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Day 2 Sunday, 6 July Mount Rushmore & Rapid City
Foregoing the speed of I-80 across Nebraska, Randy navigated the tour to continue along Nebraska Highway 2 through the scenic Sand Hills to Alliance. It was a bucolic ride on two lane roads through the rolling cattle pastures that mile wise was shorter but we couldn’t drive as fast as on the Interstate (about 15 mph less). At Seneca, NE, we crossed over to Mountain Time and gained an extra hour, which we needed. The scenery was mild by the trip’s later standards but the adults concurred with the AAA and State designation of the route as a Scenic By-Way.
After lunching at Alliance, we left NE 2 and headed north visiting Carhenge, which had been just named by USA Today as one of the top 3 Quirky Landmarks in the U.S. According to the web page, http://carhenge.com/, it was dedicated in 1987, but it was essentially there in 1984 when Randy drove through in college. They’ve added additional car sculptures around it since then. Kitschy, yes but worth a short reccy after a morning spent in the car.
| Jane and Cate at Carhenge |
Jane cowering from a Carhenge dinosaur |
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Once in the Black Hills, we arrived at Wind Cave National Park and stayed a couple hours. We took the easy 1 hour Natural Entrance tour which satisfied all tastes of the family. Although not a particularly beautiful cave, it was an interesting one none-the-less (i.e. box work). We had considered going to the relatively close by Jewel Cave National Park but it was further and time seemed to be tight.
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Wind Cave NPS sign
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| Inside Wind Cave |
Rero ad |
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We drove by the long time work in progress Crazy Horse sculpture but decided to skip visiting it for lack of time and steep entrance fees. It’s not a National Park and isn’t getting finished any time soon. And why should they when people will pay to see it in the semi started state it’s been in for at least 40 years.
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You can see if just fine from here...
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We got to Mount Rushmore at about 630 pm and stayed just over an hour. The short stay was due in no small part to our group being very tired, hungry and hence cranky. Still after you take the obligatory photos with the iconic mountain sculpture and swing through the visitor center to view the artifacts of the crafting of the sculpture, you’re pretty much done with it (plus both Bethany and Randy had been there before lessening their desire to linger). Perhaps if we were camping there and had time to hike among the surrounding granite pinnacles it would have been more appreciated. Arguably underwhelming its worth pointing out that it was one the non-natural National Parks we planned on visiting. On the cranky front, we considered leaving Jane in the parking lot during a meltdown. It was cute to have Cate convince us not to leave her sister.
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Mount Rushmore sign
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| Randy and the girls |
Bethany's play for a slot in the W&J ALumni magazine |
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We made it to our hotel, a Ramada Inn, outside Rapid City at about 840 pm,. We got some dinner from Pizza Hut across the street and beers from the liquor store that shared the same parking lot and ate in the room. The food brought people back to life and the girls swam in the pool for about hour before it closed.
Day 3 Monday, 7 July Badlands, Devil’s Tower & Gillette
After a continental breakfast at the hotel, we left at about 8 for the Badlands, about 1 hour drive, which seemed short on the adjusted vacation scale. On the way out there we intrigued by the cascade of billboards along Interstate 90 for Wall Drug, the Mecca of American Tourist Traps. The proliferation of roadside ads recalled the Meramec Caverns advertising along I-44 back in the day. With our interest piqued in this world renowned trinket shop we made a stop to take in the nearly full city block of the tiny city of Wall, SD. The enterprise is beguiling in its own kitschy yet culturally significant way and we ended up staying an hour. After all, how can you pass up the chance to get your picture on a fiberglass Jackalope? The free ice water that was its initial claim to fame was nasty, so either it’s deteriorated or 80 years ago, the sub-par water wasn’t so bad on the adjusted scale of the water systems of the time and it was a much appreciated oasis for thirsty travelers.
