Yellowstone & Cody

Sorry for the delay in posting! Our internet connection hasn't been the greatest and it's been very slow. We had a lot of fun in Yellowstone! Everything from the wildlife to the geothermal geysers were beautiful. We also spent a day in the Grand Teton National Park. It was unique in its high peeked Rocky Mountains, and we had gorgeous weather!

We did however, have a few complications due to the high altitude. We camped at 8,000 ft. above sea level and drove as high as 10,000 ft. By the second day the 3 youngest of our group started to show signs of high altitude sickness. Unfortunately, the symptoms for Joshua resulted in a two hour ride to an emergency room. Without going into details, we should just say God was faithful to meet his needs and he is now fine.

We are now back down to camping at 5,000 ft. in Cody, Wyoming which seems to only be yielding a few stomach pains. Last night we went to a rodeo and experienced a real wild west show. Today we visited the Buffalo Bill museum and watched a gun show on the streets of downtown Cody. Tomorrow we're hitting the rapids!!! YIPEE!

We're all still having a lot of fun, but definitely ready to back to home sweet home!

Here is just one picture from Yellowstone. I will try to post more tomorrow. Like I said, the internet connection is very slow and it takes a while to get them uploaded.

Day 15

We all woke up early yesterday morning and headed to Olympic National Park. It reminded us a lot of Mt. Rainier…Beautiful snow capped mountains! We hiked 1/2 a mile straight up and saw a very pretty 360 degree view of the area….Victoria and I ran some of it and both decided that it wasn’t a good idea after the fact :). While eating lunch, lots of dear came out to see us. I think we counted 9. Some of them were babies and adorable! The weather was wonderful!

We headed back to our campground mid afternoon, ate a yummy dinner, and packed up again. We are now on our way to Yellowstone! It will take us two days to get there. Last night we rode a Ferry because it saved us from driving 90 miles around Seattle. It was a 30 minute ride and we had a great view of the city. We stopped driving around 12 last night and got back on the road again at 8:30 this morning.

Today is another full day of driving. We’re hoping to be in Yellowstone by tomorrow afternoon. Not sure if we’ll have internet connection while there so I might not be able to post over the next few days. Keep checking back!

On the Ferry....It was really windy!

Candace & Victoria in the Tent

To clarify ahead of time, the disgusting belch came from Victoria not Candace! :)

Two Week Update!

Twas two weeks ago when we journeyed afar
Packed up our stuff and left in the car
Drove through the arch as we continued our march
Went on to the Badlands where we became parched
The wind blew fast, but the view was vast
Saw some rock and Victoria went “bok!”

Wal-Mart is the best because we get to rest
It’s where we get our food so we stay in a good mood
We stock up on supplies and say our goodbyes
Continue on our quest to the best of the west

We went to Glacier National park
And saw the stars when it got dark
Walked on the clouds tried not to be loud
It gave us much luck for we saw a big buck
The wild flowers were pretty, they made us get giddy
We didn’t see a bear so Josh yelled “no fair!”
Montana was golden, the sky so grand,
It made our family its biggest fan
Saw some cattle then left for Seattle

Our great big van, it was hard to park it
But we sure were glad when we saw the market
Flowers, fish, and veggies galore
Then went on to the first Starbucks store
The Space Needle was grand, saw all of the land
No one in Seattle has a nice tan

Mt. Rainier was next, standing so tall
Saw lots of fir trees, both big and small
Covered in snow and ice
It looked so perdy and nice
It was a really long ride but worth the drive

Had a day of rest and cleaned up our mess
Did all the laundry so we could stay dressed

Woke up in the morning had eggs and toast
And headed off to see the Pacific West Coast
Hiked through a rain forest first time ever
Pretty amazing for our first endeavor
Victoria fell off a tree and scraped her knee
We watched the wave’s crash and Ryan got smashed (literally!)

Went to the beach and got dirty feet
Skipped some rock and saw a peacock
Started the day changing our tires
Ended with steak sitting around the campfire

With two weeks to go, we hope to see more snow
Especially a grizzly and maybe a doe
Hope you enjoyed our poem, for it gave us something to do
Next stop is Yellowstone! Yippity do!

Written by: Ryan, Amber, and Candace (And a few lines by Victoria and Karah)

Day 14

This morning we got all our tires changed on the camper and headed north east of Olympic to our campground in Fort Flagler State Park. Spent most of the day walking on the beach enjoying the cool and sunny weather.

Tonight we’re all staying warm around the campfire and its girl’s night in the tent :).

Tomorrow we’re headed to Olympic National Park!

Ryan is Chief of the fire

We re-stocked our pantry for the 3rd time today!

It's cold outside tonight!

