July 13-16 Back in the Midwest

Phase I of our trip went by amazingly quickly. We have seen so many beautiful places, spent quality time with family, friends and each other. We met nice people everywhere. We still don't have a clue of what we will do with our lives when we complete our next phase of travel. But before we head back out west, we are spending about 5 weeks back home for some prior obligations, family fun, Ryan's brother Kevin's wedding, visit with friends and to work a few shifts.

While Ryan spent the weekend with his family in Indiana, I went up to Detroit to bring Olivia home and visit with my family and a couple friends. Along came with me the camera.

Here are just a few of the sweet faces we missed while gone...

 Austin and Lila (the younger two of my brother Travis and his wife Megan's three kids)

Gabriella (my friend Melissa's youngest) 

 My sister Leah and her daughter, Cecilia

I even got my hands dirty helping Travis drywall the kitchen in his new house. It was a family affair...Travis, Uncle Bob from California and our cousin Adam. Uncle Bob thought it was great to have a nurse to help drywall :) He also thought it was great when it was beer-thirty!

Ryan and I both made it home late July 15. Ryan's sweet little 92 year old Grama C, who lives in Mansfield, Ohio unfortunately had a mild heart attack over the weekend resulting in some congestive heart failure. After unloading some of our trailer the next morning, we headed up to visit with her. She is doing amazingly well, given her age and history of diabetes. She said its like a vacation for her...the food is great, the nurses are wonderful and she feels really good. She still has her spunk, and we are so glad to see her again!

We introduced her to FaceTime so she could chat with her son, Ken (Ryan's dad). Her reaction was priceless! 

We met Kevin (Ryan's brother) and his fiance Lindsay at Byrne's in Grandview to catch up and see some live music. 7 Nations is the name of this Orlando-based band. It is nice to be home!

Day 70-73 The Road Home

July 10-12, 2013

I think all of us were done with being in the car after the drive from Montana to Indiana and Michigan. We made a couple pitstops along the way to stretch our legs and get our minds off sitting on our butts (in addition to stopping every 200 miles to put gas in the QX).

Olivia, Brayden, Jill and Ryan imitating George, Thomas, Teddy and Abe :) 

We made a quick stop at Mt Rushmore on our way through western South Dakota. 

Olivia and I riding a jackalope at Wall Drug, also in South Dakota. We got ice cream here on a hot day and Olivia found some cool cowboy shirts for her brothers.

We had dinner in Sioux Falls, SD at a pizza spot. Olivia is showing off her winnings from Ryan. Ryan made a bet with her and Brayden that he would give them each $1 every time he referred to them as kids. Each of them made off with at least $10!

Now we are getting really delirious, Ryan and Brayden are trying to get some milk from this giant cow statue near the Wisconsin Dells. Are we there yet? Our leg stretching today was at Noah's Ark waterpark. It was a nice way to spend a few hours on a warm day. We arrived in Elkhart around 2am on July 12. Olivia and I got to Shelby Twp around 5pm on July 13. 

The last two weeks were a whirlwind of activity and tons of fun. I don't think Ryan and I have had a real conversation in these two weeks. The four of us got along well. Ryan and I are hopeful that this trip created some fond memories to last a lifetime for Olivia and Brayden. Thanks to Cindy, Bob, Liberty and Sean for entrusting us with your precious children, I mean young adults :). 

Total Miles: 1,825 

Total Gas money: a small fortune by now

Day 69 Missoula

July 9, 2013

We had just a few hour drive today from Glacier National Park to Missoula, Montana. While Ryan and Brayden enjoyed at Widespread Panic concert, Olivia and I went horseback riding.

Brayden getting pumped for the concert at Big Sky Brewery. It was a small venue with an audience of about 1500. 

After we got a lesson on how to handle our horses, we saddled up for the trail ride. Olivia had the tallest horse in the group, Charger. My horse was named Flash.

We crossed several streams and the river you see below. We climbed up this hill for a nice overlook over the valley below. Lewis and Clark actually came through this area.

Back down from the hill, this open field allowed us to canter/trot a bit on our horses. We were thrilled that this ride was less nose-tail than several others we looked into! 

Olivia saying goodbye to Charger. We learned how to de-saddle the horses, fed them treats and lead them into their nightly grazing area. What a nice evening for all of us, tomorrow begins our 3 long driving days back to the midwest.

Total Miles: 217

Day 67-68 Belly River Hike

July 7-8, 2013

Well here we go, we are all a bit tired and know we probably bit off more than we could chew with this hike, but we will survive!

Sad/happy faces before we start Belly River Trail. It is 8.7 miles to camp at Cosley Lake. The trailhead is about 100 feet from the Canadian border.

I am in wildflower heaven on this trail. There are also butterflies everywhere. 

Break time in a lovely wildflower field. 

 This was a fun part of the trail, a seasonal walking bridge that avoids a river ford. One hiker at a time on the way across.

Are we ever going to find our camp? Cosley lake is right here, but the camp is just about a mile to go. 

Time to make dinner on our little camp stove. Fires are not allowed at this backcountry campground. 

Sounds gross, looks gross, but tastes amazing! Maybe we were just really hungry :) Olivia thinks the mashed potatoes taste like broccoli cheese soup from Panera Bread and it feels like home. 

We made it through the night, but didn't get much sleep. On our hike out we came across a ranger walking her horse down the trail. Olivia wanted to steal it and ride it back to the car. The ranger had just spotted a black bear off the trail, but we never did catch a glimpse.

Ryan took a little side trail for a nice view of this waterfall. Olivia, Brayden and I continued to hike on. 

