Halloween Party

My wife decided that she wanted to throw a Halloween party for the kids in Troy’s class this year. We haven’t really had a chance to get to know the kids and parents from his new combined class, so we thought this would be a good way to do that. We had been to Kayvan’s birthday party, but there were too many people, and it was too chaotic to really socialize. So, we decided to host it at our house, so we could talk more.

The planning started almost three months ago, and boxes have been arriving since then, but the actual decorating (at least indoors) didn’t start until yesterday. We had the usual party stuff…Halloween-themed plates, napkins, cups, and tablecloths. We had my wife’s 100+ Halloween balloons, shaped like ghosts, bats, and eyeballs. We had a ghost piñata filled with candy. We had life-sized skeletons doing funny things around the house. We had spiderwebs strewn across every surface and dragon claw lamps providing atmosphere. We even threw in a 15-foot tall inflatable ghost, Halloween doormat, and balloon arch to welcome people into the house. But the pièce de résistance was the haunted house we built in our media room!

We set up a winding avenue of sheets that broke the room into sections. In every corner we had ghosts, witches, skeletons, and ghouls. Spiderwebs were strewn between the walls and blocking the aisles, so that you had to push through them to get past. Skulls and skeletons; complete with snakes, worms, and centipedes; were tucked into nooks along the way. And balloons littered the trail and dangled from the walls giving the kids something else to have to maneuver through. The trail ended at a giant spider’s nest, which was spiderwebs stretched over a playground dome and littered with spiders of all shapes and sizes, that the kids had to literally crawl through to get out.

We gave some of the kids flashlights just to give them something to shine around and “accidentally” illuminate things in the dark, and we sent them all in together, since a few were scared to go alone. It was like a panic mob as the kids in the front wanted to go cautiously through each new thing, and the kids in the back were pushing to get out. We had three little girls so scared that they were crying, which I’m counting as a success! In the end, most of the kids wanted to go through multiple times, and rest went back out of peer pressure. I think it started to be less scary with each pass through, but definitely a highlight for them. One little girl even told her mom that this was the best party she’d ever been to.

When all was said and done, we didn’t get to socialize as much as we’d like to, but we did have a lot of fun. After beating the piñata senseless and having some pizza, we ended the night with little trophies for the best costumes. But they were all so good that we gave one to everyone! It was a lot of work to put it on, but definitely a rewarding return.

Monster Mile

Our neighborhood community was putting on an event for the kids today. Along the main road into the community, they set up people in costumes with candy buckets. The kids all dressed up in their Halloween costumes and made their way down the road to meet and take pictures with the various characters along the road. We had everything from the Hulk and Spiderman to Mario and Luigi to the Little Mermaid and Belle to Bruno and Mirabel to Darth Vader and Yoda. Troy enjoyed talking with and high-fiving everyone, but he mostly enjoyed the candy haul that he came home with.

Unknown Adventure

Troy: “I like flying on airplanes.”

Me: “Why?”

Troy: “Because we go places like Greece and Yellowstone.”

Me: “So, you like flying on airplanes because it means we’re going somewhere on an adventure?”

Troy: “Yep.”

Me: “Fair enough.”

Twenty Years in Yellowstone (The Return)

The return trip home was not very fun. Troy and I got into it several times during the trip, and I was very ready to be done with it and just get home. Since my wife was still feeling bad, I drove us back to Bozeman, while she slept in the backseat with Troy. We had lunch at the airport before an uneventful flight home. It's nice to be home, but I miss Yellowstone already.

Twenty Years in Yellowstone (Switchbacks)

Today is our second 20th wedding anniversary and also our last official day in Yellowstone. I am saddened by those words. Never have I felt more at home in a place than I do here, and I never feel like I have enough time to really explore it. We have covered more territory this time than we did last time, but I still feel like we haven’t really scratched the surface of it. I’d really love to hike it more and just be in the moment without feeling like we have to race through to the next attraction. Which is what prompted the plan for today.

I wanted a more laidback day today. And considering my wife now feels like she’s coming down with a cold and is absolutely miserable, I think she’d appreciate it too. So, we decided to do the southern loop over to Canyon Village and down to Grant Village before looping back past Old Faithful. This route took us along the Yellowstone River to the picturesque views of the Yellowstone Lake. We didn’t come this way last time, and it was the only part of the “8” loop that we had left to traverse.

