Yellowstone, day 4

Tuesday we had to change campgrounds, from Bridge Bay, to Fishing Bridge, just 4 miles up the road. After hooking all the trailer necessities up, Sean decided to ride his bike from Bridge Bay Marina to West Thumb Junction, about 19 miles away. This left us in a sort-of situation. I don't mind driving around with the trailer hooked up, but I'm not great at backing it in to tight camp spots. I can do it, I just don't love it. So, the girls and I decided we'd give Sean a few minutes head start, and catch up with him just before West Thumb. This way, I didn't have to park the trailer, and we could get some good Mom/Daughter time. Well, we ended up catching Sean about 10 miles in to his ride, so we had some time to kill. At this point, I saw a nice pull-out right on the beach, with a little sandbar to keep the water calm. A perfect way to kill some time. Or so I thought.
Welcome to Leach Beach. Emma found a "cute little inchworm" crawling across her hand. When we tried to pull it off, it was firmly stuck. We found one a while later on Maggie's hand that was significantly larger, and full of her blood! When it came off, it left a big glob of blood on her hand! Gross! Surprisingly, my kids didn't freak out too bad. And after a good outdoor shower to make sure all the little suckers were gone, we went on our merry way.

We went on to explore West Thumb that day, and then proceeded on to Fishing Bridge, where we took part in the Ranger Campfire Program about the fires of 1988. After nearly 20 years, and visiting the Park every year since, I can say that this year the growth is the most noticeable. The trees are beautiful, and are just high enough to hide the rest of the barren landscape, making it seem like "normal". I remember the fire of 1988 so clearly. We were water skiing on Jackson Lake that summer, and could see so much smoke even from 100 miles away. I can't believe it's been 19 years. My how time flies.