Trip to Yellowstone

Saturday, July 16^th we packed up and headed to Yellowstone. This was our first long trip with the trailer. I was a little nervous, but Eric did great pulling it. We arrived at Henry’s Lake, just outside West Yellowstone, at about 2:30. Jarom and Launa had car problems so were going to arrive a little bit later, so we decided to help them out and set up their tent. It was really windy. Try wrestling a tent in the wind. I’m sure it was quite humorous. After getting camp and the tent set up with drove to Earthquake Lake, which is about 20 miles from Henry’s Lake. It is a lake that was created after an earthquake in 1959. It was amazing. There are still dead trees coming up from the bottom of the lake. There was also a beautiful waterfall across the street from the lake.

We arrived back at camp and got a message from Kyle and Misty that they had blown a tire and tore up their trailer so now they were running behind a bit. We eventually all arrived safely and then cooked dinner.

Sunday, we got up early at 5:00 and left camp by 5:30 to head into the park thinking if we left early we would see more animals. We didn’t see too many which was kind of disappointing. We did the Mammoth loop. Once we reached Mammoth we decided to head towards the northeast entrance and found a spot along the way to stop and have lunch. Then we turned around and headed back to Mammoth and had ice cream. Then we continued on our loop. We saw lots of buffalo, two black bear, elk, and a few deer. Yellowstone is very beautiful. I had fun taking lots of pictures. We ended up driving 200 miles and 12 hours on the road. We were all exhausted by the time we got back to camp.

Monday, we didn’t get up quite so early. We went to the Grizzly & Wolf center in West Yellowstone. That was fun to see the wolves and bears up close. The wolves did a howling chat that was amazing. We spent a little over an hour at the center and then helped Jarom changed the brakes on his car in the parking lot. We entered the park around 11:00. We decided to do the Old Faithful loop. We made several stops along the way. Went on a two mile hike up Biscuit Basin and then to Old Faithful. We stopped in the gift shop at Old Faithful and the kids got to pick some treasures.  Then we were on the road to finish the loop. Towards the end of the loop we saw a grizzly and two cubs. We spent probably close to an hour watching the bears. Eric then said his trip was complete. He just really wanted to see a grizzly. It was fun to watch them play around in the field.  Again, we drove about 200 miles and 12 hours on the road.

We had a great time in Yellowstone and can’t wait to go back again.

Tuesday, we packed up and before we headed home we went to West Yellowstone and walked around the shops for a little bit and then headed back home. We got home about 4:30 Tuesday afternoon. Then we did laundry and repacked to head to the cabin.  Sometimes we need a vacation from a vacation.

Weekend I will never forget

This last weekend is probably a weekend I will never forget. We went camping with Mark and Cheryl. It was there big annual two week camping trip they have every year with a big group of family and friends. Eric and I didn’t make it up until the tail end up their trip. Me and the kids and my friend Krista and her little boy Kendrick went up Friday afternoon, July 1^st. We got unloaded and set up camp and then fixed yummy tin foil dinners. I did something different this time. We had sausage, red potatoes, and green beans. They turned out really good. Eric arrived at camp about 8:00. He had to work until 7:00. We ate dinner and then relaxed around the fire. Saturday, Krista and I woke up early and went for a 3 mile walk/hike. It ended up being a really good walk. It was a lot of up and down hills, so it worked us pretty hard. We did a lot of relaxing and hanging around camp. We decided to go for a four wheeler ride later in the day. We rode up to the top of the mountain and could see down into the valley. It was really beautiful. Eric, Mark & Daniel (Mark’s brother) had a good time throwing rocks off the cliff trying to get them to roll down the hill. We then continued on our way back. We were about 1.5 miles from camp when Jared (Mark’s little brother) and I’s four-wheeler's right break locked up and Jared couldn’t turn the wheels. There was a slight bend in the road to the left, but he could turn the bike. We went down the embankment about 12 feet and into the creek. The four-wheeler landed on Jared and he was a under water for a second. He was able to flip it over, but it landed on me. I was laying exactly vertical under the bike with my body between the tires. It had me pinned under enough that I couldn’t crawl out. Jared was in shock and didn’t really know what to do. He ran up to the road and threw his helmet and gloves in the road so that the others would know to stop. He came back to me several times to check on me and I told him I was fine, but just to make sure that they stopped. When I realized that I was okay and remembered my camera was on my back. I was in tears thinking that I had probably lost everything. Cheryl, Krista, and Kendrick arrived first. Cheryl dropped them off and rushed back to camp to get more help. Eric and the kids were next. Eric asked Jared where I was and he said over there. Eric and Krista jumped in the creek and thought I was over on the other side of the bank. I saw Eric looking for me over there and I said, “Eric, I’m right here.” He jumped right over and Eric and Krista lifted the bike and I was able to crawl out. My camera bag was stuck on the bike so it took a second for me to get unstuck. I crawled out and was pretty shakin’ up. I couldn’t believe that we both walked away with only minor injuries. We missed a huge boulder by only a couple of inches. During all of this several people from camp came hauling up to help. When Cheryl left she had no idea what the extent of the accident was so everyone came as fast as they could to help. They didn’t know if maybe we were still under water and couldn’t get out. Everyone was very shakin’ up. Both Mark/Jared’s parents were very worried about me. Their mom came up to me and was in tears. They kept asking to make sure I was okay. I kept telling them I was fine. I didn’t feel any internal injuries or broken bones. After Jared was able to relax a little bit, they thought his arm was broken. Mark and their mom took him to the Montpelier hospital. They did an x-ray and his bone was curved and cracked, but should heal fine. That night I was still really shook up. When we finally went to bed, I told Eric just to hold me and I cried. He tried to be tuff and act like it was no big deal, but he told me he was very worried about me. I am so grateful for my guardian angel. It could have been so much worse. I am glad that it was me and Jared on the bike instead of the other’s with kids.

The boulder I almost hit. I was laying on the left side.

Sunday I was really sore and realized there were a lot more bruises than I thought. We stayed on Sunday until about 3:30 then we packed up and went home. I had to take Launa’s family pictures later Sunday night.

Monday, July 4^th, I got up and picked strawberries, weeded the garden, and then got ready to go to the Hyrum parade at my friend Michelle Wilson’s house. She lives right on mainstreet, so we had a great view of the parade. After the parade they had a luncheon. When I got home I worked on editing some pictures and then me and the kids and Sallie went to Misty’s parents house for a BBQ and then fireworks at their family farm. Their farm is really close to where Brigham City lights the fireworks so we had a great view. The kids had a good time.

I am proud to be an American. I love the 4^th of July. I am also grateful that I was blessed and protected this weekend. I will never take life for granted. Life is so fragile and in a blink of an eye things can change.