Day Six

So, we left the barren wasteland of Sheridan, WY, and headed east toward Devil's Tower. I was really looking forward to this, I felt like it was going to be really impressive. Devil's Tower does not disappoint! It is the first national monument established in US history.



It was a beautiful place, and the kids had a great time scrambling on the boulders at the base. I'm amazed at how agile they are! Especially Abigail! She has little problem keeping up with her big brother!

At this point in the journey, we had seen hundreds of bison. At Devil's Mountain, we saw the first of several prarie dog 'towns' we would see over the next couple of days. It is kind of cool at first, and you pull over and take pictures. Then after seeing dozens of these 'towns', you realize it would be like taking a picture of a Canada goose in Oregon!


Devil's Mountain is also where we saw our first large collection of bikers! When I was planning this trip, I did not know that we would be in South Dakota during 'Sturgis Bike Week'.


Sturgis. What a place! We drove through town, then back through again to get back to the interstate.



It was the middle of the day, so there was no significant debauchery or nudity taking place. At the same time, there were a few 'colorful' people around!



This was probably the most wholesome picture that could have been taken in Sturgis that week!


We ended the day in Custer, SD. We would be there a couple of days to see Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse, along with other attractions. After setting up our camp, we went to the night lighting presentation at the Crazy Horse Memorial.


The lighting was pretty cool, what with lasers and a soundtrack that told the story of the memorial. The memorial is a private (NOT government funded) memorial, and its story is a great one about how the family of the sculptor continue work to this day. The whole presentation was pretty cool, right up until they finished off the soundtrack with Lee Greenwood's "Proud to be an American". I mean come on, Crazy Horse was killed by a US soldier who stabbed him in the BACK! Oh well, what can you do?

Day Five

The two times we have been to TNP, we have felt that it was too soon to leave when that time came. This was no exception! It is just such a beautiful place! I appreciate it even more now as I sit writing this in a place that is not so naturally beautiful!

Goodbye Tetons and Jackson Lake!



Somewhere between TNP and Yellowstone, we began seeing Bison, hundreds of them! We even got to witness a fight between two huge bulls! What a sight to see, these guys are immense and muscular!


We continued through YNP toward the NE entrance, and on the way made a stop at Tower Falls.


Maybe at some point in your driving life, you may have in frustration asked, "does this guy think he owns the road?" Trust me, if one of these guys is in the road, the answer to that question is an emphatic "yes"!


The photos for the day end with a few shots of Wyoming's Big Horn mountains, because after you get out of them, it gets a little desolate and plain.

Day Four

We camped at the Colter Bay campground in TNP. Our campsite was just about 100 yards from Jackson Lake. We got there late in the day, so the tent sites were all full. We got into a space in the RV area, and that worked just fine, we stayed there for two nights. During our full day at Jackson Lake, we went for a hike, and hung out at the beach. Along with those, we did all the things you do camping (which will be implied from here forward). Things like building fires, roasting marshmallows, making s'mores, burning stuff, sitting around the campfire, swatting at bugs, watching dvds, you know, all that stuff!

It was really stinkin' hot this day! We set out on a hike, and the kids didn't take long to begin complaining about the heat. What they really wanted to do was go swimming. We made the most of our opportunity to hike, but only got about 1.5 miles in. Either way, it was really cool that we got to see a doe and two fawns. These actually passed in front of Brenda and the kids on the trail just feet away.







We didn't take any swimming pictures. I guess this happened because we all went swimming! Suffice it to say that the lake was really nice with a water temperature somewhere in the 60's.

Day Three

Okay, we could do a much better job of updating this here deal, and we will attempt to do so.

When we left Boise, we headed east on I-84, and made a stop at Shoshone Falls near Twin Falls, ID.




There have been a few things we wondered about in anticipation of this trip. Things like, how will the kids handle the thousands of miles of driving? Will they get along? Will they miss their friends? Will they be poorly affected by the change of lifestyle? Will we grow as a family?

