Day 29

It was a good thing I had gone to bed early with the kids the night before because I was jolted awake by the guy in the tent next door to us screaming. I'm not sure what he said that woke me up but next he screamed, "THERE ARE PEOPLE TRYING TO SLEEP!" then "HEY!" and I was instantly angry as I was one of them. I listened for what or who he may be yelling at but heard nothing but quiet. It didn't matter though, I was awake for the next hour at least. One couple packed up and left and I wasn't sure if it was because of him or what/who he was trying to quiet.

Once there was a hint of daylight I got up to get things ready for our drive to the stables. The kids weren't thrilled when I first woke them up but once they remembered our plans for the morning they jumped out of the tent ready for the day. We all ate a quick bowl of cereal and were on the road by 7.

We were heading to a small town so I knew the roads that come off the mountain were going to be tricky. We left a little early to allow for extra driving time should we get lost too. There was no way we were going to miss this one! Laney wanted to ride a white and brown horse, Ryan a redish-brown horse, Emily a purple horse, and Brayden a tiger.

We arrived about 30 minutes early with plenty of time for the kids to play with the dogs and Emily and I to sit in the rocking chairs and enjoy the morning. The kids tried to be patient but they didn't do a great job!

Before we knew it we were in the saddles and heading down the trail. I was riding Roper - a sweet horse that loved to be all up in the business of the horse in front of him. Evey was on Montana - a horse that was instatiably hungry for the leaves on the trees. Brayden was on Tiger (he got his wish!) - also a very hungry and stubborn walker. Ryan was on Sally who walked right behind the leader like a teacher's pet. Laney was on Buster - a white and brown horse just like she wanted that really liked to analyze the trail and let some monster gas go. Emily was on Bandit who took tiny steps everywhere he went. We were definitely a gang of misfits.



The kids loved walking and talking to their horses while they tromped through the mud along the trail. I think the big favorite for all of us was definitely walking them through the creek. It was just high enough to get our feet wet and the horses definitely enjoyed it at the end of the trail when they were hot and tired.

Our big nuisance on the trail was horse flies but it was more for the horses. We were given full authority to smack them if we saw them. These were wild North Caroline horse flies - bigger than bumblebees! I smacked one that was bugging Roper's ears. Brayden was using a branch he pulled off a tree to discourage his. Emily's horse Bandit learned to stop and show her the flies on his neck so she would smack them. She ended up getting 6 - the record for the day!

We decided to get snacks and make a grocery store stop. I was dangerously low on propane and could us a few groceries so we reluctantly set foot in a Walmart. After being in the woods for 30 days the people, the noise, and all the stuff was overwhelming. We were in and out in 15 minutes - definitely a record for walking through a Super Walmart!

Then we of course had to search for ice cream. We found a tiny little town with a coffee shop boasting 31 flavors of ice cream.  The kids got all their normal flavors and I got my favorite of the trip so far - oatmeal cookie and peanut butter - YUM!

Laney was bummed because she went to grab a napkin and her top scoop fell off. Luckily it fell right into the garbage can!

Once the groceries were put away I gave the kids another snack and told them to play nicely while I napped in the hammock. They knew I was serious when I said violators wouldn't go pick up Dave the next day. I changed into shorts, climbed in the hammock and was out within minutes.

I was also awake within minutes as a cloud had rolled in and the skies were dark. I was about to grab my sleeping bag but it started pouring as I put my foot on the ground. I wrapped up like a cocoon to try to keep warm and wait out the storm. The lightning and thunder was close and I was only hoping it was a quick afternoon soaking!

After about 45 minutes the rain slowed so I made a quick bathroom run, checked on the kids and grabbed my sleeping bag, then hopped back into the hammock. Evey was playing in the tent with the kids so they were having a blast. I tried to go back to sleep but it just wasn't in the cards for the afternoon so I grabbed my laptop and added notes to our days for the blog.

It was chilly once the rain finished so Ryan slipped into my sleeping bag with me and we rocked back and forth for a little while. She was so warm I didn't want to get up! We decided on dinner plans and she decided to play Mary Poppins with my umbrella. Brayden made sure to capture the shenanigans while I cooked.

The gnats were out in full force with swarms of 30 or more around each of our heads as we ate. I ended up walking around the campsite while I ate as it was easier than swatting around my head constantly. We were all so annoyed by the time we had the dishes cleaned that we retired to our tents to play games, read, and sleep. This was definitely not our favorite campground!

