New Year's Eve, 2012 - Monday

After a wonderful Scott family Christmas this past weekend, we are on our way to Florida (Clearwater area) to work at a Habitat for Humanity ReStore for our volunteer month.  We got on the road at 2:30 AM when it was 19 degrees and snow on the ground at home (Brrrr!) and have stopped for the day at 4:30 PM in Manning, SC and 57 degrees (Yeah!) - 829 miles later.  We will walk down the street to get dinner in a bit and then hit the hay early.  We had a bit of traffic in the Baltimore/D.C. area, but otherwise it was a fairly light traffic day.  We finished a book on CD that we had started earlier and will choose another to start the day tomorrow - listening to books is a great way to make the miles fly by!

Thursday July 26, 2012

Not too much to report today – we started out at 76 degrees in MO and it is 78 degrees here in Ohio, 12 hours and 600 miles later.  We ran into a bit of traffic here and there, but we have settled in for the night about 60 miles south of Cleveland.  We hope to get to Keuka Lake, NY by early afternoon tomorrow.  The biggest change we had noticed coming east is that the number of trees has increased dramatically.  We had a pretty uneventful day – the kids watched their last movie.  We are out of books on CD so they spent some time drawing their dream sports cars.  They have each designed one that they expect to build when they become rich (although we don’t have any details on how they will become so).  We just had dinner and the boys are showering before bed.  We have a few more chapters in our book so we try to read a couple tonight and maybe I can finish the book in the car when I am not driving.  The boys are looking forward to seeing their parents and sisters and cousins at the lake tomorrow.  I don’t know what the internet access is at the lake so this may be the last blog for the trip.  We plan to be home on Tuesday and then have my brother, Russ, and Cathie, his son, Tristan, and wife Dee and twin babies come in on Wednesday at noon so will have to do a quick dusting of the house when we get home.  We also will be exchanging Dan for Ella, as August is girl cousins’ month.  We look forward to seeing our local friends and sharing our pictures of the trip.

Wednesday July 25, 2012

We got an early start this morning and made good time.  We got to downtown Laurence at noon.  We found Buffalo Bob’s Ribs and it was the same one we had gone to many years ago with Amy when she was going to KU.  We had ribs and pulled pork sandwiches.  Dan said the ribs were great!  They gave each person enough fries to feed a family of six!  We found our way to the university and showed the boys where Amy had gone to school and then found the house she lived in when she was here.  We got back on the highway and kept driving east.  There was a bit of traffic in Kansas City – we thought it was a bit early for rush hour, but many they start earlier here and get out early.  The truck registered 108 degrees at one point!  We drove until we got to within 60 miles of St. Louis and stopped for the night.  We just came back from dinner and Theo is in the pool as I write this.  Dan and Alex decided to watch a bit of TV in the room with Dave.  It is 7:30 at night and the temperature is still 103!  We were very grateful to be in an air-conditioned truck in this heat.  We will start a bit later tomorrow so as to not get snarled in the St. Louis morning commute.  I’m not sure where we will stop tomorrow night.  Happy Birthday to Susanne! 

Tuesday July 24, 2012

We got up early this morning and had a quick breakfast before getting on the road.  We traveled through more of the San Juan National Forest and then over the Colorado Rockies.  We went through one pass that was 10,837 feet and also crossed the Continental Divide again.  We traveled north on the other side of the Rockies for a while before turning east.  We had a bit of snafu trying to get to I-70, but after a bit we did get going correctly.  That confusion did cost us about 45 minutes so we didn’t get as far as we had planned.  We passed many wheat fields and then came the dreaded CORN!  We crossed into Kansas and got as far as Colby.  We went to dinner at Montana Mike’s and everyone had a delightful dinner.  The boys have showered and Dave and I will do so in the morning.  We hope to get to Lawrence, KS tomorrow to show Alex and Theo where their mom went to graduate school. 

Monday July 23, 2012

We got up early this morning and got on the road.  It is only 47 miles to Durango, but there was some road construction and we didn’t want to be late.  We took the narrow gauge steam train from Durango to Silverton (3 ½ hours one way).  It rose from Durango at 7000 feet elevation to Silverton at 9200 feet.  It was a lot of fun, but I can certainly understand why people complained about riding the train in the old days – we were covered in soot!  We had some great views of a river (the Animas) with lots of rapids most of the way and passed mountains and canyons. We also passed through the San Juan National Forest.  We saw someone go by on a zipline and a glider in the sky.  When we got to Silverton we had two hours for lunch, which left us plenty of time after eating to look around this small Western town.  There was a 10-year-old boy near the station who was selling rock samples out of a wheelbarrow.  Dave bought a piece of polished agate.  Back on the train, we saw views from the other side of the train.  Everyone had a good time, but we did hit some rain on the way back to town.  We drove a few blocks to our hotel and then went to the restaurant next door for a light dinner.  Alex and Dan had buffalo wings and it was worth the price of admission to watch them eat them!  They were very spicy and the boys had watery eyes and sweaty brows as they ate their full.  They each went through lemonade, a couple glasses of water and a glass of milk.  Dan said they should use the sauce instead of Novocain when having dental work done!  Alex said they were the spiciest things he has ever had and he ate twice as many as Dan!  We walked back to the room and we are cycling everyone through the shower.  Theo will be last as he wore flip-flops on the train and his feet are BLACK!  I will read a chapter of our book tonight and then we will all go to sleep.  We are heading back east tomorrow.

Sunday July 22, 2012

We all showered this morning and then went to breakfast.  We drove the 9 miles to Mesa Verde and then another 15 miles to the Visitor Center where we got tickets for Cliff Palace.  Our next stop was to pick up box lunches at the cafeteria, as our tour would not start until 12:30.  We drove to the museum and watched an informational film on the people of Mesa Verde and then looked at the exhibits on display.  We walked down to Spruce Tree House, a small area of cliff dwellings built into the ledge below the mesa.  The kids got to go down into a kiva (round religious/ceremonial hole built into the ground accessed by a ladder).  We then went to picnic before our tour.  The lunches were pretty good: turkey sandwich, sweet potato chips, granola bar, banana, and a bottle of water.  Cliff Palace was so much larger than Spruce Tree House!  They think there were 23 clans living there, as there are 23 kivas in evidence.  The people grew corn and squash on top of the mesas and dried the corn for winter.  They have found some 200-year-old dried corn in some sealed pottery that was still edible!  They also ate small rabbits and mice for protein.  Because of the surrounding area and lack of large trees, they probably did not have access to large game.  We had a lovely day at Mesa Verde.  Back at the hotel, we went to the pool so the boys could have some fun.  It is thundering and lightening outside again this afternoon so we are again happy that we are not tenting in this kind of weather.  The boys have been writing in their journals although both Theo and Dan have fallen behind.  Alex is the only one up to date, but hopefully the others will catch up on the return trip.  We saw a BBQ place at the edge of town and were thinking about stopping there for dinner tonight, but when I inquired at the desk, the clerk said that it has been closed for years.  She suggested another place that we will try.  We just got back from dinner and, boy, are we stuffed!  Alex and Dan had ribs, Theo had chicken, Dave had steak and grilled shrimp, and I had pulled roast beef.  Everything was very good.  The boys have just showered and I will read to them in a few minutes.  We will have to get up early tomorrow as we have reservations for an early train ride in Durango.

Saturday July 21, 2012

Happy Birthday, Lolo!  We got the boys up early this morning, as we knew it would be a long day in the car.  We carried all the bags and backpacks to the truck and Dave said he would pack the truck while we went for breakfast.  He is feeling much better, but didn’t want to take any chances.  He had another bagel for breakfast.  We noticed yesterday that the breakfast meals were huge so today we ordered two meals and split them.  We were plenty full so that was a good choice.  We got started out of the Grand Canyon and headed to Mesa Verde.  Unfortunately, we realized this morning that the boys had not gotten their Grand Canyon stamp for their passport books and it was too early for the Visitor Center.  I told them that they should each design their own Grand Canyon stamp, so we shall see what they come up with!  We stopped for lunch in Tuba City (Alex and Theo were hungry).  Do you kids remember Tuba City and the Taco Bell incident?  We didn’t want to repeat history, so ate at a Sonic!  The rest of us waited about a 100 miles and stopped again so the rest of us could eat.  We finally got to Four Corners and I took photos of the boys standing in four states (Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah).  On the road again, Alex and Theo talked to their family who had just come back from Greece.  Dan then called to wish his mom a happy birthday.  We drove on until we came to Cortez.  We could see a huge thunderstorm up ahead with massive lightening strikes so we opted to stop at a motel instead of trying to set up the tents in this weather, as Mesa Verde is only nine miles ahead.  We will go out to eat in a bit.  The boys are deciding who will sleep on the floor, as there are only two queen beds in the room and no cots available and these guys are too restless when they sleep for all of them to be in one bed.  We dashed across the parking lot to a small lounge and grill for a light supper – no one was particularly hungry.  When we got back we let the boys swim in the pool.  They also enjoyed the spa pool.  After drying off and getting ready for bed, we let them watch a tiny bit of TV, which has been a rarity on this trip.  Dan drew the floor so we made a nice nest for him with extra blankets and pillows.  Theo will get the nest tonight.

