocks and canyons in Wyoming are breath-taking. As I said to the
kids, “I could live here!”
As we drove along and saw campground after campground, I
asked the children if they wanted to stay in one of them where they could see
they would be in the rugged Wyoming Wilderness, or take their chances on the
campground I had found, which might well be in the heart of the city.
They chose to keep going and see what Cody was like. We saw some interesting things along the way. At one place we saw a bunch of people with cameras, so I pulled off the road to see what they were looking at. It was the cutest little deer!! Twins and their mother. The kids got a kick out of me taking pictures of the shutterbugs beside me! They were so busy getting their tripods and taking pictures that I just couldn`t resist.
Well, we arrived in Cody, saw they had a Walmart, and that there were
some trailers parked there, allowing us the choice, and then headed on to the
address I had for the Ponderosa Campground.
The decision was made as soon as the kids saw it: back to Walmart. It
was late and there was no advantage to staying there, so we might as well stay
at Walmart and save $60! Good choice.
They chose to keep going and see what Cody was like. We saw some interesting things along the way. At one place we saw a bunch of people with cameras, so I pulled off the road to see what they were looking at. It was the cutest little deer!! Twins and their mother. The kids got a kick out of me taking pictures of the shutterbugs beside me! They were so busy getting their tripods and taking pictures that I just couldn`t resist.
These Dam Waterways!
A Plug!
One Cool GMama or GPapa!
- My Big Rig Against That Wee Tiny One
With My Fellow Travelers
Arriving late meant a quick shop for socks, bowls, and
runners for Ayana, who only came equipped with crocs. Then back to the caravan
for a super quick dinner of the kids favourite: Ramen Noodles!
Tomorrow we will see Cody, Wyoming, where Wild Bill Cody
came from, and then head on to see Devil’s Tower.
Not sure if it is me or our lousy internet service but have been having trouble leaving comments. Raing here in the Cariboo today. We have been having fun fitting in as much as we can in our last week at the lake:( I hope you are fitting some sleep into this adventure somewhere:) we are really enjoying your adventure and appreciate how much time and work it is for you to post. I tried to stay up long enough to read this last night but kept falling asleep in my chair. I don't know how you do it with the time change you were up wayyyy later than me. Be safe and enjoy!!!
ReplyDeleteI agree, the Paint Pots are cooler than Old Faithful - one of my favorite places in Yellowstone! On car trips as a kid, we used to try and find license plates for every state, and Yellowstone was perFect for that.
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