Our Last Day (if all goes well)
Day 11
We leave Megan and Joe’s by 5:00 am. Thank you Megan and Tula for getting up to see us off. Pretty uneventful - just a whole lot of driving. The kids sleep until we cross over into Illinois. We stop at the Oasis and everyone grabs something to eat. Back in the car and hopefully to Spring Lake by 4:00pm. We will unload the PV and then BB will head to Traverse City. Even though the PV by now is completely disgusting and we cannot wait to get home, it is still sad to say goodbye to our Cruising America piece of tin but mostly sad to see our trip come to an end. We have watched our kids accept and appreciate their unique differences, work through disagreements, laugh, bandage wounds and just genuinely love each other. We hope that they will always be there for each other and life long friends.
We must say some thank yous to the people that made this trip all possible. First of all to our husbands. Thank you Terry and Mont for working so hard and making our travel habits possible with no limits. Thank you to our dog sitters: Nancy, Linda, Danny, Betsy, Tommy, and Brad. We originally were going to bring them and thank goodness we did not! Thank you to Aunt Carla for faithfully reading our blog everyday and keeping Grandpa Chuck in the loop. Thanks to everyone that read our blog and commented. They were great to read during the long stretches of highway when we could actually get reception. Thank you to Uncle Tim and Aunt Mariclare for encouraging us to go to The University of Montana. As you will see, the kids all loved it. This great memory is etched in their minds!
Favorite thing during the trip from all the chiefs:
Nora – Jumping into the rivers from the cliffs in Yellowstone at Firehole Canyon.
Bricker – Seeing the Black Bear. Seeing the equipment room at University of Montana came in a close second
Tim – Swimming at Firehole Canyon. The Bobcat Montana trophy came in pretty close too
Peter – Getting the new knife from the General Store in Yellowstone and seeing the Black Bear. Loved the University of Montana too!
Halee –Rainbow pots at Midway Geyser Basin in Yellowstone, Amusement Park at Mall of American
BB and Beki’s Top List
Realizing that you only need two pair of pants, three pair of underwear, one sports bra and one outfit for the rodeo for a ten day trip (which is now officially an eleven day trip)
Not running into anyone we know
Seeing a REAL black bear only feet away!
Looking for drop ins at Wal-Mart
Horse running down Hwy 12 in Cody
The kids making cowboy stew
The night we stayed up until 3:00 am just telling stories with the kids
Beki laughing uncontrollably in the chapel at Wall Drug We forgot this in the blog but we stopped to say a prayer for NaNa (she would have loved this trip). We all go into the chapel and Beki starts crying and then laughing at the fact that she is crying in the chapel at ‘Wall Drug’
Fashion savvy BB hiking in capris, white ankle socks, Nora’s flip flops and a pink fleece jacket.
Acting as if the AZ convicts were after US specifically in West Yellowstone
Recapping every night and blogging every day and thinking no one would ever believe this
Getting our core workout in everyday by laughing so much and so hard!!!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Day 10
Another day of travel begins around 7 am after sleeping in the Comfort Inns, not s,o King size suite. We begin with a trip to the gas station to fill up the PV and our coffee cups. While filling up the PV this man approaches us to inquire about traveling in the rented PV. This conversation goes on for what seems 15 minutes. This friendly extra large man proceeds to tell us: he has always wanted to rent one, he lives in Lexington KY, there is a new Nascar circuit starting and he wants to take it there, he has three sons, he has been happily married for 34 years, his older son has been married for 3 years and he has a new 9 month old grand baby. BB and I are just standing there have in our clothes from the night before, we not had coffee and are quiet dazed from our extreme exhaustion that when the clincher statement comes out of his mouth. “I hope yous don’t mind my questions but I’d never knowd nobody who rented one of them RVs.” With this comment out of his mouth, with his Kentuckian drawl, it is all we can do from breaking out in laughter. Thankfully BB diverts the conversation to the delights he is caring in his hand, two super sized snickers and a thing rapped in tin foil. BB says that is quite the breakfast you have! This then turns into the next internal stint of laughter something like this. “ Well let me tell ya, I travel a lot and when I do I keeps a cooler right in the seat of my car, I takes these Snickers and a put them in my cooler and when I need it around 2:30 in the afternoon I take’em out of my cooler and I nibble on them.” At this point we are going to lose its so we retreat into the store to find coffee and look at each other and wonder did we just dream this conversation. Journey on. Still North Dakota and struggling to get through we start to discuss the options for the day. Kids are sound asleep and we decide to add one more destination to our blog, Mall of America. BB text Megan to tee if we could stay at her house, with in seconds we have a affirmative confirmation. Kids slept till about 25 minutes from the MOA. Now around noon they are hungry and want food. We try to hold them of till the mall, arrive at the MOA around 12:30 and tell them to look our their window. In the slowest possible reading they read, m a l l o f a m er I c a, then putting all of the letters together they reread Mall of America and are shout with glee. We high five each other knowing we have continued to make their life's incredible. We head into the mall and stay there for 5 hours. The kids did the best back to school shopping and road all the rides and we loaded up and headed to Megan and Joe's. We convince them that we can park in their drive way and arrive at their house around 7:45. We tour their adorable townhouse and then take Megan for a short ride around her neighborhood to turn the RV around. Megan is in tears as she gets a small tease of the joys of PVing. Soon we are greeted by Katie, Sue and Larry----so wonderful to see them. We give them a tour of our traveling home, which now looks like we could be on the HGTV hoarders series. Sue hold her mouth the entire time, Larry comments on the urine scented air freshener . This tour take about 2 minutes but we are certain will last a lifetime in their mind. We have just gotten use to it and are making memories. We head back in where pizza and wine await. We share some stories, laugh a lot and are just enjoy each other. The kids are all smile wondering around into emotional utopia. It was a great addition to a great trip.
Another day of travel begins around 7 am after sleeping in the Comfort Inns, not s,o King size suite. We begin with a trip to the gas station to fill up the PV and our coffee cups. While filling up the PV this man approaches us to inquire about traveling in the rented PV. This conversation goes on for what seems 15 minutes. This friendly extra large man proceeds to tell us: he has always wanted to rent one, he lives in Lexington KY, there is a new Nascar circuit starting and he wants to take it there, he has three sons, he has been happily married for 34 years, his older son has been married for 3 years and he has a new 9 month old grand baby. BB and I are just standing there have in our clothes from the night before, we not had coffee and are quiet dazed from our extreme exhaustion that when the clincher statement comes out of his mouth. “I hope yous don’t mind my questions but I’d never knowd nobody who rented one of them RVs.” With this comment out of his mouth, with his Kentuckian drawl, it is all we can do from breaking out in laughter. Thankfully BB diverts the conversation to the delights he is caring in his hand, two super sized snickers and a thing rapped in tin foil. BB says that is quite the breakfast you have! This then turns into the next internal stint of laughter something like this. “ Well let me tell ya, I travel a lot and when I do I keeps a cooler right in the seat of my car, I takes these Snickers and a put them in my cooler and when I need it around 2:30 in the afternoon I take’em out of my cooler and I nibble on them.” At this point we are going to lose its so we retreat into the store to find coffee and look at each other and wonder did we just dream this conversation. Journey on. Still North Dakota and struggling to get through we start to discuss the options for the day. Kids are sound asleep and we decide to add one more destination to our blog, Mall of America. BB text Megan to tee if we could stay at her house, with in seconds we have a affirmative confirmation. Kids slept till about 25 minutes from the MOA. Now around noon they are hungry and want food. We try to hold them of till the mall, arrive at the MOA around 12:30 and tell them to look our their window. In the slowest possible reading they read, m a l l o f a m er I c a, then putting all of the letters together they reread Mall of America and are shout with glee. We high five each other knowing we have continued to make their life's incredible. We head into the mall and stay there for 5 hours. The kids did the best back to school shopping and road all the rides and we loaded up and headed to Megan and Joe's. We convince them that we can park in their drive way and arrive at their house around 7:45. We tour their adorable townhouse and then take Megan for a short ride around her neighborhood to turn the RV around. Megan is in tears as she gets a small tease of the joys of PVing. Soon we are greeted by Katie, Sue and Larry----so wonderful to see them. We give them a tour of our traveling home, which now looks like we could be on the HGTV hoarders series. Sue hold her mouth the entire time, Larry comments on the urine scented air freshener . This tour take about 2 minutes but we are certain will last a lifetime in their mind. We have just gotten use to it and are making memories. We head back in where pizza and wine await. We share some stories, laugh a lot and are just enjoy each other. The kids are all smile wondering around into emotional utopia. It was a great addition to a great trip.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Day 9
Day 9
Get up in the same clothes we went to bed in, our new Grizzle attire. We have the kids eat a quick, free, express breakfast and the Best Western in Butte. We drive, heading east for home, with numerous laughs, memories, and life long bonds with cousins made. We start to see signs outside of Bozeman for the “Live Grizzly Encounters”, after about the 5th sign we are hooked and decide to take a morning detour. We pull in and wake up the kids saying we have a surprise for them. As enthusiastically as their little tired bodies can, they peek their heads up. Nora reads the sign Grizzly encounters out loud and this gives them the incentive to put their feet on the ground and journey outside to this road side attraction. We stayed for about 30 minutes, really pretty cool, took some fun pictures of Maggie and Jake the 4year old bears. On the road again we head toward Billings, nearly running out of gas, the light was on for 15 miles, and we do an illegal turn with our 30 foot rig to make it happen. Bricker gets a horrific nose bleed that takes and entire box of tissue and numerous baby wipes to contain. While Bickers’ bleeding, Beki is trying to get wireless service to figure out how to stop the gush of blood. Bricker thinks Beki’s reaction is funny so he shows her frequently the blood ridden tissues. We are now in North Dakota. We were informed that his would be a pretty way to go home. We looked up the word pretty on the computer dictionary and North Dakota does not seem to fit. BB wants to stop and look at some time shares in hopes of picking up a few acres of quiet solitude. Beki won’t stop so we continue to drive across this barren land. We pick up a screwdriver at the truck stop to repair the arm that has fallen off the couch. We make a call to our friendly Crusin American rep to report the kissing mirrors; they do not seem to be too concerned. We know this seems to be and ongoing theme for this trip but the stench that is engulfing us is really unbearable. Tim just leaving the portable gas chamber has opened Pandora’s Box with the most unfathomable odor. Beki, again while driving, has her head out the window. Between full on gags, she is laughing as she looks in the mirror to see the kids with their heads also out the window. A car is passing by and the driver is buckled over in laughter. This has got to be a sight. BB, bless her heart, goes in for the kill, only to be forced to come out for air, it is truly indescribable. Did we mention we ran out of drop ins and are still using this forsaken invention? So we pull off into a small town in North Dakota. We go into the service station and ask the very friendly lady, while the kids have all rushed outside for fresh air away from the PV, where to do a pump out. She said she would not charge for this information because she could tell by the look on our faces we needed it. With rubber gloves in hand Beki and BB get the job down at a local park down the street. Now to find the toilet drop ins. This trip has truly come full circle, we are back to where we started. We all get back in and continue to take in the pretty scenery. We play a game of count the hay, Nora wins. We pull into Jamestown ND, and get what we are told is the last ‘master’ suite in town. Not telling how many we have, we enter the hotel in shifts to take over our one small room with a king bed and a pull out. The kids and BB head to the pool, Beki makes sandwiches for dinner. Kids play competitive game of catch followed by numerous other water act ivies. All others have now left the pool area where we have dinner pool side and retreat up to our room. Halee, Beki, Nora, Bricker and Tim pile into the King to watch TV while Peter rubs BB’s sore, steering wheel formed hands on the pull out. Anther priceless day comes to an end.
