2016 Road Trip - Day 9

Day 9: Packed up and headed through Yellowstone with Ethel in tow.

First stop would be Lower Geyser Basin and the Fountain Paint Pot.

Oma and the kids took the walk around as Doug and I hung out in Ethel and waited.

What we have learned is that taking a dog with you on vacation isn't always the best idea as no dogs allowed on the walk ways. And it's just too hot to leave him in the truck or Ethel. Live and learn.

Next stop Midway Geyser.

This parking lot was SO FULL that I couldn't even park, I just drove with the flow of traffic in the parking lot circle until the family got back.

Black Sand Basin seemed quiet so we pulled in there and even parked!

I was able to get out and take my first look at these bubbling pools of water and color. Incredible. It's like we are not even on planet earth. So glad I was able to walk these paths and see this wonder! (Walking is getting easier each day as the pain becomes less.)

Bison? We want to see a bison!
Got our wish!
Oma took Doug outside for a quick pee when a bison walked out of the bushes next to her. She quickly came and got us so we could also view this magnificent beast, while Oma had to changed her shorts! ;-)

Cole was able to get this photo as I tried but the camera was on a selfie and I couldn't find the reverse button quick enough. I guess I could have snapped a photo of myself "seeing" the bison but it just wouldn't have done the bison justice.

OH NO!
As we were standing there admiring the bison who had just walked away another bison walked out of the bushes right behind...directly behind Jo and Cole. We all jumped back quickly and this time I had the camera correct.

This is how close we were...well, Jo was probably closer at the time the bison was first spotted. Talk about an adrenaline rush!

The bison didn't seem to care one way or the other that we were standing there, he was on his way to the river for a drink and a sauna I guess.

Continental Divide = COOL!

OK, I understand what this place is but I had zero clue that there was a river that flowed both directions (really, its a pond, but the point is about water flow...)

What an incredible thing. Mother Earth is just awesome!!!

Stopped Traffic? Must mean some sort of animal to photograph.

What a rack on this dude!!!

Mud Volcano...is stinky.

A stranger told me to go stick my foot in the mud bath as it would probably heal me faster. I love people, they make me laugh often.

Dragon Mouth is also stinky but cool looking. It did remind me of a dragon breathing out of the mouth of the cave. The sound of the water and steam also helped this effect.

Time to move out of Yellowstone, or so Mom thought.

Jo: "Can we swim?"

So we stopped at Yellowstone Lake and the kids swam and skipped rocks for about a half hour. Water was cold and according to the kids it was colder the deeper they moved in the water.

It was a nice end to visiting the park.

NOW it's time to head out of Yellowstone.

Cody, WY: Oma ran into the Visitor center to grab a Wyoming map and also got some good information on the roads best travel. We changed our road choice to stay away from some of the higher elevations and steeper grades as Lucy is sounding worse each day.

Greybull, WY: for dinner in Ethel.
Again we drove too long and it was hot and we were cranky.
I'd say live and learn but we probably will do this again.

Fascinating weather. Left Greybull and it was in the low 80's when we hit rain and sideways wind gusts. The temp dropped to 63 and I really had to hold onto the steering wheel. After about five minutes of this we drove out of the rain and the temp again jumped back to the low 80's. Fascinating...like I said.

Worland, WY: for the night.

This is our view from the kitchen table at 6 a.m.
Nice town and nice store manager to let us park for the night. We purchased a few items from his store in thanks. Jo and Oma went for a walk to a park one block away, there was a farmer's market! Tamales for dinner!!! Oh, and Oma got her geocache.

2016 Road Trip - Day 7 & 8

Already over a week. Sure doesn't feel like it.

Day 7: Quiet night's sleep in our RV campground, woke to birds chirping and bunnies running around the campers. Very nice indeed.

Bozeman Trail.

Yup, an informational sign and another beautiful valley surrounded by the Rockies.

Could have made a stop at Ennis as it sure was a cute place. Tons of metal work of people, animals and more. But I think we were all ready to put Ethel into a parking spot that would last a couple days instead of just one night.

Oma did make us stop at an earth-cache at Earthquake Lake. (Thank you Oma and Geocaching)

This lake formed after an earthquake shook loose a hillside. It was so fast and violent that boulders from one side just slid to the other side of small valley without even tumbling. However, the really fascinating thing was that while reading about the incident we met a lady who had been camping down stream and told us her recollection of shaking earth and swaying trees. The sheer amount of earth that was displaced along with how fast created hurricane force winds that make their way down hill. What are the chances of meeting someone who was there in 1959 when a 7.6 earthquake hit?

We pulled into West Yellowstone early afternoon and after unpacking we all took a few hours for ourselves to just be.