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Jane and Cate ridin' the wild Jackalope
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After spending more time at Wall Drug than we care liked to admit, we entered Badlands National Park at West entrance (opposite end of the Visitor Center) at about 10. It was drizzly and over cast for the first hour or so but the landscape of eroded rocks was still stunning in the non-normal color palette. We saw a harem of female Big Horn sheep and a prairie dog city but were less entertained by the dogs the second day. The girls didn’t take the time to do Jr Ranger as the Visitor Center where you get the books is on the east end of the park when we were essentially done with our visit. On our way out the eastern end, we took some time to boulder and hike at the “Window” and “Door” (Randy and Cate). If the whole family was into it, we may have lingered longer as it was quite popular with the family crowds.
| Badlands NP sign |
WPA era ad |
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Cate of the Badlands
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Bethany and the girls
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Just outside the east entrance at I-90 there was a temporary Visitor Center for the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site. Randy wanted to stop by for a bit just to see it but the girls took an interest. We watched the short film and they set about getting their first Junior Ranger badges of the trip. We spent close to an hour there and had quite the lively 20 minute talk in the van on I-90 about doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD). They had a copy of Dr. Seuss’s Butter Battle Book at the Visitor’s Center to help kids understand the counterintuitive rationale for the Cold War. We struggled with getting an example they could get their minds around of a stand-off where both sides would lose. Our first examples came up lame as one of them kept saying something like "but I would want to get wet with a Super Soaker". Randy finally compared it to when he would settle their arguments in the past by insisting they stop hitting each other and that each girl should grab a handful of the other’s hair and at the count of three yank as hard as they could. As mad as they were at one another, they never took him up on the suggestion and never yanked their hair. With this eample, they got the idea behind the MAD doctrine.
We grabbed some lunch at in Rapid City in route to Devil’s Tower National Monument (about 190 miles and 3 hours driving time). We were able to see the mountain over twenty miles away and it is something even from a distance. We got there at about 4:45 and the girls quickly set about working on their Junior Ranger badges, having been once again inspired to work at them after Minuteman Missile NHS. After the badge work, we spent another hour hiking part of the way around the tower including some bouldering on the lower portion of the boulder field. Apparently we were suppose to have signed in for this (Ooops!).
| Devils Tower NM sign |
WPA era ad |
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As a side note, Randy made the girls watch Close Encounters of a Third Kind in preparation for this segment of the trip. The girls were completely unimpressed with the early 1980s special effects which seemingly dragged on forever. The film really doesn’t hold up well as and is bit of a relic of the time it came out.
| The Curti ready for Close Encounters |
Jane and Cate bouldering |
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The drive from Devil’s Tower to Gillette, WY was only 65 miles but it was another long day in a series of them without having dinner yet and we got to the hotel at 8 pm. However, there was instant joy from the back seat upon seeing our cheap points Fairfield Inn, which had an attached indoor water park. What a happy bonus surprise and it was easily the kid’s favorite activity of the day and the trip to date even though we only got an hour in before it closed for the night.
Day 4 Tuesday, 8 July & Big Horns
After three long days, we slept in and had a leisurely morning at hotel, almost missing the free continental breakfast that ended at 9. Actually that was anything but leisurely as the entire hotel of family trailers showed up the last quarter hour to eat and it was the chaos of the semi-awake being semi-polite as they tried to get their complimentary breakfafast in. Still the girls got a second trip to the water park fun afterwards and we didn’t leave for Cody until 11. We felt comfortable as it was only an estimated 249 miles to take the northern route along highway which should have taken just over 4 hours according to Google Earth.
After lunch Sheridan, we made a detour into Montana for 15 minutes so the kids could add another state to their life lists. Sure it was kind of cheating but they were happy to add a fifth new state to their life lists on the trip. Highway 14A over the Big Horns includes sign post markers listing the geologic unit and the age of the rocks. One of the four of us though it was pretty cool but didn’t have much luck getting the driver to slow down, so he could read them much less stop and get out to ogle the fossils. Good thing Randy didn’t buy the Roadside Geology of Wyoming at the Devils Tower bookstore, although he called to him as possible learning tool for the trip (after all, “…outings ought to be, fraught with purpose and practicality.”).
We did stop and have some snowball fun near Bald Mountain at west end of Big Horn Mountains. A snow bank in July is hard to pass up for the flatlanders who don’t see it except on vacation in the mountains.
