Niagara Falls - US and Canadian sides

Just a few hours after we left Erie, PA we passed through Buffalo, NY and arrived in Niagara Falls area. We had initially thought that the toll roads approaching Chicago were a little brutal but New York has managed some brutality of its own -- and more. We paid nearly $10 to travel on the road coming around Lake Erie to Niagara. Then we got hit with another $2 toll near Buffalo… then an $8 fee to park on Goat Island right near the falls on the American side. After that, pretty much anything beyond looking at the falls from the walking trails cost money (which we chose not to spend). To our surprise, there was very little "free" information about the falls -- even at the Visitors Center. We asked and were told we'd have to pay for most things but eventually found a wall display with some geology and historic information with pictures. We were surprised to learn that this was America's first State Park. The majesty and power of Niagara Falls cannot be adequately described -- or even photographed -- to capture the amazing volume of fresh water that pours every second of every day over the falls. We joined thousands of tourists marveling at how 20% of the earth's fresh water is located in the Great Lakes and here is was pouring out on it's way to the St Lawrence river and out to the ocean. This was the place where the continental divide we'd seen in Glacier National Park in Montana had separated out the rainfall from those mountains and east beyond to fall over these falls in front of us. Just amazing... We did as much free walking and looking as we could before deciding we'd set up camp on the Canadian side of the Falls for a few days. Paying (yet another) toll to cross the quarter-mile bridge that allows us to exit America and enter Canada, we forgot that we were carrying firewood until asked by Canadian border patrol. They quickly turned us around to return the wood before coming into Canada. We joined a long line on the American border patrol gate and finally were able to ask an official what we should do with the wood (assuming this was a fairly common occurrence -- as we'd been told -- and they'd have a place for it). Apparently not. We had to drive around Niagara Falls town looking for a bin to deposit our firewood. A half hour later we were back at the toll booth to go across to Canada pleading that we'd only recently paid the $6.50 -- showing receipts and paperwork to prove it. Our pleas and petitioning were met with bureaucratic head shakes and an extended hand -- not of friendship but of another toll collection. Grumbling, we paid another $6.50 and continued on. We selected an RV park not far from the falls, set up camp and called it an early night. The next day (Sunday 9/28) we got some home schooling done, made some calls and Ruth even "skyped" a friend back in Seattle. After lunch and two family rounds of mini (or putt-putt) golf at the park, we caught a shuttle bus into see the falls from the Canadian side. As everyone told us, it is more beautiful. From the Canadian side you get a better angle on the 2 main falls and the vista is more complete. We strolled along the park that overlooks the falls then decided to grab a meal before heading back later in the evening to see the light show that creates a color wash on the falls at night. Finding a dinner location took us up Clifton Hill Road and an abundance of crassly commercial outlets with their bright colors and lights and alluring sounds - a wax museum, ice cream stores, a huge Ferris wheel, movie theaters, pubs, etc. The girls kept looking around at all the distracting sites. Returning to the falls, we watched as the smaller Bridal Veil falls was washed in a blue then purple hue while the same effect was delivered in different colors across the American and Horseshoe falls. Kind of cool but not captivating enough to watch more than 10-15 minutes. We returned home on the shuttle bus and were in bed late that night. Today we are planning to begin our trek toward Quebec City, Quebec. We figure we'll get half way to Montreal in a day, passing by Toronto. Then to Montreal in a day, and Quebec in another day. But we're weighing whether to stay 2 nights at each stop to enjoy the local surrounds -- weather and mood will dictate. We had our first sprinkle of rain the other day but otherwise it remains quite warm during the day, cooling off at night. Now that we're in Fall/Autumn, we're starting to see some color making its way into the trees and look forward to seeing more of it on the road.

