I hope you have some vacation time this summer, with some memories to cherish.
“What would you like to do for our 25th wedding anniversary?” Dave asked. My reply was: “See big nature. How about Yellowstone Park?”
So we set off in our Great West camper van. At the entrance to the park, we stopped at the visitors’ center to get our camping instructions.
A tiny college-age young woman waited on us. She had a face with porcelain white skin, a cap of soft brown curls, and pale blue eyes. Definitely looked delicate, with a soft voice to match. Part of her job was to warn us about bears. This is what she said with her little girl voice…
“Bears don’t like to be surprised. So when I am hiking, and come to a blind turn on the path where I might startle a bear, I just call out ‘Hey bear! Hey bear!’”
Dave and I listened, fascinated, imagining how seriously a bear would take this gentle warning. We did not want to laugh because this dear young woman was serious about her tactic. We thanked her and hurried to the van where we could laugh without embarrassing her. Mind you, we had to admit that she was still alive, so maybe the bears took off chuckling instead of eating her.
Anyway, Yellowstone Park is home to wildlife, and visitors are told to respect their habitat. We marveled at nimble mountain goats, moving skillfully along rugged rock faces. Bison roamed and emitted the most interesting sounds, something between a honk and a moo. (This was before cell phones, or I would have recorded it.)
Early one morning, as we drove out one of the roads, we paused to let a bison stagger close by our car. This incredible brown furry hulk looked dazed and confused, like it had been partying all night!
It was a wonderful trip, enjoying the landscape, the shooting white geysers, and bubbling blue-green hot springs. On the way home, in order to bypass Chicago, we found a ferry which took us across the lake at night.
Any trip is just a series of moments, some more memorable than others, but they never leave us the same.