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Bighorn Snowballs in the July
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After driving the 10% grade down the western side of the range, Bethany was up for a comfort station break at Visitor Center of the Big Horn Canyon National Recreation Area in Lovell. A kindly older Ranger beguiled us with tales of a canyon overlooking a thousand foot sheer drop off just a few miles back and a short hop to the north (20 minute detour). Her recommendation turned into an unexpected treat of a breath taking visit to Devil’s Overlook to see the merge of Devil Canyon with the Big Horn Canyon and the associated rivers. The detour also gave us a legitimate reason to be in Montana that day and the girls worked on another Junior Ranger Badge.
| Bighorn Canyon National Rec. Area sign |
Bighorn Canyon Ad |
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Curti at the Devil's Overlook
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We got to Cody about 730 pm and had lodging at the Buffalo Bill Village Cabins (a Kayak Expedia recommendation). We had reserved a single cabin with two double beds in the lodging complex that was older than any of us (and maybe older than our parents too). Though all the furnishings were fairly new and in surprisingly good taste, the cabin was tiny with little room beyond the beds. The real issue was they had recently replaced the carpet and the smell gave Bethany an instant headache and bothered her to the point of her deciding to sleep in the car instead. Wisely Randy decided to talk to the front desk and they were very accommodating, giving us a different room where the carpet hadn’t just been replaced. It also had the bonus of being about twice as large with Queen Beds instead of the doubles. Having some fine pizza at a microbrewery in town followed by A Bug’s Life on TV, returned everyone to good spirits. What looked like a hotel nightmare turned into the best night sleep of the trip.
| Cabin in Cody |
Cody Postcard |
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Day 5 - Wednesday, 9 July Cody and Yellowstone
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Life lessons in a Cody Cafe
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After a breakfast at Pete’s Café on Sheridan in Cody (a good family friendly café) we back tracked a bit to Powell to visit the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center (Japanese Internment Camp). We had a friend recommend it highly and were really glad for putting it on the “must do” part of the itinerary. The museum, which opened in 2011, is a private one, not directly affiliated with the State or the US governments. The museum does an excellent job retelling a part of American history most people have chosen to forget or not recall. It included a racist anti-Japanese political cartoon by Dr Seuss who we generally remember for his exemplary tales of morality for children. It also included clear indication that FDR’s long standing anti-Japanese bias which had much to do with his signing Executive Order 9066, which created the internment. As parents it was a good teaching moment to show the complexities of people we generally regard as heroes sometimes have feelings and actions that are wrong. Overall, a very moving experience that we highly recommend.
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Heart Mtn Internment Camp
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After lunch in Cody, we went spent the rest of the afternoon in another museum: Buffalo Bill Center of the West Museum. Actually calling it a single museum is a bit misleading as it is five museums with large and extensive world class collections of firearms, western art, natural history, plains Indians and of course Buffalo Bill. We spent some time eyeing the numerous Hawken Rifles made in St. Louis and remembered in Webster Groves for the Historical Center (and where Bethany and Randy got married). We also spent time with the various Spencer Repeating Rifles, which they had a number of as well. While the subject may seem uninteresting to the non-Western movie lover, even Bethany remained engaged for the 4 plus hours we were there.
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Outside the Buffalo Bill Museum
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Eventually museum overload set in and the need to get our next destination called us to move on to Yellowstone National Park, where we had reservations for four nights at the Grant Village Lodge. The drive from Cody to the east entrance of Yellowstone past the Buffalo Bill Reservoir and over Sylvan Pass is gorgeous. As with several sights along the trip, Randy was amazed at how he completely forgotten seeing this even though he had gone through it twice before (1984 and 1990). Apparently memories become overwritten like data on a disc drive if not refreshed with pictures or recalled subsequently.
| Yellowstone NP sign |
Cell coverage is iffy in YNP so a bit of history for the girls |
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After getting in the park, we had another late dinner, this one at the Lake Restaurant cafeteria in route (7:30-8:30). By the time we finally reached our room at 9 pm we were tired and a little cranky. The mosquitoes that descended on us at the dusk while empting the car were particularly annoying and we rushed to unload our gear from the mini-van.
