Home at last!

Devil's Tower - Wyoming

Whew – six action-packed days later, and I'm still alive to tell about them! Monday afternoon, we went to Devil’s Tower, which was once again, awe-inspiring. A rich Native American site, it was full of natural beauty and cultural history. We even spotted a pair of people while they were climbing it – both a terrifying and inspiring feat. After Devil’s Tower, we started our journey into Montana.

Ziplining across the Gallatin River!

After driving across much of Montana, we arrived late at night to Belgrade, Montana. Then, it was up bright and early for our adventure zip lining and whitewater rafting. I would be lying if I claimed I had no trepidation about the event, and as you can see in the first picture, climbing the bridge to the first zip line platform took a lot of determination to just not look down. My father, who is afraid of heights, had opted out of the zip lining adventure and gone fly fishing instead. I thought about joining him, but I'm so glad that I did not; within a second of stepping off the platform and soaring through the air, I fell in love. Our guides were both phenomenal and the other group we were with – a group from Chicago – was also a blast to be around. Too soon, we had soared over the Gallatin River and it was over. We went and picked my dad up from the fly fishing site and headed back to the company’s headquarters, where we would eat lunch before embarking on our whitewater rafting trip. The rafting trip, too, was a blast, exhilarating, and led by a guide who knew exactly what he was doing. For anyone going out west, my family and I all highly recommend Montana Whitewater Rafting Company ( Yellowstonezip.com ). In addition to zip lining, fly fishing and whitewater rafting, they also offer horseback riding – so there’s surely something everyone would enjoy.

We had a fairly low-key Tuesday night, although I did go for a 2 mile run. Sadly, I’m now about 95% sure that I have shin splints in my left leg, so I'm going to have to put the running on hold. This was the most disappointing part of the trip so far, but I'm trying to just not let myself think about it. I’ll have to find some other form of exercise to finish out the summer!

A hot spring in Yellowstone National Park

Wednesday was our day trip through Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons. After making a little detour into Idaho so I could check off another state, we entered Yellowstone through the West Yellowstone Entrance. I found the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and Lower Falls to be absolutely spectacular – and of course, Old Faithful was neat, too. Yellowstone is full of geysers and hot springs, all against a backdrop of mountains, rivers, and prairies. One geyser, Steamboat Geyser, is the tallest active geyser in the world. It’s highly unpredictable, however, as intervals between eruptions have varied from 4 days to 50 years. So, seeing this erupt is an incredibly rare event. No, we didn't see it erupt, but 7 days before we were there, it did erupt for the first time in 8 years! A different couple that we talked to had come to Yellowstone 8 years ago, and missed the eruption by 4 days. I don't think they had heard that they had missed it by less than a week this time – and we surely weren't going to be the family to break the news to them!

Old Faithful Geyser erupting in Yellowstone
National Park.

Unfortunately, we saw hardly any wildlife – the lone sighting of anything was on our way out of the park when we spotted a mule deer alongside the road. After stopping for a family picture by the Yellowstone National Park entrance sign, we drove through the John D. Rockefeller Memorial Parkway to get to Grand Tetons National Park. We managed to be driving along these magnificent mountains right during sunset, providing a beautiful, scenic end to our day.

Thursday, we have begun the journey back home, driving through Nebraska (woohoo, another state!) to Custer State park in South Dakota. There, we finally saw bison! That afternoon, we stopped at Wall Drug, as it is obviously a staple for any trip out west. Finally, we began our final leg of our journey, driving to Rochester, the Niagara Cave, and then finally home. In Rochester, my family met up with two of my close friends from college for lunch. It was a special treat to see them - only 3 weeks until we are in Madison! Niagara Cave was also neat - and a wrong turn took us about a block into Iowa, bringing my state count to 25 of 50! 

Today has been fairly low-key, as the majority of the day was spent at a soccer referee recertification class. The adventures will soon begin again, however, as tomorrow I'm headed to West Allis for the Wisconsin State Fair!

-Theresa

Into the Wild, Wild West

We’re only two days into our adventure and I’ve already been amazed countless times! I’ll back up a little bit, however, because even the days leading up to our road trip were eventful.

