Hi all, As you may be aware, this website was down. We are still alive and traveling (in Colorado). We have very limited internet and cell phone access right now. In addition, we put Joe's cell phone through the wash so we only have my phone. We will post in the next couple of days or so. Kerri [View Full Entry]

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Today was both a very unlucky and adventurous day. We started off the day by Simone falling in a cactus. Joe pulled out all the spikes that were visible, but I ended up having to take tweezers and take out the ones that were not as visible. As you can imagine, it probably feels like a hundred splinters in your hand. Then, Elise was bitten by red ants. Finally, we stopped in Manila to take a shower and shop, and Joe realized once we were over the mountain pass that he had forgotten all of our shower stuff, his clothes, his [View Full Entry]

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August 5, 2007 Today was rafting day. We went to the beach so that the kids could see their new friends again, then off to the dam for rafting. Rafting on the Green River is fairly tame, and the route we rafted only contained level 1 rapids. The entire time on the water was about 3.5 hours. The water was cold but absolutely spectacular, and the Green River runs through red rock cliffs. We could see all kinds of trout in the crystal clear water. Too bad none of the trout were interested in our bait. We floated for a while, [View Full Entry]

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August 4, 2007 Today, we rode our bikes to the swimming beach. It is about 1.5 miles away, down a long dirt and stone road. This beach is sandy and is in a cove on the lake. There are more motorcraft here than I expected but it is still relatively remote. We played at the beach for a few hours and Joe went for a bike ride on the beach. We met some nice kids and Ethan, Elise and Simone spent hours creating a large river and bridge system on the beach. We returned to our camper for lunch, as the [View Full Entry]

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We drove from Thermopolis to Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area today. It was about a 6 hour drive. The kids did really great again. Once again, they watched Star Wars. I think one of the most amazing parts of spending time with kids is listening to their minds working. When they do not have TV, they are able to generate a number of games and fun. We could here Ethan and Elise laughing in the back of the van most of the drive. Flaming Gorge is really unique. We found out about it from our favorite family’s website, Lolo’s Extreme Cross-Country [View Full Entry]

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August 1-August 2rd Leaving Yellowstone, stop in Cody and Thermopololis We left Yellowstone after a wonderful stay, and came down the mountain pass back to Cody. We wanted to stop in the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, which was supposed to be a wonderful museum. There are 5 museums there, the Draper Historical Center, a Western Art Museum, a Buffalo Bill Museum, an American Indian Museum and a Guns and Ammo Museum. We only went through the Draper Center. It had a lot of information about the Yellowstone Ecosystem, and had a number of interactive displays. Simone was quickly bored, [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday, our 3rd day in Yellowstone, we went to the Mud Volcano on the way to Yellowstone Falls. We saw a number of mud pots, mud volcanos and hot springs. I thought the kids would love watching the mud pots sling mud. I was totally wrong. The Mud Volcano area smells so much like sulphur that we had to cover our mouths at a number of points. We ran through the boardwalk trail and decided that we were done with thermo-features at Yellowstone. One of the mud pots slung mud at Joe and it landed on his leg and burned [View Full Entry]

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Today is the first big driving day we attempted with our three kidlets. We have never driven 7 hours with them, and this will certainly set the stage for the other big drives we have coming on this trip. We got up early, determined to leave the campsite early, and actually left at 11 am. It was a cool 62 degrees driving today and Joe redistributed our weight between the camper and minivan, which made driving much more smooth and Joe’s anxiety about breaking down less. The kids did beautifully. I was so proud of them. They all stayed in their [View Full Entry]

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As you may know, we Boutelle's are very organized and quick. OK, so that is a big exaggeration. We needed to move our campsite at Rafter J Bar resort, and it took us almost 3 hours. Sigh. Someday, we will either move more quickly or I will adjust my expectations (probably the latter). We did end up with totally cool neighbors named Michael and Alana from Oregon were staying in a camper van lined with reflective bubble wrap panels. We launched from the campsite at noon, and Ethan wanted to see a cave. So, we went to Jewel Cave National Monument. [View Full Entry]

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July 25th, 2007 We have decided that we love the Black Hills, and if we knew it was here, we would have been here sooner. The rolling hills, the pine trees, the quaint towns make this a really cool place to visit. We are staying here until the 27th, then onto Cody Wyoming and then Yellowstone. We are staying at the Rafter J Bar resort. This has got to be one of the best campsites we have ever stayed at. Our friends Scott and Laura recommended this place and they were right! It is just beautiful, and the kids are enjoying [View Full Entry]

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