Day 6 - Thursday, 10 July Yellowstone- Old Faithful Geyser Basin
We had a slow start with Cate and Bethany sleeping in, while Jane and Randy did a reccy of the Grant Village layout having awakened at dawn as usual. We stumbled across a few elk well within the 25 yards zone recommended to stay away from them but they were completely disinterested in us. After breakfast in the room, the family made it to the Grant Village Range Station at about 1030. The Ranger desk had posted a next predicted eruption of Old Faithful an hour later. Since it was about a half an hour away, we determined this would be as good as any start to our YNP tour.
| At Old Faithful |
Morning Glory Pool Ad |
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Following the crowed spectacle of Old Faithful peeping, we spent the next couple hours hiking around the Geyser Basin to the Morning Glory Pool and back. We were very happy to see the Riverside Geyser erupt and the Castle Geyser erupt as well along the way. It was very fortunate timing though we hadn’t planned it that way at all.
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Jane took a great picture of her sister while waiting for a geyser
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| Curti with Riverside Geyser |
Bethany and the girls at Morning Glory Pool |
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As had become part of the trip routine, we were over tired, thirsty and hungry when we got lunch at the Old Faithful Lodge. Afterwards, we were able to watch another Old Faithful eruption at about ~2:45, but by this time the girls had already become very blasé about the majesty of erupting geysers and were anxious to move on.
With their nagging to leave before it was completely over, we were able to beat the crowd that meanders to the Old Faithful Inn afterwards. The parents enjoyed just sitting in the great hall, appreciating its rustic charm while Jane and Cate happily explored the gift shop. An unexpected treat was taking the last tour of the day of the Inn by a terrific guide from Chattanooga. The advertised half hour tour lasted 2 ½ times that but totally held our attention the whole time. By “our” attention, I mean Randy and Bethany as Jane and Cate had a Pee Wee Herman at the Alamo exasperated impatience during the whole thing (though neither would ask the “But when do we get to see the basement” line from PWH’s Big Adventure). Ice cream from the Bear Paw shop atop the balcony did much to salvage their grumpy mood.
| Old Faithful Inn Ad |
Continental Divide sign |
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We made it back to our room at 6:45 pm and Bethany was ready to relax in quiet. Randy and the girls headed to the Grant Village Lakeside Restaurant for dinner, which took 2 hours. The restaurant was slammed, like everything else at Grant Village. Evidently the highway south of Grant was closed for three hours due to an overturned bus accident and all the traffic between YNP and the Green Teton NP was diverted to the village or stopped.
Day 7 - Friday, 11 July Yellowstone – Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
On our second day in the park we made a 10 hour tour of Eastern Loop of the park going from Mud Volcano to Tower Falls and back. YNP is huge at ~3,500 square miles (the size of Rhode Island and Delaware put together) and it takes awhile to get to from one place to another.
We stopped first at the Mud Volcano Geothermal Area and did the 0.6 mile trail through a variety of fumaroles and mud pots which was pretty fun while stinky. The ever present Hydrogen Sulfide gas wasn’t too bad and was certainly better than the smell emanating from the pit toilets.
| Jane w'ith bisons |
Jane's "ghost" mirror shot of Randy and Cate |
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Moving on to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone – South Rim, we spent an hour at Artist Point, which has easy access from the parking lot and stunning views of the Lower Falls. We attended the Junior Ranger program there, so the girls could knock off the requirement for their YNP badges but the talk was uninspired. Clearly the near retirement Ranger had given the talk too many times and wasn’t that in to it (at least not that morning).
We stopped at the Upper Falls View Point, which was a very easy hike from parking lot and worth a quick stop after Artist Point. From there, Randy and Cate took the Uncle Tom Trail to get a better view of the Lower Falls. The view was terrific but the hike was strenuous and not for all tastes. Jane and Bethany made the right call for them by staying at the Upper Falls View Point. They were certain of their decision after seeing the pictures of the lengthy staircases precariously bolted to the side of the canyon, that formed much of the lower trail.
| Curti - Lower Falls of the Yellowstone |
Randy and Cate along the Old Tom trail to the Lower Falls |
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We had lunch at the Canyon Lodge restaurant. It was OK but we were clearly getting tired of the mediocre fair offered by Xanterra, the YNP restaurant contractor.
We continued north to Tower Falls and made the 150 yard hike from the parking lot. In retrospect, we questioned whether the over an hour round trip drive there and back from the Canyon service area was worth it. It would be something to skip if time was an issue.
Back at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, we visited the Brink of the Upper Falls, which offered an incredible view just above the falls. It was definitely the best view for the effort expended and the Family Favorite of the day.
