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June 2008
Yellowstone
After being away from the world of technology, we’re finally at a campsite that’s close enough to one of the hotels with cell phone coverage! YES!
We’ve spent the last two days in Yellowstone and it’s absolutely beautiful! If you’ve ever been here, then you’ll know what I’m talking about, if not, just use your imagination!
The first day, we drove half of the great loop (a road that winds through Yellowstone and is divided in half so you only have to the upper or the lower loop). We drove the upper loop that day. We saw waterfalls, hot springs, elk, tons of bison, and two black bears!
The bison were so much at home, they would walk down the middle of the street minding their own business! Viewing the bears was my favorite part! However, so many people were around, that a park ranger kept yelling at everyone to stay 100 yards away from the bears. Thankfully, he or she was across a stream…but maybe they move fast, I just don’t know! The second bear we saw was close to the road and another park ranger kept people at bay. However, the bear snuck away by scampering up a tree. Of course, the boys wanted to become Junior Ranger’s at this park, so we started the tasks involved with that! Oh wait, before I forget, when we woke up the first full day at our campsite, a bison was strolling through. He didn’t care where he was, he just wanted to eat the lovely little flowers. And of course, while Mick was cooking a nice breakfast of bacon and eggs, a damned bird came along and stole half of the raw bacon!! What’s up with that? I guess that’s what happens when you’re in the wild.
On the second day, which is today, we knew we had to drive the lower loop and see Old Faithful. So we set out from our campsite, parked the RV near the north end of the park, only because we thought we were going to leave today. Not the case. We found Old Faithful and waited about 45 minutes for it to erupt. It was cool! The boys enjoyed it and ever since I was a small child, I’ve been hyping it up a bit, so it wasn’t as spectacular as I wanted it. But it was still shot the water high into the air. The boys became official Junior Park Rangers after the geyser show and we headed to Yellowstone Lake and then the Mud Volcano area. These hot springs were my favorite, only because mud was boiling and spurting. One was particularly called the Dragon’s Mouth. It looked like a dragon could be inside a cave blowing out smoke and making the growling noises. It it truly interesting how nature works.
We ended the day at a different campsite, only because it was too late to get started on the road. Thankfully, this campsite is close enough to have Internet connection! And to end a good day of site seeing, a rainbow arched across the sky!
Now for the quote of the park…we were visiting Steamboat Geyser and as Joey was peering at it from behind the fence I said, “Joey, that’s called Steamboat Geyser.” He replied by saying, “Is there a boat in there?” How cute is that?!?
Tomorrow we leave headed for Glacier National Park. I’m not sure if we’ll make it there in one day, but we’ll see. It’s been a long day, but a good one.
By the way, thank you to everyone for reading this and posting your comments! I enjoy it and so does my family!!!
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June 22 and 23 - Twin Falls, Idaho
The past two days have been nice. I visited with my grandmother and uncle. On Sunday, we stayed with my grandma during the morning and helped her clean up some flowerpots that were knocked over by the previous days wind storm. After talking for a little while, we took a tour of my Uncle Duke’s salon. He has quite a business and is booked constantly from what I hear. We then went to his house for a tour and for the boys to run off some energy. Thankfully, he has a small dog that loves to chase a tennis ball. That kept everyone busy for awhile!!! Later in the afternoon, we moved the RV to the other campsite with the mineral pool. Even though the campsite was nice, the pool was open to the general public. So I think everyone in Twin Falls was at the pool that day!! They say that the mineral water is supposed to have healing powers or qualities, so maybe Mick’s back will feel better after a good swim! We cleaned up after a good long swim, went to dinner at a great Mexican restaurant with my uncle and aunt and called it a night. The first day was long and tiring!
It’s Monday and it was really a maintenance day for the RV. We had a cracked front windshield fixed and the oil changed, plus a much needed bath for the ole’ girl. While the window was being replaced, we took in the sights at Shoshone Falls and the Perrine Bridge. I forgot how pretty the waterfalls are! The last time I was here was when I was roughly eight or nine years old…I honestly can’t remember. The waterfalls were beautiful! The tumble 212 feet to the canyon floor and are 50’ higher than Niagara Falls. During the late spring and early summer, the falls are in full force, but during other times of the year, the water is redirected to irrigation canals for the local farmers. So that’s why many farmers are irrigating and having such boutiful crops! We also saw from a distance the Evel Knievel jump site and walked across the Perrine Bridge. From the bridge, it is a great view of Snake River and apparently, this bridge is a popular site for BASE jumpers. Who knew?
