Doug and I set off over a week ago to have an adventure out west. And an adventure we have had. Or, more accurately, an adventure has had us.
We spent a few days with my aunt and uncle at their house in Story, Wyoming, and then took off for a few days at Yellowstone National Park. (We also planned to pass through Colorado to visit a couple of friends, but that dream is as good as dead).
Our time at Yellowstone was amazing. We rode horses through the mountains, went white-water rafting, did some hiking, saw Old Faithful, until…
Remember not so long ago when I was gloating about our minivan years? Yeah, the minivan years are officially over. After seeing Old Faithful we crashed our van into a car carrying a family of six. Nobody was injured, thankfully and amazingly, but the tow truck drivers pointed to the damage on our dear minivan and laughed when they thought we weren’t looking. The auto place we got it towed to said the damage is too much for them to handle and it will have to be looked at by a dealership 100 miles away in Bozeman, Montana. And since the accident happened Friday afternoon, nothing can even start to happen until Monday- the day we planned to arrive home.
But please check out our photographs of South Dakota and Wyoming.
And our photographs of Yellowstone National Park.
And If those don’t interest you, I will provide a numerical summary of our trip below:
Hours spent inside or locked out of an empty school waiting for clients to arrive: 0
Roadside attractions stopped at despite swearing we wouldn’t stop for any roadside attractions: 5
Cowboy hats purchased by Doug: 3
States we can add to our tally of states we’ve visited together: 4 so far
Rainbows seen: 2 (at the same time)
Bison spotted: Countless
Elk spotted: Countless
Badger spotted: 1
Coyote spotted: 1
Ounces of bear spray purchased: 8.1
Bears spotted: 6
Ounces of bear spray remaining: 8.1
Family vacations we ruined: 1
Cars likely totaled: 2
Bars of cell phone service at the site of our accident: 0
Miles ridden in tow truck: 130 (30 yesterday, 100 tomorrow)
Days we have to wait before dealership can even look at our car: 3
Days I can continue without doing laundry: -4
Times I’ve altered our hotel reservation: 3 (added a night, subtracted a night, added a night)
Attorneys who have called to inform me I am being subpoenaed as a witness for an incident that happened over two years ago: 1
Percentage of body sunburned: 82%
Miles we are from home: 1200
Kittens at home wondering what happened to us: 2
Money found while hiking to put toward a new car: 20 cents
How and when we will get home: No idea, but I am thinking about starting a “Bring Julia and Doug Home From Yellowstone” fund and opening it up to donations.
I lost it at “Cowboy hats purchased by Doug”
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We loved the geothermal pools as well such amaizng colors.As for the grizzly photo those are the times I’m happy for a sunroof on the car (long senses and crop sensors are all well and good and Tim will tell you I spent a bunch of time popping up into the sunroof to take photos when we spotted bison, etc. near the road).
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Loved your numerical list, and your Yellowstone pics really brought back memories even though I was there a lifetime ago (age 15). I am so glad you’re following my blog, and now I will follow yours. p.s. does Doug smile?
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Thanks Jennifer! Glad I could trigger your Yellowstone memories. You should definitely try to make it back sometime- I had been when I was much younger too and got so much more out of it this time around.
And yes, Doug smiles- just not in pictures. Something about not understanding why we have to force a look of glee yada yada I don’t really get it. But I read him your comment and told him to start smiling more!
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I would love to make it back to Yellowstone. It’s on my bucket list.
Haha, glad you relayed my comment to Doug. He’s having a good time, right? So it’s not really forced. It’s just letting the inside glee come out and sharing it.
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Hi, I really feel badly for you, because I had an engine blow once in Colorado, and I couldn’t afford to get it fixed so I had to sell it! Then abadon most of my clothes, because I had to take a 2,800 mile bus ride home! So yeah had a great time, it’s all about the memories! I hope you get home safely and nothing else bad happens to you! Thank you for the follow! If life throws you off a cliff, learn to skydive! I wish you all the luck in the world! Nice to meet you!
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Sorry to hear about what happened to your engine! That’s the stuff that real adventures are made of, though. I feel less sorry for myself about my 1200-hour bus ride now that I realize you had to do over twice that. My goodness, I can’t imagine. Nice to meet you too!
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