Shortly after the turn-off from Canyon Village, we came to the Upper and Lower Falls near Inspiration Point. My wife stayed in the car to rest while Troy and I braved the Lower Falls trail. It’s a steep switchback trail that zigzags down the mountain to the Lower Falls. With no rails or fences along the trail, it’s a pretty terrifying experience for a person with a fear of heights like me. With a mountain on one side and a sheer drop off on the other, the trail is just wide enough for two people to pass side by side. Troy had no issues with any of this, but I still made him hold my hand and walk next to the mountain side.

The Lower Falls and river valley are amazingly beautiful. From the lookout, you can see the Yellowstone River as it curves its way to the falls before plunging deep into the valley below and snaking it’s way through the canyon and out of sight. Troy enjoyed the view for all of thirty seconds before he was ready to move on. He took two steps back up the trail, and then he started complaining that his legs hurt. So, I threw him on my back like a backpack and started the arduous climb back up.

I’m not going to lie, it was rough going. The climb on its own would have taxed my muscles. Adding another 45 pounds to my back nearly killed me. Not to mention the thinner mountain air which had me gasping for breath and taking breaks along the way. Several people gave me sympathetic looks. One woman even joked with Troy that that was the way to travel. The day was cool, but I was sweating profusely by the time we finally made it to the top. After gulping down half a bottle of water, we checked out the overlooks at the top before heading on.

From here, we meandered through Hayden Valley, which wasn't as spectacular as Lamar Valley. It didn't have the mountain heights of Lamar, so it was more hilly with large areas of grasslands. The Yellowstone River cut through the grass like a blue-black snake, and their were some scenic views of the river along the way. But there was also a distinct lack of animals here, which gave the place a feeling of loneliness and solitude.

Before getting to Grant Village, we stopped at the Mud Volcano. Honestly, none of us were enthusiastic about this stop. We'd seen bubbling mud before, and it was getting hot and miserable outside. But tempers were high in the car, and I think we stopped more to get away from each other than anything else. The Mud Volcano was less than spectacular, so we didn't spend much time there. The Dragon's Mouth was much cooler though. It was a little cave at the base of a cliff where steam was perpetually coming out of. The hot water came splashing out in waves, and the exploding gas bubbles inside the cave made noises that sounded like growling, giving the entire scene the feeling of looking into a dragon's mouth. Definitely worth the stop.

My wife started feeling worse after this, so we jetted through the rest of the drive without seeing much else and headed back to the hotel. She decided to take some medicine and sleep, so I took Troy back over to the playground in town to play. We weren't there long before a little girl named Emily came up with her grandparents, and she and Troy immediately hit it off. While they played together, I talked to the grandparents. It was a nice way to spend the evening.

Bear Wrestling

Me: “Come on, Troy. You need to walk faster! I don’t want to spend my entire day on this trail.”

Troy: “I’m going as fast as I can. I have short legs.”

Me: “Do you want me to carry you?”

Troy: “No. I’m fine.”

Me: “Maybe you could run? Then, you’d go faster.”

Troy: “I can’t. I’m carrying sticks.”

Me: “Then, put the sticks down.”

Troy: “I can’t do that. Then, how would I protect us from the bears and wolves?”

Me: “Bears are as big as that tree right there, and they’re very strong. What do you think those dinky little sticks are going to do against it?”

Troy: “I’m very strong too. I’ll whack him until he’s dead!”

Me: “I told you before. You are NOT to fight a bear. You’ll lose, and I don’t want you to die.”

Troy: “It’s okay, dada. I’ll be fine. I have my sticks. I won’t die.”

Me [exasperated]: “Troy, I want you to promise me that if we see a bear that you will get behind me and stop. And if I tell you to run, then I want you to head off down the trail as fast as you can and don’t stop until you get to mama.”

Troy: “What are you going to do?”

Me: “I’m going to fight the bear to give you time to get away, so you can get back to mama.”

Troy: “Yeah and I’ll tell her that I was chased by a bear.”

Me: “Yes, and she can go get help.”

Troy: “Won’t mama be scared?”

Me: “Yes, she will. She’ll probably be very sad, but she’ll be glad that you’re safe. So, promise me.”

Troy: “Okay, dada. But I could help you fight the bear.”

Me: “I appreciate that, bud, but I just want you to be safe. I’d die to keep you safe.”

Troy: “Why?”

Me: “Because I love you. Now, I don’t really want to fight a bear, so can you please hurry up?!”

Troy: “It’s okay, dada. You can go on ahead. I’ll catch up eventually.”

Me: “I’m not going to leave you alone in the forest.”

