Sunday, July 17, 2011

Shane & Sabrina plus Six!

"Aunt Sabrina, Aunt Sabrina it's a Bison!" squealed my 8 year old nephew. Adorned with a Junior Ranger vest and hat, his smile was priceless. He had been patiently counting down the days since school finished, for his vacation to visit his Park Ranger Aunt & Uncle in Yellowstone National Park, and now he was here! Accompanying him on his trip were 5 other "first-timers": His Dad, Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Brent, and Cousin Hailie. Despite the 50 year gap between the youngest and oldest they all admired the sights with equal enthusiasm and zest, a testament that whether you are 1 or 101 yrs old, Wonderland brings a smile to every one's face.


I can still remember my first time to Wonderland. I was not a child yet I couldn't help but act like one. "A wolf", I exclaimed, my arm nearly knocking out my husband as he attempted to drive through Hayden Valley. A beautiful all white wolf was dashing at rocket speeds through the open sage brush of Hayden Valley.  I would later learn that she was the Alpha female of the Hayden Pack, and that summer (2007), she quickly became my favorite wolf.


But now Shane and I had the opportunity to share the wonders of Yellowstone with our family. We had six days to discover, explore and fall in love with the beauties of the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem. Although Park Rangers have all sorts of favorite "off the beaten path" spots, our travels did not differ from that of which I would recommend to any other visitor. We found ourselves at all the must-see places such as West Thumb, Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Fountain Paint Pots, Mammoth Hot Springs, Hayden Valley, Lamar Valley and of course the Iconic Old Faithful.


Arriving at Old Faithful on Friday, I had my Park Ranger uniform in my travel bag because I had been invited to assist with a film permit. America's First National Park regularly receives film permit requests for all sorts of reasons but this time it was for a reality TV show called Kate plus Eight. I was excited to be one of the rangers assisting with this film permit and even more excited that my family would get to see "Ranger Sabrina in Action!"
Old Faithful was predicted to erupted at 6:31pm, +/- 10 minutes and I was scheduled to sit next to the reality TV show family and share with them a little about Old Faithful. Teaching park visitors about Yellowstone is such a rewarding experience whether the visitors are your family or a reality TV show family! As we waited for Old Faithful to erupt  I taught them about the Yellowstone Super volcano and how a  geyser like Old Faithful works. Soon Old Faithful was erupting and simultaneously my family, Kate plus eight, and hundreds of other families watched as the iconic geyser blew- all of us in awe of the wonders of nature and the powerful force of the Yellowstone super volcano.  Watching Old Faithful erupt immediately brings about all sorts of questions to the spectators mind. Happily, I answered a variety of questions about Old Faithful, and soon the reality TV show family smiled and politely thanked me for sharing my knowledge, before they headed off on their next adventure. As I returned to my family, my nephew proudly proclaimed : "Aunt Sabrina, I want to be a ranger like you and teach people about the park". It was the perfect ending to a fabulous day!

But the next day "Shane and Sabrina plus Six" were also on their next adventure. Exiting the Park through the Northeast Entrance we soon found ourselves exploring the Beartooth Mountains. Climbing up higher and higher through granite domes we stopped at every lookout to snap some pictures. I had seen all these mountains before, taken pictures of all these views before; yet I still found myself mesmerized and snapping my camera at every moment. It's hard to ignore beauty even if you've seen it one hundred times. Stopping for lunch at Clay Butte I watched as my niece and nephew played in the snow patches, dipped their feet into the cold waters of Bear Lake and ran through the open meadows that were filled with shooting stars and other wildflowers. And as we drove home on our final day I looked down at my nephew who was curled up in my lap taking a nap. His sun tanned cheeks were a mixture of pink and brown. His shirt was dirty and his little feet were grimy. His completed Junior Ranger Book lie on the floor of the car.  And his face had a smile on it, with the look of a little boy who had just explored, discovered and fallen in love with Wonderland! I closed my eyes as well and soon fell asleep, with pink and brown cheeks, a smile on my face and a happy little boy curled up in my lap.    



   

16 comments:

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  2. It sounds like you had a nice visit with your nephew and family. I find it meaningful that you focused your blog entry on him when there were famous people you could have focused on. You're a special Aunt. I'm glad you were able to share your love of Yellowstone with him... And that he seemed to love it. I hope you share your blog entry with him one day.

    Thanks for sharing!

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  3. I can NOT wait to bring my kids out. I'm hoping for next summer, but this post has made me itchy to check flight info now.

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  4. Hi All,
    Thanks for reading my blog and for all the kind comments. My niece and nephew really were the highlight of the week. Yellowstone is a place everyone should visit with their family and I am glad that the Gosselins got to visit as a family. I hope all of you get to visit this magical place soon! :-)

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  5. Great blog Sabrina. I can't wait to visit. We are planning on coming next spring. Taking a cross country RV tour of our great country. Can't wait to see all that is out there. Lexxi please don't bring negativiity to this blog. Sabrina is very kind and has a great blog. Not her problem about anyone else. Nothing will stop people from visiting this great place. Keep up the good work Sabrina!!

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  6. Great that you were able to share your love of Yellowstone with your family! We brought our kids to the park two years ago and hope we can return soon. I've never watched "Kate Plus Eight"; I only know who Kate is because of her brief stint on "Dancing With the Stars." If you know when your episode will air, let us know and I'll try to DVR it! :) Blessings to you!

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  7. Sabrina,
    What season do you recommend a visit to the park? Aside from winter, as I'm not a fan of cold weather.

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  8. SG, I think Autumn (Sept, October) is the best time to visit. Elk are bugling, Aspen trees are all orange and the weather is just perfect. There are also not as many crowds. :-)

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  9. I have some friends coming in this week--speaking of which, it's Thanksgiving time in Madison--I hope you and Shane can make it up here!

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  10. Sabrina what about spring timefor a visit? We are planning to come around May or April? Autumn would be awesome though, but spring is our scheduled time.

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  11. Hi Lori, Spring is wonderful too. I prefer May versus April. April can still have a lot of snow but things begin to warm up quite a bit in May. But don't forget that we are at 8000 ft and so a warm day in May means anything from 40 to 55'F.

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  12. Thanks Sabrina! No snow for us! LOL That is stil pretty chilly for May. Brrr But hopefully, we won't hit the snow. We can't wait to come. Thanks again. Hopefully, you will be OUR guide.

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  13. Thanks for sharing the experience. We are already planning a trip to Yellowstone when our little guy will be able to wrap his head around the spectacular beauty and have a few adventures of his own.

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  14. Reading your blog makes me want to bring my daughter to visit. are visitors able to find lodging such as resorts and hotels fairly close? We would want to fly in and rent a car to get around in. It sounds like a beautiful place to visit. I love he Smokeys so I am sure tbhis would be even grander.

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  15. Hi Lisa,
    There is lodging in the park through a concessioner named Xanterra. Rooms/cabins book up quickly as people make reservations 6 to 12 months in advance. There is also a lot of hotels/lodging in the towns of West Yellowstone and Gardiner. Both are located within minutes of the park. Thanks for reading my blog!

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  16. Thanks for sharing your experience with Shane and Sabrina Plus Six and Kate Plus Eight. I would love to see your favorite wolf myself someday...

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