Our Family trip Out To the Wild, Wild West

Our family has always always wanted to see the west and go visit places that we've only heard or dreamed about until now.  We were up in  the air of should we drive or fly, should we tent camp or rent a camper and all of the above.  Well, we just returned from a glorious 9 day vacation out west and it was splendid.  Before I begin, I will give you a general list of things to take notice of.

1.  Figure out what method will you go there.  Will you drive or fly?  

2.  Will you tent camp, rent a camper or stay in airbnb etc?

3.  Plan, plan, and more planning.  Ask people that have been but also watch Youtube videos on "top things to see at XX place and discuss it with your family.

4.  Get an America the Beautiful pass from the National Park system.  It will save you tons of $$. BUT I will warn you. I ordered these 3 weeks BEFORE our trip and I still didn't have them.  So I had to print off the receipt of sale before I went, which they accepted. They were in our mailbox when we got home.

5.  This area of the country is absolutely beautiful, but barren.  You fill up your gas tank regardless if you need to or not because you literally do NOT know when you'll see a gas station again.  Do NOT count on there being a nearby Walmart or major chain stores either.

4.  We ONLY had LTE signal in Atlanta and Denver airport.  After that, It was either zero signal or roaming.  I know many depend on their smart phones, but you really need a REAL, paper map for wherever you're going.  Rest Areas can have these but make sure you have an Atlas.

 5.  Get a NPS Passport book.  It's SO worth it to document your trips with stamps and stickers.  I didn't get ours until later, so I printed off photos for ours on sticker paper.

Here's what we did and our itinerary:

Day 1:

Take Note.  This Hotel was from the movie Dumb & Dumber and is located inside Estes National Park

We decided to fly into Denver (cheap airfare) and drive one way.  We flew into Denver, visited a few things in Denver like Mile High Stadium and Joshua went to the Molly Brown (a Titanic survivor) museum.  We then headed to Estes National Park in the Rocky Mountain NP.  From there, we drove to Cheyenne, WY and spent the night at a hotel.  

DAY 2:

We drove all day to Driggs, Idaho (about 8 hours).  We wanted a place that was about half way between The Grand Tetons National Park and Yellowstone.  Driggs is it. Also look into Victor, ID.  We got a wonderful 3 br/3ba Airbnb in Driggs.  

Day 3:

We started off early and went to the Grand Tetons NP.  You have to drive through Jackson/Jackson Hole to get there.  Don't miss Jenny Lake.  We also did the boat ride across the lake for $18/rt/pp.  It's incredible. We spent dinner time in Jackson Hole, shopping and eating dinner.  The bottom photo is from Mormon Row.  It is outside of the GTNP but part of it.  Some of the most photographed and painted barns out there but you can see why.

Day 4:

We left early in the morning to head to Yellowstone.  There is ZERO signal in Yellowstone.  Map things out and do everything you can in one area. We went through West Yellowstone (a cute little town) and divided everything into sections. Due to some updates and construction at the time, there was a few things not available to visit or see. 

Yellowstone is 2.2 MILLION acres.  It takes an hour to go from one exit to another.  We noticed after checking the weather, that it was going to rain on Weds, so we packed as much in as possible on Tuesday (DAY 4).  Divide the map up and do everything you can in that area.  Even as we were driving through Montana, almost EVERY exit had a reference to Yellowstone, just to tell you how big it is.  Yellowstone is WAY more than just Old Faithful.  We also packed our lunches wherever we went.  Because we checked the weather in advance and we knew it was going to be raining the next day (Wednesday), we chose to extend and go as long as we could on Tuesday.  

Here's what we fit in Day 4:

We entered through West Yellowstone because it was the closest to where we were staying.  West Yellowstone is a wonderful little town by the way and is in the bottom tip of Montana.  

One of my biggest tips is plan ahead.  Yellowstone is absolutely MASSIVE.  Prioritize how long you will be there and divide up the map into quadrants.  From each exit to another is about an hour.  Also look ahead at the Weather.  Our first day there was a Tuesday and we realized that it would be drizzly and rainy Weds, so we tried to use the more daylight and extra time on Tuesday.  

So our first day we did the following:

Norris Basin
Old Faithful
West Thumb Basin

Day 5:

Day 5 was our second day at Yellowstone.  We finished the park that we didn't get to see on day 4.  We also spent time in West Yellowstone, Montana.  Cute little town with lots of great shops.

The ONLY change in this trip that I would've done different is this.  Since this Airbnb was 1 hr 45 minutes from West Yellowstone, we would've stayed somewhere from the North entrance of Yellowstone on this night instead of going ALL the way back to Driggs.  This would've saved about half of our day.

