Alpine flowers
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
July 24 - July 27
24 July
Slept at a Walmart last night. Lisa made french toast for breakfast this morning, then we headed to Hatfield Marine Science Center where we saw a lot of sea creatures & interactive displays. We were hoping to be able to touch an octopus, but he was sleeping! There were a lot of other things to touch though – sea anemones, sea cucumbers, star fish, etc. It was pretty neat. Spent an hr or so there, then were on our way up the coast. We wanted to make Portland before 5 pm to pick up a thing Roger had ordered at an RV place. We did make it there, got the part, and went to Flying J for the usual things – internet service, laundry & showers (we DO take showers other places too!) It was 106 degrees there & we didn’t have air-conditioning, so we were HOT. Roger had bought corn on the cob along the road that day, so we needed to beat that for supper. It was too hot to cook more than that, so we just had some fresh fruit we had also bought at a roadside stand, then later we went to an Outback & got a couple blooming onions (which we had coupons for) and sat outside & ate them. We needed to let the camper cool down so we could sleep, and it actually did, and wasn’t too bad. –posted by Jolene
25 July
This morning we went to this little (and I mean little) Mennonite church we found in the phone book. When we walked in, there were four other people there. More people slowly trickled in later, but the six of us still almost outnumbered the members. They were really friendly and it was a neat little church. Not one person there could sing though. Everyone just sorta sang whatever/however they felt like. I think the song leader was one of the worst singers. It was really funny. After church we found a park and ate a roast and potatoes that had been in the oven during church. It was yummy. We went back to Flying J to dump, then were on our way again to Mt. St. Helens. However, we AGAIN had more maintenance problems on the way. At first we thought it was just a tire, but then the truck started acting really weird, so we crippled it into a campground along the way. It was a little more expensive than what we usually pay but at the time our only option. But it had a beach and electric hookups, so all was well. Dad didn’t really do anything to the truck besides change the tire, and he says he thinks whatever else was wrong will work itself out. That’s a little scary, but I guess he knows what he’s talking about. –posted by Nicole
26-July-2004
Today we just sat around and watched TV mostly while Dad worked on various problems. We were supposed to leave the campground by noon, but it took us so long to fix the truck that we left an hour or two later. Then we went to Mount St. Helens National Monument, which is a really neat volcano. At some places after it erupted on March 18 1980, the debris was as thick as 600 feet.. There was also a movie at the visitor’s center, which was neat. Then we left the park and went to a town called Packwood to find a place to sleep. We found a Shell gas station, and before we went to bed (except Mom, who was really tired) we went to a restaurant across the road and had ice cream and mozzarella cheese sticks. They didn’t have any chocolate ice cream, though, and I love chocolate. –posted by Renae
Mt. Saint Helens was very intriguing to me. I was impressed by the enormity and power of that eruption. Three foot diameter trees broken off and shattered from the blast – 9 miles away from the volcano. Just trying to imagine that mountain being blown apart in a short time was hard to fathom. It was very educational and interesting. One cubic mile of material spewed from there in a short period of time – quite something to try and grasp. Seeing the devastation and topography first-hand was very worthwhile. - posted by Roger
27-July-2004
Amazingly we didn’t get kicked out last night. We were almost certain we would be. We went to “Ohanapecosh” visitor center for Renae’s Jr. Ranger program thing & went on a nature hike there. We then drove around Mt. Rainier NP. It was beautiful – 25 glaciers on the mountain. The mountain was covered in snow & extremely high. We went to a few more visitor centers, hiked to some waterfalls, ate lunch at a picnic area in the woods, and were then on our way again. To Flying J, of course, in Tacoma. –posted by Lisa
Left Travis & Nicole at the Flying J while the rest of us went to my cousin Weldon Nisly’s house in Seattle to pick up some mail we had sent there. He is on a 2 week trip, so just talked to his wife Marg for a bit before heading back to the Flying J. We had hoped to be at my cousin’s by Sunday to go to their church where he is a pastor, but with the maintenance problems, didn’t make it. Got groceries on the way back since we’re pretty much out of everything. The cost of living is certainly higher here than Lancaster County, PA – couldn’t believe the grocery prices. –posted by Jolene
Slept at a Walmart last night. Lisa made french toast for breakfast this morning, then we headed to Hatfield Marine Science Center where we saw a lot of sea creatures & interactive displays. We were hoping to be able to touch an octopus, but he was sleeping! There were a lot of other things to touch though – sea anemones, sea cucumbers, star fish, etc. It was pretty neat. Spent an hr or so there, then were on our way up the coast. We wanted to make Portland before 5 pm to pick up a thing Roger had ordered at an RV place. We did make it there, got the part, and went to Flying J for the usual things – internet service, laundry & showers (we DO take showers other places too!) It was 106 degrees there & we didn’t have air-conditioning, so we were HOT. Roger had bought corn on the cob along the road that day, so we needed to beat that for supper. It was too hot to cook more than that, so we just had some fresh fruit we had also bought at a roadside stand, then later we went to an Outback & got a couple blooming onions (which we had coupons for) and sat outside & ate them. We needed to let the camper cool down so we could sleep, and it actually did, and wasn’t too bad. –posted by Jolene
25 July
This morning we went to this little (and I mean little) Mennonite church we found in the phone book. When we walked in, there were four other people there. More people slowly trickled in later, but the six of us still almost outnumbered the members. They were really friendly and it was a neat little church. Not one person there could sing though. Everyone just sorta sang whatever/however they felt like. I think the song leader was one of the worst singers. It was really funny. After church we found a park and ate a roast and potatoes that had been in the oven during church. It was yummy. We went back to Flying J to dump, then were on our way again to Mt. St. Helens. However, we AGAIN had more maintenance problems on the way. At first we thought it was just a tire, but then the truck started acting really weird, so we crippled it into a campground along the way. It was a little more expensive than what we usually pay but at the time our only option. But it had a beach and electric hookups, so all was well. Dad didn’t really do anything to the truck besides change the tire, and he says he thinks whatever else was wrong will work itself out. That’s a little scary, but I guess he knows what he’s talking about. –posted by Nicole
26-July-2004
Today we just sat around and watched TV mostly while Dad worked on various problems. We were supposed to leave the campground by noon, but it took us so long to fix the truck that we left an hour or two later. Then we went to Mount St. Helens National Monument, which is a really neat volcano. At some places after it erupted on March 18 1980, the debris was as thick as 600 feet.. There was also a movie at the visitor’s center, which was neat. Then we left the park and went to a town called Packwood to find a place to sleep. We found a Shell gas station, and before we went to bed (except Mom, who was really tired) we went to a restaurant across the road and had ice cream and mozzarella cheese sticks. They didn’t have any chocolate ice cream, though, and I love chocolate. –posted by Renae
