Morning Everyone, It’s now Saturday morning (day 3 of our trip), I am sitting out of Gaea’s (Steve’s step mum) back verandah looking at mountains on the left and the lake on the right. Serene just doesn’t cut it; it’s just so beautiful and calming. The big boys are off fishing and the little boys are inside doing their journal, which by the sounds of it they are losing focus….they are nearly done and then will go outside for some more exploring.
OK, let’s start from the beginning. Bruce and Paula picked up the RV around 1.00pm and by the time we packed from the two houses and got fuel it was after 3.30pm. Just to set the scene, it was 107F so before we even started on the road we were all sweating like nothing else. Up interstate Hwy 5 we drove, it was very hazy (800 bushfires burning in California) and we were heading north in the direction of some of them. We got to Redding and could see the fires in the distance (see pics) weirdest thing was, once we got directly past them gorgeous clear sunny day, freaky thing to experience.
We stopped for dinner and gas ($4.70 gallon = $approx $150-180 to fill the RV) at around 7.30pm, the boys all had a run around outside got some nice pics of the mountains with snow in the background and we all jumped back into the RV and were off again. You will all be glad to hear that I had the video and camera ripping, lots to video and take shots of, Bruce will probably cut a lot of the scenery video out, but hey, I didn’t want anyone to miss anything. The kids did well on the drive, the game boys etc came out, but that’s to be expected, the arguing was minimal while we were driving which always makes it better for the adults. We stopped at a town called Weed and made up the beds and put the boys down to sleep….it took a while but eventually out they went.
Paula was out the back reading and Bruce and I were down the front. Then we drove until we got to our first stop for the trip BEND!!! Funniest thing – we drove into Bend at around 1am trying to find a Flying J truck stop or Wal-Mart car park (RV’s are allowed to park there over night). We found the Wal-Mart sign and turned into the car park to find what looked like RV city, there must have been at least 20 vans, RV’s a couple of trucks, it was hysterical. By this time it was cooler, so we hunkered down and went to sleep, exhausted as you can imagine.
We woke up to a cold Friday morning around 6.00am, all freezing cold, we just went to bed in our 110F clothes from the day before, it was very funny and you had to laugh, we walked over the Albertson’s Supermarket to go to the bathroom, pulled the beds up so the kids had the table etc and we were off (Paula driving) again. The boys snacked on their first breakfast of (GBA) doughnuts and cinnamon buns. BLAH!!!! We stopped for gas and a proper breakfast in a little town called Grass Valley. We filled up then went to a little park and the kids played and ate and we visited a little Red neck shop which was fun. We jumped back into the RV and off we went again.
This drive was boring as heck….dry yellow fields, not much to see, I took the usual this is where we are and what time it is footage and that’s about it. We stopped for gas again right on the Oregon Washington border at a truck stop and all got out and had a wash in the bathrooms and felt & smelt a little human and girly again. We drove along the state line for about an hour then crossed over on the east side of Oregon into Washington. We stopped in RICHLAND for lunch and a run around at a local sports field just off the freeway. We made sandwiches in the RV, the boys threw the footy around and complained about having to go outside. So the adults felt compelled to have the conversation about “When we were your age” there was no… I had to ride 2 miles but hey we had to be out of the house and only come into eat…etc etc. Any parents are probably nodding their heads right now. We ate, Paula and I went for a little walk around the fields to get some exercise and on the way back my darling husband threw the football at me, which was fine, accept that I had things in my hands and when I tried to stop it with my foot it bounded and hit one of my large veins (I got from having kids, which was swollen because of the heat). OUCH!!!! I got into the RV and it was HUGE and more swollen. He felt awful and it wasn’t his fault, bit Wow did it hurt. We got back on the road went to the Wal mart to grab a couple of things, I had run out of battery life on the rechargeable so I had to buy some, another tape for all the footage and a couple of tops for the boys for school that were on sale. God love Wal mart, Paula grabbed some bits and pieces too. We jumped back in and I iced my leg, BIG bruise!!! It is sore but hey, it’s a good trip story.
