July 5 (Day 33)

Once again, we weren’t in a hurry so we left the hotel around noon and made our way to Grants Farm. Home to 900 animals, including buffalo, elk, moose, zebra, kangaroo, long horned cattle, a few monkeys and several species of deer it was a really neat place to visit. My favorite part, however, was seeing Ulysses Grant’s cabin he built in the 1800’s. The property was actually his when he was alive. It was so neat to see, a very cool place in general. However, the crazy part was when we were in the stable looking at the Clydesdale’s, Dad happen to recognize Mark and Lee Hanstein, whom we know from Bear Valley in Denver. They were there with their kids and grandkids and invited us to go on a private tour with them! It was so neat, the tour included a private van a tour of Grant’s cabin, getting to feed the Elk, buffalo and fish, and inside information given to us by the tour guides. It was so generous of them to invite us, and so crazy we were there at the same time! Once again, we got to spend time with some wonderful people!

After we left Grant’s farm, we ate “lupper” at Pizza Hut and then Dad dropped me and Mom off at the hotel to relax while he and the boys went to go play putt putt golf. Once again, a great day!

Best part of the day? Running into the Hansteins!

July 3 (Day 31)

The best way to a woman’s heart is of course through shopping, so me and mom both were very excited when dad printed off a coupon for one dollar flip flops at Old Navy. We did some shopping there and then at T.J. Maxx and then “moseyed” along down the road through five states (South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas). In each of these states we all waited patiently (mostly) in the car while dad ran at least a mile in each state. We ended up that night in Kansas City where we stopped at a hole in the wall Bar-b-cue place that is not only very well known and loved, but also very good, Arthur Bryant’s. After a nice supper there, we went back to the hotel and hit the sack.

Best part of the day? Mom and I got five pair of flip flops for five bucks and dad ran five miles in five states, so I guess you could say five was the best part of our day!

July 4 (Day 32)

We went to church that morning in Independence, Missouri and drove down the road a few more hours where we arrived just in time to attend Sunday night services in Saint Charles, Missouri. After church, we drove into Saint Louis to meet one of Dad’s trading friends (stocks and options) Leigh Jones. None of us had ever met her in person, including Dad, so as we drove to their apartment in downtown St Louis to watch the fireworks, I’m not sure any of us knew what

to expect. But man, did we have fun! We walked all around downtown with Leigh and her husband Scot (and later with her son in-law Derrick and daughter Jocelyn). They showed us some of the local sights,including a great place to see the fireworks, and later we all sat around a wrought iron table sipping smoothies from a local café on the sidewalk outside and laughed, talked and traded stories. It was such a fun, and unexpected night. We had a blast with Leigh and her family and we laughed all night long. God is so good to give us such good friends where ever we go!

Best part of the day? Keeping up with the Jones’s! J

July 2 (Day 30)

Talk about a busy, fun filled day! we began at Mount Rushmore where we got to learn about the neat history of the massive carvings of four of America’s greatest presidents (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt). It was so weird to actually see it in person, instead of on a movie screen! So surreal! We had a great time, and Blake became a junior ranger. J

After we left Rushmore, we got to eat at Golden Corral and then went to the craziest Wal-Mart on the planet..haha. We then continued to the Badlands of South Dakota. However, before we ever made it to the Badlands, as we were driving, every half mile for fifty miles or so we would see signs advertising Wall Drug. The signs would say things such as “5 cent coffee” and “ free ice water”. So basically that by the time we got to the exit, we had no choice but to pull over and check it out! And boy was it worth it, it was a sight to see. The tourist trap of all tourist traps. There were tons of stores, cafes and even a giant jackalope and a t-Rex that would attempt to eat someone every twelve minutes. We had a blast, and all agreed it was well worth the stop.

