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The Last Blog

We have traveled through 20 states in 26 days and driven over 10,000 miles. We started very early some days and stopped very late. We saw the worlds largest thermometer and the biggest Ferris wheel in the U.S. We saw dry lakes and snow capped mountains. We drove from sea level to 12,000 feet. We saw some old friends and met some new ones along the way (yes, in Texas too). We learned about the plight of the American Indians and how our government treated them. We followed the trail of great explorers and learned about their way of life. We learned about the condor and the ring tail. We saw bison and deer. We can identify the lodge pole pine and a douglass fir. We learned that a giant sequoia is a very soft tree. We all became Jr. Rangers ! We found that 5 people can live in a minivan and eat out of a cooler 90% of the time and survive. We found out that now matter how hard you try mother nature will prevail. (Sunrise at Bryce, cloudy, Sunset at Long Beach, cloudy).We drove over tall mountains called the devils backbone and a million dollar highway and lived to tell about it. We have seen one of the smallest towns in the United states ( South Pass, Pop 04) and some of the largest cities. We saw real cowboys. We have seen how the ultra rich live and the very poor live. We have learned that we must preserve today for the future (the reason the National Park service exists). We spent a lot of money. We had a great time!

The End

Well, its here. The end of the trip is tomorrow. w\We will wake up and drive about 10 hours to Knoxville. Today we started off with visit to the Mall of America in Bloomington, MN. We went to the Lego store and to the American Girl store. We also watched the roller coasters and other amusement rides in the Nickelodeon Universe. We the drove to Chicago. Along the way we took several back roads and saw some country side. We stopped at a Culvers and had hamburgers and chicken for supper. We drove into Chicago from the North shore and saw Lake Michigan. We saw the Navy Pier and the Sears towers. Tonight We are in South Holland IL.

See you all soon....

Winding down

The trip is winding down we are now just a couple of days from home. The kids spent a couple of hours back on the water slide before we left to see the headwaters of the Mississippi. From there we drove to Duluth and saw Agate lighthouse as well as another smaller one on Lake Superior. It was a chilly walk out to see it, but Mark, Sarah, and Christopher made it anyway. We found the last operating steamboat on the great lakes and one of the largest locomotives still around. Then it was of to Minn-St.Paul for the night. It is sneaking toward midnight and we are starting showers etc. Tomorrow we are going to the Mall of America (a Lego store and American Dolls too...we are going to try to make it a quick stop though.) We are planning to make it to Chicago tomorrow night, maybe, and then home the next day or so.

Detroit Lakes MN

Today we drove the 250 miles from Sioux Falls (which last night had a wicked thunderstorm) to Detroit Lakes and visited Castaway. We met John at the office and got the grand tour of the camp. We saw all the places that mom lived and worked. The camp is really nice. We found dad a summer 1 week job as the camp doctor too! It looks as if this is where we will come for vacation next year if we can work it out :) We went to dinner at a local pizza establishment called Zorbas. It was awesome! We had loaded nachos and pizza yum! We met up with John and Marietta at a park and talked with them for a while. When we returned to the motel we went swimming in the pool which has a 133 foot slide. It was a very good day. Tomorrow we may go to the head waters of the Mississippi river and then toward Chicago before we head back to East Tennessee! See you all soon....

Another busy day... We tend to wander and get distracted when we have the opportunity. We started at a missle silo that was left from the cold war. Then we went to Wall Drug and found out the donuts are really good, and so sweet that even our crew didn't want more than one! The Badlands were just up the road, and after spending time looking at praire dogs and bison and watching out for rattlesnakes, there was yet another jr. ranger badge to work on. While we were there we found out there was a museum for the missle silo and that was the next venture. And yes, another jr. ranger to work on. Actually, they did a jr. missle controller patch since it was a bit different than the national parks. After a drive to Sioux Falls, the kids are swimming and no doubt will fall into bed. We should make it to Detroit Lakes tomorrow for the camp tour and just looking around DL and some of the towns around there. There is a beach along the lake and the weather looks good for the kids playing and just hanging around. Not long until we will be back home!

Busy Day

Today may have been the busiest day yet. We started out our day in Fort Collins, Colorado. We drove back into Wyoming and decided to quick run into Nebraska. The quick trip turned into several hours. We went to Agate Fossil Beds in Agate, Nebraska which was a bit of a drive through no mans land. This National Monument was really cool and we saw a petrified beaver den, dinosaur bones, and signs warning about rattlesnakes. We then drove back into Wyoming and went to Fort Laramie. This one was Christopher's favorite and he thought it was even better than Alcatraz. There were lots of period actors who were washing clothes, running to store, checking wagons, and all that stuff. Then it was off to Guernsey to see the wagon ruts from the Oregon trail. Next it was off to Mt. Rushmore. There we found way too many people. Who knew the lighting of the mountain was so popular? We did the Jr. Ranger thing and left there around 10:15. All of us are ready for bed! Tomorrow we are going to the Bad lands heading across SD with Fargo and then Detroit Lakes, MN in mind. If all goes according to a very tentative plan, we will go to Young Lifes Castaway Club and take a walk down memory lane.

Adventures in the Rockies

Tonight is Christopher...