We stopped for gas on the south side of Spokane and made our way through Spokane and over the Washington, Idaho border….yeay we were finally in the right state. The boys were very excited! We arrived in Sandpoint at around 6.30ish and made our way to Gaea’s house. Sandpoint is a gorgeous little town; we drove through town and up the hill to Gaea’s place, absolutely gorgeous. The views are amazing…We came in and made some dinner, then put the boys to bed, by the time all the happened it was 11.00pm and we were all exhausted. We rolled into bed and SLEPT!!!!!!
We woke up after a lovely sleep (for sleeping on a blow up bed), the boys came in from sleeping outside in the RV around 7.30, so naturally the rest of the house, if they weren’t already, were up. We sat out on the back deck in the sun and had hot cocoa, which was very calming. Then we had a yummy breakfast and Paula and I cleaned up, Gaea went to the airport to pick up Steve, Bruce read in the sitting room and the kids all went outside to explore….
We hit the shower (AARRHH!!) and all got dressed etc. The kids got a little unsettled and hot outside so they came outside to the rear deck and we ended getting some card games going in the shade which was fun. Steve and Gaea arrived back around 12.30; we had some lunch and packed the cars to go over to Paula’s family’s house on the Lake down the road. We dropped the boys off at the marina where Gaea mores her boat and they came over on the water. Jamieson and Conner got to drive the boat; which they thought was the best thing ever, the rest of us drove over in the car. Well, when she said on the lake she wasn’t kidding, their back yard went down onto the grass then out to where they had laid a little sand and had their boat on their dock. It was in this little alcove so the kids could play and we didn’t have to worry about boats etc. We arrived around 2.30 and the kids were off. Tooooo much to do, what to do first!!!
Paula’s family are really great people and we had such a fun afternoon and evening. The kids made sandcastles, swam in the freezing cold water, fished off the dock, collected minnows and put them in the bucket with the fish they caught, went over to the neighbors’ and jumped on the giant trampoline in the water (like in cheaper by the dozen 2 movie), went on the little paddle boat, went on the tube behind the jet ski. You can imagine their heads exploding not knowing what to do next and thinking about all the other stuff they could be doing. We hardly saw them let along spoke to them, it was a fabulous day!!!
We had a huge BBQ for dinner and just chilled out for the evening. Around 7.00pm, Paula, Gaea and I drove the boat back to the marina before it got too dark and drove back to the house. By the time we got back everyone was completely mellowed out and we jumped in the car for home and bed around 10.30pm. The kids were exhausted, what a day they had, they went straight to sleep as you can imagine, as did everyone. It was definitely a day that we will be talking about forever, everyone just had a great time doing whatever they wanted and having a wonderful time with great people.
We woke up at the usual time with the sounds of the kids being inside the house. We were all up and the adults sitting on the back porch having hot cocoa, chilling out. We had a big breakfast and the big boys went off fishing, the boys went out to play for a bit and we cleaned up after breakfast and I cleaned my room up.
We potted around a little then decided to take the kids down into town to have a look around and see the boat show that was going on and we would bribe the kids with an ice cream cause they wanted to stay and play. We all jumped into the truck and drove down to the main street, the ice cream shop was closed so we walked up the street and found a little place that sold ice cream, oooohh and what ice cream it was. YUM!!!!
There was some cool little stores to look through, Paula took the kids over to the boat show while Gaea and I went through a couple of the stores then meet them down there when we were done. By that time Aunt Gloria, Uncle Seth and Aunt Kathy and Uncle Paul were there, they had come across on their boat. By this time we were getting hot so we bought some lemonade, Conner had a rack thingy fall on his back, which wasn’t pleasant, he just has a bruise, he’s fine.
We said good-bye’s to Aunt’s and Uncles and walked back to the car. The big boys rang and said they were not coming back for lunch, they were staying at the marina for lunch, and too meet them at the marina for our boat ride. So we went home and made the kids lunch, got them ready and packed all the stuff up into the two cars, we had to leave Gaea at home cause you can only have 8 people in the boat and she didn’t have a car to meet us down there, so that was a little disappointing. We went down to the marina and jumped into the boat and off we went. Jamieson drove most of the way to Sandpoint beach, we stayed for a little while. The kids played at the beach, making sand castles and jumping off the floating pontoon. We got our photo taken with the small statue of liberty and jumped back into the boat and Conner, Justin and Jeremy drove home.
