Day 7

Day 7, July 11th

Well, we were going to go to Yellowstone today but it didn't work out.  We were all set to go but on our way out we stopped at this visitor's center and we were told by one of the workers that we wouldn't have enough time and they recommended we hang out in Cody, see the Buffalo Bill Dam and Buffalo Bill Historical Center.  You might have guessed that Cody, Wyoming is named after William Cody, more commonly known as Buffalo Bill.

Anyway, that is what we did.  Standing at the top of and walking along the dam made me feel a little queasy.    Again, pictures do not capture the true depth and feeling you get seeing these things in person but here it is:

Nathan has been spending his money on some really great things.  He bought these at the dam:

And big news...on the way to the museum we managed to find the Boardwalk of the license plate game...Hawaii!!!  Woo hoo!  We are now up to 46 states.

The museum was nice but there was always someone bored at some point and Nathan was a little hard to handle.  There were just too many things he couldn't touch or places where he had to "be careful".  That's not really his thing.  But here are some pics...

 

And Mike tried to wrestle with a polar bear.  He won...the polar bear was stuffed.  :)

In a little picnic/garden area at the museum they had some games which were traditionally played by Indian (Native American) children.  The game Ryan is playing requires you to swing the ball which is attached to a string and catch it into a cup.  We overheard this girl who was working at the table that the record was 6 catches in a row.  I immediately looked over at Ryan because I knew this would motivate him to beat that score.  Sure enough, after 30 minutes he beat the score with 12 catches in a row.  

Grace Eagle Feather...

After the museum, we went to the Irma Hotel.  William Cody built this hotel and named it after his youngest daughter.  Most nights during the summer they have a gun fight...we didn't want to miss that.

Waiting for it to begin:

Nathan having a hard time waiting:



Buffalo Bill and gun fight with Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp, and some others I can't remember.



That's about it for the day.  Getting up early tomorrow to go to Yellowstone.  Can't wait!!

Day 6

Day 6, July 10th

10:13 a.m.

We are finally on our way.  Planned to leave at 9:00 but true to form, we are late.  J 

Random things:  1) I wonder how many times I hear the word “mom” or “mommy” in a day.  I am certain it is well over 100 and probably closer to 500.  In just the past 10 minutes I think I’ve heard it 15 times.  There is a direct correlation between kids boredom (no movie, video games or food) and the word “mom”.  Shouldn’t complain though because the alternative would be to NOT hear the word mom. J

 2)  Why do people from Wisconsin drive so slowly.  Every single person we have been stuck behind has been from Wisconsin.  It has become a joke.  Anne…maybe you could explain this to me…don’tcha know.   

3)  Grace made this video last night while we were doing laundry.  She only did a short part of the “movie” each time...just a few seconds at a time.  She thought she would be able to blend them all together but couldn't. I had no idea she was filming a movie and didn’t know what it was about until I watched it later that evening.  I attached some of the videos to the blog but there were more.  Basically, she was walking up and down the hall singing scary movie music, filming me from a distance, accusing me of killing someone.  I knew she was filming but had no idea of the subject matter so I was waving and smiling.  At one point she said something about a dead girl.  Then she laid down on the floor and filmed herself as the dead girl.  The murderer was either me or the washing machine but then apparently I confessed to the crime.  Hilarious girl!!!  I laughed so hard when I watched the video.   Here is most of it in all it's bits and pieces.  Watch in order. 
 

Later:

Went through Sturgis today and I dreamed of being a biker babe.  I was going to see if I could get on someone’s bike just for a pic but amazingly there weren’t that many bikes and I felt kinda funny getting on someone's bike without them knowing.  I just wanted to be able to say I was on a bike in Sturgis.  The big annual biker rally is in August and from what the locals tell us, it’s CRAZY.  We did get these pics of the largest biker bar in the world.  And the bar has this area right next to the bar…a little “town” of one room shacks that can be rented out for sleeping or maybe for some other reason…not sure.  Not exactly a place for children so good thing we weren’t here in August. 

Ironically, right near the bar is this place:

Shortly after Sturgis, we got off the beaten path and took the scenic route to Devils Tower.  Cool place but a bit warm (wonder why???  J).  It was a balmy 88 degrees.  We were a bit spoiled by the 75 to 80 degree temps the past few days so, of course, there was a lot of complaining.  Not on my part but when kids think that “rocks are boring!”, they seem to notice the temperature a little more. 

Beautiful country but so many hills with dead trees…why?  Drought???  Not sure.  Need to look that up whenever I get Internet access again.

Did I mention I love traveling by car?  Where else can you see little churches like this:

Or views like this:

I never said they were all pretty!  This appeared to be a place, in the middle of nowhere, where people just dumped their junk. 

Or people like this:

Or mountain ranges from a distance like this:

And where else can you be trapped in a car with a 13 year old who thinks his parents like the dumbest and most boring things.  Hmmmm…maybe I need to rethink this traveling by car thing.  J  Nahhhh!  This will make an impression to him whether he wants it to or not.  And years from now he will drag his kids across the country to see this amazing planet God gave us.

Actually all three kids have been great. We all have our moments when we get irritated or are irritating.  Not me of course! Haha! 

The drive through the mountains was so beautiful!  And we only had about three antelope, one doe and a big dog run in front of our car when we were cruising down the mountain at 80 miles per hour.  No worries, mom.  :)  Okay...the 80 miles per hour was an exaggeration and I think the dog ran in front of our car when we were already at the bottom of the mountain. 

Now we are sitting in the hotel room.  It's late and I need to go to bed.  G'nite!!

L

Day 5

Day 5--July 9th

And then we rested...stayed in the hotel, did laundry, went swimming, regrouped. 

Tomorrow it's a day of driving to Cody, Wyoming. 

And the most exciting moment???  Right now when I realize I am all caught up with this blog!! :)

Day 4

Day 4-July 8th

We slept in today, ate breakfast around noon and were on our way.  First stop was Custer State Park. We went to Sylvan Lake, one of the places where National Treasure 2 was filmed.  We hiked (although I didn't expect to do so, so had flip-flops on), climbed rocks and tried to keep Nathan from killing himself.  He has absolutely NO fear and was trying to do everything Ryan and Grace were doing.  It didn't matter how high, far, or dangerous it was...he wanted to do it.  We tried to locate the spot where that movie was filmed but weren't exactly sure where it was. 

Needles Highway was incredible.  The roads were winding and the tunnels, narrow. Wish I would've gotten more photos.

The begging burros...

Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam...

And the deer and the antelope play...errr...actually I don't think those are antelope or deer.  :)

Tunnel on Iron Mountain Road...and Mount Rushmore:



After Custer State Park, we went back to the slide and took these pics.  I like this one the most because it allows me to pretend Ryan and Grace actually get along.

Then back to Mount Rushmore for the evening ceremony.  Incredible!!  They showed a video about the four presidents and why they were chosen, talked about the meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance, sang the National Anthem, and shined beams of light on four presidents.  At the end they called all of our veterans and active military to come forward for the lowering and folding of the flag.  They all said their names, branch of service and war/conflict, if any, in which they were involved.