Mt. Saint Helens was very intriguing to me. I was impressed by the enormity and power of that eruption. Three foot diameter trees broken off and shattered from the blast – 9 miles away from the volcano. Just trying to imagine that mountain being blown apart in a short time was hard to fathom. It was very educational and interesting. One cubic mile of material spewed from there in a short period of time – quite something to try and grasp. Seeing the devastation and topography first-hand was very worthwhile. - posted by Roger
27-July-2004
Amazingly we didn’t get kicked out last night. We were almost certain we would be. We went to “Ohanapecosh” visitor center for Renae’s Jr. Ranger program thing & went on a nature hike there. We then drove around Mt. Rainier NP. It was beautiful – 25 glaciers on the mountain. The mountain was covered in snow & extremely high. We went to a few more visitor centers, hiked to some waterfalls, ate lunch at a picnic area in the woods, and were then on our way again. To Flying J, of course, in Tacoma. –posted by Lisa
Left Travis & Nicole at the Flying J while the rest of us went to my cousin Weldon Nisly’s house in Seattle to pick up some mail we had sent there. He is on a 2 week trip, so just talked to his wife Marg for a bit before heading back to the Flying J. We had hoped to be at my cousin’s by Sunday to go to their church where he is a pastor, but with the maintenance problems, didn’t make it. Got groceries on the way back since we’re pretty much out of everything. The cost of living is certainly higher here than Lancaster County, PA – couldn’t believe the grocery prices. –posted by Jolene
Saturday, July 24, 2004
July 17 - July 23
17-July-2004
Today we were in Las Vegas all day. Travis and Dad had to go to Flying J to download emails and work on the internet. Nicole, Lisa, and I stayed at the RV park that we were at and swam practically all day. It was 110 degrees outside, so the water felt good and was the perfect temp. There were also showers and a Jacuzzi. If we weren’t swimming, we were either watching TV or playing magnetix, something Jill and Kevin gave us when we met up with them. That evening we went to the Bellagio (on the strip) to walk around the hotel and then we went to the water show that was outside the Bellagio. Then we went back to the RV park and I persuaded Nicole to go swimming with me. We didn’t swim very long because Nicole wanted to take a shower before she went to bed. –Renae
18-July-2004
We left our campground at Las Vegas around noon this morning, after multiple showers, swimming, and computer work. Showers have not been something we’ve had an overabundance of this trip (except in our camper where water is not as plentiful), so we very much took advantage of our free showers. Our day at Las Vegas was about the laziest and unproductive day of my life, but we all need days like that sometimes, I guess. We basically swam, hung out around the pool, watched TV and ate. Anyway, we finally got out of that hot hole, AND….went to Death Valley! Which, if you didn’t know is about the hottest place in the world. It was over 120 degrees the whole time we were there. Our record temp was 125. We got out at Badwater and took a picture of us kids near a sign looking like we’re about dead. (Which, of course, we were). Dad likes those kinds of pictures. He’s a sick man. Mom refused to get out of the car, except to walk into the visitor center. She didn’t much like the place. We basically drove right through, FAST. We didn’t exactly want to have to sleep there that night because our generator was broken and it wouldn’t be too comfortable sleeping w/o air conditioning. We did get out, finally, and slept in higher altitudes in low 80 degree weather. –posted by Nicole
There’s one thing Nicole forgot to write- we slept in the parking lot of a McDonald’s and wanted to get ice cream there, but they were sold out. There were these guys in the parking lot that were kinda scary and Mom got behind us a little bit when we came in. She said one of the guys yelled, “lookin good,” and whistled as she walked by. I never knew my mom was such a hot item. (Nicole told me to write that.) Anyway, we got parfaits instead of ice cream. Dad said it is good that we bought something there so if we got kicked out we’d at least have given them some service. He also said he’d like to be kicked out sometime this trip. (Don’t ask me why.) –posted by Renae
19-July-2004
Drove through Yosemite, which is absolutely gorgeous. I sort of remember it from our trip to California before, but I was only 6 or 7, so it was nice to see it again. We tried to eat at the same place we ate at back then on a rock in the middle of a stream. Just like I thought, we couldn’t find it. So we ate in a stream on some other rocks in remembrance. After some more extensive grocery shopping we ate one of those rotisserie chicken deals and corn on the cob. The first we got this year. Yum. The front burner on our stove wouldn’t turn off b/c mom somehow broke it. So of course we couldn’t drive with the stove burner on, and we had to turn off the gas. This resulted in no fridge and a mad scramble for a hardware store. We got the gas on, but the front burner still doesn’t work. Haven’t we had enough maintenance problems already??? Our generator still isn’t working properly. It seems our camper and truck are falling apart. We went to the WalMart campground, and the RV section was packed. 8 or 9 in the back section. & you never get kicked out. Pretty nice. The number of RV’s are steadily increasing with each one, too. As my dad says, they “welcome & take care of us” mmm-hmmm…..-Lisa
20-July-2004
We slept in Carson City, NV last night. Spent a lot of the morning doing some running around trying to find parts & stuff we needed for the generator & stove. Drove to Reno then where we were to pick up the cell phone which had quit working & had been sent in to get fixed. It wasn’t there right away, so we found a park where we had our lunch. It was by a stream, so we stuck our feet in & Renae put on her swimming suit & got wet. The ‘girls’ stayed there then while the ‘boys’ went to pick up the phone, and thankfully it was there, so we were on our way. Drove to Lassen Volcanic Nat’l Park, in northern CA, where we stayed in the campground. Did hamburgers on the grill & sat around the campfire awhile. It got cold that night – was 46 the next morning. I hadn’t seen stars like that since Botswana days I don’t think. –posted by Jolene
21-July-2004
This morning we left pretty early for Redwood National and State Parks. We got there about 4:30 or so and then stopped right beside the beach to eat supper, which was hamburgers and cooked vegetables (zucchini, carrots, onions, and potatoes) on the grill. Before supper everyone except Dad went down to the beach and dipped our feet in the water. We also brought the Frisbee along and almost lost it many times. I was just standing on the beach right where the waves came to your feet when a huge one was coming. I turned to run away but it caught me before I hardly started running away. I got dragged down and it surprised me, because all the other waves were little tiny ones and all the sudden a huge one comes and knocks me down. Nicole held on to me so I didn’t get dragged away, but she got wet, but I was completely dunked under. I got back to the camper and took a shower. I missed out on half of supper, but I was freezing and sand was all over me. Later I read that the wave that pulled me down was a “sneaker wave,” which is a wave that “seems to come out of nowhere, surges onto the beach with deadly force. You can’t outrun them, and they serve for 63% of beach fatalities.” Anyway, that night we went through Redwoods, which was really really neat because they are huge trees that five of us holding hands can’t even go halfway around the trees. We went on a trail through them and it looks like a jungle. Mom was freaking out that there were snakes there and wanted me to go ahead of her. I thought she was braver than that. After we were done with the parks, we drove until we made it to Grants Pass in Oregon, where we slept at a Wal-Mart again. There were about 15 other RVs there and Dad thinks that they make the parking lot flatter in the back where the RVs are. I don’t know if that’s true, but all of the RVs in any Wal-Mart parking lot are in the back. –posted by Renae
22-July-2004
