Epi-Dog

Way back around Christmas time, after the Howells heard of a rescue dog that could have come home with us at that time, discussion in our family began about adding another dog to the family. The contention was, Murphy really enjoyed the company of "the girl cousins" when we took him to Ohio, and maybe he would benefit from having a "friend" at our house, too. My argument was that we were taking the epic roadtrip in the summer, and that it would be unfair to introduce a new dog and then go off and leave the dog and gallivant around the country for a month. I said we would consider it AFTER the epic roadtrip. Well, naturally, this is after the roadtrip, and the kids were fresh from the Howells and their 3 poochies, so discussion started pretty much right after we returned.

The big issue is that we really wanted a dog with hypo-allergenic qualities, since there are allergies in the family. After looking to several of the local shelters and rescue organizations
in our area with no real success in the hypo-allergenic department, I Googled poodle/bichon rescue and up popped Carolina Poodle Rescue, near Spartanburg, SC. Ginger and I spent the better part of an hour filling out the application for adoption with them (I have to say, that paperwork was almost as tedious to fill out for a DOG as for a child adoption!! And we have experience with that, so we should know!!) the night before they left for workcamp. When we hadn't heard anything regarding our application by Wednesday, I emailed the organization. The next day, Sherry Wilson, our adoption counselor, called. Seems the hangup was, they contact our vet before they contact us, and our vet was at the church workcamp with Ginger and Skipper! They finally were able to contact our vet, and I spent 45 minutes on a phone interview with Sherry, determining our suitability to adopt one of their dogs. Here's a plug for this rescue organization: they are a no-kill shelter for poodles, poodle mixes, and the occasional other-breed who crosses their path. They are run entirely on donations and adoption fees. Their population ranges around 50-70 dogs. What a neat group!!

So it turns out that they could get us an appointment for Saturday (yesterday), about 24 hours after Ginger and Skipper returned from workcamp. We piled in the car for the 1.5 hour drive (Skipper was less than thrilled to get back in the Wessel Vessel again, for any amount of time, for any reason, after the roadtrip, followed by the 4 hour drive up to Raleigh, NC for workcamp and back). The first dog they brought us was Flash. Flash was one of the dogs I fell in love with by his picture online. I had been warned that he was extremely shy, and he was that, in spades!! The poor guy hid behind a chair from the time he entered the playroom! We were then brought Clinton, who resembled a dust mop...whatever happened to POODLE rescue??!? But Clinton knew how to work a crowd, and he sure worked the kids, and I daresay, the Professor. Meanwhile, I am bodily pulling poor Flash from behind the chair to hold him, and the poor guy is just shaking. They brought us several other dogs to look at, but from the get-go, it was a battle between Flash and Clinton. We found that Flash had been found abandoned in Augusta, GA and had been brought to CPR with heartworms last September. No wonder he was so scared. Clinton, on the other hand, had come less than 3 weeks prior. I argued that Clinton, being the crowd-pleaser that he was, would be quickly adopted by someone other than us; after all, he'd only been there 3 weeks! Flash, on the other hand, would probably never be chosen since he was so shy of people. But then, Sherry, the adoption counselor, did say that "the dog will pick you..." So at one point, the Skipper left the building, and Ginger was glassy-eyed with unshed tears, and Gilligan was despondent. Well, what the heck? Why not two? The one chosen, and the one who chose us.

So we drove home with the Alpha dog, Murphy, the Beta dog, Cody (the dog formerly known as Clinton...too many negative political memories associated there) and the Omega dog, Flash. Full names: Cody Banks MacKenzie Joy Wessel and Flash Gordon Peace Wessel (Murphy's full name is Murphy Alton Brown Love Wessel, btw).

Everyone is doing amazingly well. Both dogs got baths and brushed today, so they smell much better. Cody slept with Ginger, while Flash slept in his crate in our room. Flash is happiest running around in the backyard with the other dogs and sometimes the kids. His fluffy tail swings high as he gambols about But he also lets me hold him and pet him, and when we return to the house after being gone, he follows the other dogs to greet me. He still won't let me pet him at the greeting, but I know he'll get there. It's just going to take the poor guy a while to trust.

