Day 13

Got up at 8am. I've got to get re-adjusted to central time because, if this was still mountain time it would have been 7am. Well, Mari and kids are still asleep. I get cleaned up and they are still asleep. I gather my suitcase and computer and take my stuff down to the car. Then head to continental breakfast. What a spread. Start off with coffee of course, and whats to go with it is coffee cake. Also had a Jimmy Dean breakfast egg, bacon and biscuit sandwich and some mandarin oranges. Shortly Mari joins me. I wait for her to finish before going to see if my parents and brother awake. Jeez, I had to wake them up too. After getting everyone going we take off for home shortly after 11am. My plan is to drive straight through with out stopping for lunch.

Well dad is driving his vehicle and he does not go the speed limit, he like to go 5-10 mph below the speed limit. Michelle is driving hers. Since I'm ready to get home I take off at the speed limit and soon they are left behind. Well it was about 1:30 pm when we got to Lincoln, NE before Mari and kids are ready to stop for bathroom break. Well, I told them I was not stopping until we are in Iowa. We did see either some high wind or tornado damage near Lincoln in the fields and buildings. Also, encountered dang road construction from about Lincoln to Omaha. In Omaha there was a Men's College World Series, so traffic is already heavy. This can be frustrating especially since one is ready to be home. We got to Council shortly after 2:00pm and stopped at the second exit and used the restrooms at the McDonalds before continuing our drive. Did we eat? Nope, since kids got up and had a mid-morning breakfast and they had plenty of snacks I pushed on.

The road construction was just as bad in Iowa on I-80 as it was in Omaha. We did not see much flood damage from the interstate. But did notice a few locations that had some flooding near rivers or low lying areas. I'm sure if we had gotten off the interstate and taken some back roads it would have been more obvious. We ended up getting to our house about 4:oopm. The three cats were happy to see us. We got the lugage unloaded and into the house. David got his suitcase in and was on the phone immediately. Kind of ironic since he was poking fun at Marissa through out the trip that she was on her mobile phone constantly. Turned out David used all his minutes texting friends and what not. He had also started his car before even getting his stuff in to the house.

After the car was unloaded and things put away Mari & I ran to get Lizzie (5yr) and Patches (1yr) beagles. While we were on vacation Jana and her kids dog-sat at their house. They had some minor issues with them but they did good. Both dogs were excited seeing us. We are very grateful that they watched them. I think the kids were sad to see them go especially Lizzie. She is a lap dog and is very calm. Patches is still young and want to play all the time.

Well everything is back to normal. David is off running. Mari is studying. Marissa is watching television, hope she starts looking for a part-time job now. Dogs and cats won't leave us alone. And, I'm going to bed. It's been a very long day as well as long 2 weeks.

Oh, happy fathers day! Mari had to remind the kids.

Thad

Day 12

I would recommend staying at the Nagle-Warren Mansion Bed & Breakfast in Cheyenne, WY. Last night I shut the drapes, turned down the air conditioner, and switched on the gas fire place. I slept great until about 4:30am, my brother-in-law called my mobile phone. Well turned out he wanted to talk. Apparently Ryan and Breack stayed out and came back to the bed & breakfast and stayed up late. Ryan apparently went to bed about 4am. Anyway after talking for about an hour I was able go back to my room and finish sleeping. I got up at 8am. Mari and I went down to breakfast. The owner and inn keeper, Jim Osterfoss was serving breakfast. Both my parents were already sitting at the table as well as a few other guests of the B&B. The first thing served was cup of slice strawberries with whipped cream. Jim the main course, quiche, bacon, toast, sliced tomatoes. For the drinks; coffee, milk or juice was served. Once breakfast dishes were cleared away by Jim I took off take a few more pictures of the B&B and headed back to our room to finish packing. The room was not cheap but I would say it was well worth the money, but next time no kids. So, check out was at 11am, we got checked out about 10:30am. I filled up the explorer and everyone went over to the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens. We enjoyed the gardens. Most of it was outside. The best part of the gardens is it was sunny and warm. No cold. No snow.