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Upper Falls of the Yellowstone
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We had dinner at the fancier Grant Village Lake Restaurant and were treated to a mild hail storm while noshing.
Day 8 -Saturday, 12 July Yellowstone – Mammoth Hot Springs
Day three at YNP had us leaving the hotel at 8:30 am heading to the northwest portion of the park. After an hour plus of driving, we stopped at Gibbons Falls, which was picturesque and along the road way that made for some fun pictures. Perhaps most importantly it offered an excuse to get out of the car on the way up to the northwest end of the park.
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Gibbon Falls
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We reached Mammoth Hot Springs (a.k.a. Fort Yellowstone) at around 11. The girls got their Junior Ranger badges in the temporary building while the historic one built by the Army was being rehabbed. We did some short hikes on the lower basin to see Palette Spring (the best of the bunch) and Minerva Springs, which was no longer flowing. We think the girls licked it better as its name was same as “Minerva” McGonagall of Hogwarts fame (it's been a very Harry Potter couple years at the Curtis house hold).
| Pallette Spring |
Randy as the Big Bison spirit (it was on the "touch" table) |
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Sick of the mediocre offerings at the Xantera restaurants of the past few days, we opted to take the five mile jaunt outside of the park to the very small town of Gardiner, MT (a second legitimate visit to the state for the girls). No chains restaurants were present, except a Subway in a gas station. We tried our luck and came up with some truly excellent wood fired pizza at Yellowstone Pizza. The first meal that was good enough to go back again were that a possibility. Getting pictures outside the original YNP entrance or Roosevelt Arch was fun too.
| Roosevelt Arch at YNP North entrance |
YNP Roosevelt Arch Ad |
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Returning to Mammoth Hot Springs, we did the Upper Basin including the interesting driving trail to a few more geysers and springs, though the geyser thrill was ebbing. On the way back south we visited the Norris Geyser Basin and the Museum of the National Park Ranger. The museum had an interesting display of Ranger paraphernalia in a hundred year old cabin that was pleasant viewing but not a must see. We made a nice short hike around Porcelain Basin and a short hop to Emerald Spring on the Back Basin but our enthusiasm was definitely waning. Further south, we stopped at Artists Paintpot which is off the road over a third of a mile and wasn’t worth the effort, especially after the more readily visible splendors of the day (Jane stayed in the car as she was done geyser peeping).
A pleasant treat was the Firehole River Loop and Falls, a two mile, one way southbound off shoot just south of Madison Junction. It sported spectacular and easy canyon viewing and was well worth the minimal effort. There’s a swimming hole at the south end of the loop that was very popular but we weren’t prepared (clothing or mentally). As we drove on, we decided we are definitely more canyon and waterfall scenery fans than geyser nerds.
| Norris Geyser Basin |
Firehole Canyon Falls |
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We made a final stop at the Old Faithful Snow lodge Grill for a bite to eat and final YNP souvenir shirt shopping and reached the hotel room at 8 pm.
Day 9 - Sunday, 13 July Grand Tetons
It’s a short hour plus long drive from YNP south to Grand Teton NP. We got to the Colter Bay Visitor Center just before ten and had an idea of where our lodging would be for the next couple nights, giving us some comfort in that. We attended the ranger talk introducing the park and getting the girls started on their badges with an engaging Ranger intern (certainly not the jaded Ranger of a couple days earlier).
| Grand Teton sign |
Colter Bay Ad |
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Leaving Colter Bay, we moseyed along the Teton Park Road south trail visiting various turnoffs and junctions: Jackson Lake, Signal Mountain and Jenny Lake. The Tetons are stunning and Bethany agreed that this was the most beautiful driving she ever had as we drove along the main park road. Along the way, we also stopped at a Sacred Heart Chapel nestled in the woods, which would make an excellent destination spot for a Catholic Wedding (hint, hint Jane and Cate 15-30 years from now). We had lunch at the Signal Mountain Lodge restaurant that was fabulous both for the views outside and superior food (the “Fun Guy” portabella and cheese sandwich was fabulous).
