Day 8 - Finally "Home"

It was a LONG day of driving!  We left South Dakota after a quick breakfast and drove through Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Missouri, and Kansas.  There are not many pictures of the day's journey.  Ariel takes a video at every state line but, other than that, we drove. 

Stopping for gas at a place in Nebraska was a little terrifying.  It was just a bit off the freeway, over the state line.  There was loud obscene music coming from a car nearby and shady characters lounging about.  We used the bathroom in the minimart and there was more alcohol than I have ever seen, along with various drug paraphenalia.  I seriously think the police should be alerted. Scary!

Our only other event of the day was a near collision with a deer.  We were driving about 75 down a freeway in Missouri and it ran in front of us.  I am so thankful Steve was driving!  He braked and turned a little just in time!

After driving by own new house to get the mail, we checked into the hotel (at 2:30am) where Steve lived for 9 months.  After 4400 miles, 18 states, and a lot of incredible sights, it was the end of an incredible journey - and the beginning of a new one.   I know it will take a while before this feels like "home".  We left behind very close friends and family, who I already miss!  I like the fact that we can stay in touch.

I was successful at getting all the utilities turned on in our name at the new house, except internet so I am not sure about posting for a few days.  Ariel will be here until Monday :( and we just might have to go to coffee so we can post our blogs.  Tomorrow is "move-in" day.  Deep breath!  Stay tuned!

Days 6 & 7

I'm posting two days together because we had a little trouble with the internet on day 6.  We started out in Utah and jumped in the car for a 5 hour drive to Yellowstone in Montana through Idaho and Wyoming.

One of the many beautiful views in Yellowstone

 We decided to got to Old Faithful first.  Since it goes off randomly and if we could have to wait as much as 90 minutes to see it, we wanted to give it as much time as possible.  As we were piling out of the suv, a lady in the parking lot told us it was estimated that it would go off in 5 minutes.  We all ran and got there in plenty of time to see it.

There she blows

We drove on to see the Mammoth Hot Springs.  On the way we encountered deer, bear, coyote, and bison.  One bison was blocking the road and we followed behind for quite some time until we found a way around.  The camera was handed to me as we drove by and because of my amazing photo abilities, we got a picture of the fleas on the bison's back side.  Unfortunately, you will have to wait to see that picture until Steve can download it from his camera.  Needless to say, no one asked me to take pictures after that.

Selfie of the four kids in front of Mammoth Springs

Bison in the road - My picture was way better!

Before leaving the park, we decided to go to a large waterfall.  I should have known that a waterfall would be located on a perilous cliff but, I never suspected we would have to drive on a road so high that we saw snow.  It was getting dark and because of the road construction, we did not make it to the waterfall in time to see it.  We decided Oregon waterfalls are probably much better anyway.  We left the park and made our way to a little motel in Cody, Wyoming.  It was very basic and a little "sketch".  Ariel found this cute little note in our room.

Ariel decided that she would leave a tip - "don't forget to look behind the door in the bathroom for the dirty towel that was left."

At 8am on day 7, we headed out for Devil's Tower in Wyoming.  Steve was super excited to see it.  

We walked up the path to the base and got a great view.  It was pretty amazing.

From there, we drove by the Crazy Horse Monument that has been under construction since 1948.  We decided not to drive into the park but we got a pretty good view from the road.

We arrived at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota at 8pm.  Everyone always says that it is not as big as you imagine.  I think I heard that too much because, by the time we got there, it was much bigger than I imagined.  

We got word from the movers that our things would be delivered on Saturday so we adjusted our route and decided to stay for the night in Rapid City, South Dakota.  We are in for a long drive today from here to Arkansas.
 

Day 5 - Long day and night

 We left on schedule this morning at 8am headed for Walnut Canyon.  It was only a 15 minute drive from Flagstaff.  We had a busy day ahead with lots of stops and driving so we limited our stay to 30 minutes.  Hiking down the Canyon and back up about half a mile made us all realize that we need to hike more and get in better shape! 

