bouvierrvtrip

We spent yesterday and today at Gettysburg, which meant we actually stayed at the same campground for 3 nights! It's been most enjoyable. Gettysburg battlefield and cemetary are quite interesting and I can say that I've learned a whole lot more about the Civil War than I ever knew before. Before we left for this trip I bought the DVD "Gettysburg" and we all watched the first half Tuesday night and went to the cemetary and half of the driving tour on Wed. Then we (well I fell asleep) watched the second half Tuesday night and drove the rest of the driving tour on Thursday (today). To see the actual battlefields and hear all the history and how and why the troups did what they did on both sides was enlightening. I think I'll have to come back again sometime and have it sink in even more.

We packed up a bit tonight; at least as much as we could without causing complete choas in the RV for the ride home tomorrow. Michael is planning on getting up quite early again tomorrow morning so that we get home in late afternoon and have plenty of unpacking time. I hope it's nice weather to unpack in! Luckily we've done laundry along the way, so we should only have 1 or 2 loads when we get home.

Thanks for 'listening'. Hope we see ALL of you soon!

~MB

Hey again – We are only 4 days from home! WOW!!~


Yesterday: The Mall of America

The kids were VERY impressed. We spent from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. there. They enjoyed a couple rides in the amusement park; went to the Aquarium; Arcade; went to a store called “Games by James” – (Jake’s favorite); went to Lego Land; and window shopped. The aquarium was very cool. We walked (actually road on a conveyer belt sidewalk) through a glass tunnel to see the fish, sharks, stingrays, etc. The aquarium touts the largest collection of sharks in the U.S. Sarah, Matt, Michael and I also all touched a stingray and baby sharks in the ‘touch pool’. It took us a while to convince Sarah, but she finally did it. The Lego structures in Lego Land were incredible. We had to go up three stories of the Mall to really get the whole effect. There were 10 ft. high dinosaurs;, 5 foot tall Lego people, constructing things out of Legos, spaceships, pirate ships and scuba divers, bird nests with Pterodactyls and half opened eggs. It’s so hard to describe how incredible these structures were; ALL made out of Legos. One structure was more than 17 stories high.

We are currently in Indianapolis for the night and plan to be at Gettysburg by late tomorrow afternoon. We are now planning on spending three nights there so we have two full days to roam the grounds/area. Right now I’m kind of thinking of still spending only two nights and splitting up the driving back home into two days so that we don’t spend 8+ hours driving and then have to unpack and clean the RV the same day (Michael is not convinced of this plan). It’s due back at the Rental place at 9 a.m. Saturday morning. Ugh! We’ll see how the timing works out and when we feel like we’ve spent enough time at Gettysburg (although there’s probably never enough time).

In case we don’t get another chance to post… We’ll see you all soon. We’ll let you all know when we set up a time (for anyone interested) for our ‘home movie’ viewing and story telling. I’m SO SURE everyone wants to do that (ha!). 

Current Location: Indianapolis, IN

GRAND TETONS


KIDS AT LOWER FALLS AT YELLOWSTONE


YELLOWSTONE INSPIRATION POINT


YELLOWSTONE HOT SPRING


BISON AT OUR YELLOWSTONE CAMPGROUND


VIEW OF DEVIL'S TOWER FROM OUR RV @ CAMPGROUND


DEVIL'S TOWER UP CLOSE


MOUNT RUSHMORE


KIDS AT MOUNT RUSHMORE

Ugh! I guess I so niavely thought the noise wouldn't be a factor tonight, but with so many people here, we can hear music and people all over laughing and talking loud, including the ones right next to our camper (about 6 ft. from our window). We may have to turn on the air conditioning just to drown them out and get to sleep. Oh well...this is really the first we've had this much noise and quite honestly it's not quiet hours yet, so we should give them the benefit of the doubt. We'll see what it's like in 30 min. (10:00 p.m.)

