Day 18

I had to drag the kids out of bed this morning - but they asked for it! First up was taking the roof cargo box off the top of the car. I'd researched some prime parking the night before and we'd had issues with garage parking before so I decided just to leave it on our picnic table!  Laney didn't even notice.

We were on the road eating breakfast in the car 15 minutes before I'd planned to leave so I was hopeful we would miss most of the morning yuck traffic. We were basically successful until we hit the city - hooray! We had noticed this cool wall reorganizer on the bridge the night before called a Road Zipper. It basically gobbled up the barrier wall in between the 6 lanes of traffic and spit it out in another position to shift the number of lanes to one side or the other - brilliant! I think we need this on our Pensacola Bay bridge some days for sure.





After a willies-inducing climb up a San Francisco 3 block-long
hill and back down we made it to our parking spot with plenty of time to make it to one of the first buses for our tour. Our short walk along Fisherman's Wharf was pretty quiet since it was so early.


We only had one day to experience the city so I thought this might be the quickest way to do that with the least amount of stress for me! The kids had enjoyed the other time we'd ridden the double-decker buses and this ride was no different!














We all plugged in our headphones and listened to our guide who pointed out all the interesting buildings and relayed the history of the city. He talked really fast - even for us - so we had to really pay attention.

Taking photos is always a little tricky in a city with lighting issues and obstructions so it is a little nicer to be on the upper deck of a bus. Still, I only like the tops of the buildings without all the distractions of the street.

I spotted a park I'd planned to drive to if needed at one of our stops so we hopped off at beautiful City Hall. I love this little bit of green space in the middle of the city.  After a snack, my playground-snob kids jumped on all this different equipment for awhile. They think they've seen every playground configuration having been to so many parks and campgrounds all over the country but this one was definitely different!

Brayden was only halfway playing as he just too cool to be a kid anymore until we got to the swing! They all had a great time swinging as high as possible without falling out while the others jumped and pushed as hard as they could. 

And of course Ryan loved this place. I think she will be a kid for as long as she can possibly squeeze it in.  And of course I'm fine with that because I'm not sure I've ever completely grown up! We could never have a slide like this in Florida with the heat and it was so fast! We had to tear her away after an 27 times going down to get back on the bus. 

Our next stop was Haight Ashbury. Ever since our very first trip people have called me a hippie. I will admit we do eat differently, are outside markedly more than most, and put little value in screen time but I'm definitely not a hippie in the 60s sense of the word. Maybe a wanderer? A nomad? Dave and I have been making some changes that will only encourage this exponentially over the next 10 years!

We enjoyed all the shops thinking how nice it would be to shop at these vintage clothing stores when the girls needed an outfit for the themed parties and camps they go to. A definite favorite was the quaint little bookstore wedged in between smoke shops and thrift stores. Two of my kids were finishing up books daily so they jumped at the opportunity to go in. We only walked out with 2 books though since I'd be carrying them in my backpack all day. 

We opted to move our picnic lunch from Golden Gate Park to the north vista at the Golden Gate bridge to enjoy that view instead. It was wickedly windy of course so we sat behind a wall and people-watched while we ate. It always amazes me how many different languages we hear being spoken when we travel.  On the way into the city we saw we would be playing an $8 toll to use the bridge and we learned from our guide this bridge has an income of over a million dollars EVERY DAY!

We walked a good portion of the bridge before turning around. It was quite cold but also pretty stressful with all the bikes and people. Next time we'll have to just drive to the other view point that is much more quiet. We did enjoy the different view of Alcatraz, Angel Island, and the downtown skyline! A few years ago we found out Angel Island is the route the Bloomberg family likely took to come into the U.S. The girls had  also learned a little bit about it this year in one of their classes.

Our next stop was the very famous Lombard Street. The bus dropped us at the bottom of a very steep hill we needed to hike up in order to see the curvy street. Brayden was now thankful he'd gone to soccer conditioning before we left because it was pretty much a breeze for him!  The girls and I chugged along and made it to the top needing to get our breath back.

