South Dakota

South Dakota was an interesting ending to the trip. John got to golf a really difficut course while the kids and I explored. We went to Dinosaur Park in Rapid City which had beautiful views and some funny sculptures of dinos. Then we mosied to Mt Rushmore. Which was impressive. We didnt go all the way around until the next day. We stayed at Holy Smokes. The kids loved that it was a log cabin with a loft and room for everyone.
Lots of deer in the area.

Passed an intetesting vehicle blaring "we're coming to America"
when she saw it - Nora proclaimed - I need to go to P-town to cleanse myself
lots of tshirts that say "In Trump we Trust"
it was the final days of Sturgis so motorcycles were everywhere.
John counted nearly 200 from south to north dakota.

Colorado

Another late entry into Colorado but luckily we gave Denver its own day. Spent the say out with the kids while John worked from the room. Found a free Wild Life Refuge drive through where we found lots of deer and i got to see more crazy prairie dogs.

Then we made it to the Denver zoo. Kate's biggest request was the red pandas. There was one.

We had dinner at toms Urban. Great sliders.
Found a great Peter Pan Themed Playground in West Chester.

Going to find voodoo donuts in denver to bring some home for Noras Friends.

Northwest 8

2700 miles in 12 days
Washington
Oregon
Idaho
Montana
Wyoming
North Dakota
South Dakota
Colorado

Back to boston

NOrth Dakota

NOrth Dakota 1520 miles since Portland Oregon and we are in the home stretch. Saturday night at 8 we enter North Dakota. Beautiful sunset and the plains are welcoming. This is one state that really has taken us out of our way and I am sad to say we will not be putting much effort into ND. Planning a quick visit to Roosevelt National Park and Prarie Dog tow. staying at Holiday Inn Express as the kids are hoping for the pancake machine they like so much. Still following the Lewis and Clark trail along route 90 Best night sleep of the trip. Hotel had a huge water slide and good breakfast. Now off to a very quick swing through Theodore Roosevelt national park. I have to say I am quite impressed. The little town we went through was adorable with cowboy charm. The painted canyon was gorgoiues and the highlight was watching the prariedogs run around.

Wyoming

Wyoming

We arrived in Yellowstone and the kids and I entered from west entrance and took a left.   We saw the canyon, the hot springs and the waterfalls.   We returned to west Yellowstone to get John and then returned to take a right.  We stopped at the grand prismatic, the mud volcano, paint pots and ended with a 930 viewing of the Old Faithful geyser.    

We stayed at the Old Faithful Snow lodge in a cabin and woke up at 530. Checked in the office and found out old Faithful was about to erupt at 610 +\- 10 min.    So we waited until 649 and it was 39 degrees.   Unfortunately we looked it up and it went off early at 535.   

We saw the mud volcano and the dragons mouth as well as tower falls and made it to the top of Mount Washburn for 360 views of the park.  

We then left to do some early animal watching.  

BIson, American Bald Eagle, two types of deer, timber tiger (chipmunk) a grizzly from a distance. 

The park is an amazing assortment of biomes.  From lakefront to hot sulfuric geysers to forests, hills, plains and brush it is amazing to see them in their own environment.  

Patrick noted the wireless service was absent (not a bad thing)

John enjoyed all the different colors and types of volcanic activity. 

Things to note: a dramatic difference in temp.  80 during the day and 39 at night.  

No cell coverage. Minimal 3 g. 

Need two full days minimum

Get up early and stay late to catch the valleys for the feeding time.  It's well worth it. 

Most bathrooms do not have running water or purell.  Bring your own. 

Bring good binoculars or telescope 

Take time to appreciate the moment

Montana

Montana

Leaving Idaho we entered Montana.  Drove down route 90 (no tolls)  miles of train tracks beside us.   Saw many different freight trains including ones exclusively for oil, coal and live stock.   

Stayed at Bucks T-4 hotel 75 miles from Yellowstone. Front desk staff was very helpful. Patrick even got a nice cot this time.  Of course we arrived late (no surprise there as we are enjoying every minute of this trip)

John stopped the next day and worked in the library at West Yellowstone with all its tourist attractions.  The kids made sweatshirts.  

