Finally, we have reached Minnesota.  Another state where I had to scrap plans on where I was going to take the kids.  We decided that we would go to the Mall of America.  520 stores, 50 restaurants and an amusement park right in the middle of the mall.  Sounds like paradise.

It mostly was.  We did find the Lego store to be a bit disappointing.  Its the same size as the store back home with the exception of the open air ceiling that allowed for some mega Lego builds to be on display.

The kids enjoyed the bumper cars and mini golf the most.  I enjoyed the Maze of Mirrors.  It did take us quite a bit of time to find our way out.  I let Brian lead for a while.  Then I told him to just keep going to the right and we would eventually find our way out.  I think the kids were getting worried at the end.  I know I was.

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Originally we were going to go and see the Crazy Horse Monument but decided to see the Badlands instead.  It was an extremely hot day and none of us felt like hiking in so we took the majority of the pictures from the scenic view points.  Our favorite picture is the one reminding us to watch for rattlesnakes.  A sign we have been seeing since Texas.

After driving through the Badlands, we stopped at Wall Drug which is a rather huge tourist attraction.

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As y’all know, we have made it back to Virginia.  I stopped posting at the end of our trip due to fatigue and just not having enough time to toss up a blog post and pictures.  I will try to get the rest of the information up in the next week so everyone can see the pictures.

I purposely didn’t show the boys any of the pictures of Mt. Rushmore before we went to visit it.  I didn’t want to alter how they would view it for the first time.  Brian’s first comment was about how small it was.  Even when we walked the presidential trail, he still felt it was smaller than it should be.  He has seen pictures of it on TV and expected it to be huge as they all zoomed in on the monument.  Even after showing him the sculptors studio where you can see that a worker could stand in a nostril, he still was a bit disappointed.

Sean was just happy to see the last item on his list of “must see items” for the summer.  After some prodding he did say it was smaller than he thought it would be, but that he understood it would be bigger if he could stand by it.

The day was really hot so we cooled off with some presidential ice cream.  Apparently the recipe is by Jefferson and you can purchase the recipe.  We decided to just have a taste instead.

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July 16

South Dakota

We just reached South Dakota today.  We have been moving at a breakneck pace.  After losing 11 days due to trailer and car problems, I wanted to make sure we would be able to be home by August 10th and we have been booking through the states.  I did scrap visiting several places that I had planned on taking the kids.  However, as long as I find a place with a playground and pool the kids haven’t minded.

Today we reached the Rapid City KOA and we decided to get groceries and then just relax.  I didn’t even do laundry which we definitely need done.  Tomorrow we will be off to see Mt. Rushmore and possibly the Badlands.

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July 15

Close Encounters

Ok, I obviously borrowed the image.  There wasn’t a space ship hoving over Devil’s Tower or a military installation there.   The movie was made in 1977 and I do remember several parts of the movie but not its entirety.  We got to hear a little speech when we checked into the KOA that is the closest commercial campground to the park.  We learned how Richard Dreyfus stayed there while filming the movie.

You can stay closer but you will need to forego hookups.  I enjoy water and electric hookups so the National Parks are not for us.  One of the reasons I chose to stay here (other than its cool and only 2.5 hours from our next campground near Mt. Rushmore) is that they have a nightly showing of the movie.  I figured the kids might enjoy seeing it after we saw the monument.  Unfortunately, rain seems to follow us recently and it was storming at 7 when they were to be showing it.  I will have to get Pat to pick it up so the boys can see it when we get home.

The Tower

Brian and Sean both loved the playground at this location.  Brian is also starting to chat more with other kids that are playing.  Brian has been very sweet and making sure that Sean is still a part of playing with the other kids.  The only negative with this location was the showers down in the tent area need another hook (2 would be even better) and for the built in bench to be a bit deeper.

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July 13

I have quite a few memories of Yellowstone from when I visited with my family about 30 years ago.  One of which was a bison that was hanging around Old Faithful and another was of a foolish tourist approaching a mama bear and her cubs.  We didn’t get to see bears in the park on this trip, but we did get to see some wildlife.

We arrived at West Yellowstone, MT and parked the trailer at a KOA.  Other than the location, there isn’t much to recommend this KOA.  Kids enjoyed playing mini golf, but the course was all concrete.  We were happy to be able to have a campfire.  First time since Tennessee.  Due to fire hazards we haven’t been able to have a fire or charcoal grill for the majority of the trip.

Oh no! There are bison at the geyser.

