Summer vacation 2008

What a great trip!!
Our family decided it was time to take a serious road trip. We had planned on going to Montana this summer, we just took the long way to get there. Mount Rushmore called!!!! Early Friday morning we took off. The start of the trip was a little bumpy but after we got going it was smooth sailing except for the hourly stop we made for Spencer to "go" in the weeds along side of the road. (This happened for the WHOLE trip mind you.) The Grand Tetons were beautiful in the early morning but by the time we got to central Wyoming, the novelty had worn off, along with the beauty of the mountains. The good new was there was plenty of grasshoppers along the road for Spencer to "go" on. About mid-day we made it to Martins Cove and had a great time pulling hand carts going through the visitors center. It sure made us appreciate our air-conditioned van! We made it to Mount Rushmore at about 8:30 that evening, just in time for the lighting ceremony. What a spectacular program! We stayed in Rapid City and couldn't believe how much there is for families to do around there. The next morning we got to spend more time at Mount Rushmore, tour an old gold mine, pan for gold, and do some shopping. Sunday it was back in the car for the trip to Fairfield with a side trip to Devils Tower. Luckily there was tons of weeds and bugs for Spencer to "go" on through Wyoming and Montana. We had great fun visiting with friends and family in Fairfield. (Sorry to all of you that we didn't get to see, we love you dearly but time ran out.) We spent time in Choteau at the Dinosaur Museum, Great Falls at Giant Springs and the State Fair. The kids loved playing with the cousins. It was great for Spencer have some good "boy" time, playing in the mud and dirt. We also discovered the even dads and moms can have fun playing with Barbies:) We really had a fabulous trip but we were so happy to be home again. The trip actually went really well, we might do it again (in a year or two:)