Days 15 & 16: Headed Home

The past 2 days have been spent primarily in the car. Of the last 48 hours more than half of them have been spent in the car. That means a lot of sleep and a lot of movies. There were a few funny and interesting things that happened along the way though. Yesterday we drove out of Arizona and through New Mexico to end up in Lubbock, Texas. We stopped a few times, but nothing major. The only stop that was a little interesting yesterday was one of the places we stopped for gas was in a little town called Happy, Texas, and in happy when you pull up to their gas station the meet you at the driver door and pump your gas for you. It was a different experience than we Florida girls were use to. The place was loaded with real cowboys and apparently gentlemen. that was about all that happened yesterday that was very interesting.

Today, however, we had a few more memorable stops. When we stopped at out first rest stop today Mom and Dad got out, but since we had been sleeping the rest of us moved a little slower. After sitting a while Austin and I decided to get out while we were there. When we came out of the bathrooms and were walking towards the car we realized Dad was driving away. About that same time Britt asked Dad if he realized Austin and I were not in the car. Apparently he didn't and slammed on brakes. It was a close call. Austin and I almost got left at a rest stop in west Texas. That's a long way from home!

Our next stop was a little farther down the road. We stopped at a place called Buc-ee's. Apparently it is the pride of Texas. When we went in we didn't know what to expect. It had home-goods section, a souvenir section, a deli, and a section that looked like an over sized gas station, but not quite big enough to be a grocery store. They had everything. We just used the restrooms, looked around and bought a few cookies. But now we have been to Buc-ee's.

The last "stop" we made was to turn around and take a picture of a sign outside a business. Keep in mind that we are in TEXAS and we saw a sign that read "Get away with murder, Kill them in Florida." That is horrible that the rest of nations feels so strongly about Florida now. Such a disgrace to our state.

Tomorrow we are stopping in New Orleans then Sunday we will be home! Now that we are on the home stretch we can't wait to be home! Only 2 more days, this vacation flew by!

Day 14: Grand Canyon

Today we saw the Grand Canyon. To sum it up, it was place you have to see once, but once you’ve seen it, it all kind of looks the same. The good views of the canyon are only accessible by riding the shuttle buses or hiking the trails, so naturally we hiked… psych… we took the shuttle buses. The buses dropped you off at various look out points and then the next bus would be by to pick you up in about 10-15 minutes. Some of the stops that were kind of close together we hiked to. I expected most all of the rim to have guardrails, but the truth was very few portions had rails. Most places you could walk right out to the edge if you wanted and a lot of people did. However, like I said earlier, once you saw it… you saw it so we didn’t stay there as long as I thought we would.

After we finished the shuttle route we drove our car around the other side of the canyon, but we only stopped once. We stopped at the tower on the southeast rim of the canyon, but once we got to it, it began to storm. At first it was just a light rain, but as we were headed back towards the car lightening struck in the canyon and we began to move a little faster. We safely made it to our car and began our drive to our next nights stop.

On the way we came across a little stand with Native American goods so we stopped to look, but while we were there the rain caught up to us and it was much harder now. A lot of the goods and jewelry were set up outside so we helped the woman working the stand get all of her things inside. While we were collecting the jewelry the rain was coming down sideways so we were getting soaked! The Indian lady gave us a bag of Buffalo Jerky for helping her. We really wanted to try it, but not for 12 dollars so we were excited when she gave it to us! We finished shopping then headed on to our hotel for the night, but before we called it a night we stopped at Cracker barrel and ate some yummy food. It made up for the lunch we didn’t eat. Once we got to the hotel we settled down and watched some TV. then caught up on the bachelorette. It was a relaxing evening since I am sure we will be up and on the road very early in the morning.

Funny Comments:

Austin- 8 am: I am not talking the rest of the day!

Day 13: Hoover Dam

Today was a pretty short day. We got up and checked out of the hotel around 8:30. Even at that time there were still a few people up gambling. They looked so very tired. We were pretty tired ourselves being that we went to bed later than normal.

When we left the hotel we drove up the strip. Pawn Stars pawn shop was at the north end of the strip. They didn’t open until 9 and when we drove by at 8:55 there was a line down the building. Mom was trying to take pictures, but they didn’t turn out the first time so we went around the block. When we came by the second time they were letting people in so we stopped to go inside. It was much smaller than it looks on the show. They also had a section devoted to souvenirs whish was the busiest section. They t.v. show people weren’t out in the shop, they stay in the back unless something good comes in. It was still cool to see the place where the show is filmed.