Troy: “It’s okay. I’ll be fine. I’ll catch up. Go on.”

Me: “No, Troy. I’m going to stay here and protect you. Now, let’s go.”

Twenty Years in Yellowstone (Slough)

Today is my wife’s and my 20th wedding anniversary…at least the first of three. We decided to head up to Slough Creek and the Lamar Valley today which is in the Northeast side of Yellowstone, because it’s another place the wolf lady said we could see bears, wolves, big horn sheep, and mountain goats. We didn’t explore this area the last time we were here, because of the inclement weather. Now, I wish we had.

My wife decided to pull over along the way, because her hand was hurting her, and Troy and I got out to explore a little. There happened to be a trailhead nearby, so we trekked off across a field and into the trees. The trail was really cool, as it wound its way up and down and around the forest. There were fallen trees everywhere and new trees had sprung up to take their place. Troy picked up some small branches and told me that he’d protect me if we saw any dangerous wildlife like a bear, or wolf, or chipmunk with big ideas. We did see a chipmunk, but he took off the other direction (probably because he saw Troy meant business). The only other thing we saw was a few squirrels.

We hiked for about half an hour before I said we needed to turn back. Troy wanted to keep going, and to be perfectly honest, I did too. But my wife called me to ask when we were coming back, so we reluctantly turned around. I love sharing the great outdoors with Troy, but I realized one of the drawbacks to hiking with a four-year old. He walks incredibly slow and wants to stop to whack every tree, log, rock, piece of grass, and imaginary animal with his stick along the way. I just want to keep walking and feel a good burn in my legs. So, we were at odds all the way back.

With the unexpected hiking detour, it was lunchtime by the time we finally made it to the Slough Creek area. So, we stopped and had some sandwiches by the side of the road before heading on to the little dirt road that would lead us to Slough Creek. The dirt road dead-ended at the campground and horse stables. Along the way, we saw…nothing. Not a single animal.

There was a trailhead nearby, so I decided to give it a hike while my wife and son napped in the car. The trail ascended up the side of the mountain before descending down into the valley on the other side. The valley was a golden grassland spread around a winding river that let out into a lake. It was beautiful and picturesque with the mountains rising majestically around me. I caught a glimpse of a bald eagle as it soared by in the distance, and there was a bison herd camped out by the river. Other than that, I only saw a few chipmunks and squirrels.

I was reading later that this particular hike is well-known for the abundant wildlife that can be seen in the area. There’s grizzly bears, black bears, wolves, pronghorn, big horn sheep, mountain goats, elk, and bison. I’m not sure what they’re talking about, because only the bison came out for me. I made my way back to the car, and we headed down through the rest of Lamar Valley. And we found…

Bison by the hundreds. Collected herds were on every hillside, every plain, and even along the roads. Several times we had to stop as they crossed in front of the cars. The bulls were bellowing, the calves were frolicking in the tall grasses, and the cows were trying to stay away from the bulls’ sniffing amorous gestures. It was really cool and more like what we remember from the last time.

As the sun started to go down, we decided to head back curving around through Mammoth Springs to complete the loop. As we neared the edge of town, a giant elk buck was standing in the middle of the road while does crossed the road behind him. The “crossing guard” started to bugle as the cars piled up in front of him. And when all of the does had crossed, he slowly moved off the road and let us pass. It was awesome.

We grabbed dinner at the Terrace Grill in town and headed back through the rest of the park in the dark. Not exactly what we planned for the day, but cool nonetheless.

Like the Animals Doo

My Wife: “Uh…we need to find Troy a restroom right now.”

Me: “To do what?”

My Wife: “To poop.”

Me: “Fantastic! We’re in the middle of nowhere. Where do you think we can find a restroom?! Am I supposed to take him into the woods?!”

My Wife: “I don’t know. I guess.”

Me [sighing]: “Let’s go, Troy.”

Troy: “Where are we going?”

Me: “Into the woods to poop.”

Troy: “Okay. Is there a restroom in there?”

Me: “Of a sort.”

Troy: “Are there animals in here?”

Me: “Yes. Let’s hope none of them come out while you’re going to the bathroom. Okay, come over to this log, pull your pants down, and sit on the edge of it.”

Troy: “You want me to poop on a log?”

Me: “Not on it. Next to it. Just perch on the edge of the log to hold yourself up.”

Troy: “Couldn’t I just go in a toilet?”

Me: “There is no toilet around here. You’re in the middle of the forest. You’re going to have to do what the animals do.”