Our ride out of Yellowstone brought us back to Montana.   We drove down the 11,000 foot mountain with at least 20 hair pin turns along the way.  Amazing views.  John got out to feel the ice from on top of the mountain.  The Rockies are fascinating mostly because you can see why there are rocks falling.  The rocks are brittle and fall off in chunks.  

As we approached the North Dakota Border we found more rock formations only these were more plateau or Arizona style.  The varying colors of the striations makes them stand out and appear more south western.   

Will add pictures later...

Idaho

Idaho

413 miles from Portland (we took a train to Portland so we have to add the 400+miles we have done up to this point)  

We drove through the Idaho panhandle and had to find potatoes.  Not too many options so it turned out a bathroom run brought us to Wendy's.   Patrick asked if the fries were made from Idaho potatoes. The girl said No.  not sure she knows where they are from.    Miah had a baked potato that we will all assume came from Idaho.   At least we can all now say "we ate potatoes in Idaho". 

Pretty mountain pass along the route. Still following the Lewis and Clark trail     

Oregon

Oregon Boarded the Amtrak Cascades to Portland. beautiful and almost four hours. Everyone was relaxed. Trying to remember to be on "vacation" Used my first Lyft to get from the train to the hotel. I now see how easy it is for people to use this service. The drivers were super nice. One gave us the history of the homeless in Portland. Plan to pick up the rental car Tuesday morning Got a great deal on the Hilton in Portland. conveniently located downtown Everyone was starving so we hit the pastini pastaria for an Italian fixe. John liked it so much he wanted to tip the cook. Taking another lyft to voodoo donuts. (Getting the hang of it). Nora and John were completely fascinated with VooDoo Donuts. Next morning met Coach Bell for breakfast at the Screen Dooor. Their chicken is out of this world and served with... waffles??? Yes Patrick had waffles and chicken. Said it was great. So nice to spend time with coach bell. Her kids are doing great and she looks amazing. So glad she is putting her talents to good use by coaching beginners and special needs. took the subway to the car rental and picked up a black grand caravan. Kids are spoiled since it has a DVD player. Picked John up at the hotel and headed to Spokane. Drove along the Oregon Trail along the Columbia river. Only real disappointment is that the smoke from all the wild fires has reduced the view. Haven't seen a mountain yet. Lots of hills but the mountains are concealed by all the smoke.

Washington

We arrived in Seattle after midnight Saturday morning and the adventure began. Started with a good night sleep at the silver cloud in Mukilteo right near the Boeing complex.

Saturday breakfast overlooking the harbor. Watching the ferry to the San Juan Islands load. We made it to Boeing had a nice time touring the museum and a better time touring the factory.

Nora found it very informative. We were impressed the way each piece is put together. They are currently creating the 747, 777, 787 and 767

There was a dreamlifter. The kids made 3D printables. We spent time on the roof watching planes take off. The facility is huge and they do a great job of showing it off.

We made a group decision to head into Seattle. Drove around. Stopped at the piers. Nora found a bracelet she liked. The girls got their token hoodies. And we then we to the space needle. Straight to the top. Not a horrible wait.

Ended the night with a drive to Oak Harbor where we stayed at the Auld Holland Inn. A quite old but cozy Dutch themed inn. Lead us to a great Sunday

Nora started her day with a run which got kate and I to do a snack run to Walmart. We then drove to deception pass park. A beautiful yet slightly eerie Washington state park.

we then yook a whale watch from Anacortes out past Orcas island. Small boat. Pretty quick. Lots of seals. Beautiful views. Unfortunatley all the orcas are out of the area right now because their food source is low. We did see a couple of hunpbacks and some harbor porpoises. Coolest thing was the bald eagle out in the wild.

Back to seattle. Stayed next door to the baseball stadium. Roof pool had amazing views of the city, the docks and the stadium.

Trip to Pike Place Market then walked back to the amtrak to take a nice train to portland.

We returned to Washington via the oregon trail.
Met up with John's cousins Chris Tami and Brooke who arranged a visit from their friend Jimmy and coincidentally cousin Dianna and Aunt Nancy were in town from Revelstoke. Had a great dinner BBQ out then went go karting and mini golf. GREAT TIME with great people.