Well we've been a lot of places since my last blog post. Death Valley was amazing. One of my favourite landscapes so far. Phenomenal swirling mountains with breathtaking colours. We happened to visit during the annual 49ers weekend. They are a bunch of old timers that reenact the gold seekers that got stuck in Death Valley in 1849. I don't really understand the point of the whole thing but whatever floats your boat. We stayed in Stovepipe campground beside the sand dunes and a whole bunch of fucking weirdos flying custom flags just for the event. We could hear the coyotes at night. It was pretty cool. We also went to visit a ghost town called Rhyolite just outside the park near the Nevada border. It was very STRANGE. There were some crazy art installations that made absolutely no sense in their setting. Some seriously messed up shit. Check out the flickr photos. The old buildings were interesting though. not really After a few lovely nights in Death Valley, we made our way to Bakersfield. Donovan needed some reliable internet to do some work so Bakersfield so where we ended up. On our way to Bakersfield we stopped at a hole on the wall mexican restaurant for some lunch. We almost didn't go in, it was that sketchy. Inside was immaculate and they still had their breakfast menu up so we decided to give it a try. So very glad we did. I had the eggs rancheros. OMG!! I think I died a little. I almost stayed there all day eating. As part of our random acts of kindness, we left a very generous tip. I love random acts of kindness. Trying to do them throughout the trip. Bakersfield was spent in the Terry. Catch up on schoolwork for the boys and for Donovan. After D finished his assignment we bolted. We made it to Fresno. The highway was full of garbage and it was so bumpy. Not a really great impression of the Central Valley. Got to stay in the lovely Walmart parking lot, thanks to the lovely state park system of California. We drove for over an hour in the dark on winding roads to get to a state park that apparently was closed but was not listed as closed on the California State Park brochure. Walmart again. blah! At least this one had a security guard patrolling. He was a rather large man so not sure how helpful he would be chasing down peeps. Next stop Whiskeytown! It is very close to Redding. Again a lovely adventure finding a camping spot but a beautiful area. Unfortunately we didn't have any Whiskey to commemorate the stay. Next day off to the northern coast of California to see the Redwoods.
The Redwoods didn't disappoint and being near the ocean wasn't so bad either. We stayed in Patrick's Point State Park. The price to camp at state parks in California is ludicrous but we decided to stay because you could the ocean from our site and it was a wee jaunt to Agate beach. We hiked the Lady Bird Johnson trail in Redwood National. It was majestic. We went to visit Paul Bunyon and his bull Blue the boys found poor Blues balls in record time and fondled him for a good 10 minutes and I think its name is Belle but its blue, many beaches, and stopped for clam chowder and fish and chips in Crescent City. And of course, the boys got their ranger badges.
We decided to take HWY 101 through Humbolt State Park until we could get back onto the Coast Hwy to head over to Fort Bragg. Another hair raising drive but it was worth it. I almost peed my pants. We stayed at a crappy little RV park but the views were amazing. Right on a cliff overlooking the ocean and next to a working harbour. The fog horns went off all effin night. We stayed in Fort Bragg for about a week. It rained alot but it stopped long enough to do some tidal pool exploration and some beach glass hunting. We also had a lovely encounter with a tick on Aidan's neck. ewwww! but he is okay. Carlie, breathe. He is okay!We also went for drives up and down the coast through Mendocino county. Beautiful and quaint little seaside communities. The kind that I dream of living in.While we were in Fort Bragg we decided to get a Thousand Trails membership. They have family friendly campgrounds throughout the country. A little pricey on the initial investment but they were having a sale so we decided to try it out.
We left Fort Bragg for Cloverdale. A tiny little town in Sonoma county about 2 hours north of San Francisco. We stayed in a Thousand Trails campground to test out of new membership. Glad we got it. The site was okay but we met 2 other traveling families there. It was nice to know that we weren't the only ones crazy enough to do this. One family even had 6 kids!!!!! I would fucking kill 6 kids in a motor home. Ours are lucky to be alive right now. We really enjoyed talking with the families and the boys were thrilled that there were other kids to play with. From Cloverdale, we took some day trips. We went on an organic farm tour where we got to hold baby chicks and pet pigs. We went to a Farmers Market and into Santa Rosa. We went to Bodega Bay on the coast. We got some clam chowder from the Bodega Market This where the Birds was filmed. I was freaking out. That movie shaped alot of my absurd fears. and slurped it up watching the waves. We went to the Korbel distillery so mommy could (get drunk on tasting) get some champagne. OK a case of champagne. Lots of good days.
After we said goodbye to our new friends we headed over the Golden Gate. Asher had been talking about the Golden Gate since Idaho. We was just thrilled when we went over it. We stayed in Pacifica, a seaside town just south of San Fran. For the first few days we holed up in the trailer I was PMSing and was a wee cranky so Donovan studied at the coffee shop nearby. so Donovan could study for his exam. The boys got some school work done. As soon as Donovan's exam was done we hit the town. We went to Japantown for some sushi and walked around. They have a Daiso so I was thrilled. What is a Daiso? Daiso is a japanese dollar store. Oh how I love Daiso. There is also a Daiso in Richmond. Next day, we went to a Farmers Market to stock up on produce and other local goods. This farmers market was amazing. We got tons of fresh fruit,honey,walnuts,veggies and sugar cane. Then we headed to the Embarcadero. We walked down the Embarcadero to Pier 39. We decided to buy the San Francisco City Pass so we could see everything at a discount. We went on a boat ride around the harbour,around Alcatraz and under the Golden Gate. After the cruise we hit up the Aquarium of the Bay. A small aquarium with some cool exhibits. The boys got to touch rays and sharks. We strolled until dark and many hours of whining and then headed up to the old Ghiradelli factory for some sundaes. Oh yeah! Caught the tram back to the truck and headed home. The next day we went to the California Academy of Sciences. They have a rain forest, a planetarium, an aquarium and a natural history museum all under one roof. It was really educational. The third day was spend at the Jelly Belly Factory. We went on a tour of the factory and got to sample lots of jelly beans in different stages of completion. It was awesome! Our final day in San Fran was spent at the Exploratorium. An insanely cool kids science centre. We were there practically all ALL EFFIN DAY day. On the way home we decided to go down Lombardi Street. Crazy cool!
Next stop Pismo Beach. I had read that the monarch butterflies winter in Pismo Beach so we decided to check it out. We stayed in a RV park that bordered the Sand Dunes. We spent our days on the beach. We love the beach. We also went sand sledding on the dunes. We boys were thrilled that they could go sledding (even if it was sand and not snow).
