Pineyapple

Today we visited the Badlands National park and toured the 22 mile loop. The Badlands were formed by volcanic ash hundreds of millions of years ago. Erosion over the past 500 thousand years, caused the formations we see now. One section of the park has brilliant colors of gold and red. The badlands are made up of peaks, valleys, buttes, and wide prairies. We encountered a small herd of bighorn sheep on the slopes, and witnessed two head butting. We also noticed several sheep at the very top of a butte, looking down at us. We took about two hours to do the drive. We noticed birds which were very vocal. But there were very few trees for them to nest. On the way to the Minuteman Missile Site we noticed hundreds of birds with mud ... read more

We entered the park through the west entrance again this morning. Today we were only greeted by a few bison along the road. We did spot several elk grazing close to the road, unfortunately we did not get a photo of them. We stopped at some amazing guiser basins which had bubbling clear blue water that rushed off the basin and flowed directly into Firehole River. The scenery was spectacular again which was whetting our appetite for 'Old Faithful'. Old Faithful is a bit off the main road, but because of it's popularity, the area is well prepared for visitors. We were lucky to have timed our stop as Old Faithful was estimated to erupt about 10 minutes after we parked. And almost right on cue, it erupted. If we had arrived a few minutes after ... read more

Today we are driving the Peaks to Craters Scenic Byway on our way to Yellowstone National Park. We are traveling a very diverse Idaho landscape, mountains, deserts, lava fields, and irrigated pastures. We stopped at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve which had volcanic activity as recent as 2000 years ago. Literature from the park indicates that it got it's name from a geologist that described it as "the surface of the moon as seen through a telescope." (The craters on the moon are actually formed by meteorites, not volcanos). In 1924 President Coolidge proclaimed Craters of the Moon a National Monument, preserving "a weird and scenic landscape, peculiar to itself." The lava fields come from not one volcano but rather a series of deep fissures in the earth's crust-known collectively as the "Great ... read more

It's early Sunday morning May 19th, our bags are packed and loaded in the car. The kids are up and enjoying breakfast. We finished creating a playroom for the kids, enjoyed wonderful food prepared by Yuna and Alf, including a great Korean meal one night and homemade sushi another night. We also had some playtime with the kids. We went to a great swimming pool one day, rode the Seattle Ferris wheel, and the carousel. Al and Alf went shrimping one day with Alf's friend Shawn. It is now time to hit the road and travel back East. If we 'click our heels two times' will be home? We clicked our heels and it did not work, so back into the Prius and head East to Pendleton, Oregon via Walla Walla Washington. On the road to ... read more

We had a nice surprise anniversary gift waiting for us in Portland, OR. Alf and Yuna made hotel room arrangements for us at an unique hotel, the McMenamins Kennedy School. The school thrived from 1916 until 1974-1975 school year. Due to low enrollment and a changing environment, the school was closed. A community minded group reclaimed the school for a hotel, restaurant, and activities. The walls are covered with school memorabilia and related art work. The eclectic use of light fixtures caught our eye. As we arrived on May Day, we got to enjoy the community events at the school. They had an elementary school class dance around the Maypole, face painting for the kids, and live entertainment throughout the day and evening. We drove into downtown Portland and did a brief walking tour of Pioneer ... read more