Once we unhitched the trailer, we headed in to go see Old Faithful.  This is the geyser that I remember the most from my trip with my grandparents. I distinctly remember how a mounted park ranger was at the geyser keeping an eye on the bison (and more likely tourists) to make sure no one got hurt.  I gave the kids several lectures on how to deal with wildlife and how they can easily hurt someone.  I enjoyed Brian mentioning how foolish the tourists are whenever we saw someone getting way to close to the Bison that we finally saw later.  We did stop to see several geysers on the way to old faithful.

Thar she blows

Several of the geysers have been affected by local earthquakes.  Even Old Faithful has been affected.  They still know approximately when it will go but they give a 10 min +/- window.  Several of the others are drier than they have been in the past.  They are still amazing to see and watch.  Sean did not enjoy the smell at most of the smaller geysers.  Both boys loved when Old Faithful erupted.  We ended our night with s’mores and reminding the boys about bear/food etiquette.  We scoured the campfire and made sure that no wrapper or scrap of food was left out to encourage some visitors that we wouldn’t enjoy.

July 13

Foolish Tourist

We hitched up to leave today and followed the northern loop through Yellowstone to head to our next trailer park in Greybull, Wy.  The loops are totally different from each other.  The Southern loop is forest but peppered with geysers, while the Northern loop is forest dotted with grassy plains, rivers and a beautiful lake.    What we really enjoyed about the upper loop was seeing more bison than we ever dreamed we would.

I do have to say that I am happy that we left the park without seeing any bears (other than the stuffed kind in the gift shops).  We did see several very foolish tourist get entirely too close to bison.  There was one bison in particular that was very close to the road.  People actually stopped their car right next to it and several people walked up to the side of that car to look over at the bison.  Brian and I didn’t stop at that bison.  We stopped at a very large grass land with a creek and we used zoom quite a bit for our pictures.

Greybull KOA

We stopped at the KOA in Greybull, Wy and the owners were absolutely fantastic.  I think this was the best one we have been too.  We recieved a free water for each of us and were guided to our site.  They have been the only ones who actually mentioned that they read our request for a site with easy entry and exiting since we are new to trailering.  We also got the most amazing spot which couldn’t have been easier to get into or out of.  I especially liked that this KOA is green and had an easy to get to recycling area.  Brian and Sean loved the playground and we all enjoyed the HEATED pool.  Well Sean enjoyed watching Brian and I race each other in the pool while he relaxed in a recliner.

Next stop – Close Encounters in South Dakota

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July 12

I feel bad for Idaho.  We neglected it on this trip.  We merely used it as a stop over to get to the tip of Montana and to get to Yellowstone.  There was quite a bit of road resurfacing and we ended up getting a crack in our windshield.  I am hoping it won’t spread but with the temperature changes I am sure it will.

Here are some random road pictures as well as a few pictures of the kids in the KOA swimming pool in Arco, ID.

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July 9th

Utah!

We have headed north to Utah!  Well, first we had a stay over in Flagstaff, AZ as the hose/boot came off the turbo again.  We stayed at the KOA for a night and the local ford dealer squeezed us in.  While we were waiting we went to see Despicable Me 2.  At least the kids were occupied while I worried over whether we were going to eventually make it over the rockies.

I do have two major tips for those who may be considering traveling this way.  One is to check to find out about road closures and the second is to check for tunnel clearance.  Can’t imagine how I learned the hard way?  Well, let me tell ya about it.

Flagstaff, AZ

Just before we left Flagstaff I struck up a conversation with my “neighbor” about his 5th wheel trailer.  He then asked if I was going to Page as there is a detour.  I mentioned how I was just following my gps and wasn’t sure which way I would be heading.  I am very happy I spoke with him as we did end up going through Page and we had a 2+ hour detour.  The plus is due to the construction on the road in addition to the detour.  What was supposed to be a 5 hour trip plus gas and bathroom breaks turned into a 8 hour day.

Tunnels

Tunnels, let me tell you about tunnels.  Your best bet is to get a Motor Carriers road atlas.  This will show you low clearance bridges and tunnels.  Something I wasn’t aware of until a friend in San Antonio mentioned it to me and I forgot to stop and pick up.  I was approaching the entrance to Zion National Park and I suddenly saw signs stating that there are two tunnels both with height restrictions.  Luckily we are 11ft in height and easily cleared the first one.  The second one was the problem.  We had to pay an additional charge to enter the park.  This was beyond our yearly National Park card.  This charge is due to their needing to stop the two way traffic through the second tunnel so we could drive down the middle of the tunnel.  Kids loved this and the drive through both tunnels.

Zion

The road through Zion is twisty and steep.  It’s also difficult because I wanted to stop and take pictures but we had such a long day, I also wanted to get to the trailer park.  Many of the pictures you will see have been taken from the car so expect a lot of reflections.  Brian was pretty tuned into the park and all the twists in the road and how amazing the park is.  Sean had to be dragged away from his game to look out the window.  It helped to mention how similar the road is to several scenes in Cars.