Friday July 20, 2012

We heard rain several times in the night, but no thunderstorms.  We woke up early and I went to the lodge to sign the boys up for a mule ride on the canyon rim.  The boys slept in – 9:00!  We went to the lodge for a late breakfast.  We drove down to the campground to do laundry and the boys played cards until the laundry was done.  The boys each had a soda and a candy bar.  We drove back to the cabin and Dave decided that he wasn’t feeling well – could be an altitude problem or maybe something he ate for breakfast.  He took a nap while I took the boys on their mule ride.  Theo rode on Snoopy, Dan on John D (short for John Deere), Alex had Madonna, and I had Buttercup.  We took a lovely ride along the rim and into the woods.  The boys really enjoyed the ride.  Madonna kept trying to sneak a grass snack along the trail so Alex had to keep pulling up on the reins.  Buttercup tried a few times, too – the trail leader said that those two mules were best friends and they seem to do everything together.  Alex went into hysterics when Madonna passed gas into Buttermilk’s face!  (Freud said that potty humor was alive in children from 5 to 15).  We got back to the lodge and I took the boys in the truck out to Cape Royal Point.  It was another fantastic view of the Canyon and from one viewpoint we could see the Colorado River way below us.  We got back to the cabin and Dave had decided that he would skip dinner and just have a couple of bagels.  Alex and Dan opted for Chicken Parmesan, Theo stuck with the pasta bowl, and I had a grilled Portobello mushroom with lentils and rice.  The boys shared an ice cream sundae.  We got back to the cabin to pack up and I cycled the boys through the shower.  They played another game of cards and I read to them again.  They must have been tired, as they didn’t take too long to settle down.  Sleeping was nice as we could hear rain on the roof – always good sleeping weather.  Apparently, it rains most afternoons or evenings here as the hot air from the floor of the canyon rises to meet the cooler air on the rim.  Tomorrow we head to Mesa Verde. 

Thursday July 19, 2012

I woke up about 6:00 because of the loud voices next door.  I got dressed and went over to them, using my best teacher voice, and told them that they were being rude and inconsiderate to the rest of us who were hear to enjoy the sounds of nature.  I think they were embarrassed because they did quiet down.  I can’t believe the adults did not put a stop to their talking earlier as they were clearly out of line with the posted quiet hours.  We had a quick breakfast and struck camp and headed to the Grand Canyon.  We were too early to check in so went for lunch at the deli near the lodge.  We then took a hike to Bright Angel’s Point – a spectacular viewpoint down from the rim of the canyon.  The boys were impressed with the immensity of the canyon and with the lovely colors.  We came back to the lodge and sat outside on the patio enjoying the view.  I checked again with reception and found out that we were really early, as this part of Arizona does not observe daylight savings time so it is an hour earlier than Utah.  We spent the time chatting and checking out the gift shop.  The boys finally went back to the truck and got a deck of cards to entertain themselves.  We were finally able to check in and my patience paid off as we were able to convert our two motel rooms to a western style cabin.  It is very nice – queen bed and mini-fridge in one room, a bathroom in the hall, and a bunkroom with a futon couch in the next room.  Theo was excited to be sleeping in a log cabin.  We all took turns showering (much needed by all) and then went to dinner in the dining room.  Dave and Dan had the bison special, Alex had trout, Theo chose pasta and I had grilled vegetables with polenta – everything was very good.  We had seen the ranger talk previously and the skies were too cloudy for the telescope experience so we came back to the cabin and I read to the boys again and we all went to

Wednesday July 18, 2012

Alex made blueberry pancakes this morning – they were very good.  After the dishes were done and the teeth were brushed, we piled into the truck and headed for Bryce Canyon.  The boys were excited to go through the 1.1 miles tunnel through the mountain.  We had seen how it was built in a film we had watched.  A few miles past the end of the tunnel, we came to Checkerboard Mesa.  The boys climbed up partway and I took their picture.  We continued on to Bryce and found when we got to the Visitor’s Center, that the parking lot at Sunset Point was full.  We took the shuttle to the point, ate our lunch at a picnic tale and admired the view before walking to Sunrise Point.  From there we took the trail down into the hoodoos (strange rock formations caused by wind and water erosion) until we came to the Queen’s Garden.  There is a hoodoo there which looks remarkably like Queen Victoria.  We liked back up to the top and then caught the next shuttle back to the Visitor Center.  We headed back to Zion and actually went past the campground and into Springdale to pick up more ice and milk.  We are all journaling now and I promised the boys another trip to the river after dinner. The boys had a blast shooting down the rapids again.  A boy from Germany lost his watch in the rapids so Dan went back to camp for goggles and Alex searched for a while, but they couldn’t find the watch.  The group next to us at the campsite is quite noisy – all high school boys and two men.  I hope they quiet down soon.  Tomorrow we will break camp and head to the Grand Canyon.

Tuesday July 17, 2012

Another chilly morning!  We had breakfast and then rode the shuttle up to the Human History Museum, where we looked at the exhibits and watched a film on Zion.  We got back to the Visitor’s Center and then walked through to catch the town bus.  We stopped at the post office to buy more post card stamps and then walked up to the market for more ice and cold drinks.  Back at camp, we made lunch and then after lunch the kids wanted to go swimming in the Virgin River.  We followed a path through the campground and found a dirt path to the river behind the amphitheatre.  The boys had a blast!  There were several rapids and a small waterfall, which they could float down.  There were a few rocks along the way, but the boys thought banging into them was worth the price of the “ride”.  We stayed for more than an hour until they were ready to come back to camp.  We walked over the footbridge to a small market.  The boys had ice cream while Dave and I sat and used their wifi to post a couple of blog dates.  We came back to camp and wrote in our journals until it was time to start dinner: pork chops, rice, carrots, and applesauce.  The boys did the dishes since I had done the cooking.  We went back down to the river and the boys took a few turns down the rapids again.  Back at camp, we read a few chapters of our book until it was time for the ranger program.  The topic tonight was on water and the life forms that use it here in Zion.  One of the most interesting things we learned was that the beaver here don’t make log dam houses as the frequent flash floods would just wipe them out.  They dig burrows into the side of the river and build their homes into the mud banks.  There is also a small songbird here called the dipper who can dive up to 15 feet into the water to catch prey.  We came back to camp and hopped into our sleeping bags.  I didn’t hear much taking from the boys’ tent – they must have been tired. 

Monday July 16, 2012

We woke up to gray skies and a bit chillier weather (actually it felt good after the heat in
Arches).  We had eggs and bacon for breakfast and then headed down to catch the shuttle.  We decided to take several walk/hikes today.  Our first one was to the Lower Emerald Pools.  The walk was quite easy.  We saw a young deer munching on leaves off the path.  The pools were quite nice and on the way back we saw a very large beetle and a long garter snake.  We got back on the shuttle and stopped at our next hike to The Weeping Wall.  There were lots of maidenhair ferns and columbine growing out of the cracks on the cliff face.  We saw a young buck mule deer to the side of the wall.  He did not seem too disturbed by our presence.  Our last stop was to the Temple of Sinawava (The Narrows).  We let the boys wade in the river and at one point on the walk; they found a great sliding rock.  They covered the bottom of their shoes with sand and slid down the rock on their feet.  They had quite a good time.  We came back to camp for lunch.  Our ice is melting fast in the heat of the day, so the boys and I took the town shuttle into Springdale and picked up some ice and a few supplies that I had forgotten in St. George.  When we got back to camp, the camp host came around in his golf cart to let us know there was a weather advisory for Zion: 70 mph winds, thunderstorms, and 1” hail!  We scrambled around making sure the tent stakes were secure and as it started to rain, we all jumped in the truck to stay safe from the storm.  It was quite a storm – windy, but not 70 mph, lots of rain and thunder and lightening, and some ¼” hail.  I was glad to be in a sheltered area.  When the storm quit, we dried the table off and made dinner.  WE read a few chapters in our book and then went to bed.  We would have gone to the ranger program, but the boys seemed really tired.  We had talked of climbing Angel’s Landing tomorrow, but no one except Dan seemed all that enthused about it and they all seemed quite tired from our less strenuous walks today.  We will have to come up with a Plan B.

Sunday July 15, 2012

We got up this morning and packed up our small bags that we had taken into the motel.  After breakfast, Dave took the boys to the pool while I went to the grocery store.  We packed everything away and then decided to drive the 7 miles to the border hoping to get a new state to add to the boys’ collections – Nevada.  The joke was on us, as the route didn’t cross into Nevada, but Arizona!  We turned around and headed to Zion National Park.  We have a lovely campsite in Watchman Campground.  We have lovely views of the canyon walls on two sides.  We got everything set up and then walked to the Visitor’s Center to get oriented.  We decided to take the free shuttle to the end of the scenic route so that the boys could get a feel for the park.  We stopped for a cold drink at Zion Lodge Café and then came back to camp.  The boys walked down to the river and did a bit of exploring.  We had steak tips (thank you, Dan), potatoes (thank you, Alex), and fresh green beans (thank you, Theo).  Everything was delicious.  Dave and I did the dishes.  The boys had to make s’mores over the camp stove, as there are no campfires allowed in the camp at the moment because of the high fire danger.  We started to read our story, but had to move into the screen area of our tent as we heard thunder and saw lightening.  It started raining after a bit so we all hopped into our sleeping bags instead of going to the ranger talk.  It was a bit early for bed so the boys entertained themselves by talking and drawing pictures of cars.  Dave and I read our kindles.

