Camera, Camera, Who's Got the Camera?

They used to be called Dude Ranches, but in 1977 they were called Guest Ranches. The one where my family was vacationing was Fir Creek Ranch located in Jackson, Wyoming. This part of Wyoming is full of beautiful scenery and wildlife and is close enough to Yellowstone National Park for a day trip.

I was 11 years old the summer Mom and Dad took us to Fir Creek. My sister was 18, and my brothers were 15 and 16. It seemed like the perfect time in our lives for a trip like this. The plan was to visit other areas in Wyoming while making Fir Creek our home base for a week. On the day we planned to head up to Yellowstone, we loaded up the station wagon with all my dad’s camera equipment and food for lunch and snacks. My father was an amateur photographer who thoroughly enjoyed his hobby. His camera equipment included two cameras, a tripod, numerous lenses and filters, packs of film, and a video camera. This equipment got stuffed into various camera bags. My sister, two brothers, and I were the pack mules for this excursion.

We were all looking forward to seeing all the fantastic sights in Yellowstone, which included geysers, paint or mud pots, hot springs, and the wildlife. Dad was looking forward to taking pictures, while the rest of the family looked forward to experiencing the sights, sounds, and smells that are Yellowstone.

So, the six of us piled in the car early in the morning ready for the big tourist day. The plan was to spend the day traveling around Yellowstone and return to the ranch in the evening. As we set off from home base, we talked about what each of us was looking forward to seeing and experiencing that day. I wanted to see all the wildlife. My sister was looking forward to the paint pots and waterfalls. My brothers were looking forward to seeing the geysers and hot springs. Mom was happy to be visiting her home state and sharing it with her kids. Dad, of course, was looking forward to taking pictures.

Nowadays, when families take road trips, the kids sit in the back seat and watch movies or play games on their phones and tablets. In 1977 we used our imaginations and devised games to play together to entertain ourselves on the long drives. We always started our trips playing the license plate game. We hunted the license plates of the other cars on the road trying to spot a license from each of the 50 states. The person who noticed the most won the game. Heading to Yellowstone provided excellent competition for this game because there were a lot of tourists in this part of Wyoming.

Mom kept the game fair with a running tally of the plates we called out and who received credit for each plate. The game started a bit slow because there wasn’t a lot of traffic on the 30-mile road from the ranch to the highway that would take us the rest of the way to Yellowstone. We started getting a bit bored, so Mom suggested we play Eye Spy until the traffic picked up. The object of this game is to get other people in the car to guess what you notice during the drive. Each person gets a turn to call out hints about what they see until someone else guesses the object they saw. Then the person who guessed right gets to start giving clues for a new sighting.

So, we searched the sides of the road for animals, unique plants, or ranch buildings to get everyone to guess what we were spying. The game is fun because it forces you to enjoy the scenery around you and engage with the people on the trip. At first, we saw cows, sheep, and horses at the neighboring ranches. We noticed different types of flowers than those we usually saw at home in Alabama. As we began calling out the hints for the game, we started enjoying being in the car together. My brothers are both quick-witted, and their clues and guesses got more comical as the ride continued. We filled the car with tear-producing laughter.

After leaving the ranches behind, we began seeing more unique animals along the way. We got so caught up in seeing the bison, antelope herds, moose and elk, we forgot all about playing the game and just enjoyed seeing these amazing animals in real life. Now and then, Dad would pull off the side of the road and tell us to stay in the car. He quietly eased around to the back of the car and got his cameras. We sat in the car and watched Dad taking pictures of the wildlife along the journey. He changed lenses to get closer shots of the animals without spooking them, and alternated cameras to shoot both color and black and white photos. After 10 or 15 minutes, Dad put his cameras away and got back in the car, and we continued our trip. 

After several of these delays, Mom began to realize that we were going to miss the scheduled eruption of Old Faithful which we listed first on our planned itinerary for the day. She began trying to rearrange our plan so we wouldn’t miss any of the sights. Our initial idea was to make our way from the south entrance and drive through until we reached Mammoth Hot Springs at the north entrance, stopping at different places to spend time at each attraction along the way, then return to the south entrance through another part of the park.

