June part deux

This half of June should be easier to piece together.  Although I am hampered by not having access to all my photos, I am just going to tell you I have some really great ones that aren't going to be on this blog.  Sorry.

We made it to DC and are crashing at Aunt Kaki's house while she and her husband are out of town.  Kids are LOVING the "city life" as they are calling it.  It will be hard to get them adjusted to not having a Starbucks 1/2 a block away.  Jim had to check into work, so that leaves me and the kids to explore DC on our own.  Of course Jim can't help himself and leaves suggestions of what we should do every single day.  Come on Jim!  I got this.

The kids want to do the Metro, but we are 10 blocks from the Mall so we are walking!  In the course of three days we hit the Museum of Natural History, Air and Space Museum and the American History Museum and had lunch at the cafe in the Smithsonian Castle AND rented bikes to take a bike ride around the Mall.  Lilly was unhappy that it wasn't the mall she was expecting!  

Kaki and Jim's parents returned from their trip and we all had a wonderful dinner before heading to Swansboro the next morning.

Jim was able to hang out with us for the weekend and during that time we introduced Wesley to the boating life.  He wasn't thrilled. 

I, however, was super excited to be home for an extended time.  On Sunday, Jim left with the kids to go to VA to visit with his side of the family.  While I got to have some quality time with mine.

Since I wasn't with the kids, I am not entirely sure of everything they did.  Jim did share some photos with me and it looks like everyone had a ball at his parent's house.

After a few days, they transitioned over to Deltaville for some fun at Team Beck's river house.  

Our family may be in several different places, but we are all having a good time in our respective areas.  I was in heaven at the marina, the kids are satisfied with cousins in VA and Jim is back hanging with his sister Kaki living the Geo-Batchelor life in DC.

My biggest concern, other than just the logistical nightmare of living out of a suitcase for two months, was how Wesley was going to fit in.  Oscar is used to living with Mom's three cats.  Well, maybe the correct word is tolerating Mom's three cats.  Wesley was not exactly welcomed with open arms.  However we had a nice set up for him in the garage and during the day he became a marina dog.  He did spectacularly well!  Even Daddy bonded with him.

Lots of firsts for Wesley in NC.  First boat ride, first squirrel sighting, first squirrel chasing, first squirrel treeing.  He also saw lots of other wildlife:  foxes, deer, opossums, raccoons and turtles.  This turtle was unimpressed and did not cooperate with Wesley's attempt at sniffing his backside.

June is winding down, but we still have two weeks before kids go to camp.  I didn't want them to just sit around and do nothing, so I got them back in the pool!  I was really hoping to rekindle a spark, but I am not sure that happened. Oh well, at least they got some exercise.  

The big draw was the water for the kids.  We had several days of them anchoring out in the river beside the marina just floating and tipping each other over.  Good times!

Don't let this picture fool you - Wesley is having a great time!  

Yuma to DC - the long way

June seems like such a long time ago.  I am sure lots of funny stories happened and I thought to myself, certainly I will remember these for the rest of my life.  As I sit here trying to recreate it in my mind, I am drawing a blank.  Looking at the pictures I remember some funny moments but this edition will be severely lacking in details.  Broad strokes people.  Too bad, because we really had an amazing cross-country trip!  I am going to blame my forgetfulness on PTSD from moving from AZ to Northern VA and basically living out of suitcases for 2 months in between.  Below is one of the many beautiful spots we visited, overlooking Moab, Utah at the world famous "Sunset Grill." 

Almost since the beginning of our time in AZ, I had been talking about seeing Antelope Canyon.  It is in North Western AZ not too far from the Grand Canyon which we have seen multiple times.  Finally we were able to include it in an itinerary that didn't involve a massive detour.  All the travel guides tell you to do this between the hours of 10:00am and 12:00pm but the only slot available when you decide on a lark to include this side trip is 7:20am.  So you take what you can get.  Our pictures, while not as spectacular as what can be seen on Google images during peak sun beams, were still breath taking!  

After the tour we decided to do a short hike in the surrounding area and ended up at the Lake Powell.  True to form, it wasn't long before someone was going in the water.

When my mother saw these photos she commented on how high the drop off looked.  It was maybe 9 1/2'.  Even though it looks like more.  