Gaea had been busy and for dinner we all made our own home made pizzas, she had made the dough and everything including the dough to knead. The boys took the first shift, she had everything out for them to choose from. Then it was the adults turn, turns out that making the pizza base is harder than it looks, I kind of sucked at out. The boys chilled out while the adults had their dinner and went to bed around 9.00pm. The rest of us sat around in the big chairs and the couch and chatted for a while before we dropped onto bed as well.
We woke up to another big breakfast, thanks to Miss Gaea. We packed up the RV and Steve went out and did some plowing for Gaea and Jamieson got to have a drive.
Bruce backed out the RV (The driveway was pretty steep and it was a great challenge J) we took some pics and we were off down the hill and off to Glacier National Park.
Driving, driving, driving we saw some beautiful sights along the way and crossed the state line into Montana. The boys did well while we were driving, the game boys got a real going over, but they did great and were patient. We arrived at Glacier later than we wanted, so we went to the office and got the boys Jnr Ranger booklets and caught the bus up to McDonald Pass to get the Ranger badge done. We went on a small hike up a little bit of the mountain, we had to time it right cause it was about a 30-45 min drive back down the mountain to get the to the ranger office before it closed. The hike we did was enough, especially considering it was the first time we were exposed to the possibility of mountain lions, bears etc. The boys were not allowed to be by themselves without an adult, apparently the mountain lions pick the small ones from the pack, yes, it freaked me out more than I liked. We stopped and saw the view and made our way back down the mountain to catch the bus back down to town.
We made it down the mountain, but the bus driver stopped at the car park not in town so the boys RAN the ¼ mile to town to catch the office. Bruce starting jogging, and made it before any of the rest of us older people, which was great considering his dicky knee at the moment. He talked their way in and the boys got their badges!!! We had a snack and put the rubbish in the bear bin; yes there are special bins that lock so bears can’t get into them. I think I like the possibility of spiders and snakes better than bears, to tell you the truth. We couldn’t do the scenic route up the mountain cause our RV was too big, so that was a bit disappointing, so it just means that we will have to go up their for a proper holiday, see Gaea and drive over for a couple of days to see the park better. You need a couple of days. We got a good taste and there are some beautiful things to see.
We were on the road again this time heading due south towards Yellowstone National Park. We stopped and had Burger King for dinner then on the road to get a little further towards our next destination. We put the boys too bed and they slept while we drove until around midnight, then we stopped in a truck stop (which was actually really nice) and all the adults fell into bed.
Our Tuesday started with the alarm going off at 6.00am. Bruce and I went and got a coffee for the road, the boys of course woke up and by the time we left, all the kids were up. My turn to drive this time; we were off. Conner went back to sleep for a little bit, the boys played quietly and had some breakfast while we drove. We crossed the state line into Wyoming had some lunch on the road and arrived at Yellowstone national park after lunchtime.
Yellowstone is around 2.2 million acres so to get to the visitor’s center, camp grounds etc it was a bit of a drive in. We saw some of the hot springs on the way, stopped and watched some small ones erupt, then arrived at the visitors center and got our Jnr Ranger packets and watched “Old Faithful” erupt. This was pretty amazing but only lasted for a few minutes then we went inside and watched a movie about the park and made our way back to the RV and off to the camp grounds to find our site.
About 45 minutes later we were at the site and the kids were off exploring. There was a Ranger night program the kids wanted to go and see, but it was at 9.30pm, so we were playing that by ear. We made some dinner, and Paula went through the rules about camping around bears…..OMG!!! Have to say I think I’d rather have the possibility of spiders and snakes…not allowed to leave even a sceric of food anywhere it all has to go in the special bins, so you have to eat everything or throw it away and the kids have to stay together so they don’t get picked off!! Or was that just mountain lions!! Anyway, after we completely packed up after dinner, the boys went off fishing for a little bit down at the lake that was somewhere through the bush there, I didn’t get down there. They got back not too much before dark and I asked Bruce to take Conner over to the Ranger program but the other kids were getting tired and grumpy so we said they were going for a walk, so we didn’t get any tantrums.
I settled the boys down and they played cards quietly in the RV, while Paula, Steve and I sat around the fore and chatted. Bruce and Conner got back around 10.30 and had some funny stories to tell about their experience. Bruce definitely has a chip off the old block in Conner. They had to go over this rope bridge to get to the amphitheatre, and of course Bruce being Bruce was rocking the bridge to scare his son, well, Conner turns around and says “That’ll do donkey, that’ll do! (For any of you who don’t get the joke watch Shrek)
I think it made Bruce proud, as well as nearly wet his pants with laughter.