Today we drove to Crater Lake National Park and spent most of the day driving around the rim and checking out the overlooks and reading about the lake. It is an amazing story, and the water is very pretty – the deepest blue water I ever recall seeing. The lake was formed by a huge volcano that collapsed and filled with water from snow. They have 500 inches of snow a year there, and snow is on the ground year round. Nearly every night the temperature is below freezing, but the lake seldom freezes. The rim is about 100 feet above the water level, and the water is over 1900 feet deep at the deepest point and holds the world record for clarity. Underneath the water are volcano cones etc. and one cone protrudes from the water to about 700 feet above the surface. It is quite a picturesque place. From there we drove to Winston, OR where we grilled our supper at a park, and then drove to Coos Bay where we spent the night – finding an empty lot that was dark and quiet. – posted by Roger
23-July-2004
We drove along the coast today, and spent some time climbing on the Oregon Sand Dunes. The kids also checked out the beaches – but the water was too cold to do much swimming. We stopped to eat a late lunch around 2:00PM at a state park, and Travis noticed we broke another spring on the other axle. That was a disappointment – I am so sick of all the maintenance problems we had on this trip. We have had more than our fair share this summer. The tires were rubbing against each other, but we could move the trailer this time, so right beside the lot we were in was the state park campground. We tried to find a spot, but it had just filled up and none were available. We decided to get to work in the parking lot and unhooked the trailer and I went looking for parts while Travis and Nicole started tearing into the axle. I was expecting to have to drive to Eugene or Salem to find springs, and since it was Friday afternoon was worried about getting them before the weekend, but I went to the nearest town and after making a few calls found springs about 20 miles north of us. I bought two springs, since we decided we would change both of them, and got a few items at the hardware store and headed back. When I got back Travis and Nicole already had the axle out and just about had the springs removed (my timing was close – I should have gotten a coffee or something in town so it would have been completed before I returned). I was surprised they had that much done already. We got the springs on and repaired an electrical plug on the truck before dark. We were quite proud of how quickly we got things fixed this time – of course we had some experience with this and didn’t have to go 100 miles for parts this time. We decided to take showers at the campground next door, since we were very dirty and then drove to Newport where we slept in a Walmart parking lot. At many of the Walmart parking lots a sign is posted saying no overnight parking allowed by city ordinance, but they seem to be ignored. Walmart encourages using the lot, and I guess they must post the signs, but they do not enforce it, nor does the city. There are usually at least 10, (often more) RV’s in the lot and nobody seems to enforce the city ordinance. – posted by Roger
I was quite happy when I found out that the springs broke again because I had wanted to go to the beach and stay there for a while. I would be able to spend the day on the beach since I wasn’t needed to help fix the springs. I waded in the waves a little, but the water’s ice cold and I didn’t feel like going in so far. Also, the waves are wimpy, even at high tide. You can’t body surf them or anything they were so tiny. Then I made a sand formation kind of like the one I had made with the Evans’s at the beach where you make a cone shape by mixing up sand and water and put little drops of it everywhere on it until it’s pretty tall and looks weird. I found a lot of pieces of sand dollars but not a full one. There were tons of carcasses of crabs and a couple of dead birds. There were tons of little bugs covering them, too. We put stones in the sand creation for eyes and two crab claws coming out of the side. We built a moat around it and were going to put crab head shells around the moat, but before we could finish it we had to eat supper, which was pizza. When we got back after supper it was destroyed. I was disappointed, because it took us all afternoon to do and I would have liked to see it finished. There is no one on the beach like Bethany or Indian River except a lot of people who walk their dogs, but no one in the water at all. Soon after supper they were done fixing the springs and we took showers. It felt really good to take as long a shower as you wanted because when we take one in the camper we can’t use as much as you want. We went to a Wal-Mart that was about 20 miles away to sleep even though there were signs around that said no overnight parking, but there were a lot of other RVs there and we’ve been to a lot of Wal-Marts that had the same sign but nobody listens to them. –posted by Renae
Today we were in Las Vegas all day. Travis and Dad had to go to Flying J to download emails and work on the internet. Nicole, Lisa, and I stayed at the RV park that we were at and swam practically all day. It was 110 degrees outside, so the water felt good and was the perfect temp. There were also showers and a Jacuzzi. If we weren’t swimming, we were either watching TV or playing magnetix, something Jill and Kevin gave us when we met up with them. That evening we went to the Bellagio (on the strip) to walk around the hotel and then we went to the water show that was outside the Bellagio. Then we went back to the RV park and I persuaded Nicole to go swimming with me. We didn’t swim very long because Nicole wanted to take a shower before she went to bed. –Renae
18-July-2004
We left our campground at Las Vegas around noon this morning, after multiple showers, swimming, and computer work. Showers have not been something we’ve had an overabundance of this trip (except in our camper where water is not as plentiful), so we very much took advantage of our free showers. Our day at Las Vegas was about the laziest and unproductive day of my life, but we all need days like that sometimes, I guess. We basically swam, hung out around the pool, watched TV and ate. Anyway, we finally got out of that hot hole, AND….went to Death Valley! Which, if you didn’t know is about the hottest place in the world. It was over 120 degrees the whole time we were there. Our record temp was 125. We got out at Badwater and took a picture of us kids near a sign looking like we’re about dead. (Which, of course, we were). Dad likes those kinds of pictures. He’s a sick man. Mom refused to get out of the car, except to walk into the visitor center. She didn’t much like the place. We basically drove right through, FAST. We didn’t exactly want to have to sleep there that night because our generator was broken and it wouldn’t be too comfortable sleeping w/o air conditioning. We did get out, finally, and slept in higher altitudes in low 80 degree weather. –posted by Nicole
There’s one thing Nicole forgot to write- we slept in the parking lot of a McDonald’s and wanted to get ice cream there, but they were sold out. There were these guys in the parking lot that were kinda scary and Mom got behind us a little bit when we came in. She said one of the guys yelled, “lookin good,” and whistled as she walked by. I never knew my mom was such a hot item. (Nicole told me to write that.) Anyway, we got parfaits instead of ice cream. Dad said it is good that we bought something there so if we got kicked out we’d at least have given them some service. He also said he’d like to be kicked out sometime this trip. (Don’t ask me why.) –posted by Renae
19-July-2004
Drove through Yosemite, which is absolutely gorgeous. I sort of remember it from our trip to California before, but I was only 6 or 7, so it was nice to see it again. We tried to eat at the same place we ate at back then on a rock in the middle of a stream. Just like I thought, we couldn’t find it. So we ate in a stream on some other rocks in remembrance. After some more extensive grocery shopping we ate one of those rotisserie chicken deals and corn on the cob. The first we got this year. Yum. The front burner on our stove wouldn’t turn off b/c mom somehow broke it. So of course we couldn’t drive with the stove burner on, and we had to turn off the gas. This resulted in no fridge and a mad scramble for a hardware store. We got the gas on, but the front burner still doesn’t work. Haven’t we had enough maintenance problems already??? Our generator still isn’t working properly. It seems our camper and truck are falling apart. We went to the WalMart campground, and the RV section was packed. 8 or 9 in the back section. & you never get kicked out. Pretty nice. The number of RV’s are steadily increasing with each one, too. As my dad says, they “welcome & take care of us” mmm-hmmm…..-Lisa