Shark plane at EAA Airventure - Oshkosh, WI

Friday, after a somewhat awful day of work (long story short, it was frustrating, involved some quickly blinked-away tears, and left me feeling awful about my bosses paying me for the summer when I feel like I’ve not lived up to my bosses’ expectations), I headed to EAA with a friend who had free tickets. For anyone who doesn’t know, EAA Airventure is a weeklong airplane convention held in Oshkosh, WI. Oshkosh – typically a city of about 65,000 – is teeming with 800,000 to 1,000,000 aviation enthusiasts. For that week, this regional airport has the busiest airport control tower in the world. It’s pretty crazy! Anyway, we watched a bit of the airshow, and wandered around the grounds for a while. We even saw a plane painted as a shark!

Saturday, we took a day trip to Point Beach State Forest on the shore of Lake Michigan. Every year, we have an mini family reunion at the campsite with my mom’s side of the family. Usually we camp for a few nights with everyone, but because of our impending week-long trip this year we only went for the day. My brother and I even braved 68ºF water to frolic in the waves of Lake Michigan.

Soon, we were back home and gearing up for our early-morning departure. As is typical for me, I slept hardly at all – wasting time on the computer and watching TV. I didn't even have to finish packing, because believe it or not, I was already finished! (NOT typical of me.) When 5:00 rolled around, therefore, I was crabby. I did manage to fall asleep for a few hours on the road, waking up just in time for the Amish Bakery outside of Rochester, MN.

Badlands National Park - SD

Our first real attraction was a scenic drive through the Badlands in South Dakota. It was truly an incredible sight – something that is difficult to accurately describe through words. We got to venture out a bit onto some of the rock formations, which let me confront my fear of heights a bit. Every bend in the road would reveal yet another jaw-dropping view. It’s a great reminder of the beauty God is capable of creating in all nooks and crannies of this Earth.

At this point, since it hasn't come up yet, I should also mention that our family vacation happens to coincide with a huge motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota. On our entire trip through Minnesota and South Dakota, we were traveling with tons of packs of motorcycles – everywhere we stopped, from the Amish Bakery to roadside scenic vantage points, we've been surrounded by bikers. Once we arrived to Keystone, South Dakota, home of Mount Rushmore, the congregation of motorcycles was larger than I've ever witnessed in my life. In reality, however, it’s been fun to talk to some of these people we meet while sightseeing, as they come from all over the country and some have some pretty cool stories. One couple was on their honeymoon, while another cyclist at our hotel was spotted with a kitten. Apparently, 100 miles into their trip, they discovered that one of their kittens had snuck into their trailer and was along for the ride. In Sturgis this week, there will be approximately 600,000 bikers and at least one kitten. J

Mt. Rushmore - Keystone, SD

That brings me to today. This morning we went to the Crazy Horse Memorial, an in-progress counterpart to Mount Rushmore (which, by the way, was awesome last night – perhaps the best part was the segment honoring veterans at the lighting ceremony when at least 60 people announced their name and branch of service. I’m not ashamed to admit I teared up!). Anyway, to be honest, Crazy Horse was a cool sight to see, but it was overpriced and we didn't even get to see any pieces of mountain blown away! After that slightly disappointing stop, we headed onward to Jewel Cave National Monument. Although the cave tour we wanted to take was sold out, we traversed a two mile hike to the original cave entrance, found by horseback riders years ago. It was an interesting little hike, although much of the scenery was a bit – disappointing. The forest that originally would have surrounded the trail was the victim of a wildfire, leaving miles of charred trunks and twigs. Regardless, it was good exercise!

Now, we’re on our way to Devil’s Tower – I’m sure the rest of the week will be equally as adventurous. Tomorrow is our zip lining and whitewater rafting adventure – so hopefully I’ll survive the day to tell you all about it. (I’m doing my best not to think about it because I’m DETERMINED not to chicken out.)

I know I’m certainly being inspired by the ever-changing landscapes around me – just when I think that nothing can top the sight I’ve just seen, we go over a hill and my jaw drops again. I’ll check back in later in the week – until then, I hope you’re enjoying God’s beauty around you, whether that involves visiting national parks and monuments or just smiling at a stranger passing on the sidewalk.

-T