Year Three - Day Sixty-Five

Sam's View

Today we went to a baseball game! It is cubs vs mariners. in the 3rd inning cubs were winning 7-1. in the 9th inning cubs won 7-6.

Summer's View

Jim and Sam went to a Mariner's game today - they were playing the Cubs.  I opted for some home time.  I dropped them off at the field, and they took the train part of the way back afterwards.  Sam sent a pic once with the line - "It's hot."  :)  They are having a heat wave here right now!

The Mariner's lost by one run, Sam told me when they got back, and they had fun, and he ate "lot's of stuff."  :)

Year Three - Days Sixty-One thru Sixty-Four

Sam's View

Day 61 - 26 Jun

Today we were looking for better campgrounds to stay at.

Day 62 - 27 Jun

Today we went to the lemay car museum! They had cars from early 1900's! they also had Ferraris, deloreans, race cars, and they even had slot car racing! I raced some other kids and my car beat them! Then I raced daddy and I chose a different car and I beat him by 10 laps! My car beat daddy's because my car was a race car and daddy's car was a Ferrari street car. That was awesome.

Day 63 - 28 Jun

Today we went to the Seattle Museum of Flight. They had a lot of planes there! We even got to see the original Red Barn where Boeing was first made. I even got to sit in an SR-71 Blackbird jet. I saw a friend I met at the campground there.

 

Day 64 - 29 Jun

Today we went to the Seattle space needle! There was a really long line so we waited. When we got to the elevator we went up 520' and when we got to the top we got an amazing view of Seattle we could also see 2 giant spiders painted on the roof of a building from up there. After that we went to pike market wharf to see some harbor seals but there were no docks low enough for them to lay on.

 

Summer's View

The first day we looked up all the campgrounds in the area, calling to see who had openings through the holiday weekend.  We only found three other possibilities, so we drove out to see them.  The KOA where we are had one opening, but Jim wanted a site with more room, since the spaces here are pretty close together.

After spending the day driving around, and being amazed at the large amount of traffic on ALL the roads, no matter what time of day it was, ….zilch.  The other places had no amenities, like a playground or pool, and we wanted to stay somewhere with other kids around for Sam to play with.  So….KOA it is!  :)

The next day, Jim and Sam went to the Lemay Car Museum.  I was feeling supremely lazy that afternoon, so I stayed home and napped with Buster.  Sam took photos of EVERY car (almost), so I didn’t miss a thing!  LOL

Today, we took the train to downtown Seattle, and then a short monorail ride to the Space Needle.  Since it was Saturday, it was crowded.  Sam got to sit up front in the monorail with another boy, so they made friends quickly!

After touring the Space Needle, we rode the monorail back downtown – and the same folks were going again, so Sam and his friend jumped up front for the ride back!  Good timing!  Afterwards, we walked down to Pike’s Market to stroll through and check it out.  Jim stopped for a quick bowl of clam chowder.

We then strolled around the wharf for a while, but there was no good landing spot for the harbor seals, so we had dinner at Red Robin, and make our way back to the train for our ride home.  Our train passed by the ball fields, and the Mariner’s game had just let out, so folks were getting on there.  Mariner’s lost to the Cubbies.  As usual, Buster was happy to see us come home!

Year Three - Day Sixty

Sam' View

Today we traveled to Seattle, Wa!

Summer's View

Leaving Spokane Valley, we headed further west to Seattle, WA.  Knowing that we would be staying through the weekend of July 4^th, we decided to get something for just a couple of days, and drive around the area the next day looking at campgrounds in the area.  We made reservations at a KOA just south of the city in a suburb called Kent.

Year Three - Days Fifty-Seven thru Fifty-Nine

Sam's View

Day 57 - Jun 22

Today we traveled to Spokane valley! And I met some new friends!

Day 58 - Jun 23

Today we went to Coeur d'Alene. We saw the iron man triathlon. We ate at a restaurant that had a little pond with koi fish and turtles! Then we did a boat tour of lake Coeur d'Alene. It was cool.

