Here we go!

West Trip, 2013

Here we go! Back on the road! Off to see family, friends, and celebrate the wedding of Courtney and Scott. We made it to Murdo, SD the first day and then were off to WY on Thursday. We stopped at 1880 Town...a recreation of a Western town during that time. I have driven this drive MANY times in my life time and have always wanted to stop at the 1880 Town. We decided the boys were at the perfect age to enjoy this "back in time" experience. Little did we realize, they would be more interested in the kittens roaming free throughout the town! We watched a short music program in the old hotel/saloon, where Calen was asked to come on stage. You will see by the the pictures...he is thrilled!

Arrived at 1880 Town. 

At 1880 Town,  you can find movie props from Dances with Wolves!

Trevor and his new toy. Yes, that is a camera on his head!

Brodie and a kitten. I'm sure that is all the boys will really remember from this adventure!

Stage Coach fun 

The McNastys

Calen getting pulled on stage. So excited!

Final performance!

On the road again...just can't wait to get on the road again!

Well, here we are! A year later, and ready to get on the road. We are headed West...for another incredible Ruff Life adventure! First we will be headed off to Buffalo, WY and then making our way to Utah. Plans are to sight see and do some camping in Arches National Park. However, if  the heat is too much to handle, we will be off to some other locations suggested by my sister in law, Courtney.  And last but not least, we will be spending time just outside of Salt Lake City for the nuptials of Courtney and Scott! We cannot wait to share in their celebration of marriage! Hoping to leave early tomorrow morning. On the road again.... :)

No internet, no T.V., no Cell service...oh my!

Teton National Park/Yellowstone National Park

A week ago we left Buffalo to travel to Teton National Park. I got to see some parts of WY I have never experienced...or at least don't remember since it has been 20+ years since the last time I was in Yellowstone. We traveled over the Big Horn Mountains, through Worland/Thermopolis/and some other small WY towns. The "other side of the mountain" (near Tensleep, WY) is truly breathtaking....unfortunately, none of my snapshots did it justice! The scenery is incredible. We encountered some construction over the mountain, but nothing major. The drive was LONG! We arrived at our campsite about 5:30 in the evening...the boys were exhausted and hungry...of course. Oh, and we discovered little Brodie has a tendency to become motion sickness just like his big brother.....that was fun to discover after 8 hours in the car on our way into Teton National Park! I guess that is what happens when both of your parents suffer from motion sickness as well...What a way to start the trip!

View from our camper At Teton National Park

Coral Bay, Teton National Park

We camped at Coral Bay in the park. If you have never been to the Tetons (and you like mountains) I highly suggest you go...The view, the scenery, the animals...there really are no words. I can't imagine being the first person to discover this area...incredible doesn't even begin to describe it. We stayed in the Tetons for two nights. The first night I was afraid we were in for a long trip as the temps dropped into the 30s and we were all freezing....I was sure we would have to spend 100s of dollars in Jackson Hole to keep ourselves warm! Luckily, the temps improved and we didn't end up breaking the bank to buy new duds.  Trevor and Brodie were fortunate enough to spot five grizzly bears (3 cubs and 2 females). They were crossing the road on an early morning drive (so Calen and I could get our beauty rest!).  The pics are amazing. We went into Jackson one day...what an awesome town...but aren't all mountain cities?!  A little touristy, but still somewhere I could see spending an extended amount of time.

On Thursday, we showered (HEAVEN!!!) and did some laundry before heading to Yellowstone. On our way in to the park, we stopped at Old Faithful.  The kids were in awe of the geyser....we also checked out some steamies (I believe the technical term is fumerol, but a 4 and 2 yr old prefer to call them steamies....works for me!).  Again, we got into our campsite later in the evening...just in time to set up camp, make dinner and get ready for bed. The sun seemed to go down later every night and the kids were rarely in bed before 9:00 p.m. Their schedules are so OFF!

Friday a.m., Trevor's sister Courtney and her boyfriend Scott (Calen couldn't  quite figure out why Scott wasn't his uncle:) came from Salt Lake to camp with us. They stayed until Sunday afternoon. We drove to Old Faithful again, hiked to see a waterfall, and drove around the park to find more animals (you know, wolves, buffalo, elk, bears...all of which we did see!)