Ramona was our next stop. To get to Ramona, we had to drive through LA on the I5. We thought because it was a Saturday that the traffic wouldn't be that bad. We were wrong. People here drive like assholes. Assholes that only drive beamers. Ramona is a sleepy town near San Diego. It was kind of rainy the first day we were there so we hunkered down at the local library and got some schoolwork done. We didn't stay long as Asher started screaming. Good friends from Whitehorse were staying in nearby Escondido so we went to visit them at the resort they were staying at. We were thrilled to see familiar faces and spent hours getting caught up. The next day we ventured into San Diego to go to Seaworld. We went to the all the shows. Had to get our monies worth. 3 freaking shows for $350. Got to see Shamu and I convinced the older two boys to go on the water coaster that they have there. We got absolutely drenched but it was tons of fun. I don't really like going to places like Seaworld because I get sad when I see the large animals in tiny spaces. But the boys got to see whales and dolphins and so I was happy about that. On the way home from Seaworld, traffic came to a grinding halt which was kind of strange because we took the back roads to get home. We finally reached the cause of the slow traffic after about 30 mins of bumper to bumper. Someone hit a freaking mountain lion. A MOUNTAIN LION. Not a little one either. New for us. It is usually a moose or deer. LEGOLAND was the next on the to do list. It really has been a life long dream of mine. I must love my kids right? The boys had been wanting this from the moment we told them about it. Now we can't threaten them with not going to Legoland. It sucks not having that power over them.We went with our friends from Whitehorse. Aidan said it was the best day of his life. Kiran said it was the best day of his life because his best bud Tristan was there with us. Great day with great friends. The next day we and our wallet stayed in and recuperated from Legoland.
Next blog post: Palm Springs for Christmas with my dad and Trudy, Organ Pipe National Park,Tucson,Saguaro National Park,Kartchner Caverns, Tombstone and Bisbee. And probably Texas. Maybe if your lucky I'll update before we are back in Canada
more pics were added to flickr too
http://www.flickr.com/photos/52945342@N02/
Sunday, 15 January 2012
Friday, 9 December 2011
Mesa Verde to Las Vegas
Okay...I know I lied but internet is hard to come by these days...good internet that is. Where were we...
We made it to Cortez,Colorado. We drove through Durango on our search for a good campground and ended up in Cortez, in another Walmartparking lot. After some arguing and me being a bitch. He won. This time we parked at the back of the lot away from the entry. Much quieter. I slept, which Donovan will tell you is a good thing. The next morning we went to Mesa Verde National Park. We drove up to a really high level...I got a little altitude sick but whatever, we were in Mesa Verde. National Geographic ranked it as one of the top 10 places on earth to visit. I don't really blame them. Super Cool!!!!! We got the boys some little Junior Rangers vests...the sweetest. Now they have a place to put all the badges that they earn while we visit National Parks and Monuments. We walked down to the tree house. A little village from about 1300 years ago. Ah-maz-ing!
After we had a too quick of a visit we headed off for Moab,Utah. The drive was kinda boring except for the weird town names (Cahone and Arriola were my favourites) and yards full of old dead cars. Then we got close to Moab. WOW! Massive red rock mesas and hoodoos. Insanely cool and kinda extraterrestrial looking. Donovan needed to have internet access close by so we ended staying at an RV park in town. $50 a night! You have got to be kidding me. Does it come with babysitting and laundry service? No, okay. One night please. Moab is full of self-important trust fund babies. It is beautiful, but the people...and by people I do not mean locals, but other tourists are those people I hate. Young and full of potential but would rather let daddy or the government pay for them to bike all day. They think they are entitled to be lazy. Anyhoo, enough of that. The next morning, we went on a campground scouting trip and found a lovely spot beside the Colorado River nestled between the red rock walls of the Arches National Park. National Forest Services runs it...no hookups but $6 a night. And close to town so that D could run in to use the internet daily. That is way more our style. Unfortunately for us, the weather decided to lower itself significantly and thunderstorms rolled in. (I love thunderstorms. Aidan woke up with the noise and got to watch the storm with us. It was the first time he has seen lightning.) Thankfully, we have propane heat. Unfortunately for us, the propane needs battery power to run. Our battery decided to die in the middle of the night. MOTHER FUCKER! BRRRRR! Not exactly the best way to wake up. Okay, coffee and battery run. We stayed in that lovely little spot for almost a week. We went to the Arches National Park and got caught up on some schoolwork. We then decided to take the long drive to St. George in the Southwest corner of Utah. Apparently, all the snowbirds heading south for the winter had the same idea so we ended up in Hurricane,a short drive away.
Hurricane is pronounced Hurcun. The next town over is Le Verkin. Hahaha. Sorry, can't help myself. We stayed at Sand Hollow State Park. They have lizards and snakes. We stayed there anyways. The first day we were there we drove into Washington,Utah so D could get some work done. I took the boys to a nearby park where they made Mesa Verde in the sandbox. I think they might actually be learning things. My plans to turn into nerds is coming along quite nicely. YAY! The next day, which was Halloween, we drove to Zion National Park. On the way, we found an apple orchard where we could pick our own apples. Yummers. The park was stunning! We drove up through a switchback through a really long tunnel that we carved out in 1904. It even had viewing windows carved out. Really cool, a little creepy but I am trying to suck up many of my fears and just go with it. Then we hiked the Emerald Pool trail. It was well worth the exercise. (you know it musta been good if I exercised) Back to Hurcun to go trick or treating. The boys dressed up as Junior Rangers in their cute vests. We did pretty well...Asher got pretty mad when people kept calling him a fisherman but soon forgave them when they gave him candy. He is easy to appease.
We decided to head towards the Grand Canyon the next day. We made it to Cameron,Arizona. A blink of a town just to the east of the Grand Canyon. Full hookups,no internet. $15, sounds good to us. By the time we got to Cameron it was dark and very windy. We set up, had sandwiches for dinner and went to bed. Everybody went to bed that is except me. It was sooo windy that I kept thinking that we were going to land in Munchkinland. For reals. I woke Donovan up in the middle of the night to pull the pullouts in so we would be less aerodynamic. Thankfully, that worked.