Saturday July 14, 2012

I woke up first this morning so took a shower and snuck out to do some laundry, leaving the boys and Dave to sleep in.  When the boys woke up they showered and then went to the pool.  They started in the indoor pool, but it was quite loud in there so eventually moved to the outdoor pool.  I finished the laundry and joined them for a bit.  We went for lunch at the Black Bear Diner and then came back to the room to relax for a bit before going out to the movies.  We saw “Brave”.  It was very cute and everyone enjoyed it.  Back at the room, everyone wrote in their journals while I wrote some postcards (although I will have to wait until Monday to buy more postcard stamps).  We went out to dinner at the Pasta Factory.  We all enjoyed “building” our own pasta dish.  The boys are watching a bit of television (this has been a rarity on the trip) and then we will read some more about Francis Tucket before turning in for the night.  We don’t have to rush tomorrow as we are quite close to Zion, our next camping site.  We may let the boys go in the pool again before going to the grocery store.  I am really bummed about not being able to get some photos on the blog.  I will have to ask Doug about the problem when I get home and then add an album.  Happy Birthday to Nick and Happy Anniversary to Tristan and Deidre!

Friday July 13, 2012

It was 96 when we went to bed last night and it did NOT rain!  It only cooled down to 82 by morning so we decided to break camp and go somewhere cooler.  We said “UNCLE” to Arches and its intense heat and after a quick breakfast, packed the truck with all of our gear.  Dave and Theo dropped off the rest of us at the Fiery Furnace trailhead.  We took a 3-hour ranger led tour through the fins.  We had to jump and scramble over rocks and make our way through tight places – the boys had a blast!  I, however, found it a bit harder to do that I did in 1985!  We saw lots of hidden arches and had a great, but HOT, hike.  Dave and Theo had gone into town while we were hiking.  They got more ice, cold drinks, and gassed up the truck.  They also stopped at a rock shop and a corvette dealership for Theo’s entertainment.  We were happy to get into the air-conditioning and to suck down the cold water (we had water with us, but at the end of 3 hours, it was lukewarm)!  We went back into town for lunch and then headed towards Zion, our next camping spot.  We had seen a town on the map that looked big enough for motels, but when we drove through it, we could see it was pretty small.  We continued on and stopped in Cedar City, but something must have been going on in town and there were no rooms to rent.  We finally make it to St. Georges and found a room.  We had a small dinner at the local Denny’s (across the parking lot from the motel) and got into bed about 10.  Everyone was exhausted and we figured a couple of nights in air-conditioning would do us all good. 

Thursday July 12, 2012

Hot again this AM.  I slept on top of the sleeping bag last night, but there wasn’t too much of a breeze.  We made eggs and sausages for breakfast and since it was so hot, decided to drive around to some points of interest.  Our first stop was at Sand Dunes Arch.  It was actually a bit cooler in there as it was in some fins of rock.  We saw two artists painting the arch – it was fun to watch.  We took some photos and then headed down to Delicate Arch.  Alex, Dan and I decided to take the trail to it (1.5 miles each way) while Dave and Theo stayed nearer the truck.  Our first stop was Wolfe’s Ranch, which was a one-room log and mud hut from the 1880’s.  It is hard to believe that a family lived in something not much bigger than our library.  We continued on walking on the trail – no respite from the heat as any trees here are stunted.  We came to a steep rock face named Hell’s Ridge and I asked someone coming down how close we were to the arch.  He said about halfway.  I couldn’t believe it!  It certainly seemed as if we had walked at least a mile and a half already!  I conferred with the boys and we decided to head back.  It was really too hot to continue and then we would have to walk back further in the heat.  The air-conditioned truck felt wonderful!  We continued down the road admiring many of the sandstone formations on the way.  We stopped at the Visitor’s Center and learned about the geology of Arches.  We watched a movie on Arches and Canyonlands and then the boys stamped their passport books.  WE signed up for a tour of the Fiery Furnace tomorrow.  Dave elected to stay behind with Theo as we thought he wouldn’t be able to keep up and there were only 3 tickets available for tomorrow.  We headed into Moab again to get more ice – it certainly melts fast in this heat.  We had lunch at the Moab Grill and then came back to camp to write in journals and allow the boys to explore the campground area.  There are lots of formations and canyons just across the road from our tents.  We will have either chicken for pasta tonight (the boys like to vote) and then take in the ranger talk at 9:00.  There is a possibility of a shower tonight and I’m hoping we get it – we could use some cooling rain about now – although we learned that this area only gets 8 inches a year, so if it does rain, it won’t be a soaker.

Wednesday July 11, 2012

We got up fairly early this morning and packed up the truck.  We had a light complimentary breakfast at the motel and then got on our way.  It was a long day of driving.  We stopped for drinks and snacks when we filled the truck with gas and that held us until we stopped for a late lunch at Wendy’s – couldn’t find a diner, but they made a pretty good salad.  We listened to another audio book and looked out the window at the changing scenery.  The kids are also enjoying listening to the one music disc we have with us:  American Graffiti, a 50’s/60’s collection.  We came into Moab, Utah (a new state for the boys – I think that makes 14 on the trip so far) at about 6:00.  We ate at the Moab Diner and then found the grocery store and filled out our food supply.  We drove back about 4 miles to Arches and then had to drive another 18 miles to the campground (Devil’s Garden).  We got the tents set up, read a couple of chapters in our book (the story is getting quite interesting) and got to bed.  I don’t think anyone got to sleep right away though as it was HOT!  It had been 103, but I think it was still in the 90’s when we went to bed around 10.

Tuesday July 10, 2012

We got up early this morning and took down the tents and packed the truck.  We decided to eat breakfast at Fishing Bridge so we wouldn’t have to deal with dishes.  We left Yellowstone under sunny skies and got a ways down the road when Alex asked to stop, as he wasn’t feeling very well.  He upchucked on the side of the road (it must have been something he had for breakfast), but felt better afterwards.  We passed the beautiful Grand Tetons and arrived in Jackson Hole in record time.  We checked into our motel and walked around the square.  We found a local deli for lunch and then the boys had an ice cream cone.  We rode out of town a little bit and found Mad River Rafting.  We took a white water raft ride down the Snake River.  We were on an eight-man raft with a couple from Georgia.  We went over several series of rapids some of which almost swamped the boat and us with it!  We were soaked to the skin!  We all had a wonderful time.  The boys cannonballed off the raft in a calm spot and Dave and the guide hauled them back on the boat.  At one point, Alex and Dan sat on the bow and held onto the raft with one hand while waving the other in the air (like a bull rider).  The waves were so strong that they both got blown back into the boat!  There was a lot of laughing and shrieking going on.  We got back to the motel and everyone took a hot shower to warm up.  We decided to order pizza to be delivered to the room as no one felt like going out again.  The kids are watching TV and we will all get to bed shortly.  The kids drew straws to see who got to sleep on the floor in a sleeping bag (they don’t have cots here) and Theo lost.  I will have to remember not to step on him in the night.  We are off to Arches in the morning and should be done with cold nights (maybe we will miss them – we will see).

Wednesday AM:  I tried to put up some photos last night, but for some reason was not able to do it.  You will have to imagine how fantastic the scenery is and the great time we are having.  I will have to play with the picture feature when I get home.

Monday July 9, 2012

The boys must have been tired as they slept in this morning.  We had cereal and bagels for breakfast and Alex and Dan washed the dishes.  We made our lunches and made sure everyone had at least two bottles of water and we were on our way.  The boys had decided that they wanted to walk the Mt. Holmes trailhead so we headed north of Norris to find it.  There were three hikes originating from this spot so we chose the Grizzly Lake trail.  We met two rangers on horseback as we started out.  They had ridden up to check a cabin on the mountain and found that a bear had forced the door and made a mess of the cabin.  We continued on and came to a river.  There didn’t seem to be anyway to get across except to wade so we took off our shoes and socks and plunged in.  Alex and Dan got across first and then came back to help Theo and to become leaning posts for Dave and I (we apparently have very tender feet!).  We all got across safely, but our legs and feet were numb from the freezing water.  We walked for a while and found a lot of obsidian chips that we thought might have been shaped by Indians and then stopped for a picnic lunch.  After about 2.5 miles, Theo, Dave and I stopped while Alex and Dan walked up to the top of the rise.  They came back and said they could see the lake, but it was a mile away.  Dave was having some problems with the altitude so we all decided to turn back with the promise that the boys could swim in the river.  Alex and Dan swam in their shorts while Theo opted to swim in his jockeys (they all opted not to skinny-dip ad the water was frigid).  They all had a great time cooling off.  There was quite a current and Alex and Dan tried to swim against it, but it looked like they were swimming in place.  The boys skipped rocks while waiting to dry and then we decided to cross a logjam nearby instead of continuing on to the fording place.  Unfortunately, we had to scramble across and around a lot of downed trees (from the fire) until we finally found the path again.  We saw two sets of bear prints and one of a cub, but there was no sign of the animals (personally, I was happy.  I don’t mind seeing them from a distance, but certainly do not want to come close to one).  We finally made it back to civilization (the truck) and made our way towards camp.  We stopped at Fishing Bridge to fill up with gas and for cold drinks.  We are all journaling now and will start dinner soon (chicken and rice tonight).  We will pack up what we can tonight, as we will be leaving in the morning for Jackson Hole and hopefully a wifi connection so we can be in contact with you all again. 