As we finally pulled up to the south entrance, it was apparent that the first stop inside the park had to be the visitor’s center. We had stopped so much along the way getting from Jackson to Yellowstone that we all needed a bathroom break and time to stretch. The initial drive from Jackson to the south entrance of Yellowstone should have taken around an hour and a half. Instead, it took closer to 2 ½ hours. Once Dad paid for our entry and parked in the lot outside the visitor’s center, we noticed car tags missing from our list. So, we ran around the lot to find the states we could add to our list. Mom humored us and kept up with our list while we yelled out the tags. We logged all the car tags at that lot, then made our way inside the visitors’ center.

When we returned to the car, it became evident we would be waiting on Dad to take more pictures. The visitor’s center located on the southwest edge of Yellowstone Lake is a photographer’s dream. Dad felt the need to take a series of photos of this location with both cameras and different filters. With camera and tripod in hand, he set up as we came out of the restrooms. He told my brothers to grab the rest of his camera equipment and haul it over to him. We sat and watched Dad change lenses and filters and reload both cameras. That meant pulling fresh film packs out of the cooler in the back of the car and replacing them with the exposed rolls of film.

With the car loaded once again, we stood around while Mom and Dad spread out the park map and our itinerary on the hood of the car and began making changes to the order of events for the day. Once agreed, we loaded back in the car and set off again. Next stop the Fountain Paint Pots, just north of Old Faithful. We were forced to come back later to see Old Faithful’s next eruption. Once we arrived in the parking lot closest to the paint pots, we hopped out of the car and started looking at license plates again. Mom retrieved the list and began recording our discoveries. Dad pulled out camera equipment and assigned each kid bags to be responsible for all day. In western movies, there’s usually a character with ammunition strapped crisscrossed over his chest. That is what the camera bag straps looked like on each of us. Luckily, I only had one camera bag and the lighter weight tripod to carry. We loaded up and set off to find Dad’s perfect perch.

We hadn’t gone far when Dad stopped, grabbed the tripod from me, and began setting up for some still shots of a small geyser. As he set up equipment, we took turns, leaving our bags and looking around the area. Someone always had to stay behind to watch over the camera bags while Dad focused on his photography. We broke off in groups of two or three and wandered around the area. Nobody enjoyed guarding the cameras, but we each took our turn, and everyone had a chance to enjoy the geysers in this area. 

My oldest brother pulled out the 8 mm video camera and began shooting footage of the Great Fountain Geyser. The excitement in our family was palpable as we watched this geyser erupt. It increased our anticipation of seeing the much more significant, Old Faithful, later in the day. We all enjoyed the experience. Dad, through his still shots, my brother through a video camera lens and the rest of us just standing there watching.

After a while, we loaded up the car again and headed to our next destination. The routine repeated. Dad grabbed his camera; we each hauled out the equipment we were responsible for and followed along like little ducklings until Dad found the perfect spot. Then we took off and explored the area for ourselves. We kept an eye out for Dad packing up the cameras, which was our signal to make our way over to load up the car and head to the next sight.

The next scheduled eruption of Old Faithful hurried Dad along with this series of photos. He was determined to get back and claim the perfect position. We rushed to put everything in the car and head back down the road. The parking lot was more crowded this time when we entered. Again, we noticed car tags missing from our game, and Mom marked her list.  We loaded ourselves up with camera bags as Dad began looking for the perfect spot. When he found it, he took the tripod from me and planted it in the ground like an astronaut planting a flag on the moon.

It was about a 30-minute wait for Old Faithful to do her thing, and since we had explored this area already, Mom spread out a blanket, and we sat around and had a cold drink and snack next to some other families who were doing the same. As the time grew closer to Old Faithful’s show, people began standing up to get in place to take their photos. Those scheduled times are only approximations, however. So, we stood for another 20 minutes or so before the show began. It amazed all of us but was over too fast, and Dad complained that he couldn’t get all the shots he wanted. He informed us that we had to come back for him to take more pictures. An audible groan erupted from our group. No-one confessed to making the sound, but we all felt the same way. We wanted to get up the road to the next attractions on our list, but we stayed close so Dad could get his photos. Besides, he had the car keys, and what could we do? Leave him? Believe me, the thought crossed each of our minds more than once that day. For the next two hours, we watched the small geysers in this area and walked back over to the paint pots. We read every sign along the path more than once, and we played hide and seek to entertain ourselves because boredom began to get the better of us.

