A Very Special Place
Yellowstone National Park is the world’s largest collection of geysers. It is a mountain wildland, home to wolves, herds of bison, grizzly bears, and elk. The park is core of one of the world’s last, nearly intact, natural ecosystems in the Earth’s temperate zone. At 28,000 square miles, this historical park is as wondrous as it is complex. Established in 1872, the park has since developed a rich history of human and ecological stories that continue to unfold.
Let us throwback to the unforgettable blue July in the summer of 2009. Fifteen people, with bonds no electromagnetic radiation could break, endeavored together on a trip across the states. Beginning with our departure in Mississippi, we settled ourselves in my Papa’s 1995 white GMC Vandura 2500. Traditions, in my family, are greatly cherished and taking my Papa’s van on each family getaway is one of said traditions.
Across the states we travelled beginning our adventure; each state with a new adventure in store for us. It should be considered insurmountable disloyalty to speak of this adventure without accounting for my lovely cousins. I shall begin with saying that this family of mine is the extraordinary product of the two most amazing people I know: my grandparents. I will refrain from telling of them in this essay, for once I began I wouldn’t be able to catch a breath. Joseph, Kelly, Katie, Tate, and Cassi all complete this family that we hold onto so dearly. It is through my relationship with these cousins that has helped me laugh when there wasn’t a funny thing around, find love in the situations that would get us down, and find the strings that keep us so tied together.
Continuous days and nights were spent driving through the endless steaming asphalt of Texas and the winding mountain roads of Utah as we encompassed ourselves in our dire search for Interstate signs and the occasional pit stop.
I lack the time needed to document each detail of this vacation in whole....