The Home Stretch

On Wednesday July 1st, we spent the day driving through Yellowstone.

When we entered the park they gave us a park newspaper. Aaron was reading it and found a section about Old Faithful. He read that Old Faithful goes off every hour on the hour and that the park rangers control it. So we were headed to see Old Faithful and as we pulled into the parking lot, it was 5 minutes to the hour. So we jumped out of the car and ran as fast as we could so we wouldn't miss it! We raced over and joined a large crowd waiting to see the geyser go off. Well, the hour came and nothing happened. A few minutes went by and we were all wondering what was wrong. Aaron mentioned what he had read in the newspaper and my sister Wendy said that what he had read was the myths about Old Faithful. Apparently there had been two columns, one myths and the other truths. Aaron read the myths and thought they were true! So we waited awhile longer and finally Old Faithful went off.

That night we camped just outside the south gate. The mosquitos were horrible! We were so glad we had the motorhome to keep us away from them. But the kids didn't seem to mind and spent the evening outside making friends with other campers and learned a new game called Little Sally Walker. The next morning we were headed for Idaho Falls. We stopped in Swan Valley for some square ice cream cones.

We had a great adventure driving across 4 states. And that is just the beginning of a month long vacation!

Highlights

Devils Tower...Apparently you need to see the movie "Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind" to appreciate this. Aaron and my Dad were the only ones who had seen it.

Camping! We camped every night along the way. It was so fun to camp with my parents and sister and the kids loved camping with cousins. My Dad and Mom cooked some delicious meals and the kids loved exploring and roasting marshmallows together.

Noah really was having a good time.

Jake and Grandma just hanging out.

Cleaning off all that camping dirt!

We took the kids to the Cody Nite Rodeo in Cody Wyoming and it was so fun! My kids had never been to a rodeo before and they were totally getting into it. Grandpa was explaining everything and the kids were cheering for their favorite cowboy or cowgirl.

They even got to sit on a bull!

Jake was so fun to watch. He loved the all the animals and would get so excited when they would come out. He was cheering right along with everyone else. It was so cute.

We all loved the rodeo!

Mt. Rushmore & Crazy Horse

We had a great time at Mt. Rushmore. The kids filled out a book about Mt Rushmore and were sworn in as junior rangers. They thought that was very cool.

After walking around in the heat, we cooled off with some huge ice cream cones. They were delicious!

We left Mt. Rushmore and went to see the Crazy Horse monument that is still under construction. We drove up to the gate to pay the entrance fee of $27. Grandpa decided it was not worth paying that fee and turned around. As we were driving away, we a sign for helicopter rides. And to our surprise, Grandpa pulled in! Helicopter rides for everyone!

(except Jake and Lucy, we decided they were too young to appreciate it)

Noah and Grace were thrilled to go on such an adventure.

Not only did we get a helicopter ride, we were able to see Crazy Horse up close from the sky! It was amazing. Thanks Grandpa!

Omaha to South Dakota

The 2 drivers making their plan.

The kids loved riding in the motorhome. They loved that they did not have to be strapped in a carseat. They played video games, watched movies, took naps, ate lots of yummy food, and took turns riding as Grandpa's co-pilot.

Lucy and Ty had a great time together. Lucy loved playing with Ty and would follow him around wherever he went. At one point we overheard Ty say, "You know, you can't marry your cousin. It's against the law."

As we were traveling to Mt. Rushmore, we saw so many signs for the world famous Wal-Drug. After miles and miles of signs we decided we had better stop and see what it was all about.

It was a bunch of shops meant to trap tourists and had all of these statues. Kind of odd.

My Dad did a great job driving the motorhome. At one point we came across this tunnel and realized we were too big for it. There was a mountain on one side of the road and a drop off on the other. So Aaron got out and with walkie-talkies he and my Dad managed to turn the bus around with only a 3 point turn! We were all very impressed and the men were very proud.