The Long Ride Home

The good thing about vacations is going some place. The bad part...the long ride home. I was definitely looking forward to sleeping in my own bed, but the thought of six hours in the car was a bit daunting. I was prepared enough to have plenty of snacks for the kids. However, I finished my "vacation" book the night before. Nothing makes a car ride longer than not having anything to read.

Train Travel

We decided to take an 1880 train from Hill City to Keystone. The ride is about an hour long (each way). It was a last minute decision to go and we needed to drive from Mount Rushmore to Hill City. After the cave excursion I wanted to go back to Rushmore and look around a bit more. We ended up seeing the Sculptor's Studio which had a 1/12 scale of the mountain and faces. Michael then took the kids to have ice cream while I looked at another exhibit.
















In a case of miscommunication, he waited for me on one of the patios and I was at the car. We weren't sure that we were going to make the last train of the day but we did...by three minutes. We pulled in the parking lot at the train station and were the last ones on the train.
We ended up in the car right behind the engine. There are advantages and disadvantages to this seating arrangement. You get to hear the engine, see the steam come out, and hear the whistle REALLY well. The train whistles every time it crosses the road. We must have serpentined the road twenty times. A factoid about the train whistle. It blows two long, a short, and then another long. This harkens back to when the Queen's boat would enter or leave the harbor and would whistle the same pattern giving it the right of passage. Anyhow, when we rode the train back, we sat in last row of the last car. Much more enjoyable.

Tight Spaces Amazing Places

When Michael was researching our trip, he found this cave to go and visit. This is the second biggest cave in North America with 146 miles of caves discovered *so far*. As an added bonus, if you'd like to try spelunking, they offer tours to those 16 and older. The catch is that you have to fit in an 8 1/2 inch opening.
Michael made a reservation to go spelunking, but he wound up with a bruised chest when he tried to go through the cement torture device. I could have taken his spot, but I'm a little to claustrophobic to think that something like that is fun. The kids had to show off and slide through the opening like it was nothing to them.

As it turned out, I was happy that Michael went on the "Scenic Tour" with me and the three kids. We climbed about 725 stairs and took an hour and a half to see parts of the cave. I liked taking the tour, but we practically had epileptic seizures due to all the people taking pictures with their flash on. I swear that we would turn around and a flash would blind us. It probably didn't help that we didn't have lunch until we were done with the tour. Low blood sugar is not a good thing when you're traveling.

Road Trip

We decided to take a quick trip up to see Mt. Rushmore and the various sites up North. Its a "quick" six hour drive from us. In the chaos to get out the door I thought that I forgot the battery to the camera. All photos were taken with a phone. Someday we'll have to go back with a real camera. (The battery was in the camera bag all along, it wasn't until we got home that I found it)
Emma knew all the presidents on the mountain, she had studied it last year. Jack was most impressed with the exhibit that let you pretend to dynamite parts of the mountain. We stayed to see the faces lit up at night, but we were tired and needed sleep.

Temple Square

I finally got around to taking the few pictures I took in Salt Lake off my phone. This was my favorite picture. I can't believe how much Salt Lake has changed (the few city blocks that I saw), but I guess that what progress is all about.

Slow Day

We got a slow start today and didn't have anything planned. I think those are the days that nothing and everything gets done. Michael took his parents to look at some model homes while I ran some errands. Michael has wanted to build some shelves for the basement for a while, he decided to put his dad to work and use the same set up as in one of the model homes. I really appreciate that his dad helped carry in the lumber. Not that I can't do it, but it nice to not have to do it.

Anyhow, Michael and his dad got one shelf unit together and plan on finishing up the other half. Michael also got the bracket for the flag put up. We can now have our flag flying on the 4th.

*This is the finished shelf...

Touristy Things

It's always nice when family comes to visit (hint hint), we go do things that we wouldn't normally do. On a spur of the moment, we went to Estes Park and then into Rocky Mountain National Park.

This is us at 10,000 feet. The altitude was fine, but it started to rain and get chilly. Go figure that we weren't prepared for cooler weather.
Local wildlife.
This is the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park. We walked around the grounds, we did not see any ghosts.

Living Dangerously

So, this is what the boys were up to while the girls went to the movies yesterday. The raft only went over once and everyone come home in one piece. There are some scrapes and bruises to prove that they went in the water. Jack (sitting in the back with the blue helmet) loved it and would go again. Maybe I'll have Michael write his version of the trip at a later date.