Yellowstone - fishing bridge & lake village

We got checked in at our campsite and got the trailer unhitched (for the first time since we bought it!) We let the kids play in the woods and made some lunch. We made some plans for tackling the park over the next couple days. 

He snowman built with a cup noodles cup (something we introduced our children to on this trip that they promptly asked if they could eat every day!)

And the snowman admiring our trailer.

Finally, we headed out to Lake Village. We visited the general store (where a cheap loaf of bread is $6) and the original Yellowstone hotel. It happens that the hotel just celebrated its 125th birthday! It is so elegantly decorated with historic charm but modern and comfortable amenities. Amazingly, the hotel had a little library! I was so excited I had my photo taken there AND, of course, I checked out a couple books! One is a field guide of plants and animals of this area. The other was 52 nature activities for kids. I was suffering from library-withdrawals, so this was perfect. (:

With no cell service, it's tempting to use this relic (phone booth). Ky was "stuck": "Mom! I can't get out!" So funny. 

Old-school tour bus we found by the post office in Lake Village. 

Saw a bison about 10'from our car! Took video because it was rolling then got up to walk around. So neat to watch. If I'm ever savvy enough to add video, you may see it. 

We decided that we would dine in the local "restaurant" at Fishing Bridge, where we were staying. Typically, we've been eating in, but we were a little low on dinner-ish supplies and food was so expensive at the store that the restaurant prices were (comparatively) very reasonable! So we headed back over and found that the restaurant  was more like a diner with stools at a bar. There were only 26 spots and we needed 6 of them! But it worked out and we had a lovely dinner. 

After dinner we came back "home" and let the kids continue their fort in the woods. It turned out great. They built a strong structure that even Scott and I could stand in!

We got bundled up and headed to the evening ranger program. It was advertised in our campground as "9:30 at the amphitheater" and there was a sign the pointed in the direction of said amphitheater. We gave ourselves 10 minutes to walk there and 25 minutes later, we arrived. It was so much further than we thought! But we enjoyed hearing the talk about who the national park service is and the scope and goals of their "protection" of national places. Funny side note: on the way home, we passed the bathrooms we would never have passed had we not walked to the talk to find signs on the doors that said, "Please do not let your children build structures in the forest".  Oops! We'll have to de-construct tomorrow! Right now it's 11pm and for out park plans to work we have to be up and around by 8 tomorrow - super challenging for Grubbs!