The kids were amazed at the line of cars waiting to drive down the street! They enjoyed watching them navigate the hairpin turns while we walked down the steps. We learned on the bus the reason for the curvy street was to change the incline from 27 degrees to 16 degrees because people wanted cars on this street. It actually used to be a two-way street of eight hairpin turns! It wasn't a popular tourist destination until one of the home owners on the street decided to plant hydrangeas along all the curves. I can't imagine living on this street with the amount of traffic and pedestrians!

I was ready to leave the bus time table and commotion and explore the rest on our own. Of course we had to walk to Ghiradelli Square and enjoy some chocolate. The kids were thrilled to be handed a couple pieces when we walked through the shops even if it wasn't their favorite flavor!  It was also time for a snack so we decided on the Crissy Field cookie bits sundae. Ryan isn't actually enjoying her bite that much she was just mad I wanted her to wait for me to take a picture! We may have also bought a box to share with Grammie.

On our way through the shops Laney spotted a pusheen cat store. One of her obsessions is cats, especially these guys. She couldn't believe there was a whole store! I could already see her birthday list getting longer. 

Our last walk was back down Fisherman's Wharf to Pier 39. There weren't many harbor seals hanging out but we got to see a few. I handed Ryan the camera to capture them. Her favorite is always the babies and swimming seals.

The kids called Dave as I navigated the traffic through the city back to our campground. Our plan worked to get in and out of the city early so the drive wasn't stressful or stopped much at all. 

Laney cooked dinner while the other two whittled some sticks for marshmallows. They are always ready for a fire! Laney even had a mooching helper for a little while!

We all also enjoyed getting a chance to enjoy our campsite a little before and after dinner. This beautiful redwood tree is standing right next to my tent. I tried to capture their height but this picture doesn't even come close to doing it justice.

Brayden and Ryan played a few made up games with a football and soccer ball. Laney and I walked down to a little library she'd spotted the day we arrived. That girl has an eagle eye for books!

We ended the night with a campfire and our first real s'mores. Laney got out one of her journals because the kids came up with some good ideas for how things are going to work when we return home. We will be in a new house jumping back into school before we know it!

Day 23 - Halfway!

I say this every year at this time, but it's so hard to believe we are already at our halfway point! Usually Dave would be at home saying to us, "Only halfway?" and this year since he's with us it's changed! Fortunately for today, there is the rare 4G in our campground so Dave is able to work from our site this morning. 

After breakfast the kids and I haul the laundry and our dirty selves to get clean. This spot affords us 2 showers per night and we'd only used 2 so far. After I started the laundry we enjoyed what seemed like a 15-minute scalding hot shower. Ryan really needed to shower as her hair was turning into one giant tangle. As I was brushing it out while she showered, she screamed at what I thought was a tangle but I found out later she'd spotted someone's teeth sitting in a tray on the ground in the shower nextdoor. Definitely a first for her!

Grammie and Laney were going to meet us at our spot this morning so I knew we had time to be able to fold and sort all the laundry. It was nice to have time for that as well as reorganizing the car a little bit to prepare for leaving the next day. Once they pulled in we headed to our Visitor's Center to get some information about a good hike. I hike in the northwestern area of the park had been recommended to Grammie, but we couldn't find any information on it and rangers had all been quite confused as to why we would want to go there. 

We settled on hiking the Lakeshore loop from a trail head close to our campground so we would be able to return for a quick lunch and be on time for our last tour. We headed down the trail making lots of noise and regularly yelling, "Hey Bear!" so as not to surprise one on the trail. Once we got to the top of a hill we spotted a nasty looking storm that we couldn't really determine the direction of so we quickened our steps and reached Duck Pond within a few minutes. 

The kids spotted a fun structure to play in before I delivered the terrible news that we would need to go back right away because of the storm.