Troy [perching on the log]: “Okay. This is going to take a while.”

Me: “How about you try to finish before the sun goes down?! I don’t want to be eaten waiting for you to finish. I don’t want to go out like this.”

Twenty Years in Yellowstone (Unfaithful)

Today started off badly. Troy had a full-blown meltdown at breakfast because my wife didn’t have her phone, and he couldn’t watch videos while he ate. So, he threw a fit and refused to eat. We finished our breakfast, picked up his food, and headed upstairs. That’s when he started to cry. So, we wrangled him upstairs, so he could get it all out without disturbing everyone else in the hotel. He was still wailing in the room, so I set a timer on my phone and told him that he had until it went off to eat, or we were packing up and leaving. My wife offered to read him a book, and eventually, he calmed down and ate. But it set a sour tone for the day.

We decided to forego animal sightings and head to Old Faithful instead. My wife has wanted to go every day, but we never made it. So, today was the day. We tried to get Troy pumped by telling him that we were going to see a mini volcano, but disinterested four-year old that he is, he said he’d rather go to the playground.

We went to the famous geyser anyway, despite Troy’s objections. But before we got there, we had another bison encounter along the road. A big bull was making his way across a meadow and into the river. As he stood in the middle of the river, we thought how majestic the scene was…the dark-blue river, the green trees, and a giant bison. Then, he lifted his tail and pooped in the water, and the moment was gone!

We were about an hour early for the next eruption, so we let Troy explore the visitor center while we waited. We headed out 30 min early to get a good seat, because the benches were already filling up. Troy lasted a whopping two minutes before he was asking to go. We told him to be patient, and he’d see something amazing. A smaller geyser erupted in the distance, and he said, “That was amazing. Can we go now?” We told him that that wasn’t even close and to hang on a little longer. Every few minutes, he’d ask if we could go now. It was like the Old Faithful equivalent of “Are we there yet?”

When the geyser started its pre-eruptions, Troy asked almost sarcastically, “Was that it? Was that the amazing thing?” It got to be where the people around us were laughing at his running commentary and our failed attempts to get him to wait and be patient. So, I guess it served some useful purpose. When Old Faithful finally erupted, Troy was stunned and interested for five whole seconds. Then, he said we’d seen it and promptly asked if we could go. We made him sit through the entire three-minute eruption, despite him pointing out that other people were already leaving.

On the way back, we stopped at the trail for Fairy Falls and the Grand Prismatic Overlook. I thought it would be a good place for Troy to get out and stretch his legs, actually get in a hike and get some energy out. Instead, he fell asleep on the backseat right before we got there. My wife thought that was a good idea; so she parked, cranked back the seat, and took a nap too. That meant I was hiking the four-mile trail by myself, which in the end was probably a good thing. There’s no way either of them would have made it.

I started off with the overlook, which was only a short hike, but had a steep incline to the observation deck. My wife wanted another picture of the Grand Prismatic geyser, since the last time we had tried, there was too much smoke to actually see it. After that I decided to try my luck with Fairy Falls. I figured they’d want to sleep awhile, and I had nothing else to do.

The hike to the falls was 1.6 miles each way. It was a nice leisurely walk through the woods though, so not very taxing. It took me a while, because I was taking pictures and because I was constantly on the lookout for bears. I passed quite a few people on the way back from the falls, but nobody else going to them. It wasn’t until I finally got to Fairy Falls that I realized how alone and vulnerable I truly was. I snapped a few pictures, but I didn’t stay long. As I turned to leave, something small ran across my path. I followed it and realized that it was a chipmunk scampering across the rocks. We might not have had the same quality of animal encounters on this trip, but we’ve seen more varieties.

I started to get worried that I’d been away too long (over two hours), so I ran most of the way back down the trail. I shouldn’t have been too worried though, because when I got back to the car, Troy and my wife had just woken up and were enjoying a snack.

It was late afternoon when we pulled away, so we decided to try the Firehole Canyon Drive. It was one of the places the wolf watcher had suggested that we might see wolves. The drive was beautiful, and the views of the river and various waterfalls were breathtaking. But no wolf sightings. I did see what looked like it might have been a bear cave complete with animal bone remains outside the entrance, but who really knows.