Current Location: Still in SD Campground

Devil's Tower this morning and Mount Rushmore this afternoon, again with great weather. What more can we ask for?! We did see the Close Encounters movie last night - outdoors with Devil's Tower in our view. Did a 1.3 mile walk around the Tower this morning and saw it from all angles. Matt and Sarah climbed some boulders so they could say they touched the base of the Tower. We drove from there (only 2 hrs) to Mount Rushmore. Spent a couple of hours there staring in amazement at the carvings in the mountain, watching a short movie on the creation of it, and touring the on-site museum. When we got to our campsite (another KOA) we were shocked at how big it is and how MANY bikers are here. There's no revving of engines or loudness though. It's all very nice. These guys (and gals) have VERY nice rigs and most have matching trailers to haul their bikes when not riding. Very upper class motorcycles. The campground has two pools, a water slide, mini-golf, arcade, several stores, hay rides, horse rides and more. Wow! No wonder it costs almost as much as a hotel ($60).

We are off in the morning to get as close to the Mall of America as possible, but will still be a couple hours away. We'll hit the mall on Sunday (Sarah can't wait!).

~ Mary Beth

Current Location: Black Hills, SD

8/1/06

Drove through Jackson Hole, WY. Beautiful little tourist town. Wish we had time to stop, but were on our way to the Grand Tetons. Unfortunately Monday was our first bad weather day. The Tetons were kind of fogged in, but we still had some great views. We got to Yellowstone on Monday evening and found out that Yellowstone has a white trash RV Park. Betcha didn’t know that. I’m sure glad we made reservations 6 months in advance! There are many campgrounds in the park that allow RV’s, but the one we were at was the only one that took reservations and had power and water hookups. All the others were on a first come, first serve basis and we hadn’t dared wait until we got there. Luckily Michael asked about changing campgrounds for the 2nd and 3rd nights. We got into one that was a bit more treed and definitely quieter. We did find out also that it’s ‘FREEZING at Yellowstone at night. It was about 45 each night and the furnace in the RV didn’t work. Nice! We would up buying blankets at one of the Yellowstone stores, but all they had were more light fleece blankets. The kids all had three blankets by that point and wore sweatshirts and pants to bed and were ‘almost’ warm. Michael and I were still pretty cold. Our first day at Yellowstone we saw Old Faithful, walked quickly past many geysers, springs, vents, mud pots in order to get to a geyser that was supposed to have a fairly regular spout time. We waited there for approx. and hour and 15 min., while it did nothing but boil a little more than when we got there. In the meantime the wind really picked up, it started raining and then the hail started. Michael said several times we should wait just a few more minutes (first it was 8 min.; then about 15 min. later – ‘let’s just wait 4 more minutes’; then about 10 minutes later – ‘okay just 2 more minutes’. Well by the time the second hail storm started (which was about pea size), I was more than ready to go. Jake and Matt had already gone back to the RV because they were sick of the wait about 20 minutes in and Matt only had shorts on so was really freezing. Sarah really wanted to wait it out. By the time the three of us left that geyser it was pouring and REALLY started hailing. It was hard enough to hurt us, through our rain jackets. Besides the fact that we were soaked and freezing and didn’t see many geysers that we actually stopped at, it was memorable.  Our second day (Tues. 8/2/06) we got up, had a leisurely breakfast in the RV and went out to see beautiful blue sky and sun – ahhhh! The geysers, springs and structures (can’t remember what they were called) were very impressive and the colors really showed since the sun was out. In addition to these things, we drove to Teddy Roosevelt’s lodge (very cool) and drove to Mammoth Springs where we saw several herds of mule deer just standing around the greens. Mammoth Springs is a cute ‘town’ in Yellowstone. We had lunch at a nice little cafeteria-like restaurant and then went to see the Springs. We also saw a load of bison, a family of Elk, and an Osprey nest with two Osprey.

