July 9 Sunday Yellowstone

I must have been restless last night because at 3 in the morning I rolled off the blow-up mattress onto the tent floor while tangled in my sleeping bag - quite the rude awakening!  We made scrambled eggs and pan toast this morning for breakfast and then headed over to the marina to pick up the trailhead for a hike to the Yellowstone Natural Bridge.  It was an easy walk (about 1 1/4 miles each way) and the end result was totally worth it.  The bridge was 51 feet high with a span of 29 feet - not as big or impressive as the arches in Utah, but quite nice.  We came back to the campsite for lunch and did a little truck cleaning and rearranging in preparation for our departure tomorrow.  We let the girls decide what they wanted to do on their last day in Yellowstone and they opted to go back to the sand spit.  This time it was windier and the waves were lapping at the shore.  They walked all the way to the end of the spit, enjoyed watching the geese while avoiding the goose poop and had to tuck their hair into their shirts on the way back to avoid whiplash. No one had walked out and disturbed their driftwood names so they will probably stay on the sand until the next big storm comes and washes them away.  The girls built a small fort out of driftwood, walked in the sand at the edge of the water and as a by product, exfoliated the bottom of their feet on the volcanic sand.  We went up to Fishing Bridge for showers and an early dinner, figuring that if we ate out tonight we could play some cards with the kids and get to bed earlier so we can get on the road faster in the morning.  We have already packed up the stove and dish tubs so we have a head start on tomorrow’s packing.