Out West

SOMEWHERE IN WYOMING — We're on the third night of our little vacation to see the natural wonders offered up by Wyoming. Third night. Third room. Each night gets a little better than the last. Actually, only the first night was really rough. Neither child would fall asleep. So Mikel and I ended up separating them, with each of us getting one of the children (two beds in the room). When it seemed I couldn't get Alexander to sleep, after all, then Mikel put the boy child in the bed with him and Anna. I ended up with Shreve in my bed all night. And he was the worst of all! I can't believe how wound up he was. All I could hear was heaving panting. All night long. Two inches above my face! He has NEVER been one to sleep on the bed with us, even when we've offered and begged. But on this night he was literally face to face with me. And not going to sleep. He was so tired he practically fell asleep in the sitting position several times. He would eventually sleep only to wake up again, and thus wake me with him, a couple hours later with his panting and moving around on the bed. Don't know what was up with that. It's not like he's never been on road trips with us. Maybe it was the more rustic style log cabin we stayed in just a couple miles outside of Yellowstone National Park. Seriously. Because on the second night we stayed in a hotel room with all the modern comforts and he was calm and quiet as a mouse and slept on the floor (by the door, to protect us) as usual. (Perhaps because he was so pooped from the lack of sleep on the first night.) We did separate the children again on the second and third nights (in West Yellowstone, Montana, on second night and in some small town called Riverside, Wyoming, tonight). It's just better that way. I've ended up with Alexander and Mikel with Anna. Man, am I glad they have their own rooms at home.

Anyway, I'm sure you're tired of all the talk about sleeping arrangements. Aside from a bit of cold medicine needed every now and then, our little family getaway has otherwise been lovely. I can't post photos right now because we're not home and not on our own server and it's too convoluted for me to do it another way. Mikel could do it, but the gang's all asleep right now. Besides, this is pretty much my blog now. I have only bothered to master the simple way of doing things. And when you fly through life like that you sometimes get trapped.

On Friday morning, we loaded up the SUV (note to self: our next vehicle purchase must have three rows of seats plus an adequate space for the dog). It took us I don't know maybe about nine or so hours to arrive at our destination just outside of the park. It claims to have Buffalo Bill's first hunting lodge. All the cabins there are lodge-like, too. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't THAT rustic. There was electricity and, in our cabin anyway, a private bath. But no shower! We spent all day Saturday driving throughout the park, stopping to take in the much varied views, gawking at wild animals walking on the side of the road, bathing in rivers and grazing in far-off pastures, and getting lucky enough to see Old Faithful briefly but gloriously spew. On Saturday night we exited the park on the west side and spent the night in West Yellowstone, across the state line in Montana. Mikel and I ate Chinese take-out. Yes, I know. It felt so not right passing up grills where I could have purchased yummy buffalo burgers to instead get Chinese to take back to the room. It was kind of late and we didn't want anything too heavy. This morning we re-entered the Yellowstone park, drove through and exited at the south end so we could take in the Grand Teton Mountain Range. I'm glad we decided to go this route at the last minute because the views are simply awe inspiring. We'd debated for weeks whether to do the whole Jackson Hole, Wyoming, thing. At first no, then yes because we're so close, then no we'll save it for a winter ski trip with the kids. We'd decided we'd wing the last night and go a bit out of the way to the north on the drive home and see the sight of Custer's last stand at Little Bighorn. But yesterday we decided to ditch that plan and drive down to the Jackson Hole area. We drove around the cute little tourist town with its town square shops and restaurants, then found a place with outdoor seating a few streets off the square. We had to cater to Shreve quite a bit, but he's part of the family and it was right to bring him. The waiter even brought Shreve some doggie treats. But, as usual, he turned his nose up at them! What a snob! You don't know how many times such has happened — at drive-through restaurants (believe it or not), the bank, even the check-out line at the pet store. No, thank you, he says, turning away his head.

Anyway, after our outdoor lunch in the valley, we made our way back up and across. Another full day of driving has landed us in Riverton, or maybe it's Riverside, Wyoming. Mikel took the kids swimming in the hotel pool this evening (it was my turn last night). Tomorrow is another big driving day, but there won't be any sightseeing stops so maybe we'll feel like we're making time.

There hasn't been too much changing of the leaves here. It's still a bit early for that. However, at some point today, Anna exclaimed, "Oooh, orange tree, Mommy!!!" We did see wonderous wild animals, though. The children now know what bison look like. We saw one moseying across the road just as soon as we entered the park. There were so many of them all throughout the park that they quickly became a dime a dozen. The rare sighting was the bull elk. We were lucky enough to see two with majestic sets of antlers. Again, we happened to be in the right place at the right time when one big male decided to cross the road. The other sighting was further away grazing near water. We actually did see several females, as well. Rarer still, at least on our trip, were the bear and moose. Sadly, we saw none.

Of course, we snapped many photos which I hope to post soon.