Day 49

It's always easier to pack up when we only stay in one tent and helps with the cold weather too.  If the kids could cool their attitudes during pack up and set up I'm positive it could be even easier!

We were packed up and parking at Rebel Donuts in Albuquerque for a couple birthday donuts each before 9. Having a birthday on the road and away from friends is hard so I thought this might hit the spot! Brayden picked triple chocolate and chocolate mint, Ryan picked chocolate mint and caramel green apple, Laney picked Boston cream and raised yeast, and I picked maple cream and blueberry pineapple pancakes flavors. My pineapple was one of the best donuts I've ever had! The chocolate mint bite Brayden shared was surprisingly great too.

This is what 15 looks like!

We made it to Santa Fe more than an hour early than expected so we went ahead and did a Walmart resupply for birthday meals and few other things we needed. We ate our lunch in the car on the way to Meow Wolf.  Dave found this spot in his research for when he was with us but the timing didn't work out for him to be with us. Meow Wolf is an interactive art installation in a 22,000 foot space. There was supposed to be a mystery to solve but we were there just to explore and have fun.

Everything about this place was amazing! The art was fun and very interesting to look at and try to figure out. We were able to climb into tree houses, walk into a refrigerator, climb in and slide down a clothes dryer. We climbed inside an ice machine and walked through a fireplace to take us to some surprising paths. There was even a cleverly disguised bookcase that opened into another room like Scooby Doo. We were able to interact with the art in surprising ways. We were even able to chill out on some of the most comfortable furniture, take it all in, and have fun talking. We had a blast! It's no City Museum, but it was super fun!


After all that excitement we stopped by the art center also in the building and took a few minutes to create something. It's always hard to bring creations home on a summer trip but with only a few days back I was hoping they would last!


We had more than a 4 hour drive left so the kids watched movies and I cranked up the music to help it be a little more enjoyable. It always helps to break up the drives with a little fun and smiles on a birthday are always the best. Brayden requested veggie tacos for his birthday dinner but by the time we would get to the campground it would be getting late.  I don't like cooking and cleaning in the dark and I definitely don't like cooking in the heat! He'd been wanting to try the new Impossible Burger at Burger King so we stopped there instead to grab dinner and keep going. They were messy but delicious!

It was 103 when we arrived at Palo Duro Canyon. The view was like a small grand canyon with colorful rock formations and deep slices in the rocks. As we drove down into the canyon I would have normally stopped about 5 times for pictures but tonight I was grumpy.

When we picked up the map Laney noticed there was a posting about no fires of any kind in the canyon. Brayden was disappointed because he'd picked a dutch oven dump cake for his birthday dessert. The best I could do was a couple of marshmallows out of the bag and a birthday song. This birthday was going to be memorable for sure!

Once we got to our site the kids were fussing at each other when we set up the tent so we all took a 10-minute mental break from away. This was day 49 of constant interactions and we were all miserably hot so it was definitely time for a break.

Brayden picked a few card games for us to play and we enjoyed the warm night back together. Once it was dark and all the weird Texas bugs were swarming the lanterns and dropping on us from the trees above we slipped into the tent for the night.

The girls and I opted not to bring in our sleeping bags but Brayden wanted a quilt to sleep with. I thought he was crazy with how hot the night was. I grabbed our Frog Togg cooling towels in hopes it would help us get to sleep.  It was supposed to be in the 60s overnight but I wasn't sure that was going to happen!

Day 40

We were up early yet again but the kids were actually excited about it. Today we would all be splitting up. After breakfast we left Grammie to a day of retired leisure and headed to Kansas City. We try to give our kids experiences for their birthdays. After about an hour drive, we dropped the boys off for Dave's present to Brayden this year - a day at the College Basketball Experience.

The girls decided to go to the Lego Discovery Center which we found out was just down the road. We had to search quite a while for parking to accomodate my car with the roof carrier, but we finally were able to park in the shade for $10 and walk to the building.

I don't know too much about the basketball museum since I wasn't there, but the boys seemed to have an awesome time. Dave said within 20 minutes Brayden was dripping with sweat he was having so much fun. They basically had the place to themselves since it was a Friday so they played hard. They played against each other and against the clock. They dunked and passed and shot until their arms were about to fall off.

The Lego place wasn't much different - we were going full speed the moment we went through the doors. The girls created a few of their own creations, we shot some bad guys on a ride, they built a master builder dinosaur, and served me some delicious Lego pizza..