Well, the kids are handling the 6-8 hour driving days quite well. They are getting along about the same as any other 6 and 3 year old siblings. Which, at times makes us wonder if WE will be able to handle the whole trip! They definitely miss their friends! Sometimes when A & A have a conflict, Abigail talks of how a similar (or not at all similar) situation plays out between her and Blythe. Andrew gets very frustrated with this and says, "that has nothing to do with... !" It is loads of fun! I think the kids have been affected by the loss of structure in their lives. Traveling every day, a different schedule every day, a different bed of sleeping place every day, and so on have affected them. We have worked on adding some kinds of structure to our days, but that is nearly impossible with our itinerary!

So, we continued on from Shoshone Falls all the way to Teton National Park, arriving at about dusk. The kids were ready to stretch their legs and were excited to see Jackson Lake.



This was our first National Park, and its beauty was well worth the drive!



The kids were definitely ready to explore the park the next day! Actually, Andrew was just concerned about building a fire. This is precisely what he was commenting on when this picture was snapped.

Day Two

As planned, we are not driving today. I planned this trip to only drive around 6 hours on the days we drive, and to have a day off after a driving day.

So, we are in the Boise, ID area. Brenda and I felt the need to satisfy some nostalgic hunger, so we drove around and passed by our first apartment as a married couple (along with all the subsequent housing we had), and the first house we bought.

As we have hoped to do on this trip, we balanced the 'adult' interest activities with a 'kid' activity by going to a water park. This was the first time that either of the kids have been to a water park, and they had a lot of fun.

After being there for about 3 hours, a really violent storm blew in, and the park was closed. They were giving out passes to everyone to return on another day free of charge. I explained to the customer service person that we would not be able to return as we are 'out of towners'. So, we got a full refund! Cool! We rode nearly every slide in the park for free!


The kids really loved the wave pool!




Abigail thoroughly enjoyed the 'kiddie area'.

Tomorrow, we drive to Teton National Park.

Road Trip!

I know it has been a long time since we have posted anything, but we are on VACATION! Brenda and I are sitting here with Andrew watching "Planet Earth" episode 2, in Gettysburg, PA. It has been a lot of fun, and we are almost to the east coast of the USA! Today, we had a 'day off', sort of. The family hung out and relaxed at the campground while I went and toured the Civil War's most deadly battle ground. But that will have to wait...

Day One.

We drove from Portland to the Boise, ID area. That was not really anything new to any of us. Case in point:


But it is a family vacation, and that makes everything better!


So, it was a long day driving (potty breaks and the like), but we put some miles behind us.


Just as we were arriving at our stop, we were rewarded with a beautiful sunset, the kind you only find in the west...


We have a lot of miles before us, and so far the family is holding up well. If today is any indication of how well the kids will travel, we are going to have a good trip!

Miss It Already!

These photos are going to be all out of order, but it is the best I can do with the connection I have where I am today.

We went to a beach (Alaska has as much coastline as most of the rest of the US combined, and much of that is in SE.) and played on our next to last day there. It was a good time as you'll see in some photos below.



This is the second family photo we have since arriving in AK. Brenda was marveling over that because she could not remember the last time we had taken a family photo.


Kids love the ocean!
Especially Abigail!



On a different day, we went over to a friend's house on another island and had a good old fashioned bonfire and roasted marshmallows. What you can't see in this photo is how wet I am. It had just rained about as hard as rain can be. I was never in the boy scouts, but I can start a fire in the rain.
Intoxicated with the goodness of mallow!

Brenda snapped this one when I decided it was time to empty the rainwater out of the boat. What you do is you get going, then pull the drain plug, and all of the water drains out. Not advised if you are not in motion!

We went to Saxman (a village 2 miles out of Ketchikan) and watched the Cape Fox Dancers in the Beaver clan house.

Do your best to never make an eagle angry!

I don't take enough pictures of Brenda.

Saxman.


The Beaver clan house.


The best marshmallow sticks are made from Alder branches!



It has been a whirlwind so far, and I have been having a difficult time getting posts on this blog. Either I have a bad connection, or no desire to stop the adventure to post on a blog. I hope to get more posted in the weeks to come!

Up next, Boise, Teton, Yellowstone, Devil's Tower, and BIKERS!!!