Twenty Years in Yellowstone (Descending)

I got up early again this morning to spend time with the wolves down at the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center. There’s one spot where there’s a gap in the fence, and I can just make out their gray shapes in the morning light. I love standing there and listening to them talk to one another in yaps and growls just like regular dogs, but it’s truly amazing when they howl. Their eerie, ghostly voices cut through the darkness each wolf adding their unique sound to the music. I can’t explain it, but it just feels calming and familiar.

As I made my way down the street, drawn to the music of the wolves, a small animal darted across the sidewalk in front of me. I followed it as it made its way toward the hotels across the street, and it stopped when it realized it was being chased. Under the lights in the hotel parking lot, a got a great view of a red fox, staring back at me. When he was sure I wasn’t coming closer, he took off across the parking lot and darted off into the bushes.

I went back to the hotel to rouse the troops, and after food and showers, we finally headed back into the park. We intended to try Old Faithful today, but since it was pretty cold outside, we decided to drive around the “loop” from Mammoth Springs to Tower-Roosevelt down to Canyon Village and back again. The trip with stops along the way took almost the entire day, so we never made it back to the geyser.

Shortly after making the turnoff to Mammoth Springs, I spotted a coyote in a field. Considering it’s golden-gray coloring, which matched the grass in the field perfectly, I’m really not sure how I saw it. I guess because I was looking for it…or something. We pulled over and watched as he tracked a prairie dog or something in the field. Occasionally, he’d jump up in the air and pounced, then start digging in the dirt, trying to get whatever it was out of the ground. But it came away unsuccessfully, and took off running across the grasslands on the other side of the road.

A short while later, my wife exclaimed, “Oh my gosh, a bison!” I expected to see it way off in the distance like pretty much all of the other bison we had seen so far, but as she slowed to a stop, a large bull walked right by the car on the road. Troy got a good view through the open window. He was so excited that we’d already had two close animal encounters within the first twenty minutes of our adventure.

Our next stop was the Mammoth Hot Springs terrace, which was a little disappointing. It was pretty dry, so it just looked like stepped mounds of white chalk. As you can imagine, Troy had zero interest. Besides, my wife’s knee has been bothering her, so the walking on the steps and boardwalk was a chore for her. We decided not to spend much time there and headed into Mammoth Springs, and that’s when we saw our first elk buck, his antlers barely visible in the tall grass, as he lounged in the midday sun. We had found the daddy elk!

Park rangers were set up all over the town, guarding herds of lounging elk and keeping away the tourists too stupid to realize that these were wild animals. After a quick bathroom break, we took off for Tower-Roosevelt. And that’s when we realized that we had forgotten a very important thing at the hotel…lunch. All we had to eat the entire day was snacks from our backpacks, which can only take you so far. We passed a couple of restaurants in the various towns, but they were all closed for the season. Oh well, you live and you learn.

About a half hour outside of Mammoth Springs, we were stopped when a small herd of mule deer does decided to cross the road in front of our car. They meandered across the road and started eating at the sparse vegetation on the hillside. We headed on and found ourselves driving along the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. This deep ravine boasts some amazing rock formations and beautiful views of the river far below. Troy really wanted to get out and hike, but my wife’s knee wouldn’t hold up on the steep inclines of the trail, so we headed on.

A little farther up the road, we saw a pullout with a lot of vehicles parked in it. We’ve learned that this usually means that something big was spotted in the area, like a bear or wolf, but it could also be a large heard of bison or elk. Either way, we pulled off to see what they were looking at. It turned out to be a herd of bison far off in the distance. But that’s not what brought out all of these people to this particular valley. These people were wolf watchers, and they were waiting for the wolves to descend.

Unfortunately, they had no idea if or when they might come. They had set up shop to wait…just in case. We talked to one of them for a little while, and she gave us some pointers about places where several of the packs frequent. She also told us that the lack of animals was because the weather was still too warm, so the animals hadn’t descended from the mountains yet. She said we’d probably see more in November. We found this humorous, sincere temperatures have been in the 30s to 50s range, but I guess when you have a heavy fur coat, colder is better.

I was telling her about some of the animals we’d seen that day, and she said, “If you saw a wolf, coyote, and fox; then you’ve had a three-dog day. Go ahead and throw my dog in there, and you’ve had a four-dog day.” I’d never heard this term before, but it’s a well-known thing in Yellowstone when you’ve seen the big three of the canine community all on the same day.

We found out that she’d been a wolf chaser for a while, and she was a wealth of information about animal behavior (wolves, bison, elk, big horn sheep, mountain goats), proper gear for viewing them (a professional viewing scope or high-powered camera), and the best time of day to spot them (early morning and just after dusk). We reluctantly left the group and Jim, the little black dog that belonged to our guide that Troy was enjoying petting, and headed up the road to Mount Washburn.

