Not Inadequate

On Saturday, we spent ALL DAY in Yellowstone. (yes! more nature blathering! cowboy up, people, I’m enthusiastic!)

I have a sunburn.

And I managed to give a speech about Lodge Pole Pine to some total strangers, because apparently I will homeschool anyone within earshot.

And then we saw this -

Sapphire Pool

Which has to be one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen in nature.

And then we saw this -

Grizzly Bear.

Grizzly.

Bear.

People.

About 80 yards away.

He was amazing. And gigantic. And glorious.

Best day ever.

I made Jim get out of the car so he could get a picture of this -

The other day when we were driving around in Yellowstone (yep. it’s another tiresome Yellowstone story. deal with it), we stopped for lunch at a little picnic area near Sheepeater Cliff.

So we were eating our sammies and milling around and there was another family doing the same thing.

At one point, there was some kind of big rodent-ish creature crawling all over the rocks.

I said aloud, “what IS that?”

and the dad with the other family said, ”it’s a rock chuck.”

and I said, laughing, “Rock chuck? Are you making that up right now?”

and then I offended a total stranger.

Then later, there was a Black Bear crossing the stream not 100 yards from us (A BEAR!), and his kids wanted to go running after it. But he told them NO, they had to stay close.

And I almost said, “let them go – maybe the bear would come back if he thought he could get a snack!”

But no one noticed. Because I never get any credit for the stuff I manage to NOT say.

*I checked later, and a rock chuck is the same thing as a yellow-bellied marmot.

As you may know, we sold our house and all our stuff and are traveling the country with our kids.**

We stay in VRBOs, which are Vacations Rental by Owner houses. These are houses that are individually owned. Often, they are vacation homes for the owners, and they rent them out during the rest of the year to help with expenses. We are on our 4th VRBO at this point, with several more scheduled; and I want to talk about how it’s going and give you some tips in case you would like to rent one for your next family trip.

We have not had any problems so far. Everyone we have dealt with has been reasonable and no one has stolen our money and run off to Aruba.

Now, I know you must click on some of the links I’ve given to the places we have actually stayed (here, here, and here) and been all like, “$1500 a week? who can afford that?” Believe me, that’s not our universe either. Instead, I have strategies to get the price down.

Tip #1: Don’t travel during the High Season

Plan your trip during the Off Season or the Shoulder Season. You might need to wear a heavier jacket and certain attractions might not be open, but traveling in the Off Season has distinct advantages. You don’t have to fight annoying crowds. You can pay less for lodging. You get more attention from park rangers and guides. Places that are tourist-y in the summer can be spectacular during the winter, too.

When we were in Oregon during November and December, we had the beach to ourselves. We wore hats and gloves and didn’t get eaten by mosquitos. We were able to visit a terriffic Christmas light display at a beach-side state park. In July, we will be visiting Hell’s Waiting Room Phoenix, and since no sane people want to be there in the summer, we got a decent rate. Here in Yellowstone, we’ve had some snowy days, but we also might get to see some newborn bison.

The High Season is generally any time the public schools aren’t in session. Don’t visit Disney in the summer, go in January when everyone else back in school. Visit the beach at the end of September. The weather is still nice, and homeowners might jump at the chance to earn a little more money before closing up for the winter.

Tip #2: Stay off the beaten path

We couldn’t afford to stay in the more popular area of Cannon Beach when we were in Oregon, so decided to go with smaller, more out-of-the-way Bandon. I loved it. It was great. It’s the same ocean, after all. In Washington, we originally wanted to go to Seattle, but saved money by staying in Shelton instead.

Tip #3: Stay longer than a weekend

If you can stay longer than a weekend or a week, you have leverage to get a better rate. The longer you stay, the less you pay. Maybe you can split a rental with your sister and her family and divide the time at the house. This is why we stay everywhere at least a month. The nightly rental price and the monthly rental price are light years apart. Also, in most states if you stay 30 days, you don’t have to pay lodging tax, which can be an additional 7-10%.

Tip #4: Negotiate

Owners are often open to negotiating. We have not payed anywhere near full price for any place we have stayed (except the first one, before I realized about the haggling thing), and generally pay somewhere between 45% and 60% of the asking price. We’ve also succesfully negotiated a couple of other places down by 50% before deciding to stay in another location.

I know it’s weird and awkward, but what have you got to lose? If they owners say no, then you don’t have to ever talk to them again. They don’t have to know you’re normally a sissy. So get out your Inner Tough Guy and give it a try. You probably aren’t going to talk someone with a $300/night rental down to $55/night, but most people are willing to discuss a reasonable offer.

Tip #5: Plan early

I learned this one the hard way. We had a terrible time finding a place for this summer. It was quite stressful, in fact. If you start planning for this summer now, you will probably have a hard time finding an opening, never mind someone who is willing to negotiate. But if you start researching a place to stay this fall or winter, you have more of a chance to find an opening AND an owner willing to negotiate. A bird in the hand and all that.