Next day, Grand Canyon! When people talk about the Grand Canyon, they tell you how incredible it is. They are not exaggerating in any way. Gobsmacked. Go if you haven't. We stayed at the National Park campground. Very nice campground with very narrow roads and tiny sites. Donovan has mastered driving the beast so with a little manoeuvring the beast fit. We went to Visitors centre. Such a tourist trap. Anything that you could possibly want with the Grand Canyon on it could be yours for a price. We caught one of the free shuttles over to the geology museum. The geology museum had a lovely view of the canyon. We then took the shuttle back to the truck and headed to the little town nearby to check out the internet situation. The next day, we took the shuttle to Hermits Point. (After I had an enormous mental breakdown about homeschooling and they way I am treated around here. I was PMSing in a giant way. The boys were much better after they thought that perhaps Mommy was going to be going to a mental hospital instead to Las Vegas.) The western most part of the park that you can get to from the South Rim. We got of at Powell Point and hiked to Hopi Point. Trails that overlook the canyon. With no fences or railings. One false move. Not my favourite. Beautiful but very tense hike. We got back on the shuttle and got ice cream at Hermits Point. Better. We hit the art gallery on the way back. Aidan,Kiran and I were very inspired by the views and that night got work creating some lovely pastel drawings of the canyon. The boys pictures are now adorning the walls of Terry. It feels more like home now. Kiran decided that he wanted to spend his 7th birthday in Las Vegas. Perfectly suiting for a 7 year old, no? (We got him some blow and a hooker)
Off to Vegas we go. We stopped in Boulder City to check out the visitor centre to get some info on the campground situation in Sin City. That night we stayed at Lake Mead National Recreation Area. A little far from Vegas so we decided to get closer to the strip and are now staying at Sam's Town. Close but not too close. They have a shuttle to take us to the strip. I have never had any desire to visit Las Vegas. It is crazy. Way crazier than I even imagined it would be. I think that I would have enjoyed this city in a previous life...prior to kids. Meaning I would have had too much casual sex and would have probably gotten arrested. It is really quite something to see. Not sure that it will be a future destination but glad that I came and saw it. We took the boys to the “Strip”. We started at Ceasers Palace and walked around for a few hours. The boys were in awe as was I. Donovan has been here before on a business trip so he was just soaking in our reactions. Vegas is not as cheap as I thought that it would be. 3 Hot Dogs and 4 lemonades was $31. Donovan asked the guy at the counter if he was serious. Missed the shuttle back to Sams Town or should I say it never showed up so we people watched for 90 minutes waiting for the next one to show up. At least we could see the Bellagio fountain show,sort of, from where we were. Sunday was Kirans birthday. We went to see Puss n Boots in 3D as per the birthday boys request. It was also Ashersfirst movie in the big theatre. It was great. We all enjoyed it and we also enjoyed the fact that Asher sat still for an hour and a half. We then caught the shuttle to the “Strip”. We walked down towards MGM to see M&M World. It was awful. They wanted $13 a pound for some cute coloured ones. Ya, we didn't get any. The boys settled for small dispenser type thingies. We then walked next door to see the lions at MGM Grand. I felt bad for those poor pretty lions in a glass box. Next up, walking by New York,New York. Then Ashers favourite, Excalibur. He thought the castle was just so cool. We were getting hungry by then so we decided to try the buffet at the Excalibur. If you know me at all, I HATE buffets. They are by far the grossest way to eat a meal. Sneeze guards. Nuff said. After we stuffed ourselves full of bland, standard food we walked to the Luxor so Aidan could see the Sphinx and the Pyramid. We then walked all the way back to Bill's to catch the shuttle back to Sam's Town. We only had like half an hour to get from the Luxor to Bill's. Not an easy task with three whiny tiny legged little boys. We actually made it with a couple minutes to spare but as we were coming down the escalator from Caesars to Bills the shuttle drove by. Crap! Now we have to book it to Harrahs because the shuttle stops there for 15 minutes before heading home. My kids were rock stars as D and I dragged them from one end of Vegas to the other. We made the shuttle thanks to a cute security guard who took us straight to the shuttle spot. The next day we planned to take the boys to the Shelby Manufacturers tour. We missed it the tour due to temper tantrums from brat squad during schoolwork. So after the boys simmered down, we took them to a chocolate factory tour. It sucked but they had a really cool cactus garden there so we learned about different cacti. We then got Sam to navigate us around town to find a generator. We found one at Camping World. It went on sale the next day. Figures. Back the next day to get the generator but first we made it to the Shelby tour. The boys were in heaven. So was my step dad who sent us his wish list when he found out where we were going. We went home after to try out the generator and have some down time. After some downtime we went out in search of some food. We wound up driving to Fremont Street to see old Vegas and then down the “new” strip until Asher fell asleep. Quiet time in Vegas. On the strip. Funny how a three year old can be louder than Vegas.
We managed to escape Vegas without any naked lady questions. The guys handing out stripper/hooker cards luckily avoided us like the plague. It was lucky for them. I would have gone ballistic. Asher did see the poster for Thunder Down Under and asked why those mens naked? But otherwise unscathed by the seedy underbelly. I managed to get chewed out by some very obvious gay guy about dog ettiquette in RV parks. Ned ran out of the RV to say hello to his ratdog wearing a pink collar. He called him Mr.Wiggles. Poor Fucking Dog. PFG is now how I refer to them as. He was screaming about how that dog should be on leash. I said sorry. But he kept going on and on. So naturally I started to curse. Then he got mad at me for taking the lords name in vain. WHERE THE FUCK AM I? VEGAS BABY!
Monday, 7 November 2011
From Salt Lake through Colorado
Okay, the last time I posted we were leaving Salt Lake City. I am a bad blogger...I will try to be better. (if you know me at all, I am all talk so don't expect too much) So we left Salt Lake and started to head to Dinosaur National Monument. We didn't make it far. We got to Park City,Utah and decided to stay for the night. It was lovely. We dropped D off at a brewery to do some studying and headed to the Farmers Market. (On the way to the market, this lady was right on my ass. She was seriously weaving into oncoming traffic to see around me. There was an old man in front of me and we were doing the speed limit. I kept tapping my brakes to let her know to get the fuck off my ass but she just wouldn't stop. The boys learned some choice words and phrases. I managed to talk myself out of following her to kick her ass because what a waste of police resources and Donovan would NEVER let me live it down!) OMG! I got pears, apples, tomatoes, peppers, kettle corn, 2 loaves of bread, goat cheese, raspberries, strawberries and cucumber for less than $40. I was in heaven. We then picked up Donovan in the chic part of town. There was a lady wearing a toque. It was +20. We then headed to the Outlet Mall to find some new shoes for Donovan. I managed to get a pair of Montrail hikers and a windbreaker at Columbia for less than $50. Ummm...yeah. I liked it here. If Donovan and the kids weren't there, there would have been way more damage done.
Next day we drove to Vernal,Utah. The home of Dinosaur National Park. We got there too late to get to the park so we camped at a gorgeous spot called Steinaker State Park. Beautiful. There we made glow jars and made gourmet s'mores. We met a lovely couple from England and introduced them to s'mores. Imogene and Johnny were traveling the Western part of the US in a funky painted mini van. I liked them. Donovan liked them even though Johnny cheers for Manchester United. The coyotes were howling like crazy that night. Kinda creepy, but really cool. Next day we went to the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum. It was AWESOME. Aidan and Kiran worked on a Junior Scientist program throughout the museum. There were tons of fossils and models to look at. We loved it and totally recommend it. Seriously. Then we headed to the Quarry at Dinosaur National Park. Squeal! It was ah-maz-ing!!!! Donovan and I were just so excited. The boys were mildly entertained. Aidan actually threw a fit...he is acting like such a pre-teen, I can hardly stand it We decided to camp at the Split Mountain campground in Dinosaur National. It was free, we were sold. It was stunning. It was on Green River and was surrounded by red rocks and incredible rock faces. The stars were amazing. If we had the time, we would've stayed a few more nights but Donovan had to get back to civilization to work on a paper. Boo,Hiss. School is soooooo fucking inconvient.We drove to Grand Junction, Colorado. On the way, Donovan got pulled over by the State Patrol because he didn't stop for a school bus. Thankfully, he let us off with a warning or else we would've kissed $890 goodbye. I lost the insurance papers...not lost...misplaced. I guess we are even and now we know where the insurance papers are! Scenery was beautiful as usual.