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The girls at Grand Tetons
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We lingered at the main GTNP Visitor Center at Moose before heading out of the park to Jackson. We T-shirt shopped a bit and had Blizzards for dinner at DQ. The town of Jackson is very gentrified (i.e. expensive), as is the park to some extent. There was minimal t-shirt shops and none that would be considered “bargains”. YNP had a family feel to it but GTNP has a definite more upscale and exclusive upper crust feels to it.
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RnB before Cascade Cayon
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Not so Little Cabin in the Woods
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We returned to Colter Bay by 7:00 pm and checked into our cabin and were very pleasantly surprised to have a room twice the size of the one in YNP and sporting an extra twin bed. After the tight quarters of YNP this was a major moral boost to the troops. We attended the Ranger program that evening before heading back to the cabin at dusk (around 9).
Day 10 - Monday, 14 July Grand Tetons Jenny Lake & Snake River
Our second day at GTNP was a day of exploring. We got to Jenny Lake South around ten, but the main parking lot was already 90-95% full. We took the shuttle ferry from the marina to the west trailhead of Cascade Canyon. The whole family hiked up to Hidden Falls Point like 75% of the rest of the park visitors. Given Bethany’s quad muscle and ankle issues, she decided it was best to hang back while Randy and the girls continued on to Inspiration Point. For the next hour plus She became THE photographer for nearly every group that came to the falls.
| Hidden Falls at Jenny Lake |
Cascade Canyon rapids on hike to Hidden Falls |
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The hike up to Inspiration Point was narrow, rocky and a bit strenuous but the worst part was how crowded it was. Teenage and 20-something boys would pass on the edge around us, where one misstep and they be done for. We took our time and were careful (Jane wouldn’t have done it any other way). If we needed any encouragement to be careful while heading up there, there was a helicopter medi-vacing a climber who fell somewhere else on the mountain. We later learned that another climber died out there about the same time.
| Cliff to Insperation Point |
Jane and Cate with Grand Teton |
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There was many beautiful overlooks of the lake on our way up including one frequented by chipmunks, where we took lots of pictures (it was also a fine excuse to sit and rest). Once at Inspiration Point, there wasn’t any enthusiasm for continuing on along Cascade Canyon as Randy had done solo 30 years earlier (not returning to his camp until after 9 pm that night).
| Randy at Insperation Point |
WPA era Jenny Lake Ad |
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The girls leading the way on the hike back
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After our hikes, we returned to the Signal Mountain Lodge restaurant that we liked so much the day before and three of us shared the “mountain” of Nachos we saw others get (another good choice)
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Born to live on Nacho Mountain...
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During the late afternoon Randy and the girls did a ten mile Scenic Float (0-1 rapids) on the Snake River through the park from Deadman’s Bar to Moose Landing through the Barker Ewing company. Bethany hung out in peace and solitude at the Jackson Lake Lodge great room. Although initially somewhat disappointed that it wasn’t going to be the Mountain Dew commercial of white water rafting fun, we had a great time and saw multiple bald eagles, beaver and a moose. Unfortunately we don’t have fantastic pictures having left the SLR and telephoto lens with Bethany. Further easing the disappointment of some (Randy and Cate) of the lack of white water danger, we did see the remains of a raft ensnared on an overturned tree root ball and asked the guide about it. Evidently, the day before a raft of locals (a non-professional guided tour) got overturned and a 62 year old woman drowned despite having a PFDs. Sobering.
| Randy and Jane on the Snake River |
Cate on the Snake River |
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At the start of our Snake River float
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We had dinner at the Colter Bay Café Dinner and were none too sad that this was going to be our last contractor run restaurant experience for awhile.
Day 11 - Tuesday, 15 July Colorado Springs
We knew we had a long day ahead as the drive from the Grand Tetons to Colorado Springs was 600 miles and suppose to take about 9 ½ hours. We got an early 0745 am start and were soon enjoying the scenic drive through the Wind River plateau. At least the parents enjoyed the scenery as by this point the girls REALLY didn’t care.
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the back seat of the Sienna
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Although not an Interstate, Wyoming Highway 287 had some exceptionally nice rest stops, completely putting Missouri’s to shame. At the one in Sweetwater, there were some directions to the Oregon Trail on BLM land a few miles to the south that still sported the wagon wheel ruts over 150 years later. Sensing a learning experience, we made the detour to a point where the Oregon Trail and Mormon Trail split. We took a few minutes to try and appreciate how tough (and desperate) the pioneers had to be to make such a journey through such harsh country with such meager conveyances. It was easy to imagine how easy it would be to die in the great wide open. At Randy’s insistence we even drove several hundred feet along the trail in our Toyota Conestoga wagon before fears of popping a tire on the sage or creosote bushes made continuing on to the Springs seem like a far better idea.
