Unexpected blessings

After changing our route and choosing a more northern path back east we headed up toward Yellowstone National Park. There have been many blessings along the way. The first night on our way through Nevada and Idaho, we stopped overnight at a Walmart parking lot. We obviously do not have electric or water hookups when we do that and there isn’t a place for tents, but we have a generator and the stop really was not bad. That night David took the older kids to a movie while Evie and I had a quiet evening in the RV playing games and reading books. Once she was asleep, I was able to work on plans for the next couple of days. The next morning I woke early and was able to walk across the parking lot to a coffee shop, where I was able to do some more planning while enjoying a delicious coffee. So while a Walmart stop wasn’t my favorite, there were blessings to the time in a town. 

The next stop along our journey was Yellowstone and it certainly did not disappoint! First we stopped at Old Faithful. It was so cool to watch it erupt! Also, it was frigid that morning! 

The geysers and thermal pools are amazing. I always thought the pictures seemed fake, but being there and seeing the colors of the pools in real life was amazing! My photo does not do it justice. 

The second day in Yellowstone we explored another part of the park and saw so many bison! One was even running next to our RV! 

Since we hadn’t had much signal, I was having trouble mapping out our route beyond Yellowstone, but I knew that we were heading to Billings for our next stop. Since Google maps wasn’t working, I planned our route using a road atlas. I didn’t pay attention to the elevation listed on the mountains around the roads or the fact that the road is only open late May through mid October. On the map it looked logical to drive through the northern part of the park, going out at the northeastern side and drive Bear Tooth Pass toward Billings. Little did I know what an adventure that would be. 

As we drove along, the road kept going up. We started seeing snow on the nearby mountains. Then we were going up one of those mountains and seeing snow along the side of the road. As we reached the peak at 10,947 feet, David looked for a place for us to pull over so the kids could play in the snow. 

Yes, Evie is putting a banana nose on her first snowman, since we didn’t have any carrots on hand. It was a fun opportunity for our kids to experience snow, even in the middle of July! David managed to navigate the many switchbacks driving a long RV pulling a minivan on a trailer behind. It was stressful at times, but he managed it well. 

In Billings we were able to reunite with a good friend from our community group from almost 17 years ago! 

He moved away right around the time Elijah was born, but we have been able to be in touch. We met his wife for the first time in person even though they have been married 15 years. Our children enjoyed playing together and we caught up. It was a blessing and amazing encouragement to visit with their family. 

The next day we drove to Devil’s Tower and saw this fascinating igneous intrusion. From the photo it is hard to tell how massive it is, but it certainly is impressive! 

That night the only place we could find to park was “dry camping” in a field next to an RV campground. The kids were still able to swim and we enjoyed a beautiful sunset. 

The next day we headed out to see Mt. Rushmore and the Badlands National Park. We walked to view Mt. Rushmore and were impressed by the portraits carved in the mountainside.  

Our family was a little tired of touring parks, so we just drove through the Badlands and enjoyed the views primarily  from the RV. We reached the next campground in time to let the kids swim and do laundry before it got too late. 

We all slept well and a bit long after many long days. Today is Saturday, some friends from our community group 10 years ago drove an hour to meet us along the way for a late lunch and visit. It was a gift to see good friends after so many years! I’m thankful that this trip has enabled us to reconnect a bit! 

Tonight we don’t know exactly where we will stop. We will probably sleep in another parking lot tonight, but in each of these unexpected turns in our journey, I have seen many blessings along the way. A week ago, we thought we would be traveling another route back east, but a conversation with a construction worker in a laundromat and a closed park showed us that it might be better to go another route. God has blessed us with several gifts along the way. We have been enjoyed seeing friends, beautiful scenery, amazing national landmarks, and even snow! Even though I don’t know where we will park tonight, I trust that God knows and has a good plan!