Our steps were even quicker heading back with a few breaks for the altitute-imparied people. As we were walking back through the parking lot Grammie realized we went down the wrong trail as the first few drops hit us. The trail we chose was only about a mile roundtrip but it ended up being perfect with the rain looming. We headed back to our campground with plans for lunch but I wasn't sure the rain was even going to give us time to cook so we went back to Grammie's where we would be able to cook inside.

Within 30 seconds of getting on the road, it started pouring and did so for our entire drive until we turned into Grammie's campground. With only about an hour until we needed to meet for our tour, we threw together our late lunch and wolfed it down. We did have to start Ryan about 10 minutes before everyone for her to finish in time!

We walked to our pickup location just in time to board the bus for the tour we were all most excited about where we would be able to spot some wildlife in the park. We all had our one or two animals we definitely want to see while we were here so our hopes were high!

Our first stop was to watch some trumpeter swan in a lake. They weren't on anyone's list, but they were definitely beautiful, elegant animals to watch!

Next we stopped close to a General Store and a viewing spot for Tower Falls. We have seen so many waterfalls over these years it's hard to remember which one is which! 

Our tour guide said this General Store was originally placed at this spot to sell brake pads as it is very close to the climb of the highest point in the park, but we just settled for some ice cream. Brayden giggled as we both picked the "Buffalo Chip" flavor.

As we drove through Hayden and Lamar Valley we were able to see tons of bison. They were on both sides of the road, in the road, in the river, the men chasing the ladies, it was fun to watch. At one point we got off the bus to view them from a little cliff and our guide set some scopes on a larger one as well as a few pronghorn near the water. These guys were on our list to see as well!

We also were able to spot an osprey nest with it's guard standing by and as we drove back over the river he had us look out for beavers that frequent the area. Sure enough they were there so we stopped to watch them as well. Ryan spotted them walking through the grass so everyone ran to the other side of the bridge while she and I watched them from afar. They came back a short time later and swam around the trees down the river. 

The tour had a 15-minute bathroom stop scheduled at the turn around point and Ryan spotted something else on the hill a little ways away. Another person saw it a few minutes later so our guide grabbed his scope and we started searching. The second person identified it as a badger, but all we found was one of his burrow entrances. I felt like we were in the Caddyshack movie trying to find the gopher! After we all got back on the bus the last guy getting on showed a picture he'd just taken of the badger. I supposed after he'd decided we'd all left he would pop out and investigate!

On our way back through the valleys the bison were old news but we did spot some pronghorn closer to the road. These guys are the fastest land animal in North America!

It was getting pretty dark for any good pictures by now. We saw a few elk along the water a good distance away from us. After a few more miles we approached a bunch of parked cars and people all along a ridge taking pictures and watching something through binoculars. Once we passed the ridge of the hill we could see there was a grizzly bear walking by the water. This guy was massive lumbering along the shore. Then about 50 yards behind him was another grizzly walking the same direction. By the time the bus had an area to park we decided it was too far away and not safe with it getting so dark so we kept moving. We were all happy to cross these guys off our list from a bus instead of on a trail!

It was pretty late by the time we got back to our campsite. The next day we would be moving on so we all made sure to try to bundle up and get a good night's rest. 

Day 21

As we move north and higher in elevation, we keep adjusting our night warmth strategies. Last night Dave was excited to be back in our tent and only the two of us sharing one of the king size quilts. The girls would be sleeping together with Brayden's extra sleeping mat and bag and the other quilt. Last night I tried sleeping in pants, 2 shirts, a sweatshirt, and cocooning in my sleeping bag while being completely covered by the quilt. Laney and I both ended up cold in the middle of the night because our sleepmates decided revenge was a good idea by stealing the quilt! And when Laney wakes up in the middle of the night she must pee, but I was very proud that she bravely walked all by herself!

We were scheduled to meet Brayden and Grammie at 9am at their campground so we left by 8am to get there. No camp breakfast this morning! We made it quite early so we took a few minutes to browse the gift shop at the General Store for t-shirts. This year Ryan the saver hasn't spent a dime yet, Brayden has spent a little, and Laney has spent most of hers. She has a hard time passing by the stuffed animals, Native American gifts, and especially jewelry.

