Yellowstone Park

I had really planned to be spending this weekend in Yellowstone Park. Then I discovered McKayla had a soccer tournament and that ended the Yellowstone plans. I joke about how I have no life because my children play soccer but I really don't mind. They love soccer and I am happy they have discovered something they enjoy so much. I enjoy watching them.

Still, I can't help missing Yellowstone just a little bit. I grew up only an hour away from Yellowstone so I was a frequent visitor. I thought Yellowstone was amazing! Everything was cool - from Old Faithful to the bears to the waterfalls to the boiling mudpots! Yes, I actually have seen bears in Yellowstone. In fact, once I saw one fairly close as it was hanging out in a pull-out so we pulled in and watched. That is, we watched until some idiot got out of his car and approached the bear. My dad decided we didn't need to see any more.

As a youth, we would drive through Yellowstone to get to the Idaho Falls Temple for our annual temple trip. We quite often would stop at Old Faithful. There were always so many tourists. One of our favorite things to do was everyone would choose a language and start speaking it. I took 3 years of German in high school so I would speak that. One boy knew a few phrases in Japanese. It was a riot because people around us would get so excited as they tried to figure out what nationality we were. "Oh, that boy is all the way from Japan. Cool!"

I have only taken my kids to Yellowstone once. My mom and I went. We camped and hiked and sightsaw. One of the highlights of the trip for me was seeing a fox while we were hiking. I had never seen a fox before (outside of a zoo, that is). Another highlight was seeing a buffalo up close and personal. I was driving down the road in our Suburban when a herd of buffalo decided to cross the road. They ambled down the road and crossed right in front of our car. A couple of the buffalo actually walked right up to my driver's door and stared in the window at me. Only a piece of safety glass separated me from these giant beasts. It was a thrill but quite intimidating!

I really want to take my children back to Yellowstone so they can experience the majesty and glory of nature that I thing Yellowstone Park magnifies.