After the gardens we got on the road to head to Kearney, NE. On the way we stopped at Cabalas at North Platte, NE. Seemed like we were there forever. Once we got everyone corralled and out of cabalas we grabbed a bit to eat at fast joint and continued our drive. I ended up following my parents. I noticed something hanging from underneath their expedition. I got them to pull off on an exit. I crawled under the vehicle and found that the tail pipe had fallen off the muffler. Dad ended up pulling out some wrenches from his vehicle. I unbolted the pipe and he stashed it in the vehicle. Once again we were heading east towards home. We hit the central time zone about 6pm and all of a sudden it was 7pm. We drove about another 1-½ hours and made it to Kearney, NE. Michelle made it to Kearney about an ½ hour earlier and scouted out hotels. We ended up staying the Country Inn & Suites. The price is just under $100 for the nights. Glad Michelle scouted out the hotels and reserved the rooms. She reserved the last three rooms before they filled up. Mari and the kids got to go swimming and now we are hitting the sack. Tomorrow is our last day on the road, about another 335 miles and will be home. Mari can’t wait to see the dogs, Lizzie and Patches. Marissa can’t wait to call her boy friends (she has been on her mobile phone non-stop) and see her friends. David can’t wait either, he has less than a month of “freedom” before he leaves for boot camp. He can’t also wait to drive his car. I can’t wait either…

I’ll finish up day 13 tomorrow. I’m going to bed.

Day 11

Hello from Cheyenne, WY. Today we got to sleep in a little since check out was noon at the Parkway Plaza Hotel. I got to sleep in till 8am today. Again, got up, cleaned and packed. This time mom was up early too. So her and I took the Excursion and headed out to find some rolls or donuts. After driving around she finally got her self lost, but we did find a Pastry/Bakery shop. They had already run out of donuts so we opted for some fresh bagels (blue berry, cinnamon/raisin, snikerdoodle, trail mix, cranberry and etc.) and flavored cream cheese (strawberry and praline). To get back to the hotel she let me drove. Not a problem to get back to the hotel. Turned out the bakery was about a half-mile to the hotel. Got back to the hotel and everyone was up.

We got checked out and had some time to spare before we had to be in Cheyenne this afternoon so we went miniature golfing. We ended up splitting up into two groups of five. My group consisted of Ryan, dad, David, Mari and me. Well since this was kid friendly environment no alcohol was available. I don’t think it would have helped my game but sure would have made the game more interesting. Anyway in my group I did not win. Go figure miniature golfing is not my game either. After golfing we headed to Pizza Hut for lunch. Then we hit the road for Cheyenne. Cheyenne is only two half hours from Casper. I rode with my parents. My brother drove. David drove the Explorer. This was an interesting ride. We stopped at Chugwater for fuel and break. I went back to the Explorer and drove.

We got to Cheyenne shortly after Chugwater. We ended up getting split up from the others. Well after driving around for a little while I ended up grabbing the laptop and plugging in the GPS. It turned out we were only about 6 blocks from our destination. As we arrived Michelle and my parents arrived. Our destination is the Nagle Warren Mansion. We went in, and they were expecting us. Anne, the manager showed us the mansion and to our rooms. WOW! This is an amazing mansion. If you are ever in Cheyenne, WY you will have to check it out. I did find out that this is a bed and breakfast. I did explorer some of the building. Turns out it is two building, the mansion and the carriage house. Our rooms are in the carriage house. It is totally remodeled. I did take a few pictures.

After getting settled in Mari, kids and I went up town a block on foot and at OneWest. This place serve all kinds of flavored hot wings and chicken strips as well as other foods. After a late supper we headed back to the bed and breakfast. I went and got into the hot tub, Mari sat up in the room. I don’t remember the last time I sat in a hot tub but that was great. To bad Mari did not want to join me. So, sat in the tub about 15-20 minutes and headed back to the room.

So, here I am typing my blog. I'll finish this and head to bed. Turned down the AC to 65 and turned on the fireplace. This place is awesome. Tomorrow I guess they will serve a real sitdown home cooked breakfast. I have never stayed at a bed & breakfast and would recommend it to anyone.

Day 10

Well, its day 10 I’m first one up again at 7am. I got cleaned up and packed. Well once again everyone is starting to move. I don’t think we are going to make the 9am deadline to leave. Our plan was to go through Yellowstone Park and south through the Grand Tetons and head east to Riverton, WY then on to Casper, WY by today. This is supposed to be about 8 hour drive. I called the Yellowstone Park road conditions. Dang, the pass from Old Faithful to the West Thumb junction is closed right now. It sounds like we are going check with the west entrance and see if they have opened that road pass. If not we will have to go south into Idaho and cut over the grand Tetons. This will add 2 more hours of travel. Well, got to go.

Before leaving I got a few pictures of the cabin and a group photo. We decided to try drive through Yellowstone Park. We made a quick stop at the Midway Geyser Basin then continued on. The drive was to Casper, WY was uneventful except for the snow. We drove from the West Yellowstone through the park going past Old Faithful route into the Grand Tetons. You would not believe the amount of snow. It snowed from West Thumb junction to 10 miles west of Dubois, WY. We did see a couple of snow plows out in a couple areas. One snow plow in the Grand Tetons and the other in between Tetons and Dubois. After a 3 hour drive from West Yellowstone to Dubois we stopped for a stretch. The last time we were in Dubois was 3 years ago; we stayed at the Crooked Creek Cabins. We caught up with my sister and parents. We decided that we endure the drive the rest of the way to Casper. I made reservations at the Parkway Plaza Hotel.

