Day 13

I woke up before the sun in hopes of catching some color behind the rocks as the sun came up. The moon was still out as I crawled out but the sun didn't show much color during the morning. It was still beautiful to sit bundled up (yes it did make it to 46 degrees!!) and watch while I wrote out the day's events from our time in the mountains.













Once the color was gone and I felt Dave pulling the stakes up from our tent, I moved to the shelter to start some breakfast. Once the kids smelled the hot chocolate they slid out of their tent and we got to work breaking everything down. Grammie decided to work on her squeaky door and we instantly had a scaredy-cat dog in our car!

We decided on a quick yogurt breakfast to be able to get on the road early in order to make it to Jackson and our next spot in the early afternoon. We were all very anxious and thankful to have a bed, shower, and electricity to look forward to in our tiny house on the Snake River.

We only stopped for quick breaks and gas as most of our drive was easy interstate. Our view changed back to mountains shortly after we left. All these years the Rockys have been my favorite, but I am so anxious to see more on this trip!

We rolled into the area before our cabin was ready so while Grammie got set up we took Lola down to the river. The water was so cold - the same water we would be rafting on the next day! While we waited we decided on playing a few games of cornhole and jenga.

And this is what happens when the adults walk away to grab some local beer.

Once we had everything unloaded into our cabin we headed into Jackson to meet up with friends of Grammie's to visit and make a plan for the eclipse. The couple was practically legendary in the area and in the rafting world and we enjoyed visiting with them immensely.




We walked some of their property and passed two doe who had taken residence nearby with their twins. We walked further around the beautiful Woodbury Preserve Grammie's company had purchased years ago in honor of Charles Woodbury. We were looking for evidence of beavers and the plaque dedicating the property but couldn't quite find it. We would be sure to walk up the next day when we had more time and someone to show us.

We decided to drive up after rafting the next day and camp to be able to avoid all the expected traffic gridlock and to be away from the crowds and closer to the center of totality.



We drove back to our site for dinner and play time. While Grammie and I cooked the Ryan special (baked potatoes and salad), the kids ventured down to the river to see if they could cross over the rushing creek connecting to the river. They reported back how frigid the water was but begged me to go the next time. They need to work on their advertising skills!






After dinner I took my promised hot shower and we met a few of the families staying in the area next to our cabins. We had an easy fire in the gas fire pit and the kids happily roasted some marshmallows with their new friend.  We opened all the windows and snuggled in our comfy beds for the night.

Day 11

Dave and I were up early determined to catch some color out over the mountains from the meadow. The day before Dave had found the trail down to the meadow so we headed back there a little earlier today. There wasn't much color left by the time we got there but the glow of the morning was just beautiful.

We headed down the Cub Lake trail a little ways to explore. This trail is so perfect for an early morning hike so we'll just have to come back one day!


Once we climbed back up to our campsite I jumped on getting some breakfast ready and Dave worked on getting the car emptied for our ride into town later. He woke the kids a few minutes before we were supposed to set out on our hike with Grammie. Dave decided to take a half day off work to explore some of the trails with us!

We found a shuttle stop a bit closer on our hike down earlier in the morning so we went back that way. As we were going down the last 100 steps the shuttle whizzed up to the stop. We ran as fast as our old feet could carry us, but we were too late. I thought I remembered the shuttle looping back by after a few stops so hopefully we wouldn't have to wait too long. Luckily we did miss the bus because we were able to take a few minutes to read all about a fire that not too long ago that practically wiped out that entire area. Ryan also spotted this little American Pika guy!

The shuttle did indeed come back by so we hopped on and entertained the entire bus with a game of Contact. We made it to the Bear Lake trail relatively early but it was already very full of casual hikers. Grammie grabbed us a interpretive trail book and we began our loop around the lake.

As always we learned SO much!  We learned about the original buildings and schoolhouse in the area, glaciers, lichen, aspen and spruce trees, area birds, fish and beavers, as well as all about the mountain peaks we could spot in the distance.  We also learned alot about the big fire in 1900 that burned most of the forest in the area and that was so hot cracked granite boulders around us. All from a careless campfire.