Day 16

We had big horseback riding plans today so everyone woke up pretty early and got ready to go. I am really enjoying being able to cook breakfast on the cabin's grill and not having to use all our camp stuff. Things like this make me appreciate the ease of cooking and doing dishes at home. Hot water. Dishwasher. Leaving pots and pans out to dry.

We had a short drive to Mill Iron Ranch to meet our new best friends. We were greeted by a cowboy that gave us a brief run down of what to expect. We were all amazed when he told us how high we would be going today, about 2000 vertical feet! The ridge above rocks in the picture below is at about 300 feet. We were all glad we had horses to do the hard work! Dave and I had huge, beautiful work horses that pulled sleighs in the winter.

We were soon underway with our fearless guide in front of us. When the kids heard there were delicious, sweet purple berries on the trail up for grabs they were ready for a mid-morning snack!

These horses worked so hard getting us up to the top and the views along the way were spectacular! Ryan's and Brayden's horses loved to stop to have a snack along the way. Our guide gave Brayden a thin branch to give his horse Cisco some extra motivation on the rear, but he would only barely tap him. I can only imagine how much that was making the horse laugh! My horse Peggy kept him motivated to keep moving by getting all up in his business when he slowed down! We stopped a few times to let the horses catch their breath.

Once we made it to the top we were all amazed by the view. Our guide lined us up for a picture with the Snake Range, Grand Tetons, and Jackson all around us. Here are Laney & Squirrel, Grammie & Rounder, Brayden & Cisco, Ryan & Rango, Jen & Peggy, and Dave & Piggy.

We slowly made our way down and felt all kinds of new muscles aching along the way. The horses took their time and we were able to really take in the view around each bend.

Once we got back and off our horses we realized what kind of pain we were in! We each said goodbye to our horses and thank you to our guide for our wonderful ride. It was time to change and get Dave into town to work for a few hours. But first, we needed to go to Auto & Diesel for a car check. On our way to Jackson my car started making a strange noise whenever the A/C was on. Shortly after that the fan for the front seat stopped working. We knew we would be fine in the areas we were going for the next few weeks but once we hit the Dakotas and went even more south we'd be in trouble. Grammie unhooked and followed us there then we all piled into her RV to head downtown.

After dropping Dave off our first order of business was to find parking - not easy in an RV! The second order of business was to find the photography business that took our rafting photos so we could check them out. The third, and possibly most important, order of business was to find some local ice cream. We walked past Hagen Daz and found Moos. When I saw they had won the award for best dessert in the state with their huckleberry ice cream I knew we were at the right spot. We took our cones to the park and sat down to enjoy. Each of us got the Lola puppy dog eyes for a lick or a bite, but Laney held out the longest. She had a good strategy!

While we were sitting in the park Marilyn and Heather found us to see what we were up to. As we were chatting, Heather got the call from Auto & Diesel about my car. The smile across her face told me I probably was not going to enjoy the answer. Apparently we have a creature obstructing our fan. And they are unable to take it out because the Nissan dealer needs to. And there is no Nissan dealer in this town or on our route until we get into Montana. Oh dear. Time to buy some Febreeze!! We grabbed the photo Grammie bought for us and headed to go pick up my car before picking up Dave. The mechanic laughed at me as I took the keys from him wishing us luck.

We had a date with Pinky G's this night recommended by friends in town as well as the internet! Lola was so patient as we all ate some delicious pizza!

Next we just had to go see the nightly gunfight in the square. It was short, but the kids enjoyed it even with their ears plugged!











On our way home we headed to the store to do a little birthday shopping for someone while he rode to the campground with Grammie. We also purchased a few quilts for the tent sleepers as we were heading into some colder and colder weather! I dropped off the people in my car and headed back to the grocery store as we were going to be in the Tetons and Yellowstone for the next week and we needed to be prepared!

By the time I got home everyone was in bed and it was time for me to start laundry. Unfortunately other people had the same idea so I could only do one load at a time. I do enjoy that part about camping - getting all the laundry done in one hour if you have an industrial or multiple washers and dryers available! It was a good opportunity for me to catch up on the blog before we left a few posts for while we were out there until I could find some coverage. I couldn't sleep after getting back to the cabin because we were excited about getting up before the sun the next morning to hunt for grizzly bears!!

