The final leg.

The last part of our journey ended up being eventful, too. We drove through the Big Horn Mountains. At the very top we saw the biggest herd of elk Daddy had ever seen. We also saw many deer, antelope and cows. There was even a cow in the middle of the road (Daddy had to tell him where he's supposed to walk). We drove through the Badlands and observed lots of old rock and the layers that they are composed of. We even saw of family of foxes alongside the road in Nevada. Daddy wouldn't stop and let Mommy take pictures, however, except of the elk.

We stopped in Thermopolis, Wyoming to visit the Wyoming Dinosaur Center. We didn't have time to stay and dig for dinos, but we will next time! The museum was the boys' reward for their great behavior during our long journey.

It took 18 hours to get home! Our malamute, Kyra, was thrilled when we got here. She didn't stop talking for several hours.

The last stop!

We went back to Sheridan one more time to have some more bar-b-que with Auntie Em, Auntie Dree, Grandpa Tim and cousin Austin. Auntie Em and Zoe played with us for quite a bit. There was a huge water fight towards the end of the evening. Daddy threw Auntie Em into the pool!

Family Fun!

The next stop on our journey was the annual Garrett family reunion in Hazen, North Dakota. The boys were shocked to meet all of their Uncles and very excited to meet all of the second cousins.

Uncle John had many "Construction mobiles" for the boys to ride in. They even got to ride in the semi-truck! Dad got to play golf three times and there were lots more fireworks. We didn't win the annual Garrett family fireworks competition, but we picked up some tricks for the next time that we attend the reunion!

On the 4th we took a pontoon boat ride in Lake Sakakawea. It's 187 miles across! It was a lot of fun. Brody liked to keel the wind in his face, and Brady tried to give both Mommy & Daddy heart attacks by hanging over the rails.

Rapid City, S.D.

After we left Wyoming, we went to South Dakota to check out some of this sights there. We started the day at Bear Country. Not only did we see bears, but we saw wolves, elk, reindeer, donkeys, mountain lions, and many animals that can't survive in the wild. We also got to watch the baby bears eat cake for breakfast. They made some really funny noises!

Then we hit Reptile Gardens. That place was super cool! We saw lots of alligators and crocodiles (Brady's favorite) and followed then up with a trip through snakes and spiders (Brody's favorite). We saw three cobras and a pit viper! There were also tarantulas. Brody also sat through a spider talk and while he did that Mom and Dad took turns taking Brady through the land of many prarie dogs. We saw some old tortoises and a bald eagle. It was really cool.

We finished up the day with a trip to Mt. Rushmore. The boys were excited because Phineus and Ferb put added a Candace to the monument. However, we didn't see it. We did enjoy ourselves immensely. It rained while we walked around the tour of the mountain. We tried to become Junior Rangers, but we had a bit of a melt-down towards the end and missed our chance.

Yellowstone National Park

The boys were very excited about going to Yellowstone and the possibility of seeing some bears. The first of the "locals" that we ran into was a yound elk that was limping. The boys were very concerned about his health and future. We also found a lot of deer scat in the area and some great wildflowers.

We went and saw Old Faithful The prospect of going and seeing water shoot into the air didn't sound like a whole lot of fun in the beginning, but when the show started, the boys were absolutely mesmerized! They started looking for steam everywhere we went.

The next day we started our trip with the most amazing sight: a young grizzly scampering across the road!! We toured around the park on our way to Mammoth Hot Springs with appearances from many, many bison, elk and deer. We even shared the roadway with a bison for awhile. We also saw a Bald Eagle, ravens, and squirrels.

Mammoth was, well, mammoth! The Tavertine structures were positively amazing. Brady was so mesmerized by the water running downhill I was sure he would jump onto the Travertine ground, which is very brittle, and end up in some deep crevice. We did manage to walk all the way to the top of the hot springs. The boys walked the entire way!

Road Trip!!

Well, we made it back with some stories to tell!! We recently returned from our first of three vacations this summer. We got off to a great start at 3:00 in the morning. The kids were bright-eyed and bushy tailed...at least until we drove past the lights of Daddy's prison. They were particularly excited when we actually got to Yellowstone National Park.