I spent my 13th Birthday in the Upper Geyser Basin/Old Faithful area! We got front row seats to see Old Faithful, then went on a two hour walk to see many other geysers. The one in the picture is Riverside Geyser, which erupted for a full 20 minutes! We also got a tour of the historic Old Faithful Inn. There is actually a treehouse built into the inside of the Inn lobby. They have fantastic cookies and cream ice cream with HUGE chunks of Oreo!
Charis and I have been surprised by a reversal in our “Sharing Stories” expectations. We imagined God setting us up with opportunities to share our “stuff” with others , but it has turned out to be more often the opposite. Folks have been extending their stories and generosity towards us before we even get a chance to initiate. The couple camping next to us are from Seattle and have shared great insights and itinerary tips for our next Canada leg of the journey. They have travelled extensively and knew of places we should see that we had not even heard of. This am a couple shared their firewood. This afternoon was an especially fun share. Holly who is a retired Ranger shared her stories of being a ranger at Camp David during the G-8 Summit. Did you know Camp David is in a National Park? The Ranger in this picture shared with Charis the privilege of lowering the American Flag for the day! We will continue to look for opportunities to share and will also remain open to the abundant way God is blessing us with other people’s sharing hearts.
Our fourth mystery destination is…… Yellowstone National Park! We will be here until Sunday 9/4. We have seen the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Geysers, Paint Pots, Buffalo and lots more! We have been surprised by how diverse it is here. One day you see the waterfalls in the canyon, then the next you drive just 30 miles into a totally different landscape of geysers and thermal features.
We had an overall good experience at the KOA this weekend. The only downside was a cabin of drunken neighbors who were night owls. We didn’t get as much sleep as we wanted. Mom confessed that she had been tempted to make coffee really loud at 6am the next morning, but refrained. One of the fun bonuses of the campground was that it was heavily populated with free range domestic bunnies! One stole my Mom’s almost empty cup of granola and got it stuck on it’s nose!
As if we weren’t tired enough, after hiking Harney Peak we went canoeing. Actually we did it at a restful pace, frequently stopping to marvel at the enormous rock formations in the middle of the lake. I took the canoe for a solo paddle while Charis explored one of the little rock islands. The wind picked up and it was no easy task getting back to her! We watched a wedding take place on the shore as well. Then we were officially tired!
Yesterday we climbed Harney Peak in Custer State Park. It is the highest point in the USA east of the Rockies! We saw a mother and baby deer on the way up and explored the fire tower on the summit. We hiked for 4 hours, 7 miles round trip. We were happily tired when we got back.
Needles Highway! This was one narrow road! Fun to finally be on it after detouring to it online 4 years ago. We drove through tunnels in the rock that were one lane only. A very large pickup truck with spikes on his front and back wheels tried to pass us at one point, yikes! The views were stunning and we saw another buffalo!
Wind Cave National Park! Boxwork is the unique formation found only in Wind and Jewel Caves in South Dakota. Since it is found nowhere else in the world, that makes this a pretty unique place to see. The boxwork is the result of a chemical reaction between CO2 and O2. The gist is that it would be like building a house out of sugar cubes and mortar. When the sugar cubes dissolved in rain you’d be left with the interesting mortar structure. That is boxwork and it was everywhere throughout the cave. Amazing!
We saw a bunch of real buffalo today by the side of the Wildlife Loop Road in Custer State Park. This one was really close to our car! Before this on our way into the park we had to slow down because a single buffalo was walking in the road. We also saw a pronghorn and lots of prairie dogs.
the amazing grace 