We stayed at Zion River Resort RV Park and Campground.  I think Brian would have stayed here all summer.  We never used the pool although it looked amazing.  Brian and Sean both enjoyed their first experience in a river!  Both boys were very careful walking in the river as you never know where it can be slick.  Sean especially loved sitting in a chair in the shallow areas.  Brian managed to get Sean to lay back in the shallow water.  He seems to finally be getting over some of his fear from his earlier fright in Tyler, TX.

Mining

We originally were supposed to drive back through Zion, but with 106 heat we decided to get some groceries, visit the small town nearby (very cute), do some gem mining at the RV store and play in the river.  Gem mining is what the boys seem to love the best.

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July 6th

Arizona

Today we arrived in Williams, AZ.  Our stopping point for visiting the Grand Canyon.  We parked our trailer at the Canyon Motel & RV Park.  Its a really cute park with train cars for cabins.  Totally makes sense that someone would have a train themed rv park as Williams, AZ is where you catch the train to the Grand Canyon.

After parking the trailer, we stopped in at Bearizona.  Our second drive through animal park.  Brian was very interested in the Wolves and Bears.  Sean was on the lookout for Bison.  He has his new favorite joke that involves them.  I will try to get him on video so you can chuckle along.  After the park, we headed over to our hotel and then took a horse drawn carriage ride around Williams and ate at Pancho McGillicuddy’s.

We stayed at the Grand Canyon Hotel which is also where we caught the train as well.  We had purchased a package as we also wanted to take a bus tour of the Canyon. We booked the observation car and I highly recommend it if you decide to take a similar trip.  We lucked out and there were only 3 other people in the same part of the car so we stretched out.

Once we arrived at the Grand Canyon we hopped onto our tour bus.  I was surprised that our tour guide wasn’t very good.  Usually you get someone chatty who gives out lots of bits of information that you may not already know.  All she really told us was to wait til the bus stopped for pictures as its not worth taking pictures through the windows when the pictures will be better off the bus.

Brian bravely led the way when we walked along the rim.  Sean discovered that he doesn’t like heights.  This from the kid who loves roller coasters.  I can understand the difference as the coasters strap you in.  Sean continually fretted about getting too close to the edge and Brian kept trying to get him to at least get near the fence.

You will notice in the pictures that Brian took several, including several of himself.  First set are from Bearizona, second set is of Williams, AZ and the last set is the Canyon and train ride.

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July 3

New Mexico!

We finally break free of Texas and arrived in Carlsbad, NM.  It’s not that we didn’t like Texas, its that we lost 11 days of our trip.  I now have to totally reschedule where we will be going and I will have to skip a lot of what we have planned.  I still think we will be able to get to the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and Mt. Rushmore.

We spent a day and a half in Carlsbad. Our first night was merely, sitting out a storm and doing some laundry.  Most of our adventuring was on July 4th.  I was pretty surprised that Carlsbad Caverns and the Living Desert Zoo & Gardens were both open on a holiday.  Apparently National Parks are open year round (weather permitting) except for Christmas.

Being in New Mexico, we expected a hot day so we decided to go to the Zoo first.  We were all pretty surprised that we were able to see so many animals.  I loved the Elk the most as it was huge (picture the elks in Narnia that people rode).  They also had a reptile house. It should have been a snake house as it was all snakes except one gila monster lizard.  I was glad the boys had a chance to see a rattlesnake and a few other poisonous snakes so they could see how easily they can hide in their environment.  As many times as I can warn them, it helps for them to see their camouflage capabilities.

One of the things that Sean and I liked about the Zoo, were all the different plants that are grown in the area.  Sean was especially giggly over the cows tongue cactus.  Brian was our fearless leader and led us around the 1.5 miles of exhibits.  I highly recommend going to the Living Desert Zoo.  Just remember to wear a hat, sunscreen and bring lots of water.

Next up was Carlsbad Caverns.  First let me say, be prepared to walk a lot!!!  I didn’t realize that its 1.5 miles around main areas of the cavern not counting the walk to the natural entrance that can take 1-2 hours.  We decided to take the elevators down to the main cavern instead.  The elevator goes down 750 feet in 62 seconds.  Sean was pretty impressed with that and the ranger supervising the ride chatted with Sean about it.

Being familiar with Luray Caverns in Virginia and visiting the Lost Sea in TN did not prepare us for how large Carlsbad is.  There are even parts of the cavern that haven’t been explored.  The areas they are currently exploring can take years to map.

Below you will see pictures from both locations.

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