Weatherford Comes to Wyoming

This month we got a special treat as Uncle Ken, Aunt Chantelle, Hannah and Katie all came up in an RV to Yellowstone.  We decided to try out a day trip to meet them at their Fishing Bridge campsite and hike around together a little.  Unfortunately, it took us about 5 hours to get to their campsite from our house (2 hours to West Yellowstone, road construction in WY, long entrance lines to the park, bison on the road just on the other side of the gate (below), looky-loos blocking the road at various points, 57 miles at 45 mph across the park, more road construction at the Fishing Bridge exit, potty-training emergency stop, rain, and a final hike in to the RV park when the entrance was unreachable by car in a reasonable amount of time). 

Finally, we arrived at their RV to find a note that we'd just missed them by half an hour! Neither of us had cell service in the park, so this was all done the old-fashioned way, and neither side received the messages which the other side had attempted all day. Sometimes technology ain't so bad!  According to the note, we had about 3 hours to burn before we'd see them back at the campsite, and I wasn't about to get back in the car again to try to track them down at spots in the park without a working phone.  The kids would have been perfectly happy playing with the loose logs they found just across from their RV...

(Someone even made this teepee structure, which we saw the park service take down later that day.) :(

...but we eventually opted to go for the hike that we had packed for.  First stop, Yellowstone Lake and the Fishing Bridge Visitor's Center.  The lake was still beautiful and serene, even with several fishermen along the beach.

Then it was on to the Fishing Bridge, which coincidentally, does not allow fishing.

Then on to our hike on the east side of the Yellowstone River, where we saw pelicans, squirrels, and elk wading into the river.

We chose this hike because of its proximity to the RV park, not because we knew much about it.  Parts were pretty, and we were the only hikers. But in keeping with our not-so-lucky-day, it paralleled closely to a service road, which ended at the "Poopy Plant", as we were informed by a working surveyor.  So scenic! :)

When the kids got tired, we turned around and headed back to the general store for some refreshments.  Root beer float and rocking chairs?  Yes, please.

Finally it was time to go back to the RV to meet up with Uncle Ken and co for dinner.  We were just discussing Plan B when a familiar Suburban pulled into the lot!  Yea!  Hugs and hamburgers were had, and just a little visiting before we had to head back home.  Their dog, Cooper, made the trip, too.  The kids loved playing with him and helped walk him with their cousins.

You may recall that Owen's future profession of choice is an electrical lineman. Uncle Ken knows that line of work well, and he brought Owen his own hard hat and heavy duty gloves for the job.  Owen loved it!

We had to leave sooner than we wanted, but with work the next day and the initial trip delays, we didn't know what to expect and wanted to get out of the park before it got dark.  The journey home was better at 3.5 hours, and we saw a bear and a bald eagle on the way! 

In conclusion, from this trip we learned that we'd probably only do day trips to visit people staying on the west side of the park, especially in July.  So glad that we did finally meet up though!