Day 5

Sunday, 11:30am

We drove and slept, took turns, and sometimes just pulled over for a 20-minute nap with my head on the steering wheel. I woke up at 4:30 and started driving again, but realized after about 20 minutes that I really wasn’t awake, so I pulled over again. We finally started off at about 6 am, 90 minutes from Old Faithful according to our GPS. 90 minutes, that is, if you actually just get in the car and drive!

7am: stop for cold cereal and get everyone dressed. This, of course, takes an hour. It’s chilly outside, but not too bad. The first thing I noticed as Jeff opens the doors to get clothes out is a mosquito the size of a small bird. Mosquitoes in Texas are small and silent, so you usually don’t realize they’re there until you’ve been bitten several times, but these Wyoming mosquitoes have all the subtlety of a small helicopter. The kids and I were able to kill all the bugs that flew into the car, and our breakfast was accompanied with much smacking. Drew and Jace thought it was a great excuse to whack someone’s head and yell, “Dang! Missed it!”

The Grand Teton National Forest was gorgeous, and the mountains appeared out of nowhere, still dotted with snow. The lakes, rivers, and canyons are breathtaking, even just from the car windows as we drove straight through. We did stop long enough to take a picture at the Grand Teton sign, minus a sleeping Lily.

We’re now driving through Yellowstone. It’s so odd to see everything so green, and yet there are many many places where the hills and meadows appear to be distant porcupines or pincushions. The forest fires of the past few years are plainly evident, marked by scarred and bare trees that still stand tall above the new growth. What’s even more remarkable is the occasional full-grown living tree standing among the dead, the rare lone tree that somehow managed to survive the fire. I know it sounds cliché, but the wonder of nature and God’s creations is absolutely magnificent here. There just aren’t enough words to do justice to all of the sights here.

Headed for Old Faithful now; the kids are playing happily in their carseats (no electronics! Hurrah!), and since it’s Sunday morning we’re listening to a church CD. Jeff’s sleepy, so it’s my turn to drive.