Day 59 - Jun 24

Today we took the rv into the shop to get looked at. While we were waiting we went to wonderland fun center and it was fun then we went to Spokane to see some waterfalls! That was cool!


Summer's View

We drove west toward Seattle, stopping for a couple of days in Spokane Valley, WA, which is halfway between Spokane, WA and Coeur D’Alene, ID.  This was about a 300 mile drive, so the perfect stopping point.  We found a KOA to spend 3 nights.

The next day we decided to take a cruise on Lake Coeur D’Alene in the late afternoon, so we drove over.  We did not know, but they were hosting the Ironman Race that day, so we had a little trouble getting to the dock and finding parking since the race went right by there!  The place was packed!

The cruise was nice and relaxing, with the ship’s captain sharing a few facts about the area.  We went by an island that was filled with nice homes, a couple of which were humongous!

It was raining off and on the next day, but we managed to drive into Spokane to check out the Riverfront area and see the falls there.  The rain stopped just long enough for us to walk around a little!

Year Three - Days Fifty-One thru Fifty-Six

Sam's View

Day 51 - 16 Jun

Today we traveled to Shelby, MT

Day 52 - 17 Jun

Today we traveled to Essex, MT which is very close to the border of Glacier National Park. We went to goat lick at sunset and we saw some mountain goats!!

Day 53 - 18 Jun

Today we went hiking. It was a 3 mile trail. On the way we saw lots of waterfalls! Also there were some horses in the campground!

Day 54 - 19 Jun

Today it rained all day. We went out to eat.

Day 55 - 20 Jun

Today was another rain day. We went to west glacier and got my stamp! Yay!

Day 56 - 21 Jun

Today we went through Logan pass. We saw and touched snow. We saw waterfalls. We went to the top of a mountain. And we saw some birds.


Summer's View

From Billings, we made it to the next overnight stop of Shelby, MT. Along the way, we spied some cool wind farms.

After leaving Shelby, MT, we drove over to stay at the Glacier Meadows RV Park, about halfway between East Glacier and West Glacier.  The mountains are beautiful, and the park has an open area for us to park, perfect for using our satellites, so Jim is happy!  :) Unfortunately, though, we get no phone service here, and the closest place is 20 miles away.

Best campground view we have had so far!

Around sunset of the night we arrived, we drove about 10 miles west to an area called Goat Lick, where the park managers said was the best place to see mountain goats.  She was right!  Not only did we get to see several goats settling down for the evening, but we saw two with babies!  Awesome!

The next day was beautiful, and it was calling for rain the next day, so we headed out to hike while we could.  We drove to St. Mary, and drove along St. Mary Lake to hike to St. Mary Falls and also Virginia Falls.  Overall hike was about three miles, with some ups and downs in elevation along the way.  What cool falls!  Definitely worth the hike!

It started raining that evening, and poured some of the time.  Then it rained all day the next day, so we stayed in. All the NEXT day it rained again, and we went out to East Glacier just to get out for a little while and had something to eat.  Huckleberry seems to be the special around here.

The next day it was still raining lightly, but we decided to drive up through West Glacier and along Going to the Sun Road, even though it wasn't open all the way through.  It was a good drive, and we saw some deer and ground squirrels along the way.  All of the streams and rivers were gushing with fast moving water from all the rain!  We were going to leave on Friday, but we heard the Going to the Sun Road was supposed to open, so we opted to stay another day and see.

Friday morning it was official - the road was open!  We drove the road, starting from West Glacier, and what a sight!  Now I see what all the fuss was about!  :)  It was lightly raining on the west side, but cleared up after we crossed the mountains, and what mountains! Wow!  The tops are all covered with fresh snow, and there was still plenty of snow at Logan's Pass for Sam to play in.  Lots of kids up there were having snowball fights!  Sam and Jim saw several ground squirrels there scurrying around looking for crumbs in the snow.