We made one other stop between Dubois and Casper at Riverton for a quick stretch. Boy, it was a long day. We made it to the hotel without any problems, thank goodness for GPS. Even though parents and my sister were ahead of us we still made it to the hotel before them. After a few phone calls they arrived. Well tomorrow we are going to stay Nagel Warren Hotel, a bed & breakfast, in Cheyenne, WY. We don’t have to check out till noon tomorrow so it sounds like some of us will be sleeping in. Cheyenne is only a couple of hours from Casper.

I have been watching the news and keep getting updates about the weather and flooding back in Iowa. I hope that everyone is safe and okay. I attached a few pictures to show you what the cabin looked like in West Yellowstone.

Day 9

Well its day 9 of the White’s Family Vacation. Wake up this morning and look out side. It is snowing still! I get up and head down stairs. Now one is a wake. I started a pot of coffee. Then start cooking up a mess of French toast. Slowly everyone starts waking up and coming in for breakfast. Once breakfast is done I cleaned up. Mom & Michelle decided head out to a laundry mat to do laundry. The kids start playing board games. I get on the computer and check out weather for the area. Apparently we are to get 4 – 6 inches of snow. We discuss about still going up to Virginia City to check out the sites up there. After discussing we decide to stay here in town. We are supposed to leave tomorrow to start heading home. I called Yellowstone Park road information. They have closed the east entrance from Cody, WY and the northeast entrance from Cooke City as well. We will have to check the road conditions tomorrow morning. Our plans are to head south and go through the Grand Tetons and cut across to Casper, WY. Besides cooking breakfast this morning, I have gathered the trash and dirty towels. I have been trying to keep busy. I think I’m going to head up town and find something to do either at the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center or go to the IMAX Theater. I have checked out the weather conditions for Iowa and see Iowa is still getting hammered and there is flooding. Mari just informed me that her cousin and family that were going to stay in West Yellowstone tonight through Sunday are stuck in Cody, WY. Will update this later, I have to get out of the cabin for a while. I'll go fill up the Explorer first, I guess the price of gas went up to $4.19/gallon here.

Well, Mari, David and I got out of the cabin; Marissa did not want to go. First we went and filled up the Explorer with gas. Wow, what a shocker. I put 17 gallons in, for a total of $71.40. Boy, I’m glad we don’t own my sisters suburban or my dad’s expedition. After filling up we went up town and checked out a few of the shops. My first purchase was a stocking hat since I did not bring a coat, gloves or stocking hat. My second purchase was another sweatshirt to wear. I think I would rather have the rain and warmth of Iowa right now. Mari ended up picking up a few souvenirs for David, Marissa and herself. We walked over to the West Yellowstone Museum to check it out. Well, we ended up going back to the cabin since it was to cold, wet and windy to stay out and do anything.

At the cabin I watched a little television and played on the computer. Michelle made reservations to go to a play here in town. The play was called “See How They Run” at the Playmill Theatre. It is a British comedy about 1942 idyllic English village of Merton-cum-Middlewick the residents are bracing themselves for imminent German invasion. Meanwhile, at the vicarage, Reverend Lionel Toop goes to the parish concert leaving his wayward wife to hold the fort with the incompetent maid, little imagining the chaos, unexpected arrivals, mistaken identities and wild rumors which will ensue...

Mom made supper at the cabin. Afterwards we cleaned up the dishes then headed up town to the Playmill. After watching the play we discussed it. At first David said he did not think it was going to be any good, but he enjoyed it. Marissa thought it was okay. Mari and I thought it was excellent. You should have seen David and Marissa, they were both sitting their in their seats like we dragged them both to their deaths. They were both laughing and at times sitting on the edge of their seats to get a good view and to anticipate the next scene. Anyway, I would recommend checking out the Playmill if you are out in West Yellowstone.

Well tomorrow is going to be early. We already started packing to head home. We need to be out of the cabin before 11am but I think our goal is to head out about 9am. We are going to try and make it to Casper, WY. Sounds like the roads and weather will cooperate, so I need to go ahead and make reservations tonight. Later all.