The mountain was covered in snow, and there were blankets of white carpeting the ground beneath the trees. The air was even colder and crisper up there, and we rolled the windows down to enjoy it. Then, we promptly rolled them back up when it got cold in the car! We made our way back down the mountain and ended the big loop in Canyon Village. My wife’s headache was at its worst, so we headed back to the hotel so she could sleep it off.

When the naps were through, we decided to stay closer to “home,” so we took Troy to a little playground I’d found during my walks. After being cooped up in a car the last few days, he really enjoyed getting a chance to run around and play. We ended the day with dinner at the Beartooth BBQ. The food wasn’t great, a little too bland for my tastes. They also charged way too much for it. There was only one waitress in the entire place working maybe 15 tables, but she did all right despite that. Overall, I wouldn’t recommend the place. Definitely not worth the price.

Disagree with Disagreeing

Me: “Well, today was kind a bust for animals. I’m really surprised. Maybe it’s because the last time we saw so many, and we had close encounters with them. But maybe this is more normal, and we were extremely lucky last time.”

My Wife: “Yeah, so let’s see. We saw an elk, a bald eagle, and a bison. So, we can check those off the list.”

Me: “We saw a coyote too.”

Troy: “It was a wolf.”

Me: “I don’t think it was now. It was too small to be a wolf, and it was alone. Wolves typically travel in a pack, not alone.”

Troy: “No, it was a wolf.”

Me: “You can think what you want, but I’m telling everyone it was a coyote.”

Troy: “I want to see a baby elk.”

Me: “Hmmm, I guess since an elk is in the deer family that a baby elk would be called a fawn.”

Troy: “No, it’s called a hatch.”

Me: “It’s not called a hatch. That’s what baby Komodo Dragons are called. It’s a fawn.”

Troy: “No, it’s not.”

Me: “Oh my god, he has to argue and disagree about everything! I’m done talking.”

Troy: “No you’re not.”

Twenty Years in Yellowstone (Prismatic Baldness)

Our first day in the park was not stupendous from an animal perspective. When we were here six years ago, bison were roaming the highways in large herds, and elk were scattered across every grassland. By lunchtime today, we had seen two bison…that’s it for the entire animal population. The park was eerily devoid of animals. So, we decided to spend today seeing some of the geysers. Troy was not happy about this plan, and he let us know about his disappointment every chance he could get. We had promised him animals, and that’s what he wanted to see! We also found out that Troy doesn’t do well sitting patiently in a car for more than 12 seconds. He was moaning, moving, making weird noises, complaining, and singing…constantly. It was driving my wife crazy.

We stopped at the Paint Pots and the Grand Prismatic geysers, not because we thought Troy would have much interest in them, but just so he could walk around and get some energy out. We tried to explain the science behind what made them erupt. Troy didn’t care. We tried to be excited at the awe factor. Troy didn’t care. We talked about the colors and smells. Troy didn’t care. Finally, we said it looked like when Troy tooted in the bathtub and made bubbles, and suddenly he was interested and giggling.

At the Grand Prismatic geyser, I let Troy take some selfies to get him involved. He seemed very excited about that. He started asking if he could take pictures of the steam, and the bacteria formations, and the algae. And I let him, because at least he was finally looking around. I may have a camera till full of blurry and strangely-framed pictures, but Troy was really proud of them. He kept wanting to look at his handiwork.

We had lunch at The Old Town Cafe, mostly because it was about the only place we could find open. The food was good, but not exceptional. The staff was very nice though. And since the place was practically empty, we had them mostly to ourselves. My wife wasn’t feeling well, so we went back to the room for naps. (Well, she and Troy napped. I went to check out the local souvenir shops.)

Then, with dusk on the horizon, we headed back to the park to look for more animals. The waitress at the cafe said we might have more luck just before dark. We headed up toward Mammoth Springs, and somehow I spotted a brown and white shape in a tree by the river. I asked my wife to go back, but by the time we got there, it was gone. Troy and I decided to get out of the car and hike through the trees down to the river. It may not have been the wisest decision, but it felt wild and natural. I was braving the untouched elements with a four-year old on my back eating apples.

