Cooke City to Kaysville

 When we turned off the main road to the cabin, Ptolemy said, "Wait!  Mom!  There could be bears in those woods!"  Yes, there are definitely bears in those woods.

 Freestone looks like he's in his element, doesn't he?

 Isaac, Jacob, Free, Adaline and Ari hangin out like old friends.

 The darling room Tizzy, Tolly and I got to stay in.  Every foom of the cabin, and there are many, is decorated to the nines in cabin style.  Paul and Rita have created a masterpiece!

 We only had one day at Cooke City, so the kids went to the Broadwater to fish pretty early.  The rest of us followed them out to canoe.  The water was fairly warm, so they tried out the rope swing, swinging out over the water and letting go.

 When Tziporah reached the water's edge, she did not stop.  She did not hesitate.  She plowed right into the water and was surprised when it was wet.  She was determined to be the first one to take a ride on the canoe.

 I am grateful we had the chance to stop by Cooke City, if only for one night.  We missed the official DeBry trip this year because we were in D.C.  In fact, Krissy and Sin were in Montana while we were staying at their house.  It was a special honor that Laura and Gordon invited us.  Finishing out our trip with them at Cooke City was perfect.  I can't imagine a better way to go out.  We left at 2:00, after lunch.

 This is Cooke City, right at the Northeast gate of Yellowstone National Park.  The bulk of our drive home was through the park.

Upon seeing the herd of buffalo, Tziporah said, "Bunny!  Aaawwww, bunny!"  Ptolemy squinted and said, "Are those TURTLES?!"  My Instagram hashtag was #aremykidsdumberthanaverage?  If they are, at least they're funny.  Those comments kept me cracking up as we sped through the park.  The kids were content to slow down rather than stop at the sight of animals, hot pots and geysers.  I might have downplayed some of the sights. "Oh darn, I think Old Faithful is broken.  No!  We're not stopping at the steaming hot pots.  Did you know people have died falling in those?  A moose!  You missed it?  Good thing we have those in our yard."

"Mom, we don't have moose in our yard."

"Well, we have deer.  Just picture them taller with antlers."

We got through Yellowstone in record time and happier than the larks that we probably missed seeing.  But after driving along with the herd of buffalo, pulling out the binoculars for a hawk or a mule deer would have been anticlimactic anyway.  We even blazed through West Yellowstone, which means I have done the impossible:  I have saturated my kids with enough rock shops and t-shirt stores that they have no desire to stop and fill a bag with polished stones.  That's saying something.

The last leg of the drive was West Yellowstone to Kaysville.  It was peaceful.  The route was familiar, and having spent the night in Cooke City with family, I already felt like I was home, in a way.

When we walked in the house, Scott, my parents and Trajan were waiting with cameras to capture my reaction to the surprises Scott had been working on while we were gone!

But that's another story...