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This is our 100th post here at TripsWithKevin.com and I am excited that it coincides with our trip to Yellowstone National Park! This will be my fourth trip to Yellowstone, Sarah’s second, and the first time for both children. Once again we used our eBags to manage our luggage situation. We packed two bags for the trip and sent our jackets and hiking shoes ahead with my parents who are meeting us with their travel trailer. Now, on to the trip…
Saturday, July 1, 2017
We woke at 3:15 this morning to make sure that we would make our 5:30 AM flight out of Dulles Airport. Once we got our bags checked (we checked in online at 5:30 AM on Friday morning) it took us about 40 minutes to get to our gate. For some reason the East Security Gate was closed and that accounted for a significant amount of the time it took to reach the gate. Once boarded, everything went smoothly.
The children are now good at flying (they enjoy the Ben Flyin Kid’s Snack Box on United and the TV) and the 3+ hour flight was pretty easy. We arrived at Denver Airport about 7:30 AM (Mountain Time) and went directly to United Club West. I normally get two passes per year, but my father gave us two extras so the whole family could use the Club. What a God-send!
Our three hour lay-over became relaxing with food, coffee and nice restrooms (the food shops had been closed when we reached the gate at Dulles at 4:55 AM)! We were able to drink coffee and hot chocolate, eat breakfast and read the Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Denver Post. I even stumbled upon a Lonely Planet Magazine! I was a little nervous about how the children would behave in the Club, but it was actually a far better place for them to while away the layover. The Club did begin to get more crowded as the morning went on, but was never super crowded.
We were disappointed when we left the Club after three hours (at 10:15 AM) that most of the food items for sale in the airport were breakfast. We ended up with some pizzas and turkey sandwiches. The flight to Bozeman from Denver was just over an hour long. The view of the mountains as you approach is beautiful and got Fionnuala (5) really excited when she saw them out her window.
The mountains as we drove away from Bozeman Airport, Montana
My parents picked us up at the airport and drove us to our final destination, Gardiner, Montana. We are staying at the Rocky Mountain RV Park on the Yellowstone River. The cabin is nice and clean, but a bit on the small side. In fact, the eBags saved us. It would have been very difficult to stay organized in a cabin that size without them. The views, however, are amazing!
We stayed in Cabin 4 at the Rocky Mountain RV Park, Gardiner, Montana
The main room of our cabin
The kitchen area was next to the bed
The main room
The bunk room
The bathroom
These are the only chairs in the cabin
After we settled in the kids got in a round of mini-golf with their Grandfather. Then we ate at the camp site before retiring for the day. All of us are completely exhausted (after over twelve hours of traveling), but the kids did a great job today. Tomorrow: Yellowstone and the Rodeo!
The view from our cabin. The mountains are the beginning of Yellowstone National Park.
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