Day 15 National Day

After a long beauty sleep, we had a somewhat modest breakfast because we had forgotten to shop abundantly outside the national park. Then, Mom, Chregi, and I (Marielle) went horse riding. We reached the paddock and met eight old draft horses. Two cowboys greeted us and explained how to handle the horses. The ride was very nice with the mountain scenery and the small lakes. We saw eagles and a pelican. The two cowboys knew a lot about the surrounding nature. The horses had seen better days and it was more of a retirement home outing than a wild west experience.

After an hour and a half of slow walking, we returned to the stable, thanked the cowboys, and returned to the camper. Meanwhile, Markus had gone on a hike (more like a stroll) and Dad played housewife and did the laundry.

We had to escape the WiFi-free zone and soon headed back to Jackson Hole. Mom and I had to plunder a Western store, wasting valuable mealtime. After a good (shorter) meal at the steakhouse, we headed to the rodeo. Since it was the Fourth of July, Americans were celebrating their national day and patriotism was even more pronounced than usual. We sang the national anthem and watched the rodeo queen's opening ride. Right after, the bull riding began. The age range of the cowboys was between four and about 30 years old. The youngest of them all started on a bucking sheep. Team roping was the next spectacle. The first rider had to hit the calf on the horns and his partner had to tie the hind legs with a throw. Barrel racing was done by 10-year-old girls and the traditional rodeo followed shortly after. It was really a cool experience! The subsequent fireworks, in honor of the national day, were fantastic. Finally, we drove back to the campsite through the national park (not without sending a few chipmunks and bats, which were frolicking on the dark road, to the eternal hunting grounds).

Back at the campsite, we had the following problem: it was dark and the area was large. With the poor light from our RV, we couldn't see the parking space numbers. So Dad made a fateful decision. To help Kusi, he got out to read the numbers. Since it took a while, Chregi asked out the window if he wanted to get back in afterwards (unfortunately, a bit too quietly). Dad didn't say anything and Chregi said, "Yeah, let's go!" Kusi stepped on the gas and in the darkness, Dad didn't even see the dust cloud left behind. After half a kilometer, we felt guilty and I went in search of the head of the family. Since I couldn't see anything with the sparse lights of the individual trailers, I returned to our camper and got reinforcements (Chregi with a flashlight). We took a walk, but couldn't find anyone, neither hear nor see anyone, and didn't hear any bears munching either. After fifteen minutes, we were reunited and listened to our Dad's adventurous story. After a few detours into the surrounding woods, he finally found the nearby laundry building and returned slightly annoyed to us.