Lunch break at a campground near the ranger station. Brayden's side view to see the size of his pack.

Olivia was on a mission for the hike out. I had to keep up with her and we talked about everything we could think of to help keep us moving and attention off our sore feet, calves and hips. 

Ryan and Brayden caught up with us about 15 minutes from the car. It was starting to sprinkle and we could hear thunder in the distance. Brayden got his mind off his sore feet by thinking of imaginary cookie dough ice cream that was waiting at the car. Olivia said she was never so happy to see a car in all of her life, but also said, even though it was really hard hiking 17.5 miles, she was really glad she did it! It warmed my heart.

And then it started POURING rain. Thankfully we are in the car, driving back to our camp. We cleaned up and had dinner at The Belton in West Glacier. We had the most attentive water boy named Vio from Romania. We had a lot of laughs with him.

Driving miles: 191

Hiking Miles: 17.5

Day 67 Going to the Sun Road

July 7, 2013

Going-To-The-Sun Road bisects Glacier National Park east to west. Its just over 50 miles of really beautiful scenery that crosses the continental divide at Logan Pass (6,646 ft). After this scenic drive we have an overnight backcountry hike planned at the northeast Many Glacier area. Olivia and Brayden are skeptical about this hike, but I know they will do great.

This marmot was the first creature seen on our scenic drive this morning. It was really excited about licking the road where it appeared a drink got spilled.

We thought this would be a good picture to send to Infiniti... maybe they would be interested in sponsoring our trip and I could send them more pics of the QX in cool places :)

A baby mountain goat prancing around with its protective mother closeby. She gave us a look of..."don't you dare get too close to my baby or I will take you out!" We gave her plenty of space and I used my zoom lens.

I think we are just starting to wake up. Today was an early morning, we made it to the backcountry office before 8am to pick up our pass before starting this scenic drive. 

At the Logan Pass visitor center, Ryan and I decided to stretch our legs for a 3 mile hike through a mostly snow-covered trail to Hidden Lake overlook. Olivia and Brayden saw no point in hiking 3 more miles when we were already planning a 8.8 mile hike later this afternoon. They found this cozy spot on a rock and shared a bag of Twizzlers.

Our lovely view of Hidden Lake. I like the reflection.

Our slushy walk coming back from Hidden Lake. Ryan was wearing his Keens and even though he was sweating everywhere else on this warm, sunny morning, his toes were very cold.

Brayden showing off his "artful falling". This one scored a 10!

St Mary Lake, another nice reflection. The interesting blue color of the lake comes from glacial silt.

Lunch at Many Glacier Lodge. Olivia's advice; don't order the curry. Otherwise, lunch was good.

Well now its already 3pm and we feel like we have had a full day and haven't even started our backcountry hike. Olivia and Ryan take a break to rest on the sunny back deck of the lodge.

Goodbye Many Glacier Lodge, right now we are all feeling like we could just stay on the deck sunning ourselves. Who planned this hike after a full day of activities, oh yeah, we did...

Just after we left the lodge, I remember that I didn't pack silverware to eat the freeze-dry food we got for our hike. Ryan drops me off on the side of the road to snap some pics of wildflowers and trucks it back to the lodge to steal some plasticware. Finally we are on our way to the trailhead!

Next post: our hike

Day 65-66 Drive to Glacier National Park and more rafting

July 5-6, 2013

July 5 was a seriously LONG day of driving from Yellowstone in the northwestern Wyoming to Glacier National Park in northwestern Montana. We did not arrive until about 11pm and after some precarious parking at night at our camping spot, we cozied in for some much needed sleep.

I just had to capture this bright field and ominous sky. This is the only picture taken today on the road.

After the long driving day yesterday and a slow start to this day, we decided to stay out of the car as much as possible. We did laundry in the morning, Ryan grocery shopped and made us pancakes and bacon for lunch. The afternoon consisted of rafting the Middle Fork of Flathead River.

Brayden checking out the beautiful scenery. Compared to the Snake River near Jackson, this had some bigger waves, but was pretty easy to navigate. I sat up front on the left this time and easily got drenched more than anyone else in the boat!

Toward the end of the trip, we passed under a bridge and got to see several people jump off into a deep part of the river.

Olivia jumping in the cold river to get a souvenir shirt promised from Ryan. Nice day out on the water.

Total Miles: 495 Ugh (a lot)

Day 64 Happy July 4th

July 4, 2013

Today we spent exploring the geyser basin areas north of Old Faithful. I love the colorful pools.

The three of us in front of Blue Star Spring, the first of the brilliantly colored hot springs.

I was intrigued by the weird textures and colors in this pool.

So kind of this geyser to go off as we were walking by :)

Morning Glory Pool

Morning Glory Pool is named after the flower by a previous park superintendant's wife because it was a similar color and shape. Over the years, items thrown into the spring have accelerated its cooling resulting in a less brilliant blue color to a more green color with yellow around the edges. I still think its beautiful. It is 23 feet deep and 160 degrees.

Feast your eyes on the Grand Prismatic Spring. It is 370 feet in diameter and 121 feet deep. It is the largest hot spring in the United States and third largest in the world. The brilliant colors are created by thermophiles (microbes which live at extreme temperatures).

Interestingly we ran into Ryan's friend's parents, Larry and Rose Benjamin here. How funny is that?

As advertised, the Fourth of July parade at Yellowstone was unique (and very short).

Ryan and I enjoyed a beer and Olivia and Brayden enjoyed Shirley Temples as we waited for the parade. Happy Fourth of July everyone!

Total Miles: 123