Sunday July 8, 2012

Alex made blueberry pancakes for breakfast this morning.  Everyone enjoyed them.  We decided to explore the area north of Old Faithful today, as the boys have not yet seen a boiling mud pot.  Our first stop was at Biscuit Basin.  Our favorite hot spring there was Sapphire Pool – the color was fabulous!  We walked along the boardwalk admiring the colors of the thermophiles (green, yellow, red) until we came to a trail that led to Mystic Falls.  With a name like that, we had to take the trail!  The hike was pleasant, but the falls were fantastic!  It was a 70-foot-high chain of cascades – both lovely to look at and very cooling.  We stopped at Midway Geyser Basin, which contains two of the largest hot springs in the world.  Grand Prismatic Spring is 370 feet in diameter!  We couldn’t see all of the gradients of color as it was very steamy today, but it was still awesome.  Excelsior Geyser no longer erupts, but it is unique as it spills hot water into the Firehole River.  We stopped for lunch at a lovely picnic area – lovely, except for the smelly outhouse (Theo said we should have brought our oxygen masks) and then took a drive down Firehole Lake Drive.  We were so lucky because Great Fountain Geyser, which erupts every 8 to 12 hours, blew about five minutes after we arrived!  It sprayed water over 100 feet in the air and lasted at least 15 minutes!  We stopped at White Dome Geyser and thought it was about to erupt judging from the steam coming from the vent, but after 10 minutes, we gave up on it.  Our last stop was at Fountain Paint Pot, which is famous for its mudpots.  I was disappointed as the mudpot was boiling, but it was thin and watery, probably due to the rain we have been having each day.  The last time we were here, the mud was thick and the mud bubbles were much more fun to watch.  We headed back to camp to pick up towels for showers and our dirty laundry.  I thought Sunday afternoon would be a quiet time in the laundry, but I was wrong.  I had to wait for some machines to be free, but managed to get it done.  Unfortunately, there is no wifi service here in Yellowstone and I haven’t had any cell service here either so I guess we will have to wait until we get to Jackson Hole to get online again.  I hope you all don’t think we have fallen off the edge of the Earth – I didn’t think it would be so hard to keep in touch.  I will have to put some photos up at some point, but that takes more time so will have to wait.  We got back to camp and Alex and Dan said they wanted to cook dinner.  Dan cut and marinated the steak strips while Alex make fried potatoes.  I made the salad and Theo and I set the table.  Dinner was delicious!  Dan was very proud, as he has watched his dad make this meal and was so pleased that it came out so well on his first attempt.  This was Alex’s second time making the potatoes and he is becoming quite the expert.  Theo and I washed the dishes as Dave and Dan had done the breakfast dishes.  The boys went for a walk while Dave and I finished putting things back into the bear box (yes, we have to keep all cooking material in a bear box as there has been one sighted in the campground).  They found a boy about their age and were running races in the road.  They had a great time and then we came back to our campsite and read a few more chapters of our book.  We let the boys choose a hike for tomorrow so we will see how we make out.  Tomorrow will be our last full day here in Yellowstone.

Saturday July 7, 2012

We woke up in the cold again.  There seems to be a pattern to the days – cold evenings, nights, and mornings and hot days.  We had a quick breakfast of cereal and bagels with hot cocoa and made lunches to take with us.  We drove north to Mud Volcano and saw some amazing features.  I liked the Dragon’s Mouth the best.  There was lots of steam coming out of a cave opening and you could hear the sound as the hot water and steam being pushed from below.  Collectively, our least favorite feature was Dragon’s Breath.  The stench was horrific!  We all agreed that the dragon needed to use Listerine or Scope!  Our next stop was at the upper falls on the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.  We walked down the trail until we were standing below one set of falls and over the next.  It was awesome.  We got caught in a huge traffic jam caused by a small herd of buffalo that were walking down the road.  Eventually, they caught up to our car and we had a great view of them as they passed by.  The lead car on the other side was following the buffalo way too closely and seemed to be almost pushing them along.  We were all holding our breath as we thought one of the larger males was going to charge his car (and he might have deserved it from his ignorant behavior)!  He got by safely, however, and we were able to drive ahead.  We drove up to Mammoth Hot Springs and arrived there about noon.  The sign said that it could take up to two hours to tour the site so we decided to eat lunch.  There were no picnic tales nearby so we ate in the truck.  The boys loved the enormity of the hot springs and features here and we spent quite a bit of time walking on the boardwalks around the site.  We decided to drive the boys through the north gate of Yellowstone so they could say they had been in Montana.  On the way we passed a small herd of elk and took some pictures.  We stopped in Gardiner, Montana (the town on the border) to see if we could find wifi service, but didn’t have any luck.  We came back through Mammoth Hot Springs and made out way back to camp, stopping at the store in Fishing Bridge to pick up some ice for the cooler.  We plan to try the 6:00 ranger program (geared for children) tonight.  Oops!  It just started raining so we are sitting in the truck to finish our journals.  We took a vote and the consensus is that we would have chicken for dinner tonight – I hope we don’t have to cook in the rain!  Okay, call me a sissy, but it was still raining at 6 so we didn’t make the ranger program and it didn’t look as if it were going to stop raining any time soon – so . . . back to the diner at Fishing Bridge for dinner.  By the time we got back to camp, the rain had stopped so we built a fire and the boys had s’mores and I read several chapters of our book to them before bed.

Friday July 6, 2012

Dave and I woke up at 6:30.  It was quite chilly so I decided to wear my long pants and sweatshirt.  I made eggs and sausages for breakfast this morning and, of course, we all had hot cocoa to warm our bones.  We cleaned up after breakfast and drove down to a large geyser basin at West Thumb.  We took a long walk down the boardwalk and stopped to see hot mud pools as well as hot water pool.  The minerals in the water caused some of the pools to be different colors – green, blue, orange – they were all beautiful.  Some of them were very shallow and others were extremely deep.  We stopped at the visitor’s center and learned about the fire of 1988.  It was quite devastating, but the re-growth is amazing.  There have been other fires here, of course, but none as large as the one in 1988.  The most interesting fact I learned was that the lodge pole pine (80% of the pines in Yellowstone) has two types of pinecones.  One opens and falls every year and the other will stay on the tree for up to 20 years until a fire comes along and melts the waxy substance coating it.  It then falls to the ground (about 1 million per acre) and begins seeding the forest among the ashes.  We ate lunch at near the visitor’s center and then drove to Old Faithful.  On the way we passed the Continental Divide twice.  We sat for about 40 minutes waiting for the eruption, but it was well worth the wait – it is quite spectacular!  We came back to camp to pick up our towels and clean clothes and headed to Fishing Bridge where the showers are located.  We stopped at the general store where we bought everyone a hooded sweatshirt in anticipation of another cold night.  We camp back to camp to catch up on our journals.  We had burgers and beans for dinner and snickerdoodles for dessert.  Everyone voted them okay, but not nearly as good as homemade.  After dinner we read several chapters of Tucket’s Travels – we haven
T read for the last two nights.  The boys and I went to the ranger program on The Flight of the Nez Perce Tribe.  It was interesting, but it didn’t start until 9:30 and it was really cold out so we left before the end.  Dave was reading in his sleeping bag and was toasty warm.