 

Our next planned stop was Meteor Crater.  It is nearly one mile across and 500 feet deep.  We drove to the entrance only to find that it cost $80 for us to see inside.  We decided that the outside view was good enough and continued on our way.

Winslow Arizona was our next quick stop.  We went to the corner and snapped a few pictures in tribute to the song by the Eagles “Take it Easy”.

We stopped for a quick bite at a little café in Holbrook.  The food was pretty tasty but also a little too spicy for me.

“Have you slept in a wigwam lately?”  Holbrook is also the sight for the Wigwam Motel made famous in the movie “Cars”.

Continuing on, we made a quick stop to view the beautiful painted desert, on our way to Four Corners.  Jaz was really excited to see the desert.  I’m not sure it lived up to her expectations.

The drive to four corners was long and rather desolate.  It sits on a large Indian Reservation.  When we arrived it was really windy.  We waited in line for about 45 minutes for a picture at the famous sight where four states touch. 

Leaving Four Corners at 8, we wanted to stop at the Utah state line.  There was a large rock the kids posed on.  Blake found a Geo Cache hidden in the edge of the rock.  It was a small capsule with pencil and paper.  There were a few names and dates (the last one was dated over a year ago).  He signed his name and replaced the capsule for the next “finder”. 

We wanted to stop for a quick bite on the way to the hotel so we could continue to drive.  We decided to make this a long travel day to shorten other days.  Just getting out of the Indian reservation took an hour and it was dark when we stopped for lunch at Subway in a little town in Utah. 

I am typing this entry as we drive to our hotel.  We hope to arrive in West Valley Utah (near Salt Lake) at the hotel around 2am.  Steve and I will get some rest and Ariel will add photos to my post  before we head out at 8. 

Thanks for keeping up with us and your words of encouragement.  This trip has been an exciting journey for us as a family.  It is helping to transition to a new life as well as giving us a chance to spend some time together.  It has been too long!  There are a few arguments but one hotel room and one vehicle force us to work out the disagreements.  We laugh a lot and have such a great time together, we are not anxious for it to end.

Day 4 - Arizona & Nevada

To give you a little insight about our days:

I wake up around 5:30 and Ariel and I go down to breakfast and update our blogs.  I write mine and she adds the pictures that she and Steve took on their phones throughout the day.  After everyone gets up and packed we load the and pray before we head out in the "suv".  We also each have "Buffs" that match what we all wear.  We thought about t-shirts but I didn't know how much we would wear them and that was a little too "matchy - matchy" for us.  The Buffs have been extremely useful for tying hair back, shading eyes for a nap, sweatbands, and decorative neck ware. 

Ariel made Jazmyn, Clarke, and Blake journals with various activities for the trip.  The each have two "fun facts" that relate to the events for the day and they read them to us while we drive.  Ariel updates us on our itinerary and reads information about upcoming sights.  Steve usually drives while I attempt to navigate. We drive a lot each day.  The kids sleep, use their journals, listen to ipods, and tease each other.  The trip is going really well, so far.  We usually get into the hotels late (between 9pm and 2am) and go right to sleep.

Now about day four:  We left Las Vegas after a rushed breakfast.  Our first stop was at the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead.  It was as massive as I remember seeing it when I was a kid. It was also extremely hot! We parked in an upper parking lot and walked from one end of the dam to the next and back again.

It's hard to get a picture of the whole thing, it's so big

In the middle of the dam is a marker for the state line of Arizona/Nevada.  Ariel decided to make a video of us dancing and jumping at the state lines.

 After touring the dam, we went to In-n-Out in Kingman, Arizona.  

Eating a quick lunch on the road, we headed to Route 66.  Hackberry was a tourist trap along the road but it had an cool assortment of nostalgic paraphernalia.  We all had fun looking and snapping pictures.  Clarke especially liked the license plates, hub caps, and old posters.

Those chairs were surprisingly comfy

Seligman was another little stop along Route 66.  It was one of the major inspirations for Radiator Springs from the movie "Cars".

In Williams, we looked around in some shops and then had dinner at a classic diner.

