Pumpkin Carving

 Last week we went to a pumpkin patch to pick out our own pumpkin.  I usually go cheap and buy them from Aldi when we are home or my in laws grow them, but there are no aldis here.  The boys had fun picking out their own.

Crater's of the Moon

 You guys, this place was really cool!  I didn't know what to expect and once we go there very few people were in the park, but it was so unique and the kids had so much fun!  The day was gorgeous!

 Crater's of the Moon was formed by 8 different eruptive periods thousands of years ago.  Lava erupted from the great rift and formed all these crazy geological features.  We hiked to the top of an inferno cone which is pictured above.

 These mini volcano or spatter cones are formed during the last spit and sputters from the volcanic activity.

 The boys loved learning about all of this.  They enjoyed the informational video at the visitor's center and asked a lot of questions along the way.

 The last part of the park was by far their favorite.  There is a trail with three different caves.  We brought head lamps and flashlights so that we could do some exploring.  The boys were crawling in and out and enjoying every second.

 I thought that we would be back to Sheila around 5, but we didn't get back until close to 7 because the caves were such a hit.

Shoshone Trickle

 This past Saturday we went to check out Shoshone Falls for a little while in the morning.  The view was so great and we learned a lot about when this whole area flooded.

 This is what Shoshone Falls looks like right now.  At the bottom of the post you can see what Shoshone looks like in the spring when it is at it's peak.

 We also went to Dierkes Lake.  It was a little inland lake and it had a swimming area with a diving board in it.   The rocks surrounding the lake were so neat because they were carved out by water long ago.

This is what we were expecting to see.  They call this the Niagara of the West.  It is actually taller than Niagara.  We are just going to have to come back in the Spring sometime to see it again.

Twin Falls, ID

From West Yellowstone we made the drive to Twin Falls, ID.  We stayed with some friends of Brad's for the first three nights there.  It was so nice to get caught up on some laundry and wash some bigger things like coats.  I have heard so much about the family that we stayed with so it was SO GREAT to meet them in person.  Their hospitality and kindness was amazing!  The boys were loving it at their house because they had kids to play with and room to roam free on their property out in the farming area in Jerome.

 Idaho is more than potatoes and suger beets people.  There is so much beauty.  The weather has been in the 60's and sunny so the boys and I are enjoying being able to be outside.  

 These pictures are from the Snake River valley.  It is crazy that water can carve all this beauty out.

 The boys love climbing rocks and exploring.  We are definitely going back to this park at some point while we are here.

 This is the side that Evel Knievel tried to jump over.  We are planning on going to the ramp that is still there.  The Perrine bridge is one of the only bridges left that people can BASE jump from.  We are hoping to see someone do it before we leave.

I am enjoying Idaho greatly.  We are able to be outside most of the day.  I am loving being able to put faces with the names of the people that Brad talks about all the time.  I am also enjoying that we are staying put for a little longer in this one place.  I am able to catch my breath and catch up on some things that I have wanted to get done.

Yellowstone

I have tried to post about Yellowstone about 12 times now.  Campground internet is junk, people!  I am very much looking forward to getting our wifi extender put on the trailer so that we can hopefully enjoy better internet.  

I could post a million photos of Yellowstone because it was gorgeous this time of year.  We have been in the summer, but I actually think that I liked this time of year better.  There was no construction, we didn't have to wait around for a parking spot at the popular spots, and driving through the park was a breeze. 

 We tried going to the park on Saturday, but they got so much snow in a short amount of time.  We left our campsite in Moran, WY which is about 30 miles from the South entrance and there was no snow.  They closed the entrance to plow and had no idea when it would open up again.  We headed back to camp to have a lazy Saturday.  

 On Sunday when we woke up a lot of the roads were still closed in the park because of the snow.  We knew that it was going to be sunny and were hoping that it would melt some of the snow on the roads.  We started to pack up Sheila.  As we were packing more roads opened up, but the South entrance was still closed.  We had plans to drive all the way to the West entrance if the South didn't open up.  We drove to the South entrance and they told us it was closed.  We drove down the road 3 minutes and checked the road closings again and it opened up.  So we headed with Sheila into the park.  The sun was shining and the snow was gorgeous.  We ate lunch outside in Grant Village.

 As we went about our day, the sun melted the snow more and more, but we really enjoyed it while it lasted.  We could go out in a coat and be comfortable.

 When we pulled up to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone with Sheila there was a tourist bus there from Spain.  About 50 people started pulling out their devices to get a photo.  One man even put his elbow up on the truck to get himself in the picture.  The two oldest boys, who speak Spanish, told us that they all kept saying, "What a HUGE trailer!"  Who knew Sheila would gain celebrity status in Yellowstone?

 The paint pots was by far our favorite spot.

 While we were there we got to see some of the geysers go off.  The boys thought that watching the three that went off there was more exciting than Old Faithful.

 Opal Pool

We couldn't finish what we wanted to of the park so we stayed in West Yellowstone for the night and finished on Monday morning.  While we were staying there temps dropped to 10 degrees.  The littlest boy threw up 2 times in the middle of the night.  Come to find out, he can't eat a LARGE amount of trail mix or he has tummy troubles.  All this happened and we were not hooked up to water because of the cold temps.  The next morning when I went to the laundry and the campground to wash everything the machines were not working because their pipes had frozen overnight.  All the bedding went into a black garbage bag and into the shower.  RV'ing is so great, but not all roses.