Thursday July 5, 2012

We woke up this morning and gathered our belongings.  Dave and the boys got everything on the truck and then we sat down to sourdough pancakes.  Theo wasn’t so sure about them, but the other two boys enjoyed them, especially Dan!  We said our goodbyes to Charlie and Barb, their lovely home, and the fantastic views.  The boys had a grand time here and Theo was quite sad to leave, but I told him we would see Charlie and Barb again when they come out East.  We didn’t get but a quarter mile down the road when we had to turn around as we discovered the boys had left their hats and sunglasses.  When we found all of the lost items (Barb had loaned Dan her hat while we were there and said he could keep it), we finally got on our way for good.  We drove up to Cody and stopped for an excellent lunch in Granny’s Diner.  Just down the road from there is the Buffalo Bill Historical Museum.  We couldn’t see it all, but did wander through the Yellowstone Natural History section and the Firearms collection.  Alex, Dan, and Dave were quite fascinated with the huge collection of guns and Theo and I wandered around and looked at stuffed and mounted game animals.  It was 1 ½ hours to our campsite (Bridge Bay) at Yellowstone.  It showered most of the way from Cody and was still raining when we got to the campsite AND it was 50 degrees!  - quite a change from the 80’s and 90’s at Charlie and Barb’s.  Theo had his bag under the backseat of the truck so was able to pull out his raincoat.  The rest of us got soaked while we set up the tents.  We threw out sleeping gear under cover and stowed all of our food and cooking gear in the bear box.  The registration person said that there had been a bear spotted in camp so we didn’t want to take any chances.  By the time we finished, it was 7:00 and we were drenched.  I didn’t feel like cooking in the rain so we hopped in the truck, turned the heat on high and drove four miles back to Fishing Village for dinner at the snack shop.  The boys had burgers and pulled pork sandwiches and most of us had hot chocolate to warm us up.  Back at camp, the rain had stopped, but we brushed our teeth and got into our sleeping bags to read and warm up.

Wednesday July 4, 2012

What a busy day!  We had breakfast this morning and then headed into downtown to watch an old-time parade.  It was wonderful – lots of tractors, fire engines, old cars, lots of horses, and flatbed trucks loaded with high school reunion participants.  There were several guys next to us who were lobbing water balloons (by hand and with a giant sling-shot) at some of the fire engines and floats as they went by.  Some of the firemen retaliated by hosing them down!  We loaded back into the truck and drove out to South Pass.  Charlie and Barb thought they were going to have a celebration out at the old gold mining town, but they had changed the date to the 14th.  We had a good time looking at the old buildings:  hotel, school, jailhouse, houses, markets, etc.  We then drove down the road a little to Atlantic City, population 57, to have lunch in the old saloon.  On the way back to town we stopped at Sink Canyon.  At one spot you can feed the trout in the river – the boys really enjoyed that.  At the next spot we saw the waterfall and the cave carved out of the rock – quite cool there and very picturesque.  The water runs underground from the cave to the “fish pond”.  We went back to the house for a short time for sandwiches and then headed out again for the rodeo.  We watched bull riding, bucking bronco riding, calf roping, etc.  The boys really enjoyed the experience and voted bull riding as their favorite.  There were no fireworks tonight as the fire danger here is extremely high – Lander had not had any appreciable rain since April!  We got home at 10 so the boys will have to write in their journals tomorrow.

Tuesday July 3, 2012

We let the boys sleep in a little this morning.  Barb and I packed up a picnic lunch and when the boys woke up, we all breakfasted on cereal and fruit.  We loaded the small ATV onto the back of the truck and the large one on the trailer.  We drove up the hill beyond the house onto state property where we found a place to park the truck and unload the ATV’s.  Charlie drove the small one and Dan and Alex took turns riding behind him.  Theo really wanted to try it, but his legs were too short to fit in the footholds.  Dave drove the bigger one and the rest of us piled in – 3 to the front and 2 in back.  We drove over very rocky and dusty roads for a number of miles (Charlie said we were 11 miles from the house) until we came to the top (about 10,000 feet in elevation) and were presented with a fantastic view of Shoshone Lake below us and the snow-capped mountains above us.  It was a magnificent view!  We ate lunch on some rocks and gave the boys a chance to scramble and climb before heading back to the house.  We all cycled through the showers – we were covered in red dust and are now having a quiet time (writing in our journals) until dinner – I think Charlie said he was making elk burgers.  Some good friends of Charlie and Barb are coming to dinner so I thought it would be a good idea to journal before then.  We had a nice dinner: elk burgers, brats, salad, pototo puffs, and chocolate cake for dessert – yum!

Monday July 2, 2012

We had Danish pancakes with blueberries, raspberries or applesauce for breakfast this morning.  This is one of Charlie’s specialties.  Barb’s nephew and his wife joined us this morning.  We had a very nice time chatting with them.  Charlie had a physical therapy appointment and while he was gone, Barb and I made up a picnic lunch.  When Charlie came back, we all piled into his truck and drove about an hour out of town and stopped for a picnic lunch at Green Mountain.  After lunch, the boys walked down to the creek to play for a while.  Alex fell off of a log and scraped his leg, but he said it wasn’t too bad and refused a band-aid (Mr. Tough Guy).  We used the outhouse before we left and the kids enjoyed seeing that a chipmunk had taken up residence in the building.  I think we scared him more than he startled us.  We drove over to Agate Flats and on the way saw a zorse (a zebra/horse combination) in the pasture on the side of the road.  We stopped to take pictures.  We walked off the road into the flats and hunted for moss agates.  Everyone found some, but Dan was the best agate magnet – he found 41 of them!  Alex was excited because he found some bandolier clips for a 50-caliber machine gun.  Apparently this area used to be a government practice firing range.  Planes would fly over and do target practice as it is a very isolated area.  We drove back to Lander and threw the kids in the shower before heading out to dinner.  We went up to Hudson to Svilar’s – a well-known Serbian steak house in the area.  We all had great meals and enjoyed the appetizers that came with every meal – ravioli and sarma (stuffed cabbage rolls).  We took lots of leftovers home, as the meals were huge.  The kids are writing in their journals and are excited as we are taking the quads out tomorrow.

Sunday July 1, 2012

Dave and I woke up early, showered and started taking down our tent before the boys woke up.  When everyone was awake we showed them how to roll their bags and mats.  We then had a quick breakfast of bagels and cereal before stowing the tents, chairs, kitchen equipment, and sleeping bags to the back of the truck.  We said goodbye to Custer State Park and got on the road at 8:20.  We traveled for three hours before stopping in Douglas, WY for an early lunch.  We tried to eat at the local diner, but there were about 20 people in line so we went across the parking lot to Pizza Hut.  We finally decided that the diner was so busy as today is Sunday and people may go out to eat after church.  We called our friends, Charlie and Barb, to let them know where we were and that we intended to be at their house by late afternoon.  By looking out the windows, the boys have seen why Charlie calls Wyoming, the Big Empty!  We drove for three more hours until we got to Riverton where Theo and Dan had to stop to use the restroom – the waitress at Pizza Hut kept filling the boys’ glasses with root beer and for some reason, the boys felt obliged to drink every drop!  We pulled up at Charlie and Barb’s at 3:30 and by 4 we were up the road to their neighbor’s house – today was a local get-together for the people who live on Ridge Road.  We had a wonderful dinner of brisket, chicken wings, salmon, sloppy joes, salads, homemade bread and homemade ice cream for dessert.  One set of neighbors, Robin and Jack, invited the boys to come up to their house.  They each had a chance to ride a horse, Yetta, and Jack taught the boys how to rope with a lasso.  Charlie let Alex drive the “quad” back to the house – he was in 7th heaven.  They all had a wonderful afternoon and now they are writing in their journals before bedtime.

Saturday June 30, 2012

We got the phone call this morning that Pinkie (Dan’s great-grandmother) had died in the night.  Dan was very sad and spent some time crying in the tent.  I tried to help him by talking about what an amazing person she was and that she had lived a very long and happy life.  He was rather solemn all day.  After breakfast, the boys and I drove to Wind Cave.  Dave chose not to go as he thought the cold and damp might aggravate his bronchitis.  We took the longest guided tour with 450 steps!  It was actually a very nice and unusual cave as it has 95% of the world’s box work.  Our guide told us that a 16-year-old boy was the first to map it – 10 miles of it, at any rate, with only a candle and a roll of twine.  He must have been very brave!  The cave tunnels run for 138 miles in one square mile of area.  We took an elevator down 195 feet to begin our tour.  We walked up and down stairs and along a concrete path in and out of caverns.  At one point our guide had us sit on benches and then took out a candle and turned out the lights – it was amazing to see how little was visible by just candlelight.  She then blew out the candle and it was as dark as I have ever seen.  I held my hand on my nose and couldn’t see my wiggling fingers!  The boys said it didn’t make any difference whether your eyes were closed or open – you got the same effect – complete darkness!  On our way out of the cave, Alex got ahead of us and we got behind with ten other people.  We somehow lost the rest of the group and ending up in another cavern.  I said that we should stay all together and that the guide would find us, which she did in about 15 minutes.  The boys were excited about the adventure when it was over!  We got back to camp and had lunch.  After gathering all of our dirty laundry, we headed into Custer to the Laundromat.  I elected to do the laundry while Dave took the boys for a walk down the main street of town.  There wasn’t too much of interest, but they did manage to find a rock shop where Dan bought a “treasure” for Ella.  The sky was darkening while the clothes were washing and the laundry attendant turned on the TV.  There was a warning being broadcast about severe thunderstorms.  They said that 6 miles sough of Jewel Cave the hail was as large as hen’s eggs!  Thankfully the storm skirted us and we got nothing.  When the laundry was done we packed it into the truck and drove again down Needles Highway.  That was voted the most popular place to visit again.  We gave the boys 20 minutes to climb and Dan made it to the top of one of the rock spires.  He was out of sight from where I was standing and Alex came to ask me to come and take a photo, but there was no way I was going to scramble up the scree zone to get a shot!  Back at camp, we set up to make dinner: pasta with sauce, salad, and garlic bread.  Unfortunately, as Dave and I were straining the pasta, the pot handle let go and the pasta went all over the ground!  Dinner was garlic bread with sauce and salad.  After dinner, the boys played pick up the ziti!  We wrote in our journals, had popcorn and read some more of Tucket’s Travels.  Alex opted not to attend the Ranger talk on Guns, Ghotsts, and God of the Black Hills.  Theo and Dave started down and I went to look for Dan.  He was in the tent crying.  We talked some about Pinkie and I think he eventually felt a little better.  He said he wished he had been there to hold her hand.  It is so hard at this age to understand that the extreme heartache will soften with time.  I tried to tell him that some day he will be able to think of all the happy times they had together.  We went to bed after the program knowing that we have to pack up camp tomorrow morning.