Thankfully, the day is coming to a close. The laundry is caught up, the Jeep and RV are clean and the fluids are topped off. Now off to bigger and better things! Yellowstone is the next destination and I believe it’s roughly a six hour drive…probably seven in the camper, but we’ll see.
I will miss my grandmother most dearly. I haven’t seen her in ages and it was a great visit. Unfortunately I cannot be here to help her with her gardening and watering her lawn. I know one day she’ll be gone and thankfully I was able to visit with her and share her smile and laugh one last time. Thank you grandma for your wonderful attitude on life. I hope to take it with me to share with others.
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Family in Idaho
Las Vegas was nice, but it is just too darn hot to stay there for long. I’m glad we married in April when it was cooler and not so many tourists.
We headed north for Idaho. I have a grandmother living in Twin Falls that I haven’t seen in a few years. Before we left the Air Force Base, we hit the commissary for supplies. Now this was a nice place. I haven’t seen fresh produce like this in awhile! I guess that’s the luxury you get when you live close to California, or maybe it’s because it’s the Air Force.
After we restocked, we headed north in Highway 93. We stopped for gas in Ely, NV and the price was $4.53/gallon. I think that’s the most we’ve had to pay thus far! While having the kids strech their legs, Joey wanted to wash the windows, so I kindly explained to him he could do it when he was bigger. So he asked if he could mop the floor, so I said sure, anything to keep him in the area and somewhat quiet. So he took the window washer thingy (yes, I said thingy) and proceeded to scrub the concrete ground. It was quite entertaining. Once it was time to leave, he said (quote of the day), “When I grow up to be a big boy, I can wash the windows on the camper.” I said, “You sure can buddy.” Now isn’t that cute???
We treated the boys to Burger King in Wells, NV and kept heading north. Once in Northern Nevada and into Idaho, the scenery changed quite a lot. We finally saw mountains with snow! It was quite a sight. Green trees, farmland and little creeks burbled in the landscape. Thankfully, we were out of the desert. As we were driving along, we noticed what we thought were clouds headed our way…but not, it was dust. Apparently something called a down burst was headed our way. Winds were roughly 30-40 mph and gusts up to 55 mph. Thankfully, our RV park for the night was in sight, so we stopped and made camp.
Tomorrow, we visit my grandmother and will take in the sights. I hear there’s a mineral springs at another RV park, so we’re definetely camping there tomorrow.
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Viva Las Vegas
Having a connection in the mountains and desert is horrible! I wrote a post, but once I clicked save, it did not go…so here’s round two regarding Las Vegas…
After we cleaned up and made camp at Nellis Air Force Base, it was time to hit the town. I read in a Las Vegas magazine about a Nascar themed restaurant. So we headed to the Sahara for some good eats and Nascar memoribilia. The restaurant had all the Nascar sites that anyone could think of…replica cars, a place to stand to wave the checkered flag and even Carzilla (an oversized race car) plus many tv’s with the race of the day. From there, we headed to Treasure Island to catch the free show. It was packed and I held up one kid at a time so they could see over everyone’s head. It was definetely more risque than I remembered. But the boys enjoyed the boy and girl pirates as they danced and fought. Of course, one ship was “half-way” sunk. From there we drove to the Bellagio to view the fantastic water fountain display. We arrived just as one show finished, so we were able to get a great spot for viewing. “This Kiss” by Faith Hill started and so did the water. It twirled, swirled, danced and sprayed back and forth with lights while getting grins from my boys. Once that was over, we decided to haul them to downtown Las Vegas to Fremont Street. If you haven’t been there before, it’s the biggest light show in Vegas, I think, by using a tunnel to display their show. However, once it started, the loudness and bright lights scared Jacob and Joey so much, they started crying!!! We backed away from Fremont Street a good distance and even though they were scared, they couldn’t take their eyes off of the lights. It was roughtly 11:15pm when we left downtown Vegas. The boys were so tired and exhausted from seeing so many new and exciting things, they fell asleep quickly en route to the campsite.
And for those that don’t know this tidbit either, MIck and I were married in Las Vegas nine years ago on April Fool’s Day. How crazy is that? So driving along the strip, seeing the place we stayed and the sights we saw brought back a lot of great memories. You gotta love Vegas!!!
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June 20-Leaving one desert for another
On Friday, we left the Grand Canyon is search for the Hoover Dam. We traded one desert for another. The scenery didn’t change much, just more cacti to look at. It’s so hot, that our RV is losing power with the fan running constantly. You can tell she likes going downhill because the a/c gets colder!
