A Yellowstone Dream Come True

Last summer, when I went on a family trip, was the BEST summer of my entire life. The memory of that special vacation is forever imprinted into my memory… and I smile to myself as I sweetly reveal my story to you.

When my parents first told me that we were going on a family vacation I just—shrugged. But then they told me it was a trip toYellowstone National Park.I was so excited that I could hardly sleep the next few weeks. As a child I always loved the outdoors and often dreamed of going to Yellowstone. Now my dream had become a reality and I was PUMPED about it!I waited and waited until finally my family and I jumped into the suburban and drove to Wyoming. Several days later we reached the park and when we finally did I felt my eyes widen as big as saucers. Adrenaline rushed through my veins as I took in the beautiful scenery before me. The trees, perhaps thousands upon thousands of years old, stood magnificently erect above everything else, their branches brushing the very tips of the clouds. Animals roamed around freely, unafraid of hunters and fat with an abundance of food.

Before we headed over to the hotel we stopped for a quick family hike. It was very simple with nice scenery. We heard clapping and watched as a lady slowly turned the corner clapping her hands loudly and looking around her in anticipated fear. When she saw us her face grew red. She tried to play it off by walking casually away. Her husband was right behind her, clearly annoyed. It was hilarious because the woman really thought that she would see a bear. After our “hike” we drove further into the park to eat. We found a restaurant (if you would call it that) made of logs. I gorged myself with the last decent meal I would have for days. As we finished eating my parents suddenly surprised us. “Who wants to sleep in the car?” my dad asked randomly. What had happened was this: we came early and our hotel reservation wasn’t until the next day. So the first night I spent in Yellowstone was sleeping in the suburban on top of the luggage. My back was snapped in two and we looked like we just came out of a jungle but we survived. We lodged in the Snow Lodge Inn and discovered that there wasn’t any air conditioning or television. The next few days we visited geysers and hiked.

There are dozens of bison and caribou. I got within 10 feet of a female caribou. That was one of my favorite moments of the trip. Another is when we found a small river and had the nerve to see who could stand on a rock about halfway into the river. Of course my father tried first and he made it… but almost slipped from the rock’s slippery surface. I tried next and made it also but…I slipped. The first thought I had when I fell back into the freezing mountain water was: River Monsters. River Monsters is a show about how Jeremy Wade travels all over the world searching for large, man-killing fish living in the depths of murky rivers. So needless to say I sort of—freaked out. I laugh at it now because it was so stupid. The river was hardly big enough to be called a river. It was more like a creek, except deeper. One day I’ll take my kids there. I’ll never forget my incredible journey. Never.