“We’ll stop here for a moment. See that trailer over there?” heasked.
“Yeah.”
“They have hot cocoa and coffee. I’ll meet you in there so we can get warmed up. The next part of the trip can get alittlecold.”
She waddled to the restroom in her bulky snow pants. She’d had to borrow them from Madison. Fortunately, she was a curvy girl too, so they fit perfectly. But all the extra insulation made them hard tomanage.
After she finished in the restroom, she joined Hank in the trailer. She was surprised to find a large menu of snack items as well as coffee, tea, and cocoa. When her stomach grumbled, she wanted to die fromembarrassment.
“Want a snack?” Hankasked.
“We just atebreakfast.”
“You burn calories faster when it’s this coldoutside.”
“In that case, I’ll take a cranberry muffin and hot chocolate,”shesaid.
While they ate and drank, several other couples walked into the trailer. One of the women made a face as she reviewed the menu. She pushed an overly fluffy fur-lined hood away from her face, then yanked off equally expensive-lookinggloves.
“I thought you said they’d have peppermint mocha soy lattes,” shesnapped.
“We can get one when we get back to West Yellowstone. Can you drink regular coffee for now?” her male companionasked.
“I suppose, but I want a decent lunch when wegetback.”
As Carol watched the couple, she couldn’t help but think that they were probably from New York, Boston, or some other large city. Didn’t they ever take the time to enjoy anything? She would have been happy with just a cup of hotwater.
“Some people can’t be pleased,” Hankwhispered.
“I know. God forbid she breaksanail.”
“I never understood people like that. Always in such a hurry that they miss what’s right in front of theirfaces.”
“Yeah. I’d rather take my time and enjoy life. The pickier you are, the more likely you are to be disappointed. I’m not saying you should sacrifice everything, but you have to decide what’s truly important in your life,” Carol said under herbreath.
“What’s the most important thing to you?” heasked.
“Right now? Trying to build some kind of relationship withmymom.”
“What aboutbefore?”
“I tried to take each day as it came. I didn’t really have big goals. I just tried to enjoy what I had,”shesaid.
“I agree. It’s important to appreciate the little things, like today. I get to spend time with someone I like being with. I’m glad you decided to comewithme.”
“I enjoy being with you too.”And kissing you, that’s pretty damngoodtoo.
“I’m glad. Let’s finish up and head out. They just updated the whiteboard to show that Old Faithful will be going off again in an hour. We can make it there in time if we leave now,”hesaid.
“Sounds good.” She finished the hot cocoa then popped the last bite of muffin into hermouth.
A little over an hour later, they reached Old Faithful’s visitor’s center. A herd of buffalo had crossed the road, costing them several minutes, but they stillmadeit.
After securing their helmets, Hank grabbed her hand. “We have to run. It should bestartingsoon.”
She jogged next to him until they reached the frozen wooden boardwalk. Several other people huddled together, waiting for the geyser to go off. Gusts of steam burst out of a small, white cone of earth. Colorful puddles of water formed rings aroundthebase.
“Is it happening yet?” she asked. Water spewed from the hole in the earth with ever increasingpower.
