When Char and I were talking about doing this trip, I'd said that I'd like to see the country, and that I'd always wanted to see the places I'd never seen, like Old Faithful. Old Faithful had been, for me, an imagined highlight of this trip before we'd gotten here, and I can say it did not disappoint!
We entered Yellowstone National Park, and it was amazing. There are so many places that we've visited that are SO very beautiful! At Yellowstone, instead of looking God's handiwork and saying, "Wow, that's so BEAUTIFUL!!" I looked around and said, "Wow, that's WEIRD!!"
There are so many places to explore and geologic features at each turn in the boardwalk. It looks like another planet. Add to the weirdness that some of the roads in Yellowstone are currently melting and bubbling because of all the heat and the thin crust of the earth. Again, WEIRD! And amazing!!
We also got to see a buffalo on the side of the road. That was fun! Outside of the park, a man had informed me, "I'm an old-time cowboy, and let me tell you, you stay away from those buffalo! People think they're too big to do much, but those buffalo can run 30 MPH. If they look you in the eyes, watch out! And if his tail goes up, you're a goner!" With this in mind, we watched the buffalo from inside the car, and didn't join the crowd of people that jumped out of their cars for close-up photography, without the use of a close-up lens. It was still really cool to watch the buffalo.
And then there was Old Faithful. Isn't it so impressive that this geyser erupts with such regularity that the rangers can post a sign about its next eruption time? I think this was part of the excitement - waiting and watching for Old Faithful to erupt. While waiting, the kids got hot in the sun and decide to do what the dogs in the row in front of them were doing.
Later in the week, we got to get together with my college friend, Sarah, and her four kids. It was really fun for my kids, and I loved the chance to get to chat with Sarah about life, life lessons, and faith, in the last 17 years.
Sarah mentioned once that she had been looking forward to chatting and seeing if this trip was as perfect as it sounded on my blog. That was weird to me, as I know our family, and thus this trip, is not perfect! Parts of this trip ARE perfect. God's parts. The wonderful beaches, gorgeous mountains, weird Yellowstone area... these things are perfect, no doubt! Parts of this trip (our parts) are NOT perfect in any way, evidenced by publically-displayed glorious temper tantrums performed by one young Utter, moments of ungodly terror from me as Char drives the ridiculously large 5th wheel around switchbacks and cliffs, and fights between several young Utters over important issues like peanut butter thickness. I thought of putting a picture of these events on this blog, to be sure no one ever again believes that we are perfect, but I remembered that parents should not embarrass their children online, so you'll just need to believe me. :)
Well, thus ends this blog, as we're going back out to Yellowstone. It's weird, and it's fantastic! Hope your week is similar! Love from the Utter family!
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