Yellowstone Lake, Yellowstone National Park

The campground we stayed at was the Madison Campground...Buffalo hung out just a few yards from the river that ran next to the campground and a coyote was seen close to our campsite...we got the true wilderness experience (for only 20 bucks a night)! All of the places we camped were Bear Aware...which means NOTHING can be left outside your car if you have a tent or pop up camper. Quite a change from WI camping :)

Old Faithful

Sunday, after Scott and Courtney left, the four of us went swimming in the river....quite surreal to be floating down a creek within a few 100 yards of a herd of buffalo. We went for a drive later that evening and saw a black bear and her cub...about 30 yards away (which is way too close for bear...just ask Calen...every animal we stopped to look at he would ask "are we 25 yards away...it is 100 yards for bear and wolves...he is such a worrier!).  The bear was close to the road though so not much we could do about the distance. We also had a buffalo cross the road directly in front of our car. We were lucky to see the animals we did...It was amazing.

Monday we left Yellowstone, traveled through Cody and stopped in Thermopolis to drop Trevor off so he could meet up with his brother Andy. The boys and I stopped in the town of Tensleep to run around for bit and we met a retired couple who were cycling from Anchorage, AL to Washington D.C. They were from England and I was fascinated talking with them (it helped that the woman said I was an incredible mother...especially after being in the car for about 9 hours at that point). That is one thing I love about traveling...getting to meet interesting people!

I drove the boys from Thermop to Buffalo....and got to Buffalo about 9 p.m. We were exhausted, dirty, but happy. It was truly a vacation in every sense of the word!

Today we are resting...doing laundry...SHOWERING...and possibly heading to the pool (since the temps are in the 100s).  I already miss the wilderness:)

Tired, but happy!

In wilderness I sense the miracle of life, and behind it our scientific accomplishments fade to trivia.
Charles Lindbergh


Peace and Love....J

Tuesday, June 19

Today we are off to the Tetons. Not sure if we will have access to internet anytime soon. Very excited to spend six nights in the Tetons and Yellowstone. Trevor's sister Courtney will be joining us on Friday. Tonight we hope to eat in Jackson Hole, it might just be at the Subway, but at least I can say I had dinner in Jackson! Peace and Love....J

Life in Buffalo

when I talk about going to the mountains, this is what I mean! 

Me and my T!

What's up partner!

One of my favorite cowboys

We have been in Buffalo since Wednesday and have been busy visiting family, going to the pool, venturing up into the mountains, and enjoying the local entertainment..i.e. pig wrestling and local rodeo. The boys got cowboys hats from Grammy, and they look just adorable in them. Trevor has been fly fishing with the boys and they both are very into it. They have been catching fish and have even kept some...Trevor is a catch and release fisherman so we RARELY eat fresh fish at our house. Calen is following in his footsteps and always want to throw the fish back (but, as you can see from pics, has kept some so we can eat them for dinner). We have seen a lot of wildlife so far....a huge bull moose, deer, antelope...we have yet to see an elk, but we are hoping that will happen soon. They boys have been up way past their bedtimes this entire trip...combine that with the amount of time we are spending outdoors and they take awesome naps (so do mommy and daddy!). Brodie still doesn't sleep great, but we say, he can sleep terrible in WI or sleep terrible in WY. Doesn't matter :) 

Well...we have been gone for a week....three more to go! We are planning to leave for Teton National Park on Tuesday morning. Then we will be heading to Yellowstone for four nights where we'll be joined by Aunt Courtney and her boyfriend Scott (for two nights). 

We feel truly blessed to be able to have two "home" states! We even bought a WY cowboy sticker for the car...to add next to our WI sticker. This is what life if truly about...traveling, spending time with family, and making the most memories we can in the time we have together!!

