Our Yellowstone trip

We just got back from Yellowstone, a day earlier than planned.  I am so glad to be home.  Yellowstone is amazing, but that was a really bad camping experience.  Because of the bear issue, we couldn't leave anything related to food outside.  I pride myself in keeping a clean campsite; dishes washed and drying, food put away in boxes and coolers, tidy tent, etc., but up there, you can't leave anything out that has touched food, so no table cloth, no toiletries, no dishes drying, etc.  All we could leave out was fuel sources, so propane lamps were ok, and chairs.  The camp stove had to be put away whenever we weren't in camp.  It was like setting up camp everytime you came back to camp and then taking it all down when you went to bed or left to do sightseeing.  We literally lived out of our cars.  ANd the mosquitos, oh my gosh.  I haven't seen mosquitos like that.  Even with deep woods repellant all over my face and hands, they would dive bomb my face.  I have bites along my part in my hair, in my hair along my neck and on my ears.  I even have some that they did through my socks.  I was too hot to wear my hooded sweatshirt, so I was constantly fighting them off.  They were fierce, even in the middle of the day.  It was hot during the day and cold at night.  We were quite close to the bathroom, but not close enough.  I sort of had a breakdown on Sunday, after sitting in the Old Faithful Lodge for about 5 hours, cell phone dead, camera battery dead, couldn't find the car, trying to drink enough but not succeeding.  I was so exhausted from poor sleep for 2 nights and it was so crowded with tourists and hot.  They don't air condition the buildings up there.  There was no where to nap except in the car and it was too hot to sit in the car and I couldn't find it anyway.I walked, or rather stumbled, around the parking lot 3 times, crying and looking for the Prius.  You can't believe how many silver cars there are in the world.  Dana and Tori were off sightseeing, but with a dead cell phone I couldn't get in contact with them.  My knee was stiff and achy and the only thing I had to read was a *%#@!! book about Yellowstone that had supplemental CD's and DVD's, but I didn't have a CD player (couldn't find the car) or a computer to watch the DVD's.  Note to reader, they don't sell newspapers or magazines in the Gift shops at Old Faithful Inn or Lodge.  Only stuff about Yellowstone.  I finally literally stumbled across the Prius, so I dug out the Newsweek that I had already read and re-read about Cindy McCain.  I think that saved my sanity, at least for the moment.  When we finally got back to camp, I told Dana and Tori that I was going home the next day and was trying to sort out which pots and pans and food they would need and what I could take home in my car.  Finally, they told me to go to bed.  They offered me some dinner, but my headache was SO bad that I wasn't hungry.  I just tried to sleep, but that was hard too, because I worried about making it to the bathroom.  Anyway, the next morning, Dana booked us a cabin at Mammoth Hot Springs and we drove up there, stopping along the way to look at stuff and take pictures.  When we got there, the cabin wasn't quite ready, so D and T went sight seeing and I laid on the lawn in the shade of a tree and rested.  When the cabin was ready, I walked in and thought I was in heaven.  2 beds, a shower, toilet and sink and windows with screens to keep out the mosquitos.  And on top of that, it had a cute porch looking out onto a lawn where little ground squirrels were playing.  I almost started crying again.  It was so beautiful and peaceful.  The next day, we did some more sightseeing along the way home and got home last night at midnight.  

Several things that I learned:  1-I can't camp at Yellowstone ever again.  I like Richardson Grove camping.  2-I need some sort of camp cot, because getting up off the ground in a tent is too hard.  3-I now have more understanding of homeless people.  I have heard that the biggest problems are chronic fatigue and feeling demoralized because you are dirty and smell bad and can't do anything about it. At least on my "homeless day" at Old Faithful Lodge, I had some money, so I could eat and I had showered just that morning, so I looked presentable, but I was so exhausted that I couldn't think straight and so sweaty that I know I smelled bad.  Given another day or two of that life, I would have looked like a homeless woman. 4- I will save money to stay at Mammoth Hot Springs cabins again.  The one we had, B7, was delightful and I told Dana that if I had a radio, I could stay there for a long time.  I could learn to live without TV, but I need a radio to know what the news is.  So there it is.  Now I am home with tons of chores to do and starting back at work tomorrow.