Once we left there we only had a few hours to go to get to the Hoover Dam. Hoover Dam was huge and pretty scary to look over. We didn’t go down in the dam, but we walked over it then drove over it. We didn’t stay there long because it was extremely hot! Once we got back in the car our phones started going off and the madness began. This is when we all found out about the Casey Anthony trial. I don’t think I will forget where I was when I first heard the news.

After Hoover Dam it was about 3 hours to our KOA at the Grand Canyon. We didn’t feel like driving the extra hour up to the canyon since it was already late afternoon and the rain was coming so instead we went to the rec room and did laundry and homework. Then we ate dinner at the Koa and went to bed early. This day was short, but it was a very well needed rest. Tomorrow is our last major stop at the Grand Canyon then we are headed home.

Funny comments:

Britt- Is that Elvis? Yep, it’s an impostinator! (Impersonator + Imposter = Impostinator)

Britt- Hoover dam, is that a human made dam or beaver dam?

Day 12: VEGAS BABY!

Vegas… Need I say more? We left Salt Lake City around 9. Dad let us sleep in then he and Austin went down and got us breakfast and brought it back up to us. That was very sweet of them. We ate then got on the road to Vegas.

We got to Vegas around 3 and went straight to our hotel. We stayed at the Imperial Palace which is part of Caesars palace chain. When we walk in we knew we were in a very different place. The lobby was a large Casino with impersonators on a stage. We had to wait in line about an hour just to check in. Once we check in we went up to our room in the 11th floor which had an amazing view of the strip. We changed then headed out for dinner. We had not had lunch so an early dinner was called for. We ended up at Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville Restaurant. It was an awesome place; the inside was decorated like the islands. They even had a dinner show. 3 men on stilts and an island girl in a bikini came out and put on a little show. The best place we could have picked for dinner!

After dinner we went back up to our room to let our food settle before going shopping. Shopping in Vegas was great! Austin bought me the cutest purse ever and Britt and I bought souvenirs. Britt took a little longer finding her souvenirs so Austin and I walked down the strip a little ways taking pictures. However, we were a little pressed for time because our limo was going to be at our hotel at 9 to pick us up. SO after getting all our souvenirs we rushed back to the hotel.

The limo ride was great. He took us to all the places we wanted to see and took our picture once we got there. Our first stop was the Pawn Stars shop. The lobby was closed, but we took a picture outside. Then after riding down the strip we stopped at the welcome to Vegas sign to take another picture. We then got back in the limo and rushed to the Bellagio to see the 10 o’clock water show. While the water was going off we drove around the fountain in the limo. After the water show we went back to the hotel and he dropped us off. We then decided to walk over to Caesar’s Palace so we could go inside. That place was huge! The lobby that you see on the Hangover is just 1/3 of the bottom floor that we walked through. Pars of it looked just like the Hangover, but other parts didn’t even look like the same place. After we walked over there a few hours had passed and they were ready to hit the sack. I wanted to stay out longer being that we were only there one night, but there was no way I would ever walk that street alone. It was a scary place for a young girl but when I was walking with Austin and felt protected it was a great city to see. Well that was Vegas and I don’t know if I’ll ever get a chance to go back but I can now say I have been to Vegas!

Funny comments:

Britt- Dad, do you even know how to play poker? Dad- I aight even played go swim!!

Day 11: Hello Whitewater!

This has been an extremely long day! We started very early this morning leaving camp around six. We headed down to the Grand Tetons and Jackson Hole. The first few hours me Britt and Austin slept! We woke up to beautiful mountains surrounding us. These were the Teton Mountains. The difference about these mountain and was they seemed to be independent mountains, instead of being a chain that looked like they met about half way up these didn't seem to meet until the ground. They were like one single mountain beside another single mountain, but they were still capped in snow and beautiful!

South of Grand Tetons we stopped in Jackson Hole. It was a beautiful town and full of people on vacation. We ate lunch at a hole in the wall burrito shop called D.O.G. Momo's shack. There were tons of college age students eating there who looked like they just woke up from a long night. The food was good though and fairly cheap.

