Yellowstone Day 3 and the drive to SLC

Morning on the Madison. Have I mentioned that I love this river?


OK, so next day, we woke up feeling rather dirty (or gross as Amber would say) and it was most definatly bath time. You know what that means. Full submursion in the balmy 40 degree waters of the Madison River! I love to swim in rivers. The kids were all a little wierded out about washing our hair in a river, but they got into it as we went. We all decided before we went in that we would not refer to the water as "cold" but as "refreshing." You know, a little trickery for our minds. We all did a little washing, except for Andrew. He chose to defy his Baker blood and remain on land with the camera's.


Feeling clean at last, we broke camp and headed for Quake Lake for a little reminicsing.
On the evening of August 17th, 1959, the area just west of Yellowstone National Park experienced an earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale. At the time it was the strongest earthquake recorded in the United States. It killed twenty-eight people; many were buried beneath the 80 million tons of dirt and rock that crashed down on a sleeping campground, others drowned when the Madison River, displaced by the slide, engulfed their tents. My Great Grandparents, my Grandpa and my uncle left that campground the morning of August 17th. The quake happened around 11:00 that night.
The story of this earthquake, the resulting Earthquake Lake, and the unbelievable sight of the mountain cut in half have facinated me sinse I was a small child. Grandpa's cabin was minutes away, and we drove the road around Quake Lake countless times. I remember staring out the window at the massive rockslide and the lake strewn with trees and trying to imagine being in that campground the night of the quake. I was excited to take my kids there and take some pictures to share with my cousin, JL, whome I hike to the top of Slide Mountain with.

After the Quake Lake Visitor Center and video, we headed on for the next stop...Grandpa's Cabin. Well, it's not Grandpa's anymore, but we had to go check it out anyway. I didn't recognize it at first, new paint and new owners and all, but once we got down by the river, it was the same old Cabin. I have so many wonderful memories of time spent at the house. It was fun to catch a small glimpse of it one more time.
Next stop was Idaho Falls and lunch with Grandpa Weezie. Missy, Kaycie and Lola, and Amanda joined us. Then we went back to Grandma's and watched old video's of me, Andrew, Skyler and Tyler singing songs and being interviewed by Grandpa. Good times!
Finally, we headed out for SLC. Home sweet home!