Montana-Mosquito Adventures

We left Idaho Falls at 3:00 P.M. on Wednesday and drove to find a campsite in Montana somewhere near Crystal Park. We stopped in Dillon for groceries. We ate really expensive deli chicken in the car as we drove to Bannack State Park to check out their campground. We really liked the site next to the creek, and we would have stayed there if it wasn’t for the noisy air-conditioned bus. So we searched for another campground with less noise. After we drove all the way to Wisdom, we turned back to try the way-out-of-the-way campground at Lower Miner Lake. It was nice, except for the swarm of mosquitoes that attacked us the second we opened the car doors. We set up the tent trailer and camp quickly since it was after 9:00 by this point. The kids enjoyed being out of the car finally. The next morning, Scott found a bar of soap that he whittled away at with a pocket knife. We didn't stay long enough to find the trailhead that I wanted to hike, but we enjoyed just hanging out at the campground. We packed up in the late morning and began the search for a campground closer to Crystal Park. We discovered Grasshopper Creek campground and set up camp yet again. We enjoyed playing in the creek while we waited for our meatball sandwiches to cook in the Dutch oven. Then we drove into Dillon, again, to fill the car with gas and we enjoyed ice cream cones at the local Dairy Queen. We stopped at Bannack State Park on our way back to the campground. The kids had a great time running around the abandoned ghost town. That is where Grandma and Grandpa miraculously found us. The kids were thrilled to hear Grandma and Grandpa calling their names from the other end of the boardwalk and they ran to greet them. Later, we enjoyed fajitas, watermelon, beet greens and fruit cobbler back at the campground. The next morning, we had a quick breakfast and loaded up our shovels and screens to go hunt for quartz at Crystal Park. Grandma and Grandpa watched the kids and Ted dig for a little while and then continued on their own adventure. We dug for a while longer and headed for the car when we saw the rain clouds rolling in. We barely made it to the car before the rain started. All the bugs washed off of the car as we headed back to Idaho. We intended to go to the cabin and catch a family reunion Saturday for lunch, but Scott said it the best after he realized there would be no cousins to play with at the cabin. “I have enough mosquito bites. Can we just go home?” So we came home a day early and slept in our own beds and had baths. All in all it was a memorable trip. Next time I go camping I want more effective mosquito repellent! We used an entire can of spray and we're all still covered with bites!