My oldest brother, Scott, took a video of us lined up on a bench like miniature versions of “The Thinker” as we waited for Old Faithful once again. After the second round of photos of the geyser, we were ready for our picnic lunch. Dad insisted that we head up the road to the next site to make room for other families to park and see Old Faithful. The next place to park with picnic tables turned out to be Mammoth Hot Springs at the North Entrance of Yellowstone. So, we drove about 40 minutes before we could eat lunch. Once in the parking lot, all we thought about was lunch, not unloading all the equipment or looking for car tags.

Finally, with our stomachs full, and after another round of photos at the hot springs, we loaded up the car again and got ready to head south through the park. It was already late in the afternoon, and it would take us several hours to see the rest of the park and drive home. Up ahead in our journey, we stopped at the waterfalls. We parked and ran to the lookout area over one of the falls. The roar of the water drowned out any conversation, but no-one needs to talk in a moment like this anyway. You could look over the edge of the waterfall and see to the bottom. The power generated from the water seemed to electrify the air. When we hiked down to the lower end of the falls and looked back to the top, you could see how tall the falls are. We felt the spray of cooling water on our faces as we watched the water cascading over the rocks. Dad set up and took photos at both the top and bottom of the falls. That gave us time to enjoy the beauty of this area and soak up the power of nature. We headed back up to the top of the falls and packed the car.

Once we got in the car, everyone started talking about how they felt standing over the top of the waterfall looking down and feeling the power of it in the air. We talked about the hike down along the side of the waterfall. There was a set of stairs safely attached to the rocks, but they were steep and the climb both directions was exhilarating. We agreed that it was the most exciting experience of the day so far.

Our final stop was the northern edge of Yellowstone Lake for one last photoshoot and bathroom break before we headed home to Fir Creek. While we waited on Dad to take his final series of Yellowstone photographs, Mom and Scott started talking about all the photos we would have to go through when we got home from our trip. Scott realized the only pictures of people we had were strangers in Dad’s scenery shots, and the few Scott had taken himself of the “Thinkers” on the bench earlier. So, he grabbed Dad’s second camera, loaded it with fresh film, and began taking photos of Dad taking pictures. It was an excellent way to show people what we did on our vacation. It was Scott’s humorous commentary on our visit to Yellowstone.

Along the road heading back to the ranch, it was pitch dark. The only light on the highway came from the headlights of our car. Dad pulled off on the shoulder of the road, turned off the headlights, and told us to get out of the car and look at the sky. It was jet black with brilliant flashing stars. Millions of stars twinkled above us as we stood in awe. We lived in a city and had never seen so many stars in our night sky.

Dad told us we were in one of the few places in our country where you can still look up and see the Milky Way. It was dark enough here that the light from stars on the edge of the galaxy was visible to the naked eye. A treasured memory formed at that moment, it even topped the experience at the falls. We took the time to soak in the night air and the Milky Way.

One by one, each member of the family quietly took their place in the car. We sat in silence as the galaxy swirled around in our minds, and the memory made a permanent home in each of our hearts. We experienced a marvel of the universe together as a family. Dad started the car and pulled out on the highway, our day complete, and each of us fulfilled.  

A rustling sound broke the silence of the moment. My younger brother was looking for something to eat. The only thing left in the car was a box of chocolate-covered graham crackers which had been in the car all day, and the chocolate had melted. The box made its way around the car, and soon the messy chocolate was all over our faces, our hands, even our clothes. Mom handed out napkins, and we tried to get clean. Then Dad turned to Mom and said, “We asked the people at the ranch to plan on us for dinner, and we are hours late. How can we explain our tardiness?”

Mom replied, “We should tell them we ran into a moose on the road.”

To that, my brother, Scott, added, “They’ll take one look at us and think it was a chocolate moose!”