We refer to our 2nd Big Trip Out West as the Yellowstone Vacation, but Yellowstone was just the main attraction.  Like millions of other Americans, we found enchantment, beauty and serenity all along the Great American Vacation Trail.

July 1, 2002:  I'm terrible about getting out the door.  Tracey helped us get going and it must have driven her crazy.  And she  hates good byes, but she handled this one really well.  I had just returned from a weekend in Orlando for the ATG accordion festival, so it took me all day to pack.  We didn't leave until 2:00 pm so I cut the day short and we stayed in Grand Island, Nebraska instead of Ogallala.  No sense driving yourself hard when you're on vacation.

Mormon Island State Recreation Area.  Showers and a lake for Quinn to swim in.

July 2, 2002:  The next day we saw our first Attraction:  Carhenge.  I had noticed an article about the Top 10 Kookiest Vacation Destinations on the internet just the week before.  Carhenge was listed and as I drove I remembered it was in Alliance, NE, right on the way to the Black Hills.  I liked it except for the fact that they went one step too far and called it a "Car Art Reserve".

Sheridan Lake, north of Hill City, SD, our home for 3 nights.

July 3, 2002:  Quinn and I explored two caves, Jewel Cave and Wind Cave.  We took the Jewel Cave candlelight spelunking tour and it was awesome.  Lots of skinny crawling and climbing through crawlspaces and chimneys.  I liked it because it was a hike through the wild, undeveloped parts of the cave.

July 4, 2002:  I thought the Fourth of July would be an appropriate day to visit Mount Rushmore, but the long lines, car searches, dogs and stuff turned us off, so we just drove by, took a look and continued to Harney Peak, the highest mountain east of the Rockies in North America.  We hiked for 3 hours (mostly Stairmaster stuff) and were rewarded with a spectacular view of the Black Hills and Plains to the east.  I had done this climb in 1981 when I was 20, but I'd forgotten how great it was.  This is the first mountain Quinn's ever climbed!  He didn't complain a bit.

To climb Harney Peak, we took the Cathedral Spires trail off the Needles Highway.  The Black Hills is one gigantic uplift of granite that has been turned on edge, resulting in eroded needles, towers and spires all over the place.  Here is the Cathedral Spires area seen after we hiked around it from the top of Harney Peak. 

This is Quinn with his hiking buddy, Lex.  He always got e-mail addresses from his traveling friends so he could stay in touch.

July 5, 2002:  Left the Black Hills.  We drove by Devil's Tower on the way to the Bighorns.  Stopped to buy a toy and get some ice cream.  Bought a $17 fishing rod in Buffalo, WY and made camp at Middle Fork in the Bighorn National Forest.  This is one of my favorite places on earth. There's a rushing mountain stream 15' wide running by the campsites.  When I was here 20 years ago, I met a guy fishing and we caught plenty of trout for dinner because they stocked the stream.  Today, they no longer stock it, so we drove 2 miles away to Tie Hack Reservoir where they do stock it.  Quinn learned to cast and we caught no fish, but the guy next to us caught a small one and gave it to us.  Just sitting by this mountain lake was enough for me.  We took the fish home, cleaned it and added it to our dinner of steak, chicken and potatoes and onions.

Quinn met some great kids (Connor, Colin, Skyler and Tanner, I think) and they climbed and played.  Quinn invented code names for him and me to stay in touch on the walkie talkies.  I can't tell you what they are, though.  They're secret. 

July 6, 2002:  This is the day we actually arrive in Yellowstone.  Leaving the Bighorns, we drive through Ordovician (750 - 500 million years old) dolomite canyons, very different from the northern route I took 20 years ago. Everyone becomes an armchair geologist when they go out west.  You never hear people talk like that in Iowa:  "This Hy-Vee sits on glacial till left here when the polar icecap last retreated 13,000 years ago."

We stopped so Quinn could play in the snow, just as we did in 1967 when my family went to Yellowstone.