So, no more epic roadtrips; the new journey has begun!

All the dogs!!

Home Sweet Home

As many of you already know, we're finally home! It's really good to be home, and especially to sleep in our own bed again. Unfortunately, the kids have not been able to have their beds. We have 2 A/C units, one for upstairs, and one for downstairs. I had forgotten to tell the friends coming to turn the A/C on again that there's also a control upstairs. So, it was 91 degrees upstairs when we returned, AND the unit is not cooling. So we'll have to call an A/C person to come out and see what's wrong, and we'll probably wait til Monday. In addition, the washing machine is kaput. We did most of our laundry while staying at the Howell's in Ohio, so it's not an imminent disaster, but it's certainly something that's going to be more of a concern with each passing day. Ginger will be filling an empty space in our church's Middle School Workcamp trip to Raleigh, NC, which leaves tomorrow. So we've got to get her ready to go today...Back to the realities of life, I guess.

But why don't I tell you how exciting our time in Ohio was. It was unfortunately incredibly packed with stuff we HAD to do. My 82 year-old uncle's car had been on its way out for a while (it was a 1993 model!), and so the priority was to take care of buying him a new car before we departed. We spent quite a bit of Tuesday working out those arrangements, and the rest of it making 4 sets of dinners for my older sister, who's having knee replacement surgery this Monday (the original plan had been for the kids and me to stay in Ohio to do some relief nursing after the surgery, to help my niece out, but the surgery was scheduled later than expected, so the best I could do was cook...). Our niece "Boo" also cut several of our shaggy manes on Tuesday eve.

Wednesday, the Professor and I left early to drive to Columbus, in order to drive my uncle and his car to Dayton (his car's A/C didn't work, and his windows wouldn't roll down, which we all agreed was a dangerous thing in the summer heat for an 82 year-old). I don't remember when I've been so terrified as I was when I drove that old car the 80 miles from Columbus to Dayton. I could feel metal on metal with the brakes, and it made a just horrible, loud noise if I braked too fast. Plus it was hot! After that drive, I am so thankful that we endured the drama associated with the new car (my uncle insisted that there was "nothing" wrong with the car, that it was "immaculate" and that the only thing wrong with the outside was a few scratches, and I don't think he ever really bought into the idea that he needed a new one). I *think* in the end, he's happy with his new-to-him car (it's an '02 Buick Century with only 38,000 miles on it), and the family certainly feels much safer with him in it!!

So by the time we dealt with the whole car mess, it was time for the Goff Family Reunion Picnic. Unfortunately, because it was happening during the week, the husband and fiance of my nieces were working, so we missed seeing them. But we did get to hang with our sweet great-nephew Max, and then our other sweet great-nephew Ian(from the Wessel side--he and his mommy and daddy live in Piqua, OH) and his folks also came for a bit. It was great to see the family, and especially the babies, and of course the food was delicious. Boo and Gilligan, who became very close while Boo lived near us in DC for a year, were up to their old antics again, as well. Of course, Gilligan grilled Boo about what he would be wearing in her wedding in October, which has been a big concern for him since he found out he'd be in the wedding. Our late evenings were spent watching Scarecrow and Mrs. King reruns with good beer.

But alas, Thursday rolled around, and we packed up the Wessel Vessel and the Professor's car once again. The Professor drove the van with the kids; I got the Corolla and the dog. That 575 mile day was not our longest mileage-wise, but it seemed like the longest day of our trip! I guess because we didn't have one another for company. We drove into our neighborhood around 7:30 that evening, and all did a cheer to be home. As we walked into our home, we were greeted by the band KISS, in full make up (and tongue), in our laundry

room, waiting to help us with our dirty clothes. What jokers our friends from the Maxwell House (and probably a sister is also involved) are!! I can't really say anything negative, though, since KISS made us my favorite pound cake, and the plants are all thriving (Mrs. Moose, the spider plant you gave me last year when we moved is the one in the back of this photo in the 2' diameter pot; one of its babies is in the foreground...). We WILL have our revenge for KISS, nonetheless, though. ;-}

Which all brings us home, with statistics in hand (which, as any of you who know the Professor can figure we'd have, accurately).