From Antelope Canyon we motored on over to Moab to check out Arches National Park.  The kids were in full revolt mode by the time we finish the 3.2 mile hike to the Delicate Arch.  While not the most strenuous hike they have done, it was fairly hot that day so that may have played into their resistance.  Once we arrived and caught our breath everyone seemed in better spirits.

We had planned on doing some camping on this trip.  Since it was still relatively warm and we were staying two nights we thought it would be a good idea to unhitch the U-haul and set up shop in Moab.  Lots of other people had that same idea.  We luckily stumbled onto a campsite as a car was leaving. Five minutes after we unhitched the trailer we discovered why it was vacant - GNATS! So.many.gnats.  Horrible!  Lilly and I took the tent and everyone else slept in the Enos and shortly after sun down the bug situation was a bit more manageable.  

We had the kids up early the next day to explore Moab National Park with the main attraction being Delicate Arch.  The guidebook said it was a moderate hike about 3 miles out and back.  Nothing like the hikes we did last summer.  The kids complained pretty much the entire time out to the arch.  But it was worth it!  Beautiful.    

We snapped a few pictures and turned around.  The way back was much more lighthearted with the kids essentially skipping the whole way back to the car.  Little did they know we had planned a few more hikes that day (insert evil laugh here).

We decided to take it easy on them and do the Landscape Arch which is the longest arch in the park.  Didn't matter, they still complained.  Lucy and Ben didn't even make it to the Arch.  It isn't even a mile from the parking lot!  

The rest of the park was pretty much a driving event for us. The thing about this part of the country is something awe inspiring lurks around every corner and I am pretty sure the kids have become desensitized to us saying "Wow!  Take a look at that!"  

Back to the campsite to make sure all our stuff was still there and then we headed off in search of a shower!  We found an aquatic center that would let us have a day pass for $5.00 - score!!  The kids did cannonballs off the diving board for about an hour then we went in search of dinner.  I do like to camp, but  I told Jim before hand that if we camped for the night, he'd better be prepared to take me out for dinner!

Canyonlands National Park sits almost on the border on the Southwestern side of Moab, UT.  It is a hiker's, biker's, kayaker's and four-wheeling paradise.  This place pretty much has it all.  And we barely scratched a dent in it!  We drove to a few vistas but the main thing we did was drive down to the canyon floor on Schaefer Trail.  We had to ditch the U-Haul in a parking lot and reconnecting it was not a picnic but it was totally worth it!

Next stop was Park City for the night!  We had spent a few days here over Christmas Break and the kids right at home!  I enjoyed sitting in the hot tub.  My legs were super sore. We also were able to crank out a few loads of laundry.  It looks a lot different without the snow!  

Back to the car!  You would think the kids would enjoy the hiking because they could stretch their legs after all the long car rides.  Oh well.  Next stop Grand Tetons.  I regret that we did not stop in the actual town of Jackson.  That is the problem with having such a packed itinerary, not much time.  Not to mention we had planned on camping which requires finding a tent site before it gets dark.   

We found one that even let us put up all the Enos and Emus (the two fake Enos Jim and I bought at Sam's).  I wanted the tent put up too just in case I couldn't make it through the night in the Emu/Eno.  The temperatures had radically dropped once we hit Wyoming.  We do not have much experience with cold weather camping and it wasn't even THAT cold.  Until it was - BRRRR.  I was curled up in a ball in my Emu - shivering.  

Grand Tetons was amazing!  There was still snow on the ground in places.  The kids LOVED that!  I think the snow is what kept the complaining manageable about the hike that lasted way longer then a 1.8 mile hike should.  

Next stop Yellowstone.  Again we are camping in colder overnight temperatures than we have sleeping bags rated for.  This time, I am sleeping in the tent.  At least then my body heat might make it a bit warmer.  Hopefully I can talk one of the girls into staying in there with me.  More heat!