We were going to head north from here, crossing into Canada and heading to Calgary tomorrow, but we heard today that they are having the worst floods in years!  Over 100,000 people had to be evacuated in Calgary, roads are getting washed out, and they had over four inches of rain in one day!  We have now changed our plans, and are heading west tomorrow, intending on crossing into Canada en route from Seattle, WA.

Year Three - Day Fifty

Sam's View

Today we travelled to Billings, MT


Summer's View

We left Rapid City this morning, sad to leave our friends but looking forward to our next adventure.  We drove to Billings, MT for an overnight stop.  We are staying at a KOA campground, which turns out to be the first KOA in the world.  Cool!

Jim gets to watch the second game in the hockey finals, so he is happy!

Year Three - Days Forty-Five thru Forty-Nine

Sam's View

Day 45 - 10 Jun

Today we went shopping. We went to hobby Shoppe and got a motor for the traxxes and we went to the ups store and coming out we saw Luke and Ellie's dad Matt so we talked a little then we went back to the rv for a little while. Then we went to their house and hang out for a while.

Day 46 - 11 Jun

Today we went fishing with Luke and Matt for about 5 to 6 hours. We caught lots of sunfish and Matt caught 2 trout and Luke caught 1. We stopped on an island and we skipped some rocks. I broke me record it was 5 and now it is 6. After we were done skipping rocks we went fishing some more and then we stopped fishing at 4:00 because it was about to rain so we went back to the dock and got everything in the van and headed back after we got back we went out to eat and after we ate we went to their house and I Minecrafted with Luke on his Xbox 360.

Day 47 - 12 Jun

Today me and mommy went to Reptile Gardens! They had lots of Reptiles there! They had lots of venomous snakes. They had prairie dogs. They had a giant tortoises and you can pet them!!! They had 2 giant tortoises their names are Tank and Quazzie. Tank is 50 years old and Quazzie is 46 years old. They also had alligators and crocodiles. They had a saltwater croc named Maniac he is 15 feet and 7 inches long!!!! He is the largest croc in captivity in the world!!! That was cool to see. :)

Day 48 - 13 Jun

Today we went to Custer State Park. We went on Iron Mountain Road. We went through 3 tunnels. After that we dis the wildlife loop. We saw buffalo and baby buffalo. We saw pronghorn and baby pronghorn. Then when we finished we went on the needles highway. We went through 3 more tunnels. That was pretty cool.

Day 49 - 14 Jun

Today we went shopping and got some stuff and we went to Luke and Ellie's house and Luke and his friend Kobe were jumping on the trampoline. And the sprinkler was on underneath the trampoline so as they were jumping they were getting wet then I got on and it was fun. Their mom took some pictures. Then we ate dinner and the 1st game of the Stanley cup was on and we had spaghetti. Then we Minecrafted for a little. Then we went to dinosaur park. We saw concrete Dino's. We climbed on them. Then after that wee ate some ice cream! Yummy  :)

Summer's View

We spent the last few days in Rapid City, visiting with good friends Matt and Michele and their son Luke.  Their daughter, Ellie, is in Montana for a few weeks on vacation.  That is our next stop!

While there, Jim and Sam went fishing one day with Matt and Luke, and they managed to catch 3 trout which were cooked on the grill for some great dinner later!  Sam caught about 20 sunfish, which were promptly released.  :)  Sam said one of the funniest things he saw that day was Matt’s fishing pole hanging over the boat side with bait on the hook a few inches above the water, and a sunfish actually leapt out of the water after the bait and hooked itself!  LOL

One night we took them out to eat at a good local restaurant down the street.  Since they were working during the day, we were only able to convince them to let us bug them at night.  J  Sitting outside on their back deck, we would look out on the valley full of trees, and wild turkeys roost in there every night.  Sam would do his turkey call to them, and they would answer back – too funny!  They would also call out every time they heard thunder.  LOL

One day, Jim, Sam and I, along with Buster, drove through Custer State Park, spending the day driving along Iron Mountain Road, which is scenic drive full of twists, turns, pigtail bridges, tunnels, and great sights of Mount Rushmore through one of the tunnel ways.  We also drove the Wildlife Loop, seeing tons (literally) of bison, all of the cows seemingly having calves by their sides, and even pronghorns with babies.  On our way out, we drove the highway showcasing the Needle’s Eye rock formation, featuring more twists, turns and tunnels.  It was a beautiful day and a great drive!

