We left Lincoln, Nebraska on Saturday morning (Aug. 2nd) and decided to just make a final run for home. Dad and I switched drivers about every 100 miles or so early in the day so that we didn't get so tired, but since he is not comfortable driving around cities, I ended up driving the final stretch through the Indiana and Ohio turnpike myself and then turned the final leg over to him at the PA border. So after 17 hours and a 1,000 miles, we arrived at Patty's house in Parker, PA...just south of I-80 at about 1:30 a.m. Nebraska [View Full Entry]

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We left Salt Lake City and drove down towards I-70 to drive to Littleton, CO, making sure I had a full tank of gas before I got on it because there are no services for over a hundred miles on the western side of I-70. It was another truly beautiful drive, with just breathtaking scenery around every corner. We stopped at the San Rafael Swell and spent some time taking pictures. From there, we just continued to drive and go WOW!! around every bend in the road. As we got into the more eastern part of Utah then we started getting [View Full Entry]

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We left Lakeview Oregon in the morning and started towards Nevada on a small road. Oddly enough, it was a day to see interesting things while driving along. We had been on the road probably about an hour and we came over a hill and suddenly before us was a herd of cattle coming over the hill and down the road. There were 2 cowboys mounted..one on each side, and the herd just kept coming..and coming...there must have been at least a thousand head! We sat there for probably 10 minutes as they came down the road. Finally it had thinned [View Full Entry]

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I decided to forego the trip to Crater Lake to spend most of the day with family again because that was more important. That was why we came and I'm glad that we did that. I copied the pictures that Mariann had taken on Sunday so they wouldn't have to try and send them later and will post a few. It was an emotional goodbye for everyone for sure. We finally left around 4:30 though to try and get a little distance in for the day and stopped in a little town called Lakeview. We will start heading through Nevada [View Full Entry]

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We had a very quiet morning and just rested. I talked with my cousins and we arranged a time to meet. Ed and Rhonda had been out camping with their motorcycle club and were going to come in the afternoon and Rick was going to see how many of his kids he could round up and bring. So we got to Aunt Mary's around noon and Mariann was waiting for us to get there. We got out and Aunt Mary was standing on the porch too..she knew that the boys and I were coming as they had told her that just [View Full Entry]

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We left Idaho Falls after 8:00. It was a pretty uneventful trip through Idaho..lots of potato fields for Thomas to drool over and we zigzagged across the Snake River. I didn't get a lot of pictures of interest from Idaho though! :( There was some interesting landscape though as occasionally you'd go from really nice farm land to what looked like an ancient lava flow..it looked like old road black top that kind of crumbled in the heat Dad & I took turns driving all day on I-84... which was good because I was pretty tired and was having trouble staying [View Full Entry]

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We got up and left Cody, WY a bit after 7:00 a.m. I was driving as it looked like it was going to be another winding drive and I didn't know if it was going to be up hill or down hill! (Much to my surprise, it was downhill!) Right outside of town there was a huge gorge with swift water running through it...had to get a picture of that! We were only about 50 miles from Yellowstone at that point so we got there quickly and it was still early in the morning. I think everyone should see it Yellowstone [View Full Entry]

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What a day!!! We started out with the plan to go to the Crystal Cave in South Dakota, but after reading the brochure and finding out that the tour included going up (or down) 723 steps..we reconsidered. So we just packed up and left and headed towards the Devil's Tower in Wyoming, which was on Dad's list to see. It took us about 2 hours to get there and again, most of the driving tours were 2-3 hours long, so we just took pictures and left. Wyoming (at least in the eastern part) is very desolate in many areas. We saw [View Full Entry]

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We had a leisurely morning as we were doing the 1880 Train Ride at 10:00 a.m. and it was right next door. The ride takes about 2 hours and it was a relaxing ride, though it was totally full and by the time we were able to get on, the only seats left were in the very back of the very last car, so we had a hard time seeing things. Then, when we were on the return trip, the engine was now right in front of us and we had to hear the whistle blowing every time the train went [View Full Entry]

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Today was a little more relaxed driving wise since we'd knocked off so many miles in the first 2 days. We started out around 7:00-ish again and as we were driving, decided to stop in Mitchell, SD to see the world famous Corn Palace!!...couldn't pass it up! We had breakfast there, then went to find the Corn Palace. They were in the process of changing the pictures and things already for 2009 (go figure!!) and we spent probably an hour there going through the gift shop and picking out a few souveniers. Anyway..we got back on the road and since it [View Full Entry]

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