The Grand Canyon was our final stop for the day.  We got to see a friend who works there.  She gave us some "inside info" on the canyon.  We took the shuttle along the south rim to find the perfect spot for viewing the sunset.

Piling back into the suv, we traveled to our hotel in Flagstaff arriving at 11pm for a quick rest.

Day 3 - Driving in Death Valley

I woke up bright and early at 5 am to do some laundry.  We are not seasoned travelers, like Steve, and we clearly pack and wear too many clothes!  With laundry done, we got a slow start to the day.  The thought of driving almost 800 miles in a day was not very enticing.  Our first stop was to have lunch at a little diner in Ridgecrest, CA.  It is a small town in the middle of nowhere but they seemed to have all the necessities - Walmart, Carl's Junior, Gas (at $4.17 a gallon).  

"We're starving and happy about it"

Searching for more snacks

We loaded up and traveled to Furnace Creek in Death Valley.  It was a destitute place at 117 degrees.  There was a single gas station charging $5.46 a gallon.  Thankfully we did not have to get gas!  The kids tried to come up with road games but "I Spy" did not last very long.  It went something like this:  
"I spy something brown",
"a rock",
"be more specific"

We stopped at the visitor center and the boys did a 1 mile run (to say they could) while us girls browsed the display. 

"I'm covering my eyes because Ariel said you shouldn't get out of the car without sunglasses!"

From there, we drove up to Dante's View.  Furnace Creek was at sea level and Dante's View is overlooking Death Valley at 5000 feet.  It was an amazing view but the drive was "not worth it".  Everyone else thought differently.  

Panorama of the valley below

Our final drive for the day was to Las Vegas, Nevada.  We drove up and down the strip at a snail's pace trying to take in all the activity.  It was a totally different experience than what we saw all day. 

Guitar for Clarke

A little blurry

The kids squished in the back seat to get the best view of the strip

Day 2 - Crazy Roads

We were up and leaving the hotel in Arcata, California a bit late at 8am.  It was a little overcast and the hotel staff were complaining about the lack of sunshine but, we were thankful for the coolness of the morning.  Our first destination was the redwoods and the drive through tree.  The drive was beautiful!

Steve almost died taking this picture by laying in the road

See what I mean?

When we got to the drive through tree, we were a bit disappointed.  Yelp gave it great reviews but it was definitely a bummer!  The gift shop along with the bathrooms never opened.  The park was tiny and the drive through tree was not big enough for our car and it was held together by wires.  Clarke thought it looked fake.  We had fun running around and poking our heads through the windows of the tiny tree house and posing with the carved animals, though.

Jaz took the picture

After locating a bathroom, we decided to add a stop Steve discovered online called glass beach.  It is located in Fort Brag, California.  In the early 20th century people would discard household trash such as glass, appliances and even vehicles.  The city cleaned it up a bit and along with the ocean, it is no longer a smelly dumping ground.  The sand however, is covered with shards of smooth glass and pottery.  The drawback to visiting this beach is that it is located off Hwy 1 in California.  As we began the journey this is what we saw:

The road was not just a little curvy, but the most ridiculous road ever!  When we finally arrived at glass beach, our first look was pure disappointment.  From above, the beach just looks like plain little rocks and bits of debris.  We were ready to give up but the kids decided to climb down the small cliff to check it out.  Up close, all the "debris" were shards of glass.  It was beautiful.  We all sat and sifted through the glass finding treasures.

Traveling to and from glass beach took us a little longer than planned so we arrived at our "lunch" destination at 4:00.  It was a very tasty authentic Mexican restaurant locally owned in Santa Rosa.  

A few blocks from the restaurant was a pretty amazing tower made of bicycle parts.

Our next destination was San Francisco. We planned to walk around and ride the public transportation but decided to just drive a bit and see the sights.  The golden gate bridge always looks bigger in person, I think. We took this picture at Battery Spencer overlooking the bay.

Steve really wanted to drive down Lombard street.  The traffic, hills, and curves were an overwhelming challenge and I was ready for the vehicle to stop moving.

Our stop for the night was located in Merced, California.  Arriving at 10pm, we were all ready for bed!