We ended up falling short on our original, 8,000+ mile prediction: 7,938 miles total.

If we average those miles at 65 miles per hour, that's 122 hours of togetherness in the Wessel Vessel.

We were over $550 UNDER budget!! And that's with 3 "unplanned" hotel stays and 2 abandoned camping nights. I hope I don't break my arm, patting myself on the back.

I have at least one kid (Gilligan) who says he hopes he'll be able to do such a trip with his own children. I probably won't know the true feelings of the other two until they're adults, but that's OK. I had a great time, and I'm glad we were able to do this for, and with, our kids. It is certainly something that, at least, they'll always remember.

I've been asked by several people if I'll continue the blog now that we're back home. The answer is, probably not. Although it could be argued that the Wessel Epic Roadtrip could be an analogy for our life in general, the reason I began the blog was so that I could, here in the end, print it all off and put it in each kid's memory box as a sort of journal/21st century photo album of our trip. I do believe, for better or for worse, I have met that goal. Plus, I am not a journal-er. I've tried personal journals and prayer journals before, and I struggle with them. Although this blog has been a joy to write, it has been a burden of time (there were quite a few nights where I was blogging after everyone else was in bed, or when someone was calling me to do something else and I was saying, "Let me just finish this blog entry first!") The uploading of photos was particularly time-consuming and annoying (they all loaded at the top; I then had to drag them to where I wanted. AND the preview of the post never looked the same as the actual post, which was quite irritating).

But, even though the blog has been/is primarily for me and the kids, I am privileged to have had so many followers on our journey. I hope that you have been entertained by our little journey, and I hope that if you ever consider a trip like this for your own family, you'll remember what good times and great memories we had, and that it will encourage you on your own epic trip!! Peace be the journey.

O-H!

This evening, around 6:15, we rolled into Clayton, OH, effectively ending the Epic Roadtrip. Now, we do still have 2 days of fun here in Ohio before a long day of driving the return trip to SC, but the big travel and seeing stuff part of the trip is done.


I am very happy, however, that we were able to go to the Lincoln Museum in Springfield this morning, after our hearty breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express (we've had much better sleep than last night, but it seems that the box spring on the Professor's and my bed was busted...the HI Ex did give us a bit of a discount on the room for our trouble, which was very accommodating of them). The museum was truly something not-to-be missed if you are ever passing close to Springfield, IL. The two films were wonderful (even Ginger said, "I'm so glad it wasn't a boring movie!"), and the exhibits were spectacular. We spent about 2.5 hours there. In the spirit of the period, we decided not to smile as we posed with the Lincoln family. There is also a funny picture of Tyler staring down John Wilkes Booth, and the Professor talking strategy with some Civil War generals. Thanks, Mr. Moose, for the recommendation.


We got onto the freeway before we realized that were were dangerously low on gas. THEN, there was a construction zone, so the exit we could have gotten off for gas on was closed!! Our little gas meter literally said "5 miles to empty" before we finally pulled into a gas station. We thanked God, and decided we really don't want to have that experience again! A bit more down the road, we stopped at Steak n Shake for lunch. We are in the land of Steak n Shake; a far cry from the 80 miles to Rock Hill, SC (or Greenville, SC) we have to drive if we want a fix.


With all tanks filled, it was only a little over 3 hours more of driving before we pulled into the Howell's house. All the dogs were barking, but we couldn't get in!! I checked and re-checked the garage door code, and even texted to confirm that I had the right one, but it was Gilligan who finally was able to get us in. All the dogs were over the moon to see us, especially Murphy. He's been following us like a shadow all evening.

Hopefully we'll be able to relax a bit tomorrow; we're having a family picnic Wednesday with my family. We may even have a few of the Ohio Wessels who live close by join us, as well. That would be a real treat, especially since the 2-year-old and the Skipper really hit it off together!

Ta ta for now. We'll have roadtrip statistics when we return home; maybe I'll do a little summary of our family time. You'll just have to wait and see!!