We stayed at the KOA in Grand Junction for two nights so Donovan and the boys could get caught up with some school work. Getting Aidan to do school work is like a root canal with anesthetic or childbirth to an elephant. The weather was hot...+27 for both days. The 2nd day we went downtown to get some gelato and to fix Aidan's bike tire. We witnessed an Occupy Grand Junction. There were about 20 people chanting down Main St. It was a pathetic turn out. Apparently Grand Junction is the 1%. We were debating whether or not to head to Denver or to South Utah. Denver won.
The drive to Denver was interesting. We hit a few mountain passes. It was snowing. The boys were so happy to see snow, D and I were not. It went from +27 to +1. Not impressed. I mean it was lovely and all but pulling a 30' beast behind you through 12,000 ft passes is not really a good time. Donovan and I decided to stay at the KOA on the East side of Denver the night before. I plugged the address into Sam as we got a little closer to Denver. Okay, turn at Idaho Springs. Cute town, far too many churches. Sam lead us through town to Co Rd 279. We obviously didn't realize what Co Rd means County Road. We drove for quite awhile because Sam kept telling us that the KOA was right around the corner. And I kept saying just keep going. We drove past lots of old mine shafts. Donovan and I watch far to many horror movies and were trying not to think about what or who would come to meet us if we should get stuck. Finally, Donovan found a place to turn around as it became clear that the KOA was not around the corner. We drove back down the mountainside in 1st gear. Then we took a wrong turn. Bad to worse instantaneously. This road was definitely not made for a 30' RV. A narrow, winding path (a path is what I am going to call it because that is pretty much all it was) overlooking a cliff. Did I mention that it was all loose gravel. A long,long way down.I was on the side that overlooked the massive drop down. Donovan kept his cool. I lost it. Completely. I actually hyperventilated and then broke down into hysterical crying. Ugly cry. After we escaped death, we decided to try the Denver West KOA instead. It was another hour and half away in Strasberg, Colorado. It was wedged between the highway and a TRAIN TRACK! We stayed one night and then found a place closer to Denver. We moved to Cherry Creek State Park. A little oasis in the middle of the city. It was great. They even had wifi. We went and explored downtown Denver. The boys loved the tall buildings. We went to the 16th Street mall in Denver. The boys loved the free bus that took us up and down the street. We got to the end of the street and walked through a lovely park to the skate park. Lots of sketchy teenagers. We left. Walked back up 16th to an awesome bookstore called the Tattered Page. We spent far too much money on books. We then hunted down the Ikea. It happened to be kids eat free day so we had dinner for the 5 of us for $8. Not bad. It was a good thing that I insisted that we needed some more storage for the boys room. The next day we went on a candy factory tour at a place called Hammonds. They make candy canes and other delectable goodness. We bought far too much candy. The boys loved the tour and so did D and I. I then made Donovan hunt down the Container Store. Oh how I love the Container Store. I left the boys in the truck and went in to get some organizers for the kids school work. And I actually left with exactly what I went for. Although I was considering moving in. I know. Donovans' birthday was the following day so we decided to take a trek out to Boulder. Cool university town. Cute little shops,coffee shops,restaurants and gorgeous tree lined streets. Next day:Pueblo.
We drove to Pueblo the next day. We drove through Colorado Springs. We had lunch at IHOP and then drove on through. We should have spent the night. We landed in Pueblo. We decided to stay at the Walmart to save a few bucks. A Barnes and Noble was nearby so Donovan could get some work done. While he was working, the boys and I went into Walmart to get some milk and water. Walmart is just a great place to people watch. (in the line in front of us, there was a gang banger, who knew that there were gang bangers in Colorado and his lovely teenaged babymama. They started arguing. We went into another line up.)We then went back to the Terry and got ready for bed. I did not sleep. At all. We had to keep the bikes inside so we had to crawl over them to get into bed. Donovan doesn't see the point of spending money on a bike rack. Well maybe for about an hour at about 6am. We now know not to park near the main road into a 24 hour Walmart or to park across the street from a movie theatre on a Friday night. Another lesson learned.
Today (OKAY so it obviously was obviously well over a week ago) we drove to Alamosa so we could go and see the Great Sand Dunes National Park. Staying at the KOA...the water smells like rotten eggs but there is no train. At least not yet. The sand dunes were amazing. Donovan said it reminded him of Kuwait. The boys loved it because it was like a giant sand box. I loved the way the light and shadows created such depth and beauty to these sandy hills. OMG...Donovan just came in from outside and there is a train! ANOTHER MOTHER FUCKING TRAIN! The must get the land cheap.That is it...no more KOAs for us!!! Tomorrow we are headed for Durango. We ended up in Cortez. In another Walmart parking lot. This time it was much better. I didn't go into the Walmart before bed and took a sleeping pill. Then off to Mesa Verde,Canyons of the Ancients and then to South Utah. I'll write while we are in Moab. I'll go into Mesa Verde in my next post.
If you want to check out some pics from the trip....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/52945342@N02/sets/
Everything is all good! We haven't killed each other yet...It has come close!
Next day we drove to Vernal,Utah. The home of Dinosaur National Park. We got there too late to get to the park so we camped at a gorgeous spot called Steinaker State Park. Beautiful. There we made glow jars and made gourmet s'mores. We met a lovely couple from England and introduced them to s'mores. Imogene and Johnny were traveling the Western part of the US in a funky painted mini van. I liked them. Donovan liked them even though Johnny cheers for Manchester United. The coyotes were howling like crazy that night. Kinda creepy, but really cool. Next day we went to the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum. It was AWESOME. Aidan and Kiran worked on a Junior Scientist program throughout the museum. There were tons of fossils and models to look at. We loved it and totally recommend it. Seriously. Then we headed to the Quarry at Dinosaur National Park. Squeal! It was ah-maz-ing!!!! Donovan and I were just so excited. The boys were mildly entertained. Aidan actually threw a fit...he is acting like such a pre-teen, I can hardly stand it We decided to camp at the Split Mountain campground in Dinosaur National. It was free, we were sold. It was stunning. It was on Green River and was surrounded by red rocks and incredible rock faces. The stars were amazing. If we had the time, we would've stayed a few more nights but Donovan had to get back to civilization to work on a paper. Boo,Hiss. School is soooooo fucking inconvient.We drove to Grand Junction, Colorado. On the way, Donovan got pulled over by the State Patrol because he didn't stop for a school bus. Thankfully, he let us off with a warning or else we would've kissed $890 goodbye. I lost the insurance papers...not lost...misplaced. I guess we are even and now we know where the insurance papers are! Scenery was beautiful as usual.
