On Our Own ... and Near Disaster!

We left West Yellowstone and the security of Papa and Grandma and made it four hours down the road before we ran into our first near disaster. I wanted to go to some sand dunes in San Anthony, Idaho--just 12 miles off the freeway and good, fun exercise for all of us. I was a little leery of the day use parking lot because the long entry looked sandy, but it was the official parking lot, I saw people driving out and there were signs everywhere prohibiting parking on the shoulders. So I started into the lot, got about 25 feet down the entrance road, and sank abruptly in the sand, almost the to the floorboards. I tried prying boards and mats under the tires, but everything sank.

I walked out to the road where I could get some limited cell phone access and had just gotten the numbers for two local towing companies when a hero pulled up in a big white pickup with a long horse trailer behind. "Do you need some help?" Dad and others promised me that people would help when we needed it, but this was better than I had reason to hope for. His family piled out and unloaded the six horses, he unhitched his trailer and roped his truck to the rear bumper of the trailer and hauled us out while I reversed in the van (for what that was worth).

From the kids point of view, the best part was getting to pet the horses! Apparently, there had been so little rain that the usually firm sand had gone very soft. Where the horses often exercised, they now sank up to their bellies!


After offering thanks and taking pictures, we ignored the signs and left the van and trailer on the shoulder (half on the asphalt road) while Gloria raced up and down the sand dunes until sudden big drops of rain sent her back into the van. Then we drove on to Craters of the Moon National Monument and gratefully hit the sack.