After letting our food settle we headed down to the boat house for out white water rafting trip down the snake river. The water definitely was cold, but it felt great in the 90 degree weather. Sitting on those rubber boats was like sitting on a frying pan so going through the rapids and getting soaked was nice. Austin was picked along with another young guy to be the head rowers. He sat at the front of the boat and got the worst of the crashing water, but he never fell out! The other guy did get thrown out during the worst rapids and went into shock from the cold water, but we got him back in the boat. Only Dad Britt Austin and I went, but Mom traveled down the road taking pictures! It was a ton of fun!

After rafting we had to get back on the road and get down to Salt Lake City. Getting there was a little rough cause we had to take some crazy curvy mountain roads to get to the interstate and it felt like we would never make it but we did and the fun didn't stop there. It was our first night to get to stay in a Holiday Inn Express, we were so excited to get there, but once we got there we discovered we were at the wrong one. We had booked a hotel further south, but I thought it was this one. So we took our bags back out and got back in the car again. It was 9:30 and that lunch from noon was long gone! So once we got close to our actual hotel, we ran into Olive Garden and got Soup, Salad, and Bread sticks to go. When we got to the correct hotel we found out we had booked a suit. It was so nice, kitchen, 2 bedrooms and a bathroom in the room (Mom specially liked the 2 separate flat screen tv's). That was a huge improvement from the Koa's. There we sat down and ate dinner which made it all worth it. The best food so far on the trip and a fluffy bed to sleep in. It was fantastic. I can't wait to go to sleep and sleep in tomorrow! This is going to be great!

Day 10: Last Day in Yellowstone.

Today was our last day in Yellowstone so we made sure to see everything we hadn't seen yet. It was pretty much the day we rode the entire loop! We didn't have to stop at Old Faithful or any of the other geysers we had already seen but the large loop of Yellowstone takes an entire day to see! We drove over the Continental Divide a few times and took some pictures naturally. We had 2 ultimate destinations today: West Thumb Geyser Basin on Yellowstone Lake and Mammoth Hot Springs. If you know anything about Yellowstone you know these two places are on th eopposite corners of the park and Yellowstone is a lot bigger than I thought once we started driving it! Fortunately, West Thumb Geyser Basin was right on the shore of Yellowstone Lake so we were able to see both things at one time.There were a few geysers in the shallow water of the lake, they looked like mini volcanos under water!

The next major stop was Mammoth Hot Springs in North Yellowstone. It took a couple hours to get there with a few minor stops. One stop was lunch. We went to a picnic area on the Yellowstone river, but the water was so high some of the tables were under water. Across the river a Buffalo was layin in the sun. I never thought I would sit and eat lunch so close to a wild animal! After lunch we finally made it to Mammoth. There we shopped at the gift shop longer than we saw the springs. We were about geysered out!

Along the route we also stopped at the Mud Volcano and Dragon's Mouth Spring. Originally we stopped for the Mud Volcano but Dragon's Mouth was much cooler. It really sounded like a dragon blowing smoke. These were just a few extra stops we took. On our way back to the camp 3 wolves ran across the road in front of us! This was the only wild animal we hadn't seen, but we were told we wouldn't see them! After seeing them we went in a store and told some of the locals what we saw and they had a fit. The girl said she had lived there 24 years and never saw a single wolf. She was very upset and said she was going to have to search out that area. Apparently, it isn't normal to see a wolf, much less up close and during the day, and we saw 3 really up close! It was an awesome end to Yellowstone. We leave in the morning headed south towards Las Vegas!!

Funny Comments:

Austin- (after spotting a mule deer)"Deer, Duck, Beer, Bo.. HORNS! Worth turning around for!"

Dad- "Sheepeater Cliff!" Mom, Britt, Austin-"She peed her cliff?"

Day 9: Horseback and Old Faithful

Today was probably Brittany's favorite day. We finally want horseback riding. Brittany;s main request was that we went horseback riding at Yellowstone. It was extremely fun and something we really enjoyed. Mom couldn't go because of her back, but Dad, Austin, Britt, and I had a great time. The best part of the rise was definitely when Dad got thrown off the horse! Britt dropped her sweatshirt off the horse and it spooked Dad;s horse so the horse reared up and turned and threw Dad off. He was okay but it sure was funny! The ride was about 2 and a half hours and so peaceful. We all really enjoyed it even though we are sore now!

