Many favorite stories to tell of our childhood are about Yellowstone National Park. We camped there almost every year...at least a weekend or a whole week. Tent camping, our single mom and her 2 kids. This was the time when you could drive to Yellowstone and pick a campsite on the spot. There was a campground in the Old Faithful area back then. There were bears everywhere, even a bear trap in our campsite one time and they caught a bear in it that night.

Dotty's favorite spot was a tree near Grand Geyser. There are benches there now, but back then it was just a narrow wooden boardwalk. She would take a blanket, a thermos of coffee and her book and sit under a tree to wait for Grand to erupt. Don and I would wander the surrounding geyser basins and check back occasionally until we had seen Grand from a distance or she was tired of waiting (which was rare). We knew the rules of staying on the boardwalks and pathways, and Don was a good "big brother," always watching out for me and making sure I was safe.

I also remember Don and I playing in the creek that went near the campground and cabins...we would float sticks and have "boat" races. Oh my, how many hours we could kill just enjoying nature!

Every day Dotty would get up early and start the campfire, warm up the cocoa before waking us. Lunch would be sandwiches and Cook's potato chips from a greasy paper bag...yum! After dark, we would always go to the Fireside Talk and learn something from the Park Rangers about wildlife, geology, etc.

I miss my big brother :-(