Day 6:

Day 6 was a driving day to Sheridan, WY.  We drove through the through Montana.  We stopped at Little Big Horn National Battlefield (Custer's last stand and where he died) and Pompey's Pillar, signed by William Clark.  Thanks to my friend Cynthia for telling me about that.  We spent the night in a hotel in Sheridan, WY.  

Day 7:

                                                         Devil's Tower monument above

 

                         A little prairie dog at Devil's Tower.  That park was full of them.

We spent the day driving to SD.  We stopped at Devils Tower NP.  A little side note.  Devil's tower is quite a ways off of the interstate.  Like 30-40 miles of nothing.  First of all, make SURE you have a full tank of gas before you go.  Secondly, You can easily get on Hwy 14 and turn LEFT (instead of right from where you came) and head to I 90 from there.  It's about half the distance than going the other direction.

We also went to Mt Rushmore, Wall Drug and The Badlands.  Wall Drug is about 8 miles from the Badlands.  The Badlands is amazing and HOT.  So it's best to go early morning or later in the evening.

Day 8:  

We spent the day visiting the Crazy Horse Memorial.  Crazy Horse was a diamond in the rough.  It's so many things and it's got so many wonderful things to see. They take no federal or state funds but we wished we spent more time there.  They get no Federal or state funding, so it's all privately funded.  I think it was a $30 fee for our car.  

We spotted a little rarely seen Badger digging around.  They weren't even in the brochure for critters to look out for.  So cool!!

                                                                              The Needles!

                             Sylvan Lake where part of National Treasure 2 was filmed.

We also did Custer State Park.  Custer state Park is the 2nd largest state park in the country.  It's 71,000 acres.  It's massive.  Totally worth every penny.  Make sure you go and see the Nettles and parkway.  Sylvan Lake is where they filmed part of National Treasure 2.  Also there's a Game Lodge that President Coolige and Eisenhower stayed out for vacation.

Mt Rushmore for their evening lighting ceremony and we visited the Presidential statues in downtown Rapid City.  It pays to have history lovers in the family.  

TIP:  Your parking ticket for Mt Rushmore is good for 1 return trip for free.  

Crazy Horse was a diamond in the rough.  It's so many things and it's got so many wonderful things to see. They take no federal or state funds but we wished we spent more time there.

The lighting ceremony was a must see at Mt Rushmore.  

Day 9:

We Flew home on a Star Wars plane from United.  They only have 1 in their fleet but our Star Wars nerd family was overjoyed.

Keto, THM (S) July 4th, Independence Day Dessert

First of all, the Sweetener blend that I use is this Powdered sweetener.  For a shortcut, you could just use Puyre and add xylitol imho.  I powder it in a coffee grinder to dissolve easier.

Secondly,  I made this Quick mix for baking flour.  I've tried many MANY blends and this one is by far my favorite.  It's better than but compares to a low carb baking blend but doesn't have all of the "junk".

"Sugar cookie" Fruit tart

For the "sugar cookie" part:

1 1/2 c quick baking mix
3 tbsp Sweetener blend
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp real salt
1/2 c butter and 3 tbsp melted butter
2 tbsp coconut oil (I do refined to avoid the coconut taste)
1 tsp vanilla
Press in a 9 x 13" pan.  Coat with coconut oil. Blend together with mixer and bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Let cool.

Topping:
1 container of sugar free whipped cream (or make your own)
1 8 oz brick full fat cream cheese
sweetener to taste
Heavy whipping cream
splash of vanilla

I put in my mixer the whipped cream and cream cheese but it was still "chunky".  So to thin  it out, I added some heavy whipping cream and a splash of vanilla.  IF you need to, you can add some of your sweetener to taste, but you won't need much.

Place strawberries & blueberries Like a flag.  Put in the refrigerator until ready to eat.

IT WAS ALL WORTH IT

IT WAS ALL WORTH IT

This is in memory of Grandpa Vaughn, the gifted poet. He died when Luke was 5 months old.

When you spent quality time camping with Nana and Papa and quality time with your grandparents and great grandparents, IT WAS ALL WORTH IT.

When we did field trips, trips to the park because you just couldn’t go any further, baseball, trip to Colorado, prom, dances, Koinonia, horse farms, homeschool art days, piano lessons, living history days, play days, days hanging out of a tree to finish school.  Days dressed as Robert E Lee or King Arthur, finishing school, IT WAS ALL WORTH IT.