This blog cannot begin to express the incredible time we have all had together. For the past 9 days we have had an angel over us, assuring that Faith and family remain and integral part of our lives. Truly a trip of a life time
Get up in the same clothes we went to bed in, our new Grizzle attire. We have the kids eat a quick, free, express breakfast and the Best Western in Butte. We drive, heading east for home, with numerous laughs, memories, and life long bonds with cousins made. We start to see signs outside of Bozeman for the “Live Grizzly Encounters”, after about the 5th sign we are hooked and decide to take a morning detour. We pull in and wake up the kids saying we have a surprise for them. As enthusiastically as their little tired bodies can, they peek their heads up. Nora reads the sign Grizzly encounters out loud and this gives them the incentive to put their feet on the ground and journey outside to this road side attraction. We stayed for about 30 minutes, really pretty cool, took some fun pictures of Maggie and Jake the 4year old bears. On the road again we head toward Billings, nearly running out of gas, the light was on for 15 miles, and we do an illegal turn with our 30 foot rig to make it happen. Bricker gets a horrific nose bleed that takes and entire box of tissue and numerous baby wipes to contain. While Bickers’ bleeding, Beki is trying to get wireless service to figure out how to stop the gush of blood. Bricker thinks Beki’s reaction is funny so he shows her frequently the blood ridden tissues. We are now in North Dakota. We were informed that his would be a pretty way to go home. We looked up the word pretty on the computer dictionary and North Dakota does not seem to fit. BB wants to stop and look at some time shares in hopes of picking up a few acres of quiet solitude. Beki won’t stop so we continue to drive across this barren land. We pick up a screwdriver at the truck stop to repair the arm that has fallen off the couch. We make a call to our friendly Crusin American rep to report the kissing mirrors; they do not seem to be too concerned. We know this seems to be and ongoing theme for this trip but the stench that is engulfing us is really unbearable. Tim just leaving the portable gas chamber has opened Pandora’s Box with the most unfathomable odor. Beki, again while driving, has her head out the window. Between full on gags, she is laughing as she looks in the mirror to see the kids with their heads also out the window. A car is passing by and the driver is buckled over in laughter. This has got to be a sight. BB, bless her heart, goes in for the kill, only to be forced to come out for air, it is truly indescribable. Did we mention we ran out of drop ins and are still using this forsaken invention? So we pull off into a small town in North Dakota. We go into the service station and ask the very friendly lady, while the kids have all rushed outside for fresh air away from the PV, where to do a pump out. She said she would not charge for this information because she could tell by the look on our faces we needed it. With rubber gloves in hand Beki and BB get the job down at a local park down the street. Now to find the toilet drop ins. This trip has truly come full circle, we are back to where we started. We all get back in and continue to take in the pretty scenery. We play a game of count the hay, Nora wins. We pull into Jamestown ND, and get what we are told is the last ‘master’ suite in town. Not telling how many we have, we enter the hotel in shifts to take over our one small room with a king bed and a pull out. The kids and BB head to the pool, Beki makes sandwiches for dinner. Kids play competitive game of catch followed by numerous other water act ivies. All others have now left the pool area where we have dinner pool side and retreat up to our room. Halee, Beki, Nora, Bricker and Tim pile into the King to watch TV while Peter rubs BB’s sore, steering wheel formed hands on the pull out. Anther priceless day comes to an end.
This blog cannot begin to express the incredible time we have all had together. For the past 9 days we have had an angel over us, assuring that Faith and family remain and integral part of our lives. Truly a trip of a life time
Day 8
Day 8
Beki and BB wake up around the same time and make coffee and turn on the TV to CNN to see the latest on the escaped convicts. We had waited the night before until the kids were asleep to turn on the TV and find whatever information we could. It looked like they were still in Yellowstone. We let the kids sleep and finish our blog for day 7. We wake up the kids and make the free breakfast in the lobby before 10:00am. CNN is playing front and center in the lobby so there was no more withholding information from their innocent minds. We gather around the table and answer all the questions coming at us with rapid speed. We explain that we did not want anyone to worry last night and not sleep. We laugh at the fact the convict is engaged to his first cousin and make reference that that would be like Halee and Bricker getting married, they both gag while the rest laugh We gave the kids a vote whether they would like to go to the Grizzly/Wolf Adventure ½ mile away or go to Missoula, four hours away and further west, to visit the University of Montana. With the roar of a grizzly and zero hesitation they shout ‘Missoula’. Okay, maybe Halee had a bit of hesitation! We load the PV and head further west into true Grizzly country. Again we refer to our morning drive as beautiful as we drove along Lake Hagben and into the mountains. The kids have nestled in, Bricker and Peter up stairs, as BB refers to the compartment above the front seat; the girls snuggled up watching movies on the couches and Tim in the back master bedroom---how luxurious this sounds. Sixty miles from Missoula we call Dennis Murphy, Tim‘s, friend to let him know we will be in town. We were informed by Uncle Tim to do so as he might be able to get give us a tour. Dennis was on a tight schedule but could do a quick tour if we were there by 3:30. Outside of Missoula we have a competition to see who can find the big ‘M’ first—Beki wins. We pull in front of the stadium and pile out, now 3:28, run up to meet Dennis. He gives us a quick tour then takes the kids to the stadium where they get to go on the field, run thought the tunnel, touch the bobcat/GRIZZLY trophy. Dennis leaves and we meet up with ‘Hack’ the equipment manager he takes over and gives us at tour of the equipment room. (Bricker said that was his favorite part of the trip) We headed outside, took a look at the ‘M’ on the mountain decided it would not be a good hike for Peter, did we mention he has a broken foot? (He has never complained a bit) Over to the book store to drop a little bling, the kids are totally decked out in Maroon and silver. We go to the Montana Club for dinner where Little Peg, Aunt Mariclare’s dear friend from college, comes and joins us. We make one more stop at Bob’s sporting goods to check out their GRIZZLY wear and load up to head east, for the first time in 9 days. We drive for 2 hours where we pull into Butte check into a hotel, kids drag their exhausted feet into the room. BB makes the comment as we open our room doors, you can have the one with the pee smell, and we laugh as the door shuts behind. Within minutes BB gets a phone call “OMG there is a huge turd in the toilet and it is not ours. The kids are laughing and Beki again is beside herself in disgust. The front desk will send someone up and give us $15 off the room. We all retreat to the land of nod. Day 8 come to and end.