The Hoover Dam still impresses me. We arrived there roughly at 1:45pm. We parked before we crossed it and WOW…now this is hot weather! My skin felt like it was blistering just standing there. After we looked at the dam, we drove across it, in hopes of finding RV parking just across it. No such luck. So we had to drive back across it. However, I was not going to let the boys walk that long distance in such hot weather. So we drove back across it in our Jeep! We got out, looked at the dam and noticed how low water level at Lake Mead. Once it was time to go, we drove back across the dam to hook up the Jeep to the RV and then again, we drove one last time across the dam….so let’s see, that makes…five times we drove across the Hoover Dam! We are experienced dam people!
Finally, we are off to Las Vegas! We stayed at Nellis Air Force Base for the night, but first we needed to see the Las Vegas Strip before we moved on.
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At the Grand Canyon
I know, I haven’t blogged in a couple of days….so here we go!!!
The Grand Canyon was awesome! In the morning, we walked decided to have the boys become Jr. Ranger’s. So we found an official park ranger and she explained the whole process to the boys. They had four activities to complete and one ranger program to attend. All of this had to be finished before 400pm that day, because that’s when our sunset tour started. We walked to many different points along the canyon rim. At each place, the boys sat down and described what they saw or drew a picture of their experience. The best part was finding the cacti. My youngest, Joey, 4, thought we were in Radiator Springs, which is from the movie Cars. At long last, the tour came and honestly, it was just okay. The sunset was great however. THe colors of the canyon walls lit up and were beautiful. Thankfully, the day was finally over because every one of us were tired. They say it’s a dry heat, but come on…it’s hot no matter what! And for those of you in North Carolina…the pine tree pollen was horrible here. Our RV and Jeep were covered. I now know that I’m allergic to the green pollen because my allergies were acting up!
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The GRAND CANYON
After waking up at 6am at a truck stop off of I-40, it was time to hit the road, again. We crossed Albuquerque at morning rush hour and through Gallup, New Mexico. Once into Arizona, we took the scenic route into the Navajo Nation Indian Reservation. Of course, this lengthened our time by about an hour since the route was hilly and slow going in a motorhome! And let me tell you something…the landscape is something little to be desired (for me that is). Once you’ve seen hills covered in sage brush and small trees, what else is there to see? Oh yeah…the Grand Canyon. Right!! However, I must tell you about Tuba City, Arizona. The quote of the day is this, “if I owned a music store in Tuba City, I’d make sure to have tubas in stock,” said Mr. Hengen. It is a small town, but it does have a Wal-Mart, McDonalds and other important stores to survive.
We arrived at the Canyon roughly about 600pm, that is we rolled through the gates, paid for an annual pass to not only the Grand Canyon, but Yellowstone National Park, Glacier National Park and Denali National Park. Heck, for $80 we thought it was a good deal!
As we entered the park from the East entrance, we stopped at Desert View first. We walked up the Watchtower and saw breathtaking views of the canyon! It was phenomenal. I did get a little bit dizzy looking down the canyon. Of course, my boys wanted to throw rocks over the side. We found our campground, made dinner and roasted marshmellows. Smores are delicious. When was the last time you had a smore? Eat one, it’s good.
Tomorrow, we’ll explore and take a sunset tour and hope for a gorgeous sunset with beautiful skies. Until next time.
By the way, for all of sweating in North Carolina…the low tonight is 37 degrees and the humidity is 16 percent. Nice.
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Good Bye Oklahoma!! Hello New Mexico!!
We left Oklahoma at “noonish” today. What is noonish? It is anywhere between 1200 and 1300 (1pm). We left Ponca City at 1255pm, so I consider that noonish, don’t you?
We avoided I-40 in Oklahoma, but the road we chose instead, we think, was just as rough! Go figure! However, once we crossed into Texas, things smoothed out and so did the land. Some say Texas is boring due to the flat landscape. I beg to differ. Sure there’s sage brush and barely there hills, but it’s beautiful. You can see for miles and miles! We saw roughly three or four trains while rolling along I-40 and a couple of wind farms. I do like how Texas places the population of their towns right on the sign. We went through one that said, “Population 452,” then another said, “Population 17455.” Isn’t that nice to know?!
We crossed into New Mexico at 745pm Mountain Time Zone. The land is still flat as a pancake, but the skies were absolutely gorgeous! I had Mick literally pull off on the side of I-40 so I could snap pictures of the beautiful sunset. Then as the sun was going down, I made him hold my hand and give me a kiss…how romantic is that?!? The things you do to keep romance in your marriage…watch a sunset from the side of the road. Fantastic! And it really was!
We’ll be stopping in Santa Rosa, New Mexico for the night…probably at a truck stop or a Wal-Mart. Tomorrow we’ll get up bright and early and arrive at the Grand Canyon! I can’t wait. It is one place I’ve wanted to see my entire life…however, I am only 29 years old…sooo…So goodnight for now! We’ll see what tomorrow may bring!