Day 8

I’m the first one awake. As I get out of bed to clean up Mari gets up to. It is sleeting and raining this morning. Marissa and David are still asleep. I head off to the shower to clean up. Mari heads downstairs to start cooking breakfast. She has wanted to make biscuits and gravy since we have gotten here. I come downstairs and see dad asleep on the couch. I make way to the kitchen to find Mari slaving away over the stove working on the breakfast. Ah, a fresh cup of coffee. A little weak, so I dump some and add more coffee into the coffee maker and add some more water. Michelle is awake now. Talking about whether they are going fly fishing or not. She explains about the prices from the 2-day license all the way to rules of keeping specific trout. Who would have guessed that trout fishing is so involved? I’m not sure what I want to do today; there is a Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center here in West Yellowstone. I would like to go to Artist Point, there you can find the upper and lower falls. This is described as the grand canyon of Yellowstone. Looking at the weather, it appears it will be in the high 30’s today with scattered thunderstorms.

Well I moved from the kitchen to the television room. Everyone is eating now. Mari keeps nagging me to come and eat. We will see what we do for the day since it is now 9am here.

Michelle, Breack, Phoenix and Ryan went to the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center. Mom and dad took off exploring the town. Mari and Marissa stayed at the cabin. I took off to the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center and paid for my ticket when David called. He was finally awake from sleeping. The ticket is a 2-day pass that allows the patronage to come and go over a two day period. So, I drove back to the cabin and picked him up and went back to the center. It has several displays about grizzly bears and black bears and wolfs. I enjoyed going out to the grounds and watched three grizzly bears come out of their quarters. Apparently, kids were out in the grounds hiding food for the bears to find. I took several pictures while I watched the bears. While watching the bears Mari called and wanted know if I was still planning on going into Yellowstone Park today. She decided to walk up to the discovery center so we could go to the park.

David and I met up with her in the gift shop and headed out. We decided to drive from the West Entrance to Madison Junction, north to Norris Junction, to Canyon Village, south along the Yellowstone Lake, to West Thumb Junction around past Old Faithful and back out to the West Entrance. The drive started nice. It was a little cloudy with the temperature running 40 – 50’s degrees. By the time we started working our way back to the entrance we encountered snow. The temperature was in the low 30’s by this time.

During our trip around Yellowstone I was able to get a few pictures. On the way back we got into a buffalo jam from the Madison Junction to the West Entrance. This portion of the trip is about 14 miles long. It should take about 20 – 30 minutes, it took us 2 hours. The reason was that there were two groups of buffalo walking down the middle of the road. The first group had four bulls and the second only had two bulls. People just had to stop and take pictures. This made the trip frustrating long, since we were ready to be back at the cabin. Once we got through the two jams we were back at the cabin within in 10 minutes.

Day 7

Good morning. I’ve been awake since 6:30am but did not get out of bed until 7am. The sun is shinning. My dad is up drinking his coffee. He usually is not up this early (usually 10 or 11am) but said that he could sleep because of the snoring in the room he is in. I made some coffee and cooked up an egg, cheese and toast. I gathered my laundry to wash. Then I cleaned up. I started my laundry. Other people started getting up. Gathered all the garbage and empty it. Now people are asking about what we are doing today. It is going to be a nice day, the weather forecast for the next 4 days is suppose to be rain/snow mix. So, if we are going to do ATV’s, horse riding or whatever then we need to decide soon. I called around to find out were we can go. The closest place for ATV’s is Island Park in Idaho (about a 20 min drive). I also, checked out about renting bicycles for here in town.

Michelle and Ryan are working on supper already. Michelle is cooking bacon and Ryan is cutting potatoes. I guess they are going to cook up cheesy potato soup and let it simmer all day. Well, need to go check laundry. So I will continue this later.

I’m back. Well Mari & I took off on foot and explored the shops of West Yellowstone. We did find a couple places that had a few bargains. I had to talk Mari into waiting on making any purchases. We need to see what other shops have and prices. As we were walking around the streets we ran into mom and dad up town. The rest of the group drove by. They were heading out to Island Park, Idaho to rent some ATV’s. We continued our exploration of the town. We ran into the grocery store and grabbed a few things. One of the items we got was some push pins. We decided to get these to use to hang a blanket between the bathroom area and bed room area. We walked to the Museum and found out that Yellowstone park rangers would have a talk at 2pm today about the beginnings of the park. We headed back to the cabin; it looked look like it was starting to sprinkle.

We got back to the cabin, had a lunch. After lunch we hung the blanket, finally at least a little privacy. Mari stayed at the cabin and I went to the ranger talk back at the museum. I found the talk very interesting. He talked about how the army first patrolled the area and established the posts. And how the poaching had been bad, and how the first poaching laws were created. Apparently at one time there were only 30 left. The ranger did a great job talking. After the lecture I headed out and explored the rest of the town by vehicle. Not much to see; lots of cabins, hotels and motels. Dad called and said they picked up Michelle and Phoenix from ATV’ing and they were going to head to Yellowstone Park for site seeing and wanted to know if I wanted to go. I headed back to the cabin. Got back to the cabin and we gathered our things and to head out. Found out the rest of the crew ended up renting 3 ATV’s. The price was about $100 for each for 4-5 hours. Mom, Michelle, Phoenix, Mari and I loaded up in the Expedition and headed to the park.