Beki and BB wake up around the same time and make coffee and turn on the TV to CNN to see the latest on the escaped convicts. We had waited the night before until the kids were asleep to turn on the TV and find whatever information we could. It looked like they were still in Yellowstone. We let the kids sleep and finish our blog for day 7. We wake up the kids and make the free breakfast in the lobby before 10:00am. CNN is playing front and center in the lobby so there was no more withholding information from their innocent minds. We gather around the table and answer all the questions coming at us with rapid speed. We explain that we did not want anyone to worry last night and not sleep. We laugh at the fact the convict is engaged to his first cousin and make reference that that would be like Halee and Bricker getting married, they both gag while the rest laugh We gave the kids a vote whether they would like to go to the Grizzly/Wolf Adventure ½ mile away or go to Missoula, four hours away and further west, to visit the University of Montana. With the roar of a grizzly and zero hesitation they shout ‘Missoula’. Okay, maybe Halee had a bit of hesitation! We load the PV and head further west into true Grizzly country. Again we refer to our morning drive as beautiful as we drove along Lake Hagben and into the mountains. The kids have nestled in, Bricker and Peter up stairs, as BB refers to the compartment above the front seat; the girls snuggled up watching movies on the couches and Tim in the back master bedroom---how luxurious this sounds. Sixty miles from Missoula we call Dennis Murphy, Tim‘s, friend to let him know we will be in town. We were informed by Uncle Tim to do so as he might be able to get give us a tour. Dennis was on a tight schedule but could do a quick tour if we were there by 3:30. Outside of Missoula we have a competition to see who can find the big ‘M’ first—Beki wins. We pull in front of the stadium and pile out, now 3:28, run up to meet Dennis. He gives us a quick tour then takes the kids to the stadium where they get to go on the field, run thought the tunnel, touch the bobcat/GRIZZLY trophy. Dennis leaves and we meet up with ‘Hack’ the equipment manager he takes over and gives us at tour of the equipment room. (Bricker said that was his favorite part of the trip) We headed outside, took a look at the ‘M’ on the mountain decided it would not be a good hike for Peter, did we mention he has a broken foot? (He has never complained a bit) Over to the book store to drop a little bling, the kids are totally decked out in Maroon and silver. We go to the Montana Club for dinner where Little Peg, Aunt Mariclare’s dear friend from college, comes and joins us. We make one more stop at Bob’s sporting goods to check out their GRIZZLY wear and load up to head east, for the first time in 9 days. We drive for 2 hours where we pull into Butte check into a hotel, kids drag their exhausted feet into the room. BB makes the comment as we open our room doors, you can have the one with the pee smell, and we laugh as the door shuts behind. Within minutes BB gets a phone call “OMG there is a huge turd in the toilet and it is not ours. The kids are laughing and Beki again is beside herself in disgust. The front desk will send someone up and give us $15 off the room. We all retreat to the land of nod. Day 8 come to and end.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Day 7
Day 7
We woke up and thought we were in Alaska! We left the air on and it was not above 45 degrees outside. Beki and BB throw on fleece jackets and make coffee, polish their nails, press the children’s outfits for the day, unplug the pump out line, disconnect the water line, release the parking brake and head out. (Guess which two things in that paragraph are not correct)
Today will be spent in the upper northern loop of Yellowstone. BB wants to drive again while Beki navigates. Driving this loop turned out to be a whole different experience. Out first stops takes us to the Artisan paint pots, a great way to start our morning, the steam rising off the geysers, dew on the trees, sun peaking through the big clouds and numerous animal noises were sure to wake up all your senses, spectacular. We get back in the car and are greeted by a Bison taking a morning stroll; he decided to run alongside the PV which had us all in stitches. We pull over for a bear spotting but by the time we all pile out the bear is out of sight, we resume seats and roll on. BB is earning her 5 star triple A all star driving award, roads are winding, curves are nail biting. The chiefs are really getting hungry and the cupboards resemble that of Mother Hubbard, bare. Tim puts in a request for breakfast today, HOT at that, we laugh. Hot breakfast was enjoyed at the Canyons by all. We all got out of the car at Roosevelt falls to take a morning hike down to the river’s edge to view Tower falls, 300 foot falls. The walk down to the falls was 7/8 of a mile and walk back up seemed like a mere 7 miles, but worth every step and bead of sweat. We stopped along the road side to take a picture of Nora by the Norris sign, a newly acquired nic name. We see a sign for petrified tree, Beki says turn in, BB does, Beki is now petrified from the abrupt turn. A block in a sign says no RV’s past this point; we attempt to park and find a nice, newly designated parking spot for Cursing America PV’s. The boys are still overcoming the previous hike up the mountain and decide to stay in the camper and give instructions to get pictures. The girls exit and on foot set out to see the petrified tree. BB makes a statement something like, “what if we see a bear”, we laugh and shake our keys like they are bells and would scare it off. We were told the walk was just around the corner and after 3 corners, nearly ½ mile and camper out of sight, we have not spotted the tree, contemplating turning around we take another step towards our goal when Beki spots a black moving something in the woods and with the voice of an opera singer shuts BEAR. She then pushes her other companions away from the bear, like that would help. We are now being approached by a big fluffy, shiny black bear that is walking toward us not within the recommended 100 feet distance to keep between you and a bear, but rather 40-50 feet. Shaking keys has not even crossed our mind. A car heads down the road and we stop it to say there is a bear, they too are excited to see its spotting but remember they are in a car. Tthe bear is now 20-30 feet away from us. We then begin to take pictures, standing close to the new found friends in the car. A few more cars have joined in the picture shot. Meanwhile Nora has sprinted down the road to get the boys, within seconds they are all running down the dirt road looking like stowaways to take in our bear spotting. Another angle watching over us. Yes, we did see the tree, not nearly as eventful . We load the PV and head to Mammoth Hot Springs, an 18 mile journey of gut wrenching, steering wheel clenching driving as our children run around in the back making the camper move from side to side. We travel this distance in 45 minutes, stop to take pictures of big horn sheep and are greeted by 20 plus elk roaming, the grounds of Mammoth, wow. We travel toward the North entrance and find the hot springs we are going to plunge into. Parking the PV was a challenge, but BB did it. She may have a job with Mont when she returns; there is a driver shortage you know. Walking down the path the kids’ encounter a snake, Nora takes charge and guides us through this experience. BB asks if she is afraid of anything. The hot springs were great, people from all over the world sharing smiles and taking in this relaxing experience. After about 1.5 hours, around 5 we head back to the PV to start our decent back to the Ko-a. The journey down was full of all types of wildlife, bison, mule deer, and eagles. The PV encounters a mirror bumping experience with another RV and we lose part of our driver’s mirror. At first we did not know what had just happened, till BB looked in the mirror to see what occurred and ta-dah, gone. After one hour of driving we arrived at the West Yellowstone entrance, both our phones start to acknowledege all the calls that we could not get while in the mountains. We are excited to go back have a cook out, play cards and roast marshmallows and enjoy the campgrounds. We pull into get gas, shortly BB exists the PV and tells Beki to listen to the message she has received, OMG. Now what, there is a nationwide man hunt for two escaped convicts from AZ state prison. They are believed to be in West Yellowstone, somewhere between Wyoming and Montana, they are armed and extremely dangerous. They are believed to have killed a couple camping in an RV. Did we mention that we are in West Yellowstone and in a RV? We have now received phone calls, emails, facebook messages, text messages from just about every family member we have. Major change of plans – we pull into the first hotel we see and get a room with a kitchen. Beki checks in and explains that we have seven people but we HAVE to be in the same room! We tell the kids there is a major storm coming and they are thrilled to be staying in a hotel! We think they now all have a new appreciation for showers and bathrooms. Talk about going from one extreme to another! We park in a completely lit area and unload the PV and make sure we are all together at all times! Beki and BB laugh a little because the kids have no idea the anxiety happening with them! We make dinner, consisting of mac and cheese and salad and Beki makes French toast for Peter. Interesting meal but quite tasty. Beki and BB were just happy to all be together and safe. Yet, another angel watching out for us!!! The kids go swimming and we finally retire to our room for the night!
