Day 19 - Drive to the Grand Canyon

Yesterday (Day 19) we left Bryce Canyon around 11:00 am and arrived in the Grand Canyon at 5:30 pm. Even though Arizona is on Mountain Time, the state does not spring forward in the spring or fall back in the fall so there is a three hour difference from everyone at home. We drove scenic US Hwy 89 and 64 and as with all our scenic drives, the scenery was amazing. The Powell Lake UT and Glen Canyon Dam area in AZ was neat to see. As with most scenic drives that we have experienced, there are very few places to stop along the way whether that is to use the bathroom (good thing we have our camper in tow) or eat or to get diesel. We did stop in Page AZ for a great Mexican lunch. It was a neat little town. I have to admit that even though Bryce Canyon was an great stop in our travels, we were having sort of a lull in our trip; I guess we had the feeling that we were ready to get on home. But when I entered the Grand Canyon National Park and caught glimpses of the canyon as we drove to the campground, I was rejuvenated. Yes, we will be ready to get home, but this place is something to see. I was so excited I even tried to get us an extra night here, but unfortunately and not surprisingly, they are full. I had to make reservations over two months in advance. With the exception of a pool, this full hookup campground in the middle of the Grand Canyon is awesome and accessible to everything. Most of the bigger National Parks have free shuttle service to save on gas and congestion in the park. Here the free shuttle will take us to many places that we cannot go in our truck. So, today (Day 20) and Friday (Day 22) will go to parts of the Grand Canyon only accessible by the shuttle. Tomorrow (Day 21) will be our 5 hour rafting trip through parts of the Grand Canyon. I already know our visit here will be too short, but we will make the most of it. So for now we are off for a wonderful and exciting day in the Grand Canyon. I will post pics tonight. The pics posted here are from our drive to here. We have truly been blessed on this trip from what we have seen and experienced to having places to fix the truck and camper without any delay in our trip. We miss everyone and appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers.

Day 16 - 18 - Bryce Canyon UT

Happy 4th to our friends and family back home! Saturday (Day 16) was a very long driving day (11 hours) from West Yellowstone MT through Idaho and most of Utah to Bryce Canyon UT, which included a flat tire on the camper about 30 miles from the campground. Upon further inspection I actually had three bad tires and only one spare. I replaced the flat and we pressed on to the campground with two bad tires at 45 mph praying we wouldn't have anymore flats. It was a very long 30 miles! Fortunately, there was a big tire shop in Bryce Canyon so today the camper will have four new tires. Yesterday (Day 17) after cleaning and washing clothes, we headed over to Bryce Canyon for the afternoon. What a magnificent place. It is small in comparison to Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon, but nevertheless a wonderful place to visit. Last night, there will be fireworks here at the campground. Today (Day 18) we went horseback riding through the Red Canyon in the Dixie National Forest for 6 miles. Tomorrow (Day 19) we will be drive on to the Grand Canyon for three days before heading home. I hear it is hot back home so we will not brag about the 70 degree day we had and the predicted low of 37 tonight.

Day 15 - Yellowstone

Today is Day 16 of our trip. We have an 8 and 1/2 hour trip ahead of us to Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks. I will post more later about this day. Yesterday was Day 15 and after a few hours in town, we went back to Yellowstone to drive the smaller loop. The entire park is unique and each area of the park has its own special identity. The smaller loop takes you to the north and northeast portion of the park. There was a boiling river (hot spring) that we wanted to swim in, but unfortunately it was closed due to high cold water. We did get to see a black bear and a grizzly bear with her two cubs. The sights on this side of the park were absolutely amazing. Actually the sights are amazing anywhere you go in the park. After making this loop and hitting a few of the visitor centers in several of the different areas, we stopped in town for dinner and headed on over to the local rodeo. Definitely not the big time rodeo, but for the money it was good. The family enjoyed it.

Day 13 and 14 - Yellowstone and Grand Teton

There is so much to see in three days that I almost don't have any time to blog and again the few pics we post does not come close to what we are seeing or trying to describe. I did have to post a pic of Old Faithful as a request from one of my favorite science teachers. On Day 13 (Wed) we left the campground a little after 11:00 AM and we rode through Yellowstone's larger loop (you will have to see a map to understand, but basically Yellowstone has two loops through the park). It took us all day (including about a two hour delay at Old Faithful to eat and for Teresa to shop and shop). We arrived back in West Yellowstone around 10:00 PM and stopped at a pizza restaurant in town where we ate some of the best pizza that we have had in a long time. It is really hard to explain what we saw on the larger loop through Yellowstone especially if you don't know the history behind Yellowstone. We saw many geysers including Old Faithful, waterfalls, lakes, thermal areas, visitor centers (watched many movies about Yellowstone), and saw lots of animals such as elk, wolf, bald eagle, buffalo, deer, ground squirrel, etc. The sites are amazing. Yesterday (Day 14), we took the two hour ride down to the Grand Teton National Park. This National Park consist of a a beautiful mountain range and several lakes (Jackson and Jenny). My big purchase on this trip is the cowboy hat you see in the pics. Today (Day 15) we are hitting the town of West Yellowstone, then the smaller loop in Yellowstone (hopefully to catch a glimpse of a few bears and jump in a hot spring), and then a rodeo tomorrow night. The weather during the day has been awesome, but we had a thunderstorm our first night and last night we had not one, but three separate hail storms with dime size hail. Fortunately, we didn't have any damage, but sleeping through it was just about impossible.