20-July-2004
We slept in Carson City, NV last night. Spent a lot of the morning doing some running around trying to find parts & stuff we needed for the generator & stove. Drove to Reno then where we were to pick up the cell phone which had quit working & had been sent in to get fixed. It wasn’t there right away, so we found a park where we had our lunch. It was by a stream, so we stuck our feet in & Renae put on her swimming suit & got wet. The ‘girls’ stayed there then while the ‘boys’ went to pick up the phone, and thankfully it was there, so we were on our way. Drove to Lassen Volcanic Nat’l Park, in northern CA, where we stayed in the campground. Did hamburgers on the grill & sat around the campfire awhile. It got cold that night – was 46 the next morning. I hadn’t seen stars like that since Botswana days I don’t think. –posted by Jolene
21-July-2004
This morning we left pretty early for Redwood National and State Parks. We got there about 4:30 or so and then stopped right beside the beach to eat supper, which was hamburgers and cooked vegetables (zucchini, carrots, onions, and potatoes) on the grill. Before supper everyone except Dad went down to the beach and dipped our feet in the water. We also brought the Frisbee along and almost lost it many times. I was just standing on the beach right where the waves came to your feet when a huge one was coming. I turned to run away but it caught me before I hardly started running away. I got dragged down and it surprised me, because all the other waves were little tiny ones and all the sudden a huge one comes and knocks me down. Nicole held on to me so I didn’t get dragged away, but she got wet, but I was completely dunked under. I got back to the camper and took a shower. I missed out on half of supper, but I was freezing and sand was all over me. Later I read that the wave that pulled me down was a “sneaker wave,” which is a wave that “seems to come out of nowhere, surges onto the beach with deadly force. You can’t outrun them, and they serve for 63% of beach fatalities.” Anyway, that night we went through Redwoods, which was really really neat because they are huge trees that five of us holding hands can’t even go halfway around the trees. We went on a trail through them and it looks like a jungle. Mom was freaking out that there were snakes there and wanted me to go ahead of her. I thought she was braver than that. After we were done with the parks, we drove until we made it to Grants Pass in Oregon, where we slept at a Wal-Mart again. There were about 15 other RVs there and Dad thinks that they make the parking lot flatter in the back where the RVs are. I don’t know if that’s true, but all of the RVs in any Wal-Mart parking lot are in the back. –posted by Renae
22-July-2004
Today we drove to Crater Lake National Park and spent most of the day driving around the rim and checking out the overlooks and reading about the lake. It is an amazing story, and the water is very pretty – the deepest blue water I ever recall seeing. The lake was formed by a huge volcano that collapsed and filled with water from snow. They have 500 inches of snow a year there, and snow is on the ground year round. Nearly every night the temperature is below freezing, but the lake seldom freezes. The rim is about 100 feet above the water level, and the water is over 1900 feet deep at the deepest point and holds the world record for clarity. Underneath the water are volcano cones etc. and one cone protrudes from the water to about 700 feet above the surface. It is quite a picturesque place. From there we drove to Winston, OR where we grilled our supper at a park, and then drove to Coos Bay where we spent the night – finding an empty lot that was dark and quiet. – posted by Roger
23-July-2004
We drove along the coast today, and spent some time climbing on the Oregon Sand Dunes. The kids also checked out the beaches – but the water was too cold to do much swimming. We stopped to eat a late lunch around 2:00PM at a state park, and Travis noticed we broke another spring on the other axle. That was a disappointment – I am so sick of all the maintenance problems we had on this trip. We have had more than our fair share this summer. The tires were rubbing against each other, but we could move the trailer this time, so right beside the lot we were in was the state park campground. We tried to find a spot, but it had just filled up and none were available. We decided to get to work in the parking lot and unhooked the trailer and I went looking for parts while Travis and Nicole started tearing into the axle. I was expecting to have to drive to Eugene or Salem to find springs, and since it was Friday afternoon was worried about getting them before the weekend, but I went to the nearest town and after making a few calls found springs about 20 miles north of us. I bought two springs, since we decided we would change both of them, and got a few items at the hardware store and headed back. When I got back Travis and Nicole already had the axle out and just about had the springs removed (my timing was close – I should have gotten a coffee or something in town so it would have been completed before I returned). I was surprised they had that much done already. We got the springs on and repaired an electrical plug on the truck before dark. We were quite proud of how quickly we got things fixed this time – of course we had some experience with this and didn’t have to go 100 miles for parts this time. We decided to take showers at the campground next door, since we were very dirty and then drove to Newport where we slept in a Walmart parking lot. At many of the Walmart parking lots a sign is posted saying no overnight parking allowed by city ordinance, but they seem to be ignored. Walmart encourages using the lot, and I guess they must post the signs, but they do not enforce it, nor does the city. There are usually at least 10, (often more) RV’s in the lot and nobody seems to enforce the city ordinance. – posted by Roger
I was quite happy when I found out that the springs broke again because I had wanted to go to the beach and stay there for a while. I would be able to spend the day on the beach since I wasn’t needed to help fix the springs. I waded in the waves a little, but the water’s ice cold and I didn’t feel like going in so far. Also, the waves are wimpy, even at high tide. You can’t body surf them or anything they were so tiny. Then I made a sand formation kind of like the one I had made with the Evans’s at the beach where you make a cone shape by mixing up sand and water and put little drops of it everywhere on it until it’s pretty tall and looks weird. I found a lot of pieces of sand dollars but not a full one. There were tons of carcasses of crabs and a couple of dead birds. There were tons of little bugs covering them, too. We put stones in the sand creation for eyes and two crab claws coming out of the side. We built a moat around it and were going to put crab head shells around the moat, but before we could finish it we had to eat supper, which was pizza. When we got back after supper it was destroyed. I was disappointed, because it took us all afternoon to do and I would have liked to see it finished. There is no one on the beach like Bethany or Indian River except a lot of people who walk their dogs, but no one in the water at all. Soon after supper they were done fixing the springs and we took showers. It felt really good to take as long a shower as you wanted because when we take one in the camper we can’t use as much as you want. We went to a Wal-Mart that was about 20 miles away to sleep even though there were signs around that said no overnight parking, but there were a lot of other RVs there and we’ve been to a lot of Wal-Marts that had the same sign but nobody listens to them. –posted by Renae
Saturday, July 17, 2004
July 7 - July 16
It's been a while since we had internet access so we could not update our site - but here is the latest. We are really roughing it now - 10 days without having internet access!
