March 14

Judges 18:5 Then they said to him, “Please ask God for advice. Try to find out whether we’ll have success on our journey.”

Summer 1988

‘But it’s on fire!’ ‘Well, we are hoping by the time we go they’ll have it under control. Besides, Old Faithful geyser won’t burn down.’

We had been planning this trip for nearly a year. If you want to stay at Old Faithful Inn, you need reservations way in advance. We were visiting Grandma Rene’ and Grandpa Cliff in Utah first and then coming past the Tetons and into the park. Exiting the park in the north to go to Cody. That was the plan. The first part worked out great. Then we were off to the Park. I sort of got to see the Tetons. We did see lots of wildlife in the hazy smoke. We also saw smoldering trees and actual fire at times. Made our way to the Old Faithful Inn to spend the night and planned to wake up in time to see the geyser and continue our adventure. We were awoken at 4 in the morning with the advice that we were not in immediate danger but should prepare to evacuate the building before 7 am. OK, no geyser this trip, but we did get followed out of the hotel by reporters telling us our 3 year old was just too cute. (Grandma saw her on TV, apparently being evacuated on her own. We don’t interview well.) I asked Jon to stop at a gift shop so I could get more film. I went in alone and came out to the sight of our rental car almost surrounded by fire trucks hosing down the top of the gift shop I had just exited. It seemed as if every stop we made led to a sighting of the fire, as in actual flames. I don’t remember exactly where we spent the next night. It was in the park and we weren’t evacuated. But that doesn’t mean we got that much sleep either. The next morning as we approached the exit to the park we were stopped and told we needed to turn around. The fire had jumped the road. We had to drive back through the park to exit at the same place we had entered. As we drove out, they closed the gate.

It was an adventure. It was exciting at times and frightening at others. I had to trust the person driving the car. I had to have faith that the people who were in charge of deciding what areas were safe had all the information they needed. Nothing was really in my control. I was along for the ride and to take pictures. Pictures that are in a box. Somewhere.

Dear Lord, When we are unsure, show us the correct path. When we are going the wrong way, help us correct our navigation and get turned around. Guide us through our adventures. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

Photo from internet May be the same shop. Definitely well after we had left the area.