BlackHills/Yellowstone Day 6 and 7

Late night of driving, early morning of driving. On our way back to South Dakota to Marshall's hunting home away from home. Marshall makes the trek to SD a couple times a year. This was our first chance to meet everyone and see the famous "hunting trailor". Marshall suggested I take a picture to prove I was there!

Thanks to Justin and his family for letting us crash at their place instead of the "trailor"! We enjoyed a couple wonderful home cooked meals and good company. Fun to meet everyone and hear some great stories. There are two SD Hunting Families, and Ruth and Paul visit Wisconsin every summer, but this was our first time seeing their farm. If I ever randomly disappear, I'll give you a hint, you'll find me on a farm. I could totally be a farmer. And the kids took to it like, well you know the saying. Look at Trent crawling around in the dirt. He was covered chasing the little kitties! Wish I wasn't allergic.

A quick lunch, we said our good byes and headed out, homeward bound. Marshall drove us down the "road" to some of the hunting fields. Yes, you read that correct. Road. Does that look like a road to you? Well there were street signs at every intersection. I think everyone either drives a truck or a tractor. My car would never cut it!

We stopped for lunch/gas in Stugis. The big Harley Ralley was just kicking off. The whole trip, the motorcycles were all around, but this was the best biker thing we saw. Some Good "clean" fun!

We got home around 8:30pm, just about the time we left the house 6 days prior. To wrap up this adventure here are some stats: 3000+ miles driven, 6 days and 6 tanks of gas. 5 hotel rooms, 4 National Parks, 3 scenic drives, 2 French Hens,(wait what?) 1 State Park and Countless Bison and Bathroom Breaks all add up to an amazing memory. We can't wait to get on the road again.

Blackhills/Yellowstone Day 4

RedLodge is the gateway to the BearTooth Scenic Byway, the Most Scenic Drive in the whole U.S.! Have I mentioned I LOVE driving in the mountains? It goes from Montana down into Wyoming and then back into Montana and ends just outside the N.E. Entrance to Yellowstone, which is back in Wyoming. Half the time I didn't know what state we were in!

Marshall scored us a Yellowstone pass from someone at our hotel. He's so the man. So after reaching our crusing altitude of 11,000ft, and a brisk swim for Trent ('Cause he is ALSO The Man!) we came down the other side of the BearTooth Pass into Yellowstone for another lunch in the car because there was an hour wait at the Roosevelt Lodge. (Callie was not thrilled about having to take another picture.

With our Southern route through the Yellowstone loop predetermined, we set off toward the Petrified Tree.

Hours of research went into the planning of our stops througout Yellowstone. HOURS. Next up, our first little hike to Wraith Falls.

Then because it was already getting later in the day we did "drive-bys" of Mammoth Hot Springs Area, Obsidian Cliff and Roaring Mountain, The Norris Area had several boardwalk trails, where our tour guide Marshall, shared with us his vast knowledge (read from the brochure) of the wide array of geological features. As you can and will see, as much research as I did for this trip, it did have it's moments of unpredictability. It was ONLY a 2 mile walk around the boardwalks! "Water, Water all around, but not a drop to drink." At least we can all laugh about it - Callie was parched, she kept moaning, "I have no saliva in my mouth." "I'm so thirsty!"

Another short hike for the Artist PaintPots. By the time we had hit Monument Guyser Basin the kids had seen enough, so Marshall and I went solo. We passed a bunch of stops on the way down to our hotel, knowing that we would hit them tomorrow when we met up with my Aunt, Uncle and Cousin. It was almost 9pm when we checked into the historic Old Faithful Inn. Creaky floors and all. Once again, Marshall coming through with the hook up. Ahem, we made that reservation the day before. Not many people can say they've stayed there, unless of course they booked it a year ahead of time! Dinner at 9:30pm and then back to our room with a view - Old Faithful. Yup, we could look right out our window into the pitch black night!

BlackHills/Yellowstone Day 3

Up early and on our way to the Center of the Nation - Belle Fousche, SD. In case you were wondering, that's where it is. An odd spot if you ask me, since SD is like 2 states down from Canada, but I'll explain. See it's not an exact science (Duh!), but what they do is take a cardboard cut out of the nation. Balance it on a pin and where ever it perfectly balances is the center. So when they factor in for Hawaii and Alaska, it puts it right smack in the middle of someone's farm field 20 miles outside of Belle Fousche.

It took us waaaaay longer than I expected to drive the dirt road out there, so we were waaaay behind schedule for Devil's Tower which was 5.5 hours away, which also took waaaaay longer to hike the 1.5 miles around the base, which put us waaaaay behind for the Buffalo Bill Cody Firearms Museum, which eliminated the possibilty of seeing the Shootout at the Irma Hotel, which allowed us to change our route, skip Cody, WY and make an unplanned visit to the Battle of Little Bighorn Battlefield. So Marshall had to trade his one bit of history for another.

You may have heard there is a drought going on right now, and many Western States are having fires. We drove along side a ridge that was burning. You could see the smoke for miles. I was just so taken aback by the magnitude of this "little" fire. I can't even imagine worse. The smoke shadowed the sun. Another unexpected sight to add to our trip.

We ended the night in Red Lodge, Montana. So lets review: That was SD to WY to MT.

