Where this all started

I am a third-generation military brat. Oh, pardon me, these days we call ourselves Nomads. My family is so mobile it is surprising we ever lite anywhere for very long.
My mom was born in China, my dad in Oahu. My oldest brother was born in Salzburg, Austria, and the other two sibs were born outside of Washington D.C. on Ft Belvoir.
I was born on a Naval base in Charleston , S.C., which is really odd,'cos Dad was Army.
I have never seen Charleston really, and lived at least 5 places before I was 10. The others got most of the moving though, 'cos Dad was a lower officer then. Higher ranks don't move as much.
I was very lucky that my parents had a sense of adventure. We camped from post to post instead of just driving there. I have seen much of the US, including places like the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone, and learned to love the outdoors due to this. I never developed the silly fears of the wild some people have, and never got an aversion to getting dirty that keeps some of my friends from camping. I cannot thank my parents enough for the experiences, because they have continued to lead me through this life on the path of adventure.

Some of the things that stick out in my memory about those days are thus:
having to get a cabin at Yellowstone, because it was snowing in July. It was me, my sister, my cousin Claudia, mom and dad, my two brothers and the dog. We were all crowded
into a one room cabin with a wood-burning potbellied stove. It was pretty warm in there
but the howling wind and restless dog kept us up much of the night. The snuffling of a nosy bear outside in our garbage pails didn't help either. I suppose now that he was why the dog was restless!
In the AM there were bear paw prints all around the cabin. We ate at the restaurant then started through the park. My sister and cousin decided to get out of the station wagon
to tempt fate when a small(!) black bear stopped traffic. When he showed interest in these tasty little teenage morsels, they squealed and ran back to the car. He investigated us, leaving a paw print on dad's car window we didn't wash off for months.

The paint pots and other boiling sites of Yellowstone fascinated me even then. I developed a love of such things that has led me to go where I can look into the maw of volcanos and the like to this day.