Day 7

It was chilly when I woke up this morning - just perfect for a long sleeve t-shirt. I woke up at 5am again and noticed on the campground rules that quiet hours were from 8am-8pm. What was I going to do for 3 hours?? The entire campground was asleep so I decided to hike down the nature trail.

This trail went down to the visitors center or the long split went down to the entrance of the park - probably about 3 miles. I didn't think everyone would be asleep quite that long so I just decided to hike for about an hour.

The first spot I came to was the old foundation of the CCC quarters inn the park. We've run into CCC works all over the country and the things they accomplished at this park were no different. Young men needing jobs who worked hard creating trails, buildings, and roads that we use today while they received $25 per month with $20 required to go home to their families. They also received an education - many learned to read or learned a trade. Brayden and I love learning about this program.

As I passed through the meadow jackrabbits were darting into and out of the grass. This meadow was natural and high so there was probably much more wildlife hiding in there! Up ahead I saw a blur on the trail and once I realized what it was and pulled my camera up, it darted across the boulders into his little home. I guess this wasn't the ringtail I was going to get for my birthday. Of course my camera was still in landscape mode so he's just a blur in my picture. See him kinda?

The trail weaved around a dry river for quite a while until I reached the homestead where I'd decided to turn around. This homestead was built by a husband and wife and was expanded over the years to accommodate their growing family. It survived an earthquake and many harsh winters.

I can't imagine waking up to this view every morning!














While I was hiking I was trying to figure out the time difference. It was 5am when I woke up and very bright. I know I hadn't seen a Pacific Time Zone sign but the time here was definitely an hour earlier. It finally hit me that Arizona doesn't participate in Daylight Savings Time! I'm so used to falling back and springing forward I'd forgotten there were some states that don't! So once we get into California I may still wake up at 5am but maybe the sun will be just rising?



By the time I got back to our site there were several families around us awake so I thought it was safe to start making breakfast. Since it was so cool we'd decided on me cooking pancakes on my stove instead of Grammie running her generator to cook. The girls slowly got up and made their way to folding their laundry and helping cook breakfast. Our trips aren't all fun and games!






After we cleaned up and packed up we got on the road toward our next spot. Today would be another 6 hour drive but we would be making our first Trader Joe's stop. The girls were excited to grab a Redbox movie and be in charge of shopping. We ended up with lots of snacks and lots of fruit - typical for them! On our way out of Tucson we drove by a massive Amazon building that had about 75-100 planes parked next door. I'm assuming it is a distribution center? The girls wanted to go in and shop!

The scenery was the same the whole way with distant mountains and dry desert. Phoenix was a stressful city to drive through - I didn't realize it was quite so big! The traffic was a monster on this weekend day. I can't imagine if we'd driven through on a weekday!

Once we made it off the interstate we had about another hour to drive. The temperature was 112 and seemed to be rising. Our next stop was Buckskin Mountain so I was hopeful we would be driving up into a nearby mountain for some relief. I realized we would be able to swim in the Colorado River so I'm guessing we wouldn't be.

When we reached the entrance to the park it was 116. It was a flat park right on the river and our spots were the only ones with trees. Not that they helped at all! The girls and I made the executive decision to forgo setting up the tent and head straight to the water. It was perfectly chilly and provided so much relief! If I'd had a raft I would have tied it to a tree and floated there all day!

We took in the view and watched the skiers go back and forth along the river while the kids played all kinds of games in the water. We were just happy to be cool!

I dragged the kids out of the water to eat dinner and after about a 20 minute settling of food we went right back to the water.  There were a bunch tiny bats flying all around us eating bugs and skimming the water to drink.  They even buzzed our heads a few times!

I'd checked the weather after dinner and it was supposed to cool down over night to 95. Definitely not something I was interested in being in a tent for! There was a breeze but it was so hot it felt like it was coming from inside an oven. We walked up to the campsite once it was dark and I declared it impossible to sleep so we grabbed pillows and headed to Grammie's RV. We were SO very thankful to have that option!

The air conditioner had been running since we'd gotten there and it was still warm, but so much cooler than outside. We didn't expect to be sleeping on beds this early in our trip! I tried to read but only ended up finding the spot I'd left off last time before I gave up and went to sleep.

Day 26

I was up again early to write this morning to get caught up on a few days of notes. The kids actually slept in so it was a quiet morning until they smelled pancakes! We had company in our bear box again this morning - this time there were 2 tiny mice! They scampered out as soon as I opened the door. I'm sure a giant opening a big metal door could give once of those guys a heart attack! I was just hoping there wouldn't be even more the next day!