And this, our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.
William Shakespeare

Peace and Love...J

Tuesday, June 12

After our first night in the camper, we woke early to go to Reptile Gardens....Calen has been asking when we were going to Reptile Gardens ever since I showed him the website about a month ago. We got to Reptile Gardens and the boys were excited....Our first stop was the "Dome", and when we walked out of...who did we see...but Brian and Lisa Hartley! What a surprise to see a co-workers from the Dells in South Dakota! They are on their family vacation as well. We have a similar itinerary, but not sure we will meet up again...we miss each other in Yellowstone by a few days. The boys enjoyed running around with the "big girls' (Brian and Lisa's daughters) as Calen refers to them. We watched the alligator show (where the boys got to pet a baby alligator), the snake show (where mommy and the boys got to pet a python), saw a Komodo Dragon, "Maniac" the 15 ft. long croc, and hung out with some pretty docile giant tortoises!  We ate lunch with the Hartleys and then were on our way back to the campsite for a nap!  After dinner, we went to Bear Country USA...a place I had never been! We saw bears (surprise, surprise), wolves, elk, mountain lion, sheep and buffalo. The boys loved every minute! 

Posing!

Look Mom! a snake!

The Alligator show

Brodie just chillin'

Calen made a new friend!

The Hartleys and Ruffs!

Oh no! Where is Calen!

Our boys seem to attract attention wherever we go, whether it be Culver's, Reptile Gardens, or just hanging out in front of the gas station!  Gas Station?!...... I don't think I have ever laughed so hard as I did one evening in front of a gas station/casino (those are pretty popular out here!). Music was playing very loudly and the boys started to bust a move on the sidewalk....their signature move is called "planking"...for all you yoga and pilates enthusiasts...you can imagine what this move looks like....get in the plank position, twist from side to side, then shake your bottom or lift a leg....I was in tears and I think they put on a pretty good show for the people getting gas...Seriously, what am I going to do with these two!

Monday, June 11

Where to begin?! We finally arrived in Buffalo, WY...after some amazing traveling through South Dakota! Monday morning we were up early and headed to the Badlands in SD...if you have never been, you are truly missing out! Took the scenic loop and we're true tourists when we stopped at Prairie Dog town. The kids were in heaven...not sure the prairie dogs were though....seeing a 40 lb 2 yr old barreling at you full speed (while yelling at the top of his lungs) is bound to freak any small creature out :) They seemed fond of Calen though and before we even spent the 50cents on peanuts (official prairie dog food I guess)....they were climbing all over him. Of course, prairie dogs are known to carry all sorts of scary diseases, but no worries, my children have probably been exposed to a number of them through daycare! Needless to say, Trevor and the boys had a blast. We had to buy the official prairie dog stuffed animal...only $4.99. The tantrums that were thrown if the prairie dog fell on the floor of the van while traveling weren't always fun...but alas, the kids are in love the them...Calen has affectionately named his "Prairie"....so creative :)

Calen, the Prairie Dog whisperer!

Where'd they go?

Checking out the hole!

Our next stop was the Visitor Center in the Badlands so the boys could become Official Junior Rangers. They sat through the presentation (well, Calen sat...Brodie doesn't know the meaning of the word)....and were very excited at the chance of seeing an actual rattlesnake (thank heavens we did not as I'm sure Trevor would have sacrificed all of our lives to get just one shot of a rattlesnake!). We did some hiking and Calen is a true climber....I was amazed! and, to Calen's delight, we got to meet not one, but TWO real paleontologists!

taking the Junior Ranger oath! Brodie was so serious!

We finally got back in the car and continued our drive through the park....the boys passed out and didn't wake until we were in Rapid City. We ended up camping for two nights at an awesome Campground (Sheridan Lake...part of the National Park system). Quiet, right on the water...it was extremely serene.


Brodie quote:


Look mommy, dolphin (while pointing at some prehistoric sea creature), moose (while pointing at a buffalo head), and buffalo (while pointing at cattle). He's got a good vocab, but we're still working on labeling things correctly!

Calen: Mom, paleontologists and archeologists are not the same.....one looks for animals bones and the other one (looks at me questionably) ....Me: looks for people bones....Calen: Yea, yea...looks for people bones...