Homeward Bound

The problem is that when you are so close you can imagine it BUT not close enough.....

The GPS said 10 hours until home, which in "Gaede Family Travel Time" equals about 12 hours.  My back continues to be a major pain, but the end is in sight.  My own bed, and a long hot shower that doesn't run out after 6 minutes. :)

We drove, and drove, and drove, and drove.  We took a break for gas and food and drove and drove and drove and drove......  (repeat)

Finally, we saw the exit to the Harrisburg Expressway and we knew that home is in our near future! Yay!  I am happy and the girls are excited.  The weather decided to show us who is boss and thunder-stormed heavily as we continued to drive and drive and drive....

We stopped about 20 minutes from home (at 9:30 at night) to get some groceries so we can eat tomorrow.

Finally- we made it and one of our cats, Disney, was waiting in the rain for us as we came up the drive.  We got some stuff in and then crashed on the couch while Maddie made dinner.  Doug and the girls ate fish sticks and french fries at 11:00 as we watched a DVR of Pawn Stars (we didn't have any American Pickers).  We are happy to be home.

This was an amazing epic adventure.  It had its ups and downs but it was overall one of the greatest family experiences ever!!!!!  I am looking forward to next year's adventure even as I type this. I just hope my back is healed and I can enjoy the whole trip.

Thanks to everyone who has read and/or followed this blog for 2014.  It made writing it more fun knowing that other people wanted to know what we were getting into.

As for next year we have to make a choice to do California/Washington State or head to Niagara Falls and the northern states. Luckily we have some time to think about that one.....  What ever it is I will be blogging all about it!

Antique Archaeology

We have about two days before we get home.  But not before stopping in Le Claire Iowa to see Antique Archaeology.  We watch American Pickers as a family and LOVE the show.  We could not drive through Iowa without stopping there.   Doug broke out his RV NASCAR driving skills to allow us to make it to the store before it closed.  After a 5 hour dash we made it with 20 minutes to spare.  Gotta Love him!!!!

When we pulled onto the street you could see their trademark car and many people outside taking pictures. The girls were so excited.

It turned out that 20 min. was about we really needed to see it.  The place is very small and most of what is inside is not for sale, from Mike and Frank's personal collection.  It was cool to see some of the items that they picked on their show.  The Laurel and Hardy Masks, The Phillip Morris Man, and the company car they got for Danielle.  We took lots of pictures and got some souvenirs and it was time for us to get back on the road.

We stopped for dinner at our favorite stand by, Cracker Barrel.  And then put in a few more hours to a truck stop for the night.

Chimney Rock

First on our agenda was Chimney Rock.  We drove about a half hour from the Wal-Mart parking lot where we slept last night.

I was only able to view that from the car.  My back is a mess.  I can barely walk.  We have decided as a family to focus on heading home.  The pain reliever is not doing much and I can't enjoy the different things.  My family is wonderful and understanding, especially Doug  who is doing everything possible to make me as comfortable as possible. Including letting me listen to the Broadway Channel on satellite radio and sing along to take my mind off of the pain.

As for the few stops we are missing, we plan to do a trip over Spring Break to The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and fit the other ones in as we can.  After all once Doug and I retire we plan to spend a lot of time RVing.

The ride was good everyone is in great spirits and enjoying the trip.  Hailey has been begging for Mexican Food so we found a little restaurant with pretty good food. It was a cute little pace and a nice stop for us all and a break from camper food.

We will be closer to home tomorrow......

Badlands and Car-Henge

We went to Bandlands National Park and had a wonderful time seeing all of the land forms that were crated through erosion.  We also learned that the first fossil ever was discovered here.  Doug and the Girls explored the visitors center and the fossil walk together.  I had to sit those out as my back was very sore and it hurt to even stand.

I loved driving through the park.  It is truly amazing and beautiful.  I could hardly believe it was real.  It looked like a picture.

After that we continued to drive to Carhenge.  Last year we went to Cadillac Ranch so it only made sense that we see this.  Maddie LOVED it, Hailey thought is was cool, Doug thought it was freaky, I found it cool.  I was able to slowly make the short walk around the cars and displays.  The girls and and I went into the store to get their souvenirs, and the sales lady was closing up.  :(  She did let them each get a pin and key chain for their collection.

Driving, Tetons, Devils Tower, and Mt. Rushmore

I am sorry that I have not kept up on the blogs but WiFi has been horrible, and I was not feeling too great last night when we got in so here the last 2 days in one, and hopefully I can keep up on the last 5.

Yesterday (Tuesday) we left Yellowstone and headed 2 hours to The Grand Tetons National Park.  It was a beautiful day and a pretty awesome drive.  We saw more bison, this time on the side of the road and a heard of elk.  No long horned sheep, which sadly I have spotted twice on this trip but very long enough to get a picture.