After horseback riding we were so hungry we just went and got McDonald's for lunch. After that quick stop we headed back through the park. Our first stop was at the grand prismatic geyser. We were told this is one of the best things in Yellowstone. That man that gave us the map told us about a little hidden trail that once you get up gives you a breath taking view, he was right! From the ground you could only see colored steam, but after taking a pretty difficult hike up the side of the hill the view was indescribable! I truly believe that may be the most beautiful piece of nature in all of America. It was insane how that geyser had so many distinct neon colors! Absolutely jaw droppingly gorgeous!

Next we made our way down to Old Faithful. The man told us the best view was from the second floor balcony of the Old Faithful Inn. We got to the Inn at 4:10 but he next eruption wasn't supposed to be until 5:05 so we just went on up to the balcony and waited. It was worth the wait to get such great seats so that I could take a lot of good pictures. Old Faithful really is the central icon of Yellowstone and it is for a reason. It's strength, power, and beauty! Tomorrow is our last day in Yellowstone and I cant wait to see what else the park has to show!

Funny Comments:

Dad- What's my horses name? Hey dog go?!? Suzanne- No, Hildalgo!

Suzanne on the phone with Grandma Maggie- We saw old faithful today! Gma-You saw old people??

Day 8: First Day in Yellowstone

Today was our first day in Yellowstone! Before we sent on into the park we stopped at the Silver Gate General Store for some milk and lunch meat. When we pulled up Britt spotted a buffalo beside the building. At first we weren't sure if it was real, but after we looked at it a little while we realized it was chewing so it was real. That was our first encounter with the buffalo. When we went in the store we asked the man what we should do just expecting him to tell us the main things, but he was much more helpful than expected. He gave us a map and drew all over it showing us all the secret places and best places. We used that map and his directions as if they were the only directions and then were great!

Once we got into the park our first stop was a little lake back off in the woods. He said the hike was about 20 minutes, when we did it we had to go a little slower. But, we made it! Up the trail to the lake all the way around the lake and back down the trail. It was a long 2 mile hike and i am sure we will all be sore tomorrow. But Mom did it and she was excited just to be able to go with us!

Next we went to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and saw the water falls. The man that gave us the map told us the best view was from Artist Point so that is where we went and I think I agree with him! That waterfall was huge and so powerful and we were on a bridge right over the river that came from the falls. That river was so far down and the canyon was to seep! That has to be one of the best views in Yellowstone!

After the falls we went to our fits geyser basin! Norris Geyser basin has a ton of hot springs that were very pretty, but it smelled awful! The whole places reacked with sulfur! Just not a pleasant smell at all. I wanted to know how hot the water was so instead of touching it and getting thrown in jail, I asked the ranger. He told me those were the hotest set of geysers and their average temperature was 160-180 degrees!! One of the springs once reached 280 degrees!! That sure is some hot water!

While driving around some of the smaller cut off roads Dad spotted an enormous elk. He was a 5 by 5 which means he had 5 horns on both sides, but instead of the horns going up about a foot they stretched about 4 feet in the air! Dad couldn't resist himself so he and Austin went a little closer to be sure to get a better picture and they did! That bull was so big and so beautiful laying down in all the green grass with his horns standing so high.

The funniest thing that has happened thus far was the traffic jam we got into today! We just thought there must be an animal on the side of the road, but once we got close enough we realized there was a buffalo walking down the center of the road. Cars were trying to pass it, but that took a while. Finally, we got to the front of the line and passed it. When we drove by it was only 2 ft away from our car. Dad tried to reach out and pet it but we yelled at him not to! Mam said it was just a parade and it sure seemed like one. Today was a first during our first day in Yellowstone!

Funny Comments:

Mom- No the buffalo is walking down the center of the road, it is like a parade!

Day 7: Snow in the Summer/Mountain Ranges

Today was undoubtedly the greatest day thus far! It started out kinda slow traveling but once we got to the Devil's Tower the fun began. That rock is so unbelievably tall. When you stand next to it, it seems impossible to be so small. This was great but my least favorite part of the day, that just explains how great the day was!

