Jul-i-land Park 2020

July 19th-23rd 2020

Picture SIX minivans caravanning crossing the desert for an epic summer vacation at the family ranch in New Mexico. Then picture five minivans heading in the opposite direction to Island Park, Idaho!

Two words. Carona time.

If we hadn't learned to be flexible with our plans by this point, we were the fools.

Ashley is the event planner for our family. I don't know if we'd see each other much otherwise. Thank you, Ashley!

She reserved a cabin that nearly fit all of us. Graham set up a tent in the yard. I didn't argue with him about this because his throat was scratchy. He really shouldn't have even been there, sick and all. But seeing that I've used up my free passes, went we did.

The kids drove separately from us again. It's like the ultimate way to travel:) However, I felt like I was moving in TAR as I tried to get out the door. The kids were able to get themselves together a lot faster than I was and got on the road hours before we did. The drive through Idaho was lovely. We listened to talks from my curriculum. Mallerie also sent us an audio file that she loves. I'm not going to lie; it was such a pleasant drive.

It was near sunset when we arrived at Island Park. The girls were headed to the lake to watch the sun set.

I sat out back to watch Graham and Harrison canoe but couldn't stay long because the hungry mosquitos were waking up! Our cabin was right on the river. 

Everyone was most anxious to float down it the next day. The spot to get in wasn't too far. We blew up rafts and then piled into vans. There weren't enough tubes for all of us to all go at once. Besides, we had to take the cars back, so we sent the kids down the first run of the day.

The scene before me was hilarious! The kids plopped in the water; some were sharing tubes, some were single, some were in kayaks or the canoe. Someone was on a blow-up dolphin. Ava had her speaker playing T Swift at full volume as they bopped away from us giddy as can be. 

It was one of the most delightful things I've seen.

Back at the cabin, Matt and I paddled upstream to see if we could meet up with them. Callie was now on the dolphin, which was deflating quickly. "To the rescue!"

Later, when we went down with the adults (I guess I should sepicify, the parents), we got to talking about times that we laughed so hard it hurt. I recalled at the beginning of the corona shut-down when our family watched The Spy Nextdoor. There is a line at the end that I LOST is over. Matt did too. We were literally about ready fall out of our chairs because we were laughing so hard. My mascara stung my eyes because they were watering so bad. I had a cough for a while afterward because I had laughed that hard! I thought enough time had passed since this incident, but when I started to recount the line..."How soon can I get one of those jumpsuits?" I nearly lost it again. Doubled over, I tried to reenact the scene. It's a good one.

What wasn't funny, was that I used my arms for paddles and well, I forgot I had my cracked fit-bit on. That was the end of that.

The view of a riverside cabin: you can see how shallow the water was, which was the reason we felt comfortable sending all the babes down it without us.

The current was also slow enough that it was more like a lazy river.

That evening, we went to the source where the river started.

BIG SPRINGS!

You can see on the map where the river comes up from the ground. Before we even got to the parking lot, however, the Gouldings pulled over as Sadie rushed toward the river. We were only confused for a moment until she pointed, "Moose!"

The real treat was that there were two moose.

The water coming up from the spring is crystal clear. It bubbles right up out of the ground.

 

"Time for a picture. Whoever is here is going to be in it!"

There were fish swimming against the current, which was interesting to watch.

 

We walked down to Johny Sack's cabin, a settler, I suppose. We walked right past the drinking moose again. At just that moment, something must have spooked them because they ran out of the spring right in front of us and tore through the adjacent campground. Can you imagine getting your tinfoil dinner ready while two moose come charging past?

I forget how tall Cade is! It's nice to feel petite next to someone:)

Mmmm dinner.

We had worked up an appetite! It was my turn to cook; the girls helped me serve BBQ in a cup. We served dessert right along with it: strawberry and chocolate cupcakes.

We've Got Talent!

Callie and Scarlett orchestrated a talent show that night. There were several participants, with the Bocs representing! Callie did the dance she and Scarlett made up at Tahoe, I did a math trick, and Mallerie and Matt both did magic tricks. It is always a treat to hear Shafer sing and play the uke. But the star of the show was Zeke! He pulled out a pump and proceeded to blow up balloons and then tie them into animals. We were all so impressed! When we asked him, "Where in the world did you learn to do that? He stated, "There was a paper in with the balloons that had instructions on it."

These girls know Hamilton. word. for. word.

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

My siblings and I tried to remember when our family vacation was to Yellowstone. We all concurred that it was about 35 years ago. 

Knowing this would be an all-day adventure, the decision was that we needed to get on the road first thing. Otherwise, I learned, the line of cars to get into the park can take hours. 

I didn't even know that a trip to Yellowstone was part of the plan; I was very much looking forward to going. Lindsey fixed us a delicious—hit the spot—breakfast casserole that morning. I still hadn't seen Graham. As everyone was loading into the cars, I went out to his tent. He wasn't feeling well. He said he was going to stay there. Neither Matt nor I felt okay about that. I made a bed in the back of Matt's car, gave Graham some Motrin, and handed him a cup of that delicious casserole. Even after all of this, we managed to be the first of our group in line at the park.

 We hadn't been down the road half a mile when we saw the truck in the opposite lane stopped. In front of him, it looked like someone wearing an animal costume was on the road walking side to side. Both Matt's and my brain came to this conclusion— though we didn't say it—because then we realized, 

"Wildlife!"
Shows what city folk we are; it was a bison! He walked right past us.