We could have spent a week in this park alone!  2 1/2 days wasn't nearly enough.  Although we crammed as much as we could in that time frame!  On our last afternoon we decided to go see the Grand Prismatic Spring and then go eat at the Old Faithful Inn (which was the inspiration for Walt Disney Wilderness Lodge, only cooler!!).  Well the weather wasn't all that great, there was a storm brewing and so the colors for the spring were under whelming at best.  There was a lookout that offered a better view but as I said a storm was brewing and we really needed to get back to the camp to secure our things.  Of course we decided to risk it and do the 3-mile uphill hike to the overlook.  

OH MY GOODNESS!  The mosquitos were HORRIBLE!!!  They weren't really bitting us but swarming all around us.  Lucy and Ben dropped out pretty quickly, but the rest of us were determined to make it.  So worth it!  Even Lucy and Ben changed their mind and joined us up there.  Then of course the rain hit.  Yikes!! We ran back to the car and headed to the camp site fully expecting it to be in ruins.  To our total surprise, it had only sprinkled and everything was good.  We could not talk the kids into driving back down to the restaurant however.  So we just made sandwiches and went to bed - exhausted.  The next morning a stray buffalo wandering through the campsite.  Pretty neat!

Our neighbor Sarah gave the kids some chalk paint for the car windows and Lucy decided to let everyone know exactly where we had been and where we were heading.  She updated it every time it rained or we changed the schedule. Next stop Devils Tower!

When my mom took us to WY to visit our cousins back in the 70s, this was one of my favorite things we did.  Jim was not 100% on board with this stop because it just looked so far off the path.  However once we were on the road he changed his mind.  I was super excited to see it again.  We did not make it in time to hit the visitor's center, but it was still pretty cool!  

In fact seeing Devil's Tower put us in Deadwood for the night which set us up nicely to see Badlands.  So a win-win!  Deadwood was not at all what I imagined it to be.  Basically it was like Myrtle Beach with a Western slant.  Below is a picture of where "Wild Bill" Hickok was shot after a hand of poker (Aces and 8s .. dead man's hand).  Of course you have to pay to get the tour of the bar.  Kind of sad really.  Badlands, on the other hand, was another must see.  The landscapes are incredible with the largest undisturbed grass prairie intermixed with buttes and pinnacles.  I can't imagine how the early settlers or Native Americans handled traversing it way back in the day.  The kids were interested in Custer's last stand and we all listened to the audio of the cemetery as we were driving to our next destination, Little Big Horn.   

You can't be in that part of the world and not stop at Wall Drug in SD!  So we took the opportunity to get some souvenirs and ice cream before heading on over to Mt Rushmore.

Mt Rushmore was another one we could have spent more time exploring.  I would have like to done the Presidential Trail but the kids were not having it and really and truly we just couldn't find room in the itinerary for it anyway.  Next time!

We had to swing through Sturgis, SD on way through the state.  I can't imagine what it looks like when all the bikers roll through every year in August.

Just before leaving the state of South Dakota we stumbled upon an interesting site.  The Corn Palace in Mitchell.  We did not go inside but did walk around it.  It is an entertainment venue that the outside walls have murals made entirely of dried corn.  Every year there is a new theme and it takes months to create it.  It is beautiful! WOW!!!!

This concludes our state park portion of the trip.  From here on out we are just eating up the road trying to get to DC.  We missed seeing the 50' tall statue of the Jolly Green Giant in MN - how do you miss a 50' tall Green Giant?  I am still not over that.  I will see it eventually!!  I tried to get Jim to stop at the Spam museum for lunch, but to no avail.  Our travels the next day took us through Minnesota (we had to stop to get some cheese), Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana.  

Getting the State Welcome signs from the road was extremely tricky!! Sometimes we either missed it or it was blurry - can't imagine why since we are doing this while we are driving.  On the times we needed to get the outgoing and ingoing state at the same time, I enlisted Lucy to help.  She would get the outgoing and I would get the incoming.  Jim did not slow down AT ALL to help out just so you know.  We stopped in South Bend, IN for the night and did a drive through tour of Notre Dame the next morning.  Beautiful campus.  Our goal was to get to Maryland today.  We could have driven the rest of the way into DC but with the U-Haul we thought it would be tricky finding a parking spot in downtown DC so we adjusted our plan and had an easy hour drive into Fort Meyer the next morning.

This is a good stopping point.  I will pick up our adventure once we unpack the U-haul.