Yellowstone and Bozeman

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August 7-11, 2017
Yellowstone National Park
Bozeman, Montana

Because we had been to Yellowstone National Park before, and because everything that we read described insane crowds during the summer months, we decided not to make it a major destination on our trip. In fact, Brad voted to skip it all together. But since it was adjacent to the Tetons and we would basically have to go hours out of our way to avoid it, I was able to convince him that driving through for the day on our way into Montana was a good compromise. We stopped at just a couple of the main attractions, Stumbo in tow, and kept the visit short and sweet. One of the highlights of the quick tour was seeing a large gray wolf running across a meadow, but it happened too quickly and he was too far away for me to get a photo.

Here’s what Old Faithful looks like when it erupts. When it was later than the +/- 15 minute window of predicted eruption time, you could hear people all throughout the crowd making the same jokes about how she wasn’t proving faithful on this day.
And this is what it looks like around the geyser when it erupts in the middle of the day, on a weekday in August.
Mammoth Springs
Another official swearing-in ceremony.

From there we drove to a small town outside of Bozeman, Montana called Three Forks where we spent a few days enjoying the conveniences that electricity brings…air conditioning, lights on in the evening, and even an occasional movie. Brad was able to get a bunch of work done at a co-working spot Bozeman and get caught up after many days with no reception in the Tetons. And I was feeling a desperate need for a break so I asked my kids to leave me alone because I really didn’t want to hang out with them (I know, I’ve started a fund for their future therapy) and just to please find something to occupy themselves away from me. With 350 days under our belt in the RV I felt like it was a major success that I hadn’t made this request already.  They made some friends on the playground, and I drank coffee in the afternoon and read.

Sleep Number Bed repair attempt #1 – air mattress patch kit, the “press & hold” step.
Smoke rolling in from Washington and British Columbia restricted some day time views, but made for beautiful, colorful sunsets.
The girls both have sticker charts for good behavior and achievements during Roadschool. When they get to 50 stickers they earn a date night with Mom or Dad. It’s crazy to me that even as much as we hang out with them, the thing they love the most is 1-on-1 time with us! Coral had earned her special date, so we got ice cream and happened to catch the Bozeman Saddle-ites practicing their synchronized “mounted drill team” rodeo routine in an empty rodeo arena in Three Forks.
Another campground…another set of friends from the playground. All of these children have started to look the same to me. I actually asked one of these girls, “Do you stay in a lot of campgrounds? Have we met you before?” She looked at me like I’d lost my mind. Actually…that is likely.
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1 Comment

  1. Marie Scanlon says: Reply

    hahahaha! i love that you are asking random kids crazy questions. all my thoughts on this post:
    1. having never been to yellowstone, i laughed when i saw that it had to share its headline and blog post. i know feel as if i’ve been there and if i do go, i won’t go during this time of year. good tip.
    2. i love seeing pics of all the swearing in ceremony’s. i’m so inspired to visit theses parks (i was going to say state parks but then realized they might be national parks. i guess i don’t pay very good attention. and thus, i probably wouldn’t qualify as a junior ranger.). good job, Sunny and Coral!
    3. I’m impressed at your resilience. I would have asked my children to stay away from me after a week. 350 days is incredible!! you’re such a great mom. they might need therapy but that’s only cuz you can’t be perfect and everyone needs a little help and outside perspective once in awhile. (therapy lover speaking here).
    4. popped bed fix. 😂 perfect.
    5. you have seen some of the craziest things. i love that your date night with coral was watching a “mounted drill team.”.i don’t know how you manage to see these crazy things but I want to follow you around and see them too.
    😘❤️❤️❤️

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