Another day, after a lazy morning, Sam and I went to an attraction across the street from the campground called Reptile Gardens.  It was way cool!  They had the biggest and best display of venomous snakes I have ever seen, and many that even Sam had never heard of (which is quite a feat!).  There was a saltwater croc they called “Maniac” who they had obtained from Australia in 2004 – he is now 15 feet 7 inches long!!  Yikes!

There was a cool jungle room with lizards and birds running about unrestrained for your viewing pleasure – and we had fun trying to find them all and identify them!  Outside, the prairie dog town was adorable, and one of the cute critters had a baby that was so cute it was almost impossible to leave!  The best thing EVER was their two giant tortoises, Tank and Quazzie, who were in a big enclosure where we could enter and pet them, touch them, feed them, and just follow them around!!  Sam almost fainted he was so excited!  I could have hung out with them all day.  Needless to say, we had an amazing time.

Our last day in Rapid City, we had a great spaghetti dinner at Matt and Michele’s, then they drove us along Skyline Drive to Dinosaur Park.  What great views!  An old tradition in the area, it is a little park atop the ridge with some concrete dinosaurs for kids to climb on, and enjoyed by all.  A little shop there sells great ice cream, which we tested for good measure.  After some front yard soccer and a little backyard sprinkler/trampoline jumping before dinner, Sam was worn out and we headed for the coach.  Jim and Matt spent most of the night outside the coach reliving some old memories, so it was a great night.

Year Three - Day Forty-Four

Sam's View

Today we traveled from Minneapolis to Rapid City, SD. We stopped there because we have some friends there. Their names are Luke, Ellie, Matt, and Michele.

Summer's View

Today was a travel day – we drove to Rapid City, SD.  A long drive, but nice.  We are here to visit some good friends for a few days before heading westward.

Year Three - Day Forty-Three

Sam's View

Today we went on a birding hike and saw lots of birds! It was awesome.


Summer's View

Our last day in Minneapolis, we went to morning guided bird hike at Richardson Nature Center.  The guide was impressed with Sam’s birding list of birds he has seen this year, and told him all about his list, as well.  We managed to spot 5 new birds for Sam’s list! 

After the bird hike, a park naturalist presented a bird show with two of the resident raptors at the park.  She spoke about and showed off the barred owl and the red-tailed hawk.  We got to watch the red-tailed hawk eat – dead baby chicks – ugh!  A little gross, but interesting as well.  The birds were beautiful.  An interesting fact about the great eyesight of the hawk – IF she could read, she would be able to read a newspaper if she were located at one end of a football field and the paper was at the other end.  How cool!

Year Three - Day Forty-Two

Sam's View

Today we went to the Mill City Museum! It was the largest flour mill in the world. It was built in 1872, opened in 1880, closed in 1965, and burned down in 1991. But parts of the stone walls were still there! We also went on a tour that showed some of the rebuilt machinery and some of the problems from the machines they had and even showed some real footage from the early 1900’s of the mill and machines. We saw all that in a big elevator that was cool. Then when we got to the 9^th floor we got out and headed to the lookout view. We saw a man built waterfall that was on the Mississippi river that was pretty cool. We could also see the Pillsbury Dough factory. That was also cool. Then we took a glass elevator down 8 floors. You could see the ruins of the original building. I thought that was cool. Then we went to eat lunch. They had darts there. I played some and it turns out I am pretty good. Then after we ate we went on the stone arch bridge. It goes across the Mississippi River. That was cool too.

