Day 7

Day 7


We woke up and thought we were in Alaska! We left the air on and it was not above 45 degrees outside. Beki and BB throw on fleece jackets and make coffee, polish their nails, press the children’s outfits for the day, unplug the pump out line, disconnect the water line, release the parking brake and head out. (Guess which two things in that paragraph are not correct)

Today will be spent in the upper northern loop of Yellowstone. BB wants to drive again while Beki navigates. Driving this loop turned out to be a whole different experience. Out first stops takes us to the Artisan paint pots, a great way to start our morning, the steam rising off the geysers, dew on the trees, sun peaking through the big clouds and numerous animal noises were sure to wake up all your senses, spectacular. We get back in the car and are greeted by a Bison taking a morning stroll; he decided to run alongside the PV which had us all in stitches. We pull over for a bear spotting but by the time we all pile out the bear is out of sight, we resume seats and roll on. BB is earning her 5 star triple A all star driving award, roads are winding, curves are nail biting. The chiefs are really getting hungry and the cupboards resemble that of Mother Hubbard, bare. Tim puts in a request for breakfast today, HOT at that, we laugh. Hot breakfast was enjoyed at the Canyons by all. We all got out of the car at Roosevelt falls to take a morning hike down to the river’s edge to view Tower falls, 300 foot falls. The walk down to the falls was 7/8 of a mile and walk back up seemed like a mere 7 miles, but worth every step and bead of sweat. We stopped along the road side to take a picture of Nora by the Norris sign, a newly acquired nic name. We see a sign for petrified tree, Beki says turn in, BB does, Beki is now petrified from the abrupt turn. A block in a sign says no RV’s past this point; we attempt to park and find a nice, newly designated parking spot for Cursing America PV’s. The boys are still overcoming the previous hike up the mountain and decide to stay in the camper and give instructions to get pictures. The girls exit and on foot set out to see the petrified tree. BB makes a statement something like, “what if we see a bear”, we laugh and shake our keys like they are bells and would scare it off. We were told the walk was just around the corner and after 3 corners, nearly ½ mile and camper out of sight, we have not spotted the tree, contemplating turning around we take another step towards our goal when Beki spots a black moving something in the woods and with the voice of an opera singer shuts BEAR. She then pushes her other companions away from the bear, like that would help. We are now being approached by a big fluffy, shiny black bear that is walking toward us not within the recommended 100 feet distance to keep between you and a bear, but rather 40-50 feet. Shaking keys has not even crossed our mind. A car heads down the road and we stop it to say there is a bear, they too are excited to see its spotting but remember they are in a car. Tthe bear is now 20-30 feet away from us. We then begin to take pictures, standing close to the new found friends in the car. A few more cars have joined in the picture shot. Meanwhile Nora has sprinted down the road to get the boys, within seconds they are all running down the dirt road looking like stowaways to take in our bear spotting. Another angle watching over us. Yes, we did see the tree, not nearly as eventful . We load the PV and head to Mammoth Hot Springs, an 18 mile journey of gut wrenching, steering wheel clenching driving as our children run around in the back making the camper move from side to side. We travel this distance in 45 minutes, stop to take pictures of big horn sheep and are greeted by 20 plus elk roaming, the grounds of Mammoth, wow. We travel toward the North entrance and find the hot springs we are going to plunge into. Parking the PV was a challenge, but BB did it. She may have a job with Mont when she returns; there is a driver shortage you know. Walking down the path the kids’ encounter a snake, Nora takes charge and guides us through this experience. BB asks if she is afraid of anything. The hot springs were great, people from all over the world sharing smiles and taking in this relaxing experience. After about 1.5 hours, around 5 we head back to the PV to start our decent back to the Ko-a. The journey down was full of all types of wildlife, bison, mule deer, and eagles. The PV encounters a mirror bumping experience with another RV and we lose part of our driver’s mirror. At first we did not know what had just happened, till BB looked in the mirror to see what occurred and ta-dah, gone. After one hour of driving we arrived at the West Yellowstone entrance, both our phones start to acknowledege all the calls that we could not get while in the mountains. We are excited to go back have a cook out, play cards and roast marshmallows and enjoy the campgrounds. We pull into get gas, shortly BB exists the PV and tells Beki to listen to the message she has received, OMG. Now what, there is a nationwide man hunt for two escaped convicts from AZ state prison. They are believed to be in West Yellowstone, somewhere between Wyoming and Montana, they are armed and extremely dangerous. They are believed to have killed a couple camping in an RV. Did we mention that we are in West Yellowstone and in a RV? We have now received phone calls, emails, facebook messages, text messages from just about every family member we have. Major change of plans – we pull into the first hotel we see and get a room with a kitchen. Beki checks in and explains that we have seven people but we HAVE to be in the same room! We tell the kids there is a major storm coming and they are thrilled to be staying in a hotel! We think they now all have a new appreciation for showers and bathrooms. Talk about going from one extreme to another! We park in a completely lit area and unload the PV and make sure we are all together at all times! Beki and BB laugh a little because the kids have no idea the anxiety happening with them! We make dinner, consisting of mac and cheese and salad and Beki makes French toast for Peter. Interesting meal but quite tasty. Beki and BB were just happy to all be together and safe. Yet, another angel watching out for us!!! The kids go swimming and we finally retire to our room for the night!