Almost a month of my absence from posting was spent on our first vacation since repatriating. The rest of the time was to deal with both kids going to Junior High - that's a blog for another day! I have several points to make, but hopefully they won't get lost in the rambling that goes along with blogging.
As expats in Singapore, we took many vacations (holidays). Singapore is a relatively small island filled with 5 million people. There were many days where I felt a desperate need to GET OFF THIS ISLAND BEFORE I HURT SOMEONE! Okay, it may or may not have been that bad! We went all over S.E.Asia visiting several different countries. It sounds exotic and amazing and for the most part it really was! Our family has been truly blessed by the experiences and I think we are richer for it. --- It built a lot of Character!!! Since returning to the USA, the Engineer and I have realised that our children know VERY LITTLE about their home country. We started to feel some guilt that though they have seen the Great Wall and the ruins of Angkor Wat they have not seen many of the USA's national treasures. They need some help in US geography because although they can tell you where Laos is,they were a bit unsure about where Wyoming is located!
The Engineer felt we needed to be in nature - My Louisiana country boy is still recovering from living in a metropolitan city for years! He decided we needed to show the kids Yellowstone National Park before something happened to it and it was lost forever!!! (WittyGirl was distressed about this because she did a research project in Singapore on volcanoes and discovered that Yellowstone is really a super volcano that can explode at any moment in the next 100,000 years) My parents had taken me there oh so many years ago, but of course, I was way too young to remember it! I looked into cabins and hotels - consulted Trip Advisor, tried to determine a route to take. The Engineer spent one Saturday on the computer and by supper time announced he had the trip all planned out and MOST importantly it was on a spreadsheet!!! He didn't consult my notes or anything!! I was miffed! He proceeds to explain the details of the trip . . . WHAT??!!!! . . . We are renting an RV???!!! In true Engineer fashion, this trip was planned in the most economical and efficient way possible - - -It is all on the spreadsheet so you can check your work!!!!
I was VERY skeptical about this, but in hind sight, I have to say this was the best way for our family to see Yellowstone Nat'l Park. The Engineer was right!- see Honey, I put it in writing, in my blog, for all to see - you were right! I am so VERY thankful that he didn't make us tent camp!!! The only thing is we rented a VERY LARGE 30ft RV! The Engineer also expected me to drive it some . . . . . (See earlier posts about my truck driving skills). . . . .
I did indeed drive this big thing - mostly on open highway, but I did drive in the park one afternoon!
This is Yellowstone Canyon. This was taken on my iPhone - can you believe it! Absolutely gorgeous!
I am disturbingly close to this bison!
The animals are part of what makes Yellowstone unique. These two fawns were with their mother but only about 30 feet from WittyGirl & me!
Old Faithful!
Incidentally - We hiked 2 1/2 miles to a geyser called the LoneStar geyser. It isn't on a regular pattern like Old Faithful, but it shoots steam about 30 feet into the air and you can get quite close to it. There were probably only 10 other people who made the hike out to the geyser and waited around for it to explode. I enjoyed it much more than Old Faithful!
These are the Grand Tetons - just south of Yellowstone Nat'l Park - I cannot count how many times we pulled the big RV over to take yet another picture.
Whether you are an expat, native or foreigner visiting - Yellowstone National Park is truly a treasure and a place I would recommend everyone to see.
Some things I have noted about a repatriated vacation:
*It was really nice to be able to get a room that all 4 of us could stay in without having to explain I have 2 children and they can't possibly sleep in a single bed together or in another room across the hotel from us! It was also nice not to pay extra for having a 2nd child! Didn't matter during the time in the RV.
*Most hotels in the USA provide a light breakfast for free - granted it isn't the sumptuous feast that a Marriott resort lays out, but it is free - no vouchers needed. We cooked our own meals in the RV and dined with bison in the background.
*The flight was quick to me - didn't get to finish a movie or read even a quarter of my book. Still no leg room. Americans are NOT nice travellers! No offence!
Plan to visit some place in your home country - maybe even in your home town!
