A busy few days

The past few days have been exceptionally busy for our families as we continued our travels through Yellowstone National Park. When we first arrived, we stayed at the Grant campground, in adjoining sites. There was little grass, but plenty of pine needles to track into our tents! We were able to visit the basins and other areas of interest as well as lots of wildlife, and we had a ton of fun. Ian has created a video which he will be posting to YouTube soon! Details to follow.
Once we left Grant it was onto Gardiner Montana, where we stayed just outside the park in a KOA campground. It was lovely, right on the river. Some of teh best sleep most of us have had since we started tenting on June 24th. Apparently there was an oil spill on the Yellowstone river, which we heard about that morning, but didn't see any signs of it although we were just feet from the river itself.
From Gardiner (where we saw Mammoth Hot Springs) we went to Old Faithful and stayed at the original Old Faithful Lodge. AMAZING! This is one of the best ways to stay when at this section of the park. Ian was able to get us rooms in the old portion of the lodge, not the new hotel side. The rooms were miniscule, two double beds, a sink and either a tiny dresser or a tiny table. No closets, just a hook on the wall, and two windows that overlook the park and many of the famous geysers that steam constantly. While we couldn't see Old Faithful itself from our room, as it was just around the corner of the lodge, we had only to walk 50 feet to a partially covered balcony with seating to watch the geysers eruptions every 90 or so minutes. I seem to have only one word which i use to describe these sights - breathtaking. The fact that our earth can create such wonders, and constant heat that predicting an eruption to the nearest 15 minutes is great fun to teach the kids.
We did a longer walk with the kids through many of the geysers right at the lodge site. The Constant and The Great Geysers were two of our favorites. There were many smaller ones that the girls (Carissa and Tressa) had fun naming - mostly horse and wolf names.
I have found that my major difficulty throughout this trip involves water - in almost any form. Water leaking from coolers, water dripping into our tent, water puddling outside showers, and melted ice inside coolers is especially bad for new iPods. Note to self - do NOT ever place an iPod on a styrofoam cooler between the front seats during an all night drive, when said cooler is filled with the caffeinated beverages to keep the driver and navigator awake. The results - a lost 160 gb iPod classic. In the everlasting wisdom of my daughter "well, bye!"
Once we left Old Faithful we drove for 4 hours. to go to Craters of the Moon National Monument. There we found out the difference between a National Monument and a National Park. Bueller, Bueller, Bueller? No guesses? A National Monument can only be titled such by a sitting President (Calvin Coolidge name Craters of the Moon), while it takes Congress to vote on a National Park! I am like the Old Faithful Geyser, a wealth of knowledge that will only get me places on Jeopardy.
The four kids all received their Junior Ranger badges from Craters too. They have each bought into the program, and are busy answering the questions and looking for the clues to learn about the parks. I cannot recommend this program strongly enough!
From Craters of the moon we drove to Boise, Idaho. I will pick up that story later. For it is truly another adventure in our Odyssey.