When Joshua taught you how to read at 4, IT WAS ALL WORTH IT.

When you just cried not to do school and ALL you wanted to read and study about was horses, IT WAS ALL WORTH IT.

When we spent a ton of money, hours and time at the ballfield, IT WAS ALL WORTH IT.

When a lot of time was spent on editing photos, making Gatorade, hot chocolate, first aid baseball kit, unlimited tiger balm and all those homemade cookies for baseball, IT WAS ALL WORTH IT.

When we were sneered and questioned, because we chose for our family a different path with homeschooling, IT WAS ALL WORTH IT.

When I was asked unnecessary questions and grilled about test scores, socialization, curriculum and how much school we actually did, IT WAS ALL WORTH IT.

When there were ups and downs with baseball and you weren’t sure if you wanted to keep going, IT WAS ALL WORTH IT.

When you were so shy coming to Koinonia and now you have this group of Godly young men that you will be in contact with for a very long time, IT WAS ALL WORTH IT.

When I got nervous because your facilitators wanted to talk to me about you.  Come to find out you had them in stitches and they had to take a break from class, because they were laughing so hard from something you said, IT WAS ALL WORTH IT.

When we constantly carried around fresh carrots and apples “just in case” we saw horsies to give them treats, IT WAS ALL WORTH IT.

When we took all those extra trips to the Oak Mtn State Park, just to visit the Horsies with all the giggles to feed them treats, IT WAS ALL WORTH IT.

When you weren’t sure if you wanted to do classes and not only did you do them but you are graduating with honors, IT WAS ALL WORTH IT.

When you BEGGED to do PHYSICS, so you could avoid Brit Lit and College Writing.  You not only did well but your teacher and we are so very proud of you, IT WAS ALL WORTH IT.

When you came down the steps, shaking to tell me you wanted to accept Jesus and make him Lord of your life, IT WAS ALL WORTH IT.

When you weren’t sure if you wanted to tackle college classes at the same time and slaving from 7 am to midnight, and you were able to do that, do amazing and juggle baseball, IT WAS ALL WORTH IT.

You see son.  Just like a scale for our weight, test scores, numbers and grades don’t define us. It doesn’t define the person that we know that you are.  It doesn’t define that we know your character. You are genuine, look for the best in people, loyal, dependable, funny, and discerning with a quiet and gentle spirit.  It doesn’t judge your walk with the Lord.  We are thankful that you have done well, not only pushed to graduate with honors but just remember your identity in Christ.  He is your rock.  He is your salvation. Stay focused. Stay grounded. Stay in the word and in prayer. Stay steadfast.

We love you so very much and are so very proud of you.

A 6 year olds dream part 5

If you have been following, I am doing a series on allowing your kids to follow their passions.  In part 1, I talked about Are you Cultivating, encouraging or Discouraging?? 
     In part 2, I talked about our son's dream coming full circle!
     In part 3, I continued my discussion on what he had done next and how his passions had expanded!
     In part 4, I talked about His excitement for his display, making the local news and his continued work with the Titanic! 

Since it's the 105th anniversary of the Titanic and the 20th anniversary of the 1997 Titanic film by James Cameron, I thought I would give you an update of what's happened and how his life has come full circle! Not only is this HUGE but it's monumental!

First of all, Joshua did do his display again at our local library.  It's better, more improved and has even different things added to it.  He put a tremendous amount of thought and effort into it.

THEN, About a year and a half ago, Joshua heard about A Titanic Gathering in Belfast holding a convention in Belfast, Ireland in April 2017.  He asked if I wanted to go, which was so sweet of him.  I did consider it but decided it was best if I didn't for more than one reason.  He really pushed ahead to go and even met up with a friend that he's known for a while through his Titanic groups.  He got everything ready to go and left April 8th to fly into London, England UK.  

He arrived early in the morning of the 9th in London, England, and began his Titanic tour.  He toured some of London and then he and a friend (a fellow Titaniac) took a train from London to Southampton, UK.  Southampton is the beginning point of the Titanic's voyage and the engineers and many of the crew were from there.  He will spend a couple of days there and then fly to Cobh, Southern Ireland (used to be Queenstown).  (The second stop was Cherborg, France but they were unable to fit that into their trip this time).  They will spend a couple of days in Cobh and then take a train, 7.5 hours up to Belfast, Northern Ireland/United Kingdom.  He will spend the remaining time there.  He will be with people he's met in person and people he's only met online.  He will be amongst about 150 survivor families and so many.  We are utterly shocked at how well known he is in the Titanic community.  He's one of THE leading upcoming young leaders in this field.  We encouraged him and told him that he might as well, while he's single, not tied down and is a little more flexible.  

