I loved my family reunion in Yellowstone. As I was driving home I kept thinking that I loved our trip to Yellowstone the way that I loved our first ski trip as a family. Since both stories belong in our family history - I digress.
On our first family ski trip it was Nate and I and our two young boys at the time and we were green. We didn't know what to expect or what to do - so that first trip to Brundage was a comedy of errors. There was an hour wait in line to rent ski's only to find out that we were in the wrong line and would have to wait another hour. There was the woman at the ticket booth who amazingly told us that blue squares were the easiest runs. And with that little gem of misinformation came a few good bruises and a walk down the mountain carrying my ski's. In the middle of the day a huge storm blew in and being new to this none of us had goggles. The snow turned to ice. Josh fell off the ski lift. The rental boots didn't fit. And my personal favorite - when we got to the car at the end of the day we realized that we had left the engine running while we put on our coats and gloves ... and then left it running ... the entire day. As we drove home Nate and I looked at each other and smiled from ear to ear. We had just had so much fun. I knew that if we could love the day so much- even with all the things that had gone wrong- then this skiing thing was awesome. And it was. The four of us had spent the entire day together in the most beautiful setting you could think of. There were long trips up the ski lift chatting with the kids. There was the fun of watching the boys pick up a sport more quickly than we did and the adventure of trying something new together. Hot chocolate at the lodge. Tall pine trees covered in powdery snow. The magic of the day totally trumped the long list of things that went wrong.
Yellowstone was like that for me. There were mosquitoes, lots. Josh poked Sophie in the eye with a stick and then poked himself in the eye with a stick. We all shared a room - so none of us slept much. There were lots of hours in the car and a few sunburns. On the last night the power went out and we didn't have any hot water. I got three blisters. But as Nate and I drove home we both agreed that we had had a blast. The magic of Yellowstone totally trumped all of those things. There were herds of bison and baby bison right outside the window of our car. One wolf, one bear and a herd of elk that walked right in front of us on our walking path. Beautiful hikes that end when you are standing next to a huge river right at the point that it falls to a canyon far below. The surprising beauty of hot springs and mud pots. There was the adventure of discovering something new to see in our own backyard and lots of time spent together. Campfire chats and night games for the kids. And, my personal favorite, the chance to get together with extended family that we hadn't seen in far too long and the fun of making friends with the people that are the most fun to make friends with... family.