Thanks to Oma for pushing us out the door to head into Yellowstone. Stopped in what seemed like a quiet part of the river so the kids could swim. Current still to strong for them to go out to far but the water was warmer than Oregon rivers (according to the kids) and crystal clear. Absolutely beautiful.

We made Old Faithful with 15 minutes before she shot up. Perfect timing.

Another close by spout (Beehive) went off within minutes of Old Faithful, it lasted quiet a long time and people could stand close enough to get soaked.

Not much wild life was seen. We passed a large mammal and Oma yelled out "A female moose! It's a FEMALE MOOSE!!" So we turned around and headed back to take a closer look and maybe grab a photo. When we arrived back to her Oma then said "DAMN IT, It's just an elk, well poop!" We all laughed.

Day 8: Lucy doesn't sound good and I'm sure it's an exhaust leak so we did a few searches online and Mom went out looking for a mechanic. Zero luck finding anyone who had time or did this type of work. Dang it.

Oma did some laundry while the kids slept in and after a bite of lunch we took the kids to Yellowstone Zip Line Adventure Park.

This was a hit as the kids played for over four hours. Some GREAT employees that taught the kids games to play up high like "who can push the other off the log" and...
 
going on the zip line backwards.

Jo, Cole and Clara hanging out for the zip line line.

Cole, Clara and Jo.

It's now towards the end of day 8 and we are doing the rest of our laundry, dinner and cleaning Ethel for our moving forward in the morning.

2016 Road Trip - Day 5 & 6

Day 5: Jill took off in the a.m. to grab some geocaches while the kids were still sleeping and the town was quiet. She called on the
help of some fellow geocachers to grab a web cache. Thanks Mom & Dad.

We then loaded up Ethel and parked down town Leavenworth for a late morning walkabout. A few shops we had each picked out the night before and food were on our to-do's.

Pastries and ginger bread snaps were yummy.

These are always a must do.

It was a HOT day, staying out of the sun was hard and even when we did we were sweating. Oma is loving the heat though, staying out of the sun but loving the heat.

The kids hit the candy store (again) where they bought some old fashioned candies like the wax bottles with sugar drink inside, mini soda cans with pop-like rocks, bubble gum cigarets and pop rocks.

We stopped at a Cheesemonger and the Cure store and sampled all we could and Oma bought a thick slice of garlic cheese And cured bacon. The bacon wrapped around the cheese was a hit on the road later.

And we got our bratwurst too. A little mustard and some sourcrout made it PERFECT! Kielbasa wasn't bad either. This little town would be great to visit in the winter as well with its beautiful mountain backdrop.

Onwards!

Dry Falls on the Coulee. What a spectacular sight. One can only imagine what this would have looked like with water pouring over these cliffs. For scale, Niagara Falls is about 1/4 the size.

And the then the Grand Coulee Dam.

Yup, we pulled into the parking lot and walked to the edge of the viewing area, took this photo and loaded up and headed out.

NOT TRUE! Jo did say "Oooo....Aahhhh...can we go now?"

We also had to do a quick stop at a wheat field because Jo kept saying "I want to stand out in that field and sing The Hills Are Alive With The Sound Of Music".

Stopped at the edge of Wilbur in a gravel lot to fix and eat dinner. Oma grabbed a couple soda's and some fresh cut fries from a local burger place next door. I'd show you a picture here but again, three of the four of us were suffering the heat and crankiness was abundant.

Our final stop for the night was a Walmart in Spokane. I think we are all getting use to hearing freeway noise and semi trucks. I know it's the best night sleep I have gotten so far but then again I'm up at 5:30am and writing this. At least it's cool outside and that feels good.

Thinking another RV park for tonight so we can plug in and run our a/c, plus we would all be able to shower which will feel good as well.

Day 6: Decided to wake the kids early to get an early start. Everyone was loaded up when I stepped out of Ethel and well...we spent the next hour and 1/2 here.

And I have a severe sprain and a small fracture. Now I'm in a boot and with crutches.
Ok, I cried from the pain, but mostly I cried because it was/is going to change my trip and that sucks!

Jill did a fabulous job driving Ethel through town and out on the highways. Quite proud of my girl picking it up with ease. Me on the other hand did NOT do well at all with navigating and reading about the sites we were passing by or coming too. When Jill is navigating she keeps us entertained with facts and details about the areas we're traveling and the three of us are really enjoying this.

We visited the Center of the Universe located in Wallace, Idaho.

Prove that this is not the center of the universe. HA

The kids also grabbed this quick photo located near a restaurant and hotel.

Wallace is a cute little town of just over 900 people and I think most of them ride through town on four wheelers and golf carts. I loved it a lot! Neat buildings and store fronts. Worth the stop.

Pushed on, stopping for about an hour in Missoula, Montana as Jo has begged for two days to swim. Found a nice park where the kids swam about an hour
in the Clark Fork River. (This river seems to go on forever.)