Wal-Mart in Erie, Pennsylvania

Our first Wal-Mart "boondock" (or free camping). We called ahead and the Assistant Manager said it was okay. We checked again when we pulled in as the signs quite clearly say No RV Camping. He confirmed it was okay. And besides, we'd just spent over $100 in the store getting all manner of items -- 12v oscillating, clip-on fan; 2x fly swatters; paper towel holder; compass for Rose's math work; new back seat cover for van (old one is seriously trashed); cat food (for the as yet un-met stray cat that will visit us in a future campground); large and small LED lanterns for early evening use now the days are getting shorter (the large lantern has solar recharging option as well as 12v and plug-in -- cool); lightweight string hammock; etc. Lights out now for an early ('ish) start tomorrow.

Ohio - Comstock family and Amish country

Our campervan got a good "tune up" at Airstream -- a new side panel to replace one that was cracking; the heater is working again; a new skylight remote was provided by a fellow Sprinter Westfalia owner and an Airstream technician helped us program it so we can open the skylight again; plus the tighting of a few loose parts and the loosening of few parts that had tightened up. We had thought we'd have all this spare time to catch up on website updates, home schooling, etc. Luckily we got the home schooling done -- but not so much of the other stuff. Hard to say where the days go! Work was complete on the van by noon on Tuesday but we had already decided to stay that night and use the time to re-organize the van and trailer, doing some re-packing. We had earlier received an invitation from the Comstock family to visit them while we were in Ohio. We'd met the Comstocks in De Smet, SD at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead. Traveling with their 5 children -- age 13 years to 18 months -- Rose had made friends with Abbie, their 10 year old daughter. Jason and Pam (the parents) were self-employed and home schooling so there was plenty to discuss. Now that we'd spent a good few days driving through endlessly flat corn and soy fields of Indiana and Ohio, we were curious how families might spend their time in Ohio. Part of the attraction of the visit was the promise of meeting 74 chickens owned by the eldest girls -- Katie and Abbie -- and run as a small business by them, selling the eggs. As it happens, the Comstocks lived just 50 miles from the Airstream factory. After being in one place for 3 days, this felt like the right level of stamina required for our first day of driving again. We pulled into their driveway around Noon on a sunny and warm Wednesday. Within minutes Ruth and Rose were getting a tour of the chicken coop. And soon thereafter they appeared with freshly collected eggs. Although Rose would go off and play with Abbie around the house and yard, Ruth was transfixed on the chickens and the eggs. Along with the younger Comstock children she collected eggs for the rest of the day, rounded up chickens, played with them and did all manner of farm-girl activities not readily available to us in Seattle. She was in heaven!

Later in the afternoon we treked to the back of the six acres where a small creek ran through as a border to the property and the kids splashed around to cool off. Later that evening we shared a delicious barbeque outdoors with 6 kids (including ours) at one table and the adults (plus little Rebecca) at another table. The adults were even able to chat a little after dinner. Rose ended up doing a "sleep-over" inside the house (meaning, not much sleep) while Doug, Denise and Ruth slept in the van Wednesday night in the Comstocks long driveway. The next morning a home cooked breakfast greeted us! Today was Thursday, September 25th -- we'd been on the road one month and decided we'd make this a special day to celebrate. Denise and Doug grabbed showers then we made our farewells and departed with plans to visit the nearby Amish country so we could experience the rural, horse-and-buggy lifestyles of the second largest Amish community in the US. We arrived mid-afternoon in a little touristy town of Berlin and went out for lunch. The Amish-style home-cooked meal was wholesome and traditional -- meat, potatoes and greens. The fresh baked pie for desert was excellent! We looked at some shops and decided to camp in the general area with a goal to get to Lehmans Brothers Hardware store in Kidron because of it's fame in supplying a lot of the non-electrical appliances to the local Amish farmers. We checked in at an upscale RV park (upscale for us, at least). It had pool, hot tub and all the hook-up amenities for RV's included in the $44/night price -- power, water, and cable TV and free showers. We quickly set up camp, grabbed our "beach bag" and went for a swim. Dinner was a simple affair with Doug cooking while the girls watched some TV -- the first time in a month! We ate together then packed off some very tired girls for an early night. Checking out around Noon on Friday, we had decided it's time to push on toward Niagara Falls as our main destination. We figure it will take 2-3 days. We stop at the Lehmans Brothers Hardware store just 5 miles up the road from our RV park and are all captivated by the store. There is a nostalgia about the hardy, craftsman design of the fireplaces and heaters that look like appliances of yester-year but are available for purchase today. Incredibly stylish and looked like they would last a lifetime. Amidst all the household goods for sale are high quality, handcrafted furniture and work tools provided by local Amish. The store goes on forever and we easily spend more than an hour there. Doug gets a leather belt, the girls a puzzle game and Denise an apple slicer and spoon. It's time to hit the road so we grab a quick lunch in the van and head toward Erie, Pennsylvania as a possible overnight place.