A Day of Reckoning

Today we had a long driving day. We left Sioux Falls, SD and headed for Springfield, IL--about 620 miles, all told, and with some heavy rain through Cedar Rapids, IA. We went for a yummy treat of a dinner this evening at the Cracker Barrel--yum! and are settled at our hotel for the evening. Tomorrow we'll go to the Lincoln Library/Museum, and then we're headed only 5 more hours to Clayton, Ohio, to see the Howells and our doggie! No pictures today; the camera battery is dead, but there really wasn't much to photograph, anyway.

As we near the end of the heavy traveling and sightseeing part of the roadtrip, we've been doing some assessing of how we've done, what we could have done better, what are favorite parts have been, God sightings, etc.

We'll be able to determine this a bit better when we are actually home and unloading, but there have been only a few things that we have not used at all: the bag of regular bath towels, the picnic table cover, the big mosquito netting tent thingie, the square frying pan, and the Bag o' Fun. I packed the bag with stuff like games, books, and of course, the first two seasons of Gilligan's Island. I had high hopes of hours spent reading together in the car and playing games in the evenings--nice family time. It just didn't work out that way!! With the exception of Gilligan's Island, we have not used any of it! We will drive into Clayton, OH, with very little food left--some ham, turkey, and cheese, a few buns, and food we've used throughout the trip, having almost expended everything I purchased before the trip to be used (the 4 canisters of Slim Jims were the biggest hit of those items; the Planter's Flavored Almonds have been the least eaten; the Professor is almost out of the International Delight French Vanilla individual creamers--uh oh!!). We're almost out of napkins, paper plates, and forks. I think we did pretty well in our efficiency in packing for 29 days on the road, if I do say so myself. I can't make any comparison to the pioneers and their 100 lbs of bacon, 200 lbs of flour, etc. that they needed to pack in the covered wagon with them, but still!!

Used the most on our trip: a twin air mattress, sheet, and sleeping bag that Gilligan has used almost the entire trip. Camera, iPod Touches, DVD player in the Wessel Vessel (the Game Cube was used A LOT at first; we've put it away because it hasn't been used much at all since leaving CA). Our nalgene water bottles were used almost every day (except during the family reunion, when we had special hot/cold cups with our names on them). Computers. We have had 2 laptops with us.

We've experienced 6 National Parks/Monuments: Painted Desert/Petrified Forest, Grand Canyon, Zion, Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore, and Badlands. We'll be surveying everyone about what everyone's favorite has been; I'll let you know.

We've spent 6 nights in the company of dear friends. 6 nights at a beach house in Oceanside, CA with the Wessel Family. 8 nights in regular hotels/cottages. 3 nights in National Parks lodges. 3 nights camping (to include the covered wagons). And will be spending 3 nights in Ohio with my family before heading home.


By the time we're back in SC, we'll have been through 25 of 50 states. We've driven over 7,000 miles so far; it will top 8,000 before we're home. I can't even estimate how many hours we've spent in the Wessel Vessel.

I am happy to report that we are all reasonably sane, and aside from the normal sibling stuff and a few snappy moments after some long drives, everyone seems to still get along.

Although I don't think we need to do a trip like this with our children again, I sure am glad we've done it. I hope that the kids will have some wonderful memories, other than that their parents were nutso enough to take them on a trip of this magnitude. There are places that we just didn't have the time to go to; I would love to return sometime with the Professor and do some of them in the future. I would love to explore some things a bit more than we were able to. But I hope we've shown the kids what a beautiful country that we are blessed to live in. I think that with each and every trip, large or small, that we take with them, we expand their view of the world. They have already seen the differences in other countries from our time in Europe; they have now seen the differences in our own country. Not only with the landscapes, but with the people and their attitudes, outlooks, and even accents! Hopefully this will make them less leery and more apt to accept and celebrate some of those differences, rather than being afraid of them.

Enough of the ruminations for the evening. I'm sure I'll have more, another day!!

A Little Cheese with that Laura??