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Oregon Trail Map
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The Oregon Trail at Sweetwater, WY
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It was a mostly good day of driving until we turned due south on I-25 at Cheyenne. Once we passed the outlying areas of Fort Collins we were ensnared in lots of traffic along the Rocky Mountain Front, which added a 1½ hours to our drive time for the day.
We were ever so glad to reach Micah and Tiffany’s home in Colorado Springs. We thoroughly enjoyed our first home cooked meal in well over a week and getting to play with the nieces/cousins: Julia and Mariella. The parents all stayed up late chatting and sharing stories.
Day 12 - Wednesday, 16 July Colorado Springs
When we visited Colorado Springs in 2012, Micah and Tiffany took us on a whirl wind tour of the USAF Academy, the Olympic Training Center, Focus on the Family (where Micah works), Garden of the Gods and Manitou Springs. Having just spent the last 11 days in a car to look at scenery, we were content to just hang out and play with Julia and Mariella, their dog Ari and cat Ashland. By early afternoon the parts of the gang felt we should see more of the sights, so we headed off to old Colorado City with a plan to visit the arcade museum in Manitou Springs afterwards. A massive rain storm cut short our outing and we took refuge in an ice creamery that served fancy hot dogs too (the adults were hungry). The kids got ice cream, as did Randy referring to his banana spilt as a vegetarian hot dog. Flash flooding in the foothills, curtailed any further sightseeing and we return to their home, only leaving for dinner at the local NY style pizzeria, which made everyone happy.
| Aunt Bethany with Mariella |
Girls cousins explore old Colorado City |
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| Girl Cousins (Ops! no group shots with Micah & Tiffany) |
Garden of the Gods Ad no we didn't go but its a cool ad |
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Day 13 Thursday, 17 July Topeka, KS
After breakfast with the Sages, we left Colorado Springs on Highway 24 heading for Topeka, KS some 514 miles and approximately 7 hours 11 minutes away. We lost an hour going from Mountain to Central Time zone and were plenty cranky when we got to Fairfield Inn Topeka at 5:45 pm. We had dinner at Perkins (second time of the trip and a new family favorite) followed by a trip to Menards to get prepped for the one they’re building in Richmond Heights. Despite an original reluctance to visit the home center, Bethany did enjoy seeing the wider selection of household options and was the one lingering at the various spots of the store. A trip to the pool and some HGTV capped the evening off.
Day 14 Friday, 18 July Webster Groves
It was suppose to be an easy 311 miles and 4 ½ hour drive home. We had visions of stopping by the Harry Truman Library in Independence to break up the drive and perhaps some Shakespeare’s Pizza in Columbia for lunch. A serious melt down by Jane while still in Kansas put an end to that. We pulled off at an exit and made her get out of the car along with Cate so the parents cold talk and vent. After discussing the pros and cons of various ideas (including use of Randy’s duct tape), we settled on just putting her in the way back seat where we didn’t hear her so much and weren’t able to smack in her insolent mouth. This required rearranging the luggage in the back.
When her suitcase came out, Cate totally freaked out at the thought we were leaving her sister behind, which was really quite touching. Jane told us to go ahead and leave her in all her preteen angst and self-pity. We never seriously considered leaving Jane (well not seriously anyway).
Jane was asleep shortly after we got back on the road and all was well again but there was no stopping until we got home.
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Meltdowns occured but we totaly beat the USA Today odds
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Once home, unloading the car went fairly smoothly and there was much rejoicing at once again being reunited with the dogs, who showed no lingering anger with our abandoning them but only pure happiness that we were back.
It was funny that within a half an hour, everyone found a different room in the house where they needed to be, away from the others. This lasted for awhile. Seventy five hundred miles in close quarters with your tribe in Force Family Fun (FFF) will do that to you.
We were tired, but it was a good kind of tired.
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Bethany and Gussie
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RBJC Curtis Family Front Page
Curtis See America Tour