We're back!

Sorry we were out of touch for so long, but we could not find wifi service anywhere!  We have just checked in to our motel in Jackson Hole so will try to uplink a few days before we go out to lunch and see the town.

Note to all

I finally found wifi in the local laundromat so have published the posts through yesterday.  Sorry there was not time to put the pictures with the posts, but I promise to catch up when we get to another area and I am not working in between loads of laundry.  Sandie :-)

Friday June 29, 2012

Today Dave made blueberry pancakes for breakfast – yum!  We clean up and headed to the Wildlife Loop.  We saw several white-tailed deep and prong horned antelope (the Ranger told us that they are the second fastest animal on earth), but the big find was the wild burros.  We were told last night that the burros are the only animals in the park you are allowed to feed (anything except Cheetoes as their lips get stained orange!).  We came prepared with a bag of apples that we had brought from home.  After rattling around in the truck for a week, they were not too appetizing.  The boys (and Dave) enjoyed feeding the cut-up apple to the donkeys.  There were several babies with the herd and we got to pat a few of them – very soft.  One of the donkeys followed Dave around begging for more apples – he had to shoo her away several times so that the others could be fed.  At our next stop, we found the buffalo.  There must have been a herd of 500 or so!  There were also many babies here too.  Of course, this time we stayed in the car, but we opened the windows so we could hear them snorting.  The boys were fascinated!  They couldn’t get over the size!  We learned last night that they can run up to 40 miles per hour and turn on a dime.  The boys were appalled by how the babies head-butt the moms to get milk – they thought it was cruel to the mom.  We finished the loop at Prairie Dog town, but didn’t hear any of them barking which was a disappointment.  We got back on the road and stopped for lunch at a picnic area near Jewel Cave.  We continued on into Wyoming and visited Devil’s Tower.  Everyone was impressed with the size.  Dan was interested in the climbing so he and the boys went into the climbing permit office and found that they could climb up the boulder scree zone, but no higher without a permit.  I told them they could climb as far as they were comfortable.  Theo climbing up about 12 feet, Alex ended up going about half way, but he said his shoes were starting to slip on the rocks.  Dan, the monkey, made it to the top.  I took some pictures, but he may look like a fly spec in them.  We stopped at the Visitor’s Center and Theo bought himself a book on the constellations.  On the way back to camp, we took a wrong turn and drove for miles without seeing any signs of human habitation, but finally came to the town of Upton and figured out from there how to get back to camp.  Dan cooks the parmesan chicken tonight while I made the rice.  We had to skip the vegetable as we put new ice in the cooler today and the carrots must have migrated to the bottom and no one could find them.  I turned on the phone to find we had a voice mail from Laura and Nick.  Dan’s great-grandmother was in the hospital and not expected to live so we had him call home.  We spent some time talking about what a great life she has had and while Dan was sad, he was happy that he had just gotten a chance to visit with her recently.  We have been reading “Tucket’s Travels” each night and find it interesting as the main character is now in the Black Hills.  After brushing our teeth, Dan, Theo and I went to the Ranger talk on the constellations and their myths (how appropriate for Theo).  We sat around the campfire for a few more minutes and then went to bed.

Thursday June 28, 2012

It was quite chilly this morning, about 52.  Dave and I woke up early and went to the showers.  We sat outside for a bit, but it was too cold so we went back into the tent and read until we heard the boys stirring about 8:00!  We had breakfast and then headed out for the day to Deadwood.  On the way, we passed Crazy Horse monument, but didn’t stop as we could see him (the Indian) from the road.  When we got to Deadwood, we hopped on a tourist bus and got a very educational and amusing tour of the town.  We also drove up to Mt. Moriah, the local cemetery (the kids were thrilled not to have to walk up the steep hill) and visited the graves of Wild Bill and Calamity Jane.  The bus driver told lots of stories of the fabled pair.  We went to Diamond Lil’s for lunch and Alex, Dan, and Dave had buffalo burgers.  Theo took a bite and thought it was good.  Kevin Costner owns the restaurant and the walls are covered in movie posters and framed outfits that he wore in the films. We walked down to the #10 saloon and watched a reenactment of Wild Bill being shot while playing poker.  After stopping for an ice cream cone, we wandered down to the Tin Lizzy to watch a shoot-out in the street.  The town is a lot more touristy than when we were here in 1985 and many of the stores are now casinos which became legal in 1989.  We did a bit of window-shopping, but no one found anything worth stopping for so we got back in the truck and headed back to camp.  Dave was ready for some quiet time so I offered to take the boys swimming in the nearby lake.  Alex opted to stay and read, but Dan and Theo had a good time swimming and playing in the sand – Dan did more sand play than swimming as he found the lake very cold!  We came back to camp and made dinner.  Alex made the fried potatoes and I cooked the steak and used up the salad that Dan had made last night.  After dinner, the NY neighbor children came over and asked the boys if they would like to play Monopoly.  They had a grand time while the adults chatted.  They came over to our campfire for s’mores and then we all went to the Ranger talk on the animals in the park.  It was very good.  We had a few sprinkles during the evening, but it didn’t amount to much.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Happy Birthday to Alex!  He turns 12 today.  We gave him a birthday card and will try to find cupcakes to help him celebrate at dinnertime.  As hot as it was yesterday, it did cool down quite a bit last night.  I started out on top of the sleeping bag, but sometime in the night, I burrowed in.  It was 62 by morning.  I got up early and went to take a shower.  Unfortunately, the top of my shampoo opened in my ditty bag and I had to take everything out and rinse it off.  I put on a sweatshirt and sat outside to read until the others woke up.  I happened to spot a red squirrel that jumped onto the picnic table to explore (we had put all of our food away so he didn’t find much).  He then jumped down and ran around the camp.  I was sitting with my legs crossed and at one point, he jumped onto my shoe!  I swung my foot up and he got an extra lift to his next destination.  After a banana bread and hot chocolate breakfast, we cleaned up – Alex washing and Theo drying and then hopped into the truck to drive to Mt. Rushmore.  We spent some time viewing the amazing sculpture in the rock face and then took a trail which lead to the sculptor’s studio.  I bought each of the boys a National Parks passport book and they put the stamp for Mt. Rushmore on the appropriate page.  We came back through Custer State Park and stopped at the Game Lodge, which is a hotel and restaurant, to have a picnic lunch.  I also thought I might pick up a wifi signal there, but I didn’t have any luck.  We added a deer and a turkey vulture to our list of wildlife today.   The vulture was on the road in front of us snacking on a small bit of road kill.  We then drove up the Needles Highway (Hey, kids – remember when we locked our keys in the car by accident and Doug had to climb down a steep slope to get a length of wire so we could jimmy the door open?).  We drove up to the Eye of the Needle and the boys had fun climbing up on some of the closest “needles”.  I dropped the boys and Dave off at camp and I went into Custer (we discovered that it is a fairly good sized town just 3 miles from where we are camped) to grocery shop, get gas, and drop off some cards to be mailed.  On the way, I stopped at a church, which was selling wood as a youth fundraiser.  The boys wanted to have a campfire last night, but it was way to hot for one.  I think we will enjoy one this evening.  I bought everything we need for s’mores and the boys are very excited, as the only marshmallows I could find were the giant ones!  We will go to the ranger talk tonight – it is on outdoor cooking.  I couldn’t find cupcakes at the store, but I did find mini-brownies with red, white, and blue frosting.  We sang Happy Birthday to Alex and then enjoyed the brownies after a dinner of hamburgers.  Dan made the salads, Alex cooked the burgers, and Theo washed the dishes.  Laura and Nick called and talked with Dan for a while and then Amy and Dean called to wish Alex a happy birthday.  After we had cleaned up from dinner, we cooked s’mores.  We asked the neighbors to join us as they also have three children with them.  They are from Binghamton, New York.  We sat around chatting for a while and missed the ranger talk – oh well, maybe tonight.  It is cooler tonight so will definitely sleep inside the bag.

