Good for you! You may want to do a few more of these "shakedown cruises" until you feel more proficient. I hope that in your living room you set the tent up and took it down at least half a dozen times, as Jim recommended. As you found out, you need to have the technique memorized so you can easily do it when tired on a cold, windy, rainy night by headlamp without the printed directions!

With the fire, this might be something to practice in your barbecue (unless it's propane) outside at home. You need some kind of fire starter and lots of little tiny sticks. Frizz sticks, which you make by shaving curls off a stick with you knife (leaving them connected to the stick), work well--they expose the drier wood inside. You need to let the fire starter dry out lots of the little stuff and get a bed of coals going before adding thicker wood. Fanning the fire gently with a pot lid or hat is usually needed to assist this process. Remember that in a lot of the backcountry in the west, fires are restricted or prohibited anyway--a fire is mainly for emergencies. Often where there are designated fire rings, it's pretty hard to find wood.

Yellowstone has its own problems, like grizzlies and inflexible itineraries due to the permit system. And it has the same weather, only slightly attenuated by the lower altitude. Read up on the bear precautions (like cooking well away from your tent) and practice them on your "shakedown cruises." Yellowstone is not a place I'd chose for a beginner's trip for those reasons, but Hike Your Own Hike and Your Mileage May Vary definitely apply! Do plan to get up really early in the morning, well before sunrise, for the best wildlife viewing.

Just out of curiosity, what part of the Wind Rivers had you planned to visit? I'm just wondering if it's where I'm going (Lord willing; at my age I can't leave out that proviso!). Had you also considered the Big Horns, which are gentler than the Winds?

It sounds as though you may need either more clothing to wear inside the sleeping bag or a warmer sleeping bag. Try the former first as it's the cheaper solution. This is one place where a heavier base layer (as suggested by several of us in your clothing review) will help. One problem with pulling the fly down too far is more condensation inside--ventilation is the key to preventing it.

You don't say where in Nebraska you are, but unless you're at the eastern end of the state you might consider a June trial run in the Black Hills, which are really pretty at that time of year. They're too far if you live in the Omaha-Lincoln area, though, certainly with current gas prices.