In middle school I wrote an essay about "Old Faithful" and dreamed about going. As a teenager that dream was fulfilled but honestly it was not at all as I had imagined...although it could be due to me being a typical teenager or the fact I had a wild imagination of what I thought it would be like.
Then again it was mentioned over and over by each of my family members how much better this trip was, the first time we barely saw any animals, we drove a van that didn't have A/C in the middle of summer, not to mention we tent camped so setting up camp and packing up each day didn't help my motivation.
When the trip was originally brought up we were not excited about going because of the camping aspect. I can do a few nights camping but at the end of the day I don't want to have to find a place and sit up my bed worrying about what critters may be lurking outside. My husband and first born get headaches pretty easy which also contributed to the thought that maybe we should just look into a lodge or cabin that would be near my family but have a/c and a place that if they needed to lay down they could. Then we found out my brother's family was thinking the same thoughts which helped turn the rest of our family into renting a house for the week as a homebase.
Once the idea of renting a house large enough for all of us was brought up we were all on board and excited. My dad and sister did the planning for our lodging and itinerary with the change that we decided to visit my husband's family in Boise over the 4th of July and then circle back to meet up with my family in Big Sky Montana.
I had final walk through the morning we left so we didn't get to leave as early as we had hoped. Once we crossed into Nebraska it started to pour which helped me stay focused as I drove. At lunch I had received a text message with heartbreaking news so while my husband slept I prayed and kept my mind on the present. We stayed the night in Laramie, Wyoming at a very nice lodge "AmericInn Lodge" they had snacks out in the lobby and even though we had to get on the road before breakfast they had bananas and coffee ready. We made great time getting to Boise, Idaho but due to the holiday most sites we were going to visit were closed so we enjoyed catching up and getting to know my husband's aunt and uncle more.
On Sunday we had planned to meet up at Big Sky after church then go grocery shopping for the week but the first congregation we stopped at had cancelled services and the next was nearing the end so we ended up having lunch and going shopping for our group to help save on time. Here is where I would recommend before going on vacation or going on a roadtrip to make sure your credit card companies know that you will be traveling. We have never had an issue before but while checking out and having almost $400.00 in food we had not 1 but 2 credit cards declined! We keep cash on us but not enough to cover that let alone what else we may need the rest of our trip. Luckily the bank texted me and asked if it was truly us making the purchase and once confirmed allowed the transaction. Unfortunately this happened again on our way home but by then we knew the drill and how to override it. Can't say it wasn't embarrassing at the time but we can laugh about it now.
With having to spend extra time at the store fixing our credit issues we decided to meet my family in West Yellowstone at church for evening services. It was a lovely small congregation, very friendly. I love my family but was worried what a week spent in close quarters would do to us. The last time we had spent more than 24 hours together would have been at Christmas. It was my husband's first time meeting our niece who was 4 months now but so far so good.
Our first change to the group itinerary happened Monday. Instead of heading down to Old Faithful we decided to use it as a day to explore Big Sky and rest from the trip there, about 18 hours without stops. Considering that we had 4 kids under the age of 7 and we would be driving at least an hour into Yellowstone each day, it was a Great idea!
We went down the mountain explored the streams and a few shops. I think I'm the only one who bought anything and it wasn't anything related to our trip. :) New running shoes! We played games, relaxed, played in the hot tub (until my kid fell out) and worked together to make dinner and prep for the next day's travel.
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