From West Yellowstone we went south towards Old Faithful on Grand Loop Ave. We took a side road, Firehole Canyon Road and drove past the rapids and stream. We had seen several anglers fishing for trout. We watched them as they waded out into the stream and their lines whipping back and forth to catch the trout. We did not see anyone catch anything. We did stop and let Phoenix dip his feet into the stream. He said, "Ah, this is so refreshing."

We made it to Old Faithful site and parked next to the Old Faithful Inn. We just made it in time; all we had to do is wait about 5 – 7 minutes for the eruption. I got a series of pictures. It is always neat to watch.

We then went into the old inn and checked it out. This is an amazing building. I true enjoyed it because of its architecture and being built of logs. I did snap a few pictures of the inside. Mari visited the gift shop of course and found a few things. She was pretty proud of herself for getting about 5 items for total $20. After visiting the inn, it was about 5:30pm and decided to head back to the cabin for supper with the rest of the family.

By the time we got back everyone else had eaten. The cheesy potato soup was outstanding. Ryan out did himself as always. Cleaned up the kitchen and loaded the dishwasher. Mari and I with our kids headed off to drive around town for a little while. We got back to cabin. I worked on this blog. Not sure what we are doing tomorrow. Michelle mentioned going fly fishing, but I think it will be raining, cold and miserable. Not sure if I really want to stand out next to or in a stream freezing my butt off. Well, I let you all know tomorrow.

Day 6

Good evening. I did not get a chance to start writing until this evening. Everyone was up before 8am today. We went to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody. This historical center has five museums; Buffalo Bill Museum, Whitney Gallery of Western Art, Plains Indian Museum, Cody Firearms Museum, and the Draper Museum of Natural History. Of the museums I enjoyed Plains Indian Museum and the Whitney Gallery of Western Art. We spent a little over three hours there. I could have spent more time but we decided to go since we had to drive 130 miles to get to West Yellowstone (this is an actual town). Before we could leave town we decided that we need to hit Wal-Mart to stock up on food so we don’t eat out every day while staying at a cabin at West Yellowstone. We ended up spending an hour or so buying groceries and waiting on all parties before driving again.

The drive is breath taken the whole trip. We first drove through Buffalo Bill State Park. Then drove through Shoshone National Forest. We did see a couple of buffalo bedding next to the highway. Mari, kids and I stopped and got a couple pictures before going on.

We hit the east entrance to Yellowstone National Park. Well you would not believe it; things are turning green and snow. Not much at first. But as we climbed up the mountain and got to Top Notch Peak we hit snow. Not just a little but several feet of snow, like five to eight feet at some place. David said that the east pass to the park just opened today. Turned out they had an avalanche and just gotten it cleared this morning. And guess what it snowing. Not just flurry but snowflakes. He had to have the heater on in the car. The temperature gauge on the explorer showed about 33 degrees.

As we made way to the west entrance/exit we came upon a herd of buffalo both cow and calf's. Once we got through the east pass and past the lake and into the lower areas it was nicer. We drove some of the pastor areas were there is no snow. We did make a couple of stops and took pictures. Take a look.

We drove out the west entrance and immediately turned into West Yellowstone. This is a tourist town for sure. Roads are wide and in some areas paved. But the hotels are huge, made of logs. Even found that the McDonalds is a log built building. After some driving back and forth on the streets of the town we did find the cabin. Yes, it is smack in the middle of town but you have all the conveniences you could ask for. We are staying in Cabin 126 -Yellowstone building which is part of the Faithful Street Inn. The cabin is a two story building. You walk into a family/TV room with fire place. Straight into a bedroom with two double size beds that led into a full bathroom which goes into the large kitchen. There is also another bedroom with a queen and twin size bed. The second floor is all open. Half has a queen bed and across from the foot of the bed is a twin size bed. On the other side of the up stairs is a full bathroom. The bathroom has a big deep tub, a shower and toilet and 2 sinks. Problem is it has no doors from the beds. You get to hang out in front of everyone. The other problem is the stairs comes up between the two areas, no doors.

Well after some discussion the room assignments were completed. Mom, dad and Ryan got the bedroom with the two double beds. Michelle, Breack and Phoenix got the first floor bedroom off the kitchen. We got the upstairs. Mari and I got the queen and Marissa got the twin. We checked with the registration office and got a fold out bed for David. He setup the bed in the back of a walk-in closest.