Quinn and I had a win-win deal:  He got one new toy every day of the trip, but he was limited to $4/day.  Here, he's lined them all up for a portrait.

Our first evening in Yellowstone, we had a little time before bed, so we drove to one of the many geyser walks.  We got lucky and saw this bison resting right next to a boiling mud pot.  Then, we made camp at Fishing Bridge RV park on Lake Yellowstone.  We had to leave our cooler and food box in the office.  Bear country.

July 7, 2002:  Our first full day in Yellowstone.  We drove the southern loop of the park and had lunch while we waited for Old Faithful to erupt.

Then, one of the spontaneous blessings of the trip occurred.  We found Firehole Canyon's swimming hole.  A hot spring warms the frigid stream enough to make an excellent place to swim and the mild current makes an exciting ride through the rocks.  We borrowed a lifevest for Quinn from our friends and had a great time.  Yep, we met someone we know from Des Moines, sort of.  Joe Schwem is the grandson of Dan Glompset, a retired MD I've known for 11 years.  Joe saw our Polk County license plate and said his grandpa lives in Des Moines.  I said, "What's his name?"  Great fun.

We camped at Canyon Campground that night and had a blast with our neighbors, Wayne, Alice and Molly.  In the morning, Quinn and Molly exchanged gifts (drawings they made) and e-mail addresses.  Molly was great.  She shared her experience as a 6-year-old going through a divorce.  Her situation had many similarities to Quinn's and, at 12, is just a a loving, fun person. 

July 8, 2002:  For our second day in Yellowstone, we drove the north loop, but didn't stop as often.  We'd seen enough thermal wonders.  We were more interested in finding Boiling River, another swimming hole, but this one was more like a natural hot tub. 

We stopped at the foot of Mt Washburn and marveled at this gigantic valley.  Mt Washburn was named for Henry Dana Washburn, who led the 1870 expedition to Yellowstone that popularized it and resulted in it becoming the first national park in the world.  I'm related to him via Agnes Washburne, 1625-1680. Looked for bear and moose with the zoom lens, but didn't see any.  After soaking at Boiling River, we had dinner in the Dining Room at Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel.  I needed a real meal with a waiter.  We'd had enough of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and the occasional cafeteria.

That night, we returned to Fishing Bridge RV park.  I made my reservations months ago, but couldn't get 3 nights at one campground.  Despite this, from Yellowstone, I called Jackson Lake Lodge in the Tetons and reserved 2 nights in a cottage for our last nights on the trip.  We'd camped 8 nights and it was time for a restful home base for a couple days.

July 9, 2002:  Quinn met some friends, Emma and Walker, and they played for awhile.  We had only a short drive to our cottage on Jackson Lake.  Quinn wanted to jump on the beds and watch videos.  Oh, and swim.  So, that's what we did.  They served a great Cowboy Barbeque by the pool and Quinn met another friend, Grant. 

July 10, 2002:  Well, I got on the phone to plan our last day of activities on The Trip.  In the morning, we took a 10-minute boat ride across Jenny Lake to the foot of Grand Teton and Mt Moran.  We hiked 45 minutes or so to Inspiration Point and had a majestic view of Jenny Lake and Jackson Hole. 

Quinn met Ricky and instantly bonded with him.  We hiked some of the way with them and Quinn didn't want to say good bye.  We got his phone number and that made it easier for Quinn.

THEN, we went rafting on the Snake River.  Perfect trip, exciting, but not too exciting.  Quinn got to ride in the front after the last, biggest rapid, Big Kahuna.  I wanted him next to me for that one....

July 11, 2002:  We slept late, said good bye to our cottage (which we loved) and did some shopping at the Jackson Lake Lodge gift shop.  Then, we did 9 hours and 622 miles in the van.  Made it to Ogallala, NE.  Quinn watched George of the Jungle, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and How the Grinch Stole Christmas 3 times,

July 12, 2002:  7 hours and 445 miles.  Home.  We're so grateful for a safe trip filled with amazing, beautiful things.  I think it's fantastic we can travel these awesome areas so easily.