Comments from the Family…

Matt – “Smelly, steamy, rainy, hailing, but cool. We saw lots of animals that were close, numerous and awesome”.
Sarah – “Fun and tiring. The geysers were smelly, but awesome. We saw A LOT of Bison”.
Michael – “Can’t wait to get home and do some driving (ha!)”, but really at least something smaller than 29 feet.


8/3/06 (Wednesday)

We are now at Devil’s Tower. Oh my goodness!! Our campground (a KOA) is literally at the entrance to the National Park. Devil’s Tower, towers over the campground and we can just sit in Or out of our camper and see it. The campground shows “Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind” every night. It’s outside and right in front of “D.T.” We are going. It should be cool. Tomorrow we will actually drive up into the Park and walk around Devil’s Tower. I can’t wait! All of these National Parks that we’ve seen are actually more impressive than I imagined. I only wish the pictures could really portray how awesome it is.

Our campground is FULL of motorcycles since the “Sturgis Motorcycle Rally” starts today. I guess that’s here or very close by. I guess the “Hell’s Angels” yearly rally just finished a couple days ago in Cody, WY (which we passed through today). Quite interesting (??).

Well, now that I’ve rambled on… I’ll sign off for tonight. See Mom – I’m still here. 

~ Mary Beth

Current Location: Devil's Tower, WY

Saturday
7/29/06

Today started early again, as we headed toward Klamath Falls, OR so that Matt could see ‘where he came from’. He was very happy with that. We showed him the hospital he was born in; although it was under major construction so it was hard to tell what was part of the original. We brought him to the apt. we lived in and the Church that we went to and showed him the ANG Base. There really isn’t a whole lot to see in Klamath; although we did notice a lot of changes – additional stores, even a Wal-Mart Super Center!  That’s HUGE for Klamath. From there we drove to Crater Lake National Park. Just another gorgeous site. At this point though the kids are getting a little shall we say ‘bored’ by all the scenery, when we are driving at least. When they get their heads buried in a game boy or DVD we tell them to look out the window and they will poke their heads up for a second and say “wow” then look right back down again. They do enjoy it when we actually get to a destination, but the long hours of driving are getting to them a bit. We are at the Crater Lake National Park Campground tonight, amidst a forest of tall pine trees. We were here early this afternoon, even after all our site seeing, and the kids have had some real time to relax. Matt and Sarah have been outside quite a bit playing Frisbee and I played a board game with them on the picnic table earlier. We really haven’t had time to do that on this trip; other than at the Grand Canyon. We do have another long day of travel tomorrow, but are trying to be up and out early enough so we get to a campground by 3ish, and will try really hard to make sure there is a pool for the kids.

As far as Crater Lake itself, again just gorgeous, but coooold. Remembering back to when we lived here and visited CL in August, it was quite hot. This time it was cold enough to be in pants and sweatshirts and it was still chilly. There was a good amount of wind and we even found quite a bit of snow.

Sunday
7/30/06

4 a.m. - woke up freezing - it was 50 degrees in the RV - we covered all the kids with anything extra we could find - beach towels, sweatshirts, etc. They were all wondering why they were covered in 'laundry' this morning. It was cold enough that Michael couldn't get back to sleep and was worried about the kids sleeping in the cold, so he got up at 4:30 and started driving (and put on the heat!). We are currently in Spud country (i.e. Idaho) and of course had baked Idaho potatoes for dinner tonight. It was just a travel day so not much to report except that we are at another KOA and the kids enjoyed swimming in the pool again. Tomorrow we are off to the Grand Tetons and then Yellowstone for three nights. I'm sure we won't have internet access that whole time so it will be a bit before we can update again.

~ MB

Below are a few pictures from yesterday...



CRATER LAKE...