So, I hope you found that helpful. If you have any questions about this, or about our travels in general, feel free to ask. I like answering questions. I’m naturally bossy, so it works out great.

** if you’re new here and wondering what the heck I’m talking about, read this, this and this. And maybe this, this, and this if you become enthralled with this CrazyPants Rodeo.

Listen, people. This whole Exploring Nature business is incredible.

I cannot stress enough how awesome Yellowstone is. If you are in the midst of planning a summer vacation, or want to do any traveling in the future, I can’t say enough good things about the park.

Interested in geology? Yellowstone has a different geological feature every time you turn a corner. Obsidian cliffs, ancient lava flows, hot springs, fumeroles, mud pots, geysers, waterfalls… the list is endless.

Interested in wildlife? The wildlife is AMAZING.

We went into the park on Sunday. We were there about 5 hours and only managed to get 26 miles because there was just SO MUCH to stop and see. And we didn’t even get to the main animal viewing areas! We saw wolves eating an elk carcass. WOLVES, people. Two black wolves and one gray. There were also Bald Eagles circling, waiting their turn.

A quarter mile later, we saw a Bison. We stopped for lunch and saw a bear crossing a stream. A BEAR, people! In real life! Doing it’s bear thing! On our way back out, we saw a HUGE Bison pawing at the ground and making a bed to have a nap. Have you ever seen a 1000 pound animal try to lay down? It’s something. A bunch of cars were stopped in the road toward the exit, and we soon realized it was because they were all gawking at a mama bear with two cubs in the woods. BEARS, people!

I NEVER thought we’d see a wolf or a bear. I know the kids wanted to, and I did too. But I never thought it would actually HAPPEN.

I am in awe of this place.

Elk are EVERYWHERE.

Nature!

We stalked that guy for about 10 minutes.

I don’t know if you can tell, but I’m pretty sure he’s all “are you TRYING to piss me off right now?”

We went into the park for about two hours on Thursday afternoon. We made it to the Mammoth Terraces area.

Breathtaking.

We made it to Montana on Wednesday afternoon.

I scheduled way too many days to drive. It was two and a half very easy days from Olympia. It snowed in Butte on Tuesday night.

Snow. On May 2nd.

Also, I apparently can’t read a calender, because we were supposed to check in on May 4th, and I thought that was Thursday. But it wasn’t. It’s Friday.

Because I’m 41 now. Have you heard? I’m old. Geezers R Us.

I will always be younger than Jim, although it’s a small comfort.

Faced with 2 unnecessary nights in a hotel, I called the property manager of our Yellowstone VRBO and she graciously let us check in two days early.

I was very relieved.

So we are staying in a tiny, tiny, tiny 1 bedroom house in Gardiner, Montana. It’s very tiny.

And there aren’t enough beds for everyone. Did I say tiny?

But! I care not!

Because it has this -

Which I am going to get in right now.

Yesterday we drove from Shelton to Spokane. It was (natch) POURING rain when we left, but it became much sunnier the further east we went.

Once we got out of the Cascades, we hit the nice, rich, farmland of eastern Washington. We drove past miles and miles of fields. On one section of highway, the farmers had thoughtfully placed signs telling passers-by what was planted there. I appreciate this kind of thing, because I always want to know what’s going on. The kids appreciated it for about 90 seconds, then they realized I was going to read all the signs to them for 20 miles.

“You GUYS! Look! Corn!”

“You GUYS! Potatoes! Big, look out your window! Potatoes!”

“Mom, it’s just dirt.”

“I KNOW, but UNDER the dirt! Potatoes!”

At one point, I actually said, “Big! Quit reading and look at that dirt field! There are either potatoes under the ground now, or there will be soon! Big! Potatoes are going to happen there!”

“Mom. I’m reading.”

Little entertained herself for HOURS (thank goodness) with her Ikea finger puppets – which, can I just say? BEST TOY EVER. The primary story seemed to star a chicken and an alligator. “HI CHICKEN! I’m your predator! CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP!”

There’s only so much CHOMP CHOMP CHOMPING Grouchy Mom (who’s had to PEE for 97 miles) can take, however, so I still managed to say QUIT MAKING THAT NOISE about 6,832 times.

Now then. For anyone who doesn’t know the key to traveling with kids: get a hotel with a pool. A POOL, people, is the key to sanity. What you want to do, see, is BRIBE them all day with the pool; THEN after you check in, you have the Daddy take them swimming until they are about to pass out from exhaustion while you stay in the room and guard the Secret Chocolate Stash. THEN you chuck them into bed, where they fall asleep immediately, because they are too tired to lay awake kicking each other all night.

So there you go.

Happy Tuesday, y’all!