We got settled in and got groceries put up. Michelle started cooking grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. We all sat down together for supper. I went to sit down and the back of the chair fell apart. Apparently the back had been broke already and they just placed it together to make it look like it was okay. Well after supper we cleaned up dishes. The amazing thing is this place has an automatic dishwasher. This will save some time on who has to do dishes. This just leaves who has to make meals.

Well I have finished today’s blog. I’m not sure what is going on tomorrow.

Day 5

Well today is starting off good. No really. No rain. I’m up early. I got cleaned up and headed down for the continental breakfast. Wow, my parents are both up and my sister is up eating. The breakfast was not bad, but I’m ready for home cooked meal like bacon, eggs, and toast or something like that. Went back to the room, again I’m surprised everyone is up and moving around getting ready. We filled up with gas. The price was $3.68/gal, cheapest yet. Everyone headed out on the road to Thermopolis, Wyoming. I guess there is suppose to be some dinosaur dig site there. Will find out and let you know. We took I-90 through Buffalo, WY and took the scenic highway bypass 16 through the mountains.

We made a quick stop at Powder River Pass at the top of Bighorn Mountains to stretch legs and get a couple of pictures. Snow was still deep here. The temperature was 36 degrees and sunny. Kids complained about being cold and had the heater cranked by the time I got back in the car. Onward we go. It looks like we will be making a pit stop at a small town, Worland. So far we have been on the road 3 hours. Not bad driving 161 miles. Looks like on the maps about 35 miles to go to Thermopolis.

We made it to Thermopolis. Nice little town. We ate a quick bite to eat at a little diner and then headed to the Wyoming Dinosaur Center here in Thermopolis. We went out on a tour of the dig sites. I did get a picture of the tour guide explaining why they choose the site and what was found. We then went back to the center and checked out the museum. It was more educational, they had some neat things. After going through the Dinosaur Center we headed to the largest hot springs and walked it. It was neat but nothing exciting, we get to see a lot of thermal hot springs in Yellowstone. Once we got the entire sight seeing done in Thermopolis we hit the pavement to the north to Cody, Wyoming. No stops in between.

We rolled into Cody, Wyoming around 6pm. We found the Ponderosa here in the middle of town. Mom had reserved 2 cabins and a tepee. Turned out the cabins did not have any restroom. The restrooms were towards the middle of the camp ground/RV park. The tepee had a dirt floor and gap around the bottom and was on the opposite end of the park from the cabins. I guess the accommodations would not be too bad, but the weather was not greatest. Currently the temperature is 46 degrees out and wind gusts up to 20 mph. We decided to find someplace else. Michelle headed back east into town and we headed towards the west. We ended up going to the Big Bear Motel. We stayed in them the last time we came out to Yellowstone three years ago. The price was right too, $59 for the night compared to $120+ a night a few of the other hotels/motels they checked.

After getting settled in we went out for supper at the Grannys Dinner in downtown Cody. Good food, reasonable priced. Michelle took the kids to the Rodeo her in town. Hope they have fun even though it is cold and windy. Well, I’m going to go for now and look up which way we want to go to West Yellowstone, either straight through the park or up and over. Bye for now.

Day 4

Today will be a better day. The sun is shining, always a welcome relief after a couple days of rain. Hope everyone is doing good back home, I heard and seen the news. Miss. Prissy, I mean Marissa is already in rare form. Again, today is a better day… Not sure what is planned today but Mari would like to go to Mt. Rushmore, a cave (name forgotten), and Firehouse Brewery. We made reservations for Days Inn in Gillette, WY so we would not have to travel clear across Wyoming tomorrow. Well I've got to get ready for the day.

Michelle (my sister) and her family headed out at 7:30am. They went to Mt. Rushmore to take a helicopter flight. They paid over $120 for a 10 minute flight for 3. They enjoyed it. After gathering the rest of the family we decided to head to Wal-Mart here in Rapid City. Ha. See there are Wal-Marts everywhere. Then go to the Firehouse Brewing Co. in downtown Rapid City for lunch. I thought is very good. I had the Reuben, still don’t compare to Capt Morris’. Tried the Harvest Wheat beer, I actually liked this, but a little expensive at $4.25 for a pint. This might be a good price, but remember I normally don’t drink beer. I also thought the service was excellent compared to some of the service I had the day before at the diner. Michelle and her family joined us at the brewery.