Day 13: The Pacific West Coast

This morning we hit the road at 8am and headed off to see the Pacific West Coast. Two hours into our drive we stopped, had a picnic lunch and hiked through a rain forest (Only one in the US!). Got back on the road and drove for another hour and a half to see the Pacific Ocean. The weather was a bit chilly, but very nice. The beach we went to was surrounded by rock and drift wood...Couldn’t see any sand. The water was freezing and the surf was rough.

It took us a good 4 hours to get back to our camper. It was definitely a long day in the car. What was supposed to be a scenic highway wasn’t very scenic, but we had lots more bonding time in the car :).

After dinner we packed up again and headed to another Wal-Mart parking lot so we can get up early and get new tires put on the camper. We'll then head out to a campground closer to Olympic National Park and will be staying there for two nights. After Olympic is Yellowstone!

It's harder than it looks :)

Dad making fun of us!

Day 12: Gig Harbor

We spent most of our day around our campsite. Were able to catch up on some sleep and mom made us a nice breakfast. This morning and early afternoon we spent a couple hours cleaning…Mom did the laundry, dad and Ryan cleaned up the outside of the camper and Amber and I tackled the inside. It gets pretty dirty with 8 people going in and out of the woods all day!

Later in the afternoon we drove down to the Harbor and walked around for a while. The weather outside is great! Tonight is movie night! It’s been a wonderful day of rest.

Tomorrow we’ll be headed to see the Pacific Ocean!


The leaves are starting to change already!

Karah picked me a flower :)

Beef stew for dinner :)

Day 11: Mt. Rainier

We got back on the road again yesterday morning and headed to Mt. Rainier. It took us a good 3 ½ hours to get there, but it was worth it! The mountains were beautiful and were surrounded by thousands of Boston Fur Trees. They smelled so good…It was just like Christmas! The weather was wonderful…Sunny, slight breeze, in the low 80’s. We had a picnic lunch and went on a very short hike, just enough to see the pretty views.

Our new campground is southwest of Seattle in a little area called Gig Harbor. The weather is chilly, but wasn’t too cold to eat outside :) Today we’re taking the day to rest, hang out around our camp site, and maybe take a ride to see the pretty harbor. We’re definitely ready for a day of rest…Been going none stop ever since we left Jacksonville. While at this campground we’ll be taking various day trips to Vancouver and Victoria British Columbia, Olympic National Park, and maybe a trip to see the Pacific Ocean.

Day 10: Seattle, Washington

We left Spokane, Washington this morning at 6am...Gained another hour of sleep last night so we woke up rested and ready to take on another busy day. We stopped an hour east of Seattle in a very nice state park because it turned out that it’s going to be a busy weekend in Olympic National Park and all the campgrounds are booked. We were able to some what keep the plans we had…spent this afternoon in downtown Seattle in Pikes Market. Saw lots of fresh produce, sea food, and beautiful floral arrangements that were dirt cheep! We also saw the first Starbucks ever! The out side structure is nothing like they look today. The city was very cool to see, but very crowded!

Tomorrow we’ll be headed to Mt. Rainier; it’s over 14,000 ft. tall! We’ll probably hike a trail or two while there and then we’ll be on our way to Olympic National Park for a couple days. Tomorrow we’ll also be the furthest away from Jacksonville while on this trip! We’re continuing to enjoy our time in the Wild! Crazy! West! Definitely an exciting and fun adventure!

There were hundreds of flower bouquets that all ran from $3-$15. We couldn’t believe it!

Ryan and Josh rode the Space Needle to the top. This is the view they had...If you look closely, you can see Mt. Rainier in the top left corner.

More Glacier Pictures

On our 7 mile hiking adventure!

Glacier!

Glacier National Park was absolutely amazing! The weather began cold and rainy but cleared up the second and last day. Despite the weather being a little dreary it was still beautiful! We hiked two trails yesterday, one through the clouds to gorgeous 360 degree views of mountains to a lake, and another to a waterfall. We encountered lots of wildlife along the way including a 7 point buck walking right beside us, and mountain sheep. This morning Ryan, Amber, Victoria, Karah, and I decided to take on a 7 mile trail. Dad, mom, and Josh dropped us off and then went to catch up on the laundry :). The description of the trail was a lot different then it ended up actually being. We ended up walking through deep woods and brush that was sometimes taller than our heads. It took us 3 ½ hours to get through but we made it. I don’t think we’ll ever forget that hike! Victoria and Karah were troopers…they kept up the whole time! We couldn’t help but laugh most of the time. I think we all agree that Glacier was the prettiest place we’d ever been!

We are now headed to Spokane, Washington for another overnighter in a Walmart parking lot and to stock up on supplies. All this mountain air must be making us extra hungry, as we seem to be eating twice as much as we do at home. Tomorrow we’ll be on our way through Seattle, Washington to Olympia National Park. Everyone is well and we are learning that you gotta,”Love the one your with.”


After walking through the cloud on Hidden Lake Trail.

You can't tell here, but we were getting wet!

More pictures coming soon...