Conner was petrified to the point of nearly shaking on the way back through the woods from the presentation. Dad with his little torch, lots of talks about bears etc – had basically put him to the point of very funnily admitting that he was almost wetting himself in fear – he was laughing while saying it. Dad was also wondering just what he would do should he see a pair of eyes on the pathway in front of them – we both laughed as we walked to ease the tension and talked about the “what if” scenario – just is case – and we also talked about how funny this was going to be as a story – the bridge, the possibility of bears – it’s just not something you experience in Geelong!!!! I have never seen CJ so happy to be inside – we laughed pretty hard about it as well.
We put the kids to bed in our beds so the adults could sit up and talk for a while, which was a nice change, adult conversation AAARRHHH! We went off to bed and apparently Conner had nightmares from all the excitement - all through the night, poor Paula didn’t get much sleep, I heard nothing!! I was GONE!!
We were all up the next morning and decided to hang the fact that we had 14+ hours to drive and let the boys run around and have a nice cooked breakfast. So we had some ham, pancakes, fruit and cereal and a nice relaxing breakfast before heading off AGAIN!!! Can you feel a rushed theme? Yes, it was a little, the joys of being on the road.
We were off again for our “DRIVING DAY” and we had to absolute pleasure of driving through another one of America’s national parks called “The Grand Tetons” and they weren’t kidding. They were sooo beautiful, still snow capped and just amazing. Definitely something we are glad we saw, even the kids were doing the aawww, for a few seconds then back to cards. I guess when you are 6, 7, 8 & 12 they are just some mountains. It took us about 1.5 hours to get out of Tetons national park and after dropping into a little town called Jackson we drove what felt like straight up around this mountain and down the other side, through the state line back into South Idaho, which wasn’t a real fun experience (especially for Bruce who was driving) it was gorgeous scenery but a LONG way up and then down and no road railings.
Paula (scared of heights just looked in the other direction). We stopped for gas and proceeded to head west towards home. We drove west through Idaho (farm country, Idaho potato’s are famous here) and crossed the border into Nevada after lunch. We then headed south to the main Hwy 50, which is the road I drove last year from Salt Lake City to Reno. So I took the reins after re fueling and we were off again, I must admit parts of it did feel familiar. We had the pleasure of seeing the Nevada sunset as we were driving, sometimes through the mountains other through the desert, Bruce taking some photo’s and the kids playing in the back it was actually pretty serene.
We stopped at a truck stop and got the kids some dinner and back on the road again, this time antsy Bruce (who was having driving withdrawals after 8+ hours of just watching) was driving and I had the camera, which I think was fine with both of us.
It started getting dark and we put the kids to bed and the adults made our sleeping plan, Reno was going to be too hot so we decided to drive over the state line into California and stop in a place called Truckee – up in the hills - for the night. We drove past Reno and waved around 11.00pm and kept on going. We were stopped not far down the road on the Californian Stateline by the Agricultural people looking for fruit. Which they found, OOPPSS!! No biggy they just took it and we kept going. We arrived in Truckee at around 1.00am and parked in a car park somewhere and fell into bed.
Bruce and I were woken up by Steve starting the RV around 6.30am; and we were off down the road again. We got stuck in morning traffic coming through Sacramento and then straight through to Elk Grove. We stopped at Paula’s to unload and drop Steve and her boys off then we pulled up to 3801 Lake Terrace Drive around 9.30am and unloaded. Bruce and Paula went to drop the RV off and the boys and I starting unpacking. OK, I did and the boys just went through stuff to get their things.
I was feeling pretty awake considering the lack of sleep, but it was a great trip and we can now say we’ve seen these wonderful places, met some fabulous people and can tick a couple more states off the list. To give you all a re cap on this trip we did the following. California, Oregon, Washington State, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Nevada and back to California.
Although it was a fast trip, we as always had fun and got to see some more of this country we call home. (At the moment) The boys have all mentioned that they wanted to go and see Mount Rushmore so all going well, we will be off to South Dakota next year.
No comments:
Post a Comment