Tuesday June 26, 2012

Happy Anniversary to us!  Today is our 47th anniversary – it seems like yesterday.  After the usual routine of shower, breakfast, teeth brushing and gassing the truck, we got on the road at 8 this morning.  We were very thankful that we did not have to drive as far today.  Dave took his last antibiotic – he came down with bronchitis on Friday before the trip and stayed in bed all day.  Each day since then he has felt better and better.  Today he was almost back to normal.  We drove north towards Sioux Falls for an hour and then hooked a left (west) across South Dakota.  We continued to see corn for another 100 miles or so, but gradually we came upon rolling grasslands.  I was able to tell the boys that this is where the phrase “amber waves of grain” came from.  The boys felt lucky to see several flatbed trucks carrying the long blades for the wind turbines – they couldn’t believe how huge they were up close.  They spotted an enormous metal sculpture of a longhorn steer on a hillside – it was an advertisement for an outdoor sculpture garden.  We saw many bales of rolled hay and grain silos as far as the eye could see into the distance.  As we approached the Badlands, we could see that even the grasslands disappeared and the mesas and hills were bare white and orange rock.  We will come back to hike here on another day.  We also saw the 500 or so signs for Wall Drug, which we chose not to visit as we made that mistake in 1985 when we took our kids out west.  We stopped for lunch in a real old fashioned diner and everyone enjoyed his meal.  Not long after stopping for lunch and gas, we ran through another time zone change.  We are now in Mountain time and two hours later than in Mystic*.  We finally got to Rapid City and turned down towards our campground in Custer State Park.  It is very big and we had to drive at least a half hour from the gate to get to our North Stockade campground.  We saw several buffalo and two pronghorn antelopes on the way to camp.  The kids were amazed at how large the buffalo are.  We have a very lovely site and spent a hot afternoon setting up camp.  As we were driving through the Badlands, the thermometer in the car got up to 110 degrees!  It had “cooled” to 96 by the time we got to camp.  It was so hot that there must have been a great temperature differential between the outside and inside as at one point, ice cubes came shooting out of the air vent in the front!  It was quite startling and funny!  Alex, Dan and I went to the camp grocery store to pick up a few things for dinner, breakfast and lunch.  Our original intention was to drive back to Rapid City to do a big shopping for the week, but by the time we finished setting up camp, no one felt like driving all the way back to the store.  The camp store was disappointing.  Most gas station convenience stores carry more – but we did get hot dogs and chips for dinner, milk for breakfast (we brought a loaf of banana bread from home), and lunch fixings.  Hopefully, we can get to a bigger store tomorrow.  Theo helped with cooking tonight and Alex and Dan did the dishes.  We will rotate chores for each of the meals.  Everyone is happy to be out of the truck and settled into camp.  We are all working on our journals now while it is still light.  We will stop soon to call Nathaniel and wish him a happy birthday.  * Okay, I can’t believe we did that!  We called Nathaniel at what we thought was his dinnertime and it was 10 minutes to 10 – way past his bedtime!  Obviously, it is two hours earlier here than at home.  It is still very light and warm out so we will read and explore the camp a bit before settling in for the night.

Monday June 25, 2012

Wow!  What a day!  We left Elyria at 7:40 this morning after having all showered, eaten breakfast (the boys were in 7th heaven as they chose Fruit Loops (yuck!) for breakfast), gassed up the truck and got back onto I-80.  We traveled across the rest of Illinois and then across Indiana and Iowa before stopping tonight at 9:30 in North Sioux City, South Dakota - about 14 hours!  Of course, it is "only" 8:30 here as we changed to Central time when we crossed the Mississippi.  Much of the day, the view out the window was a little wheat, a few cabbage fields and CORN, CORN, CORN!  The boys will probably never want to eat a corn product again for the rest of their lives.  We did get to explain about the extremely long "walking" water systems that we saw along the way on the huge farms.  By the time we got to Iowa, we lost most of the trees except those planted around the farm houses.  Car wise, we did pass a Jaguar and a Mustang near Chicago and the boys all decided that this event helped to cancel out being passed by a Smart car yesterday (how embarrassing!).  We passed the exits for Ronald Reagan's birthplace (I guess I thought he was born in California), Captain Kirk's "future" birthplace, and the RV Hall of Fame - choosing instead to drive on and get as far as we could today to make tomorrow's drive a bit shorter.  We didn't actually mean to drive this far, but there were absolutely NO motels in western Iowa!  We were tempted to stop and camp in an abandoned house by the side of the road, but decided we could stand sitting in the car a little longer.  Fortunately, we had trail mix, grapes, apples and water in the car so no one actually starved to death.  The boys watched two movies and we finished "Brian's Winter".  It was quite good.  We also listened to "Storm Runners" - another good book.  We looked out the windows, but there wasn't too much to see except CORN!  We did see several fields of wind turbines and the kids were quite amazed at the sight.  We also saw several trains that were over 100 cars long!  The boys are busy writing in their journal while I am typing this and we are all waiting for the pizza to be delivered as there are no restaurants within walking distance of our motel and we ALL refuse to get back in the truck until morning!  Theo says "we finally got to the hotel and I am really happy about that".  Alex's "favorite part of the day was seeing all of the giant windmills".  Dan says that his favorite part of the day "was watching Eragon".  The pizza finally arrived and our bellies are full.  The boys have brushed their teeth and I just read chapter 2 of Tucket's Travels, which is the story of a boy who is traveling with his family in a Conestoga wagon to a new home in the West.  

Sunday June 24, 2012

We got the boys to bed early (for them) at 8:30 and woke them up at 6:30 (late for us).  We got out the door and on the road at 7:07.  We stopped at BJ’s to fuel up the truck and then headed down I-95 to begin our Wild West adventure.  The boys searched the road for fancy cars and found a lime green Lotus Exige with black racing stripes near Stamford.  They were all enraptured and Dan was drooling on the seat.  We also saw two Ford Shelbys, two Triumphs, and a Jaguar.  At 9:07 we were on the far side of the Tappan Zee bridge.  The boys started a movie on the portable DVD player and we continued onto I-80 and through the Delaware River Gap.  We stopped for lunch in Pennsylvania at McDonalds.  After lunch, we listened to some of “Brian’s Winter” and then the boys watched another movie.  Alex is banned from eating at Mickey D's for the rest of the trip as he is now wanted in three states for gaseous emission violations!  Dave and I have been changing drivers every two to three hours.  We pushed to get to the other side of Cleveland before stopping for the night as we don't want to fight rush hour traffic in the morning.   We stopped at a Best Western in Elyria, Ohio.  The only restaurant within walking distance was an Arby's so that became dinner.  We came back and Theo and Dan opted to go to the pool (Alex wanted to stay in the room to watch 60 Minutes with Dave), but they didn't stay long as the pool water was very COLD!  The boys are going to write in their journals and then I will read to them for a bit before bed.  They were all very good in the truck and we hope they can have another good day tomorrow as it will be another long day of driving.  Alex's best part of the day was "arriving at the hotel after driving all day".  Dan said "the Lotus was awesome because it was only the second one I have ever seen".  Theo said "getting this far in the USA - we drove over 600 miles!"

St. John Tues. 3/20/12

Today was our day off as we are flying home tomorrow. We said goodbye to Charlie as well as Willie and Deb (they will be back on Friday, but we will be gone - they are going over to Jost Van Dyke for a few days). We had an early breakfast and Dave and I along with Barb and Jim went for a hike. We started on the Lameshur Bay trail and then took the Reef Bay trail at the intersection down to the beach. The first couple of pictures are of an overlook looking down onto Reef Bay beach, the trail itself, and the beach at the end of the trail. Just before we got to the beach, we passed the old sugar mill (see photo). On the way back, I took a picture of Barb in front of her favorite tree, which I dubbed the octopus tree as it has so many branches. The hike was about 5 miles long and we got back about 11 which wasn't too bad as I stopped a few times on the uphill parts and we chatted with several people on our way back who were just starting out. We had lunch and then Dave and I did laundry and packed most of our stuff into our suitcases. Dad had to pack his fins in the bottom of his suitcase because they are so long so he opted to read while Barb and I went for a last snorkel. We did Little Lameshur today and again had a good swim. I saw two trumpet fish, another Indigo Hamlet, a spotted moray (Charlie would have been so proud of us!), another Queen Angelfish along with all of the usual suspects. One that we see everyday, I finally looked up this afternoon. It is a juvenile Cocoa Damselfish. It is very pretty - purple and yellow. I came back to shower and we will have dinner soon. John is making Piccadillo (Cuban chili) - another new taste! This may be the last blog as we don't know if there will be internet service at the airport tomorrow - I doubt it. It seems hard to believe that we have been here a month - time has passed very quickly. We have enjoyed the work, the people and the location - everything has been wonderful! So loyal readers, happy trails until next time which will be at the end of June when we take Alex, Dan, and Theo for their wild west camping adventure.