Laney wanted to build a tile with 1-bricks so Ryan and I built cars and raced. Check out my awesome tricycle that I assumed ownership of after a kid left. Ryan still screamed by me as my wheels fell off.

Last we visited Miniland which always seems to be our kids' favorite part. They had a Wizard of Oz area that was incredible and downtown Kansas City. We also enjoyed looking at the Chiefs stadium and the Sporting soccer stadium. But most of all the girls loved racing cars at the Kansas Speedway. We were all surprised when Miniland started to get dark all the building lit up and crickets started chirping!

Dave sent me a text letting me know they were finished and exhausted so we wrapped up our stay with Laney purchasing a small set in the store and went back to get them. A Trader Joe's stop was up next to stock up for the rest of the trip as well as all those wonderful things we can't get at home. If they knew what was good for them, they would just hurry up at build one of these in Pensacola!

We settled in for the 4 hour drive it would take to get to our next spot. By the time we got there Grammie was finishing setting up and ready to start dinner. So nice! We had three nights at this spot for some time in St. Louis. We were very excited about our plans until the camp host said places were closing early because of the riots in the city. Of course we didn't know much about it so I fell asleep around midnight researching the area around the museums to see if we would still be able to go. I didn't really get my answer before resolving to check again in the morning and decided.

Day 19

Today began with a quick look at the sunrise and fog over the water then we got the birthday breakfast ready. Not too often you get brownies for breakfast and it's not April Fool's Day!

We also were able to take some time to watch Brayden's birthday video of his 12-year-old highlights as well as a few of the years before. This is a huge pain for Dave every year to compile, but it is always a guaranteed favorite every year with every kid.

We were set to meet at a central visitor's center between our two campsites for their programs so as soon as we finished we got ready and got on the road. Brayden was excited he is finally old enough to ride in the front seat! My navigator in training!

The program was wonderful, clearing up all our debate on horns vs. antlers. These young rangers have been delivering fantastic, well-spoken and rehearsed presentations. We have all been very impressed!

All the kids had finished their junior ranger books so after the presenter signed them we headed to the desk to get the kids sworn in.  The desk was packed but this ranger took a lot of time to give attention to the kids. Within about 2 minutes Ryan let me know she wasn't feeling well so we went outside for air and a snack. I hadn't thought about our sugar-laden breakfast until now so I grabbed some protein for her to try. She was green and grumpy but seemed to feel a little better after the fresh air.

We went back inside as this just happened to also be the National Park Service 101st birthday and there was going to be a celebration inside. Immediately, Ryan wanted to move away from the people and sit down so we went outside with a stack of crackers to sit down. She was laying in my lap looking terrible so she got a lot of attention from the park staff and visitors. I knew she was bad when she declined a piece of birthday cake! After she had a bit of water she said she felt better so we headed inside for a movie Brayden wanted to watch about wolves, his favorite!

The movie was so interesting about a pack of wolves from Canada they reintroduced to Yellowstone. The park rangers and scientists tracked them over time to study their hunting patterns, pack social ways, and pup rearing. Ryan hung out in Grammie's lap to watch - some of the best medicine!





After the movie we decided to move up the road a bit to a pizza place for the birthday celebration.  Brayden made sure to call Grandpa as he'd been trying to reach him for birthday wishes all morning. Ryan still wasn't feeling the best and shortly after we got there she made a quick trip to the bathroom and then felt so much better.  We knew she would be good then as that is her sickness pattern only lasting about 2 hours. We had a blast eating delicious pizza, watching Brayden open presents and cards, and watching videos again!

Grammie grabbed Lola out of the RV and we shared some birthday ice cream with her. Laney shared the most as her top scoop fell off! My kids love to live on the edge eating from both ends of their ice cream cones!

After a bunch of birthday hugs we headed back to camp to get ready to leave the next day. Our first day in the park we had stopped briefly at the Jackson Dam and I convinced everyone to stop again so we could take the walk around to the mountain view. Along the way the kids saw several paths down to the rocks so they stayed and played for awhile while we enjoyed the view.

When we are in one place for awhile, the car organization seems to fall apart and piles accumulate everywhere. It was a good time to throw in a load of laundry as it was just a short walk from our site.

While I organized, Dave and the kids opened birthday presents trying out the drone and putting together Legos. Dave mentioned wifi at the general store next to the laundromat so I sat next door to update a few days on the blog until it was ready to go in the dryer.

The kids were very interested in the bison program that evening so Dave stayed at the site to relax and fold the laundry while I took the kids to the program. This was yet another fantastic brain-filling program!

