3,976.7 miles later

Nothing says welcome to Texas like 3-digit weather. After spending nearly 2 weeks at more that 5,000 feet above sea level, I find myself having to get acclimated to our weather again. The temperature wasn't as cool as we had expected in Colorado, but it felt so much better than this TX heat. As is always the case though, all good things must come to an end, and so here we find ourselves back home, thankfully safe and sound. All in all we had a great time. We arrive home at 5:00 am this morning just under 4,000 miles in 14 days. I think we have become road-trip warriors.

serenity

Last night, we drove back to Chasm Falls. The first time we visited, we didn't go all the way to the top of the waterfall; so last night, we went back, when there were less people and I go to some awesome shots. We saw similar images in town for sale by a local photographer for as much as $85 for a 5x7 print. I doubt I will sell mine, but I wanted it for my own collection.

Today, we drove to Wild Basin to look at Copeland Falls. It was an easy trail to climb, so Pop was able to come with us. He usually sits out because of his knees, but when we can find one, we look for trails that he can particpate in. We picnicked in the area and as we began to leave we got pulled over by a park ranger. He stopped us because Gary wasn't wearing his seatbelt, but he let us go with only a warning. We are very thankful.

Back at our campsite, the chipmunks and squirrels have been working overtime. I accidentally left a chocolate bar on the table part of my chair and when I looked for it again, it was gone. My first thought of course was my own 2 legged animals, but alas, they were innocent. It really was a squirrely critter. One thing that I noticed for the first time this year is how beautiful the flowers are around here. I have been photographing some of them and I have impressed myself. Here is a few of the ones I thought were pretty.

This evening, we are planning on returning to Bear Lake to watch the sunset. If I can get some good shots, I will share those.

Vacation Journaling

It's Friday morning and we just finished breakfast. We had pigs in a blanket and oatmeal. I'm not sure what we will find ourselves doing today, but I'm sure we will have fun. Wednesday, we took a stroll around Sprague Lake. We also went to the Moraine Park Museum. The kids also earned their Junior Ranger Badges. In order to obtain one, they had to complete a program book and attend a Ranger led program. On Tuesday evening they participated in a program about mountain lions. The ranger asked for volunteers to help complete an illustration. Macy was a deer and Mason was a mountain lion on the prowl.

On Thursday, we drove completely through the park and had a picnic on the banks of Grand Lake. We saw hundreds of elk. On our way back, we saw several mountain goats. We stopped at a little snowfield and used our sleds. We all learned that seeing it done on television was much easier that doing it in person. The sled sank down in the snow and wouldn't hardly budge. We concluded that the snow was too soft, but made the most of our experience anyway. I shot more video that I did pictures, but I did promise that I would upload some.After we got back to our campsite, we realized we had new neighbors. Some of the other kids camping here came over and all the kids played ball. I think there were about 7 or 8 kids here at one time. One of our new friends are visiting from Switzerland and she is learning English still, but I think all the kids realized that playing ball was something they all had fun doing. Later in the evening we attended another ranger program about wildflowers. We learned more than we could possibly want to know about flowers, but it was an entertaining program to say the least. Dakota is looking forward to tonights program, which is all about rocks.

We made it!

Today is Wednesday, July 8th, and we have been here in Rocky Mountain National Park since Monday evening. After setting up camp, we didn't have much time to do anything so we just hung around the campsite. Yesterday, we started up Old Fall River Rd. It's a nine mile long, one way, dirt road here in the park that is only open for about 2 months out of the year. It's the only way to get to Chasm Falls, which is the parks biggest waterfall. While viewing such beauty, I lost all track of time. We loaded back up to return to the campsite and 3 hours had passed. When we got back to the campsite, we ate lunch and then we went into Estes Park (local town) to do laundry.



We went through so much rain on our journey here that a lot of our stuff was wet when we arrived. When we got back to the campsite again, we unpacked the laundry and then loaded up and went to see the other campgrounds here in the park. We normally stay in Glacier Basin campground, which hosts a beautiful view of the snow-capped mountains and has an open field where the kids can run and play. That campground was closed this year for tree removal and should be open again next year. We went to see just how different it looked with all the trees down. We also check out another campsite called Morane Park. We had never stayed in that campground, but we have heard that there are lots of park animals spotted there. We are currently staying in Aspen Glen campground which is barely inside the park boundries. There are more people around us than we hoped would be. There is nothing wrong with this campground, but we prefer Glacier Basin. Last year when we were here at the park, there was tons of snow everywhere; this year, most of it has melted away. We did locate a spot that we might be able to use our sleds for though. If we do, you can be sure I will be taking and posting photos.

God's promise

We left Cody, Wyoming yesterday after a worship time complete with music at our hotel and went into Yellowstone National Park. We arrived at the East park entrance around noon and left the South entrance and went right into the Grand Tetons. As usual, I took many, many photos. While in Yellowstone, we saw one of God's most unique creations. As neat as it was, it was equally disgusting. It was a mud volcano. It amazed me that of all the stories I have heard or read, nothing ever mentions how awful it smells. If you have ever smelled sulfur, then you understand.

We also saw some amazing waterfalls, one over 300 feet tall. I'll never comprehend how anyone can look at such beautiful scenery and not see the hand of God. If ever anyone had a doubt, that alone could seal the deal. As I looked out over the top of Upper Falls, I felt as if God smiled down at me as he graced me with the presence of a rainbow.

