It’s a nice morning, quiet cabin, and we decide to head back into the park and see more wonderment. The sky is clear and blue; the air is crisp with fall. We decide to make our way to the mud pots. We see bison, geese, more bison, dear, antelope and a coyote. At every turn there is a new and exciting vista view. We explore the Mammoth and take some video of the car passing the cool bubbly mountains. Then to the Mud pots, dragons breath and volcano. A fellow was telling another fellow that the bubbles are due to pressure, not heat. Oh, then why is there so much steam? Then on to Artist point, we stop to ask what everyone is looking at. A grizzly bear, way off in the distance. That's an animal Oliver particularly wanted to see, but since we didn't have a mega telescopic viewer like everyone else, he choose a dot, and called it a Grizzly. Now, he just looks at any random distant point and calls it a Grizzly bear, with satisfaction. They seem to abound now! It’s lunchtime and we enjoy a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Yogi and BooBoo do not make an appearance in an attempt to steal their aforementioned meal of choice. Artist point is fantastic. Water falls and spires and colors. The Yellowstone river roaring below. Every stop presents an opportunity to tell people about Team Fox, and our mission. -And to encourage them to donate!
The General Store has hot dogs, buns, and s’more supplies. We get directions to a picnic area that has a fire pit and we gather firewood and Oli lights a great fire. While gathering wood, I see Oliver trying to split a dry limb by stomping on it. The first time he jumps up and down, cracking it in two. Then the second time, I see him jump up, the wood rolls out from under him and orange and red fly up in the air, going in opposite directions! (His orange shirt and red socks.) He lands on the ground -with only his ego bruised.
The fire is quickly built, and there is something very funny about the primitive act juxtaposed with a stainless steel time machine in the background. We cook some hot dogs on a sharpened stick and have an outdoors feast! Little ketchup packets that seem to accumulate along the trip come in handy (they may have come from Montreal, Boston, Reno, or anywhere in between!) We sit listening to the fire crackle, and two big black crows (or ravens) 'CAW' back and forth, no doubt discussing the potential meal for themselves. There is a peacefulness here in this remote hideaway, where other locations we visited throughout the day were quite busy with tourists.
We decide to finish cooking the rest of the pack so that we have lunch for tomorrow! We meet some fellow travelers from Germany who inquire about the car. They know about 'Back to the Future' and love the film! We offer them some dogs, but they politely decline, telling us in their very Germany accent that 'zay haf alrrready eaten.'We are visited by a very pesky grey blue jay who is so bold to swoop down and try to steal our s'mores! We try to get him to land on our hats with a piece of Dorito Cool Ranch, but he doesn't care for that. He wants the entire meal!
For all the long driving, the challenges of travel, getting lost and other surprises, it's a blessing to have such a great day!
With a full belly, and a moment to relax and walk around the car a little without anyone else around, Oli inspects his floppy door, and notices that it sits higher than mine when closed. A closer look proves why: The hinge is cracked and the stress of the torsion bar is spreading it wider and wider apart. With a flashlight, he shows me the cracked hinge and says that it's just a matter of time, and when it finally decides to let go, we’ll hear a big, loud bang.
Just as he was finishing his sentence, closing the door...
'BANG!' it goes!
The timing is just uncanny, and the only thing that is left for us to do is laugh! Unbelievable.
It’s a very heavy door, and now it is held on with only the one good hinge.
With all the times we have opened and closed the door, just today alone, hopping in and out taking photos of animals or steam vents, we find it amazing that it held on until we had enjoyed our day completely. We're particularly lucky it didn't hurt anyone, considering the number of kids we let climb into the pilots seat for a photograph.
So, now we are presented with a fun challenge: Oli now has to climb in an out the passenger side. We are blazing a trail as fast as we can to DMC Northwest. Toby, here we come with a broken wing that needs repair!
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