Airstream - Jackson Center, Ohio

We pulled into Jackson Center, Ohio -- home of the Airstream factory -- mid-afternoon on Sunday. This quiet little town was preceded by miles of corn and soy bean fields (and we expect it is the same on the other side of town). The weather remained warm and sunny and we were pleased to be on the road only two hours after our overnight stop in Indiana.

We had booked the van in for some warranty work on Monday morning so knew we had to clean it out a little and re-arrange our living quarters. It was a little surprising to learn that Customer Service opened at 7am -- kind of early for us city folk! In the spirit of factory work hours (staff go home around 3:30pm), Doug was volunteered to report to the service desk early to get the work started on the van.

Airstream makes their "Terraport" available for those coming in for service work. It's a free parking/camping area right on the Airstream ground. We parked there but also set up our big tent on the grassy field nearby to create a bedroom at night (so the kids could sleep in) and school house during the day (so the kids could stay on top of their home schooling).

Apparently, at the end of the Airstream workday, various rigs are returned to owners with any incompleted work started again the the next day. Sure enough, our van was ready for pick-up at 3:30pm. Day 2 work begins early tomorrow.

We're trying to catch up on school work (for kids) and email/work/website update for parents. For better or worse, there is not a whole lot to do in Jackson Center. Fortunately, there is a laundromat. This will be a prime visit tomorrow (woohoo!). This afternoon we did the Airstream Factory Tour which could have been incredibly interesting but lacked a certain bounce and energy. To be precise, the kids called it "long and somewhat boring". Probably the best part was walking through some of the near-finished units at the end of the tour. We did learn that the Sprinter Interstate (by Airstream) is a big seller for them. The Interstate is based on the longer, 22 foot wheel base (our Sprinter Westfalia is 18 feet) and a bigger engine -- the Sprinter 3500 with V6 and dual wheels -- while ours is built on the Sprinter 2500 with 5 cylinder engine. Nonetheless, we're proud to own one of the just 250 Sprinter Westfalia's sold in the US... and delighted to be getting a little over 20 MPG towing a 5' x 8' trailer on the more than 3,000 miles of our journey so far and across some very mountainous parts of the country.

Overnight in Indiana

We pulled off the road around 6:30pm local time -- we're on Eastern Time now. In terms of timezones, we made it across the US already! We passed a little ~10 RV campground that only had 3 visitors and doubled back to check it out. We decided to stay. It's a warm evening. The mosquitos are out but not too bad. Again, a stray cat has befriended us (and been befriended by the girls). Now I understand why we always have a can of catfood on our shopping list. Tomorrow we complete the ~80 miles to the Airstream facility (around 2 hours drive) and set up camp for a three nights. Our location tonight is at the crossroads of Indiana Route 69 (running north/south) and Route 18 (running east/west).

Brookston, Indiana

Passing thru.

Great visit Chicago!

