Discovered the Passenger Van was a Waste of Money in Yellowstone

Our trip to Yellowstone was the first of many (reflection writing) where I firmly believed that buying the passenger van was misguided and a waste of money.  Don't get me wrong, I love the van.  I love being able to go to the back seat and fall asleep - everything about the cargo van holds true with the passenger van, except I do love the windows.

But, the main justification for buying a second van was that it would be so great to have the van filled to capacity with little excited people, sharing the experience of traveling together and enjoying the experience.   I hadn't found the third bench yet, but was still looking when I found that everyone wanted to travel as a family in their own vehicles.  

We struggled to meet up with each other at every place we went, so we quickly learned to just do our own thing.  We followed the Sant's around most often, and J and Candice usually found us.  I don't think we ever met up with Blaine until the swimming hole.

The colors were as vivid as I remembered from our trips there from Idaho Falls.  The only other time I remember going was when I was about five or six and Dad pulled the trailer up to Yellowstone.   There were only two beds in the camper, with a sling on top of the master bed, so Mom, Dad, Devon and Kelly stayed in the camper and Fenton and I made our beds on the bench seats of the car.  

In the middle of the night, a bear came into camp.  We heard him messing around, making noise, as he went through all the camping supplies left out.  My guess is that the food was stored in the car, because after we had laid back down to avoid being

spotted in the car, the bear actually come over to the car and played with the handle.  I don't remember how long it was from first watching him in the campsite to him coming over to the car, but it was a sheer terror for both of us.  Fenton must have reassured me that he couldn't get in, and I was able to calm back down enough to lay flat on the bed.  A short while later, Fenton opened his door and ran to the trailer, leaving me alone in the car, I'm sure to be eaten by the bear.  I remembered he said that the bear couldn't open the door, and I knew that he could come eat me while I was running,so I stayed put.

This trip was not nearly as dramatic as that, but it was one of the first times I realized that all of the effort I made over the years to have a close family were not working out as planned.   I was broken hearted throughout the whole trip.  Dean struggles with anxiety that has been debilitating for him.  I truly hoped it would pass but found this trip was difficult for him - and wouldn't be getting better any time soon.