We Are On the Way Home

Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, Jackson Hole and a wonderful little town called Dubois. We are now in Salt Lake City. Gary is flying in tonight to drive home with us. We have had so much fun and so many mishaps...see you soon!

white water wow

One of the highlights of the trip...thats for sure. The great thing about river rafting on the Wind River is that it is located on an Indian Reservation, and only one company has a permit to raft and fish there. Two boats, the whole river. It was so incredible to have that experience without the crowds.

What? Me Worry?

AND then......

Bryce

From the moment you enter the area, you know you are in for something amazing.

Bryce is actually younger than Zion. We actually liked Bryce better. There is something very spiritual about places like this. When it is truly quiet and you listen to the wind rushing by, it puts so much in perspective as to our place in this world.

Here's the list of where we have been:

First Two Nights (07/08 and 07/09/09)

St. George---Utah...Temple View RV park Heeeeoooooottttt!

On the 10th we moved to

Cedar City, Utah (Festival City, USA) KOA

Shakespeare festival all summer. Huge Hot Rod show the weekend we were there.

On the 12th we busted out of Utah and ended up in Lyman, Wyoming

Teeny Tiny little down. Very WWWIIINNNDDDYYYY! Well all of Southern Wyoming has been windy. The motorhome is like a huge billboard yelling "come on knock me off the road, blow me over".

We went to Rock Springs the next night to get us lined up for our treck toward Mt. Rushmore.

On to Thermopolis (Hot Springs Campground called The Fountain of Youth)...a lot of older people there soaking in the water...hmmm. Seriously the minerals are supposed to be healing and theraputic. Cute little town...Highlight was River rafting on the Wind River-the best place because only one company has a permit from the Indians on the Reservation, so it is completely uncrowded. The boys and I had a blast. Pictures to follow, they are on the waterproof camera.

On to Sturgis- yes Sturgis SD - right in time to see all the Bikers started coming. Approx 500,000 come for the rally each year. From there we adventured to Mt Rushmore. We learned all about the man who created their faces that took 14 years. Breathtaking.

Heading back, we went to Greybull, WY. A lovely campground run by delightful people. Very cool small town.

We spent the next day in Cody, WY. Talk about history. We LOVED that town...could have spent several more days just getting to see and do everything offered there.

On the way to Yellowstone, we stopped for the night at Yellowstone Valley Inn...Incredible views of the mountains all around, and a river going right by.

Went through Yellowstone, and are now in a place called Moran, WY.

Can't wait to seeJackson and Jackson Hole.

Holy Smokes

The most beautiful places and pics, and my computer will not get along with the internet service in the parks long enough to update this blog.

We just went through Yellowstone. We are in love with parts of Wyoming. Cody is a great town, and yeehaw there is rodeo every night in the summer.

Wow we have seen sooooo much. I can't wait to share with anyone who wants to see.

Today we saw buffalo next to the road. One was as big as my car.

I hope your summer is wonderful. Wishing you blessings,
Steff

Zion Aura pics

We did a lttle rock climbing. See that little speck in the middle of this picture?

That's me!

(yeah right...it is a two day climb and they have to sleep out on a hammock off the side of the cliff). No Way!

We plan to see Bryce this weekend. We are in a KOA camp ground in Cedar City where they are having a huge Hot Rod parade and show(Gary is jealous not to get to see that tee-hee I will send pictures-that's as good as the real thing, right?)...a Shakespeare festival and a lot of history.

It is much cooler here 108 at St. George, 88 here.

ZION-aura

Okay say it to yourself...love the title. We toured Zion yesterday...having a hard time uploading pictures. But wow! Just wow!

4 states X 1 day = phew!!

The route 66 song keeps going through my head...but it is a little different....

We are in St. George as I log this (Utah). My mom, my sons and I have taken a big bite out of life starting thi week, and I have found out...as if I didn't already know, at least in this way...

Man, I am a BRAVE woman.

The Honda is in tow...and we are longer than the gas station islands. I know this because I have overshot the deisel pump twice and instead of backing up the motor home with the van attached YIKES I pull out after going to the pump to swipe my card to find out I don't know what the heck B2 deisel is or which out of the list of five places I am requesting to put it in to. Thank God for cell phones and my husband who always answers.

Where is my friendly high roofed Chevron at the north end of my town when I need it most?

Life is amazing...a couple of years ago, we took the "Missions Mission" tour as Cam had finished 4th and as part of his curriculum, they studied the missions. We got to most of them, and plan to finish around Cole's 4th grade year.

We did the Grand Canyon a few years back...I kind of think Zion is more appealing- looking up instead of dowwwwwwwn.

Zion and the last leg of Arizona on the 15 have been carved by a clever little river known as the Virgin River. I am resisting all jokes.

This year, the theme seems to be Mountains/ National Monuments.

I just have one question...How did God decide where to use His paintbrush? Boom! out of nowhere, around a random corner...and suddenly we are in awe of the splendor yet again.

Stuft

Okay the itinerary is something like this ...Hoover, Zion, Bryce , Sturgis, Moab, Denver, As much of Wyoming as we can get, Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, Idaho, Oregon Coast, and all the good stuff in between.
The RV is "stuft" and ready to go.
Hope your summer is awesome!
Pictures to follow...

My "Not-So-Little" Bear

It is always amazing to see changes in people, especially kids. My baby is sooo not resembling a baby anymore.

I love watching them grow and change. Each stage is so exciting. When I think of all of the appointments the meetings the games the special events the go and dos....

and suddenly poof! They got big...okay, so it wasn't overnight, but it sure seems like it.