I hadn't had service for the jetpack for a few days so I decided today would be a good one to visit the local-ish library. We also took the  opportunity to do a few stops at the overlooks and learn a little bit at the Blue Ridge Parkway Mineral Museum. I wasn't really interested in stopping at the museum but once we got in there it was actually very interesting!

We made it to the library and I scanned the shelves for graphic novels - all the kids' favorite for reading with a short time frame at the library. Ryan was ecstatic to find Munchkin comics and begged me to add them to her list asap - win! After about an hour I was ready to go but the kids made me stay until they were finished with the books they were in the middle of reading - double win!

Next up - ice cream, of course! I'd spotted this tiny place on the way into the tiny town of Spruce Pine so we promptly found our way back to sample the flavors. They had a flavor I'd never heard of before - Spirulino - a mix of chocolate, pistachio, and cherry - very different. We ended up choosing other flavors and enjoying it together. While we were sitting there Emily spotted an otter crossing the road. Of all places!

The wind started picking up quite a bit so we looked around and saw this big guy and knew it was time to get moving. We weren't sure if it was going near our campsite exactly but we definitely knew it was hitting our ice cream spot shortly!

We decided just in case it was headed our way we  would take a detour to let it pass. Our next campsite was a first come, first serve campground so we headed that way. Emily has to be pretty picky about her campsites with her setup so we grabbed a campground map and marked the best spots for her. If there were a bunch of people here once we got her at least she could quickly decide where she wanted to setup.

When we returned to our campground there were dark clouds all around us. I'd hoped we had bypassed the storm but I wasn't so sure now. It wasn't raining so we all went down to the river to explore while Brayden stayed in the hammock to read. Once I was sure the clouds were gone Ryan and I decided to cook dinner. She's one of my best helpers!


The kids were anxious to move after we cleaned up and Evey wanted to play ultimate frisbee so we divided up teams and started to play. Laney and Brayden were to be facing Evey, Ryan and me this time. We scored 3 goals right away so we relaxed. A little too much maybe. Before we knew it the score was 4-4. There wasn't much wind this time but this crazy big frisbee was hard to control! We were close to goals to finish the game so many times!! We finally ended up winning and we all collapsed in the grass to rest.

Next up was a quick game of campball. Evey went to eat dinner so it was just the Clarkes this time. Laney and I were demolished by Brayden and Ryan. They had pinpoint accuracy to get us out just about every inning. I guess it's time to switch up teams again!





The night was clear so I gather things together to make a fire. The kids were excited to try Reese's cups for their s'mores tonight. I was just excited to eat some chocolate and relax by the fire without rain!

Day 20

Today we would be moving on to our next spot a little further south. We have been using our quick no-cook breakfast for hikes so I had to cook before we could leave. While I made breakfast the kids packed up the tent as far as they could. We were sad to leave our meadow but hopeful we would have another one at our next stop.

We have also been wishing for bathroom upgrades throughout the trip. After the second stop we began wishing for lights. After the third stop we started wishing for soap. After this stop we wished for more than one stall. We'll see what we get!

Once we were on the road our first stop was The Lump Overlook. This stop was highly recommended for the views as well as the ability for the kids to explore the meadow at the top. The views were beautiful but with waist-high grass we decided to keep on going.

Next up was the trading post. This stop was supposed to have tons of local artisan crafts, souveniers, and some food. While we saw lots to load Grammie's RV up with, we ended up with some ginormous cookies and a mug to add to my mismatched collection.

Once we made it to Julian Price we were able to set up pretty quickly. Brayden had a few issues with the girls so I voluntold him to help me with a grocery run. Separation often helps with their issues and I knew the girls would have fun with Emily while we were gone.

Apparently I get way too excited about fresh food because I couldn't even fit it all in the cooler. We had to have a feast snack once I got everything put away. I think Ryan ate her weight in tomatoes since we hadn't had them in a few weeks!

I think I can pinpoint this afternoon for the beginning of an obsession. I taught the girls how to play solitaire since often one of the kids will want to play cards but others won't. They played for the next hour straight!

Ryan did work up the courage to take a break and illegally use her Ripstick though. Skateboards, skates, etc aren't allowed in the parkway campgrounds but since she saw an adult riding she looked up at me with the pleading puppy dog eyes so I gave the go ahead as long as she knew it was her responsibility if a host or ranger spoke to her. I think she lasted about 5 minutes before she put it back away.

My kids are most excited about dinners on grocery days because they miss fresh food so much too. Tonight would be some veggie burgers made by Ryan! We decided to cook all 8 of them and save half for a easy lunch one day since we were planning to hike a lot.