We followed the river for a little ways, and we were finally rewarded, as I spotted the brown and white shape again. We edged back into the tree line, so we could approach unnoticed, and we crept closer. It’s not easy to be stealthy when you’re traipsing on rocks and scrub brush and when you have a little boy asking questions in a very loud voice. I got him to whisper, but even that was very loud. Luckily, the river sounds masked some of it. We managed to get close enough to the bird for us to make out that it was a bald eagle. I snapped one blurry photo before he spotted us and flew off farther down the river.

So, I called my wife and asked her to meet us down the road, and Troy and I headed back into the woods. I was trying to pick my way over fallen trees and through the tall grass, but Troy’s eyes were focused on the trees around us. Suddenly, he pointed over my shoulder and exclaimed, “Dada! There’s something in the trees!” I stopped and looked up just in time to see a furry tail disappear behind a tree about a hundred feet to our left. It was moving away from us, so I made the decision to follow it to get a better look. Whatever it was had an easier time navigating the forest than I did. I was trying to climb over fallen trees at a half-run while carrying Troy, so the animal got ahead of us. But luckily, it stopped just long enough for me to see it. It was a coyote, but it was big and filled out, almost like a small wolf.

We only got that one glance, before his tail was once again disappearing into the trees. We chased him all the way to the highway, and we saw him one last time as he crossed the road and ran into the trees on the other side. We searched for him, but the trees were too densely populated, and there was no way to track him farther. My wife pulled up a minute later, so we got back in the car and headed on down the road.

We made it almost all the way to Mammoth Springs by the time the sun’s light started to fade behind the mountains. But we were rewarded with our first elk sighting off in the distance across the grasslands. Just a small herd of four cows, but at least it was something. We pulled over, so Troy could get a better look, and of course, he wanted to go pet them. We headed down the road, and we found two more cows, and then another one a little farther still. The last one was near a parking lot, so we were able to stop and get a really good look. She was grazing, and she didn’t seem to have any interest in us at all. Troy and I got out and stood a little ways off to watch her. As we got back into the car, Troy asked where all the daddy elks were. He had a point, because we hadn’t seen a single buck yet.

It was getting dark, so we decided to head back to the hotel. We made it a little ways up the road, when my wife exclaimed, “Oh my gosh, look at this, Troy!” There was another elk cow standing just at the edge of the road. We were able to get close enough that we could have touched her. We rolled the window down and Troy started talking to her and waving at her. At the sound of his voice, the cow looked up and stared right at Troy. It was amazing. We let her eat in peace and drove back to the exit.

It’s amazing how incredibly dark the park gets at night. The only lights are the ones on the passing cars and on the millions of stars twinkling overhead. Otherwise, the darkness is absolute. During the day, the breathtaking views of Yellowstone show you the vastness of the place. During the night, it’s the exact opposite. The only sights we saw were from the small area lit up by the headlights. It makes you feel like you’re in a tiny bubble, floating through the inky blackness. The other problem with this is that you can’t really see if there’s an animal in the road until you’re upon it, especially if that animal is a dark-brown bison plodding down the middle of the lane. Luckily, our little caravan of cars had a warning from a car heading in the opposite direction, so we had slowed down enough to avoid the bull making his way down the road. But Troy got his first up-close look of a bison, albeit only in the illumination of another passing car’s headlights.

The rest of the trip out of the park passed without incident, and we all settled in at the hotel to rest and have leftovers for dinner.

Twenty Years in Yellowstone (The Beginning)

We are on our way to Bozeman, MT today. A funny incident happened at the airport. There was a very nice lady that was helping us get checked in at the kiosk. She was talking to Troy, and she asked him how old he was. He told her that he was four, but that his birthday was coming up soon. She told Troy that she wouldn't see him on his birthday, but she hoped he had a nice party. Troy then proceeded to invite this complete stranger to his party, and he told her that she didn't even need to bring a present. The woman was speechless. You could tell that she was trying to figure out how to get out of the invite without hurting Troy's feelings. I came to her aid, telling Troy that she'd think about it. The woman latched onto my lifeline, and genuinely thanked Troy for the invitation.

We arrived in Bozeman to find the weather in the 50s, which was a welcome reprieve from the heat we had lived through all summer in Texas. We secured a car and then had lunch at Sidewinders American Grill, where we had the "S"idewinder Pretzel, which was a giant soft pretzel in the form of an "S." The bread was so soft it practically melted in your mouth, and it tasted slightly of garlic and cheese. My wife had the chicken pot pie, and Troy and I had hamburgers, but none of it compared to the pretzel.

