adventures in camping

For this summer's vacation, I took the boys on a camping road trip to Yellowstone National Park and back. Fourteen nights in a tent, 2,963 miles with no TV or computer time (but we'll talk about that in a bit.) We were unplugged, unmoored, and outside.

Epic might be an overstatement, but it's within reason. We saw Dakota Thunder, a 26' tall bison, Sandy, a 40' tall sand hill crane, Salem Sue, a 38' tall Holstein cow, massive dinosaur bones, multiple geysers, clear blue hot springs, massive sculptures, and 60' high president's heads. A revolver was fired, a bull was ridden, rodeo attended, stars gazed upon, campfire cobbler eaten, dropped into a jeweled cave, and we experienced the raw smell of sulfur. We visited one National Park, two National Monuments, one National Memorial, three state parks, and I don't know how many museums and municipal parks.

There were hurdles to overcome. Some were minor, such as running out of buns and missing a museum times. One was major, the car died and we were delayed 3 days waiting for its repair. At least the kid's were happy, they got a 2 1/2 hour TV time while we waited at the dealership. Other hurdles were avoided or never encountered; never did we experience a Yellowstone animal roadblock, never were we exposed to nasty swarms of mosquitoes, and never did we have to hike or sleep in a thunderstorm. But there were two windy days in Cody...

We bathed in campground swimming pools and the Madison River. Campfires and charcoal provided warmth and toasted our marshmallows. Moonlight was our guide. Pine and sulfur was our air freshener. And there were stars, the sky sparkled with stars!

We all took pictures, here are some. I focused on capturing the kids. I hope that some day they will view these pics and remember.

I've been home a bit and I'm still digesting, recovering, and cleaning up from the trip. Some of the memories are already fading while others are indelibly etched. In the coming years I wonder what the kids will remember. I wonder if they will pick up my love of camping. And I wonder if they will stick their children in the back seat and take a two week camping road trip.