When we got back Dave had a campfire started so we fashioned some roasting sticks and toasted a few marshmallows. After I snuck down for a few minutes with the sunset color, we all snuggled in for one last night on our huge bed in one tent.

Day 18

The kids strategy for lineup in the tent was Brayden, me, Dave, Laney, and Ryan. We spread the blankets out over the two on each end and theoretically Dave would get a large piece of each blanket as they were both king size. He woke up in the morning with a grimace as he'd been fighting for blankets all night from the blanket stealers Brayden and Laney. We were definitely going to have to come up with another plan.

We hadn't had reliable cell service since we'd been in the park and we hadn't talked with Grammie since the day before when we were packing up. I sent her a quick message letting her know our plan then of hiking Jenny Lake today and visiting the Visitor's Center closer to her the next day. After a delicious, warm breakfast of grits, eggs, and toast to fuel us up we got all our stuff ready to go. This girl is always ready to help!

I sent Grammie a message telling her we were leaving and we headed to the parking area. This was yet another park of the park that filled up in the morning and had cars and RVs parking along the road for 1/2 mile either way so we were hoping to make it early enough. I got part of a message from her so we decided to go to the Visitor's Center for a little while to wait. As Dave was making a quick trip to the car he spotted her parking!

Within a few minutes we were on our way up the Jenny Lake trail. We hadn't hiked in a little while so we opted for the hike over the boat shuttle. Our hike was up over this ridge to Hidden Falls.

I'm not sure the vertical climb, but we went up for quite a ways until we realized just how high we'd gotten.

We made it to a lookout as Ryan let me know she saw a sign that said the falls were just under 1/3 mile away. The view of the lake was beautiful and we all realized why this is such a popular hike!



















We made it down to the falls area pretty quickly and took a little while to enjoy the view and wait for pictures. The water was very strong rush under a bridge nearby and I couldn't help but wonder how intense this waterfall was in the spring with snow melt!

We all opted for the boat shuttle back to the parking lot as I saw a storm moving over the mountain and all the kids were claiming exhaustion. It was definitely a nice, easy trip back!

While Dave and Ryan grabbed ice the rest of us went back to the Visitor's Center to check on programs and post cards. There just happened to be a bear safety program going on so the kids and I stayed for it. We learned a lot about the differences between black and grizzly bears as well as things to do to keep safe should you see either of them.

I'd had my eye on a cabin in front of the mountains the several times we'd passed it for a photo opportunity but the sprinklers had been constantly on for the grass for the grazing horses. The last time we passed by I thought we could time it to take the picture in between sprinkler rotations. This was the house of a homesteader back in the early 1900s. I can't imagine a more beautiful place to be the first person to build a home!

There was a program this afternoon at 4 but the kids opted to head back to the campground for some downtime. We took the opportunity to sort the laundry from the day before and have a beer! We sent the kids to play down by the water as they can't seem to get enough of throwing the big rocks into the water for the sound effects.  After laundry we headed down just in time to see Ryan accidentally slam a rock into Brayden's toe so back up he and I went to perform major surgery.

By the time we were finished and ready to go back the others were walking up so we decided to try to figure out how to play a new card game we'd bought for the trip, Munchkin. We had really enjoyed a board game version so we thought this would be a perfect new game to bring along. But holy cow at all the directions! While they played My Ship Has Sailed, I tried to decipher all the rules and get them into my head to explain them. Somehow I have the title of new game explainer in the family since we started playing games with real rules. It was a rough and confusing start and I'm still not sure if we played 100% by all the rules, but we definitely had fun being elves and halflings and slaying monsters with our unique armor!

Once we finished we had a quick dinner of Mexican bowls and headed up the Signal Mountain to try to catch the sunset. We left pretty early as so many of the summit roads we'd tried in the past are very slow going but we ended up there well before sunset. The summit was a wonderful view but it just so happened to face east so we headed a little ways back down to another lookout that mostly faced the sunset. There were lots of trees in our way but we stayed for awhile watching and waiting.

The next day we were set to have the first teenager in our family so we took a few moments to first say 12 things we love about the boy. They ranged from his passion for sports and reading to still being willing to play with the girls. Then we started a list of 13 things we hoped for his next year. Of course a significant decline in passing gas was mentioned but most were genuine and made him smile. We try to make a birthday on the road extra special!

Once we got back to the campsite we climbed into bed for a long birthday "And then...." story by me, Laney, and Ryan which may have involved puppies, space ships, Disneyland and lots of cake. It was a little kooky, but all that matters was that the 12-year-old was laughing and enjoying the moment.