Geo: 41.6791, -86.254We are on our way home. We are sad to be done but happy to be going home. We also miss our doggies. We stopped for lunch at the University of Notre Dame (a little school spirit). I love the campus. One of my kids should go there. It's so nice. We had lunch at an Irish Pub just off campus and took a walk on campus to see the stadium, touchdown Jesus and on the way to the grotto, the church bells started ringing for 5 PM mass (we had a very late lunch). We decided to go to mass and not have to wake up early tomorrow. Plus, I like to go to mass in different places and this is a big beautiful church. Matthew was not happy but he'll thank me ... read more

Geo: 44.0812, -103.231Weather: 90s and HOT Location: Rapid City to Sioux Falls, IA Highlights: Sunrise at Mount Rushmore, Tornado and climbing the badlands Lowlights: Lost wallet and Tornado #of Swearwords: I'm not going to lie, there were a couple of Holy Sh$%252525s in there Activities: Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Bear Country, Wall Drug, Badlands Helpful hint: Wake up before sunrise to see Mount Rushmore (the best), never forget to do a room sweep, stay calmer than your kids when a tornado is in the fields beside the car and drive faster than the tornado. Restaurants: Badlands Bar and Grill (eh)Ok, so last night we had a family meeting of sorts where we discussed the plans for the next morning which included getting up at 445 AM. We cringed waiting for the response from the kids as ... read more

Geo: 44.5264, -109.056Weather: High 80s and blue skies in Yellowstone. 90s in Cody.  Location: Gardiner, MT to Cody, WY Highlights: Moose, Buffalo walking down the road, Bull riding Lowlights: Leaving Gardiner #of Swearwords: I might have said some on the Bull People we met: Petra who worked at the Cody Cowboy Village. She was helpful from the moment I made the reservation to her kindness when we arrived.  Activities: Chuckwagon Dinner and show and the Cody Rodeo Stampede Hotel: Cody Cowboy Village (Neat place and very nice) Helpful hint: Chuckwagon dinner and show and rodeo is a good deal. They all work together. They'll tell you to stay for the whole show but I was told to get to the rodeo early so the kids and see the big bull and so, mommy could ride the bull. Not the... read more

Geo: 45.0319, -110.705We got a disk with our white water rafting pix. Wanted to share them here. What a hoot. You can tell by the pix. ... read more

Geo: 45.0319, -110.705Weather: High 80s and blue skies. Perfect weather from sunrise to sunset.  Location: Gardiner, MT/ Yellowstone Highlights: Yellowstone and all its glory Lowlights: Not seeing a moose or bear #of Swearwords: Many under breath out of fear of death People we met: No one Activities: 10 hours in Yellowstone Hotel: Cowboy Cabins (awesome!) Helpful hint: Start out early because it is a good hour and a half with no stops or delays to Old Faithful. Plan to stay in Old Faithful for an hour in case you miss the blow (its 90-120 minutes between blows). if you are afraid of heights and sailing off a cliff, beware of the east upper loop.  Restaurants: We woke up to a gorgeous Montana morning. Had our breakfast and began our Yellowstone journey. Our plan was to drive down to Old Faithful at the bottom of the ... read more