We woke up and thought we were in Alaska! We left the air on and it was not above 45 degrees outside. Beki and BB throw on fleece jackets and make coffee, polish their nails, press the children’s outfits for the day, unplug the pump out line, disconnect the water line, release the parking brake and head out. (Guess which two things in that paragraph are not correct)
Today will be spent in the upper northern loop of Yellowstone. BB wants to drive again while Beki navigates. Driving this loop turned out to be a whole different experience. Out first stops takes us to the Artisan paint pots, a great way to start our morning, the steam rising off the geysers, dew on the trees, sun peaking through the big clouds and numerous animal noises were sure to wake up all your senses, spectacular. We get back in the car and are greeted by a Bison taking a morning stroll; he decided to run alongside the PV which had us all in stitches. We pull over for a bear spotting but by the time we all pile out the bear is out of sight, we resume seats and roll on. BB is earning her 5 star triple A all star driving award, roads are winding, curves are nail biting. The chiefs are really getting hungry and the cupboards resemble that of Mother Hubbard, bare. Tim puts in a request for breakfast today, HOT at that, we laugh. Hot breakfast was enjoyed at the Canyons by all. We all got out of the car at Roosevelt falls to take a morning hike down to the river’s edge to view Tower falls, 300 foot falls. The walk down to the falls was 7/8 of a mile and walk back up seemed like a mere 7 miles, but worth every step and bead of sweat. We stopped along the road side to take a picture of Nora by the Norris sign, a newly acquired nic name. We see a sign for petrified tree, Beki says turn in, BB does, Beki is now petrified from the abrupt turn. A block in a sign says no RV’s past this point; we attempt to park and find a nice, newly designated parking spot for Cursing America PV’s. The boys are still overcoming the previous hike up the mountain and decide to stay in the camper and give instructions to get pictures. The girls exit and on foot set out to see the petrified tree. BB makes a statement something like, “what if we see a bear”, we laugh and shake our keys like they are bells and would scare it off. We were told the walk was just around the corner and after 3 corners, nearly ½ mile and camper out of sight, we have not spotted the tree, contemplating turning around we take another step towards our goal when Beki spots a black moving something in the woods and with the voice of an opera singer shuts BEAR. She then pushes her other companions away from the bear, like that would help. We are now being approached by a big fluffy, shiny black bear that is walking toward us not within the recommended 100 feet distance to keep between you and a bear, but rather 40-50 feet. Shaking keys has not even crossed our mind. A car heads down the road and we stop it to say there is a bear, they too are excited to see its spotting but remember they are in a car. Tthe bear is now 20-30 feet away from us. We then begin to take pictures, standing close to the new found friends in the car. A few more cars have joined in the picture shot. Meanwhile Nora has sprinted down the road to get the boys, within seconds they are all running down the dirt road looking like stowaways to take in our bear spotting. Another angle watching over us. Yes, we did see the tree, not nearly as eventful . We load the PV and head to Mammoth Hot Springs, an 18 mile journey of gut wrenching, steering wheel clenching driving as our children run around in the back making the camper move from side to side. We travel this distance in 45 minutes, stop to take pictures of big horn sheep and are greeted by 20 plus elk roaming, the grounds of Mammoth, wow. We travel toward the North entrance and find the hot springs we are going to plunge into. Parking the PV was a challenge, but BB did it. She may have a job with Mont when she returns; there is a driver shortage you know. Walking down the path the kids’ encounter a snake, Nora takes charge and guides us through this experience. BB asks if she is afraid of anything. The hot springs were great, people from all over the world sharing smiles and taking in this relaxing experience. After about 1.5 hours, around 5 we head back to the PV to start our decent back to the Ko-a. The journey down was full of all types of wildlife, bison, mule deer, and eagles. The PV encounters a mirror bumping experience with another RV and we lose part of our driver’s mirror. At first we did not know what had just happened, till BB looked in the mirror to see what occurred and ta-dah, gone. After one hour of driving we arrived at the West Yellowstone entrance, both our phones start to acknowledege all the calls that we could not get while in the mountains. We are excited to go back have a cook out, play cards and roast marshmallows and enjoy the campgrounds. We pull into get gas, shortly BB exists the PV and tells Beki to listen to the message she has received, OMG. Now what, there is a nationwide man hunt for two escaped convicts from AZ state prison. They are believed to be in West Yellowstone, somewhere between Wyoming and Montana, they are armed and extremely dangerous. They are believed to have killed a couple camping in an RV. Did we mention that we are in West Yellowstone and in a RV? We have now received phone calls, emails, facebook messages, text messages from just about every family member we have. Major change of plans – we pull into the first hotel we see and get a room with a kitchen. Beki checks in and explains that we have seven people but we HAVE to be in the same room! We tell the kids there is a major storm coming and they are thrilled to be staying in a hotel! We think they now all have a new appreciation for showers and bathrooms. Talk about going from one extreme to another! We park in a completely lit area and unload the PV and make sure we are all together at all times! Beki and BB laugh a little because the kids have no idea the anxiety happening with them! We make dinner, consisting of mac and cheese and salad and Beki makes French toast for Peter. Interesting meal but quite tasty. Beki and BB were just happy to all be together and safe. Yet, another angel watching out for us!!! The kids go swimming and we finally retire to our room for the night!
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Day 6
Day 6
We woke up in Cody at 6:30 and left the campsite promptly at 7:00. We stopped by the office on our way out. The manager of the KOA was there and apologized for our horseback experiences and refunded our money. She said Jeff was fired. We tried to confirm his stories with her and that is what they were, stories.
We left the park shortly after 7 with the best coffee we have ever had in hand. We had a wonderful morning drive into Yellowstone. We are all so excited to see what Uncle Tim refers to as God’s Disney Land.
We have decided that our kids are aboard a road cruise and we are the cruise, directors for Cruising America RV’s. We pull into camp site, prepare meals, go to bed, we wake up and get behind the wheel travel while chiefs are sleeping and when they awake they are at the next day’s destination, bright eyed and ready to go. BB’s new name is Julie from the love boat .
We arrived at the East entrance around 8:30, kids still sleeping. We pulled into the visitors’ center to confirm our day’s itinerary. We headed to Yellowstone lake, how beautiful (our favorite adjective to describe the area today-beautiful). We walked around the property and tried to find a hot meal, to no avail. After 1.5 hours we settled for deli sandwiches, cinnamon rolls and hot chili. The kids were so hungry they would eat anything at this point. We then headed to the West Thumb and took a hike to see the geysers and hot spots. Along the way we spotted mule deer which BB referred to as a Bison. Next we went to Midway geyser basin to the paint pots and took in this Disney Attraction with awe. Next we stopped at Lower Geyser Basin to look at the bubbling mud. Old Faithful was our next stop and we were excited, but concerned how long we would have to wait to see it erupt. As luck would have it we pulled in, walked to Old Faithful and within 5 minutes we observed the mighty blow. We then headed into the lodge and enjoyed a small snack, sat in the window seats and took in the view. Next was the favorite spot of the day, Firehole Caynon. Adrenalin was surging in the kids as they anticipated going swimming and getting to do what kids do best play. BB pulls onto Firehole canyon road, on one way road winding back to the swimming hole. As we drive the road gets narrower and narrower. At one point Beki asks Mario to slow down, the drop off was intense. We continue and see ahead where cars are now lining the side of the road; the 12.5 foot rig is going to be like putting Cinderella’s slipper on a pig’s foot, tight. We manage, BB exists the car feeling nauseated and the need to take in some air. Meanwhile the kids have dressed in record time, have towels in hand and are ready to go. We leave the PV and head to the rapids, we are about to swim. Seconds later the kids are submerged in the rapids and we are left counting heads and spewing names to assure everyone is safe in the mayhem. Their smiles can be seen for miles, we decide to join them knowing they will remember if we don’t. We both plunge in and begin to swim upstream to the rock they are jumping from. We both make clean jumps and are given a soldiers applause for our entry into the rapids. We stay there for about 2 hours and then pack up and head to West Yellowstone. As we leave it begins to rain, again our timing is almost magical. We make the kids have carrots and grapes when they get back in the car, shortly Bricker sees an eagles nest high in a tree, all of us are trying to find it. When we do Peter says man Bricker those carrots work quick. We arrive at the Ko-a and BB gets into trouble for driving too fast in the camp grounds, the kids all had a good laugh. We change clothes and head to town for dinner. We head home and again hook up in the dark, trying to abide by the camp site rules, on our honor. After reading the camp site recent sightings of bears, BB and Beki fall asleep with one eye open.
We woke up in Cody at 6:30 and left the campsite promptly at 7:00. We stopped by the office on our way out. The manager of the KOA was there and apologized for our horseback experiences and refunded our money. She said Jeff was fired. We tried to confirm his stories with her and that is what they were, stories.
We left the park shortly after 7 with the best coffee we have ever had in hand. We had a wonderful morning drive into Yellowstone. We are all so excited to see what Uncle Tim refers to as God’s Disney Land.
We have decided that our kids are aboard a road cruise and we are the cruise, directors for Cruising America RV’s. We pull into camp site, prepare meals, go to bed, we wake up and get behind the wheel travel while chiefs are sleeping and when they awake they are at the next day’s destination, bright eyed and ready to go. BB’s new name is Julie from the love boat .