Blackhills/Yellowstone Days 1 and 2

With a full weekend/Monday schedule, it just worked out best to leave at night and drive straight through. Marshall always tells me I'm crazy, but it really does work for us. (Read here for our Middle of the Night drive to Colorado) At 4:30am, it was, "Look kids....The Corn Palace!" Sunrise over South Dakota then the famous Wall Drug for flapjacks. Day 1 and 2 were kinda one in the same.

Full bellies and a full day of sights ahead of us, we jumped back into the car to drive through the Badlands. The first of many awe inspiring geological features we saw. The world was certainly Trent's jungle-gym on this trip.

If he could have climbed up Mount Rushmore to actually pick George Washington's nose instead of pretending to in the picture, he totally would have.

Lunch was on the road, which got old real fast, but like I said...."Places to Go!" We did have some great scenery to take in while we were eating, Custer State Park Scenic Byway. The first of 3 Scenic Byways we travelled. I'm sure you get the idea of a Scenic Byway, but to clarify, the ones we drove were Mountains, Mountains and Mountains. I L.O.V.E., love driving in the mountains!

Dinner was at the Circle B Ranch in Hill City, SD. A real friendly little place with a great atmosphere. Wax bullet shooting, Cattle Rope'n, A shootout skit for the kids with the Biscuit Bandit before dinner, and a Cowboy Concert after dinner. We finished the night off at Mount Rushmore (or as Callie calls it "More-Mount-More-Rushmore").

Take me out to the Ball Game....

Trent is no longer a one sport man. He has expanded his sports resume to include Baseball. Though at this point no one will be recruiting him based on his mad skillz. During his rise to hockey stardom we forgot to teach the kid to catch. The last time he played baseball was in '06 and '07. It was a very rough start.
Lots of this....And this....We've even played in the pouring rain. Torrential!
Yeah, its a Park n'Rec team but not everyone gets to play. The Coach is IN-T-E-N-S-E! In fact he tried to convince me to have Trent play with the 7 & 8 year olds. Umm, NO. Nice guy, way to build a kid's confidence! The good kids keep getting better and the not so good kids get left kicking sand. I could go on, but will say, it really gives me a different perspective going into this next hockey season.
Speaking of hockey, check out this Baseball Goalie."Cover your short side, stick on the ice, don't get deep." (Name the movie Luke.)
I like to see the best in people, so I can say he does have a few redeeming qualities. We'll be chalking this one up to one of those life lessons. Sometimes your leaders aren't always the best leaders but they're the one you're stuck with. Make the best of it.
In between games where he wants to quit, there are fun times. Trent had a "Major League" moment. Walking the field at the Brewer's Game.He said he felt, "so small." It happened so fast I didn't even see Trent, luckily I just kept snapping away and found him in the picture later. Nothing beats the opportunities the Admirals offer, but this was cool.When Trent was 6mo. old. We drove down to the "Field of Dreams" in Dyersville Iowa.Neat destination if you're looking for a little road trip. They have a diamond there and you can play a game. That summer we did other baseball-y things, so I nick-named it Baseball Summer. This is Baseball Summer 2. All Trent's games, plus Callie started t-ball. And, in addition, after not going to a single game the last two summers, we have been to 3 Brewer's Games in the last month.
The game with Trent's team,
Once with Marshall's FamilyOnce just us..Baseball Summer 2. Here's to surviving our rookie season!

Noah's Ark

It seems each summer we consider doing several things, that never actually seem to happen. This summer, I am proud to say, we actually did one! The kids were thrilled to go to Noah's Ark Water park! After all, we do live near enough to the water park capital of the U.S.!
With a little advanced planning, and the use of a rain date, we transformed ourselves into pruney little watersliding fish as we closed the park!
There were some things Callie couldn't go on, and one thing Trent couldn't. Unfortunately the one thing Trent couldn't go on, was the one thing he really wanted to, America's First Looping Waterslide! He plans to eat a whole lot so he can weigh 90lbs by next year! Let's hope that's impossible!
The kids are requesting this be an annual visit. I guess we WILL have to go back next year since I forgot to get my traditional rock candy from the candy store in the Ark!

Road Trip

Last weekend we went to visit the Hilla's in Michigan on Harsen's Island. Near the "thumb" of the State shapped "Mitten". Road Trip! It took us 8 hours to get there. Along the way there were plenty of stops. Bathroom breaks mainly, but we did spend about an hour at some sand dunes in Indiana. Trent wanted to climb "Devil's Hill". Do that twice a day and you'd be fit! We had to take a short little ferry to the island. When I told the kids we were putting our car on a boat, there was dead silence. I expected them to be excited. I don't think they believed me. It was a different story when they actually saw what I was talking about.

Marshall made his famous Swedish Pancakes for breakfast and we spent the next day fishing and relaxing at the cottage until the storms set in right after we uncovered the boat for a ride.

Callie spent most of her weekend playing hide and seek with the dog Boccee. I think she felt a sort of clone connection.

Sunday was clear and sunny. We took that boat ride around. Hopped the border to Canada, without our passports! Built a sand castle on a sand bar, stopped for lunch at the boat in Ice Cream Shop. Superman ice cream - Yum!

It was a short weekend, but we really enjoyed ourselves. Marshall grew up with Mr. and Mrs. Hilla. They consider him family. They were so welcoming and treated the kids and I the same. We had good conversations and memorable experiences. Thank You!