I continue to be amazed at how the Lord blesses us in our bumbling journey. It really worked out well, in the end, to abandon our campsite and leave Yellowstone a night earlier. Because we had done that, we were able to spend more time at Mt. Rushmore than if we'd had to do it yesterday, on our drive to De Smet, SD. And because we had that extra time, we had time for some silly stuff, like a visit to Wall Drug in Wall, SD, a leisurely drive through the Badlands, and a brief visit to the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD, before we arrived at our covered wagon in De Smet!

So literally, within 100 miles of our stopping place in Rapid City, we pulled into Wall, SD, to visit the place we'd seen signs about for miles. I've never stopped at South of the Border off of I-95 in northern SC, but I'm sure it's similar. There was a lot of cheese to be had, and we're not talking French brie or anything like that! Skipper would not sit on the 6 foot jackalope, but he did condesend to stand at the fake covered wagon for a picture. We've got more cheesy snapshots than we need, but it was certainly memorable. We also got in just ahead of the lunch rush, and those of us who wanted to were able to eat a bison burger before we continued our trip.

Just south of Wall, we entered Badlands National Park, and we were again amazed at the surreal beauty of God's creation in our very own country!! (make sure you notice the OHIO that we performed at the precipice of one of the cliffs). Skipper was once again thrilled to be able to sit through another 20 minute film about the Badlands (it seems so long ago that he was ticked about seeing the film about the Painted Desert/Petrified Forest!).

Moving along, we were compelled by memories of our niece from Seattle's recollection of her stop at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, 10 years ago this summer. We just HAD to stop and at least buy her a post card (which is written, but still stuffed in my purse...). We made sandwiches for dinner in the van as we drove the last little bit into De Smet and something I've wanted to do since I was a little girl: visiting the Laura Ingalls Wilder spots there.

Some of you may snicker at my somewhat obsessive-compulsive planning (I had some of the reservations for this trip booked since last September), but because of this, I was able to book one of the 4 covered wagons on the Ingalls Homestead to stay overnight in! However, after assessing the situation (this particular wagon only slept 4; we are a bit uncertain how it actually was supposed to do that), we decided that the kids could sleep in the wagon; we would set up the tent for me and the Professor. We prepped our site, and were able to have a look around on the viewing platform at the homestead, before heading over to the field adjacent to the homestead to watch the pageant. For 39 years, the townspeople of De Smet have kept their pioneer history alive, first by a radio drama, then by an outdoor pageant reinacting portions of Laura Ingalls Wilder's life, as told in her famous children's books. This year was the premier performance of an adaptation of "The First Four Years." Although it probably could've been shorter, the heart that the townspeople have for the story is impressive. There are over 100 volunteers who help with the performance, which takes place for 3 weekends every July. After the show, we went back to our covered wagon and, after some time stargazing under the amazing SD sky, tucked everyone in, then climbed into our tent.

The funny thing about a prairie is the lack of trees to block wind, and boy, can it whip across the prairie!! Our tent shook and flapped and jingled (zipper pulls) allllll night long!! I think we may actually have gotten less sleep last night than our cold night in Yellowstone. We finally took the rain fly off at about 6ish, and were able to watch a beautiful sunrise over the prairie.

We packed up, then spent the morning exploring the homestead itself. We were able to pet the brand new filly, born during the windy night. After some pony riding, we took a wagon ride (Ginger was able to drive the team of mules) to an old schoolhouse to learn what it was like to go to school in the late 1800's. We returned from the school and did some rope making, corn husking, and corn husk-doll-making. We washed and wrung out clothes and saw what a dugout was like. It was a terrific morning.

We then headed into the town of De Smet, about a mile away, and had lunch at DQ/Subway (that was about the only show in town), and took a drive by the other Laura sights before heading to Sioux Falls, SD to a Best Western with a water park. The kids have all had a great time playing--it's the perfect size for them--and we've been able to relax before our LONG driving day tomorrow. We're hoping to get as close to Springfield, IL as we can tomorrow, so that on Monday we can visit the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library/Museum as Mr. Moose recommended. We'll then head on to the Howells and our doggie in Ohio Monday evening. We'll stay there until Thursday; my family is having a summer picnic on Wednesday before we head home.

It looks like we might hit some bad weather tomorrow; prayers are appreciated!! Also, I'm having some issues with uploading the photos onto the blog; there will be more later, I promise!