We arrived at the East entrance around 8:30, kids still sleeping. We pulled into the visitors’ center to confirm our day’s itinerary. We headed to Yellowstone lake, how beautiful (our favorite adjective to describe the area today-beautiful). We walked around the property and tried to find a hot meal, to no avail. After 1.5 hours we settled for deli sandwiches, cinnamon rolls and hot chili. The kids were so hungry they would eat anything at this point. We then headed to the West Thumb and took a hike to see the geysers and hot spots. Along the way we spotted mule deer which BB referred to as a Bison. Next we went to Midway geyser basin to the paint pots and took in this Disney Attraction with awe. Next we stopped at Lower Geyser Basin to look at the bubbling mud. Old Faithful was our next stop and we were excited, but concerned how long we would have to wait to see it erupt. As luck would have it we pulled in, walked to Old Faithful and within 5 minutes we observed the mighty blow. We then headed into the lodge and enjoyed a small snack, sat in the window seats and took in the view. Next was the favorite spot of the day, Firehole Caynon. Adrenalin was surging in the kids as they anticipated going swimming and getting to do what kids do best play. BB pulls onto Firehole canyon road, on one way road winding back to the swimming hole. As we drive the road gets narrower and narrower. At one point Beki asks Mario to slow down, the drop off was intense. We continue and see ahead where cars are now lining the side of the road; the 12.5 foot rig is going to be like putting Cinderella’s slipper on a pig’s foot, tight. We manage, BB exists the car feeling nauseated and the need to take in some air. Meanwhile the kids have dressed in record time, have towels in hand and are ready to go. We leave the PV and head to the rapids, we are about to swim. Seconds later the kids are submerged in the rapids and we are left counting heads and spewing names to assure everyone is safe in the mayhem. Their smiles can be seen for miles, we decide to join them knowing they will remember if we don’t. We both plunge in and begin to swim upstream to the rock they are jumping from. We both make clean jumps and are given a soldiers applause for our entry into the rapids. We stay there for about 2 hours and then pack up and head to West Yellowstone. As we leave it begins to rain, again our timing is almost magical. We make the kids have carrots and grapes when they get back in the car, shortly Bricker sees an eagles nest high in a tree, all of us are trying to find it. When we do Peter says man Bricker those carrots work quick. We arrive at the Ko-a and BB gets into trouble for driving too fast in the camp grounds, the kids all had a good laugh. We change clothes and head to town for dinner. We head home and again hook up in the dark, trying to abide by the camp site rules, on our honor. After reading the camp site recent sightings of bears, BB and Beki fall asleep with one eye open.
Day 5
Rules for KOA Campground:
Campground Etiquette
Common sense rules of etiquette prevail when you check into any campground. You will be expected not to make excessive noise. If you arrive at the campground late, keep your lights dim and make as little noise as possible.
We probably should have read this BEFORE we started this trip!
We were up by 7:00am, unhooked the PV and headed out by 8:00am to Cody with coffee in hand for the three hour journey. We have decided by now that the coffee we have every morning made in the PV is the best we have ever had! The kids wake up along the way and have Fruit Loops and Pop Tarts for breakfast. Arrived in Cody by 11:00. To the grocery store we go. We all still have on our matching (Eeyore for the girls and Mountain Dew for the boys) pajamas. Beki, BB and Halee head into the store. We are quite the sight.
We check into the KOA and have the kids make their own sandwiches for lunch. We then had the kids do all the prep work for dinner. Cowboy stew was on the menu. Peter and Bricker put together the grill and Nora, Tim and Halee cut up veggies, potatoes and marinated the meat. Mostly Tim just instructed how everything was supposed to go. We let them work it out - pretty fun to watch. Beki and BB tried to clean the PV and put away clothes and blankets.
Beki and BB made the mistake of saying how smooth everything was going and our blog today was going to be uneventful.......
The kids coming running and beg us to go horseback riding. We agree to go and head over around 2:45 for our adventure.
Jeff Smith, our riding tour guide, walks up to greet us. He is smoking and drinking something that looks like mud or Guinness - we cannot decide. He proceeds to tell us how he has broken ribs from riding last night at the Cody rodeo. Not to worry, he was 3rd in the world, has a ranch in Texas and was shot twice in the war. REALLY?????? We decide to ignore all the stories and go anyway - bad decision! Beki loves to tell a story and tells Jeff Smith that BB is a professional rider and that she is the Northern Illinois barrel rider champion and rodeo queen. He believed it which was quite scary. So Jeff Smith puts BB as the lead rider! At 3:00, Jeff starts to saddle the horses and at 4:00, he is still not done. Nora, Halee and BB all know how to saddle a horse and offer to help. He says no - he has got it. We finally head out. All goes okay in the beginning. Peter's horse can barely walk and he is 1/2 miles behind us. We decide that the horse is dead but just does not know it yet! Beki is so scared - did we mention that she is deathly afraid of horses???. The first to fall off is Halee and her horse runs. Mr. Cowboy, Jeff Smith, yells at BB to catch the horse. BB aka: Calamity Jane, catches the horse, hands it off the Nora and heads back to get Halee. She is fine and gets back on. Tim is then bucked off his horse and that horse heads for the hills. Tim is on the ground and like a wild man, Jeff Smith heads off to catch that horse . BB then tried to turn her horse around to get Tim. Her horse has now decided to go back to the barn. She finally gets the horse to go back - Tim is okay. Tim now tries to get back on the horse and is immediately thrown off and the horse again takes off. Meanwhile, Jeff Smith starts to slump over holding his ribs in pain. Nora takes over the remaining riders to lead them back in. BB is with Tim and Jeff Smith. Tim's horse is now running down highway 14 stopping cars and people getting out trying to corral the horse. This goes on for the longest 15 minutes ever! Tim walks back to the barn. Nora has the group at the barn helping everyone off their horses. Someone from the KOA has gotten the horse off the highway and walking him back in. BB is walking with Tim and where is Jeff Smith??? He arrives back at the barn to collapse on the ground in the fetal position. Beki and BB look at each other in total shock! We now have an audience from the other KOA campers. The owners of the barn are called to come get Jeff Smith. Nora turns to Beki and BB to exclaim ' Horseback riding is awesome'!
We regroup, still no showers, and head to Cody to the boot barn. Now it starts to rain and the wind starts to blow and we are all over the road. Clears up and we go to the Buffalo Bill museum. We arrive 30 minutes before closing and do not have to pay. Thank goodness. Tim, Bricker and Peter are running around to see all the guns while Nora and Halee are laying on the benches bored to tears! The only time we were all interested was seeing the animal exhibits. Big signs everywhere not to touch and our kids are in trouble right away for touching. It was extremely cool, close up and educational. We finally head back to the KOA to shower and get ready for the Cody rodeo. We eat our Cowboy stew at the picnic table, re cap our riding experience, clean up and head to the rodeo. We loved the rodeo! Come home and bed by 11:00 pm. We are all safe and sound another day!
Campground Etiquette
Common sense rules of etiquette prevail when you check into any campground. You will be expected not to make excessive noise. If you arrive at the campground late, keep your lights dim and make as little noise as possible.
We probably should have read this BEFORE we started this trip!
We were up by 7:00am, unhooked the PV and headed out by 8:00am to Cody with coffee in hand for the three hour journey. We have decided by now that the coffee we have every morning made in the PV is the best we have ever had! The kids wake up along the way and have Fruit Loops and Pop Tarts for breakfast. Arrived in Cody by 11:00. To the grocery store we go. We all still have on our matching (Eeyore for the girls and Mountain Dew for the boys) pajamas. Beki, BB and Halee head into the store. We are quite the sight.
We check into the KOA and have the kids make their own sandwiches for lunch. We then had the kids do all the prep work for dinner. Cowboy stew was on the menu. Peter and Bricker put together the grill and Nora, Tim and Halee cut up veggies, potatoes and marinated the meat. Mostly Tim just instructed how everything was supposed to go. We let them work it out - pretty fun to watch. Beki and BB tried to clean the PV and put away clothes and blankets.
Beki and BB made the mistake of saying how smooth everything was going and our blog today was going to be uneventful.......
The kids coming running and beg us to go horseback riding. We agree to go and head over around 2:45 for our adventure.
Jeff Smith, our riding tour guide, walks up to greet us. He is smoking and drinking something that looks like mud or Guinness - we cannot decide. He proceeds to tell us how he has broken ribs from riding last night at the Cody rodeo. Not to worry, he was 3rd in the world, has a ranch in Texas and was shot twice in the war. REALLY?????? We decide to ignore all the stories and go anyway - bad decision! Beki loves to tell a story and tells Jeff Smith that BB is a professional rider and that she is the Northern Illinois barrel rider champion and rodeo queen. He believed it which was quite scary. So Jeff Smith puts BB as the lead rider! At 3:00, Jeff starts to saddle the horses and at 4:00, he is still not done. Nora, Halee and BB all know how to saddle a horse and offer to help. He says no - he has got it. We finally head out. All goes okay in the beginning. Peter's horse can barely walk and he is 1/2 miles behind us. We decide that the horse is dead but just does not know it yet! Beki is so scared - did we mention that she is deathly afraid of horses???. The first to fall off is Halee and her horse runs. Mr. Cowboy, Jeff Smith, yells at BB to catch the horse. BB aka: Calamity Jane, catches the horse, hands it off the Nora and heads back to get Halee. She is fine and gets back on. Tim is then bucked off his horse and that horse heads for the hills. Tim is on the ground and like a wild man, Jeff Smith heads off to catch that horse . BB then tried to turn her horse around to get Tim. Her horse has now decided to go back to the barn. She finally gets the horse to go back - Tim is okay. Tim now tries to get back on the horse and is immediately thrown off and the horse again takes off. Meanwhile, Jeff Smith starts to slump over holding his ribs in pain. Nora takes over the remaining riders to lead them back in. BB is with Tim and Jeff Smith. Tim's horse is now running down highway 14 stopping cars and people getting out trying to corral the horse. This goes on for the longest 15 minutes ever! Tim walks back to the barn. Nora has the group at the barn helping everyone off their horses. Someone from the KOA has gotten the horse off the highway and walking him back in. BB is walking with Tim and where is Jeff Smith??? He arrives back at the barn to collapse on the ground in the fetal position. Beki and BB look at each other in total shock! We now have an audience from the other KOA campers. The owners of the barn are called to come get Jeff Smith. Nora turns to Beki and BB to exclaim ' Horseback riding is awesome'!