7-July-2004
The first thing we did in Salt Lake City was float in the Great Salt Lake. Not a particularly pleasant experience, since that lake is by far the dirtiest, stinkiest lake I have ever seen. After that we went to visit a friend of mine, Kristi Mickelsen, who I went to high school with. Her mother made a “cowboy dinner” for us that consisted of chicken and potatoes in dutch ovens. It was quite tasty. It was good to see Kristi and her family again, although I’m not sure that my sisters enjoyed the whole experience that much, being the anti-social bums that they are. We parked our camper in their driveway and slept the night there. The next day, they took us on a tour of the Mormon Tabernacle and Convention Center, which was very interesting. I think we all learned a lot, especially since we could talk to the Mickelsens about it, as they are members of the Mormon Church. In the afternoon, we went up on a tramway at a nearby ski resort, which was quite scenic and enjoyable. So that was that. Good times. – posted by Travis
8-July-2004
We stayed awhile at the Flying J so they could finish their Internet stuff. Then we went grocery shopping and spent a few hours and a bunch of money. We were going to some national parks so we had to stock up. After stopping at the Capitol Reef National Park visitor center for a little we went on a scenic drive there. It was slow going & on a dirt road but beautiful scenery in the canyon. When we came back, there was an apricot orchard & we picked & ate apricots until we were half sick, then took a few pounds with us. We ate supper along the road, then found a “campground” in an old empty place in Moab. We decided to eat some watermelon for a snack, and it tasted a bit odd. Kinda like soda, and it sort of stung your tongue. Pretty disgusting, actually. That was when we figured out it was carbonated from the dry ice we stuck in our cooler. Carbonated watermelon. Then we found out the apricots in there were carbonated as well. It was a funny experience, not very tasty, but funny. –posted by Lisa
9-10-July-2004
Went into Canyonlands Nat’l Park and camped there for 2 nights. There were no services-water, electric, etc, and it was very HOT there – over 100 during the days. But thankfully the nights cooled off enough to sleep pretty well, which was good cause we weren’t allowed to run the generator after 10 pm. On the 10th we drove over to Arches Nat’l Park which was about a half hr. away from Canyonlands. Did some hikes into various places to see the arches better. Roger and the kids had fun climbing up on some of the rocks. It was so hot that I didn’t feel much like hiking & didn’t always go with them. Three things we’ve learned to do on these hot hikes – take plenty of water, slather on the sun screen & wear hats. –posted by Jolene
11-July-2004
Today Roger & the 3 oldest went on a long drive into the canyon on 4 wheel drive roads. Renae opted to stay at the camper with me. They went along some cliff edges & did some other ridiculous things & I was quite glad I hadn’t gone along. Apparently it was beautiful though. Renae & I got stuff ready for supper, played games, read & I took a nap. It was about 3:30 till they got back. We quickly hooked up & left to pick up Travis who had taken a 7 mile hike. It was way too hot for that I thought (105 degrees), but he took lots of water along & said it wasn’t too bad. The generator conked out so we don’t even have the option of air conditioning. The truck was FILTHY so we went to a car wash & finally got it cleaned up. Drove toward Mesa Verde, stopping at a small truck stop to sleep along the way at Montecello UT. –posted by Jolene
12-July-2004
Dropped the camper at the entrance to Mesa Verde park this morning & spent the day in the park. What a place. –posted by Jolene
There are a whole bunch of villages in the alcoves of the ancient pueblo Indians. We took two tours down into two different villages. The second tour we went on we split up. Mom and I went on an easier one because the one the others went on there are sheer drop-offs on either side of you and have to go through an 18-inch tunnel and climb a 32 foot ladder up the cliff.. I have no idea how Dad fit through it, but the reason I didn’t go was because I am kinda afraid of heights. The one I went on was really neat and was the biggest one in the park. We went back to Cortez again and had KFC chicken for supper. –posted by Renae
Mesa Verde is an incredible National Park. It was fun learning about the culture (what little is known or assumed!) The cliff dwellings were amazing and reminded me of Machu Picchu . They were only inhabited for about 100 years, and everybody moved out in the late 1200’s – nobody knows exactly why - or why they even moved into those dwellings from the top of the mesa in the first place. I was surprised to see the ruins so well preserved in many of the alcoves. posted by Roger
13-July-2004
Drove all day and got to Bryce Canyon about supper time. Did chicken on the grill for supper. Renae is doing these Junior Ranger programs at the Nat’l Parks, so she needed to see a ranger presentation at this one, where we heard about birds, particularly the raven, at this one. She has to do some activities and then gets a badge and certificate when she’s done. She’s seeing how many badges she can collect. It doesn’t take much time & effort. –posted by Jolene
14-July-2004
Last night we set up camp at Bryce Canyon N.P., and this morning we drove around to all the lookout points. It was really cool looking from the top down into the canyon, because all the rock formations are so different and unique, but in the afternoon we hiked down into the canyon and got a completely different perspective. It’s beautiful. Tonight we got a call from Jill and Kevin (an aunt and uncle of ours) saying that they are about an hour away from Zion N.P, which is the place we’re planning on going next. So we’re gonna probably meet up with them and hopefully spend the next day with them, which would be a lot of fun. –posted by Nicole
15-July-2004
Today we met up with the Miller-Haughtons, in Zion N.P. They were in the same area of Utah as we were. It was fun seeing them again and we went on the shuttle around the park and then went on a short hike to a rock that was dripping with water. It felt so good, since it was hot outside. When we got back to the campground we were staying in, we took a swim in the river right in our campground. There had been flash flood warnings until 8 that evening. Soon after supper, Nicole rushed out and yelled that there was a flash flood at the river. We all ran to the river, and the water was rising very fast. A whole bunch of huge logs went down with the current along with tons of other debris. The water was rushing REALLY fast and kept on rising. Nicole went out onto the sand where we had been swimming. She was the only one that close. Soon a big river of water was coming from behind her where the sand was. I yelled, “Nicole, look behind you!” At first she didn’t do anything, but then she looked and ran right in front of it and got out just in time before that was flowing as fast as the other water.
-posted by Renae
I have never seen anything like the river we saw last night. It was AMAZING. Just an hour before it started flooding we had been swimming in that river, which was this little stream that came up to your knees and was hardly moving. After supper we were just sorta hanging around with Jill and Kevin and their girls roasting marshmallows when I just glanced at the river and I saw that it was very deep and flowing very fast with logs and sticks and tons of debris in it. It’s a good thing we weren’t still swimming in it, because it was flowing VERY fast and would just sweep you away. I ran toward the river and stood at the shore and watched and all of a sudden this wall of water came from behind me. It’s good Renae yelled, or I would have been stranded on this island thing in the middle. This was not the same river we were swimming in before! Now I understand why you’re not supposed to be down in the canyon when there are flash flood warnings. You’d be a goner! Well, that was today’s near-death experience. I’ll let you know tomorrows when it happens. –posted by Nicole
16-July-2004
This morning we took the shuttle and went on a hike before it got so hot with the Miller Haughtons. Then we drove through this pretty neat tunnel that was built into the mountain back in the 20’s. Said goodbye to Jill, Kevin, Rachel & Noelle and they were on their way home. It was pretty amazing how it worked out to be with them – we didn’t think it would work out but we were going the same way at about the exact same time. They were going to drive straight through to get home to San Diego (from Iowa visiting family), but stopped to spend a day with us. We are now entering Las Vegas, trying to figure out where we want to camp. We need a Flying J to get internet service again after being off for over a week, do laundry, etc. Driving here it was 110 degrees, now it’s cooled off to 107. We’ve decided we’ll eat out in one of the casinos tonight. I must say, I’ll be glad to get up north further to cooler temps. –posted by Jolene
7-July-2004
The first thing we did in Salt Lake City was float in the Great Salt Lake. Not a particularly pleasant experience, since that lake is by far the dirtiest, stinkiest lake I have ever seen. After that we went to visit a friend of mine, Kristi Mickelsen, who I went to high school with. Her mother made a “cowboy dinner” for us that consisted of chicken and potatoes in dutch ovens. It was quite tasty. It was good to see Kristi and her family again, although I’m not sure that my sisters enjoyed the whole experience that much, being the anti-social bums that they are. We parked our camper in their driveway and slept the night there. The next day, they took us on a tour of the Mormon Tabernacle and Convention Center, which was very interesting. I think we all learned a lot, especially since we could talk to the Mickelsens about it, as they are members of the Mormon Church. In the afternoon, we went up on a tramway at a nearby ski resort, which was quite scenic and enjoyable. So that was that. Good times. – posted by Travis
