Last Days in Yellowstone

The great thing about a long trip with no phone or Internet access is discovering that, collectively, our four teenagers can recite almost every great Monty Python line in full Brit accent. That and realizing that the human brain can actually complete an entire train of thought when it isn't constantly interrupted. By the end of our trip the car was so rank we attracted wildlife with no effort at all! Thanks to the animals that showed up: Black bears, Bull elk, moose, a family of otters, another grizzly and cubs, prairie dogs, a beaver, and the other two-thousand-three-hundred-and-forty-two bison we'd missed earlier. Thanks also to Richard and Jim for the tips that took us to Boiling River, where a thermal spring spills into the Gardner river and you can settle into the clear, rushing water at whatever spot the temperature feels perfect.

Camping in Yellowstone

Four days with six people sharing a mini van and tent makes for memorable statements. My favorites so far: "Is Lithuanium a gas?" "Is a chimera a lizard or a fast car?" if you don't wear flip flops in the shower you might catch mad cow disease."

Collective Forgotten Items: hot pads, cooking utensils, knife, sleeping pad patch kit, can opener, several tiothbrushes, hats, map, rain jacket, shorts, binoculars, phone charger, bathing suit, water bottle. No children left behind so far.

Made a great stew in our Dutch oven in the firepit and immersed it in the coals before I realized I had no hot pads. Fortunately a tire iron makes a great pot lid hook. But by the time I had the whole thing figured out and cooked we had toasted and eaten a bag of marmallows and three people were sound asleep.

Animal sightings so far: two pika, three marmots, six or seven American white pelicans, elk everywhere, bison everywhere, and most miraculously--a grizzly and her three cubs in a stand off with a wolf and three coyotes over an elk kill. Guess who won?