Today we started early in the morning and we set off to Rocky Mountain National Park. We drove into the park about...I'd say 9:00. We drove through the park about 20 or 30 minutes and saw a moose and then we got out an overlook to see the beautiful mountains covered in snow. While we were there we saw a very small golden Wyoming squirrel. Then we drove to a path that went by the Colorado River and when we felt the water it was really, really cold. It was a long walk and we saw birds and a squirrel run across in front of us. When we were going back to the car we saw a female elk eating grass. When we got back to the car we had lunch and drove through the rest of the park. On the way we stopped at a visitor center in the tundra and got our ranger badges and felt the snow. This road was the highest one in any of the national parks. When we went back on we saw a yellow bellied marrmont and a lake that was in the side of the mountain. We left the park we went through Estes and saw another lake. There were lots of big canyons. We ate dinner in Cheyenne and had really good food. Then we found out there were no rooms and we had to go back to Colorado to find a room. At this very moment I am eating chocolate chip cookies and blogging. When I'm done I have to go to bed in a big storm. Tomorrow we are going to see Guernsey to see the wagon ruts of the Oregon Trail and Fort Laramie and Mt. Rushmore. We think we are going to Mt. Rushmore at night to see it lit up.

The answer to yesterdays trivia question is a pound of feathers. They used different measurements for gold and 12 ounces of gold was equal to 1 pound of feathers.

Many Miles

This day started in Debouis, Wy. The Stage Coach Inn did not serve breakfast so we did Fathers day breakfast/cereal in the room. Last night we found the grave marker that is pictured here. It was next to the creek behind the motel. Look closely and you will see Jim Dandy was all dressed up and had no place to go. We drove south west through the Shoshone National Forest to a Indian reservation called Fort Washakie and after about an hour of searching we found the burial place of Sacajawea ( some say she is not really buried here). We then drove to the town of South Pass which is located of a dirt road off US 28. South Pass was the Gold Rush town that was created because of the Carrissa gold mine. Many of the old buildings form the late 1800's are still standing. The towns current population is 4. Yes, 04. In the winter time it is very hard to even get to this town because US 28 is closed due to snow. The wagon pic of Sarah and Christopher was taken near a mine shaft there. The Pcture of Brandon, Sarah and Christopher is in the town at the small river that runs through, you can see the wagon ruts in front of them. We then drove to Winter Park Colorado where we will stay the night. On the way here we drove through the Arapaho National Forrest. The pic of the skinny tall rock or Hoodoo was taken there. The total drive today was about 425 miles. We have drove over 6000 total miles so far. Hope that van really has unlimited mileage! Total times we think we have crossed the Continental divide is 12. Tomorrow Rocky Mtn National Park.

Here is a question we learned the answer to while in South Pass. What weighs more a pound of feathers or a pound of gold? Answer tomorrow.....

Today we returned to Yellowstone and the first thing we saw was around 15 elk all around the fort including the visitors center. Then we began to drive the loop. Along the way we saw lots of bison and 1 bear which was causing some traffic problems. We then went to the Dragon's Mouth and Mud Volcano mud pots. The Dragons Mouth is a big rock with a hole that gushes out steam and boiling mud. We went to Old Faithful and arrived just in time for the eruption and lots of rain. After that we drove to the Grand Prismatic Spring and tried to do it in the pouring rain. But with the rain causing so much steam, we couldn't even see the path we were on so that was less than impressive. On our way out of Yellowstone we saw the Grand Tetons National Park with snowy mountains and lots of fog in front of them due to the rain. Then we drove to our hotel for the night. Tomorrow we are heading towards Dinosaur National Monument and then we will go to Rocky Mountain Park the next day or so.

Yesterdays pics

Here are the pictures that did not load yesterday.

From Idaho to Yellowstone

The day started out rainy with a long drive. We had thought we would go through Bear Tooth Pass but decided to not go due to the weather. As you can see from the pics the weather improved greatly by 1 pm it was sunny and bright. The drive through Montana was great. We now know why it is called big sky country! We also found some land for sale for $1,500 per acre. We could move any day now! We started Yellowstone on the North end. We went to the hot springs and it was a long hike, mostly because Brandon is on crutches due to his knee. It took a long time to get to the top but he was a trooper and made it. We saw lots of wildlife. Lots of deer and a bison. We had lunch by the river. It was a lot like a Grizwald lunch. The area was infested with mosquitos and we ended up packing up and eating in the van. We saw 2 water falls today too. We will finish the park with several Jr. Ranger stops, then south to the Grand Tetons.

We started out this monring and left Long Beach, Washington and began driving the historic Columbia River Gorge highway back and forth between Washington and Oregon. We saw sevral big waterfalls and ate lunch near one. Most of the late afternoon was spent driving Northeast towards Yellowstone. We are currently stuck in Spokane's version of Smart Fix-40. We will be staying in east of Spokane tonight. Tommorow we plan to keep driving to Yellowstone.

Today we started out at around 8:30 and drove to the Lewis and Clark National Park, which is located near the mouth of the Columbia River. This is where they first reached their farthest point west and then stayed the winter of 1806-'07 in Fort Clatsop. Sarah and Christopher completed their Jr. Ranger packets again and got their badges. We then drove to the Columbia River Maritime Museum and and looked at the exhibits, which were all really neat. The pic of us on the anchor is outside of the museum in front of the light boat Columbia. After that we went to Cape Disappointment and Daddy and Christopher hiked to the light house because Sarah and I were hurting;( Then we went to Long Beach,built a bon fire and grilled hot dogs for dinner and stayed around the fire until sunset. We stayed from around 7-9 playing on the beach and near the water. Then we went to the hotel for the night. It's the same place Daddy stayed when he was here for school with the CG to learn how to drive the Motor Life Boats in heavy surf conditions. Cape "D" is know as the Grave Yard of the Pacific because of the dangerous waves and the bar at the mouth of the river. This area also gets 200 days a year of fog. Unfortunately no big surf or fog here today. This is known as the Top Gun school for the Coast Guard. Tomorrow- driving up the Columbia River Gorge.