Campground life

We spent nine nights camping on this trip and I cannot emphasize enough how amazing it was. I took this photo when I woke up somewhere in the Bighorns after driving all night and swapping with Neil just before the sun came up.  So a post just dedicated to some of the fun times we had hanging out at our campsite in Yellowstone...

I don't know if it was the three months we'd all spent in our house together doing school and work and church from home, but holy cow, this was basically the best family vacation ever. We were all just SO HAPPY TO BE SOMEWHERE ELSE. The virus numbers were dipping, so it didn't feel quite as scary as it had in spring (or as straight up terrifying as it does when I'm writing this in December) and the parks were JUST opening up again...if I recall correctly, we actually camped at both Yellowstone and Glacier the day that they reopened for campers. So the parks weren't super busy. We've been to Yellowstone so many times that we totally have our program worked out for avoiding other people--take our dinner on the road and hit the hot tourist spots late in the day after most people have left the park and gone back to their hotels. 

Case in point--making dinner on the banks of the Firehole at a picnic spot. 

I was laughing SO hard when Nathan popped out of the van in his bathrobe. I had no idea he'd packed it and he was just so cute and cozy waiting for dinner! 

I think this was our first night in Yellowstone. 

Matthew was bunny-hopping everywhere that night. 

Tucked in ready for bed! So darling.

This was the first time we'd camped at Bridge Bay and it was one of the most beautiful campsites I'd ever seen. Some of the lower loops were super packed in (and heavily frequented by elk and buffalo--someone was gored by a buffalo the morning we left, and we saw that buffalo nosing around tents as we drove out) but the upper loops were BEAUTIFUL and sites were very widely spaced. 

Jules with some of the many books she snuck into the car!

Everyone chilling the afternoon we arrived--we got there pretty early and had a few hours to just unwind and enjoy being out of the car!

Matthew's helper job was attaching all the fly clips. He took it very seriously!

The van was our home away from home! We really grew to love it--it made suuuuuch a difference to be able to neatly arrange all of our camping supplies in the back so nothing ever had to be moved around to access something else AND for everyone to have so much space during the drive! 

Neil tried sleeping in the hammock one night and got so cold that he didn't sleep very well, so...he needed some hammock nap time the next day. 

This was our campground in Madison--we couldn't get a 5th night at Bridge Bay and our reservation in Glacier didn't start for a couple days, so we switched campgrounds just for one day. Totally not my favorite and we didn't eat until really late that night. 

Jules was a huge fan of that first night's tin foil dinner!

Such a great campsite--we had so much room!! Seriously enormous. 

And the trees--all the heart eyes. 

Isaac just totally wiping the floor with me at checkers (hence my glee at trouncing him so soundly a few months later in the Smokies)

And Nathan stickering it up one morning to take us out!