Final stop for the day was Three Forks which is about an hour-plus south east of Billings, Montana.

(huckleberry ice-cream...nom nom)
The mountains are gorgeous and the rolling hills as well. Much cooler weather today and this evening is quite nice. Our park is off the main highway, it might be too quite for all of us to sleep. Not!

2016 Road Trip - Day 4

Day 4: We finished our day at the ball fields with the boys rallying from behind 1 - 4 and winning 5 - 4. Cole had the privilege to pitch the last two innings where he forced their batters to hit ground balls to our infielders for outs. He again came off the field with a smile on his face and just pure joy.

Jill and the other coaches worked very hard for these boys, getting them to come together as an actual team. We started to hear them cheer for each other, taking some sacrifice at bats to move runners over, running on and off the field (vs strolling as they started out) and so much more. I listened to Jill talk to the boys after the last game complementing each boy and pointing out how "team" means not being selfish and she was proud of each of them. I could see their faces as she spoke and I believe all these boys left this weekend more proud of their experience than before. I know I am quite proud.

We packed up Ethel in record time and drove out of the parking lot to head for our next adventure. As we drove down the road a very large sign read "FRESH FRUIT" so we made a quick stop.

Everyone grabbed a little something including a "donut peach". Never heard of one of these but it's quite flat and round. Oh, and some fresh corn on the cob to go with our hotdog dinner. Yum!

As we drove, Jo would...we'll see for yourself.

Destination: Leavenworth
We pulled into a small RV camp site next to Leavenworth WA, quickly ate some dinner and then headed to town for about an hour of walkabout.

What a FUN town! Too much to look at, too much to eat....

We tried some gelato and a delicious fresh made pretzel.

Just too tired to keep going so we headed back to the RV for some much needed showers and bed. Will be heading back into town to see more of the sites and try more of the food. On the menu: sausage, pastries and a bratwurst at the very least.

2016 Road Trip - Day 1-3

What we have always wanted to do as a family is take Lucy and Ethel out for a road trip. Summer of 2016 is that time!!!

We had a small detour at the beginning of our trip with a last of the summer baseball tournament that Cole was invited too. So our first long day stop would be Yakama WA.

Day 1: We stopped at Multnomah Falls. No hiking as this would be our only day with a time line, but we did walk to the base and then through the interpretive center.

We also were standing under the rail road tracks when a train went over head. Not a big deal you say? The tracks were only 8 or 9 feet off the ground so WOW. Rumbled through our bodies with the impressive power, weight and speed. Poor Doug didn't like it at all.

Next quick stop was Bonneville Dam. Again, no tour but the kids and Mom walked through the building looking at some of the history and the fish ladder (Oma walked outside with Doug and saw the neat fish ladder).

The kids don't think anyone would survive the turbulent waters that was being squeezed through the dam.

Last stop before Yakama would be our very own US of A Stone Henge....replica. We all thought this was pretty neat but the kids thought the view of the Columbia from this height was the best! We do live in a beautiful West Coast.



We pulled into the baseball fields late the first day and thought we picked a good spot until we went to bed and the dang parking lot lights were like a spot light onto our bed through the vent covers. Then we had neighbor dogs who were out all night partying and the noise of intermittent hard rain. Not a restful first night but that's ok, it will catch up to all of us soon and we will then get a GREAT nights sleep then.

Day 2: Two baseball games played, both losses but the boys seem to be having a good time. Oma is assistant coaching and with some of the boys not having had much coaching before, she is working hard trying to help them. What a wonderful coach and parent she is.

Cole played center field and also pitched. His first pitch came in the second inning of the first game with one out. Our pitcher was struggling to pitch strikes so the coach brought Cole in. First pitch, hard ground ball back to Cole where he threw to second base for a double play and the end of the inning. Quite the happy ball player! He also had three or four base hits and a really nice diving catch in the outfield.

We ended the day at the hotel where the rest of the team is staying and the kids swam in the pool.

Day 3: This is our camping spot at 6 a.m.

Freeway directly behind the ball fields and housed behind me.
Not a very quite place to be but having our home were we can come and go during the baseball tournament is great!

Only one game today and our our team took their first win. Tough day for the other team as two of their players were hurt badly. Catcher blocking home plate and two of our players slid home knocking the catcher to the ground, and one of their pitchers took a line drive to the color bone. The line drive to their pitcher was scary for all of us, especially our player who had hit the ball. The opposing player looked to be ok at the end of the game, thank goodness.

We ended the evening at a lovely park where we listened to live music, could eat at different food trucks and the kids were able to run and play on blow up equipment or swim in a pool.


Cole has bonded more with Jackson (middle) and has made a new friend named Kallen (left). I see more hanging out with these three in the future.


Looking forward to packing up and heading to our next destination.