We stayed at the KOA in Grand Junction for two nights so Donovan and the boys could get caught up with some school work. Getting Aidan to do school work is like a root canal with anesthetic or childbirth to an elephant. The weather was hot...+27 for both days. The 2nd day we went downtown to get some gelato and to fix Aidan's bike tire. We witnessed an Occupy Grand Junction. There were about 20 people chanting down Main St. It was a pathetic turn out. Apparently Grand Junction is the 1%. We were debating whether or not to head to Denver or to South Utah. Denver won.
The drive to Denver was interesting. We hit a few mountain passes. It was snowing. The boys were so happy to see snow, D and I were not. It went from +27 to +1. Not impressed. I mean it was lovely and all but pulling a 30' beast behind you through 12,000 ft passes is not really a good time. Donovan and I decided to stay at the KOA on the East side of Denver the night before. I plugged the address into Sam as we got a little closer to Denver. Okay, turn at Idaho Springs. Cute town, far too many churches. Sam lead us through town to Co Rd 279. We obviously didn't realize what Co Rd means County Road. We drove for quite awhile because Sam kept telling us that the KOA was right around the corner. And I kept saying just keep going. We drove past lots of old mine shafts. Donovan and I watch far to many horror movies and were trying not to think about what or who would come to meet us if we should get stuck. Finally, Donovan found a place to turn around as it became clear that the KOA was not around the corner. We drove back down the mountainside in 1st gear. Then we took a wrong turn. Bad to worse instantaneously. This road was definitely not made for a 30' RV. A narrow, winding path (a path is what I am going to call it because that is pretty much all it was) overlooking a cliff. Did I mention that it was all loose gravel. A long,long way down.I was on the side that overlooked the massive drop down. Donovan kept his cool. I lost it. Completely. I actually hyperventilated and then broke down into hysterical crying. Ugly cry. After we escaped death, we decided to try the Denver West KOA instead. It was another hour and half away in Strasberg, Colorado. It was wedged between the highway and a TRAIN TRACK! We stayed one night and then found a place closer to Denver. We moved to Cherry Creek State Park. A little oasis in the middle of the city. It was great. They even had wifi. We went and explored downtown Denver. The boys loved the tall buildings. We went to the 16th Street mall in Denver. The boys loved the free bus that took us up and down the street. We got to the end of the street and walked through a lovely park to the skate park. Lots of sketchy teenagers. We left. Walked back up 16th to an awesome bookstore called the Tattered Page. We spent far too much money on books. We then hunted down the Ikea. It happened to be kids eat free day so we had dinner for the 5 of us for $8. Not bad. It was a good thing that I insisted that we needed some more storage for the boys room. The next day we went on a candy factory tour at a place called Hammonds. They make candy canes and other delectable goodness. We bought far too much candy. The boys loved the tour and so did D and I. I then made Donovan hunt down the Container Store. Oh how I love the Container Store. I left the boys in the truck and went in to get some organizers for the kids school work. And I actually left with exactly what I went for. Although I was considering moving in. I know. Donovans' birthday was the following day so we decided to take a trek out to Boulder. Cool university town. Cute little shops,coffee shops,restaurants and gorgeous tree lined streets. Next day:Pueblo.
We drove to Pueblo the next day. We drove through Colorado Springs. We had lunch at IHOP and then drove on through. We should have spent the night. We landed in Pueblo. We decided to stay at the Walmart to save a few bucks. A Barnes and Noble was nearby so Donovan could get some work done. While he was working, the boys and I went into Walmart to get some milk and water. Walmart is just a great place to people watch. (in the line in front of us, there was a gang banger, who knew that there were gang bangers in Colorado and his lovely teenaged babymama. They started arguing. We went into another line up.)We then went back to the Terry and got ready for bed. I did not sleep. At all. We had to keep the bikes inside so we had to crawl over them to get into bed. Donovan doesn't see the point of spending money on a bike rack. Well maybe for about an hour at about 6am. We now know not to park near the main road into a 24 hour Walmart or to park across the street from a movie theatre on a Friday night. Another lesson learned.
Today (OKAY so it obviously was obviously well over a week ago) we drove to Alamosa so we could go and see the Great Sand Dunes National Park. Staying at the KOA...the water smells like rotten eggs but there is no train. At least not yet. The sand dunes were amazing. Donovan said it reminded him of Kuwait. The boys loved it because it was like a giant sand box. I loved the way the light and shadows created such depth and beauty to these sandy hills. OMG...Donovan just came in from outside and there is a train! ANOTHER MOTHER FUCKING TRAIN! The must get the land cheap.That is it...no more KOAs for us!!! Tomorrow we are headed for Durango. We ended up in Cortez. In another Walmart parking lot. This time it was much better. I didn't go into the Walmart before bed and took a sleeping pill. Then off to Mesa Verde,Canyons of the Ancients and then to South Utah. I'll write while we are in Moab. I'll go into Mesa Verde in my next post.
If you want to check out some pics from the trip....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/52945342@N02/sets/
Everything is all good! We haven't killed each other yet...It has come close!
Saturday, 22 October 2011
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
The uncensored version of the censored blog
Picked up D from school on Saturday September 18. It was soo very nice to see him and to know that I wouldn't have to go this alone anymore. Holy fuck, thank god I don't have to deal with these little devils by myself. We went straight over to the guys place that sold us the "Terry". Unpacked the mountain of stuff crammed into the back of the truck into the 5th Wheel and started learning how to use this beast. Things were going along quite smoothly until we went to take the front jacks off to drive away. Things quickly came to a grinding halt, literally. The jacks just stopped moving. Okay. Crap. Holy Mother Fucking Shit, did we just buy the biggest piece of shit? Call the mobile RV mechanic. Can't come check it out until Monday. Get off your lazy ass and get over here. You are screwing with my plans. Double Crap. We were going to spend the next couple of days in a nearby RV parks to get acquainted with Terry. What are we going to do now? Gen, Jim and Finn to the rescue again. We spent the next couple of nights invading their space again! We invade spaces quite well. Seriously, like a bad cold that doesn't go away! We had a lovely few days with some of my most favouritest people in the world. Read: Gen and I got drunk and ate our faces off. Yay!