While Ryan was cooking Laney spotted this very pregnant deer eating nearby. She always had her eye on Laney taking her picture but she never stopped eating.

The kids went right back to playing solitaire after dinner. They were all getting quite frustrated however as it's not often you really win without cheating. They are missing quite a few plays along the way so that doesn't help either.

The host relieved them of their frustration as she came by to announce a music program was starting at the amphitheater shortly. We cleaned up our site a little bit and headed down. We were all pretty excited we finally had a program at a campground. It seems we started this trip a little before their summer season.

The program was a family of local musicians that ended up playing a large variety of cover songs. The kids even knew quite a few of them! Their two girls (11 & 13) even played a few songs for the crowd - we were impressed!

While the family was playing their super sweet dog Vegas was happily licking and sitting on the kids. She almost stole the show several times! Laney took this picture just before she knocked Ryan over licking her face!

At one point the parents were talking to Evey and she mentioned she plays guitar so the next time they were going back up after their daughters played they announced to Evey's surprise that she would be coming up to play with them! She ended up playing "House of the Rising Sun" chords along with them. It was fantastic!

We joked about needing her autograph on the walk back to our site. The kids thought it was awesome she was brave enough to get up there and play. I can't imagine a Clarke kid ever being able to do that!

Day 38

I got up before the sun this morning to keep editing pictures. With Dave back to work I'm the driver so my writing and editing is done super late or super early. We got out of the campground pretty early as we had a long drive with a couple stops that would pretty much take us all day. Before we got out of the park we were stopped by a herd of bison walking in the road. They weren't worried about us at all.

The kids are getting pretty good at helping with the windshields each time we get gas. I remember enjoying this when I was younger for some reason as well. Helping on the RV is a whole other challenge!





Our first fun stop today was suggested by the museum guy back in Sundance, WY. Once the kids heard the words archaeology dig and mammoths there was no way we couldn't stop. Unfortunately Dave was working so he didn't get to enjoy it, but we made sure to tell him all about it once we got back.

In the movie we learned about 30 years ago a developer bought the land to make a new subdivision and as the bulldozer was clearing a hill on the land he discovered some bones. They stopped development, he sold the land to the newly-created Mammoth Site organization at cost and they began uncovering the mystery of the site.

We were taken to the dig area after the movie to view the progress of the last 30 years. After core samples were completed down, they determined there were bones and tusks at least 45 feet down. So far they have pulled out skeletons from wooly mammoths, Columbia mammoths, small-faced bear, and a few other animals only 22 feet down. They have many many more years left to go!

Once we went down we discovered there wasn't anyone working in the lab in the basement, but they had a great display set up of bones of all kinds of animals as well as the smallest of snail and reptile shells that had been found as well. This was the femur bone of a Columbian Mammoth!

We'd never heard of the now extinct small-faced bear before and we were all amazed by his statistics. He was almost 6 feet tall at the shoulders so he could look an average sized man in the face. Standing he was more than 15 feet tall so he would be able to peek into a second story window. And his claws, oh wow.

While we liked to see bears we were all thankful we'd never seen that one. We got back into the car and Dave was barely able to contain his excitement. After we passed into Nebraska we would be very close to his next stop!















We all were anticipating being able to see it from miles away with the flat landscape, but it was tucked away around a curve that we could only spot about a mile away. Dave had visited Stonehenge as a high school kid so he was more familiar with the set up of the stones, but we were all pretty impressed.

This summer had actually been the 30th anniversary of the structure. There had been other art sculptures added over the years, but other than replacing a few foreign cars with American made cars, Carhenge had basically remained just as we were seeing it today. The kids enjoyed spinning the tires and trying to open the doors. As we walked up the trail to other cars we saw a large buried car people could sign so I ran back to the car to grab a Sharpie. We hoped that if we ever stopped back by that we could find our notes one day.











The history and the idea behind the project was interesting too! We stopped into the gift shop and asked about the eclipse as Dave found out this was also a totality spot. She said there were 4,000 people there! I'm sure that was a very unique experience! We bought a few things with stickers and postcards and got back on the road to our next spot.

We found our next campground after driving over the dam next to it a few times. They were letting out water from the dam and the smell was overwhelming. I was really hoping it wouldn't be a part of our camping experience this night as I could barely hold in the snack I'd eaten a few hours ago. Luckily Brayden pointed out the smell in the campground was just campfires so I resumed breathing again.

Our little spot on the lake was calm and beautiful. After a quick dinner of pizza bagels, the kids and I played cowboys and indians until we could barely see them anymore. We've gotten into a routine of going to bed with the sun as our days are pretty full of long drives to get back home.