Day 9: The Great American Road Trip

Per my friends advice we added Bryce Canyon in Utah to our trip.  We were originally planning on staying there 2 nights but I figured we would be able to see it in one day allowing us to add on Zion National Park also in Utah as recommended by several people we have met on this trip.  Bryce Canyon is definitely a must see. 

As we toured the park there were several walkways that lead right up to the edge.  My dad is not a bif fan of heights so I was shocked and proud when he made his way all the way to the end of on of this walkways.  A. did his best ranger support as he held PaPa's hand leading him out.

We arrived to Bryce around 3pm and the boys were psyched to earn another Jr Ranger Badge so we worked hard to complete their tasks.  Including the boys and I attending a 1.5 hour rim walk with a ranger.  WOW talk about friggin' torture.  Obviously the people that plan that activity and require children to attend a ranger talk have no idea that 1.5 hours is ridiculously long.  

Tommorrow we head to Zion National Park.

Day 8: The Great American Road Trip

Last night we stayed at The Flying Saddle Resort right outside of Jackson, WY.  It was such a nice hotel.  The view from our room was unbelievable. 

We arrived in Salt Lake City, Utah today and are staying at a Home 2 Suites by Hilton- It is fabulous!! Nitka is in love with the hotel as it has very Scandinavian type furniture so she is feeling at home. 

It has a full kitchen including a dishwasher.  That will be helpful for washing our water bottles (up to this I have been doing it by hand)  Also the laundry is $0.50 a load.  Thank goodness I decided to check it out and do laundry here.

We decided to eat at Tuscanos Brazilian Grill.  Great choice!!  The Grandpa's loved it!!
Here's a shot of down town.

Tomorrow we are off to Bryce Canyon National Park!!  The boys are excited to get another badge.

Day 7: The Great American Road Trip

Well I am happy to report that my 4 year old fully understands the process of a bed bug check for a new hotel room.  You see when we first arrive to a room, J. and I go in an inspect the room and I spray everything with Lysol.  We arrived to our location this afternoon in Alpine, WY and A. says, "Okay Mommy, we will stay here while you check for bed bugs."  Hopefully, I have not scarred him for life.

Today we traveled from Yellowstone through the Grand Tetons.  They were nice but I definitely prefer Yellowstone.  The Jr Ranger program was intense and I completed much of the "homework" for it so feel free to quiz me on the wildlife or glaciers of the Tetons.  I am educated now. 

We ate a late lunch at the Mangy Moose Saloon in Teton Village.  I am not a skier and probably never will be - but for those of you that are, this is a wonderful resort town.  The mountain is RIDICULOUS!  There was a Tram that could take you to the top but we opted not to because it was already cold and rainy on the ground so 4000 ft up would have been a nightmare for the boys.  Maybe next time...

I am happy to report that so far my checking on hotels through Trip Advisor has paid off.  We are staying in a very nice hotel with excellent ammenities and great restaurant/bar.  The kids had a late dinner in the room with grandpas while J. and I dined across the walk at the bar.  Tomorrow we drive 4.5 hours to Salt Lake City, Utah.  Hmm... not quite sure what exactly we will do there yet.

Sorry no pics today, they are still on the camera and everyone is sleeping, or should I say snoring!!!  Yeah being in a room with 5 guys has it's challenges. 

Day 6: The Great American Road Trip

Day 6: The Great American Road Trip

You know what I would like to know?  I would really like to know why on vacation wake up a the crack of dawn.  Again I was wide awake by 6:30.  This is not cool. 

Today we did the Grand Loop at Yellowstone and saw magnificent things.  If you have never been here, you need to come.  I wouldn’t stay here for a week but 3 days would do fine.  We saw just about every wildlife you can imagine as well as all  of the geological wonders this park has to offer.  

I really need to give a shout out to my boys L and A.  They are troopers, we were in and out of the car from 10 am – 7:30 pm with minimal whining and great attitudes.  This is an enormous trip for my guys and they are really handling it well!

They also became Junior Rangers at Yellowstone.  They had TONS of stuff to complete but we were able to pull it off in one day!  Next time we come back- I am so swimming in one of the rivers!

Quote of the day: "How could people see things like this and still not believe in God?" 

Day 5: The Great American Road Trip

I have to tell you I really had no idea that South Dakota was such a beautiful state with so much to do.  We could have easily stayed in the Black Hills area for a week and not run out of things to do.  As we headed towards Wyoming J. decided we should swing by Sturgis.  There was really not a lot to see there except for gigantic biker bars.  I mean we are talking block long bars with inside and outside seating and show stages.  This place must be ridiculous during biker week.  After we drove through Sturgis we decided to visit Deadwood.  I would not go back.  Basically it is a gambling town with casinos everywhere.  They have repaired buildings and made it look nice but it’s not for me. 