Monday arrives. Terry is fixed and ready to go. Off we go! We decide to just get on the ferry and go to the mainland and camp for a few days. Donovan has never driven a rig this big. Time to learn. He did really great. It was a little stressful but he managed to get it on the ferry. My knuckles turned white on more than one occasion but I bite down hard on my tongue. The ferry ride was very uneventful. If you don't consider the massive spaz that Aidan through due to some minor detail that I can't even remember. Now to drive the beast to Fort Langley to camp. Okay, a little more challenging. More like a giant cluster fuck! Merging is interesting. Nobody wants to let 48 feet of slow moving metal in front of them. We managed to navigate our way through hideous amounts of traffic and weird streets that change names without notice to finally get to Fort Camping in Fort Langley. Gorgeous spot. Full of the others...that's what I refer to the other RVers as. Not to mention the train that would shake the Terry at least every hour 24 hours a day.Now to remember how to set the Terry up. It was actually easier than I thought it would be. Just a few little hiccups. Like how to get the hot water running and the furnace working. Then how to fit all our stuff into 250sq ft. I am so glad that I have insane packing skills. A few little tweaks and presto, a manageable living space. Not quite but almost.Just a quick visit to the Container Store and some money and it'll be grand.
After another burp. Waiting for the boys school stuff to arrive took longer than expected but this allowed us to get a few more things done. We bought a Spot (a personal GPS tracking device that can send help if we get in a sticky situation) and a GPS (we call her Sam) to help us navigate the streets of big cities so we don't kill each other. Both have worked out like a dream. (except for the fact that Donovan is driving me insane with asking me to push the tracking button on the Spot and to get Sam out as soon as we set foot into the truck, even before I get my seat belt on.
Friday, September 30 is the day, we venture into the United States. I make sure that we have all the documents that we need. Hit the truck crossing. The crossing guard had no idea where or what the Yukon was. Seriously, don't you have to take a geography class to get this job?! Seriously, he asked us what are license plates were...like were they Ontario or BC...no, they are FUCKING from the YUKON. YOU STUPID POS. I think he was embarrassed so we went through without any drama.
First we stayed in Preston, Washington which is just outside of Renton. Quiet spot. Perhaps too quiet for the Dias family to fit into. Read: Children screaming and fighting, me chasing after them screaming obsenities. Got some laundry done, went to Krispy Kreme for some yummy donuts and bought a new hose. So exciting. Next day, we set out for Spokane. Donovan is now very comfortable with driving the Terry. He is a fast learner, no?! We drove through several little towns including one that has the Petrified Wood Forest in Washington. Sounded cool so we decided to stop. Made our donation of the recommended $5 and were then told that we would have to buy a State Park Day Pass. Really? You want another $10 just to look at some old trees? It didn't happen. Took some pictures of some outside of the entry and left. We stopped at the rock shop down the street to check out some pieces of petrified wood and other rocks. Felt a little better about missing an educational opportunity. Got back in the truck and drove to the KOA in Spokane (after driving first to a state park through narrow and windy roads only to find out that we needed another STATE PARK DAY PASS!). The KOA would have to do. (We found out in the middle of the night that it was right near train tracks! WTF? After having watched Aidan whip around on his bike in the last few campgrounds that we stayed at and watching Kiran chase after him (he looked bloody pathetic), we decided to take a family trip to Walmart to buy the rest of us bikes. I picked out a sweet red and white Schwinn, Donovan picked out the cheapest black Schwinn he could find, Kiran picked out a red and black rocket bike and Asher had his heart set on a Spiderman bike (he got the more affordable bike which he happens to love just as much. I love it when they are so easy). By the time we got back to the campsite it was pitch black. The next day we went into downtown Spokane for lunch. Donovan and the boys had some school work to do after lunch so Asher and I went to play at Mobius for awhile. Mobius is a very small scale Science World. Asher loved it! I did not! There was some asshole kid there trying to make Asher his slave. I couldn't help myself but put him in his place a little. And I also kept thinking how I could make this place sooooo much better. When the boys were finished we went and explored Riverside Park. Where I experienced my first encounter with white trash. I kid you not. Just like in the movies. Bonafide trash. Straight from the gutter. A very cool park that was once an expo site. The boys loved the giant wagon slide and the carousel. I got sick just watching them. Then we went on a mission to find a Target. Oh how I love Target! Donovan stated before I even got out of the truck that I was not to buy anything that we didn't need! Sure take all the fun out of Target for me.
The next day we started our journey to Montana. We went through the northern part of Idaho. Stopped in a little town called Wallace. Very strange. Full of cool antiques and beautiful buildings and also had a UFO. and apparently a bakery that sold pasties. I love a good sign Fuck up. Made it into Montana with ease. Stopped at a small town called Alberton because a sign on the highway promised a used bookstore with over 100,000 books. It was a place from the Twilight Zone or some horror movie. The book store was cluttered and the books were ancient. Not at all what we had envisioned. I was hoping for a Russell Books (Victoria). On our very fast exit out of Alberton, (before we were all slaughtered and gutted like pigs) the boys noticed that there was an "A" on the mountainside and were instantly intrigued. We then noticed that all the towns in Montana had their initial somewhere on a close by mountainside. Ya that's messed. On to Missoula. We decided that we were going to try sleeping in a Walmart parking lot for a night. Sam (our GPS) found us a Walmart. The spaces were way too small and I kind of felt weird camping at Walmart. Next idea was to camp at a National Forest campground because the KOA can be a bit on the steep side,price wise. It took a long time to find Chief Looking Glass campground in Lolo (just south of Missoula). It was deserted and the campsite had a lovely creek through it. SOLD. We had a picnic on the rocks in the creek and had some fun throwing rocks. Then we heard gunshots. Hunting season in Montana. Oh joy! I pretended that this didn't freak me out and after we finished our dinner we went for a family bike ride. When we returned to Terry, we got into our pj's and watched a family movie all cuddled up after the boys stopped fighting over the same goddamn spot in D and I's bed. Of course, I instantly passed out. After the boys went to bed, I stayed up for awhile listening to the sound of rain. and waiting to be murdered like the deer the hunters shot. The next day we drove down to Hamilton,Montana because Donovan needed the internet to study and needed to be able to stay in one place for a few days to work on an assignment. We stayed at the Anglers Roost. It was quiet not in our trailer and close to the river. We watched fly fisherman catch some fish and basically holed up in Terry because it was rainy and cold. and Donovan took the truck into town, abandoning me with the hellions. When Donovan finished his assignment we moved on to Arco, Idaho. The drive to Arco was absolutely gorgeous. Beautiful snow covered mountains, farmland, meandering rivers. Breathtaking. Arco was a hole in the wall but it was close to Craters of the Moon National Monument which was our sole purpose for going to Southern Idaho. Arco was the first place where atomic power was used to light up a light bulb. Yep, that is there claim to fame. Craters of the Moon was fabulous! The boys (including D) and I loved it. It really was like being on the Moon. I even went into a cave. Ya I know. Ranger Margaret, who took us on the cave tour was a bit of an odd duck the weirdest fucking person I have ever met but nonetheless the boys loved listening to her canned speeches. they got bored and started wandering around aimlessly While there, the boys earned there very first Junior Ranger badges. They were very proud of themselves. Donovan had two very large final assignments due the next day so we decided to drive a very short distance to Lava Hot Springs. We only got sidetracked once when we saw