Day 12 - Drive to West Yellowstone

I will post pics later of this day, but I am just running out of adjectives to describe the sights of God's creation that we are seeing and experiencing. The few little pics we put up on this blog just does not come close to it. We left Billings MT at 9:30 AM and arrived in West Yellowstone at 2:00 PM. We spent the afternoon doing much needed routine maintenance on the camper and getting our 3-day itinerary together for Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. The ride on US Route 191 from Bozeman MT to West Yellowstone was breath taking! We officially ended our westward journey in Bozeman MT at 12:15 PM Mountain Time and began our southern journey for the next 12 days before we start our eastward journey to Virginia. I am so grateful that I am able to check this adventure off of my bucket list.

Day 10 and 11 - Drive to and stay in Montana

Yesterday (Day 10) we traveled from South Dakota to Billings Montana. As with all of our drives in this part of the country, it was absolutely gorgeous. But let me tell you (and warn you if you ever come this way) about US Route 212. If you look at a map of this area, I-90 will take you from Rapid City SD to Billings MT, but it does a U down through Wyoming and back up to Montana. If you have a Garmin GPS, well, she doesn't like you going out of your way although the interstate may be a much better drive in terms of lanes and speed. So, Ms. Garmin puts us on US Route 212 in South Dakota on the Wyoming border and reconnected us to I-90 about 60 miles east of Billings. I would say that technically it did save us about 60 minutes versus staying on I-90. Fortunately, we had been driving at the point of entry to US Route 212 about 90 min and something told me to top off the gas tank and feed the family and it was a good thing I did because there was no warning to do so otherwise. US Route 212 is about 200 miles of a two lane road (with very little traffic so that was good) that runs through a brief section of Wyoming before entering Montana, Custer National Forest, two Indian Reservations, and miles and miles of farms and rock formations. At least 75% of the time we had no cell service. There were no gas stations or places to eat. There were miles and miles of seclusion. At least 50% of the time we had to resort to AM Radio just to get music (where was my satellite radio when I needed it). I really wasn't worried (I know that people who know me best have a hard time believing that), but I was glad to see I-90 and diesel since I had about 90 miles to E! After leaving South Dakota around 11:30 AM, we arrived at the very first KOA ever built in Billings MT on the Yellowstone River about 5:30 PM. The area is absolutely breath taking. We decided to stay an extra night giving up a night of rest half on our way to Bryce Canyon making this Saturday a very long drive for us, but we are glad we decided to just stop and do nothing for a day to catch up on rest and relaxation. Today (Day 11) we did the Wal-Mart run to re-stock, hung out by the pool, washed clothes, played putt-putt, and hiked along the Yellowstone River. Tomorrow we will be on our way to Yellowstone for a three day, four night stay.

Day 8 and 9 - Jewel Cave & The Badlands

On Day 8 we visited Jewel Cave National Monument. We took an one hour and half tour down into the cave. This cave is the second longest in the world with approximately 150 miles already mapped and more to be explored. Spelunking anyone? After the cave exploration, Teresa, Jordan, and I went on an one and half hour horse back trail ride in the Black Hills National Forrest. This campground has 88 horses offering different types of trail rides. We saw mostly deer, but just to go riding through the National Forest was breath taking. Yesterday (Day 9) we left early this morning for the Badlands. On the way we rode through a three mile long bear sanctuary that also included animals native to this area such as wolves, buffalo, different species of bears and deer, etc. Definitely worth the money. From there we stopped at a place call the Wall Drug. The signs along the highway and the actual place reminded me of South of the Border, but on a larger scale. It was basically a big flea market with a few treasures, but mostly junk in my opinion (you just have to Google it to understand what this place is). After lunch we traveled the 21 mile loop through the Badlands National Park with many lookouts along the way. It was an absolute amazing display of God's beauty that pictures we see on the Internet or in the history books does not do it justice. Wait until you see the pics from both of these places that we have visited. Today (Day 10) we will be off to Billings Montana for a stop over on our way to West Yellowstone for a three day visit of Yellowstone National Park. This has truly been an amazing trip so far. Everyone is getting along for the most part (of course we have our moments). We have had Internet service, but no cable hookup yet. Most campgrounds expect you to have your own satellite, which we don't. So we have not see much TV, which is ok with me except we feel a little out of touch with the latest news. Until tomorrow...