Today we decided to take it easy and relax at the campground. After three very full days exploring Yellowstone we were all excited to sleep in. We woke up to the wonderful smell of our Huckleberry Coffee brewing. Unfortunately it was the last of the grounds.
The weather was beautiful so we cooked some eggs and ate our breakfast outside. It was 11:10 by the time we sat down to eat, definitely the latest breakfast we've had this trip.
The girls had been anxiously waiting to fish in Hebgen Lake and today was our last opportunity. We also needed to get some laundry done today before moving to the next location. After finishing breakfast Adam and the girls got their fishing equipment and headed over to the lake while I started the laundry.
There was a dock right in front of the campground office. Adam had noticed they sold live bait in the office and bought some. This was the girls first time fishing with live bait and they were both grossed out but excited. Baiting the hook was met with screams and laughter as they tried it themselves. Lily felt very sorry for the worms and analyzed the whole process describing how sad she would be if she was the worm and apologizing to it the whole time.
They didn't have much luck on the dock so walked out onto a peninsula where the water was deeper.
They tried a few different spots around the peninsula but still caught nothing. The girls were getting very disappointed. This was now the third time fishing on our trip and not a single bite. After being at this for a couple hours they decided to head back to the dock for one more attempt. This time they each sat on a separate dock. Within a few minutes Ella jumped up and started screaming for Adam. There was a fish on her line and she was trying to reel it in but was snagged on some seaweed. Adam helped her and they pulled it all the way in along with a nice amount of seaweed. She was so excited and grinning ear to ear.
They took the hook out and released it. Now Lily was absolutely determined. There was no way she would end this day without catching a fish. It took another 40 minutes but she did it and reeled it in all by herself with her little barbie pole and no help from dad. She was very proud. As Adam helped her unhook it the fish dropped on the dock and started flopping around. It startled Lily enough that she almost fell in the water. They had a good laugh. Lily, with her love for all things living, very quickly realized she felt just as bad for the fish as she did for the worm. That didn't stop her from continuing and having a good time though.
They continued fishing but shortly after their first catch Ella tangled her line to the point her reel jammed. Adam tried to fix it but without any luck they decided to call the day a success and head back.
The girls spent the rest of the day playing tetherball, doing arts and crafts projects, and enjoying themselves at the campground. They became friendly with the kids at the site next to us and spent some time running around playing ball with them. I continued to catch up on laundry.
Around 7pm we decided to have dinner and cooked sausages over a campfire. We followed that up with smores. The girls had found giant marshmallows in the campground store and wanted to try roasting them. This made for an interesting sight when burning them as we like to do. They were very messy but a lot of fun.
After the campfire was out we had one last treat for the kids. The campground store was selling huckleberry soda and highly recommended we combine with vanilla ice cream to make a float. Since it was late we made one and all shared it. We were all in bed by 11pm. Tomorrow we keep heading east to our next campground at Devil's Tower in Wyoming.