We regroup, still no showers, and head to Cody to the boot barn. Now it starts to rain and the wind starts to blow and we are all over the road. Clears up and we go to the Buffalo Bill museum. We arrive 30 minutes before closing and do not have to pay. Thank goodness. Tim, Bricker and Peter are running around to see all the guns while Nora and Halee are laying on the benches bored to tears! The only time we were all interested was seeing the animal exhibits. Big signs everywhere not to touch and our kids are in trouble right away for touching. It was extremely cool, close up and educational. We finally head back to the KOA to shower and get ready for the Cody rodeo. We eat our Cowboy stew at the picnic table, re cap our riding experience, clean up and head to the rodeo. We loved the rodeo! Come home and bed by 11:00 pm. We are all safe and sound another day!
Friday, August 6, 2010
Day 4
We woke up to view our campgrounds for the first time. We realize, from looking around at the professional campers, that we forgot plants to place around our camper, covers for our tires, tablecloths for our picnic table, sign displaying our name and numerous other camping accessories. OUR camper however has a lovely mural of Mr. Rushmore, an extra large 'rent me' decal and numerous signs explaining how to hook everything up adorning it's exterior. There is a knock on the door and the KOA manager tells us we are flooding our campground because our hose was not hooked up properly. There is small 'east bay' around us.
Halee wakes up and walks around with BB and Beki to catch another toad in the pool that displays a closed sign. So she climbs over the fence!
The rest of the kids wake up. Breakfast consists of Dry Fruit Loops or a bagel - only blueberry because the plain ones have gone moldy in the refrigerator we forgot to turn on. Pump out next - Lordy, Lordy! Bricker and Halee have agreed to help. The hose is hooked on after everyone has put their rubber gloves on. Halee unscrews cap and we make the connect. As soon as the water starts running, Beki, Bricker and Halee all proceed to start gagging. BB comes out to help finish the job.
We finish up unhooking and head out to the Badlands. We took all electronics and forced the kids to take in the scenery. BB is white knuckle driving and the roads are skinny and laden with motorcycles (all headed to Sturgis).
We see a mountain lion, 10,000 prairie dogs, bisons, cows and numerous birds. We stop and the kids go for a hike. We start to look for them and notice the 'watch for rattlesnakes' signs. We, with love, began to scream their names to get down here NOW!
Went to Keystone to check out the Sturgis Rally riders. The boys really enjoyed some of the outfits the girls on the bikes were wearing. Remember they are 11, 12 and 13 years old.
We head to Mt. Rushmore. We meet the last surviving worker from Mt. Rushmore. He worked eight hours a day, six days a week, for 65 cents an hour. That was good money for that time. He worked there four years and mostly on Lincoln. Of the four hundred workers, he is the last living worker at 89 years old. We asked tons of questions and really enjoyed talking to him. We of course bought his book and carried on. We stayed at Mt. Rushmore for a few hours and loved it!!! We forgot to mention that we all had on Muppets and Sesame street shirts and hats and were getting quite the stares!!! As we are driving out of the park, we stop to ask one of the employees how to get to Deadwood, SD. He takes a look at our crew and says that it is really not a place for children!!! Major change of plans - we head to Custer. Our final destination is Sheridan WY were we have reservations at the KOA. Keep in mind that we still have not eaten. We decide to get to Gillette, WY and find something there. The kids nestle in with the movie 'Little Big Man' donated by Uncle Tim.
Nora fills the toilet nearly outdoing Bricker from yesterday, however today Beki did get sick out the side of the PV. No stopping for that and again no sympathy from anyone. Halee slams her finger in the door similar to Tim and Bricker yesterday and Nora has to free her finger from the door. Three down, four to go!
We realize that we are further from Sheridan than we thought, so Beki calls the KOA in Sheridan to see about stopping somewhere else. There apparently is not a KOA before Sheridan. We are still three hours away and it is now 7:30pm. Again it looks like we will be hooking up the PV in the dark! We get to Custer and only see a subway. We decide to go to Gillette for food. Meanwhile, we break out the chips and salsa and ration each child's portion ensuring that BB and Beki get some this time.
Nearing Gillette, we see an Applebees sign and decide to order food to go. BB drops off the crew to get food and goes to get gas. Applebees cannot guarantee the food to be safe for Peter, so we end up with A&W and Taco Bell - quite nutritious.
While driving to Sheridan, the road is long and quiet and we feel like we are the only ones on the road. Out of nowhere comes an old beat up car with the windows all dark. It passes us and then slows down. We pass them and this continues until it starts to creep us out. It was like one of those scary movies. A bus comes along and we stay close to them for the rest of the way. As we arrive in Sheridan, Halee takes her turn in the bathroom and stinks up the entire camper. We find our Ko- a as the kids call it now and Beki goes outside immediately with rubber gloves in hand to hook up - in the dark! BB is left inside to with all five kids watching her unclog the toilet without a plunger but with rubber gloves. BB takes care of it as the kids run out of the PV screaming 'She touched it - She touched it' and laughing hysterically. Beki can hear the whole thing and is just thanking the good lord that she is outside. This is all happening during 'quiet time' at the campground. We finish up, clean up and change into our matching pajamas.
We made popcorn with the whirly pop popcorn machine that Aunt Linda gave us. We sat up for two hours with the kids, re caped the day and told stories and just enjoy this special time with them.
Quick reference - we refer to the RV as the PV - story in day 2.
We love the comments - keep them coming!
Halee wakes up and walks around with BB and Beki to catch another toad in the pool that displays a closed sign. So she climbs over the fence!
The rest of the kids wake up. Breakfast consists of Dry Fruit Loops or a bagel - only blueberry because the plain ones have gone moldy in the refrigerator we forgot to turn on. Pump out next - Lordy, Lordy! Bricker and Halee have agreed to help. The hose is hooked on after everyone has put their rubber gloves on. Halee unscrews cap and we make the connect. As soon as the water starts running, Beki, Bricker and Halee all proceed to start gagging. BB comes out to help finish the job.
We finish up unhooking and head out to the Badlands. We took all electronics and forced the kids to take in the scenery. BB is white knuckle driving and the roads are skinny and laden with motorcycles (all headed to Sturgis).
We see a mountain lion, 10,000 prairie dogs, bisons, cows and numerous birds. We stop and the kids go for a hike. We start to look for them and notice the 'watch for rattlesnakes' signs. We, with love, began to scream their names to get down here NOW!
Went to Keystone to check out the Sturgis Rally riders. The boys really enjoyed some of the outfits the girls on the bikes were wearing. Remember they are 11, 12 and 13 years old.
We head to Mt. Rushmore. We meet the last surviving worker from Mt. Rushmore. He worked eight hours a day, six days a week, for 65 cents an hour. That was good money for that time. He worked there four years and mostly on Lincoln. Of the four hundred workers, he is the last living worker at 89 years old. We asked tons of questions and really enjoyed talking to him. We of course bought his book and carried on. We stayed at Mt. Rushmore for a few hours and loved it!!! We forgot to mention that we all had on Muppets and Sesame street shirts and hats and were getting quite the stares!!! As we are driving out of the park, we stop to ask one of the employees how to get to Deadwood, SD. He takes a look at our crew and says that it is really not a place for children!!! Major change of plans - we head to Custer. Our final destination is Sheridan WY were we have reservations at the KOA. Keep in mind that we still have not eaten. We decide to get to Gillette, WY and find something there. The kids nestle in with the movie 'Little Big Man' donated by Uncle Tim.
Nora fills the toilet nearly outdoing Bricker from yesterday, however today Beki did get sick out the side of the PV. No stopping for that and again no sympathy from anyone. Halee slams her finger in the door similar to Tim and Bricker yesterday and Nora has to free her finger from the door. Three down, four to go!
We realize that we are further from Sheridan than we thought, so Beki calls the KOA in Sheridan to see about stopping somewhere else. There apparently is not a KOA before Sheridan. We are still three hours away and it is now 7:30pm. Again it looks like we will be hooking up the PV in the dark! We get to Custer and only see a subway. We decide to go to Gillette for food. Meanwhile, we break out the chips and salsa and ration each child's portion ensuring that BB and Beki get some this time.
Nearing Gillette, we see an Applebees sign and decide to order food to go. BB drops off the crew to get food and goes to get gas. Applebees cannot guarantee the food to be safe for Peter, so we end up with A&W and Taco Bell - quite nutritious.
While driving to Sheridan, the road is long and quiet and we feel like we are the only ones on the road. Out of nowhere comes an old beat up car with the windows all dark. It passes us and then slows down. We pass them and this continues until it starts to creep us out. It was like one of those scary movies. A bus comes along and we stay close to them for the rest of the way. As we arrive in Sheridan, Halee takes her turn in the bathroom and stinks up the entire camper. We find our Ko- a as the kids call it now and Beki goes outside immediately with rubber gloves in hand to hook up - in the dark! BB is left inside to with all five kids watching her unclog the toilet without a plunger but with rubber gloves. BB takes care of it as the kids run out of the PV screaming 'She touched it - She touched it' and laughing hysterically. Beki can hear the whole thing and is just thanking the good lord that she is outside. This is all happening during 'quiet time' at the campground. We finish up, clean up and change into our matching pajamas.
