Our family vacation or maybe I should say family weekend vacation was to Yellowstone. I haven't been there since I was little and we wanted to take the kids there. We found a campsite just outside of West Yellowstone that we tent camped at. As soon as we opened the truck door I knew we were in trouble. We were pretty much swarmed by mosquito's. We had spray and once we had that on they didn't bite but they still swarmed. Scott started out by being quite irritated by these buzzing creatures.
For this trip we splurged and bought a queen air mattress. Wonderful!!! We set camp up and built a fire hoping to ward of those pesty mosquito's. Our first night sleeping was eventful. Scott woke up and had a leg cramp. He's been having problems with his back and sciatic nerve. Well this cramp lasted close to 5 minutes. It all but brought him to tears. Poor guy! O, and he got cold. Ryver slept well once we got him to lay down and close his eyes. Portia on the other hand was talking in her sleep and was trying to get up and out of the tent in her sleep. It was a long night.
We got up the next morning somewhat early, had breakfast, and then started our trek around the park. We probably weren't 20 minutes into the drive and we were stopped in traffic. Guess what everybody and there dog was looking....an eagle's nest. Really? No eagle in there but just a nest. There is an eagle's nest on the way to Rexburg I pass all the time. At this point Scott isn't impressed with this and I'm thinking that it is going to be a long day.
Our first stop is at one of the natural made hot springs. We made it about half way around the walk way and Ryver starts crying because his legs are too tired. He was doing great until the little boy in front of us threw a fit and started crying and saying he was to tired and wanted to be carried. So this is how my little monkey decided to be. Ryver is not a light weight. He feels like a sack of potatoes actually. We bantered with Ryver and he did walk most of the way and then Scott carried him to the truck. Scott's lack of sleep the night before is starting to show. Portia keeps asking if we are almost there yet. We keep telling her that this is it. Driving in the truck and looking at all the beautiful scenery and looking for animals is the experience. In my head I'm not thinking she is very impressed. As a Mom, I'm starting to feel a little irritated that this family vacation isn't going like I wanted.
After Ryver complaining that he was too tired we didn't make another stop until Old Faithful. We did happen to see a few deer and a couple of elk but I grew up seeing those and it didn't give me a rush like maybe it would to others. At Old Faithful we make perfect timing. We only had to sit and wait for maybe 20 minutes before she went off. That was pretty cool, but yet I swear it was bigger and sprayed higher when I was little. And once again Ryver says his legs are too tired to walk. I made him walk anyways. He's got to be tougher than this.
Right after we left Old Faithful it starts to pour down rain. We had packed a lunch. Actually let me rephrase that. Because of recent bear activity we had to pack everything but our tent and clothes up and take it with us whenever we left camp. So we had all the food and beverages we had packed with us. We pulled over and ate in the truck while it was raining. O how fun! :( We drove the rest of the way back to camp and Scott never stopped again and hardly said a word. We did pass Hayden Valley which is where we saw all the buffalo and the kids thought that was pretty cool. But the whole experience of YellowStone was not a good experience.
We made it back to camp and from the looks of the sky's I'm slightly nervous. We had dinner and Scott and I came to the conclusion that we should hurry and pack things up and secure things down. I have failed to mention that we have our very own weather women with us. Portia has constantly been watching the skies and clouds for us all day. She is pretty much scared to death of the thunder and lighting. The later in the evening it gets the more thunder we are hearing. This causes Portia to become more stressed out.
To make a long story short we ended up in the tent that night from 7:00 on and it wasn't the best night. Ryver was hyper from being in the truck all day and Portia was so nervous and scared that Ryver was getting on her last nerves. Trying to keep the peace between them was exhausting and they ended up being separated by me. It did pour cats and dogs most of the night and some pretty sweet thunder and lightening. After Portia almost lost her cookies from being so scared Scott helped to calm her down and she finally fell asleep. This however did not keep her from talking and trying to walk in her sleep. What a long night.
The morning almost didn't come fast enough. With everything soaking wet and needless to say muddy, I was so ready to go home. We ate breakfast, packed up our soggy mess and hit the road. So now you have a grumpy Mom. What is that saying..."If Mommma ain't happy nobody is happy." Such a true statement. I know this is only one family trip and we can just hope the next one is better that this one. O the memories we build will last a life time. I'm sure that nobody else remembers it quite like I do though!
