Simplified Ride: She Touched a Buffalo

July 6th-7th, 2014

The time had come to finally let the girls touch a buffalo. It was, after all, the primary request on this little adventure of ours. The long trek from Reno to Yellowstone was a predictably uneventful one. We did, however, stumble upon a bizarre roadside spectacle in the tiny town of Imlay, NV. Thunder Mountain Monument was erected by a WWII veteran from Oklahoma who proclaimed to be a Creek Indian. I was curious about the name Thunder Mountain, since we were distinctly in the middle of a desert. It turns out that the artist who developed the site, Frank Van Zant, gave himself the name Rolling Mountain Thunder. We traded that little mystery for many others, most unsolved, as we snaked through the monument, awestruck at the creativity and madness that apparently inspired it all. It was a memorable little side trip on an otherwise long and hot road.

We ultimately crossed Nevada and entered into Idaho on a pleasant note. Our kids gasped as we crossed the Hansen Bridge over Idaho’s Snake River. It was a curious thing to see the Earth split in two that way. Naturally we had to park at the overlook and take a look for ourselves. Our country is such a vast and diverse landscape.

Eventually, we did approach the gates of Yellowstone National Park. Tom and I have been to Yellowstone before. We both loved it and duly gave it the geologic respect it deserved. I REALLY want to tell you that it was everything the kids dreamed it would be. The truth is, though, that they were very hot. And they really didn’t like the smell of sulfur. Let’s just say they were more than happy to rush us through it as quickly as possible. It wasn’t all rotten eggs, mind you! They reverently awaited the gush of Old Faithful and celebrated with considerable zeal! They couldn’t get enough of those bison babies in the field. And they did, with a little assistance from some forced perspective photography, touch a buffalo. So, all being considered, it was a great success.

It just goes to show you that you can always have an agenda in mind when you are seeking adventure. But the best parts are rarely on that agenda. Our favorite part of the day was when we exited the park and stopped at a high overlook to eat our dinner. I cooked grilled chicken out of the back of our camper and we watched the sunset together. It was peaceful and we made friends. Also, we lucked upon an additional surprise as we made our way into Wyoming! After all the weeks in this hot, hot summer…we stopped for a little midnight snowball fight in that glorious elevation. Bonus!