We then drove to West Yellowstone to check into the Kelly Inn. The drive was absolutely beautiful. It wound along the river through the mountains carpeted in green spruce trees. The sky was full of large, white clouds, and the sun took turns sliding behind them and bathing the road in gold. Aspen trees dotted the green with their yellow leaves fluttering in the wind. And we were graced with glimpses of a bald eagle, a raven, and a red-tailed hawk. I guess that starts our animal encounter. But Troy saw none of it, because he was asleep on the backseat.

Jekyll & Troy

Every day, when I pick Troy up from daycare, I ask him about his day. It’s like pulling teeth to extract the information from him, and even then, I have better luck on some days over others.

 

For example, yesterday, this is how it went:

Me: “Hey, bud, how was your day?”

Troy: “Good.”

Me: “Tell me something fun that you did today.”

Troy: “I can’t remember.”

Me: “Did you read a book? Did you sing a song? Did you learn something new?”

Troy: “Um…I can’t remember.”

Me: “Did you build something? Did you do math or science?”

Troy: “I can’t remember.”

Me: “What did you do last weekend?”

Troy: “I can’t remember.”

Me: “Did you go to ninja class? Did you go swimming? Did you go to a birthday party?”

Troy: “I don’t think so, but I can’t remember.”

Me: “What did you have for breakfast this morning?”

Troy: “I can’t remember.”

Me: “I’m noticing a theme here.”

 

Today, this is what I got:

Me: “Hey, bud, how was your day?”

Troy: “Good.”

Me: “What did you do today?”

Troy: “I was playing monsters with Tim on the playground.”

Me: “Oh yeah?”

Troy: “Yeah, we were chasing Miss Beth around. She was hiding, and we had to find her. Then, she tried to get away, and we chased her.”

Me: “Was she a monster too?”

Troy: “No, just us.”

Me: “Speaking of Miss Beth, she told us that you got some new dolls.”

Troy: “Yeah, but she took them away from me.”

Me: “Why’d she do that?”

Troy: “Because I was banging on it.”

Me: “Why were you banging on it?”

Troy: “I dunno.”

Me: “Well, you’ve never banged on a baby doll before, so why now?”

Troy: “I didn’t want to bang on it.”

Me: “Then, why did you do it?”

Troy: “Because the evil wizard made me do it.”

Me: “What evil wizard?”

Troy: “The one at school.”

Me: “And how did he make you bang on the doll? You’re telling me that you couldn’t stop yourself?”

Troy: “Yep. He cast a spell on me. I didn’t want to do it.”

Me: “Well, spell or no, we don’t treat babies like that. When you see a baby on the playground, do you start banging on it, or are you sweet and gentle?”

Troy: “Sweet.”

Me: “Exactly. And since you weren’t sweet to the doll, Miss Beth took it away from you.”

The Giant Poop

Troy: “Hey dada, come check this thing out!”

Me: “What is it?”

Troy: “It’s a giant poop!”

Me: “Oh, I’m good. I don’t need to see that.”

Troy: “You have to see it. It’s huge.”

Me: “Oh my gosh, Troy! How did that even come out of you?! It's like a Freebird's burrito! Your intestines aren’t even that big.”

Troy: “I don’t know.”

Strong Birthday

Today, we got invited to our first interclass birthday party. We had invested so much time getting to know Troy’s old class. Now, that they combined his class with another class, we feel like we’re starting over. The party was for a boy named Kayvan, which Troy said he didn’t really like, but I think it’s more that he doesn’t know him very well. Because Kayvan seemed like a nice polite boy, just a little shy and reserved. We mainly decided to go to try to meet some of the parents of the new combined class.

They had the party at Strong Fitness, which had a lot of obstacles and play equipment for all ages. In other words, plenty of things for the large crowd of kids to play on. It was a little chaotic and there were lots of non-school people there, so we weren’t as successful meeting people as we would have liked. But we met a few.

Troy spent the entire time playing with Misha and Sasha. I’m not sure he even talked to Kayvan until the very end of the party. The girls didn’t always do what Troy wanted to do, so I was his surrogate playmate while they were off doing their thing. When they came back, I hung around and played with all three of them. It means I didn’t spend as much time with adults, but I enjoy these parties more when I’m playing anyway. Honestly, since most of the people work at the university, they spend a great deal talking about work things. Kids are a welcome distraction.

We got to the party late, but we still spent almost two hours there. I think Troy had a good time…considering he didn’t want to leave even after everyone else had packed up and gone. We finally got kicked out when the place closed down.