*Note: we did have bad weather, but it wasn't nearly as long as I thought it might be. PTL.

Hope you like the new pics.

Rockies in the Rearview

I do love the Rockies. I can't say I love driving through them all the time, but they are majestic and beautiful, and every time I see them I feel as patriotic as the composer of the song "America" must have when he wrote about the "purple mountain magesty." So as we were driving east (well, really southeast), I kept glancing back at the sideview mirrors (couldn't really see out the rearview because of the little TV screen) to make sure they were still in my mirror. Then, about 100 miles out of Sheridan, WY, they were gone. So that's a little sad.

But, on the up-side, we had a relatively short day of driving, and a very nice visit to Mt. Rushmore. The weather topped out at 78 degrees here: a far cry from the 100 degrees we've been hearing that SC has been having!! We are currently staying at a 2 bedroom cottage in Rapid City, SD. It has a little more room than we've experienced recently, AND as a bonus, internet connection! We had steak on the grill and a nice salad for dinner, and then went for a little walk along the lake here, trying and failing to avoid stepping on the goose poop. Gilligan saw the paddle boats for rent, and convinced us that it would be a great after-dinner recreational activity for us to do as a family. Well, almost. The Skipper stayed ashore, since the boats were 4 person. What a fun evening. Tomorrow we'll drive back into Central Time, so we've set all the clocks here back so we'll be forced into it a day earlier.

I am doubting that the covered wagons will have internet connection, but who knew that this little campground would either? After I've finished this post, I'll upload some of the Yellowstone photos onto the last post, as well. Enjoy!

Cold Night, Cozy Night

Well, for all of you wondering if we froze to death while camping in Yellowstone, the answer is: ALMOST!! Let's just say it was a VERY long night!

It was not a long drive from Missoula to Yellowstone (we did stop at this place that we had seen a billboard for: 86 miles to Wheat Montana! It had some yummy breads and also wheat berries in bulk. Too bad there's not a spare inch in the Wessel Vessel!), but we did have some heavy rain as we drove in, which certainly concerned us. But, mountain climates being what they are, by the time we drove in to the park, it was a beautiful, sunny day. We looked around the historic visitor's center before heading to see our first (but certainly far from last) "hydrothermal feature," Mammoth Hot Springs. Truly, truly amazing, is all I can say, and certainly not anywhere close to the most spectacular sight we saw at the park!! As we continued our journey south into the park we stopped and took a walk down to the Upper Falls that begin the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The power of water always awes me. The kids, however, were ready to get to our campsite.

That was not to happen quickly, however. Within a couple miles of leaving the waterfall, traffic began creeping. And stopping. There is quite a bit of road construction in the park, so we figured that this was the problem. But as we crept on, we saw that the true problem was a very large herd of bison. Many, many were grazing in the vast grasslands along the road (which, we discovered, always causes people to slow their cars for a gawk. The first one we saw, walking along the road, we also slowed and gawked and took pictures of). But the bigger problem was that they were intermittently crossing the road to go see what happened to the chicken, some with their babies in tow (yes, they were extremely cute). Was it worth an hour of traffic? Some in the car would say not, but I rather thought it was incredible. Certainly worth 45 minutes, at least.

So we finally arrived at our site with some daylight left to set up camp. The fire was started, the tent and sleeping bags were set up, and the weenies were roasted. And then the sun set, and it got colder, and colder. As an aside, we really had a choice campsite. Good distance from our neighbors, view of the lake, quick walk to the bathroom (no showers at this place!), and walking distance to the amphitheater. Of course, seeing that there was a ranger program at the amphitheater at 9:30, and that it was so close, we just HAD to attend!! So we huddled around our little, dwindling campfire (couldn't make it bigger, since it had to be out before we left to go to the program!) until 10 minutes before, and then cut across the field and under the tree, to the program on bison. While it was very informative, the older ranger was not the most animated cartoon. In fact, he was pretty black and white. BUT, he did have some beautiful photos of the bison.