Current Location: Idaho

Hey all -

We showed the kids the CA coast today...well as much as we could. There was a lot of fog. We were able to take a couple of hikes in the redwood national forest; found a waterfall and were astounded at the size of the trees. I'm not sure if you can get a perspective from the pictures, but they are HUGE! We are in Oregon now - about two hours away from Klamath Falls and an hour from Crater Lake. We'll head to Klamath in the morning and give Matt a tour; first to our old apartment, then to the base, and also the hospital. He's really looking forward to it. We are staying in a beautiful, quiet campground tonight; however the owners are quite uptight. We'll be staying closer to Crater Lake tomorrow but probably won't have internet access. To answer a previous question -- NO I haven't driven the 'big rig' yet and am not planning on it. I'm perfectly happy being a co-pilot, finding campgrounds and going back for a nap or to read every once in a while. Besides, Michael would not relax at all if I were driving.

I'm attempting to upload some pictures again. I hope you enjoy them. ~mary beth

MATT AND SARAH AT PACIFIC OCEAN






SCENIC DRIVE AMONG THE REDWOODS




MB - REDWOOD TREE



MICHAEL AT THE WATERFALL




JAKE NEXT TO A GIANT REDWOOD



DESCRIPTION OF THAT GIANT REDWOOD

Current Location: Oregon

Hello all, love the comments, nice to know folks are reading.

We started the day driving 'up' (to 7000' elevation) to Lake Tahoe for the morning. Had a little bit of a time parking the house, but talked the boat access people into letting me pay them $8 to park where the boat trailers go. Matt and Sarah played at the beach, while Jake and I went to a very serendipitous play right there at the Nevada State Park.... a presentation of Young Shakespeare in the park. It was a very cool, ultra-abridged, amalgamated version of about 5 of his plays, set in modern Shakespeare High School, but with his original words. It was very well done, and pretty cool to be sitting in a sand amphitheater with Lake Tahoe backing up the stage.

Then it was off to central northern California, where we are now, on our way to the coast tomorrow. We drove through gorgeous 8000' mountain passes, right next to pockets of snow, and then down into the central california valley, at less than 200' elevation and over 110 degrees, where we drove by nut and fruit orchards for hours.

Then back into the mountains (coastal range), where we stopped for dinner at a small hole-in-the-wall italian restaurant. We were expecting "far off remote place" prices, but it was actually cheaper than eating at Zachary's in SB. The pasta was made fresh, and it was great.

Tonight we took a bit of a chance and drove into pretty much nowhereville here in the mountains, but ended up at a very cool little RV campground right by the Trinity River. We're "in" Del Loma, population 30, (good luck finding it on the map), but since the store/registration building was the only structure that's actually here, I'm not sure what exactly makes up the 'town'.

I'll be selecting and posting my own favorite pics of our trip so far.. once I can convince Jake to spend "his" computer time showing me how.

Tomorrow is the coast and the redwoods, then into Oregon.

Night for now.

- Mike

Current Location: Del Loma, CA

Ok – Since Michael is good at updating on the ‘official’ stops; I’ve decided that tonight I will let you know some of the miscellaneous things that we’ve seen in our travels so far:

ـ Cowboy herding cattle
ـ Snow on mountains as we drove through the desert (in the middle of July)
ـ Beautiful weather every day (only a bit of rain some nights)
ـ Remnants of an old wood saw mill, built in 1880
ـ Pine forests in the middle of the desert (no life under the trees, but very healthy trees)
ـ Site of John Denver’s Christmas Movie (AM – thought you would appreciate this one) ^_^
ـ Big Rock Candy Mountain
ـ Exit with a town name, but the road ended 100 feet off the exit (no houses and no town). I guess every town has to start somewhere
- 8 deer
ـ Signs for Brothels
ـ A couple of lizards – small, about three times the size of a salamander.
ـ Temperature differentials from 56 – 115 degrees
ـ Remainder of forest fires. We got a much better understanding of how devastating they can be
ـ Four mountain goats playing/chasing each other at Lake Mead/Hoover Dam
ـ And last, but not least = gas prices of $3.99 !!!!!





Zion National Park



Kids at Panguitch Parade



Grand Canyon



Bryce Canyon

Thats all for now!

~ MB

Current Location: Carson City, NV