We made popcorn with the whirly pop popcorn machine that Aunt Linda gave us. We sat up for two hours with the kids, re caped the day and told stories and just enjoy this special time with them.
Quick reference - we refer to the RV as the PV - story in day 2.
We love the comments - keep them coming!
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Day 3
Famous last words as BB and I planned our day: "we need to be in the KOA campground before it gets dark so we can hook every thing up correctly the first time, so lets be in by 7:30". After a great night of sleep the kids got in swim suits and headed for the pool while BB and I headed to get a little exercise on the treadmill, this lasted 20 minutes when the kids came to tell us the hot tub smelt of pee---seems to be the theme of this trip. After taking showers we head to breakfast in the lobby. The lobby was full of people waiting in line for the Treasure Hunters road show, the kids all wanted to see what they had they were not so eager about us. We dined with tables of older people who did not really welcome the excitement of our five kids and with our $40 vouchers from the inconveniences of last night. By 10:30 we were on our way to the Corn Palace in Mitchell South Dakota. Along the way Bricker decides he needs to use the bathroom and soon the PV was overcome with a horrific odor. He opens the door the allow more odor into the living space to tell us that he can not get it to go down the hole. I now have my head out the window like the Shaggy Dog, with fear I may not keep my breakfast down as I am driving 65mph down interstate 90. No sympathy from this crowd they have gone from yelling at Bricker to laughing and watching me. BB is now in tears by my side and hands me a baby wipe to put up my nose to void the ordor. Mean while Tim and Peter want to go back and see how big it is.....true Brick boys. Next we arrive at the Corn Palace I still need to put on my matching MSU t-shirt and while doing so 3 motorcycles drive into the parking lot to a front view of me. We walked around the corn palace for about 15 minutes then went inside for about 5 minutes and the kids were ready to leave, as we are leaving I ask a few questions about the construction and the lady asks if we saw the 15 minute video, I then make the kids go back into the corn place bribing them with taffy to watch the video. Dragging their feet they go in and find a seat, it was actually really good. We head out to take pictures and BB gets asked to take pitures for an Asain family, the lady proceeds for the next 10 minutes to tell BB how to take the picture, where to stand and hold the camera. next the lady comes over and tells us how to take pictures of our family we are all just laughing. We hit some shops, get back into the PV and head to Wall Drug. During the next 3 hours we counted wall drug signs and dealt with Tim's nose burning stench coming from his shorts. BB tried to go to the bathroom while I intentionally zig zagged down the road laughing so hard. We have now officailly named the passenger seat the hot flashseat as one's body temperature exceeds 100 degrees when you sit there, OMG I am sitting here now. We now need to find powder to put in Peter's boot cast, did we mention Peter has a broken foot, as it is beginning to smell. Finding store is not and easy mission. We arrive at Wall Drug around 7:30 we promtly lose the boys in the excitement, while looking for them we hear several pop guns go off in the back of the store, BB and I look at each other and laugh knowing for sure have just found them. Sure enough. We wonder Wall Drug and fall into and old time photo booth where we go an get photos with the kids----to much fun. We are so lucky. The kids are having so much fun. It is now 9:30 and realize the kids have not had a meal since 10 am and they are now hungry chiefs. We head to the store and Subway and back into the PV to head to our first camp sitght, it is now 9:45 and getting dark. We suddenly smell somthing funny, I ask Nora if the stove is on, she goes to check and turns on the pilot to the stove igniting the burner. We now have a fire started, BB bolts to the back of the PV to extinguishe the flames, is this really happening? Journey continues, we turn into the bad lands and the topography has changed and so have the roads, I am struggleing to see the kids are anxious and we are all tired. I let the car know they need to quiet down cause I have night blindness and driving is dfficult when I realize I still have my sunglasses on, I take them off and much to my surpirse it is not that dark out...another good laugh. BB calls the campgrounds to let them know we are on our way and we are informed that they will close at 10, we have 4 minutes to travel 15 winding miles. The lady says she will wait. We travel about 5 more miles and come to a campground we pull in BB gets out and gets us registered, then comes out to the car and asks me to go in when we realize this is not the KOA we are registered at, we get back in the car and head to our desination. We arrive about 10:30, the lady is gone and left our instrucitons on the door. We find our camp site and now have to figure out how to set everything up, for the first time, in the dark, during quiet hours. It is now about 11pm. With flashlight in hand and our "Crusin A,merica" guide in hand we manage to make it happen. Kids have now found a huge toad and are chasing it around. We all get into our matching PJs and begin to play a competive game of 99, this last about 20 minutes when we all decide we need to go to bed. Everyone piles into their sleeping area, BB and I in the back room. The two of us proceed to rehash our day and begin to laugh uncontrolably for about 10 minutes with all the kids telling us to be quiet and stop laughing, which we can't. Around 4 am Halee crawls into bed with us freezing cause we left the air conditioner on high because we could not find the controls, I then left the bed and went to the overhead compartment where we all slept till 8:30. Two additions for the day
1. Bricker slams his finger in the door to the camper while laying on the floor in pain Tim gets up to shut the door and joins Bricker in his agony as Tim slammed his finger in the door as well.
2. One of the kids saw the sign for the KOA and said hey look there is a Ko A there too. So now BB and I refer to our camp grounds as the Ko a.
Day 3 comes to an end. :)
1. Bricker slams his finger in the door to the camper while laying on the floor in pain Tim gets up to shut the door and joins Bricker in his agony as Tim slammed his finger in the door as well.
2. One of the kids saw the sign for the KOA and said hey look there is a Ko A there too. So now BB and I refer to our camp grounds as the Ko a.
Day 3 comes to an end. :)
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Day 2
On the road by six a.m. with coffee in hand!!! The kids slept in the RV so Beki and I jumped into the front and took off. We did not hear a peep from the kids for two and a half hour until we were pulling into Chicago during the morning rush hour (not good planning). They immediately have to use the bathroom upon where we realize that we did not receive the kit from the RV rental place with all the chemicals for the toilet!!! Yuk! All five of the kids start to spout off instructions, directions etc... We for sure have too many chiefs and not enough Indians in this small traveling piece of tin!!! They are all STARVING and need to eat NOW as we are sitting at a dead stop. We ask if they would like to take the Harlem exit or the Cabrini greens exit and which of the 'projects' with the metal burning barrels they would like to eat at. That quiets them down for a little while. Thank goodness for the dozens of cookies that Aunt MariClare sent along - the kids manage to polish those off. You would think they had not eaten in days.
Meanwhile, my legs have reached 110 degrees and I figure out that I am not having a hot flash - Beki has been driving in overdrive for the past 40 minutes and my side of the car is steaming and now the 9 volt plug ins have all overheated! We have also banned the use of the bathroom until further notice due the stench.
We promptly call our friendly Cruising America rep to schedule a stop in Madison, Wisconsin to fix the 9 volt plugs. We are almost sure he hates us by now!!! He has surely written some pretty nasty comments in his computer or blog!!!
We make a short stop for gas, food and ice and most importantly to look for the 'drop ins' for the toilet, to no avail.
Onto Madison where we spend the next hour and a half playing 'I spy' in the car dealership lobby - at least it had air and clean bathrooms. One nice gentleman brought out lollipops for us and we think it was to keep our mouths shut. We leave the dealership with only one plug working and head towards Minnesota.
I take over driving and as we are driving through Winona and down to one skinny lane of construction, Terry calls from London and needs to talk to me, the air condition goes out, Beki swears her feet are blistering from the heat and keeps asking me to touch them - gross. Tim is panicking because the ipad is dying and needs to be plugged in where we currently have the GPS plugged in. We also realized awhile back we need the GPS at all times after getting lost in Gary, Indiana. Calgon - take me away! I hang up the phone, plug in the ipad, wipe the beads of sweat from my brow forge on. I still refuse to touch Beki's feet. By the way, that was just a five minute glimpse of RV paradise!!!
Beki gets the kids to play a friendly game of silo counting. Did I mention we have all competitive chiefs on board? Although Minnesota is the land of ten thousand lakes, it should be the land of ten thousand silos. Within minutes, we have all out war fare among our sweet loving children as they piercing eyes scan the horizon looking for the most silos. You would think this was a professional sport! We realize they do not even know what a silo is, they just want to win! Game over - I cannot stand the screaming while I trying to drive.
We arrive at Albert Lee by 6:30 where we again look for toilet drop ins (I still do not know what they are called) No luck! We find Applebees - Yeah - they actually have a allergy friendly menu - Go Applebees!!! Peter has a meal with no worries - except for Beki and I - we always worry! Dinner is great until the waitress asked where we are heading to. We tell her Worthington for the night and she gets a strange look on her face. We inquire and she tells us she would NOT stay there, it is not safe and she s from there!!! OMG! The couple behind eavesdropping on our conversation, stand up at our table and confirm that it would not be a smart move. After talking to them, we decide to stop in Fairmont and spend the night!
