This trip was special on so many levels. One of the best parts were the family and friends we had the opportunity to spend time with along the way.
A huge thanks to our gracious hosts! We come in like a cyclone and can leave a mark. We truly appreciate your hospitality and look forward to the time when we can welcome you into our home.
Thanks a bunch to:
Nancy & Larry Sinclair
Trish & Greg Moore
The Wille Family, Jill, Kevin, Alex, & Kate
Grandma Elaine & Grandpa Ed
Aunt Deena, Uncle Allan, Beverly & Monica
Rob Sokoloff
Martha Dodge
Yogi & Dana Yeager
As always, we could not have made the trip and seen all that we did without our new 2017 Rand McNally atlas (we had to retire the old one- too many pages were falling out), the wacky, wild, & weird app (a.k.a. Roadside America), and all the advice and suggestions of family, friends, and strangers we met along the way. A smartphone is an essential tool for these adventures, though we still had amazing experiences for the week plus that we were without service. It's nice to know that there are still so many place that technology is no more than a paperweight. If you are as crazy as we are and decide to embark on your own adventure, get in touch. We are always eager to share the must-see sites and the places that are best to avoid. Until next time...
Monday, July 24, 2017
Home is where the heart is...
and the road is the place for adventure!
36 days, 7,452 miles, 20 states, 2 Canadian Provinces and we are back home in Eagle! 7,452 miles is a long way and a long time to be on the road. Once again we were reminded how vast a country this is and how much there is to explore. Like all of our adventures, this one was fantastic and unique. Though the East Coast is densely populated with things in close quarters, we found some gems and enjoyed visiting with family and friends. As we drove west and the distance betweens towns, and in some cases any sign of civilization, grew we breathed deeper and were reminded why we love the west and would not consider living anywhere but here.
As always, we learned a lot on this trip. We learned that the girls love the beach. We have always known that they prefer water to land, but now we know that the water on the beach is their happy place. We learned that North Dakota is a very nice place as long as the bison stay at a safe distance. We learned that Niagara Falls is the Vegas of the East. We learned the proper way to eat a lobst-ah. Most importantly, we learned how to tolerate and appreciate one another and were reminded that we love to travel, we love adventure, and we will do it again next year!
36 days, 7,452 miles, 20 states, 2 Canadian Provinces and we are back home in Eagle! 7,452 miles is a long way and a long time to be on the road. Once again we were reminded how vast a country this is and how much there is to explore. Like all of our adventures, this one was fantastic and unique. Though the East Coast is densely populated with things in close quarters, we found some gems and enjoyed visiting with family and friends. As we drove west and the distance betweens towns, and in some cases any sign of civilization, grew we breathed deeper and were reminded why we love the west and would not consider living anywhere but here.
As always, we learned a lot on this trip. We learned that the girls love the beach. We have always known that they prefer water to land, but now we know that the water on the beach is their happy place. We learned that North Dakota is a very nice place as long as the bison stay at a safe distance. We learned that Niagara Falls is the Vegas of the East. We learned the proper way to eat a lobst-ah. Most importantly, we learned how to tolerate and appreciate one another and were reminded that we love to travel, we love adventure, and we will do it again next year!
Saturday, July 22, 2017
Walden, CO
We stopped at the Moose Cafe in Walden and were chatting with the waitress. She was camping in the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park last week too! (We got on the subject because Jim asked if they served Bison burgers. He wants some revenge!) She had video of the bison wandering through the campground. We figured out that we were there on different nights. They obviously take that path often. We thought the volunteer in the ranger station was full of it when she said they come through almost every night. Aside from the volunteer, anyone who has heard the story has the same reaction- that's a precarious and undesirable situation! A warning sign or a fence would be a great addition to the campground. It's an accident waiting to happen!
Home
We are in Colorado, though there is no photo to prove it. No "Welcome to Colorful Colorado" sign on this road. Very disappointing!
Oregon Trail Ruts, Guernsey, WY
Very interesting spot! The wagons were narrow and there must have been a lot of them to carve ruts this deep!
Mammoth Site, Hot Springs, South Dakota
Friday, July 21, 2017
Campfire and s'mores with Yogi and Dana in Custer, South Dakota
The girls love Gris, the dog!
A side note- this was the destination on our very first road trip! In August 2013 we did a week long trial trip to see how the kids would do. Ali was 3 1/2 and Sam was 5 1/2. They wanted to camp so we pitched a tent in the back yard. It was a great first adventure and here we are again 5 summers later!
This was hanging on the fridge...
Thursday, July 20, 2017
More badlands...
Roosevelt's Cabin
This was the cabin where Teddy Roosevelt lived when this area was his ranch. It's been a Roosevelt trip!
An interesting night....
It's much drier here in North Dakota than earlier in the trip so we left the rain fly off the tent to do some star gazing. As the stars were coming out and we were looking for shooting stars we heard some odd noises. Sam asked if it was rattle snakes. The noises got louder. It's hard to describe- a rattling wheezy grunting. Bison! On the move and coming in our direction! They wandered through and came within feet of us. Jim was ready with the bear spray though we imagine it wouldn't do much more than make the bison mad and a mad bison is the last thing you want in camp. A happy bison is not much better. They are noisy and intimidating, especially in the dark. We sat there for a long time looking at the stars and listening to the bison all around us. The stars were beautiful, the bison were scary. Mom was scared, Dad was scared, Sam was so scared her teeth were chattered. Ali was fast asleep! That's much too close! Eventually most of them moved along. We heard a Ranger on a horse on the road driving them away. A few stragglers stayed behind and kept Jim up most of the night. They are not malicious, but one wrong step and we would be squashed. That's the closest we need to get to a bison! They are big, noisy and they smell like a barnyard!
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
Camp dinner in Theodore Roosevelt National Park
We were happily eating our chicken and bean burritos when Ali started to cry. She squeezed, "Look at my burrito!" We looked but had no idea what she was talking about. Turns out that there was blood on her burrito and she had lost another tooth. At first we thought she had swallowed it, then Sam asked if it might be in her burrito . On closer inspection it was in her burrito. That's two teeth she is saving for the tooth fairy. A memorable North Dakota dinner!
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