We ended our time in Yellowstone with Old Faithful.  Sadly, the lodge was closed for the season.  We were looking forward to showing that to the boys.

Fourth Stop

On Tuesday of this week we packed up in Colorado and headed towards Moran, WY.  It was hard for all of us to leave my brother and his family.  We had such a great time with them.  Ten minutes after we left the youngest boy protested that he missed his cousins already.  We drove to Rock Springs, WY and stayed overnight there in a Walmart parking lot.  On Thursday we drove the rest of the way to our campground in Moran that is right near Grand Teton National Park.

Friday morning the boys and I packed a lunch and headed out for the day while the Dad of the household worked.  It was a gorgeous day!  The weather was cooler, but look at that blue sky!   We headed into Jackson Hole to hit up the visitor's center.  We also had our lunch at a park in town.

 On our way out to Jackson we ran into this buffalo herd.  The boys and I sat and watched them for a good 20 minutes.  We watched as they found their way around this fence and across the road.  The boys were in awe.  

 Jenny Lake in the Tetons

 This guy is always seeing how high he can climb wherever we are.  

Almost daily I have thoughts that I think I should blog, but then the day gets away from me and I forget.  I am learning a lot about myself and about the person that I truly want to be.  I love seeing my kids be able to roam free. Tonight we drove 10 minutes from our campsite until we found a dark road.  We took some hot chocolate and sat out to look at the stars.  My kids were in wonder.  I love seeing them in awe and wonder.  I still have the chores that go along with keeping up with a family of 7, but I have more freedom to experience the great things that this life has to offer.  I am truly grateful for the moments that we are having.  I hope to never loose that while we are on the road.

Third Stop

 On Friday September 28, 2018, the boys had their first snowfall of the year.  We knew that it was suppose to snow in the black hills during the night, but we had no idea we would wake up to this.  Fun was had by all and camping neighbors enjoyed watching our boys and Rosie celebrate the snowfall.

 Later that morning we headed to the badlands.  We didn't know if there would be snow there as well, but we only had two days in SD so we had to make the most of it.  When we arrived to the minutemen missile National Park we were getting some funny looks for having winter boots on because they didn't have any snow at all.

 When we returned to our campsite later that day most of the snow had already melted and this nice brookie was caught in the little stream behind our campsite.

On Saturday September 29 we headed to Colorado to stay by my brother and his family.  We have been enjoying family time and we were also able to celebrate my niece's birthday with her.  This is not something that we can normally do so it was fun to go to her school for her special birthday story, share cake with her, and get invited to her party.  We have been thoroughly enjoying their company.

 The boys and I explored around Poudre Canyon one morning.  They loved to fish, climb rocks, and throw rocks into the river.

 Today we headed to Estes Park with my brother and niece.  Sadly, the weather did not like us much.  We tried to make it to the top, but it was very windy and was hailing so we headed down.  

A highlight of the Estes trip was seeing some Elk.  They are bugling and here is a picture of a bull mid bugle.

The scenery around CO is unbelievable.  It is a playground for boys who love the outdoors.  We have spent a few evenings just going to nearby lakes and enjoying the outside air.  It is going to be hard for me to leave the beauty and my brother's family.

Moving West

On the 25th we packed up camp in Baraboo, WI and headed West.  We knew that we were going to break it up into two days and boon dock, but it took us longer than we expected.   When we started off on Tuesday we were driving down the road and a box flew out of the truck.  I didn't see it in time before I ran over it with the Yukon.  I looked in my rear view mirror to see our Y hose and elbow hook up for our sewer line spew across the highway.  We found a Camping World along the way and replaced our broken items.  Later that day we stopped to make a quick dinner in the oven.  We opened the oven after the brats had been cooking to rotate them and the glass pan exploded.  It caused scare and the fire alarm to go off.  We cleaned up and headed to Dairy Queen for dinner.  That night we boon docked for the first time in a Walmart parking lot in Wentworth South Dakota.  I got some groceries and wheeled my shopping cart right up to the door of my house.

 On Wednesday we headed out after breakfast to hit up the corn palace in Mitchell.  The boys were minimally impressed, but we had some good laughs about all the corny t-shirts that they had in the gift shop.

 Next stop was Wall Drug.  We grabbed some dinner and let the boys play a couple rounds of video games in the shooting arcade.  We left with 2 bumper stickers and 3 bouncy balls.  We considered this success.  While we were eating dinner one of the boys pointed out that they were the only kids in the whole place.    It has been kind of fun to be out and about with less people because of the time of year.  We got to our campsite in Hill City late on  the 26th.  The drive up to the campground was windy with lots of deer and we were in the dark.  It wasn't my favorite.

 Today we woke up to some cold weather, but that didn't stop us from going to explore.  We took a field trip day and headed to Rushmore first thing.  We stopped along the way so the boys could climb some rocks and explore.  This was one of their favorite things from the day.  

 Mount Rushmore had very little people there today.  We parked right in the front lot and walked right in.  The boys learned a lot while we were here and they all said that it was different than what they expected.

 After Rushmore we went to an old gold mine for a tour.  All the boys were interested, but the two oldest really loved to learn about gold mining.

They were also able to pan for gold.  They actually found some.  Tomorrow we are going to try and pan for some in the creek that is right outside Sheila.  The campground has pans and the boys are going to give it a try.  The only thing that may stop us is the weather.  Tonight it started to snow a bit and it is in the high 30's.