Summer's View

Today we went to the Mill City Museum, which was housed in one of the old grain and flour mills along the Mississippi River.  This was the world’s largest flour mill at one time, and was built in 1872, closing in 1965.  It stood empty after that, and a fire burned everything but the shell in 1990.  After that, a museum was built on the site, and it was really cool!  An elevator took us through the eight floors of what used to be the operations, and a combination of props and movies was used to tell the story of the mill.  There was a cool rooftop deck with excellent views of the river, and an inside museum with displays and interactive areas which further explained the entire industry and the area during it’s heyday.  It was a really interesting and cool place, much better than I expected!

Afterwards, we walked along the bridge outside the mill which crossed the river.  It is now a hiking and biking trail, and seems to be used by a lot of bicycle commuters, as evidenced by their presence!

Year Three - Day Forty-One

Sam's View

Today we went to The Works. It was a mechanics place. They had a knex racing track. I built a car that beat everyone else’s car it was fun. Then I went and built stuff with a lot of foam blocks. That was also fun.

Summer's View

Today Sam and I went to a children’s museum called the Works.  Jim had some computer work to do, so we ventured out alone. 

It was a simple place with some interactive displays and play materials, such as kinex, and big foam blocks, but Sam had a blast.  There was a cool sensory maze to work through, which had different types of sensors like heat sensors, and cameras, to try to dodge and get through without setting off the alarms.  It was a challenge, and pretty cool!  It was some good play time for Sam to spend with others.

Year Three - Day Forty

Sam's View

Today we went to the mall of America! It is the largest mall in the world! They had a Lego store. They had an aquarium. They had a Nickelodeon Universe area which had rollercoasters. I did not go on any of them though. They had all kinds of stuff. It was Huge and awesome!

Summer's View

Today we went to the Mall of America!  Woo hoo!  It was a rainy day, so perfect!

We didn't do any shopping, but we had a good time walking around and looking at the sights.  There was an amusement park at the center, Nickelodeon Universe.  Lots of rides and noise and flashing lights - and we saw Spongebob's house!  :)

There was a HUGE LEGO store, so we dropped by to check it out.

Lunch at Bubba Gump's Shrimp was pretty good.  We finished up the day checking out the Sealife Aquarium at the bottom of the mall.  It was kind of small, but nice.

Year Three - Day Thirty-Nine

Sam's View

Today we went to the science museum of Minneapolis and it was FUN! They had a mini tornado machine and another machine that showed how much drag a wing had and how much drag a car had it was really cool. They even had a boat driving simulator. That was a lot of fun.

Summer's View

Our first day in Minneapolis, we went to the Science Museum of Minnesota, free admission with our MOSI pass!  They had some cool displays, and lots to do, with plenty of hands-on experiences. It was located right on the Mississippi River, with some cool views of the river and a lot of its bridges.

Sam had a blast trying his hand at such things as piloting a tugboat, weighing some "fish," and closing a t-rex's jaws.  That's not something you get to do every day!

They had some awesome fossils, and a good exhibition of dinosaurs on display. 

One of the most interesting and original items I saw was a huge xylophone that was linked to a seismograph which recorded earthquakes all over the world.  As an earthquake happened, the xylophone played music that was related to the area where the quake happened.

Year Three - Days Thirty-two thru Thirty-eight

Sam's View

Day 37 - Jun 2

Today we started to head to Minneapolis. We went on the Mackinac Bridge and it was windy again. But we didn't make it all the way so we camped for a night in rapid river, Mi.

Day 38 - Jun 3

Today we drove from rapid river to Minneapolis!


Summer's View

After spending the holiday weekend at the KOA, we returned to the MI house to finish it up.  We painted 3 rooms, and finished cleaning it up.  A local guy we hired came by to mow the yard area.  And, of course, it rained some more!  :)

We finally packed up, and bid goodbye to Lincoln, MI, heading north across the Mackinac Bridge, through the UP, and down through WI toward our final destination of Minneapolis.  It was longer than a one day drive, with most of it going along beside Lake Michigan.  We stopped overnight in a cool little town called Rapid River, MI, and reached a KOA campground southwest of Minneapolis the next day.