St. John Mon. 3/19/12

Another rainy night and cloudy day, but we here on St. John don't let the weather stop us! The Iowa State crew left this morning so Dave and I cleaned the rooms and did lots of sheets and towels for our work this morning. Today is Charlie's last day - he is flying home tomorrow. We had a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the beach path today to celebrate all of the work that Charlie, Dave, and Glenn put into the new trail (but especially Charlie). Roy and Jim sang a duet about working on the chain gang accompanied by the beer bottle band. Charlie cut the ribbon to open the path and we all sang "Happy Trails to You". A good time was had by all (see photos). After lunch, Dave opted for a nap. He has something going on with his eyelid. We suspect that he was bitten by some little "no-see-um" on the lid. He has been taking an antihistamine which helps somewhat, but he thought he would rest it this afternoon. Charlie, Barb, and I went for a snorkel at Greater Lameshur. There is always something new to see, especially when Charlie goes with us. He is very knowledgeable about all the unusual fish. We saw three eels today - well, truthfully, Charlie saw the baby moray, but it was under a ledge by the time Barb and I got there. We did see a large green moray and a large reticulate moray - very exciting! We also saw an Indigo Hamlet - a beautiful two-toned blue fish and a first for me. I saw a three foot barracuda just hanging out about eight feet away and all of a sudden he took off like a bat out of hell- from 0 t0 60 in seconds - he must have seen lunch. Barb and I had to turn around before the end as we got chilled - lack of sun, but it was a great snorkel even so. We warmed up on the beach for a few minutes and then headed back to camp for a hot shower. Tomorrow will be our day off as we leave here on Wednesday. We are thinking of hiking the Lameshur Bay Trail. We haven't done much hiking in our time here - have spent most of our time in the water.

St. John Sun. 3/18/12

Boy, did it pour last night! It rained hard for about an hour and then off and on a couple more times in the night. We woke up to a steamy day, but the humidity has lessened this afternoon although it is a bit cloudy right now. Randy Fish's parents came in last night so we all got to meet them at breakfast. They are from the San Francisco area and came here from a boat trip off of the Dominican Republic where they were whale watching for a week. It may take them a day or two to become accustomed to walking on land again. Interestingly, they are related to the Mystic Fish family - many generations ago! Dave did some vine clipping in the laundry and shower area while I helped the Iowa State students pull snake plant from around the fire pit. The students packed a lunch as they were going to hike at Cinnamon Bay and they were delighted to have snickerdoodles to pack! Dave and I raked leaves for the rest of the morning and used them as mulch in the bed behind the museum. Hopefully, they will rot down and help make some topsoil which is sadly missing here - the soil is quite clay-like so any help we can give it . . . After lunch, I gave a tour of the museum to a couple who had met one of the original Tektite aquanauts 10 years ago. They are moored out in the bay and walked over to see the museum. They are from Montana and spend every winter sailing down this way to get out of the cold. We went for a snorkel in Greater Lameshur and had a great time. We saw the three-legged hawksbill turtle, which is usually over in Little Lameshur. We assume a shark got one of his hind legs. I tried to find the octopus that Charlie and I had found to show to Dave, but didn't have any luck. On our way back, I decided to look again for the octopus when I saw him - out of his hole and swimming right towards me! It was totally awesome! I yelled to Dave, but he had hidden himself by the time Dave got out to where I was. We had a great snorkel, but I couldn't go as far as usual as I got chilly - the sun was behind clouds almost the whole time we were in the water. The Iowa kids are going out to eat tonight so it should be a small group for dinner. I can't believe that we have been here almost a month - I don't know where the time has gone.

St. John Sat. 3/17/12

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! I put a photo of the lion fish on the blog today. It is really quite a beautiful fish - it is too bad that it is so dangerous. Dave helped Charlie haul and spread more gravel and sand for the beach trail while I readied some rooms for guests that are coming in tomorrow. I made the snickerdoodles this morning and then I made a couple of Nana banana breads as we had some bananas that were getting past prime for eating. I also finished the laundry from yesterday. After lunch, Dave and I drove over to the east end and visited with Jon Owen's friend. He is doing a rehab on a house right on the beach just after Haulover Bay. It will be beautiful when it is done (see view from deck). We stopped at Ship Wreck to pick up a few goodies to bring home to the grandchildren and then headed back to camp in time to shower. We gave a tour of the camp and museum to two couples from Minnesota who are staying on a sail boat in the bay. Barb and Jim are making pork for dinner and Laura made chocolate cupcakes with green frosting to help us celebrate the day. The flower pictures are from some bushes near Love City where Dave stopped for a soda to take back to camp. The goat is one of five that was running along the road just as we were nearing Salt Pond area.

St. John Fri. 3/16/12

We had a birthday party for Jim last night. Barb made some lemon cupcakes with lemon frosting (of course, Dave was in seventh heaven) and I contributed the homemade vanilla ice cream. Everyone sang happy birthday to him and we had a great time eating the goodies. He is officially an "old goat" as he turned 65! Manhattan left early this morning on Hamilton's "bus" and Dave and I cleaned a lot of rooms. We started on the laundry and since it was such a beautiful day, hung the sheets out to dry. We then set up for two sets of people who are coming in tomorrow. Dave went to help Charlie haul sand for the trail to the beach and I mixed up a batch of snickerdoodles which I will bake tomorrow. The Iowa group expressed interest in having them again - they said that they were their favorites. After lunch, Dave and I drove into Coral Bay to put some mail out and then came back to Salt Pond where we met up with Barb and Jim who had walked there from camp (we carried their snorkel gear in the Jeep). Dave opted to sit at a table near the beach as he is feeling a lot better, but still coughs once in a while and that is not fun when you are snorkeling. Barb and I walked over to Drunk Bay which is on the other side of Salt Pond. The surf is quite rough on that side and people collect all sorts of debris which washes up and get quite creative with it. One of the above pictures is of Drunk Bay and the surf, the others are sculptures that are on the beach and rocks. I have named them Man and Dog, Two Men in a Boat, Eat Well (notice how pudgy the figure is), and Island Girl. We then walked back to the beach and snorkeled. What a great day! I saw a spotted trunk fish, a barracuda, three sting rays (two with remoras), a squid, AND four green turtles, including a baby one! One of the turtles came up for air three times right in front of me before diving back down to the bottom to continue feeding. I was thrilled! I will have to invest in a new underwater camera for next time we come. The one I brought with me had two batteries die in the first week and they would not recharge. Jim hiked up Ram's Head and then met us on the beach for a short swim as we were coming in from our snorkel. Dave had a good time on the beach talking with some folks from Anchorage, Alaska who are staying at nearby Concordia. They are here for two weeks with their 10-year old son. When we got back to camp, we showered and then I hung out another load of sheets and folded up the dry ones. We should have one more load to do tomorrow morning so caught up pretty quickly. Willie and Deb are in the kitchen making dinner while listening to island music - quite a pleasant afternoon. Randy and Charlie just came back from a dive and captured two lion fish. They are an invasive species from the Pacific and their sting can be deadly so I am glad that they found these two. I took a picture which I will put on the blog tomorrow as I just downloaded my camera.

St. John Thurs. 3/15/12

Beware the ides of March! Well, so far there hasn't been anything to beware as it is another beautiful day on St. John. Last night, Dave and I walked down to the dock. The sky was magnificent. We could clearly see the Milky Way, Pleides, Cassiopeia, Orion, Big Dipper, Venus, Jupiter and Mars. I wish we had brought our star chart with us as I have forgotten so many of the constellations. I was thinking that we should bring one out West this summer as the skies are so big out there and I think the boys would enjoy learning some of the most famous star clusters. Barb and Jim drove Jerry into town early this morning to catch the first ferry over to St. Thomas. He will be on vacation for two weeks and plans to go to St. Martin, Guadalupe, and Dominique. Dave and I finished cleaning in the classroom - organized the videos, games, craft supplies, etc. We then washed the chalkboard and the tables, and swept the floor. It did look a lot better when we were done. We moved on to the the museum. We had gotten several boxes of new merchandise in yesterday and we shelved as much as we could. We also gave a tour to two couples who stopped in to visit. Dave swept the kitchen and dining room while I made and baked oatmeal craisin cookies for tomorrow's lunches. We finished up just as lunch was ready. I made Dave take another nap - he is feeling much better so I hope he can get into the water tomorrow. I went for a snorkel with Charlie in Greater Lameshur. We took a piece of ham and attached it to a stick with a rubber band to tease the octopus out of his hole. Not only was the octopus interested, the fish were too! I hope Charlie got some good pictures. On the last piece of ham, the octopus came out, grabbed both the ham and the rubber band and retreated back into his hole. I wonder if he is still chewing on the rubber band?! Hopefully, we will find it outside his little den the next time we snorkel by. We then swam out to the far point and saw two scrawled cowfish, a 3 foot trumpetfish, and a 3 foot mutton snapper. It was a lovely swim and I was happy to see some different fish. Tonight we will celebrate Jim's birthday. The ice cream wasn't ready last night so we will have it for the celebration. Dave just finished carving a wooden spoon for the kitchen. It came out great! Manhattan College leaves tomorrow morning so we will have housekeeping chores and laundry to do. If Dave is feeling up to it, we might go to Drunk Bay and Salt Pond so I will have some pictures for you all tomorrow.