We got to Great Basin late in the afternoon and Dad dropped the three of us off at the Visitors Center while he went and got a campsite at the park. We explored the visitors center and completed the Junior Ranger books, they were short. We took our pledge and received our badges.
Out back they were doing a Bio Blitz on aquatic critters in the Lehman Creek. We helped sort through a bucket of river water and picked out all the critters with tiny tweezers. We then sorted them into trays for the scientist to study. This helped indicate water quality in the river.
Dad picked us up and we explored our marvelous campsiteint he woods. For only $6 a night    ( no hookups) we had a site right on the creek.
We explored and TRIED to stay clean and dry but failed miserably, especially me!
Crossing the river on log or rock bridges got my shoes a BIT wet.
The entire area was just spectacular. Dad got some great panoramic shots.
I dragged Mom down into the river and across the bridges. She wouldn’t admit it but she had fun exploring before dinner. Mom was promoted from fire watcher to fire maker. She is now in charge of building and starting all campfires.
We ate chicken nuggets warmed on the grill while Mom and Dad had steak and salad. Since we are basically boon docking (no hookups) propane is our source of heat and cooking. The battery on the camper doesn’t last too long if you have to run the water pump and the heater at night.
The fire was going well and warming is nicely as the cool evening air settled in making us slightly chilly.
We roasted marshmallows for S’mores. Like normal I burnt mine and stole the marshmallows from Mom .
We attended an evening astronomy program and learned more about Dark Skies. We also got to look through telescopes at Jupiter, a few star clusters and Saturn. You could even start to see the Milky Way the area was so dark! I kept crying that my foot hurt and I could not walk. I have had a sore foot a few times this trip but usually it is days when I am diving off rocks and jumping off everything I see. I was only jumping off a small wall a few times today. Mom checked my foot out and figured it was just that my socks and shoes were soaked from he river playing and the temperature was now down near 35F. My toes were just cold! I still cried for a while longer and made Mom hold me for the rest of the program. After back at the camper I got changed into warm dry clothing and zonked right out never mentioning my foot again.
In the morning we took the Grand Palace Tour at Lehman Caves. We had a great tour guide named Dustin. He was really smart and funny. We loved exploring the cave and seeing all the features in the cave.
A new feature for me was called a shield. It is when water flows over an area and creates like a waterfall. They were really cool.
