Day 17

It was a very chilly night for all of us and we all slept deep down in our sleeping bags. Little did I know until we got in them that our tent was set up on a slope. A slope that would mean Laney would end up in the side of the tent, I would end up smooshed next to her, and Ryan would be practically on top of me. By the looks of our tent when we woke up we could have all slept in a full sized bed.

Brayden kept asking if we were going to get up so we could eat which just made me want to stay in bed longer. I left the kids whe they started climbing head-first into their sleeping bags to see what it was like. Pretty smelly I would imagine!

After breakfast I declared we would be washing hair and feet at the bathroom. No showers since we've been on the parkway - about 12 days - has taken it's toll on my mood and nose! Fortunately this bathroom had a tall faucet so all our heads fit under just fine.  Our feet required a little more balance and coordination but we made it work. Once I was finished I walked out and made a mad emoji face when I saw the kids running around in the dirt again. Oh well, at least they had relatively clean feet for a few minutes!

We spent the day playing card games, reading, playing chess, and eating. It was so nice to be able to dry out and bask in the sunshine. Brayden and I went to the top of the meadow to throw the frisbee at one point then were eventually joined by everyone so we decided to play ultimate frisbee.















Teams ended up being Laney, Emily, and Brayden against me, Ryan, and Evey. We had to split up the most competitive and experienced ultimate frisbee players! Us girls scored right away answered quickly by the other team. Within a few minutes we were tied at 2-2, then 3-3 shortly thereafter. The other team took the lead 4-3 and we answered them to tie it 4-4. Emily and I agreed to play to 5 so this was the moment where the Clarke kids could explode or play gracefully. Thankfully Emily caught the winning goal and they chose grace this day.

We decided to get back into the shade for a little while and Laney ducked back into the hammock to read. Brayden decided to be in my lap and the other two picked up the water guns and decided to fire all around until deciding on eachother's mouths for targets. They were soaked by the end!

We were expecting a few hours of rain today so once I felt the temperature start to drop we packed up all our stuff and ducked into the tent. Evey joined us and entertained the kids with a game on her Kindle while I wrote. Laney started out in the hammock until the crazy thunder started and she raced over to climb back inside with us. She was very brave until then!

When there was a break in the rain we all ran to the bathroom and I pulled out cereal for dinner as it looked like we only had about 30 minutes until the next blob of rain. We ate pretty quickly then walked around the campground a little while until the drops started again.

Evey and Emily ducked into their tent for the night and we did the same. The kids taught me how to play Farkle and I almost beat Ryan. Unfortunately she was rolling three pair the whole game. We ended the night playing 3Up 3Down again - a definite favorite. Tempers started flaring after all that time in the tent so I decided it was time for bed.

Day 12

Our goal was to leave the park by 9am to get on the road for another long drive. As I was getting the car ready, Dave popped out of the tent and was already getting it cleared to be put away. It's Day 12 and he's gotten into the middle of the pack up groove! Once we packed all we could we cooked a few bagels for our driving breakfast and magically two kids popped out of their tent. Brayden got to work on finishing his junior ranger book and we had the tent packed up in no time.







After meeting up with Grammie we pulled into the Visitor's Center for junior ranger time but Grammie just kept on going. The ranger we met was actually born in Pensacola at Baptist Hospital but had graduated from Florida so he had a few word to say to Brayden who was wearing his FSU sweatshirt. After checking their books he had the kids recite the pledge and almost slipped in, "...and I promise to be a lifelong Florida fan" at the end but Brayden caught on.



After grabbing a few groceries and gas we were on the road. Grammie and I were both a little nervous about the availability of gas as we'd heard rumors of the possibility of Wyoming running out because of the influx of visitors for the eclipse.

Before too long we were at the border of our next state. Often we are the only car that stops at these signs but today we had to wait in line to get our picture!

We had a very uneventful trip to our next spot in the very southern part of Wyoming. Until the last 10 miles we were on the interstate battling tractor trailers and giant RVs for lanes with miles and miles between cities. Once we made the turn south at Rock Springs we were so happy to see the landscape changing. It reminded all of us instantly of Utah. And it reminded Dave of Star Wars.

We were met by one of the biggest character hosts I've ever met who escorted us to our site and proceeded to tell us all the things we could do in the short time we had there. One of the things I was most excited about was a HOT, FREE shower!!  We hadn't had this luxury in almost a week!

Ryan helped us set up the tents in what I now know is called the high desert then we headed down to the water to cool off as it was currently 90 degrees. We asked the host as we were getting set up what the overnight temperature looked like and he shocked us with 46 as his answer. I'm not sure I've ever experienced a swing in temperature like that. Grammie and I sorta didn't believe him.



Our host mentioned the temperature of the water being pretty warm so we all put on our suits and scrambled down the side of our rocky slope. I'm not sure what high desert residents consider warm, but this water definitely was not even remotely on the not cold side. It was freezing!  That didn't stop these three from doing the plunge after a little coaxing though!

While Brayden and I skipped the flattest rocks I've ever seen, Ryan gave Laney the clay spa treatment. Lola even splashed around a little bit before settling on the towel to watch the crazy kids.

Once we were all watered out we trekked back up the rock and while Grammie started dinner we all took much needed showers.  The facility was not the best we'd ever been in but the desire to have a hot shower outweighed everything. Except I didn't quite get a hot shower. Since there was only one shower in the ladies room I helped the girls then took mine. I suppose perhaps the hot water tank only has a capacity for one adult and three kids to have a hot shower as mine was moving toward as cold as the lake we were just in. I refused to wait and took about a 20-second shower and returned to the site with a grimace. I was given first dibs on the shower at the next site instantly!

And there is our little tent on the left in this beautiful place!

After dinner I curled up in the chair in the middle of our area and watched pieces of the sunset while the kids played Nerf war all around me. The view was practically 360 degrees of beautiful rock formations.

We decided to play a few card games with our leisure time before bed while Grammie watched for awhile. By the time we were finished he night sky was pitch black with a billion stars staring back at us. I couldn't wait for the sunrise.