8-July-2004
We stayed awhile at the Flying J so they could finish their Internet stuff. Then we went grocery shopping and spent a few hours and a bunch of money. We were going to some national parks so we had to stock up. After stopping at the Capitol Reef National Park visitor center for a little we went on a scenic drive there. It was slow going & on a dirt road but beautiful scenery in the canyon. When we came back, there was an apricot orchard & we picked & ate apricots until we were half sick, then took a few pounds with us. We ate supper along the road, then found a “campground” in an old empty place in Moab. We decided to eat some watermelon for a snack, and it tasted a bit odd. Kinda like soda, and it sort of stung your tongue. Pretty disgusting, actually. That was when we figured out it was carbonated from the dry ice we stuck in our cooler. Carbonated watermelon. Then we found out the apricots in there were carbonated as well. It was a funny experience, not very tasty, but funny. –posted by Lisa
9-10-July-2004
Went into Canyonlands Nat’l Park and camped there for 2 nights. There were no services-water, electric, etc, and it was very HOT there – over 100 during the days. But thankfully the nights cooled off enough to sleep pretty well, which was good cause we weren’t allowed to run the generator after 10 pm. On the 10th we drove over to Arches Nat’l Park which was about a half hr. away from Canyonlands. Did some hikes into various places to see the arches better. Roger and the kids had fun climbing up on some of the rocks. It was so hot that I didn’t feel much like hiking & didn’t always go with them. Three things we’ve learned to do on these hot hikes – take plenty of water, slather on the sun screen & wear hats. –posted by Jolene
11-July-2004
Today Roger & the 3 oldest went on a long drive into the canyon on 4 wheel drive roads. Renae opted to stay at the camper with me. They went along some cliff edges & did some other ridiculous things & I was quite glad I hadn’t gone along. Apparently it was beautiful though. Renae & I got stuff ready for supper, played games, read & I took a nap. It was about 3:30 till they got back. We quickly hooked up & left to pick up Travis who had taken a 7 mile hike. It was way too hot for that I thought (105 degrees), but he took lots of water along & said it wasn’t too bad. The generator conked out so we don’t even have the option of air conditioning. The truck was FILTHY so we went to a car wash & finally got it cleaned up. Drove toward Mesa Verde, stopping at a small truck stop to sleep along the way at Montecello UT. –posted by Jolene
12-July-2004
Dropped the camper at the entrance to Mesa Verde park this morning & spent the day in the park. What a place. –posted by Jolene
There are a whole bunch of villages in the alcoves of the ancient pueblo Indians. We took two tours down into two different villages. The second tour we went on we split up. Mom and I went on an easier one because the one the others went on there are sheer drop-offs on either side of you and have to go through an 18-inch tunnel and climb a 32 foot ladder up the cliff.. I have no idea how Dad fit through it, but the reason I didn’t go was because I am kinda afraid of heights. The one I went on was really neat and was the biggest one in the park. We went back to Cortez again and had KFC chicken for supper. –posted by Renae
Mesa Verde is an incredible National Park. It was fun learning about the culture (what little is known or assumed!) The cliff dwellings were amazing and reminded me of Machu Picchu . They were only inhabited for about 100 years, and everybody moved out in the late 1200’s – nobody knows exactly why - or why they even moved into those dwellings from the top of the mesa in the first place. I was surprised to see the ruins so well preserved in many of the alcoves. posted by Roger
13-July-2004
Drove all day and got to Bryce Canyon about supper time. Did chicken on the grill for supper. Renae is doing these Junior Ranger programs at the Nat’l Parks, so she needed to see a ranger presentation at this one, where we heard about birds, particularly the raven, at this one. She has to do some activities and then gets a badge and certificate when she’s done. She’s seeing how many badges she can collect. It doesn’t take much time & effort. –posted by Jolene
14-July-2004
Last night we set up camp at Bryce Canyon N.P., and this morning we drove around to all the lookout points. It was really cool looking from the top down into the canyon, because all the rock formations are so different and unique, but in the afternoon we hiked down into the canyon and got a completely different perspective. It’s beautiful. Tonight we got a call from Jill and Kevin (an aunt and uncle of ours) saying that they are about an hour away from Zion N.P, which is the place we’re planning on going next. So we’re gonna probably meet up with them and hopefully spend the next day with them, which would be a lot of fun. –posted by Nicole
15-July-2004
Today we met up with the Miller-Haughtons, in Zion N.P. They were in the same area of Utah as we were. It was fun seeing them again and we went on the shuttle around the park and then went on a short hike to a rock that was dripping with water. It felt so good, since it was hot outside. When we got back to the campground we were staying in, we took a swim in the river right in our campground. There had been flash flood warnings until 8 that evening. Soon after supper, Nicole rushed out and yelled that there was a flash flood at the river. We all ran to the river, and the water was rising very fast. A whole bunch of huge logs went down with the current along with tons of other debris. The water was rushing REALLY fast and kept on rising. Nicole went out onto the sand where we had been swimming. She was the only one that close. Soon a big river of water was coming from behind her where the sand was. I yelled, “Nicole, look behind you!” At first she didn’t do anything, but then she looked and ran right in front of it and got out just in time before that was flowing as fast as the other water.
-posted by Renae
I have never seen anything like the river we saw last night. It was AMAZING. Just an hour before it started flooding we had been swimming in that river, which was this little stream that came up to your knees and was hardly moving. After supper we were just sorta hanging around with Jill and Kevin and their girls roasting marshmallows when I just glanced at the river and I saw that it was very deep and flowing very fast with logs and sticks and tons of debris in it. It’s a good thing we weren’t still swimming in it, because it was flowing VERY fast and would just sweep you away. I ran toward the river and stood at the shore and watched and all of a sudden this wall of water came from behind me. It’s good Renae yelled, or I would have been stranded on this island thing in the middle. This was not the same river we were swimming in before! Now I understand why you’re not supposed to be down in the canyon when there are flash flood warnings. You’d be a goner! Well, that was today’s near-death experience. I’ll let you know tomorrows when it happens. –posted by Nicole
16-July-2004
This morning we took the shuttle and went on a hike before it got so hot with the Miller Haughtons. Then we drove through this pretty neat tunnel that was built into the mountain back in the 20’s. Said goodbye to Jill, Kevin, Rachel & Noelle and they were on their way home. It was pretty amazing how it worked out to be with them – we didn’t think it would work out but we were going the same way at about the exact same time. They were going to drive straight through to get home to San Diego (from Iowa visiting family), but stopped to spend a day with us. We are now entering Las Vegas, trying to figure out where we want to camp. We need a Flying J to get internet service again after being off for over a week, do laundry, etc. Driving here it was 110 degrees, now it’s cooled off to 107. We’ve decided we’ll eat out in one of the casinos tonight. I must say, I’ll be glad to get up north further to cooler temps. –posted by Jolene
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
6/28/04 - 7/5/04
29- June- 04
As you have probably read in the other family’s blog, you know that we broke down. I stayed with Lisa, Nicole, and Mom in the camper while Travis and Dad were getting parts. I was hoping something exciting would happen like seeing a grizzly bear come close to our camper or something. I didn’t quite get what I wanted, but something did happen to Nicole and me, but it wasn’t that exciting by reading this. It was a lot more exciting when we were actually in the situation. Nicole and I went for a walk at about 7 or somewhere around there. Here it gets dark really late, so it was as bright as day. Since we were talking about grizzlies the whole time we were walking, I think it made us a little more cautious. We had just been walking less than ten minutes when we heard what I thought was a growl, but Nicole said it sounded more like a grunt. It was weird though, because we both stopped, looked at each other, and said, “Did you hear that?” It was really scary. We both remembered what brochures and signs said to do if you see a bear. It said not to run, so Nicole said, “Don’t run, just walk fast.” So we practically ran back to the camper anyway. We were just so scared we didn’t think. As I said, it wasn’t near as exciting as seeing one, but when you were standing right there, it was really frightening. What was worse was that the camper was a little ways away. When we were in the camper, we kept looking to try to see if the animal we heard was coming up the road. We weren’t sure if it was a grizzly, but it could have easily been. I do hope we see one at Yellowstone, though. Nicole and I had our adventure for that day.