Chicago has been a great visit! Just as we were preparing to move the van on Friday morning we saw a woman park behind a gated open style carpark just across the street from us. The carpark had room for 40-50 cars but only 3 parked there. Denise rushed over and asked if we could park there for the day. The woman told us it belonged to her boss, who lived a few doors down, so Denise accompanied her to meet the boss. It turns out he was an very warm and generous person (living in a very beautiful house). He gave Denise the gate opener -- there was only one opener -- and asked that she return it when we'd parked the van. A beaming Denise returned to the van with opener in hand. We quickly pulled away from the curb and moved into the carpark -- lots of room and security as well! For the day we'd planned to ride our bikes into the city -- along the waterfront -- and visit the American Girl store. We unpacked our bikes, packed up supplies for the day, returned the gate opener and hit the road. The waterfront park has an excellent bike track. It was about 7-8 blocks from our van and we made our way past little restaurants, bakeries, beautiful homes, corner pubs and a host of "city living" amenities. There was a little "reverse cultural shock" after living in the wilds of national parks and the plains for most of the past month to be suddenly traversing a large city. The noise of cars and trains as well as the press of people was all somehow alien to us (even though it felt familiar). To our delight, in just a few miles we rode past Lincoln Park Zoo which is free to the public. We locked up our bikes and spent a few hours there wandering around. Then on to the city. Another surprise. The bike path brought us out right beside a "beach". None of us had expected this. The beaches reminded us of those in Manhattan Beach in LA with the constant grooming and light brown/yellow color. The difference was the fresh water "ocean" provided by Lake Michigan - one of the five US Great Lakes. It was a sunny, warm, balmy day so we continued our ride. The bike path was being enjoyed by walkers, joggers and riders of all shapes and sizes. It is a wonderful asset in Chicago. We eventually arrived opposite the street for American Girl so left the lake side bike path to walk our bikes a few blocks to the store. Entering the store, Rose also entered a semi-euphoric state since she had basically arrived at American Girl doll heaven. The store is cleverly laid out with their real customers in mind -- 5-12 year old girls. More than half the girls -- Rose & Ruth included -- were carrying their own previously purchased American Girl dolls around the store. Doll clothes and accessories were laid out in fashion-house style along with matching outfits for little girls (their owners). There were very tasteful displays of past American Girl dolls of the year and shelves stocked with all kinds of American Girl "stuff". Rose notes that in the bathroom there was a little rack to hang your American Girl doll while you used the bathroom. By the end of the day we managed to escape with just the latest American Girl catalog and a Dad much more informed about the style and heritage of the American Girl juggernaut. We grabbed lunch at Tempo's -- a local's downtown eatery. We highly recommend it for fresh, simple food and generous servings. It's cash only. We did another shorter visit back to American Girl then rode our bikes home along the bike path via a stop at the beach and a playground in Lincoln Park. Dinner was at a local Mexican restaurant with Denise's college friend, Marianne Kerrigan. One irony last night was having the police knock on our van around 9pm and ask us a few questions because apparently someone had called in concerned about lights going on and off. They soon realized we were on private property with the permission of the owner so wished us a goodnight and moved on. We all slept like logs. Today we start our haul to the Airstream facility in Jackson Center, OH -- approximately 300 miles from here. We're planning to break up the trip into 2 days of driving after we do a mail pick up at a friends parents house a little north of us here in Chicago.

Chicago!

We made it to Chicago after a long day on the road -- about 7 hours (including stops) -- and met up with an old college friend of Denise's. We did a walking tour of the Lincoln Park neighborhood and ate outside at a small local bar/bistro then called it an early night. We're currently parked on the neighborhood street trying to look like we're not really camping/sleeping in the van. Traffic and pedestrian noise has picked up and we're feeling a little self-conscious of a need to lift up our shades and potentially re-park the van so we're not in front of a construction site. We're planning to move the van then park it for the day and do a bike riding tour of the lakeside of the city today.

Overnight at West Salem, Wisconsin

Pulled into a little campground near a lake just off Interstate 90 near the border of Wisconsin and Minnesota. We traveled down the Wisconsin side of Route 35 for most of the afternoon, crossing over then following the Mississippi River. We've made our main turn toward Chicago now and will likely pass through Madison, WI tomorrow on our way the Windy City in Illinois. Tonight is our 24th night of travel. We have clocked 2,763 miles so far with nearly 1,000 of those miles traveled in the last 4 days. Including our home state of Washington, Wisconsin is the 7th state we've visited.