Our first set of mountains were the Bighorn Mountains. You could see them from miles away with their white caps shinning in the sun. It seems to strange to see so much snow in the middle of June! Once we got up towards the top of those mountains we couldn't help but to play in the snow. So our Florida family pulls over on the side of the mountain in our shorts and tee shirts and started throwing snow at each other. It was so cold, but when we weren't touching the snow or covered in it the temperature wasn't very low. We made our way through those mountains and carried on. The next mountain range was a once in a lifetime experience! It is impossible to explain how amazing these mountains are! The rocky mountains are no joke and the bear tooth highway wasn't either. It was extremely scary and genuinely life threatening. We went up 10,000 feet to the top of a mountain covered in snow with no guard rails and hairpin turns. In some places, where the snow plows had cleared the roads the snow and ice toward up to 20 feet, towering far above the top of the car! That was a bit nerve racking in itself. The whole mountain looked like one avalanche waiting to happen! From the top Mom described the range as looking like the Swedish alps, that is how beautiful it was! Brittany wanted to stop and play in that snow too, but it was entirely too dangerous. We stopped for the night in the mountains and are currently at 8,000 feet. Our view out the window is a huge mountain covered with snow, truly gorgeous!

Dad's favorite part about today and really exciting for all of us was seeing a lot of wild animals. On out way to the mountains we saw a heap of pronghorn antelope. They just lay around in pastures with cows and look completely normal, but to us it was a new sight. While on the bighorn mountains we saw two huge moose! They were right by the fence so we stopped and took some pictures of them. They are such huge animals! A little later we saw a heard of elk. There we about 7 or 8 of them grazing on the side of the mountain right by the road and it was as if they knew I was taking their picture because they all turned broad side and stared at me. What a picture! Lastly as he were almost to our cabin there was a large mule deer on the side of the road so we backed up and sat beside it. It was literally 10 feet from our car! Today was absolutely amazing and I hope this was just the start of our stay at Yellowstone! It's going to be amazing!

Funny Comment:

Britt- Why do all these buildings look so western? Suzanne- Well we are in the west!

Day 6: Mt. Rushmore & Custer State Park

Today was our first "Stationary" day, but even those we weren't traveling from state to state we still spent a great amount of time in the car sight seeing. The main attraction today was Mount Rushmore. Britt didn't seem to understand what this big deal was about some faces in a rock. Our first trip was during the day and it was amazing, but not really much to do. Later that night we went back for the lighting ceremony and that was a totally different story. There was a very interesting and informative video then they lit up the faces and called all service men and women up to the stage. It was so moving to see all those(mostly) men stand so proud for their country in a place with such historical importance.

We also visited Custer State Park. Custer state park was a long loop of winding roads with beautiful scenery and a few wild animals. The part I liked the most was feeding the chipmunks! I had never seen chipmunks before much less fed them. There were tons of them and they were all over the rocks and another man showed me how to feed them. At first I was really nervous but when the first one crawled on my hand and took the peanut I wasn't scared anymore. A little later Mom read a pamphlet that said not to feed the Chipmunks, some carry diseases. Oh well... too late now! We also saw a few Buffalo roaming while we were at the park. They were huge and so chill but i'm sure they can be dangerous. I didn't want to feed them!

However... at dinner they fed me! We went to downtown Keystone for dinner. It was an old western setting with shops and restaurants down the strip. There were even true cowboys in the middle of the road crackin whips and spinning their guns around. But most importantly, at dinner I ate my first buffalo burger. It was pretty good and supposedly pretty good for you. They have like a tenth of the fat and calories of a normal cheeseburger. If I can eat it more than cheeseburgers and not gain as much weight, that sounds like the burger for me!

Being that we didn't travel today we got to go and quickly see two other attractions. We drove down to see the Crazy Horse memorial which is going to be the biggest memorial. Three times larger than Mt Rushmore and dedicated to the Native Americans. This was something that took a lot of time, and a lot of time we did not have, but we did see the memorial as we drove up. Also, we went to Rushmore cave. It was the closest cave to Mt Rushmore but instead of going into the cave, Britt wanted to ride their zipline down the mountain... so we did! Brittany and I strapped ourselves in and flew down the side of a mountain. It really was a lot of fun.

Last but definitely not least, today was so amazing because we actually took a few hour and laid down at the camp and took a nap. It was so nice out that Austin and I laid out a sheet and slept outside on the grass. It was so peaceful and so relaxing. I wish Florida could be cool enough that you could lay out on the grass and take a comfortable nap! Today has been great but we are moving on tomorrow! That's all for now.

Funny Comments:

Situation: Austin dying laughing uncontrolably while trying to be quiet during a respectful patriotic ceremony.

Dad: "Look at all these rocks, So that's why they call it the rocky mountains!"