Home at Last

We arrived home at 3:30 pm on Saturday, and it was not an easy ride home.  First,  we ended up with a screw in the front passenger tire.   Luckily we were at the gas station when it happened.  Joe bought stuff to patch it.  Then a few hours later, one of the belts broke which meant we had no power steering and no air conditioning.  Then a few hours after that, the patched tire blew.  All of this happened in Ohio.  Not sure if we want to visit there again.  The last repair was made at 3:30 am, and from then on we did not have any more problems.  It was a challenge to drive the last 900 miles without power steering, but it could have been worse.

Gateway Arch

We found the gateway, a little easier than the hot springs.  We took a quick walk along the Mississippi River, and then visited the arch.  Joe and Joey took the ride up to the top, while the rest of us opted to sit and rest.

Hot Springs National Park

After about a 22 hour drive, we managed to find Hot Springs National Park.  The GPS had some issues finding it, so it led us first onto some narrow winding roads.  We took a walk around one of the old bath houses, gathered a small sample of water from the springs (which is allowed), and then headed for our last destination.

Petrified Forest/Painted Dessert

We managed to get out of the Petrified Forest safely and quickly.  Any petrified wood we brought home with us was either pieces we found at the campground, or we bought at the gift shop.  They do randomly search vehicles when leaving the park and there is a large fine if you take pieces with you.  I managed to convince Joe to not pick up any samples along the way.
Leaving the petrified forest, we drove right into the painted dessert.  Once again, the scenery was spectacular!

Out of the Canyon

Just got a call from Joey around 3:30.  They made it out of the canyon after 10 hours.  They are taking the park shuttle to the hotel.  We will hopefully have some more information later.
The trip down the canyon took only four hours.  Even though it was cloudy and overcast on the way down, it was still very hot at the bottom.
Kathy ended up with some serious blisters on her feet, which is why it took 10 hours to climb up.  When I picked them up at the visitor's center, they were all moving very slow.  They got to the hotel, took a shower and then jumped into the jacuzzi at the hotel.

Grand Canyon

We made a quick stop at the North rim of the canyon, and then make the long drive around to the south rim.  Once again, we arrived just in time to catch the end of the sunset and stop at one viewing area to get a quick look.  We got to our campsite, had a quick bite and went to bed.
This morning (Sunday), Joe got up extra early and we went to get the passes for staying overnight in the canyon.  The morning was spent packing for the hike down the canyon.  After a snack of Mac & Cheese, Joe, Joey, Ed and Kathy left around 2pm to hike down.  Today's weather was perfect for the hike.  It was only in the mid 70's and overcast most of the day.  The sun finally came out here around 6:30 pm.  The ranger suggested that they leave in the afternoon and hike down the south kaibal trail and then hike up the bright angel trail tomorrow.  That way they will get to see two different views of the canyon.
Once they left, Vicky and I headed into town and checked into our hotel.  We spent a few hours doing some laundry and then got a bite to eat.  Then Vicky took a 1 hour bath! 
They plan to get up and start hiking out of the canyon by 6 am the latest.  The ranger said it would probably take about 9 hours.  They are suppose to call when they are done, so Vicky and I can pick them up.  We will be spending one more night here and then leaving Tuesday for the Petrified Forest.
I will probably have the kids do the post tomorrow, so they can tell you about their adventure.

Bryce Canyon & Zion

We were only able to spend one day  at these two places.  We drove through Bryce and checked out most of the viewing areas, but there wasn't time for any hiking.  Then we headed straight for Zion and again got stuck in construction throughout the park.  It took us a lot of extra time to get to our campsite in the park.  As soon as we got to our site, Joe took Joey and Ed and attempted to head up to Angels Landing.  They ran out of time and didn't quite make it to the top.  But they were still able to see some amazing scenes. 

Yellowstone & Grand Tetons

We spent 3 days at Yellowstone, and still didn't see everything.  The landscape throughout the park is uterly spectacular.  We spent one day in Mammoth Springs, one day in  the canyon area of the park and the third day was checking out Old Faithful and the geysers.  It is impossible to decide which area was more impressive.  In the park we came acroos lots of Elk and Buffalo.  3 different times the Buffalo were walking in the road.  One time, we were parked in a parking lot and Ed was sitting in the rv with Vicky.  He looked up and there was a Buffalo in the window!
When we left Yellowstone, we drove through the Grand Tetons.  Unfortuanely we got stuck in construction traffic and had to wait on the road for over 30 minutes.  Just as we were leaving the Grand Tetons, we came across 3 moose by the river.  It may have been the highlight of Ed's trip.

We finally have internet access again!

It's been impossible to keep up with our journey on the blog since we have not had any internet access.  After leaving Yellowstone, we stopped at McDonald's and used their free WiFi for the last posting.  Unfortunately, the lap top battery was very low and died as soon as I posted that message.

This journey has gone very slow.  The RV does not go as fast as we would like.  So it takes us several hours longer to get from one destination to another.  With so much to see, we usually end up at our campsite in time to have a very late dinner and then go to bed.

I will be attempting to add some more pictures tonight to the blog.  Joey has the family group pictures on his laptop.  We've been using his camera and tripod to be able to take our family pictures at key places.

Jackson Wyoming

We just left Yellowstone Park today and are now in Jackson Wyoming.  This is our first chance to update our blog since Minnesota.
The weather has been great!  The scenery is undescribable.  Every turn in the road brings a new, breath taking view. 
We will post pictures at the next available internet access.

South Dakota

We visited mall of America yesterday for about 3 hours then headed back to the Kot's house. We had a wonderful visit with them before heading out for Mount Rushmore around 9:30 last night. We are currently at the visitors center 30 miles from Mount Rushmore showering and eating and then heading the rest of the way.

Minnesota

It was a long journey through the night.  We had little trouble with the rv and had to get a jump around 3:30am.  But we arrived safely in Lakeville Minnesota around 6:30 am.  Andy and Sharon were outside waiting for our arrival.  They weren't sure when we would be there, so Andy had the plug and a sign waiting outside the garage for us.  We ate, showered (in a full size shower), worked on the rv and are planning to head to the mall soon.

Michigan

Arrived safely in Michigan, and took a nap at Walmart.  Did a little shopping; visited with Joe's co-workers in his Michigan office and then had dinner with Joe's friend Rob.  Around 4:30pm we started for Minnesota.  Around Chicago, we went through the most intense lightning storm.  It looked like a bolt of lightning struck right in front of us on the highway!

Niagra Falls

We ended up taking the scenic route to Niagra Falls, but we arrived safely.  We walked along the falls during the daylight, had a bite to eat and then walked back and viewed the falls at night.  Departure time was around midnight.

First Destination

We arrived safely at our first destination around 12:30 am.  Joe drove the first half and Kathy drove the last.  We can tell we are on vacation, because we got up this morning and it was raining.  According to the forecast it is suppose to clear.  So hopefully it will be nice by the time we get to Niagra Falls.

Shopping, Packing and Checking the list

As the day of departure approaches, we are busy checking on what we need and packing.  Joe and the boys went to BJ's for a little food and snack shopping.  They filled the cabinets quickly.  We can't believe we leave in only a few days!

Getting Ready

We picked up our "new" RV on Monday evening, July 28. The next few days have been spent on cleaning, organizing and checking out all of the working parts.