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June 15-O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A…
…do you sing the song every time you hear that word???
Happy Father’s Day to all of the dad’s. It’s been a nice couple of days in Oklahoma. Visiting my dad first at the farm, then traveling to the in-laws in Ponca City, we’ll be leaving here on Tuesday. I have to say, I have missed Oklahoma, just a little bit though. The sunset from the farm was beautiful, orange skies, rays of sunshine bouncing off the clouds, just gorgeous. My boys had the opportunity to ride with my dad in his wheat truck. Of course, it was a great time for all. Once we arrived in Ponca City, the boys have had fun playing with cousins and running around outside. We have another full day in Ponca City, visiting family and getting ready to leave for the Grand Canyon.
And for those of you wondering, Mick is doing better, but he’s not at full speed yet. My mother-in-law and I determined he has salmonella and just has to weather the storm that is the sickness.
And yes, pictures are coming…I promise! Happy Father’s Day to all!
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Good Ole’ I-40
You know you’re in Arkansas when you’re driving along and in the back of a truck are goats. I kid you not, get it kid…like a baby goat…but a truck had two goats hanging out in the back! Crazy! So we left Little Rock Air Force Base early on and headed West on I-40 in search of Oklahoma. We crossed the border and you know you’re in Oklahoma when I-40 starts to get rough and bumpy and you smell cattle trailers (reminds me of the farm). I hear I-40 is even rougher West of Oklahoma City, so we might take a different route to get into New Mexico. However, we are headed for my dad’s farm today. I called him last night and he was cutting wheat, so hopefully the rain will hold off so the boys can ride the combine, which they call Frank the Combine from the movie Cars. It’s going to be a busy time visiting family for the next few days. Both of our families live in Oklahoma and they are within driving distance, so trying to see everyone in such a tight schedule can become difficult at times.
And is Mick, my husband, still sick? Of course. I have no idea what kind of flu bug he has, but it’s seems to be lasting a long time. Thankfully the rest of us are fine and healthy.
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June 12th—Jack Daniels Distillery
How many of you have been to the Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg, TN? And how many of you knew that it is a dry county? Yes, today we toured the famous Jack Daniels Distillery. Even though it’s a dry county, they are still able to make the fine Tennessee whiskey many love. I have to say, it was a good tour…informative, interesting and the smell of yeast is still in my nose. However, my sons did not enjoy the smell…when we walked through the barrel house, Joey did get sick and Jacob came close to it. But the sights of the Jack Daniels stock car made the little ones feel better. So now we’re back on I-40 West headed to Little Rock for the night. Tomorrow we should make it to Oklahoma to visit family for a few days. And thankfully, my husband is feeling better, he’s beginning to pick on me!! But if you’re ever in Southern Tennesee, visit Lynchburg. It’s a quaint and quiet little town that doesn’t get in a hurry too much.
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Western NC
We arrived in Statesville, NC yesterday evening. We stopped at a Camping World so the RV could get the oil changed in the morning. Thankfully, that went fine. However, the health of one family member is questionable and leaving the E-brake on the Jeep while trying to tow it doesn’t work so well. My poor husband is sick. He has some sort of flu, or something. Thankfully, he’s not throwing up all over the place and the Jeep should be fine. We got back onto I-40 around 1100 and kept heading West. We are currently passing through Asheville, NC area and traffic is quite slow! We are on the way to Lynchburg, TN to tour the Jack Daniels Distillery tomorrow. So hopefully we won’t have any troubles with sickness or vehicles anymore. The boys are traveling quite well considering they are full of energy and would run laps around the camper if they could. So let’s hope that Mr. Hengen gets feeling better soon….because who likes a sick husband???
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Leaving on a Jet Plane…no wait…an RV
Today is the day! Yes, today I leave town. My husband and I are transferring to Kodiak, AK! Hooray! Our adventure begins today as we transverse across America in a 30 foot RV on our way to Homer, AK to catch a ferry to Kodiak, AK. The plans are to travel to Oklahoma to visit family, then off of the Grand Canyon, north to visit a grandmother in Idaho and across to Yellowstone, north to Glacier National Park, then up through Canada and onto the Alaskan Canadian Highway! Driving with two young boys will be an adventure in itself, but I’m sure that my husband and I can handle it. My plans are to keep everyone informed of our travels and the crazy adventures that we may run across. I mean, we are traveling roughtly 7400 miles, something is bound to happen.
So good-bye to Elizabeth City and hello Kodiak, Alaksa!
Charly Hengen