Day 33

With us being up close to 11, we all slept in and had a quiet late breakfast.  I would have loved to have been up early to try to get a sunrise photo, but I had to settle for this.

We were hoping to make it over to Mackinac Island on the 9am ferry, but we ended up just making the 11:05 boat.  The day was beautiful and perfect for a boat ride!

The ticket lady last night made the mistake of mentioning the word Lego in front of my children, so of course that was to be our first stop.  Brayden was so excited to be going into this place that he claimed we would be spending about 2 hours there.  We probably did end up spending more than an hour!  I really enjoyed just walking around the city they had built as there were tons of funny things to spot.  Most of them were pop culture inside jokes that I ended up having to explain to Brayden.  Of course their favorite part was the area where they could build and temporarily display their creations. The guy manning the store was super nice and I could tell he just enjoyed building all day - what a job!

Next up, Ryan really wanted to go up into the fort.  And when I say up, it was seriously up a giant hill onto the top spot of the island.  Once we made it, we were treated with a wonderful view of the village and lake below.

We enjoyed going through all the exhibits and learning about life at the fort defending the Straits of Mackinaw.  Of course a big favorite with my kids is the reenactments, so they stood staring with mouths open as these guys demonstrated a company firing drill.

But more fun than that was the "Kid's Quarters" where they could learn and play a bunch more. I truly believe Laney was born in the wrong century!

Brayden had been looking forward to renting bikes for about a month, so that was next on the agenda. I was ok with renting bikes here because there are no motorized vehicles allowed on the island. Maybe I'm overprotective, but I just like a parent and the beginning and end of the group with kids this age.

Laney and I got a tandem bike since she is usually our pokey rider.  And we were off to search for Arch Rock.  It took me a few blocks to get used to steering and balancing the tandem with a wiggly kid and around horse carriages, but we finally got the hang of things.Once we left the village area we were cruising pretty fast and enjoying the beautiful view along the way.  Before we knew it we spotted arch rock, parked, and walked the 207 steps up.

This arch was much less impressive than the ones in Utah, but the view through down to the water was fabulous.  Brayden spotted some rocks through the arch in the water where someone had conveniently spelled "USA" down below.

Once we got back down (and I remembered to get a picture), we headed to the other side of the village to the Grand Hotel.  Grammie had mentioned this was a nice spot to relax on the porch with some sophisticated people and take in a view of the I should have realized the hotel was going to bridge.  Once we made it through the maze of horse carriages we started the climb up to the hotel. And when I say climb, I mean straight up with a 70lb kid on the back who is pretending to pedal with you.  I absolutely had some jello legs by the time we made it to the top!

The view was beautiful and so were the people!  We all felt extremely out of place in our shorts and backpacks walking around with ladies in cocktail dresses and men in three-piece suits.  We headed to the balcony corner and grabbed some rocking chairs while Brayden and Ryan played a giant game of chess.  The hotel was absolutely beautiful and we talked about all the things you could probably do there as we walked out.














The very best part about scaling a crazy steep hill is speeding back down!  Laney screamed just about the entire way as we raced past Ryan to the bottom.  We narrowly missed several piles of horse poo, so she may have been screaming about that as well!

After turning in the bikes, we went in search of fudge for Dad and ice cream for us.  I'm not sure this is possible, but I think I may be about ice-creamed out.  I still got some this time, but I think an ice cream break might be in order for this mom.

We had timed it just right to get back to the docks to make the boat that took a quick detour under the bridge before dropping us off at the docks in St. Ignace.  The top deck was packed so I had two hams sitting in front of me the whole time.

The bridge is pretty spectacular up close and I can't seem to fit it all with the lens I brought!  It was still pretty neat to watch the cars go up over us way up there!

We were all pretty exhausted by the time we got back so we headed to the showers.  It is about time for my kids to sit in a hot tub and soak the layers of dirt that have caked on their feet.  I would like to dismiss it as "that's what happens when we camp", but gracious those things are gross.

Once we were all clean, we headed back to the tent, read a chapter or so and were fast asleep within minutes. I wanted to take a picture of the bridge at night with all the lights but I dreamt about it instead.

Quote of the Day: "This bike is AWESOME!" says Brayden after his first experience on a mountain bike.  One child converted, two to go!