Random Memories

Just some of my random memories that make me smile from the trip so far:
• My Nephew, Rylan, opening up the fridge in the Shop at the Cobb Ranch which they keep stocked with Pop for the grandkids and saying, “Now this…is heaven!”
• Floating down the Niobrara River with Brendon on Inner Tubes. Actually, it was more like dragging Brendon on his inner tube because the stinkin’ river was too shallow, but we had fun. Oh, and narrowly sliding under an electric fence spanning the river.
• Watching the boys learning to drive and swerving off into the pasture.
• Sitting by the fire at the Mystery Mountain campground and watching our neighbors play cards with flashlights on their forheads.
• Carrying Ian up and down stairs through Wind Cave with both of us covered with puke. His head was on my shoulder, and when something cool came up he’d whisper in my ear, “That’s cool daddy.”
• Driving through Yellowstone and hearing the boys say, “Oh, just another Bison.” They’d seen too many evidently.
• Jason and I tying at four games to four playing the card version of Settlers of Katan.
• Helping Tom lay the flooring that we brought with us from Ikea in their bathroom floor.
• Going through the maze in Rapid City with Kiley’s parents and hearing the boys giggling all the way across the maze as they ran through with their PaPa.
• Saying, “We’ll never see a grizzly bear in Yellowstone. They’re rare!” and then seeing two.
• Skipping rocks on the Bitterroot river in my home town with the boys. I still hold the record at 8 skips.
• Going down the two story water slide at the Holiday Inn Express in Sturgis, SD and it sounding like a Water Buffalo was in the thing as it rocked back and forth all the way down. Then having Kiley go down and the end of the slide catch her so off guard she tried to breathe in as she went under the water (it was funny later). ☺
• Sitting in our screen porch late at night in West Yellowstone visiting with the Anderson family.
• Eating Ice Cream on the 2nd floor deck of the Old Faithful Inn watching Old Faithful go off and make a rainbow in the setting sun.
• Laying in the hammock and taking a nap as the evening breeze rocked me to sleep at the Cobb Ranch.