We made our way slowly through the park, and it seemed to catch up to us in the end. We stopped to view Old Faithful and we didn't have time to wait for the next eruption. Our plan was to be in Laramie, Wy by last night, but the best laid plans of mice and men often come to no good end. We covered about 250 miles in the dark through territory that would we the appetite of any game hunter. We made it in to Rawlins, Wy at 2:30 am Tx time. We decided it would be best to stop for the night and not tempt fate. God blessed us with watchful eyes as we saw one deer or antelope after another.

We are going to check in to Rocky Mountain National Park sometime today. Our reservation lasts until July 13th. Unless we make a trip into town, I won't be able to update you on our vacation. In the event that I am not able to stay in touch, please continue to pray for our safety.

Cody, Wyoming

Yesterday we left Gillette, Wyoming (if you look on the map, it is north of Casper, Wyoming). Our drive took us through Powder River Pass where there was still snow on the ground. It was 41 degrees at 2:30 Texas time. We saw two moose with antlers. We saw lots of antelope along the way as well. We made it to Cody, Wyoming somewhere around 5ish Texas time. It looked like they had had a parade earlier in the day and that there was some kind of fair on the square equivalent going on here, but we missed most of that. We decided to hang around here in Cody and watch the fireworks show...it just wouldn't seem like Independence day if we didn't get to see fireworks right? Once I finally found the right setting on my camera, I took tons of pictures of the fireworks.

What we found out after we decided to stick around was that there were very few vacancies for hotels, but we landed in a beautiful room that had space enough for the kids to move around in. Here is a picture of it:

Our plans today are to go into Yellowstone, see some bears and bison, and take lots more pictures. We are planning on being in Laramie, Wyoming by this evening and then traveling on to the Rockies tomorrow.

the silver lining

Well, we were rained out at Mt. Rushmore. The fireworks show was cancelled due to inclement weather and we managed to get out ahead of most of the traffic, all of the 20,000 people that came to see it. It didn’t take long for us to find the silver lining in our gloomy day. As we drove through the rain, lightning sprayed the sky and thunder clapped. Dakota sitting in the front between Gary and me, began twisting in the seat. She had that smile on her face that I’ve seen almost every time she poses for a photo. I asked her, “Baby, why are you wiggling so?” Her reply was straight from the voice of God. She said, “I’m posing for God, He’s taking my picture!” It’s moments like these that erase the many miles of “she hit me” and “he pooted again” or the two questions that if I’ve heard them once, I’ve heard them a million times….”have we been here before?” and “are we there yet?” All in all we are doing well. I write this as we are crossing the border between South Dakota and Wyoming. It’s about 12:30am Texas time and the ride is quiet, admittedly another answered prayer.

One thing we did was drive all through Mt. Rushmore area, so I was able to get a few good pictures of the mountain itself and we drove into the town of Keystone. It was a traffic nightmare, but we weren’t in any hurry, so we muddled along and eventually found a parking spot. We dined at a family restaurant, a little on the pricy side, but it did the trick. We stopped in a place called Professor Samuel’s and had our annual family portrait made. Any of you who know me very well, you know that I am always looking for something different and this was just the thing that called my name. Papa decided he didn’t want to go through all the costume change so he sat this one out, just taking in the scenery. (no we didn’t leave him unattended, lol, although I’m sure he don’t mind the break once in a while). For our photo, we stepped back in time. Gary became Marshal Dillon and I was Ms. Kitty. I think we can all safely guess who Festus was. As for the girls, well they filled their part as supporting actresses. Now, before any of you have a conniption fit, the bottles were already empty. This not only made for a fun family picture, but it also gave us the chance to explain the character of such individuals as well as giving them an edited lecture about alcohol. As a homeschool family it is important that we teach and learn lessons when the opportunity allows. After looking back at the picture, I giggled as I thought about what a conversation piece this would be on the wall of a future parsonage….one must enjoy the irony in it.

A little creativity on a long journey

I did a little digital scrapbooking when I wasn't navigating and this is what I came up with. Just a little something to hold on to my sanity while crossing the 1,200 miles we've been so far.

It's Friday morning and we are in Alliance, Nebraska. We stayed in a quaint little motel here, nice but the A/C went out 1/2 way thru the night. Thankfully the weather is cooler here, so we were able to tolerate it. We stopped last night in the town of Ogallala, Nebraska and ate dinner. Let's just say, we won't eat at that place again. We stayed in Wichita, Kansas on Wednesday night. We really haven't done much but ride so far.

Today, we will continue on into South Dakota and stay the day and night there. We will look around for things to do. On our list so far is to stop at Bear Country and watch the fireworks over Mount Rushmore tonight. I will post picures when I can.

Tomorrow, we will head to Yellowstone National Park. We plan to visit Old Faithful and Canyon Valley. Next we will head south through the Grand Tetons and then on to Laramie, Whyoming. Wherever we are on Sunday morning, we will be stopping to take time for worship.

On one of our restroom stops in Kansas, we took time to strecth out and walk around a little. We stopped at a nice rest area and I found the perfect photo opportunity! So this is a photo from our journey so far.