Monday and Tuesday- July 8 & 9 The Adventure Begins

After months of planning (in fact, years!) our adventure to celebrate our 50th anniversary with the whole family in Yellowstone National Park began today!  We've had a reservation for four cabins at Mammoth Hot Springs, which we arranged when we were the last spring (2018). Except for some things we had to make reservations for, we figured everyone could be on their own since we all had our own cars.

The original plan failed miserably, although to no consequence as it turned out. Originally, Janet and Shawn and the kids would drive to Rexburg, Idaho, where we would meet at a hotel. There would be a pool for the kids and its only a 300 mile day....making it less stressful and tiring. As it turned out Shawn could not get this day off, so they drove directly to Mammoth the next day. Oh well, it was a good idea!

Meanwhile, Jake and Kelly and the boys were to have arrived in Bozeman about noon on Tuesday. We'd meet them there, pick up their rental car, then drive down to Mammoth. Due to a mix-up in the times they missed their flight and had to take the same flight on Wednesday.

So, on Tuesday, we left Rexburg for Bozeman, thinking we were going to meet Jake, and drove on down to Mammoth where Janet and Shawn would arrive later. The drive from Bozeman to Mammoth is beautiful! (Then, on Wednesday, we'd go back up to Bozeman to meet Jake.)

Andy and Helen would drive directly from Spokane.

So, by the end of this day, we were all there, except Jake. The cabins were great and the hotel people did a great job locating us near each other - two, two-unit cabins, overlooking the central lawn area where the kids would spend many hours running, laughing, chasing ground squirrels.

The meal plan was that we'd bring supplies for breakfast and picnic lunches. This worked out well but in the end, we had way too much stuff! Dinner this evening was at the hotel dining room.