There's me taking this pic below!

Once we were finished with the loop the kids found the display of moose and elk antlers, big horn sheep horns to imagine how strong these animals area to carry them around all day. The antlers Brayden has is 8 pounds!!










Next up we headed to Alberta Falls. The ranger I spoke to suggested we walk down to the falls then over to Glacier Gorge to catch the shuttle for a more level hike instead of coming back up then way we came. We were all up for not having a tough climb out!

On our way Dave spotted this mushroom that looks like it came out of the Alice in Wonderland movie!

And of course more of these guys were watching our every move.

At every turn the water just kept getting louder and louder. We kept getting glimpses of the bottom section of the falls as we walked around waiting to see the top. Before too long we were there!

We sat and checked out the power of the water and calm of the view while the kids climbed around the rocks looking for more chipmunks and a way to get to the very top. Before too long we were all at the top enjoying a spectacular view of the mountain range. We stayed up there long enough for Grammie to decide to come up too.  Before she turned around I told her what I so often tell the kids, "Don't ever forget this!".

And of course the kids just had to test out the water route on the way back.

Our hike back out to the shuttle was easy and quick so before we knew it we were back on the bus headed to the campsite. While Grammie and Laney left the shuttle to walk through the campground, the rest of us decided hike back up to our campsite the beautiful the way we came.

We loaded everyone up in the car once we got back and drove the few minutes to Estes Park. After dropping Dave off at the library to work Grammie and I went to the park for a picnic with the kids. Lola was really enjoying being out and about with us.

I traded our picnic bag for my backpack and camera at the car after we were finished and met everyone at the playground. I told the girls I'd seen a beaver with two babies on my way back so we raced over there and I was met with eye rolls and "Mooooooooommmm!" when they found the fountain sculpture. One day they'll think all of this is funny maybe. Or maybe they will torture their kids the same way! They were thrilled Grammis spotted this Little Library though. Having our library at home has been so much fun for them to watch people enjoy and they enjoy peeking in different ones too!

All the kids enjoyed hopping up on this saddle placed there to honor a man who had been such an intergral part in the growth of Estes Park. We ducked into a few t-shirt stores to find our souvenirs then headed to get some homemade ice cream. The kids all picked flavors I wanted so I gave up and ordered a standard chocolate peanut butter. It was delicious and we all enjoyed sharing a little bit with Lola.

Shortly before Dave was to be finished working we went to the library for me to catch up with a little of Girl Scout work. Once he was finished we headed to one of the local breweries Dave had researched that was kid and dog friendly with a delicious pizza joint next door. As we were leaving the parking lot we noticed a few elk standing on the sidewalk with their heads in the bushes eating. We'd heard from Amy about how this is a very common occurence especially in September. We thought of getting a picture but I'm thinking not many would enjoy picture of elk butts!!

The kids played Star Wars trivial pursuit while the adults were able to chat with some locals about our trip and plans for the next few days. Lola was definitely the hit with everyone stopping to pet her as they walked by. The pizza was excellent and the beer was even better!

As we were driving home we noticed a few cars pulled over to the side of the road - a sure sign of wildlife activity! As we parked we saw three male elk off in the trees having their dinner so we decided to take a few pictures.

We thought we'd been very fortunate spotting these three and the two in town until we turned into our campground. There were just a couple more hanging
around there!

We saw quite a few magpies jealous of all the elk attention trying to obstruct all the traffic.

What a wonderful end to our stay in Rocky Mountain National Park!! We returned to the park with some time to get things reorganized before our exit the next morning. We had just enough time to make it to the ranger program which was about the different hikes in the park. This ranger had hiked all 355 miles of the trails in the park and was showing pictures and giving advice about each of the trails. If only we'd met him the first day!

We said goodnight with full bellies and smiles ready to be on the road to our next spot. The kids had already started a countdown to the eclipse and we were getting so excited!