An hour later, we are so excited to land in Fairmont and guess what? - they have a Walmart and a Holiday Inn - right next to each other - things are looking up! The Walmart has the toilet 'drop ins' (that is actually what they are called) and rubber gloves for when we actually have to do the pump out - Gross again! We check in the Holiday Inn and get connecting rooms. When we walk in the rooms, one is all made up and the other one has all the bedding wadded up in the middle of the bed and it smells like PEE. What is it about this trip and urine. We decide we are PV ing instead of RV ing. Ha! We then move to two new rooms which takes another half hour. We are thinking we will get in our rooms, let the kids swim and go to bed. Not happening, as the kids (with swim suits in hand) watch the maintenance man close up the pool for the night.
After fourteen hours of PV ing, we are just happy to go to bed. Tomorrow is KOA campground or bust!
Meanwhile, my legs have reached 110 degrees and I figure out that I am not having a hot flash - Beki has been driving in overdrive for the past 40 minutes and my side of the car is steaming and now the 9 volt plug ins have all overheated! We have also banned the use of the bathroom until further notice due the stench.
We promptly call our friendly Cruising America rep to schedule a stop in Madison, Wisconsin to fix the 9 volt plugs. We are almost sure he hates us by now!!! He has surely written some pretty nasty comments in his computer or blog!!!
We make a short stop for gas, food and ice and most importantly to look for the 'drop ins' for the toilet, to no avail.
Onto Madison where we spend the next hour and a half playing 'I spy' in the car dealership lobby - at least it had air and clean bathrooms. One nice gentleman brought out lollipops for us and we think it was to keep our mouths shut. We leave the dealership with only one plug working and head towards Minnesota.
I take over driving and as we are driving through Winona and down to one skinny lane of construction, Terry calls from London and needs to talk to me, the air condition goes out, Beki swears her feet are blistering from the heat and keeps asking me to touch them - gross. Tim is panicking because the ipad is dying and needs to be plugged in where we currently have the GPS plugged in. We also realized awhile back we need the GPS at all times after getting lost in Gary, Indiana. Calgon - take me away! I hang up the phone, plug in the ipad, wipe the beads of sweat from my brow forge on. I still refuse to touch Beki's feet. By the way, that was just a five minute glimpse of RV paradise!!!
Beki gets the kids to play a friendly game of silo counting. Did I mention we have all competitive chiefs on board? Although Minnesota is the land of ten thousand lakes, it should be the land of ten thousand silos. Within minutes, we have all out war fare among our sweet loving children as they piercing eyes scan the horizon looking for the most silos. You would think this was a professional sport! We realize they do not even know what a silo is, they just want to win! Game over - I cannot stand the screaming while I trying to drive.
We arrive at Albert Lee by 6:30 where we again look for toilet drop ins (I still do not know what they are called) No luck! We find Applebees - Yeah - they actually have a allergy friendly menu - Go Applebees!!! Peter has a meal with no worries - except for Beki and I - we always worry! Dinner is great until the waitress asked where we are heading to. We tell her Worthington for the night and she gets a strange look on her face. We inquire and she tells us she would NOT stay there, it is not safe and she s from there!!! OMG! The couple behind eavesdropping on our conversation, stand up at our table and confirm that it would not be a smart move. After talking to them, we decide to stop in Fairmont and spend the night!
An hour later, we are so excited to land in Fairmont and guess what? - they have a Walmart and a Holiday Inn - right next to each other - things are looking up! The Walmart has the toilet 'drop ins' (that is actually what they are called) and rubber gloves for when we actually have to do the pump out - Gross again! We check in the Holiday Inn and get connecting rooms. When we walk in the rooms, one is all made up and the other one has all the bedding wadded up in the middle of the bed and it smells like PEE. What is it about this trip and urine. We decide we are PV ing instead of RV ing. Ha! We then move to two new rooms which takes another half hour. We are thinking we will get in our rooms, let the kids swim and go to bed. Not happening, as the kids (with swim suits in hand) watch the maintenance man close up the pool for the night.
After fourteen hours of PV ing, we are just happy to go to bed. Tomorrow is KOA campground or bust!
Monday, August 2, 2010
Before we even got on the road
This is the first day of our 10 day excursion. We are planning on a trip from Michigan to Minnesota, South Dakota, and Montana. We have this fabulous trip planned and everything seems so easy. We have it completely mapped out from renting the RV to every KOA campground and every monument/statepark we want to see. My sister in law has talked me into this with our combined five children ages 9-14. It seemed like a great idea at the time........
Day One:
Picking up the RV at 12:30 pm. My beloved sister in law tells me we just have to watch a short video and then we are set to go. How fun is that??? We have the RV that sleeps seven people comfortably. I think how easy and fun this will be. In fact, I have told so many people about this that now I have to go through with this no matter what. We arrive at our slotted time where our friendly 'Cruisin America' representative greets us. We sit down and watch the video where my sister in law promptly falls asleep in her chair. I on the other hand am trying to figure what the hell the 'gen adaptor' is. This was way too much information for someone who has never driven an RV in her life. My sister in law wakes up and ask our 'Cruisin America' representative to start the tape over where at that point I am ready to slap her!!! We painfully watch the 20 minute tape AGAIN and are ready to walk the RV.
We walk around the outside of the RV and learn what all of the plugs, outlets, pump outs were and mentally make notes of what we need asap - rubber gloves, bleach etc... I never thought about the human waste component of this aventure. I have got to have the gloves!!!
Onto the inside of the RV. Open the door and the stench of pee reeks!!! My sister in lawi starts gagging it is so bad!!!
We imediately tell our 'Cruisin America' representative that this RV is unexceptable! We cannot even step into it without the smell of urine!!! He tells us numerous time how he 'freebreezed' it. I am sorry - that is just not good enough. How about scrubbing the cushions??? He says it will be a couple of more hours before he can get the next RV ready. There is no way we can ride for ten days in the pee filled RV.
Our plan was to be on the road by 2:30 and now we are just picking up the RV at 4:30pm. We still have a 40 min. drive back to my sister in law's house to load the RV. We arrive and walk through the new RV to which the floors have still not been cleaned. Our friendly 'Cruisin American' representative finally mops the floor with some gross mop and freebreezed, then hands over the keys. My sister in law promptly turns to me and tells me I am driving back to her house.
I get into the RV, set the mirrors and off we go. My journey begins on a 'under construction' dirt road. It feels like I could have been in a covered wagon (not that I am that old). It was shaking soooo bad. I could not go over 55 mph without feeling like the RV was going to explode. All I keep thinking is what has my sister in law has gotten me into.
We finally arrive back to my sister in law's house at around 6pm and the kids coming running. It takes us forever to load and ORGANIZE and RE-CLEAN(with bleach) the RV. Neither my sister in law or I are good at driving late at night so now we have decide to stay at her for the night and leave by 5am tomorrow. We have not even started our trip and we are already behind! Let you know what happens tomorrow!!!
Day One:
Picking up the RV at 12:30 pm. My beloved sister in law tells me we just have to watch a short video and then we are set to go. How fun is that??? We have the RV that sleeps seven people comfortably. I think how easy and fun this will be. In fact, I have told so many people about this that now I have to go through with this no matter what. We arrive at our slotted time where our friendly 'Cruisin America' representative greets us. We sit down and watch the video where my sister in law promptly falls asleep in her chair. I on the other hand am trying to figure what the hell the 'gen adaptor' is. This was way too much information for someone who has never driven an RV in her life. My sister in law wakes up and ask our 'Cruisin America' representative to start the tape over where at that point I am ready to slap her!!! We painfully watch the 20 minute tape AGAIN and are ready to walk the RV.
We walk around the outside of the RV and learn what all of the plugs, outlets, pump outs were and mentally make notes of what we need asap - rubber gloves, bleach etc... I never thought about the human waste component of this aventure. I have got to have the gloves!!!
Onto the inside of the RV. Open the door and the stench of pee reeks!!! My sister in lawi starts gagging it is so bad!!!
We imediately tell our 'Cruisin America' representative that this RV is unexceptable! We cannot even step into it without the smell of urine!!! He tells us numerous time how he 'freebreezed' it. I am sorry - that is just not good enough. How about scrubbing the cushions??? He says it will be a couple of more hours before he can get the next RV ready. There is no way we can ride for ten days in the pee filled RV.
Our plan was to be on the road by 2:30 and now we are just picking up the RV at 4:30pm. We still have a 40 min. drive back to my sister in law's house to load the RV. We arrive and walk through the new RV to which the floors have still not been cleaned. Our friendly 'Cruisin American' representative finally mops the floor with some gross mop and freebreezed, then hands over the keys. My sister in law promptly turns to me and tells me I am driving back to her house.
I get into the RV, set the mirrors and off we go. My journey begins on a 'under construction' dirt road. It feels like I could have been in a covered wagon (not that I am that old). It was shaking soooo bad. I could not go over 55 mph without feeling like the RV was going to explode. All I keep thinking is what has my sister in law has gotten me into.
We finally arrive back to my sister in law's house at around 6pm and the kids coming running. It takes us forever to load and ORGANIZE and RE-CLEAN(with bleach) the RV. Neither my sister in law or I are good at driving late at night so now we have decide to stay at her for the night and leave by 5am tomorrow. We have not even started our trip and we are already behind! Let you know what happens tomorrow!!!
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