Delano, MN - 30 miles west of Minneapolis

We made it to beautiful Delona, Minnesota late in the evening. A local business contact had suggested a wonderful RV park. We pulled into a green, leafy and well-maintained park with hardly anyone else there. Doug went to a dinner meeting on Tuesday (last) night. Today we're going to look around the park (it's very large and includes a lake) while we consider our options for traveling the ~750 miles to Airstream Factory in Jackson Center, Ohio via Chicago. We need to be there Sunday evening (Sept 21) for some warranty work scheduled on the van Monday and Tuesday.

Little House on the Prairie - De Smet, South Dakota

Barrelling along Interstate 90 in east South Dakota and trying to make good distance toward Minneapolis in Minnesota, we started seeing signs for the Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead - location of Little House on the Prairie. Denise and I looked at each other and shrugged it off. But the more we thought about it, and thinking how much the girls had been enjoying the Laura Ingalls Wilder books that we were currently reading to them, we asked if they'd be interested. A rousing chorus of "Yeah" greeted us from the back seat. So, with just 100 yeards before we passed the turnoff, we made the turn and headed the 50 miles north to the homestead. We pulled in and the place was closed but we figured we'd take a quick look around before finding a place to camp. Earlier in the day we'd passed into a new time zone and the day was later here than when we started out. To our delight, two little kittens met us on the front porch of the homestead. And they were friendly. While Rose and Ruth played with them, we looked around and discovered just on the other side of the building was an RV camping spot for 4-5 RV's. One spot was open so we decided to pull in. Another beautiful clear evening on the Plains. This time we were surrounded by all the buildings and trappings of real pioneer living. And, we were camping in the same place as the stories we would read about in the later books of the "Little House" series. The girls (and parents) loved it. The next day, we paid for our camping and spent the morning looking at "Ma's Place", the "Sod House", the Chicken Barn, the Cow Barn and touring the actual homestead which had been converted into a shop and museum. The girls made "rope" and also made some corn cob dolls - just like Laura had as a child. Now we're pushing on to Minneapolis.

Badlands behind, heading east

Yesterday the Badlands shone in the bright, warm sun and we got to look around in unexpected ways. For weeks now we've been traveling inside National Parks and are careful to follow some of the main mantra's: keep your distance from wild animals, stay on the trails and don't leave food out to attract bears. Suddenly we're inside the incredibly beautiful Badlands National Park on the South Dakota plains and we're invited by the Park Rangers to "make our own trails". Apparently the geology of the park means it is eroding at about one inch per year so the impact of trails is minimal compared to other parks. We took the liberty of going on our own "trail scramble" through a dried up river bed and climbing on the mounds that form the colorful and bizzare shapes that characterize the hills within park. We kept a watchful eye open for rattlesnakes and fossils but were disappointed to see neither. However, our search turned up some dried up bones of more recent animals, as well as a live frog and a toad and some beautiful rocks - all of which we left in the park. Given that we exited the park near the town of Wall, we did an obligatory visit to Wall Drug before beginning our travels east along Interstate 90. Last night we visited a KOA Campground in Belvidere East (somewhere in South Dakota) to fill up our rapidly depleting propane tank and decided to stay for the night. They have a great playground for kids so Rose & Ruth were able to blow off some steam and slept liked logs last night. The general area is known for the filming of "Dances with Wolves", starring Kevin Costner. Over dinner last night, as we sat around the picnic table with the sun setting across the never ending horizon and a full moon rising behind us, it definitely gave us a feeling of what the early pioneers must have felt entering this great, vast land of the American plains.