the sign for the Idaho Potato Museum. I know. We HAD to go. We navigated our way through Blackfoot, Idaho in search of the Potato Museum. We found it! It had a large baked potato sculpture outside. OH MY FUCKING GOD!!! A GIANT FUCKING POTATO. Love. But unfortunately, it was CLOSED! Boo! Lava Hot Springs was lovely. Very cute town set in the mountains that were ablaze in fall colours. Donovan found a nice quiet spot to work and the boys and I walked around downtown. We found an ice cream place and a playground. We collected leaves for a fall art project and moseyed back to the campground (Where I kid you not there is another FUCKing train running right behind it...more than once an hour all hours of the night) to do some art work. where Asher decided that it would be fun to push Kiran down the RV stairs. MOTHER FUCKER! In the morning, after D had finished his assignments we went for a lovely soak in the mineral hot springs (non-sulfur based so I could go). It was very relaxing. whining started on arrival: I don't wanna go, its too hot. I wanted to take a nap after we went but we got into the truck and started driving to Salt Lake City, Utah. As we approached the Idaho/Utah border we saw a giant UFO cloud in the sky. A sign. I dunno. We kept going until we reached Antelope Island, just north of Salt Lake City. Very cool state park that has bison roaming around on it and is an island in Great Salt Lake. We stopped to check it out. I'm sure that it would have much more of a site if we weren't so used to roaming bison. It was stunning though. The water was vile. Tons of brine shrimp (otherwise known as Sea Monkeys) and other weird floating bugs. Nothing else can live in it due to its salt content. It was getting dark and a storm was rolling in so we settled on driving to the "award winning" KOA (someone told us that) in Salt Lake City. I think that it could be located in possibly the worst area of Salt Lake. The ghetto of Salt Lake. But whatever, we have Ned. and not the nicest trailer out of the 800 or so that are here... I think we will be okay. By the way, there is a FUCKING TRAIN STATION CLOSE BY. We parked the RV and went on the hunt for some food. Real food, not fast food. Downtown Salt Lake City is gorgeous at night. The temple was lit up like a christmas tree and the state building glowed in the dreary weather. We found an Olive Garden. Not exactly what I had in mind but it was late and we were hungry. A thanksgiving meal for us that didn't have turkey. sigh. That brings us to today. After Aidan had an extreme meltdown over school work. It was AWESOME! We went to Discovery Gateway. A place for the kids to explore. It was a flipping mad house. There was a school there and chaos reigned supreme. Screaming,yelling and one kid was bleeding profusely. I shit you not. After the insanity, we walked around Gateway mall. Huge place, lots of stores including an Anthropologie. I heart it there. never really got to look around because Asher was being an asshole. Drove around Salt Lake for awhile to check out the city in the daylight. I think that this place is really quite awesome. Cute little neighbourhoods with cute little houses. Beautiful tree lined streets. I think I like it here. Leaving tomorrow. Don't know where yet but will write soon. We were supposed to go to Dinosaur, Colorado but the boys were such little pukes tonight we told them that we weren't going. Where to stop on the way to Denver and to the Container Store. (I think that I might just stay and live in the store)
Monday arrives. Terry is fixed and ready to go. Off we go! We decide to just get on the ferry and go to the mainland and camp for a few days. Donovan has never driven a rig this big. Time to learn. He did really great. It was a little stressful but he managed to get it on the ferry. My knuckles turned white on more than one occasion but I bite down hard on my tongue. The ferry ride was very uneventful. If you don't consider the massive spaz that Aidan through due to some minor detail that I can't even remember. Now to drive the beast to Fort Langley to camp. Okay, a little more challenging. More like a giant cluster fuck! Merging is interesting. Nobody wants to let 48 feet of slow moving metal in front of them. We managed to navigate our way through hideous amounts of traffic and weird streets that change names without notice to finally get to Fort Camping in Fort Langley. Gorgeous spot. Full of the others...that's what I refer to the other RVers as. Not to mention the train that would shake the Terry at least every hour 24 hours a day.Now to remember how to set the Terry up. It was actually easier than I thought it would be. Just a few little hiccups. Like how to get the hot water running and the furnace working. Then how to fit all our stuff into 250sq ft. I am so glad that I have insane packing skills. A few little tweaks and presto, a manageable living space. Not quite but almost.Just a quick visit to the Container Store and some money and it'll be grand.
After another burp. Waiting for the boys school stuff to arrive took longer than expected but this allowed us to get a few more things done. We bought a Spot (a personal GPS tracking device that can send help if we get in a sticky situation) and a GPS (we call her Sam) to help us navigate the streets of big cities so we don't kill each other. Both have worked out like a dream. (except for the fact that Donovan is driving me insane with asking me to push the tracking button on the Spot and to get Sam out as soon as we set foot into the truck, even before I get my seat belt on.
Friday, September 30 is the day, we venture into the United States. I make sure that we have all the documents that we need. Hit the truck crossing. The crossing guard had no idea where or what the Yukon was. Seriously, don't you have to take a geography class to get this job?! Seriously, he asked us what are license plates were...like were they Ontario or BC...no, they are FUCKING from the YUKON. YOU STUPID POS. I think he was embarrassed so we went through without any drama.
First we stayed in Preston, Washington which is just outside of Renton. Quiet spot. Perhaps too quiet for the Dias family to fit into. Read: Children screaming and fighting, me chasing after them screaming obsenities. Got some laundry done, went to Krispy Kreme for some yummy donuts and bought a new hose. So exciting. Next day, we set out for Spokane. Donovan is now very comfortable with driving the Terry. He is a fast learner, no?! We drove through several little towns including one that has the Petrified Wood Forest in Washington. Sounded cool so we decided to stop. Made our donation of the recommended $5 and were then told that we would have to buy a State Park Day Pass. Really? You want another $10 just to look at some old trees? It didn't happen. Took some pictures of some outside of the entry and left. We stopped at the rock shop down the street to check out some pieces of petrified wood and other rocks. Felt a little better about missing an educational opportunity. Got back in the truck and drove to the KOA in Spokane (after driving first to a state park through narrow and windy roads only to find out that we needed another STATE PARK DAY PASS!). The KOA would have to do. (We found out in the middle of the night that it was right near train tracks! WTF? After having watched Aidan whip around on his bike in the last few campgrounds that we stayed at and watching Kiran chase after him (he looked bloody pathetic), we decided to take a family trip to Walmart to buy the rest of us bikes. I picked out a sweet red and white Schwinn, Donovan picked out the cheapest black Schwinn he could find, Kiran picked out a red and black rocket bike and Asher had his heart set on a Spiderman bike (he got the more affordable bike which he happens to love just as much. I love it when they are so easy). By the time we got back to the campsite it was pitch black. The next day we went into downtown Spokane for lunch. Donovan and the boys had some school work to do after lunch so Asher and I went to play at Mobius for awhile. Mobius is a very small scale Science World. Asher loved it! I did not! There was some asshole kid there trying to make Asher his slave. I couldn't help myself but put him in his place a little. And I also kept thinking how I could make this place sooooo much better. When the boys were finished we went and explored Riverside Park. Where I experienced my first encounter with white trash. I kid you not. Just like in the movies. Bonafide trash. Straight from the gutter. A very cool park that was once an expo site. The boys loved the giant wagon slide and the carousel. I got sick just watching them. Then we went on a mission to find a Target. Oh how I love Target! Donovan stated before I even got out of the truck that I was not to buy anything that we didn't need! Sure take all the fun out of Target for me.