Once we made it to Grand Tetons we went to the visitors center.  Then had a station set up for sun and solar flair viewing which Doug and Maddie were really into.  The mountains are truly beautiful.  I kept taking picture after picture.  The landscape itself was different than Yellowstone, there were more wildflowers in much more vibrant colors.  It was just amazing to look at.

After that we began what seemed like the longest trek through the most boring state ever.  Wyoming is flat, bushy and only seems to have cows horse and antelope to look at.  So after about an hour or so you are done.   However, we had over seven hours in the car before we got to a truck stop near Devils Tower.  Did I mention this part was long and boring?  LOL  WiFi was erratic at best so I did not even have that to keep me occupied.

Today was much more eventful.  We went to Devils Tower and had a good morning there.  It is pretty cool reading about the history as well as the Native American folk lore behind it.  We had a nice lunch at the store at the bottom of the park, where we met a family from Maryland.  Hailey noticed them first by the Ravens flag they had on their motorcycle.  Hailey also bought a 2 foot long beef jerky at the store.  She sat with it in the car holding it for over an hour before she finally ate some. :)

After Devils Tower we drive about 2 more hours to Mt. Rushmore.  It was cool but a lot smaller than one would think.  It was really interesting to go through the visitors center and see how it was made and learn about the construction.   I will admit that it was cool seeing it in person.  Even the girls were eagerly snapping pictures of it with their phones. The area around Mt. Rushmore is so touristy and commercial.  It was crazy just driving through it. I am very glad we were not staying overnight there.

We left Mt. Rushmore and had another 2 hour drive to the KOA near Badlands National Park, where we are now.  Tomorrow we plan to explore the park and then head to Chimney Rock.  We sure have been busy!!!!!

Yellowstone Part 2

We had another incredible day at Yellowstone.  We went to the Canyon Village Visitors Center, they had a lot of exhibits on erosion, Native Americans and the animals in the park.  After that we went to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone where we were able to see an osprey's nest.  There was a Ranger there with a telescope so were could see directly into the nest and the 3 osprey chicks.  It was really wild to see it so up close.  We then headed to see Steamboat Geyser; however, mother nature had other plans and not only was it raining and hailing, but thundering so as we were half way on a hike to see it we turned around and went back to the car.

We went back to Canyon Village for lunch and a little shopping.  Then we decided to take a road tour of the park.  We drove a loop from Canyon, to Norris to Mammoth Hot Springs and back.  It was a nice drive, we stopped at various points to get pictures and enjoy the scenery.  We took a long walk around the Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces.  They were beautiful, Doug really liked them.

Towards the end of the day were were lucky to see some of the wildlife in the park. First was a Prong Horn as we were leaving the terraces.  Next we spotted some Elk and Deer on our drive.  Then we somehow ended up following a Bison who was leisurely walking down the road, not caring at all about the line of cars behind or in front of him.  Finally the cars in front made their way past allowing for me to pass him.  He still was just strolling along slowly.  It did make for some awesome Bison close ups.

We finally made it back to Canyon Village and it was after 8:00 pm.  We went back to the dining room for dinner (sadly the service was awful).  Then went back to the camper and went to bed. It was another awesome day.

Yellowstone Part 1

Yesterday we spent all day in the car with one goal- Yellowstone.  It was Doug’s favorite spot from his trip back in 86 with his family when he was 14.  It was a long 7 hour drive until we got to the park, then another hour to the campground.  The campground has horrible WiFi so I am unable to post this until we get better service.  On our way to the campground we did spot a Brown Bear off in the distance.  I was so excited to FINALLY see a bear.  We have been to so many campgrounds with Bear warnings, and no bear sightings.

After we set up, we had to eat a quick dinner between laundry loads and then had ice cream while the laundry dried.  We then went to the Ranger Presentation; it was about how the wildlife in the park adapts to the climate changes in Yellowstone. 

Not a very eventful day but we were in Yellowstone and we knew that we had two full days here.

Today we woke up early and drove an hour to Old Faithful.  We were able to see it erupt four times today while we explored that section of the park. It was complete awesomeness.  Maddie was so excited the first time she saw it, she was jumping up and down.

After the first view of the eruption we went to the visitors’ center and then hiked about 3 miles around Old Faithful to see other geysers, pools, and springs.  We saw Old Faithful erupt two more times during our hike (from a distance). J  On that hike Maddie spotted a coyote trotting along right in front of us with some dead something in his mouth.  We all saw it and got some pretty cool pictures too.  We know that it was indeed a coyote because later we showed the picture to a ranger and he identified it. 

We ate lunch at the lodge dining room.  The lodge itself is amazingly decorated; it would have been cool to just hang out there.  The food was good too.  We then went to see Old Faithful erupt one last time before we did some shopping and had ice cream. 

We then drove to several different look out points including Black Sand Basin,  Biscuit Basin, Painted Mud Pots and a beautiful waterfall.  We took LOTS of pictures!!!!

We were all so tired once we got back to the campsite we opted NOT to go to the Ranger Talk tonight, but rather just chill out with a campfire.  We are all so beat!