My sister and her family took off on their adventure. We headed towards Mt. Rushmore. On the way we were going to stop at Bear Country. Holly smokes, at $55 a car I could not bring myself to pay for that. David agreed, Mari and Marissa were a little disappointed. So onward we went. Came up on Cosmos Mystery Area. Yea, another tourist trap but it was fun. I took a few pictures. They clam some weird forces are present. But if you saw the setup you would realize that it is more optical illusions with the buildings built perpendicular to the side of the hill.

We headed to Mt. Rushmore. Boy, I was getting frustrated with little miss know-it-all, you realize at age 17 she knows and has experienced more than Mari and I have in our lives. Anyway, it did not stop the rest of enjoying the sites and views of Mt. Rushmore. I’m still in ah. I have been here about 5 times. A sculpture had and idea and he made it work. We walked the trail around the front of the Presidents heads. I have several pictures. After more arguing with Marissa I was able to get a reprieve and she road with my parents. We missed the road to go to the Needles Highway from Mt Rushmore to Keystone. Instead of turning around we decided to forge onward to Gillette, WY. It did sprinkle but never really rained. We made a couple of rest breaks on the way there. We finally made it into town about 19:00.

We got into the hotel only to find that they did not have everything that Expedia.com said they had (pool, sauna, and restaurant/bar). Well this was disappointing to some in the family but I was ready to rest. After a short look over the internet this was the best choice for the night. We got settled in. Yes, things got better with the family. Tomorrow is another day. Let’s hope tomorrow the weather continues to be good and family gets along.

Day 3

I did not get a lot of sleep last night. David could not sleep, he kept pacing the floor said he had an ear ache from swimming. So, at 3am David and I drove over the Wal-Mart. You know there is a Wal-Mart just about every were you go. We got some ear medicine to clean out the ear wax. Says he feels better after using it. Finally, back to sleep, have to be up in a couple of hours to hit the road.

Good morning! I’m the first one up as usual. Got cleaned up and pretty much woke everyone else in the room in the process. Had the continental breakfast and coffee, at least the coffee was good. Not sure if the other people in this party are up yet. Well need to finish packing.

Our vehicle is packed; we are now waiting on everyone else. I was asked to wake my youngest brother, Ryan. You know saying never wake a sleeping bear; I just went into his room and shake him. Grrrrr, talk about a grouch. He is 10 years younger than me but taller and bigger than me. He has worked as a bouncer. Funny some of the things I can get away with being the oldest. Anyway, I think I hear him bellowing, means he is awake.

Once again we did not make the 9am time to hit the road. Oh well, this is vacation.

Nothing works out as you plan. We actually did not get out of Mitchell until 11:30am. Went ahead toped off the tank at Service pumps at Wal-Mart, 8.6 gallons at $3.799. All the other parties wanted to check out Cabala’s. Talk about being bored. We had already checked it out yesterday. I got a chance to look at the forecast for the drive, looks like rain all day for South Dakota. I was behind the wheel, David co-piloted. Not even an hour on the road and made a stop at Frontier Trading Post at Oacoma. It was nothing impressive but a flea market. Marissa ended up buying a pair of used cowgirl boots $22. Personally I think they over priced and could not believe she would buy used shoes. Anyway she thinks they are awesome.

Once again, on the road... This time we made it to Murdo, SD. Parents needed to get something to eat. We grabbed something at Mitchell before hitting the road. Oh well. We stopped at some diner. Service really sucked. All I asked for was a cup of coffee and slice of coconut pie. Well 15 minutes later I finally got my coffee but they said they were out, asked about the rhubarb pie, out as well. This bites, so after drinking my coffee I went out to the car to wait for everyone else. One the road again…

God, this rain really sucks and it is cold. We made it to Bad Lands. We got out at a couple places in side the park. Did I mention this rain really sucks? Did not really feel like going back on the paths since it was wet and cold. I did get a couple of pictures. The grass is really green here. Boy, cold/wet weather really makes people miserable, especially being crammed in a small space. Everyone made it out of the park and into Wall, SD. Went to tourist trap Wall Drug. David and Marissa found cowboy hats at Wall Drug. We tried to find some place to stay at Wall but did not find any good accommodations. Headed to Rapid City. The rivers and ponds are overfilling the banks. They are having flash flood and flooding warnings.

Got into Rapid City. We did not have any reservations anywhere. Tell you what it sucked. With everyone getting irritated trying to find a place to stay since all the hotels off of I-90 filled up. We did find a family owned place. It is clean, warm and place to shower and rest our heads. Next time we travel we WILL make reservations. I have no idea what is going on in Rapid City but we learned our lesson. Got our room and ordered pizza. I’m ready for bed. Well tomorrow is another day, hope it is better. I think we are going to Mt. Rushmore and some cave. Oh, I think Mari and I are going the Firehouse Brewing Co. here in Rapid City. I forgot to mention it finally stopped raining, but it is still cold out. The weather has to get better.

