Road Trip '23

    Yesterday, we had a lot to do and see! We started the morning in Red Lodge, MT, and hit the road by 7 AM. We had to have an early wake-up time in order to complete the long drive and still have time to explore the two parks; Yellowstone National Park and Grand Tetons National Park.      First, we took a very scenic drive on Bear Tooth Highway which lead us straight into Yellowstone. Along the drive, we got to see a few marmots (basically a fatter version of a squirrel) and an arctic fox! Unfortunately, I did not get any photos of either.      Once inside Yellowstone, we saw even more wildlife, a couple hundred bison (not buffalo apparently, thanks Papa,) a black bear cub, several antelope, a wolf, and a few mountain goats. We stopped at the Grand Canyon Of Yellowstone and did a quick hike to a photo opportunity spot. We got the perfect overlook into the canyon and even met some nice Texans while on our hike. Then we had planned on stopping by ...

    After a long, eventful, and overall spectacular day 5, I was so tired I forgot to write my blog! So here it is a day late, oops! Our morning in Deadwood, SD began on a great start with the best overnight oats and coffee I have ever had. I am a teenage girl, so that might be a tad dramatic, but if you ever find yourself in Deadwood you have to try Pump House, an old gas station turned breakfast restaurant. After that, we walked around Historic Main Street in Deadwood, which had many shops, historic buildings, bars, and other touristy businesses.      On our way to Red Lodge, MT we added an extra stop that was not on our planned route, Devils Tower. Devils Tower National Monument stands 867 feet tall from base to top and has an interesting backstory, I implore you to read up on the Native American lore about the creation of this one-of-a-kind landmark. What you may not know about Devils Tower is that the line to get to the parking lot/visitor center is much lo...

    We started the morning in the  quaint town of Custer, SD which was just a short drive away from Wind Cave National Park, our first stop for the day. Leading up to the trip, I did very little research on the places we were stopping, hoping to add an element of surprise to each destination. Because of this, Wind Cave National Park blew me away, literally (look up the history of how Wind Cave was discovered to understand that pun)! I had no idea that the cave we would be entering would be over 100 miles in length making it the 6th largest cave in the world! The cave is one of a kind because of the unique patterns and formations inside the depths of the cave. After descending around 300 steps and 20 stories deep into the cave, we concluded our hour-and-a-half tour. You, reader, should definitely look up the story of young Alivin who was the first known explorer of the cave!     Next, we traveled to the beautiful Sylvan Lake. Here, we had the intention of hiking ...

       As many of you know, last year's road trip did not go as planned (thanks a lot COVID). However, this means we get to go on another fantastic trip, and actually attend the Alaskan Cruise as we originally planned.  I am starting my blog a little late (day 3) mainly because nothing blog-worthy happened on the first 2 days, but I'll give you the basic rundown: -Day 1: Drive 3 hours to Dallas. Get dinner with my dad's good friend, Ron. Sleep. -Day 2: Drop Kree and Kye off at the DFW airport for their flight to their grandmothers. Drive 10 1/2 hours to Kearney, NE. Eat at a Midwestern delicacy, Runza. Sleep. Now here we are on day 3. We started the morning in Kearney, NE and we are ending the day in Custer, ND. On our journey here we went to Badlands National Park where we saw a variety of fun animals including my favorite, the prairie dog, as well as buffalo and even a ram. Then we continued onto Custer State Park, which could easily pass as a national park! W...