-posted by Renae
2-July-04
Well I guess the camper’s doing alright, at least temporarily. Today we went into Cody, about 100 miles from the campground, to get more parts for the camper to permanently fix it. On the way we saw a moose, which was neat. In Cody, while dad got the parts we went into the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, which was HUGE and included 5 museums. That was pretty cool. After we got all the parts & were finished with the museums, we went to Thermopolis, about 2 hours from Cody. We sat in a hot springs pool, which was free b/c it was a state park. It felt good, although it was kinda dirty and got pretty hot after awhile. We were only allowed to be in for 20 min. It started sprinkling right before we got out, which felt pretty good since the water was so hot. By the time we got out & took some desperately needed showers it was pouring. We ate at Pizza Hut, where we had extremely poor service, and then went grocery shopping. That was interesting, since we all got our own lists and got our own things. The clerk looked at us weird when we brought 6 baskets up, but hey, it was a lot faster! We’re on our way back to the campground, and I’m missing a pretty sunset. So I better leave now. (Oh, by the way, Travis wants to be a moose when he grows up & keeps referring to himself as “Jonas”. We think it’s some identity crisis or something. Kinda scary after listening to “A Beautiful Mind”….) –posted by Lisa
30-July-04
Renae wrongly assumed Dad already wrote about the breakdown. But alas, he did not. So I guess that’s my job. Here we go…brace yourself. We were about an hour and a half from Yellowstone, driving these really remote, very pretty mountain roads when we heard this thump and thought we popped a tire. So we immediately pulled off and discovered a much bigger problem. The springs on the camper were broken. I don’t know what that means except we can’t drive it like that. .It took about 3 hours to get the broken springs unhooked or unattached whatever we did to them. The nearest town, Cody, was about 100 or so miles away. So…Dad and Trav drove in to Cody to get parts to fix it, and the rest of us stayed in the camper w/o electric or toilets all day. We got pretty good at peeing in the woods and running from grizzlies. And we all much improved our dutch-blitz playing ability. But it wasn’t so bad. Something like that was bound to happen sometime. Nobody was hurt. And we’re back on our jolly good way now.
Aside from getting stranded on remote mountain roads, running from hungry man-eating grizzlies, and getting rescued in the nick of time by Dad or Lisa from many a very dangerous, very steep cliff, we’re having a pretty good time. (One of my father’s favorite pastimes is posing me on these really dangerous looking, sheer cliffs that are about 3 ft. from the ground, with someone holding on to my arm to save me right before I fall to my death. If you get the camera angle right it looks almost real. He finds much pleasure in that. He’s a sick man.) Haven’t had any lumberjack/bear cub dreams in a while. I’ll keep ya posted. -posted by Nicole
3-July
Since everyone else is on a hike (about the 10th one for the day) but me, I guess I’ll use my time wisely & write a bit. We walked so much today that my feet are sore, and I’m sure I’ll have blisters on some of my toes. We’re still in Yellowstone & it’s a very cool place. Today we walked around where Old Faithful is – there are miles of walkways to see all the geysers & hot pools & stuff. Renae & I walked probably at least 4-5 miles & the others figure they probably walked 12 or so, plus now we’re driving around a loop where there are lots of other places to walk to & see stuff. I did some of those till my feet are bothering me too much. I guess I need new shoes. Roger & Travis finished fixing up the camper for good this morning. Hopefully there will be no more breakdowns. It was very fortunate it all happened like it did – it could have been worse. I’m also thankful my husband & son are such good mechanics & could fix it so it didn’t have to be towed or whatever it would have taken. We’re going to have a late supper tonight caused we decided we wanted to finish this loop before going back to the camper, instead of having to come this way again tomorrow. I would say Yellowstone is definitely the highlight of the trip so far. –posted by Jolene
4-5 – July
It’s been quite a few days since we’ve been at a Flying J where we can get on the internet & post all these days, get email, etc. Back to civilization! Yesterday we spent the morning finishing up Yellowstone, seeing the falls, etc. I stayed at the camper while the others went off at 7 am. I need some time to myself now & then! I got food ready for lunch & supper, cleaned up the camper, took a walk & generally had a nice time to myself. When they got back around noon, we hooked up & left – we wanted to get to Jackson Hole for the fireworks that night. We drove through Grand Teton Nat’l Park but didn’t take lots of time since we wanted to get to Jackson Hole. Got there, parked, and walked around the town for awhile which is a real tourist place. Turned out the fireworks got cancelled cause a big thunderstorm went through right over the time they were going to be. We slept in a parking lot, unhooked this morning at some empty lot Roger found, and drove back through Grand Teton Nat’l Park today. On the way back we drove part of the way on a nasty 4 x 4 road that the rest of my family enjoys for some strange reason. I’ve had enough roads like that in Botswana to last me the rest of my life! Anyway, it was beautiful even though we saw no animals like we were hoping to. Stopped in at Barb Weaver’s (from church) parents in Jackson Hole this morning – only her mom was home. We really surprised her, especially since she doesn’t even know us! She was very gracious & invited us in & we talked for a bit before going on our way. Tonite we’ll sleep at the Flying J on the way to Salt Lake City where we’ll post this. I’m hoping to get some laundry done there too. –posted by Jolene
28 Jun – 5 July
PROCLAMATION: “ HEAR YE, HEAR YE – THERE WILL BE NO MORE RIDICULE, TEASING, MOCKING, MAKING FUN OF, OR BELITTLING ME FOR BRINGING TOO MANY TOOLS ON THIS TRIP”
Let it be known that I needed many of the tools to remove an axle on the camper and repair two broken springs. Even with the tools I had, some “shade tree mechanicing” was required. I definitely did not bring enough along. If only I would have included an air compressor, air wrench, torch, and welder. I guess the argument could be made the springs would not have broken in the first place if they were not overloaded with all the tools – but that is very flawed reasoning (please do not even mention that reasoning to my family).
The broken springs could not have happened at a much worse place. I thought I would have to go to Billings, MT for parts, which was 150 miles away, but we ended up finding what we needed in Cody, WY, only 100 miles away. The first two days we repaired it enough to get into Yellowstone after sitting along a road in a very remote location. In the two days we sat there 100’s of cars passed us, many almost stopping to gawk at our predicament with the entire camper blocked up and the axle lying beside us, but not one stopped to ask if we need help – in a very remote location. I was completely astounded. What is this country coming to? A ranger did stop by one day and checked up on us the following day – but that was it. We didn’t need help, but it would have been nice to have been asked. We did cripple the camper into Yellowstone and then ended up changing some wheel bearings etc. and finishing the axle work. I don’t know what the neighbors thought with our camper on blocks a few days.
Yellowstone is a very impressive place. If only there weren’t so many people there. Most times when I am impressed with a place the first time, the second time it doesn’t seem as amazing, but Yellowstone and Carlsbad Caverns are two places that was not the case for me. The second visit was as impressive, or even more so, than the first visit. They are my two favorite locations in North America. This country definitely has some real beautiful scenery. - posted by Roger
As you have probably read in the other family’s blog, you know that we broke down. I stayed with Lisa, Nicole, and Mom in the camper while Travis and Dad were getting parts. I was hoping something exciting would happen like seeing a grizzly bear come close to our camper or something. I didn’t quite get what I wanted, but something did happen to Nicole and me, but it wasn’t that exciting by reading this. It was a lot more exciting when we were actually in the situation. Nicole and I went for a walk at about 7 or somewhere around there. Here it gets dark really late, so it was as bright as day. Since we were talking about grizzlies the whole time we were walking, I think it made us a little more cautious. We had just been walking less than ten minutes when we heard what I thought was a growl, but Nicole said it sounded more like a grunt. It was weird though, because we both stopped, looked at each other, and said, “Did you hear that?” It was really scary. We both remembered what brochures and signs said to do if you see a bear. It said not to run, so Nicole said, “Don’t run, just walk fast.” So we practically ran back to the camper anyway. We were just so scared we didn’t think. As I said, it wasn’t near as exciting as seeing one, but when you were standing right there, it was really frightening. What was worse was that the camper was a little ways away. When we were in the camper, we kept looking to try to see if the animal we heard was coming up the road. We weren’t sure if it was a grizzly, but it could have easily been. I do hope we see one at Yellowstone, though. Nicole and I had our adventure for that day.