After we pried ourselves from Wall Drug, we continued down the road a few hours to the infamous Badlands of South Dakota. And boy were they bad. Hot as all get out, and the desert formations looking like something out of a sci-fi movie made it easy to understand why they’re called the badlands. They were beautiful and mysterious. But I think Blake’s favorite part was the prairie dogs. We saw hundreds of them and Blake got as close as a yard away before it scampered back into his hole. It was such a neat thing to see, so different than what we’re use to.

We drove and drove and drove and drove and drove a little more until we reached Sioux Falls at two o’clock in the morning J and all collapsed into an exhausted sleep. Good day.

Best part of the day? Wall Drug was definitely a favorite, but all of it was great!

June 30 (Day 28)

Early Wednesday morning, we packed up camp and drove through Yellowstone’s beautiful park to the grand-daddy of all geysers, Old Faithful. Luckily we got to the geyser only a few minutes before she was due to “erupt”, and boy did she erupt! Steaming water shot way up into the air, looking not unlike a small mushroom cloud! It was so neat, nature is so fascinating!

After Old Faithful, we made our way out of the park to Grand Teton National park. We didn’t spend much time there, but it sure was beautiful! The majestic mountains were snow capped and at the base was a beautiful lake. God sure is a master at his handiwork!

Later that day we “ moseyed” (as Dad loves to put it) to Cody, Wyoming where we camped for the night at Buffalo Bill’s State park. It was a beautiful campsite!

Best part of the day? Just one of those all around good days!

July 1 (Day 29)

Once again, to use one of Dad’s favorite vocabulary words, we “moseyed”. We laid around the campsite for awhile, and then drove out of Wyoming to South Dakota where we spent the night in Rapid City to be close to Mount Rushmore.

Best part of the day? It was nice not to do much of anything!

June 29 (Day 27)

Early Tuesday morning, we loaded up the van and drove a few hours to Yellowstone National Park, in Wyoming. After some quick thinking on Dad’s part, we found a campsite, set up the tents, ate lunch and then drove to see the geysers (by the way, the campground was perfect, right near the water and buffalo were right there in the campsite). We walked a short trail to see the geysers, and it was worth it! It was so neat, and so different than what we are use to. It was so cool, not unlike natural hot tubs. The water was several shades of vivid blue (caused by the bacteria living in the water) and every now and then one would just shoot water and steam straight up in the air. It was amazing.

After the trails, we went to the general store and then back to the campsite where we had dinner. Right before we sat down to eat, an elderly park ranger came through inspecting the campsites and Mom asked him if he wanted some chicken, he thanked her but continued his duties but when he came back Mom made him a plate and he sat down and ate with us. His name was John, and it was his 80^th birthday. We enjoyed listening to his stories probably as much as he enjoyed telling them. It was a nice surprise, for all of us I think.

After we said our goodbyes to John, we got back into the van, headed on a bear hunt. We had already seen buffalo, fox, mule deer, elk and while we were driving we saw a moose, but Mom really wanted to see a bear so we went out searching for some. We saw two black bears, and it was so cool to see them in the wild. Mom was certainly pumped, as well as the rest of us. It was a great day.

Best part of the day? Seeing all the wildlife!

P.S. (from Keith) Happy 20th Anniversary Kim!

June 27 (Day 25)

After church on Sunday, we our way through Vancouver to Stanley park (kind of like Central Park). However, due to dreary weather, we didn’t stay in Canada long, and after lunch we crossed back into America. Sunday was mostly a driving day, for after crossing back into Washington, we drove until pretty late that night until we got to Spokane, Washington.

Best part of the day? Not much happened, but the parts of Vancouver we saw were beautiful (despite the weather)

June 28 (Day 2)

Once again, not much to report for today. It was mostly a driving day, however Dad did have a nice surprise, tickets for Toy Story 3 in 3D! It was a really nice surprise, we all had wanted to see it for a long time. After the movie and lunch at Pizza Hut we drove out of Washington, thru Idaho, and then into Montana where we stopped in Butte, Montana for the night.

Best part of the day? The movie, and the amazing scenery we saw in beautiful Montana.