Our 1975 Diesel bus rolled up shortly after we found Grammie and Brayden. Our tour guide greeted us with a few jokes and we found our seats. It's so nice to have 3 adults matched up to 3 kids so we don't have to split up much. After some explanations of the tour and picking up a few more people we were under way for our all-day Circle of Fire tour.

Back before Dave and I were married, we'd visited the South Rim of the Grand Canyon for a few days. One of the books he purchased then was a very morbid "Deaths in the Grand Canyon". He found the same version for Yellowstone while we were in the Grand Tetons so he and Brayden started reading this one. Our first stop was the West Thumb Geyser Basin and I was wondering why Brayden was being so protective of me and the girls all of a sudden until I remembered he'd been reading that book!

Yellowstone has more than 10,000 thermal features in the park and we were walking over about 50 of them in this area. They varied from boiling green springs to mini-geysers to steaming fumeroles.

On the way to our next stop we were thoroughly entertained with stories of the beginnings of the park and the people who were instrumental in moving it toward what it is today. We reached the Continental Divide shortly after a store about Lake Isa. All these years I'd told the kids about what happens with the waters at the Continental Divide and they all turned and looked at me when we found out this Lake actually does the opposite of what it is supposed to. Yet another exception to the rule!

Our next stop was Old Faithful! We arrived just as the last predicted eruption happened so we had about an hour before we needed to find our seats for the next one. We walked inside the Old Faithful Inn and were stunned by the design and wookwork in the 6-story entrance and foyer. It looked like a giant, beautiful treehouse inside! After browsing the gift shops we found a spot outside to enjoy our picnic and watch all the people.

Ryan was getting very nervous we would miss the big event so Dave found us a front row seat for the action. As we waited and we listened as all the jokes about "turning the water on" and "I guess that was it!" were passed around as the time ticked on and the geysers toyed with us by bubbling over and shooting a little burst of water. Thankfully the prediction was only a few minutes off and Old Faithful was spouting water high up into the sky.



Our next stop was the paint pots - an area featuring boiling mud and a few geysers. The kids took pictures of all the activity while we enjoyed walking around to see everything.

Next up was the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River. Still in August the falls were rushing with water as we talked about how much more intense it must be after snowmelt.

Our next stop was our tour guide's favorite spot in the park. He instructed us all to not peek to the left at the Artist Point until we were at the bottom of all the steps. I think everyone cheated except me and Grammie! The view of Upper Falls was just beautiful and one I'd seen painted many times of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The afternoon light was harsh for pictures, but these falls are almost 3 times as high as Niagra Falls!

It was afternoon as we stepped back on the bus and the tour guide talked about celebrations. He mentioned a grandmother having a birthday on the bus and made Grammie stand up. He talked about his days as a school bus driver and how the birthday girl would stand on the seat as everyone sang then they would bang on the roof, so in much the same excitement we did the same. Minus Grammie standing on the seat. I knew it wouldn't be right away. I knew it might night even be today. But I knew I would get in trouble for this.

On our way back to our drop off spot, we were treated to our first view of the 5,000 bison in the park in what is called a "bison jam". There were bison taking their sweet time walking across the road and watching all the cars. After we saw this guy trying to scratch his annoying itch, I noticed the majority of the trees in the area had their bark rubbed off in about the same spot.

Once we said our thank yous to our guide and goodbyes to Grammie, we headed back to our site for dinner and showers for two stinky girls. It's hard to believe the swing in temperatures each day here as we are dressing each day like we are flying from Alaska to Mexico! By 10am each morning most of our layers have been peeled off and we are guzzling water. See these hot faces from this afternoon!?









Showers weren't in the cards this night as there was a line out the door and I wasn't in the mood to wait so we went back for dinner and I crashed while Dave and the girls played games and read.