Finally we made it to Wyoming!  There were three highlights for me prior to reaching Yellowstone.

1.     The welcome center.  It was adorable and offered cute picture ops.

2.     A restaurant called the Village Inn in Gillette.  I had the BEST PIE ever!!!  It was a chocolate silk pecan or something like that.  DELICIOUS people and I am not a pie person at all.

3.     Cody, Wyoming- well actually right outside of town on the other side of a mountain is the Buffalo Bill Reservoir.  I would move their tomorrow.

We made it to Yellowstone at dusk which proved to be a great time because the animals were out in full force.

We saw a huge Bison at the mud geyser- holey stink batman it smells like rotten eggs!

We saw an elk in the water.

We passed a moose on the side of the road.

I came into this trip hoping we would see wildlife but not really expecting to, so this was a welcomed surprise. 

Our “Cabin” is small but clean and meets our needs.  I really like the location as well.  As you can tell by the delay in this post there is obviously no wi-fi for us in Yellowstone.

Day 4: The Great American Road Trip

We decided last night to sleep in a bit today, unfortunately my body still thinks we are on EST so at 5:15 I was wide awake.  Not many options when you are wide awake in a room full of sleeping people.  Everyone else enjoyed their sleep and woke up rested and ready for a fun day of exploring the Black Hills.  The theme for today was animals.  We started our day at Bear Country USA and I HIGHLY recommend this place if you ever venture out west.  It is a tourist site but not cheesy and the boys all 5 of them loved it.  It is basically a drive through zoo featuring animals of North America, literally walk up to your car!

From there we headed to the Black Hills Ranger Station to get the boy's passports stamped and pins for their road trip lanyard.  The boys learned all about Smokey Bear.

 

Lunch was at this great place in Rapid City called Philly Teds where we all had cheesesteak for lunch

Next stop was Mt. Rushmore once again to visit the museum and get the boy's passports stamped.  Each of them proudly completed the Jr. Ranger Program  and were sworn in.  A was saying all day, "I will protect the mountains."  So stinking cute.  

Did you know they built this for less than 1 million?

Silly shots are the best!

To be honest with you our next stop was my least favorite.  We went to see Crazy Horse.  The establishment was very nice but it left too many holes in why so little as been accomplished and I really walked away feeling like the Native American people just passed off this quest to a sculptor and his family rather than really helping build it.  I admit it will be impressive, someday.

You can see the sculpted head through the arm hole.

Finally we headed back to our hotel Mt. Rushmore Express Hotel and Family Suites which I have to tell you is nice!  I admit that I am somewhat of a hotel snob so booking hotels for 7 under $130 a night was a tough thing but so far we have done alright.  Most of our hotels even have continental breakfast for free as well.  

Anyways on our route back we took The Needles Highway through Custer's State Park.  It was magestic and we even continued with our animal theme.  We fed chipmunks Pringles when they flocked to our car to look at a view.  Saw several deer and even a buffalo just chillin' eatin' grass.

How cute is this?

Tomorrow is another big day on the road as we head to Yellowstone National Park! 

Day 3: The Great American Road Trip

It is safe to say that we crammed A LOT into today!  It seems like yesterday that we visited the The Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota- but no it was just this morning.  For those of you who have never ventured out west, it pretty much corn fields for MILES.  So it is fitting that they have a building that they decorate each year with corn. 

Can you even believe it?  The crazy thing is, they have been doing this since 1892!  They have a huge festival each year.  Coolest corn purchase here was caramel corn on the cob. 

You can see that the boys and I had some fun at Al's Oasis where we stopped for lunch and some fun.

So basically you drive on flat farm land forever in South Dakota and then you go over a hill and boom there are mountains, otherwise known as Badlands.  This was a crazy cool place and well worth the drive through.  We saw horned sheep, antelope, prairie dogs, and heard rattlesnakes as we walked up a path. 

On our way into the Badlands National Park we hit Prairie Homestead so the kids could really see what homes looked like when people first moved out west.  A was not a fan of the mud walls, but they were amazingly cool.  My favorite part was all the prairie dogs.

Believe it or not our day was not done, we ate in another touristy place called Wall Drug.  The boys enjoyed the fountain- mind you it was about 8pm based on their wake up time today, so they were full of energy just to stay awake.

We decided to keep venturing on to Mt. Rushmore for the lighting ceremony.  I was not really a fan of this but did like Mt. Rushmore at dusk.  J got some amazing pictures!!  Tomorrow we stick around this town and may even take a train ride.