During one of the program at her park, Grammie learned about a few places that are often overlooked in the park. One of them she mentioned to us was a waterfall just after driving through the gate. We pulled into the first picnic area we saw and started hiking. We were walking along a river and spotted some rapids, but no waterfall. After checking the map we decided it might be a little ways up the road.
We reached Moose Falls within a few minutes and went the few steps down to check them out. A couple of ladies were picking raspberries on the side of the trail and offered the girls a few. They were the tinest raspberries I'd ever seen! The falls were rushing loudly as we sat and watched.
Once we got back on the road we were greeted with some pretty intense construction for the next 20 miles along our route. My first though was wondering why in the world they try construction during the busy summer months, but I quickly realized they can't really see the road any other time of the year!
The first visitor's center we would come to was actually our campground so we stopped and picked up junior ranger books and took a look around. There were two movies coming up so we decided to stay.
The first was a documentary about the time after the 1988 fire which destroyed 1/3 of the park. I remember some more recent fires, but I had no recollection of this devastating fire. It was apparently very controversial as it was one of the first time the National Park Service let the fire burn uncontrolled until it came close to the historic Old Faithful Inn. While so many disagree because of the loss of trees, habitats and wildlife in a fire, it is obvious that it was the right thing to do as the forest in the park regenerates with new, healthy growth. It's just not as quick as many would like and will definitely not be replaced as it was in my lifetime.
We also watched a short orientation video for the park then parted ways to check in to our campground. We would be staying the next 4 nights in Grant Village, aptly named for President Grant who is credited with creating this first national park. We quickly set up at our spot then drove to the vistor's center at Grammie's campground 30 minutes away to see what it had to offer. There was an interesting bird museum of many of the birds residing in the park. The kids are starting to identify many of them on their own thanks to junior ranger programs and books!
There was a junior ranger program starting in just a few minutes so we went to the amphitheater to join in on the fun! This afternoon's topic was pollinators and when the kids found out they were not at all thrilled. They all thought the entire thing was going to be about bees and they all do not care for bees one bit. We were suprised to learn so much more about pollinators in general as well as specific information about those in the park. I thought I knew a good bit, but definitely learned my fair share as well. Us vegetarians definitely need them for our entire food supply!
We said our goodbyes and headed back to our sites to get ready for the next day as Grammie had scheduled a bus tour for us. While Dave cooked dinner I headed to use one of our 2 showers we could take tonight. It had been another 3 days since I'd had a shower and I do believe I heard angels sing when that very hot water hit my skin. Our last campsite had been extremely dusty so my feet were beginning to look the color of elephant feet!
We had our delicious dinner of veggie chili, salad, and breadsticks then headed to our amphitheater for the early program. Again, we weren't thrilled about the topic of Mapping Yellowstone but once we realized how fun it was going to e we jumped right in. Each family was assigned to make their own map of Yellowstone but since we'd just gotten here we decided to make a map of our journey so far and what we hoped to see while we were here.
While the girls worked, Dave and I enjoyed our beers and the sunset behind the Lakeshore pavilion. We offered input when necessary, but they really did an excellent job and had so much fun doing it! Laney had a great time presenting it to the group who was very surprised at our trip.
Several families stopped us after the program to chat about how we manage, where we were going next, and where we'd been in the past. They chuckled as we were describing our tent set up with sleeping bags and quilts as a Florida family would. They all wished up much luck, especially with the 34 degree night! And this is still August!!
No comments:
Post a Comment