Trip to Idaho

We left early on the morning of August 1st for the final destination of Idaho. We decided that we would take the northern route on the way there and the southern route (I-80) on the way back. The first day we drove 13 hours from WI to Rapid City, SD. We took a little detour at sunset to show the kids the badlands. Kris and I went this route on our honey moon, and it was great fun to show the kids some of the sites we had enjoyed over12 years ago.

The next day we headed up to Mt Rushmore. We took a hike around the base of the mountain, and the kids did a great job with that. It had changed a lot since we were there last. We were going to go and see Crazy Horse, but we decided by the look of it from the free way that nothing much had happened in the last twelve years, and we didn't want to pay $25 to see it look just as it had 12 years ago. Then we drove into Wyoming and up over the Big Horn Mountains. That was probably the highlight of the trip for me. The mountains were absolutely fabulous! The nature was incredible and it was so not touristy! We spent the second night at Greybull, WY.

The third day we headed off. We went through Cody, WY which I thought looked like a wonderful place to live. We went through some tunnels in the mountains, and came out at Yellowstone Park. We spent most of the day driving through Yellowstone. I was thrilled that we got to see a grizzly bear in the wild! We hiked down near the bottom of a 384 foot waterfall. Going back up wasn't as much fun...especially with the higher altitude, but all the kids made it! Another highlight was seeing Mamoth Springs. From there we drove over the mountains into the highland plains of southern Idaho. We arrived in around 10pm.

The kids did an incredible job with all the traveling this time. That is not to say there was no fighting, but for the most part, they were real troopers...especially in Yellowstone when Kris and I were going picture crazy!

We are staying with the Waltons and enjoying our time with them very much! We will be heading to Oregon tomorrow morning and coming back on Thursday night. To everyone who has read this and prayed for our safety...Thank You! I will post pictures when we get back home to WI! Our internet connection here is slow.