Badlands National Park for the day

After a windy day on the road, visiting Crazy Horse Mountain and Mt Rushmore we pulled into Rapid City to do some shopping. By now the winds were very strong -- apparently around 50 m.p.h -- kicked up by Hurricane Ike hitting Texas. We'd spent the previous day enjoying Custer State Park with the girls working on their Junior Ranger Program equivalent (Junior Naturalist Program). Rain had rolled in early in the afternoon so we hung out in the van reading and writing. We decided to hold-off on doing Crazy Horse and Mt Rushmore for the following day. Now, in the shopping parking lot we had to decide whether to stay in Rapid City or push on. The store clerk had said the winds would be stronger outside the city and we risked being "blown over" (especially with our 11' high profile). Kind of intimidating. Fortunately, we had a good internet connection and did some research (and also a Skype call to Rose's good friend, Julia, back in Seattle). The forecast was for winds to decrease later in the evening after peaking mid-afternoon. We had a quick dinner and decided to push on the nearly 2 hours to Badlands National Park campground. We arrived at 9:30pm -- very late for us to get off the road. The winds had abated but still meant keeping hands firmly on the steering wheel for the occassional wind buffet. Everyone needed to get a good rest so we called it an early night. Today we've awoken to bright blue skies but with a cool plains wind blowing. We're going to look around the park for the day then head further east this evening for a destination not yet known. Our goal is to get to Minneapolis area by mid week, so we have some big days driving ahead and want to get some miles behind us. The great American plains lie ahead of us as we leave the mountains of the west behind.

Inside South Dakota - Custer State Park

We arrived late in the day at Devils Tower. It was impressive to see the rock both from a distance and then again up closer. We opted to camp at the foot of Devils Tower, inside the park. It was a very well laid out campground with lots of space - though our neighbor was accustomed to running his generator a little late into the evening for our liking. We all slept late, ate a hearty breakfast then opted to ride our bikes the 2 miles to the visitor center and do a quick tour before heading off for South Dakota. The road up to the visitors center was a steady climb made more challenging by a surprisingly busy road. Many cars and RV's passed us on the narrow road on the way up. Rose and Ruth did great riding their bikes and following the safety tips called out ("yelled") by their watchful parents. The fun part was bombing back down the road on the return trip to our camp ground. We had seen our first Prairie Dogs that morning as well as passed a few deer on our ride. We chose a scenic route to get us to Custer, South Dakota. The route took us through some very attractive farmland. We arrived in Custer late in the afternoon and drove on through to Custer State Park - an incredible 71,000 acres of very well kept park, teeming with wildlife. We were fortunate to get a campsite as -- much to our surprise given the time of year -- the place was filling fast. Tonight we had BBQ chicken cooked on the campfire, rice (cooked in the rice cooker since we have a powered site) and fresh snap peas. Mmmmm. Fortunately, a family we had met in Thermopolis with 2 children about Rose and Ruth's age are camping here also so a child reunion took place on the playground before dinner. Tomorrow we plan to visit Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse Monument. We're thinking of passing on Wind Cave National Park since we stopped at Jewel Cave National Monument today on our way to Custer. This will give us more time to check out the local area before moving on to Badlands National Park. We're in Custer State Park for two nights - Thursday (9/11) and Friday (9/12).

On to Devils Tower in eastern Wyoming

Thermapolis was a ton of fun. We got warm sunny days and stayed at a small RV park with its own mineral hot pools. Rose and Doug went for a warm swim before breakfast both mornings we were there (Ruth and Denise went later). During our one full day we topped up our food supplies and got some mail posted. While the girls went to one of the commercial hot pools in the afternoon Doug did some work from the van in a nearby park, joining them later. For more than 3 hours the girls swum and zipped down the long slide at the inside pool. When Doug finally caught up he was dragged onto the super slide. A very fun, wet and energetic afternoon. Ruth slept late the next day! At our campsite three cute stray kittens caught our attention. We fed them and gave them milk but were unable to touch them. (Unfortunately, the kitten story ends sadly and will be saved for another update). Currently we're cruising along Interstate 90 heading east to hopefully stay at Devils Tower national monument. For those of you who were watching movies in the late 1970's, Devils Tower is the geological star of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". Just as Yellowstone is United States first National Park, Devils Tower is apparently the first National Monument. We're planning to stay just 1 night before heading eastward to South Dakota and the beginning of our Mt Rushmore / Crazy Horse Monument / Wind Cave & Badlands National Parks visit.

