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 42

**Clearly we are back home by now as I have NO time to write! There are only a few days left that I hope to get to finishing today.***





We knew we wanted to get back downtown pretty early so Grammie had waffles all ready for us before she left to walk Lola and shower. The kids were up pretty early and easy to motivate to get ready because they knew the plan for the day was to visit one of their all-time favorite museums and the Arch.

It was Sunday morning so there wasn't an issue parking downtown and we were at the Arch within a few minute walk. It is currently under construction so pictures were challenging but I did make sure to try to get the same picture as I'd gotten 5 years earlier on our very first trip!

That year we hadn't had time to go up in the arch so we made sure we made time this year. Our first stop of course was grabbing junior ranger books. This would be our last national park for this trip. And our second stop was the movie about the creation of the arch. We were all once again blown away by the ingenuity, creativity, and sheer bravery in the creation of this marvel, especially more than 50 years ago!

After the movie the kids had a little time to work on their books then we headed to the elevator to head 600-ft up to the top. We were all a little curious as to how the ride up would be. Grammie and I were teasing the kids that by the top of the arch we would be laying down and have to roll out! It was actually much easier being lifted in our own little private car that adjusted beautifully to the angle as we climbed.

Just as expected the view at the top was wonderful! The kids spent time spotting different landmarks and watching the cars and boats go by. There are about 10 different windows so we all popped back and forth checking out the different views.

We made our way back down to chat with the park ranger and were on our way. There was a museum that was currently under construction that looks like it's going to be pretty awesome once it's finished next year so we'll have to return to St Louis again real soon.

Dave had another stop for us on the list today - Ted Drewes. We arrived there around 11:30 and smiled as there was quite a line for their famous custard.  This store had been open since the 1930s and was a popular stop along the historic Route 66. We'd all never had custard before and were very pleased with our decision to stop here!



Once we were all satisfied with a little sugar we headed to the place the kids had been waiting for - Magic House. We'd been 5 years earlier and spent so much time there but only experienced about 75% of the museum in 4 hours! I knew this time the kids would be too old for some of the exhibits so we would be able to see the whole museum. There also wasn't a traveling exhibit right now which was where we'd spent our first 2 hours then playing in the Magic Treehouse books.

It was fun to see the looks on their faces when they saw very familiar exhibits. It was also interesting to see the same exhibits updated with technology in the last 5 years. Those of you that know how my children love the grocery stories with working registers also know the top museum on their list in that category had actual register tape. Well, this one went even further knocking that one into second place with touch-screen registers and credit card machines!

 The kids ran around this area of the museum remembering all the places they'd spend so much time the last time. They played a little bit in each place but moved on quickly to keep exploring.

 We did spend quite awhile in the art area of the museum which I'm pretty sure we didn't even get to during our last visit.  My favorite was the interactive exhibit where the kids could draw a vehicle or building, scan it in, the instantly see it driving or built in the town on the giant screens in the room. It was such a cool and creative idea!






















We spent a little bit longer in another art area but I could tell Ryan was fading and needed real food soon.  She wanted to keep going but tempers were flaring so we kept kids separated and went downstairs to the America exhibit. The kids sat in the oval office, made a speech in front of congress and decided a case in court before it was very obvious we needed to head back.

Ryan had been asking for quesadillas for days so I made them as quickly as possible and they were devoured practically before I sat down! I made 3 more for the hungry monsters and we enjoyed talking about our very full day. While I wrote for a little while Dave made a fire and we roasted some cinnamon rolls for dessert - gooey and delicious!

I popped our last load of laundry on the road to keep us clothed on the way home and we enjoyed the quiet of the campground. There were only a few campers left since it was a school night! I stayed up tending to the laundry and writing as I'd be driving the last few days while Dave worked. We were leaving the next day for a couple of quick overnight stops then we'd be home.

Day 35

My plan was to wake up at 6:30 to be leaving the campsite by 8am. Our fellow campers talked to us quite a bit about where we'd been but they didn't warn us about the dog. The dog that was directly behind our campsite in a private residence yard. This RV park was smack in the middle of a little town so there were people in regular houses next door. But at 4:30am I was plotting some way, any way to quiet this little dog. By 5:30 I was too frustrated at the owners, at the dog, at anyone that I just got up and started writing. My post may have been a little angry that day.




Ryan was all about helping Grammie at our gas stop today! She may be short, but she can figure out how to climb anywhere link a monkey! I don't even want to talk to you about the condition of the front of our car. All kinds of bugs from all over the country have made their mark for sure. Gross.

We left perfectly on time at 8am in hopes that with our gas and rest stops we would be into our next stop by early afternoon. At each of those stops people started conversations with us about our journey. Today's drive took us out of the plains and into the mountains and back again. I wasn't sure what the landscape was going to look like once we got there. I can tell you we were ecstatic to finally be seeing blue sky and real clouds after weeks of gray and smoke.


Our campground was first come, first serve so as we pulled into the park we decided to stake our claim for a site first. Grammie drove right by the campground and headed straight to the Visitor's Center as we usually do. We picked a site we thought would be good for us and close to what she would chose, left a chair, a few sleeping bags, and a tent on by the driveway and paid for it. By this point Grammie and Ryan were really wondering where we were!  We met them at the Visitor's Center, grabbed junior ranger books, post cards and explored. We were at Devil's Tower today.

There were no programs this afternoon or evening as it's now past Labor Day so the park service changes their schedule. We decided to get Grammie a site, set up, and have dinner. While everyone set up I made caprese sandwiches so we'd all be set up, fed, and ready to go hike around the tower.

Our first stop was a very interesting sculpture near the entrance of our campground. It is a peace "smoke signal" sculpture created b a Japanese artist who was drawn to the native american culture in our country. I'm not sure if there are more now, but it was the third of it's kind in the world with the first being at the Vatican and the second where Buddha grew up. Ryan had the camera for these shots.

The placement of the sculpture was just perfect to have it framed around Devil's Tower.

Just beyond the sculpture were the prairie dogs. I believe the kids could have stayed here the rest of the day. There were signs all around asking people not to feed them, but they all were begging and watching us to see if we still would. Ryan took about 75 pictures of these little guys.

We made it to the Tower trail with about an hour until sunset so I thought this would be the perfect time to hike. I noticed Laney frowning and found out she wasn't feeling very well. The adults took turns throughout the hike checking on her and encouraging her to continue. We were enjoying the trail and glancing up at the tower every few hundred feet to see how the view changed.

Just before halfway around Dave was hearing voices and looked up to find a climber about 2/3 up the tower. Once we all spotted him we found his partner just above him too. We headed down a side trail to the scopes to find them and figure out if they were climbing up or rappelling down. Our eagle eye Ryan set the scope so we could all watch them as they appeared to be climbing up.

It started getting dark so we continued along the trail trying to read the interpretive signs along the way. We were poorly equipped without flashlights and we made just as it was really getting dark. Laney was not happy at all so we headed back to the campsite to all go to bed. On the way home Ryan spotted the climbers headlamps still on the tower which created a bunch of questions for me. Could you camp up there? How late do they allow you to start climbing? We would have to find out in the morning.

Once we got back to the campsite, we all retired in our respective areas to read and snooze. We would be moving on to South Dakota in the morning on our shift south.