I looked back to see that Mallerie had her camera all ready to go. 

RIGHT past us.

I was giddy because when we went to Custer State Park—home of 1,400 bison—we saw maybe three that were napping waaaaaay off in the distance. 

At Yellowstone, we saw GOBS.

Throughout the day, we saw pastures filled with sleeping or roaming bison.

We didn't see a large variety of wildlife, however. I was speaking with a friend at water aerobics who went to Yellowstone a couple of months after we did. She said they saw a grizzly eating an elk! She said, "It's on YouTube—look it up." I did just that but ended up not clicking on the video. 

"Ew. I'd don't want to see that."

The smoking hot pots in the distance created a landscape that we don't see every day. 

 As we headed to Old Faithful, we stopped a couple of times along the way.

The Midway Geysers were magnificent, eerie, and best described as otherworldly.

The color combination was perfection—red clay, with turquoise water.

"Hold on to the babies!" Ashley had field journals for the kids to decorate. Solly took the assignment very seriously. He boasted, "I brought this marker from home." Ashley said, "Solly, tell the truth." He admitted, "I found it."

 

OLD FAITHFUL! (That caption can go for the photo below OR above. Both are old; both are faithful.)

Waiting anxiously, Solly had his journal (and marker!) to help the time pass.

These turned out to be the only group shots we got.

And then, as if on cue, she erupted. 

And so did we.

  

So that my kids don't have to scratch their heads someday wondering when they went to Yellowstone, I will record that it was July 21, 2020.

Matt went back to be with Graham while I walked the boardwalk with Callie and the rest of the family.

  

I learned all about the latest fashion for teens from Lindsey when I genuinely asked, "Tell me about your boy's pants." Since Grayson grabs whatever is in Old Navy, I don't know what the trends are.

By looping around the boardwalk, Old Faithful was ready to erupt again. Matt set up a camp chair for Graham. He was able to see it from afar.

Graham seemed underwhelmed. I suppose I was too, 35 years ago.

We drove for a bit before finding a lunch spot. We ate at a beautiful location on picnic tables in the pines. Grayson lamented that the girls were only listening to annyong music in the van. The girls complained that he was complaining about their music. I gave them handfuls of candy and then got back in the car with Matt and a sleeping Graham and slowly put up my window as we drove away.

Delightful.

THE LAKE

I'll tell ya what, having Lindsey Taylor with us was like having our own travel guide. I didn't know that she spent her summers going to Yellowstone with her grandparents when she was a young girl. She knew all the "hot spots" to take us too. Hehe.

 

 

We had to laugh at a conversation we overheard between a dad and his young daughter. She was complaining that though the stops had different names, they were all just hot pots. I think she said something like, "I don't want to keep looking at these." The dad was frustrated, "This is what Yellowstone is. These are what we will be looking at ALL DAY."

I realized that I had no business coming here with littles. I was happy that my girls, anyway, were enjoying the beauty.

The drive in-between the stops was breathtaking. I kept nodding off but would force myself awake. I didn't want to miss anything.

I woke to see another Bison. 

There was nothing glamourous about this one.

At the UPPER FALLS, we wowed at the power of the rushing water. I was glad I had grabbed my first aide tote because there were cousins needing things like bandaids and calamine lotion, and water. We didn't have a lot to spare but gave what we could.

One thing I have noticed is that no one in this family brings sufficient water—just an observation.

Too bad we couldn't gulp from those magnificent falls!

  

 

From the falls, we took a pit stop to look for souvenirs and get ice cream. I didn't see Callie. There isn't cell service in the park, which is both a downside and an upside. I hoped she was still with the Gouldings:/

Our last stop was to LOWER FALLS, where we saw the reason why Yellowstone is called Yellowstone (yes, I learned all of this from LT).

 The hike down to the lookout of the lower falls was pretty steep (my knees:/), but it had stairs. Since it was our last stop of the day, I had to insist that Graham come with us. 

Jon was looking for a hiking buddy the next day but couldn't find anyone willing. Mal is usually up for such things, but her foot was bothering her.

 The weather was ideal. The driving arrangements, however, still were not. 

Since Grayson didn't hike down the falls with us, the girls thought he was going to ride with the Geertsens. They peeled outta there (with their music at full blast, I'm going to guess). 

As Grayson was walking down the road looking for the van, the Geertsens saw him and picked him up. He was not happy. Gray still wasn't over it when we got back to the cabin. He wasn't over it by dinner. He wasn't over it by bedtime, "What if I got left? And they don't even care!" 

I guess this was a situation where a little validation would have gone a long way. 

Get Your Puzzle Pants On

The next day was a stay-in-and-relax sort of day. It was also my last day. Ava and I left a day early because of the San Clemente trip she had planned with her friends. 

I asked what sort of prep she had to do at home. She said, "Tons of laundry!" I suggested she do it at the cabin. So she started her laundry, and I started a puzzle with Cal and Ash. More people joined in and out until we finished it. 500 pieces! 

"Can I go now?" Haha. 

Ava and I had an enjoyable trip home together though she slept most of the way. We stopped for dinner somewhere in Northern Utah at Cafe Rio. I hear we missed out on Lindsey's enchiladas.

I had my last gathering class of the semester the next morning in an empty house!!! The first day that I was home alone for my Zoom call, and well, it was better;)

Even though some of Lindsey's boys did develop scratch throats, it was still best that we were all there together. 

I'd hate to be a stick in the mud.