Day 2

I wanted to be on the road by 8am today. Well, I was the only one up in the Bothwell suite in the morning. Took out my gear to the Explorer and gathered a change of clothes. Hunter said good morning with a cautious bark from his sleeping spot by the house. Brad and Amelia greeted me. We sat outside and visited. I soon decided I needed a cup of coffee to wake up. Made my coffee and seen that Dollie left breakfast out for us. Sat down and had breakfast at the table. Muffins, bananas, and grapes, they hit the spot with the coffee. About 9am Mari, David and Marissa got up and joined us. We visited some. We hit the road about 10am. Seems like a lot of construction between the Moorhead and I-29. We stopped at the north side of Sioux City and filled up with gas and grabbed a bit to eat at McDonalds. Let Mari drive for a little while. We made it through Sioux Falls, SD, and then made a stop at Hartford, SD for restroom break and drinks. Well I’m going to take over driving so I will continue this later.

We made it to Mitchell, SD. I about had Mari convinced to go to Ingalls Homestead (aka Little House on the Prairie) but when I pulled off the interstate she realized it was going to be another 55 miles. She and the kids decided they did not want to go but go to Cabala’s in Mitchell. So we got back on the interstate and headed to Mitchell, SD.

Arrived at Mitchell and went to Cabala’s and walked around, got a hot cup of pre-brewed coffee. We walked around the store and looked. Called parents to see where they are since we are to meet up with them here in Mitchell. I did not get anything at cabalas. David signed up for a credit card to get a free ball cap. Says he will destroy the card once he gets it, will see. Mari ended up buying a nice ball cap for David. Since we did not have or make any plans we stopped in the parking lot of a culver’s next to an inn to use the internet with the laptops. Found that best price and accommodations that the Super 8 Motel was the place to stay. Kids are out in the pool and here I’m blogging. Tried calling parents to see where they are but they have not answered the phone. My sister, Michelle, just called me and said they left Indianola about 3pm and are just north of Omaha. They are making good time. Well I better go find something to do until the rest of the caravan gets here.

Well we ate supper at the motel. Had old fashion packed lunch meal; bread, mustard, sliced turkey, cheese, chips and carrots. Yum.

Finally the rest of the crew showed up. The kids went swimming and Mari sat at the pool side watching.

Go figure, we don’t have any real plans set on paper for the next couple days. We have to be out at Cody, Wyoming by Saturday. Mari, Michelle (my sister) and mom started making plans and brainstorming as to what we should stop and see between Mitchell and Rapid City. Sounds like we will be hitting the Bad Lands, Wall Drug and what ever else that gets the troops excited. That will be another chapter. I’m hitting the sack.

Day 1

Well we started our trip out west. Just like the pioneers 150 years ago. We packed our Ford Explorer with clothing, gear (laptops, mp3 players, and etc), filled our cooler full of ice. First stop was to Dollie, Brad and Amelia Bothwell farm just a few miles south of Moorhead, Iowa. I've known Dollie since we were art students at Simpson College. We started about 4pm and but did not get out of Indianola and Des Moines until 5pm after running a few errands and stops. All went well until we ran out of pavement and tried following the directions from Dollie and Google Maps. Dollies’ directions did not mention following the gravel road around a curve. We thought we went the wrong way. We turned around back to the curve and took a level B road (140^th). It turned into a muddy rut filled road. No way to turn around, afraid to stop we forged ahead. Each hill we came up on we thought over the other side we would be on a good gravel road. Nope, more ruts and mud. Some of the ruts were a foot or so deep and they would zigzag across the road. We ended up crossing these. With no mobile phone service we thought we would get stuck and Dollie would have to send out a search party. Or, we (I say we but it would have been me) would have to hike back to a main road and wave someone down. Anyway, just like the pioneers we forged forward and we did not break an axle or damage a tire. We made it to the other side to Nash Trail. Ended up following Nash Trail around to 130^th Street and ran into Newark Ave. Yea. Decided to follow Newark and finally found Bothwell Farm at 8pm.

Dollie and Amelia greeted us with their dog Hunter. Since we got to the farm so late, Dollie whipped up a meal for the hungry travelers.

After supper she took us into Moorhead to check out her shop for quilting. The building looked as if it was pulled out of the 1880’s off the main street of western town. She gave us a brief lesson on how to us it, looks easier than it is. Marissa even tried to use the laser guided sewing machine used for quilting.

We went back to the farm. We were put up in the Bothwell luxury suite (fifth wheel). These were excellent accommodations.