Life as a Yowler

Yesterday went so well. We did so much more than we were planning to do. Everything went about as smooth as it possibly could. I was shocked how much there is to see in South Dakota. Today did not go nearly as smooth. That’s how traveling goes. You can’t predict weather. You also can’t predict how sights will go if you’ve never been to them. We were pretty surprised by today. I have been reading and researching with the kids about Yellowstone National Park. We have all been excited and really looking forward to going. We did go to Yellowstone today, but it did not go as we anticipated.

Did anyone know that there’s a Winter storm warning out in Yellowstone one day before may? This picture doesn’t come close to showing how difficult it was to see.

We ended up getting stuck in very deep snow. There were no side rails in this particular spot we got stuck in. Brandon’s Mom was with us and we put her in charge of steering while Brandon and I pushed with all our strength. Praise the Lord we got unstuck eventually. I thought at one point the suburban was going over the side of the mountain.

The main road eventually closed. By the way we actually checked the Yellowstone app with the KOA camp director and it said that all roads were open. We wouldn’t have gone if we knew there were roads closed. We had no idea what to do. We had just driven 1.5 hours through the park and there was no other way out. We were just a couple miles from exiting Yellowstone. So we decided to try to get through since we had 4 wheel drive. Bad idea. Eventually we realized we were going to get stuck again so brandon decided to go back. There was no where to turn around. So we reversed the entire way of course.

We turned around and drove the 1.5 hours back. We were going down hill this time. It’s much more difficult to drive on snow and ice going downhill. At one point Brandon slid at least 100 yards. He somehow managed to keep control of the vehicle. God is good. We all lived and survived.

There were points in the drive that the snow cleared and we could see. We saw tons of mule deer, elk, and wild horses. We also spotted some bear dens.

The kids were thrilled to also find this bear poop. Brielle asked if she could keep it.

We all, minus Grandma, saw some breathtaking scenery  She stayed in the car for fear of bears. 🙂 She is the smart one.

We had another adventure earlier today. We had to make this turn pulling into our campground in Montana. This might be the most hick campground we’ve ever stayed at.

We ended up unhooking the suburban and barely squeezing the RV by without scratching it.

Even though today didn’t go as planned we still had a lot of fun. We definitely made a lot of memories. It really wouldn’t be a Yowler trip without a few adventures. I’m just thankful it wasn’t a turkey crashing through our windshield, or losing a hubcap over the side of the mountain. I’m thankful we didn’t pop a tire while leveling the motor home. . Im thankful we didn’t spill an entire gallon of bleach in the RV. I’m also thankful we didn’t all almost die of carbon monoxide poisoning. I’m thankful we didn’t hit a semi truck and miraculously live. Those adventures are all in the past. Driving in a winter storm through the Yellowstone mountains really was very minor. Once again I’m so thankful for God’s protection. We are blessed!