Day 43

We started packing up pretty early and I headed down to the cooler to check out what we had for breakfast.  Our potatoes from the farmers market were ready to be eaten so we ended up with a big breakfast of cheesy potatoes, eggs, and fruit.  While Dave cooked (so nice!) I jenga-packed the car and we all ate breakfast. We said goodbye to Patricia and got on the road for a few stops before getting to our next park.  Dave and I were both looking forward to some downtime with just us and the kids for a few days.

Way back around day 3 or 4 the kids and I had enjoyed an evening program about the history of the caves.  At one point in the talk, the speaker mentioned some serpent mounds in Ohio. I put it on our list of possible things to do once we were back with Dave if it was not too far out of the way on our travels. After a little research, Dave found it was just a few minutes off our route so we stopped there first.

We stopped into the museum first and the kids loved learning how the people living there used spears and arrows before they created bows.  We even got a chance to throw spears with the atlatls!  Of course Ryan was the natural that beat us all, but it was neat to try for sure.

After watching the movie in the museum, we headed up the tower to view the mound.  We were impressed thinking about how these people designed and constructed this huge serpent. We'd learned archaeologists still didn't know the real reason why the mounds were built as they weren't for burial. They had a bunch of theories though, the most popular being a ceremonial mound.

See just how big they are next to the family?

We walked around the whole serpent taking a breaks to check out the head and the tail before walking back up to check out the store and the burial mounds. We'd learned inside how they had designed the burial mounds as well careful to respect and preserve the people buried.

Our next stop was nearby in Portsmouth at a brewery.  The building was old and beautiful with a huge working brewery inside. We decided on some snacks while Dave and I sampled a few of their beers.  On our way to the mounds, Patricia called us telling us to be sure to check out the murals on the flood walls in Portsmouth so as we were leaving we drove along the river to check them out.  The kids were amazed at the size and detail of each of the paintings!

There was a car behind us so Dave had to drive a little too fast for me to read them all, but we all really enjoyed the murals of the different important events and people of the area. The one of the area churches was really nice with a painting of each one set in what looked like stained glass ending up looking like a 20ft wall of stained glass.  Next we got to drive over a beautiful bridge!

Earlier this winter when talking about this trip, Uncle Terry had suggested we stop by Carter Caves State Park in Kentucky.  We were enjoying caves so much this trip!  We headed that way and were set up in no time.  We were lucky enough to be there during Pioneer Week with tons of schedule activities throughout the days we would be there.  The difficult part would be choosing between all of them and a tour of the caves!

Once we were set up, the kids hopped on their scooters and sped off to the playground nearby. Dave and I settled in at our site to have a beer and talk about the next day.  Unfortunately during our stay the kids caving tour wouldn't be offered so we would have to settle for a regular cave tour for all of us.







When the kids came back we cooked a quick dinner and opened a much anticipated surprise from one of the kids' friends Kyndall.  She had expertly wrapped a package to be opened on the road as a surprise for the kids and today was the day!   We love sushi, but candy sushi is a definite hit with this family!

 After everyone was sugared up we drove to the lodge for the night program.

It all our travels we'd learned a lot of history of each of the areas and this one was no different.  This program was about George Rogers Clark, a man responsible for some very strategic wins in the Revolutionary War. He was also the much older brother of the much more famous explorer William Clark. The benches were exceptionally uncomfortable, but the program was interesting and the kids seemed to enjoy the story. It was obvious the history of this man and time were a study this man was passionate about. After the program he answered some questions and delved into even more of the history.

We made it back to our site just in time for a little reading but were foiled by Brayden who'd lost his mouthpiece.  We spent our time looking for it but to no avail. The kids went to sleep and Dave and I laid thinking about all the possible places it could be.

Quote of the Day: Dave to the gift store lady, "What's with the quilt squares on the barns in Kentucky?"  Turns out there can be a reason other than decoration which was my answer! Many people add them to their barns in remembrance of someone.  Neat!