The Bailey Bunch: Visiting Yellowstone

Growing up in Idaho, my family lived about two hours from Yellowstone Park,

and so we visited at least once a summer, if not more often.

As we were talking about a drive through Yellowstone with some of our grandkids, Kevin's mom

spoke up. "You know the earthquake that hit Yellowstone in 1959? We were going to stay that night at the campground that was wiped out, but Don (Kevin's dad) decided he would just do some fishing and then we'd leave because the campground was full. Twenty-eight people died there."

(At that time their family lived in Utah, several hours away).

So we decided to visit Quake Lake at the beginning of our day, and see where

Kevin very nearly ended his life at 4 years of age. (And we're SO glad he didn't!)

Four generations! My mom, (age 92), sister, daughters, son-in-law, and grandchildren.

I love mountains! I love rolling waters.

I especially love the smell of pine trees!

And being there with family just makes it all the more fun.

Grandchild: "Ooh! What's that smell? Yuck. Rotten eggs!"

But I'd have to say, I don't mind the smells of Yellowstone at all.

All that sulfur makes things so colorful.

Yes, Kevin was there too. And my mom is just amazing. She is as sharp as ever, and

only this past year began using a cane for stability. Her bones are wearing out but she's still game.

I hope I've inherited her longevity!

One of our wishes was to wade in Yellowstone Lake. We spent a lot of time in the cars--by the end of the day, we had 400 miles on the odometer--driving from this geyser to that mud pot,

and the young ones needed some time to run. (So did the rest of us.) We found the perfect spot!

As we played on the black sand beach, we recognized it as the place we had picnicked, many years earlier on the very same date in July--Justin's birthday!

It would have been fun to have him along again, but he was being a supportive husband and father with a 2-week-old son. The generations continue on...

And miraculously, no one got SO wet that they couldn't just sit on a towel

when it was time to get back in the car. Well, maybe a couple had to change clothes.

During my childhood visits we always we saw bears, lots of bears.

Yogi Bear was on TV, and we'd make a contest (as children do who have to turn everything into sibling rivalry) to see who could spot more "Yogi's" and "Boo Boo's".

(For the uninitiated, those would be the adult and cub bears.)

Our counts would climb, with real sightings, into the 50's and 60's, since

bears would often sit by the side of the road hoping for a hand-out. We even started

making categories of black-colored, cinnamon-colored, twins, and so on!

It's been quite awhile since I've seen any bears, and we almost made it through the park

without seeing much wildlife of any kind.

Fortunately, by late afternoon, more animals were out and about.