After the program, we moved quickly back to the campsite, and to the bathroom, because I insisted on clean teeth, at least. It's really too bad there wasn't a hidden camera as we all worked to get into warm clothes and sleeping bags for what was predicted to be a 33 degree night in the tent. The Skipper insists he didn't sleep at all (but I heard him sleeping a bit while I was awake, some of the night), and the Professor had a hard time getting comfortable because of the bison poo underneath him. It seems that the only ones who slept marginally were Ginger and Gilligan. So, at the early hours of the morning, Prof and I decided that maybe it would be a wise thing to just get an early start and go see Old Faithful before the crowds. Prof got up to head to the bathroom with the hot pot, to make our instant coffee (yum!). Then Gilligan decided he would go help. As he was fumbling with the task of exiting the tent, the Professor quietly told him to stop; I lifted the door and there was a young buck peacefully grazing, not 10 feet from our tent. The guy stayed there for a bit, then meandered behind the tent when too many eyes were upon him.

So, we all quickly got ready for the day and piled into the car and turned the heat and the heated seats on. It was 6:20. But, the reward for our extremely early day was that we saw plenty of wildlife, including grazing moose, AND we arrived at Old Faithful 5 minutes before its next predicted eruption!! And at 7:30 in the morning, we were right at the front watching, as there are only a handful of people crazy enough to be there that early!! After that amazing sight, we obtained some real coffee, and continued our touring of Yellowstone. We saw bubbling mudpots, spitting geysers, and emerald ponds. We headed back to the canyon for a view of the lower falls and some pictures after lunch from the cooler. The bison were still there, but farther away from the road than the night prior, so we zipped through that area. There was another brief delay (and we were a part of the gawkers) as a grey fox slinked through a nearby field, relieved himself, and trotted on, but we made it back to our campsite at about 2:30.

It had been decided in the early morning hours that, although we truly enjoyed our time at Yellowstone, we were definitely not properly equipped to stay another night in such cold weather, only to have to drive 500 miles the next day. So the plan was to break camp (it was good to do this in the afternoon, anyway, as it gave the sun time to thaw the frost from the tent and dry it!!), and drive to "a town with a hotel." Well, I had checked lodging options back in WA when we discovered how cold it was to be in Yellowstone, and all the "big" ones in Cody, WY (about 50 miles from the east entrance to the park) were full. So we drove through Cody thinking that maybe the next town of Gray-something would be a better option. Well, it looked pretty desolate. Little did we know that by driving farther, we'd be going through Bighorn National Forest, complete with windy roads and a rise in elevation to over 9,000 feet! It certainly took longer than we had anticipated, and we were forced to drive further than we wanted, but we ended up in Sheridan, WY at a WARM Holiday Inn with a Walmart conveniently located across the street. We ordered Domino's Pizza, got the grime washed off us all in a hot shower, and crashed hard. In fact, some of our number are still asleep as I write.

The plan for today is to head to the Walmart to do some shopping for dinner tonight, then to head on out to Rapid City, and to Mt. Rushmore today. We're staying at a cottage with two bedrooms in Rapid City this evening before heading out and through the Badlands of South Dakota (planning to stop at Wall Drug for a Buffalo (bison?) burger as well. We'll then be stopping in De Smet, SD, home of Laura Ingalls Wilder as she was growing up and cataloging her stories that would later become famous children's books. We're staying in a covered wagon that night, on the Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead, and taking in the pageant that the people of this town put on each weekend in July. I'm guessing we won't have internet connection for the next two nights, either, but I could be wrong.

It's hard to believe that one week from this evening, we'll be back in sunny, hot South Carolina again. It really doesn't feel like it's been over 3 weeks since we left, but at the same time it feels like we've been gone a long time. I am still amazed that, aside from a few little issues, everyone is still getting along, enjoying themselves, and having fun. I am so thankful and glad that we've had the opportunity to see our wonderful country and the beauty of God's creation within it, together as a family.

I forgot to bring the camera in, but I'll load pics sometime, and post them within this post, so come back in a couple days if you want to see Yellowstone pics (especially the one of the Skipper in his mummy bag!). By the way, the new photo that replaces the photo of the Crew of Gilligan's Island is one I took at Old Faithful. I'm very proud of how it turned out!