Day 4 - Bridge Bay Campsite to Madison Campsite, Yellowstone National Park, WY

Day 4: Bridge Bay Campsite to Madison Campsite, Yellowstone National Park, WY

July 30, 2013

I have lost track of what day of the week it is, so we must be on holiday! Today we got up late and got our breakfast together. As I and the boys were getting breakfast, Alle and Ricardo went outside to pack up our tent. The boys and Ricardo were going to sleep in it last night before it started raining. It had collapsed in the night. As they finished and we were getting ready to eat, another thunderstorm started. To our surprise, it was hailing! We had hail hitting the RV and all around our campsite it formed a white layer. What fun! The boys wanted to try eating it. Luckily, we had all of our stuff inside by then.  Our neighbors were not as lucky as they ran around throwing stuff into their pop-up in a mad dash to get it collapsed. I felt sorry for the folks in tents.

Luckily, the sky cleared and most of the rest of the day was sunny and clear. We drove past Yellowstone Lake

to the geyser areas and had lunch at the Old Faithful Inn while we waited for the next eruption. We all preferred the stark beauty of the Grand Prism Spring a bit further down the road, which we visited later in the afternoon. By then, another storm was brewing and the whole area was brooding and fantastic. The colors and the warm steam were beautiful and surprising. Alle announced it was her favorite place so far.

We made our way to the Madison campsite and got setup earlier than our previous nights. The Yellowstone campsites have been fabulous so far; filled with trees, more space, and fire pits. We grilled pork chops over the fire and had fresh beans and zucchini from Blue Gate Farms in Iowa. It was fun to have fresh Iowa produce in the middle of Yellowstone Park. While munching strawberries for dessert, I decided to try grilling some bananas which were getting brown. We ate grilled bananas with butter and honey. They were a bit like Bananas Flambé without any alcohol. Hopefully they won’t attract any bears in the night. We bought the boys souvenir “bear bells” just in case. Everyone is very tired tonight and as I write this, all family members are fast asleep. Tomorrow we head south to the Grand Teton National Park and some time in Jackson, WY.