-posted by Renae
2-July-04
Well I guess the camper’s doing alright, at least temporarily. Today we went into Cody, about 100 miles from the campground, to get more parts for the camper to permanently fix it. On the way we saw a moose, which was neat. In Cody, while dad got the parts we went into the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, which was HUGE and included 5 museums. That was pretty cool. After we got all the parts & were finished with the museums, we went to Thermopolis, about 2 hours from Cody. We sat in a hot springs pool, which was free b/c it was a state park. It felt good, although it was kinda dirty and got pretty hot after awhile. We were only allowed to be in for 20 min. It started sprinkling right before we got out, which felt pretty good since the water was so hot. By the time we got out & took some desperately needed showers it was pouring. We ate at Pizza Hut, where we had extremely poor service, and then went grocery shopping. That was interesting, since we all got our own lists and got our own things. The clerk looked at us weird when we brought 6 baskets up, but hey, it was a lot faster! We’re on our way back to the campground, and I’m missing a pretty sunset. So I better leave now. (Oh, by the way, Travis wants to be a moose when he grows up & keeps referring to himself as “Jonas”. We think it’s some identity crisis or something. Kinda scary after listening to “A Beautiful Mind”….) –posted by Lisa
30-July-04
Renae wrongly assumed Dad already wrote about the breakdown. But alas, he did not. So I guess that’s my job. Here we go…brace yourself. We were about an hour and a half from Yellowstone, driving these really remote, very pretty mountain roads when we heard this thump and thought we popped a tire. So we immediately pulled off and discovered a much bigger problem. The springs on the camper were broken. I don’t know what that means except we can’t drive it like that. .It took about 3 hours to get the broken springs unhooked or unattached whatever we did to them. The nearest town, Cody, was about 100 or so miles away. So…Dad and Trav drove in to Cody to get parts to fix it, and the rest of us stayed in the camper w/o electric or toilets all day. We got pretty good at peeing in the woods and running from grizzlies. And we all much improved our dutch-blitz playing ability. But it wasn’t so bad. Something like that was bound to happen sometime. Nobody was hurt. And we’re back on our jolly good way now.
Aside from getting stranded on remote mountain roads, running from hungry man-eating grizzlies, and getting rescued in the nick of time by Dad or Lisa from many a very dangerous, very steep cliff, we’re having a pretty good time. (One of my father’s favorite pastimes is posing me on these really dangerous looking, sheer cliffs that are about 3 ft. from the ground, with someone holding on to my arm to save me right before I fall to my death. If you get the camera angle right it looks almost real. He finds much pleasure in that. He’s a sick man.) Haven’t had any lumberjack/bear cub dreams in a while. I’ll keep ya posted. -posted by Nicole
3-July
Since everyone else is on a hike (about the 10th one for the day) but me, I guess I’ll use my time wisely & write a bit. We walked so much today that my feet are sore, and I’m sure I’ll have blisters on some of my toes. We’re still in Yellowstone & it’s a very cool place. Today we walked around where Old Faithful is – there are miles of walkways to see all the geysers & hot pools & stuff. Renae & I walked probably at least 4-5 miles & the others figure they probably walked 12 or so, plus now we’re driving around a loop where there are lots of other places to walk to & see stuff. I did some of those till my feet are bothering me too much. I guess I need new shoes. Roger & Travis finished fixing up the camper for good this morning. Hopefully there will be no more breakdowns. It was very fortunate it all happened like it did – it could have been worse. I’m also thankful my husband & son are such good mechanics & could fix it so it didn’t have to be towed or whatever it would have taken. We’re going to have a late supper tonight caused we decided we wanted to finish this loop before going back to the camper, instead of having to come this way again tomorrow. I would say Yellowstone is definitely the highlight of the trip so far. –posted by Jolene
4-5 – July
It’s been quite a few days since we’ve been at a Flying J where we can get on the internet & post all these days, get email, etc. Back to civilization! Yesterday we spent the morning finishing up Yellowstone, seeing the falls, etc. I stayed at the camper while the others went off at 7 am. I need some time to myself now & then! I got food ready for lunch & supper, cleaned up the camper, took a walk & generally had a nice time to myself. When they got back around noon, we hooked up & left – we wanted to get to Jackson Hole for the fireworks that night. We drove through Grand Teton Nat’l Park but didn’t take lots of time since we wanted to get to Jackson Hole. Got there, parked, and walked around the town for awhile which is a real tourist place. Turned out the fireworks got cancelled cause a big thunderstorm went through right over the time they were going to be. We slept in a parking lot, unhooked this morning at some empty lot Roger found, and drove back through Grand Teton Nat’l Park today. On the way back we drove part of the way on a nasty 4 x 4 road that the rest of my family enjoys for some strange reason. I’ve had enough roads like that in Botswana to last me the rest of my life! Anyway, it was beautiful even though we saw no animals like we were hoping to. Stopped in at Barb Weaver’s (from church) parents in Jackson Hole this morning – only her mom was home. We really surprised her, especially since she doesn’t even know us! She was very gracious & invited us in & we talked for a bit before going on our way. Tonite we’ll sleep at the Flying J on the way to Salt Lake City where we’ll post this. I’m hoping to get some laundry done there too. –posted by Jolene
28 Jun – 5 July
PROCLAMATION: “ HEAR YE, HEAR YE – THERE WILL BE NO MORE RIDICULE, TEASING, MOCKING, MAKING FUN OF, OR BELITTLING ME FOR BRINGING TOO MANY TOOLS ON THIS TRIP”
Let it be known that I needed many of the tools to remove an axle on the camper and repair two broken springs. Even with the tools I had, some “shade tree mechanicing” was required. I definitely did not bring enough along. If only I would have included an air compressor, air wrench, torch, and welder. I guess the argument could be made the springs would not have broken in the first place if they were not overloaded with all the tools – but that is very flawed reasoning (please do not even mention that reasoning to my family).
The broken springs could not have happened at a much worse place. I thought I would have to go to Billings, MT for parts, which was 150 miles away, but we ended up finding what we needed in Cody, WY, only 100 miles away. The first two days we repaired it enough to get into Yellowstone after sitting along a road in a very remote location. In the two days we sat there 100’s of cars passed us, many almost stopping to gawk at our predicament with the entire camper blocked up and the axle lying beside us, but not one stopped to ask if we need help – in a very remote location. I was completely astounded. What is this country coming to? A ranger did stop by one day and checked up on us the following day – but that was it. We didn’t need help, but it would have been nice to have been asked. We did cripple the camper into Yellowstone and then ended up changing some wheel bearings etc. and finishing the axle work. I don’t know what the neighbors thought with our camper on blocks a few days.
Yellowstone is a very impressive place. If only there weren’t so many people there. Most times when I am impressed with a place the first time, the second time it doesn’t seem as amazing, but Yellowstone and Carlsbad Caverns are two places that was not the case for me. The second visit was as impressive, or even more so, than the first visit. They are my two favorite locations in North America. This country definitely has some real beautiful scenery. - posted by Roger
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