Arrived Thermopolis, WY

Denise is taking a 20-min soak in the 104F public hot pools - free to the public as part of the land gift from the local tribe. Girls are playing in the park outside the public pool.

Tomorrow we're going to buy tickets to the private pool next door to enjoy the slides and swimming pools (at temps down to a more kid-friendly 90F). Planning to stay 2 nights here.

A little east of Dubois, WY

On our way to Thermopolis, WY.

A day on Jackson Lake at Grand Tetons NP

Today we stayed close to camp at Colter Bay for our first (and only) full day at Grand Tetons National Park. What started out as an attempt at a hike turned into a short and leisurely bike ride down to the marina and along the lake shore.

The sun was out and we all enjoyed the warmth of the day... so much so that we decided to rent a small runabout and go explore further down Lake Jackson to Half Moon Bay where we were told good wildlife spotting might occur. Both the girls had fun "driving" the boat though it proved a little challenging "without a steering wheel", as Ruth noted. We saw deer in the bush at the lake's edge and a few flocks of Canadian geese sensibly heading south for winter. After 2 hours on the lake in the runabout we returned to attend a very interesting Park Ranger guided tour of the Museum of Indian Arts at the Colter Bay Visitor Center. What made the event so compelling was our Ranger's personal stories of growing up on the reservation. He really breathed life into the art and artifacts we were viewing. We all loved the interactive presentation. We're planning to head to Thermapolis tomorrow on our way east to South Dakota. We've been told (by our Seattle renters who are Wyoming locals) that Thermapolis has a huge hot springs but, most importantly, a very cool slide for playing in the warm pools. On the way out of Grand Tetons the girls will check into the Visitors Center to collect their 3rd Junior Ranger badge (Glacier, Yellowstone and Grand Teton). The Junior Ranger program has been a great home schooling resource while making our national park visits more meaningful. More Junior Ranger programs ahead!

Leaving Yellowstone, Grand Teton NP tonight

We've had some great hikes and wildlife viewing experiences here in Yellowstone... too many to mention in this quick update. We finally got another Internet connection at the car park at Old Faithful, which we watched erupt twice, once from the boardwalk in front of the geyser and another time at the lookout in the hills about 1 mile away. The image at left is Yellowstone Grand Canyon. And below is a quick snap of Doug and the girls visiting Artist Paint Pot as part of the Norris Basin Geyser area. There is no end of photo opportunities here. At an upcoming stop we're hoping to sort through the best photos (and videos) and load them up to the main site.

On to Grand Teton National Park for 2 nights - hopefully at Colter Bay, if camping spots are open.

Hopefully it will be a little warmer at night (it's been down to 26F on the cool nights!)

Camping inside Yellowstone

We made it! We spent our first 2 nights at Mammoth Campground at the north end of the park. Cool at night but thankfully our van heater has kept us cozy. We've seen plenty of Elk and cruised over the Mammoth Hot Springs as well as attended a few informative ranger talks. This morning we went to the Boiling River for a swim - kind of hard to consider as we left our campground in a slight drizzle and 40F outside temperature. The Boiling River is a spot where the geothermally heated water enters the river at a scalding 130F. Mixed with the flowing fresh river water, the perfect pool can be found for lounging in. A great start to the day which included a close encounter with a big Bison as he made his way slowly along the road we were driving on. We made our way to Canyon Junction where we've set up camp for 2 nights here and plan to do some hikes and looking around tomorrow.

On our way to Yellowstone

Stopping off at Bozeman, MT to have a great lunch at the Food Coop here in town. (And testing to make sure we can email pictures to the blogsite). Lunch was great. And the emailing seems to work. Yayy.