The next day we started our journey to Montana. We went through the northern part of Idaho. Stopped in a little town called Wallace. Very strange. Full of cool antiques and beautiful buildings and also had a UFO. and apparently a bakery that sold pasties. I love a good sign Fuck up. Made it into Montana with ease. Stopped at a small town called Alberton because a sign on the highway promised a used bookstore with over 100,000 books. It was a place from the Twilight Zone or some horror movie. The book store was cluttered and the books were ancient. Not at all what we had envisioned. I was hoping for a Russell Books (Victoria). On our very fast exit out of Alberton, (before we were all slaughtered and gutted like pigs) the boys noticed that there was an "A" on the mountainside and were instantly intrigued. We then noticed that all the towns in Montana had their initial somewhere on a close by mountainside. Ya that's messed. On to Missoula. We decided that we were going to try sleeping in a Walmart parking lot for a night. Sam (our GPS) found us a Walmart. The spaces were way too small and I kind of felt weird camping at Walmart. Next idea was to camp at a National Forest campground because the KOA can be a bit on the steep side,price wise. It took a long time to find Chief Looking Glass campground in Lolo (just south of Missoula). It was deserted and the campsite had a lovely creek through it. SOLD. We had a picnic on the rocks in the creek and had some fun throwing rocks. Then we heard gunshots. Hunting season in Montana. Oh joy! I pretended that this didn't freak me out and after we finished our dinner we went for a family bike ride. When we returned to Terry, we got into our pj's and watched a family movie all cuddled up after the boys stopped fighting over the same goddamn spot in D and I's bed. Of course, I instantly passed out. After the boys went to bed, I stayed up for awhile listening to the sound of rain. and waiting to be murdered like the deer the hunters shot. The next day we drove down to Hamilton,Montana because Donovan needed the internet to study and needed to be able to stay in one place for a few days to work on an assignment. We stayed at the Anglers Roost. It was quiet not in our trailer and close to the river. We watched fly fisherman catch some fish and basically holed up in Terry because it was rainy and cold. and Donovan took the truck into town, abandoning me with the hellions. When Donovan finished his assignment we moved on to Arco, Idaho. The drive to Arco was absolutely gorgeous. Beautiful snow covered mountains, farmland, meandering rivers. Breathtaking. Arco was a hole in the wall but it was close to Craters of the Moon National Monument which was our sole purpose for going to Southern Idaho. Arco was the first place where atomic power was used to light up a light bulb. Yep, that is there claim to fame. Craters of the Moon was fabulous! The boys (including D) and I loved it. It really was like being on the Moon. I even went into a cave. Ya I know. Ranger Margaret, who took us on the cave tour was a bit of an odd duck the weirdest fucking person I have ever met but nonetheless the boys loved listening to her canned speeches. they got bored and started wandering around aimlessly While there, the boys earned there very first Junior Ranger badges. They were very proud of themselves. Donovan had two very large final assignments due the next day so we decided to drive a very short distance to Lava Hot Springs. We only got sidetracked once when we saw the sign for the Idaho Potato Museum. I know. We HAD to go. We navigated our way through Blackfoot, Idaho in search of the Potato Museum. We found it! It had a large baked potato sculpture outside. OH MY FUCKING GOD!!! A GIANT FUCKING POTATO. Love. But unfortunately, it was CLOSED! Boo! Lava Hot Springs was lovely. Very cute town set in the mountains that were ablaze in fall colours. Donovan found a nice quiet spot to work and the boys and I walked around downtown. We found an ice cream place and a playground. We collected leaves for a fall art project and moseyed back to the campground (Where I kid you not there is another FUCKing train running right behind it...more than once an hour all hours of the night) to do some art work. where Asher decided that it would be fun to push Kiran down the RV stairs. MOTHER FUCKER! In the morning, after D had finished his assignments we went for a lovely soak in the mineral hot springs (non-sulfur based so I could go). It was very relaxing. whining started on arrival: I don't wanna go, its too hot. I wanted to take a nap after we went but we got into the truck and started driving to Salt Lake City, Utah. As we approached the Idaho/Utah border we saw a giant UFO cloud in the sky. A sign. I dunno. We kept going until we reached Antelope Island, just north of Salt Lake City. Very cool state park that has bison roaming around on it and is an island in Great Salt Lake. We stopped to check it out. I'm sure that it would have much more of a site if we weren't so used to roaming bison. It was stunning though. The water was vile. Tons of brine shrimp (otherwise known as Sea Monkeys) and other weird floating bugs. Nothing else can live in it due to its salt content. It was getting dark and a storm was rolling in so we settled on driving to the "award winning" KOA (someone told us that) in Salt Lake City. I think that it could be located in possibly the worst area of Salt Lake. The ghetto of Salt Lake. But whatever, we have Ned. and not the nicest trailer out of the 800 or so that are here... I think we will be okay. By the way, there is a FUCKING TRAIN STATION CLOSE BY. We parked the RV and went on the hunt for some food. Real food, not fast food. Downtown Salt Lake City is gorgeous at night. The temple was lit up like a christmas tree and the state building glowed in the dreary weather. We found an Olive Garden. Not exactly what I had in mind but it was late and we were hungry. A thanksgiving meal for us that didn't have turkey. sigh. That brings us to today. After Aidan had an extreme meltdown over school work. It was AWESOME! We went to Discovery Gateway. A place for the kids to explore. It was a flipping mad house. There was a school there and chaos reigned supreme. Screaming,yelling and one kid was bleeding profusely. I shit you not. After the insanity, we walked around Gateway mall. Huge place, lots of stores including an Anthropologie. I heart it there. never really got to look around because Asher was being an asshole. Drove around Salt Lake for awhile to check out the city in the daylight. I think that this place is really quite awesome. Cute little neighbourhoods with cute little houses. Beautiful tree lined streets. I think I like it here. Leaving tomorrow. Don't know where yet but will write soon. We were supposed to go to Dinosaur, Colorado but the boys were such little pukes tonight we told them that we weren't going. Where to stop on the way to Denver and to the Container Store. (I think that I might just stay and live in the store)
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