So, young mom's with little ones: I know you are going to get discouraged. TIRED of hearing about the same thing over and over and over.  You are going to WANT for them to MOVE on........please talk about something else.  You will be frustrated and worn out.  Let me encourage you.....Your children are only young for a blink.  It will go by in a flash.  I miss Joshua coming in, excited about his schooling and a new book or topic.  

I MISS music in my home.  Eventhough it was SO hard to listen to the SAME songs for 6-8 hours a day on the piano, I MISS it.  He's grown now at 23.  He works fulltime, 3rd shift for a great company but we don't see him much anymore.  Sometimes I only see him for 5 minutes or so. This is THE first time I have missed any major thing dealing with the Titanic.  Not really feeling sorry for myself,  I just miss when he was younger and we had more time.  He's grown now and we are enjoying watching him flourish and blossom.  I am trying to enjoy all I can before a sweet young lady comes along and captures his heart one day.  

(our family on April 8th getting our last hugs and goodbyes to Joshua before he left for his trip)

Here's a photo of Joshua IN Thompson's Dry Dock in Belast, Ireland.  This is where the Titanic was built.  He's there on the 105th Anniversary of Her sinking.

So from one mom to another, TAKE A DEEP BREATH!!! SLOWWWW DOWWWWWWWWNNNN.  Please!  Savor it.  Say NO.  Don't be TOO busy.  Play more. Say No.  Know your boundaries. Read more.  Turn off the computer, Facebook and/or the TV.  Forgive more.  Love more.  Enjoy all of your time, good and bad.  Because one day, you'll be where I am.  The below video explains where I am right now.    

His baby brother is graduating and this phase of our life is coming to an end.  I am trying to enjoy their moments as much as possible because I don't want to miss anything.  If you are too busy trying to "keep up with everyone else", you will miss it.  You will blink and it will be gone and over.  You will miss the little moments.  The funny moments.  The moments they need you to comfort them and not someone else.  The "hey mom" moments.  I know I don't want to miss it.  

UPDATE: February 2025: Our son's dream and passion has come full circle.  He now has a few of his pieces from his collection on Display at the Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge.  More of his pieces will go up at a later time.  Parents: you NEVER know looking back where that passion will end up going.  If you would like to visit his website, you can go to Titanic Legacy and look at the rest of his collection.  We're so very proud of him!!

A 6 year old's dream, Part 4

If you have been following, I am doing a series on allowing your kids to follow their passions.  In part 1, I talked about Are you Cultivating, encouraging or Discouraging?? 
     In part 2, I talked about our son's dream coming full circle!
     In part 3, I continued my discussion on what he had done next and how his passions had expanded!
      Since it's the 104th anniversary of the Titanic, I thought I would give you an update of what's happened and how his life has come full circle!

     This year has been exciting already.  Joshua had called our local library and asked to put up his display at our local library for the month of April.  They were fantastically excited.  There's been a huge draw and an upswing in visitors.  He has been collecting items for about 10 years or so.  Some pieces he had.  Some were bought online.  Some were given to him by his friends.  Some he found along the way in antique stores.  We are so very proud of him.  He has 53 pieces there.

     He also was contacted by our local news station and interviewed him!  It went live and got so much traffic.  Our local newspaper is going to interview him soon and other libraries are planning on having the collection there as well.  So many exciting things ahead of him and we couldn't be prouder! 

                         You can continue to read the 5th part of this series in HERE!

A 6 year old's Dream Comes Full Circle pt 3

  
     If you have been following, I am doing a series on allowing your kids to follow their passions.  In part 1, I talked about Are you Cultivating, encouraging or Discouraging?? 
     In part 2, I talked about our son's dream coming full circle! 
     Since it's the 104th anniversary of the Titanic, I thought I would give you an update of what's happened and how his life has come full circle! 

     In 2014, Joshua went to Talbotton, GA. Talbotton, GA was the home of the Strauss family and Isidor's father had a store down there. 

   
     In the Spring of 2015, I was honored that he asked me to go with him on a tour of Augusta, GA and the home of Major Archibald Butt, one of his heroes.  We had a great day and some mother & son bonding time.  It's so much fun to go on field trips with him still and see his passions light up.

     In September of 2015, for Archie's 150th birthday, he did a presentation at the Georgia Archives.  The Georgia Archives house so many notebooks and artifacts from Archie himself!  He had a fantastic response!

Some exciting news for him recently........so stay tuned for part 4 of this series :)