Category: States
Alaska Bound

Alaska Bound

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alaskamap1934Today we cross the Canadian border and head to Alaska where we will spend the summer! We have been planning and preparing for this portion of our RV trip for the past year. I’m not sure how often we’ll be able to keep y’all updated on our trip. We’ve heard from several people that wifi throughout Canada and Alaska can be a bit dodgy and sometimes it’s just not there at all. We’ll post as often as possible though and do our best to keep y’all up to date with our adventures! It’s easier to do quick posts to Instagram and Twitter so those places will be the best place to keep up with us. If you’re not following us there, head on over and follow us!! You can follow the links in this post or go to our blog and there will be a button to follow us on the right hand side.

We each have our own must see list when it comes to Alaska. Personally, the things I’m looking forward to are the mountains, the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog stuff, and seeing glaciers.  Nicholas, of course, is looking for a pizza place, getting more Junior Ranger Badges, and seeing a bear…from a distance. Alexander is looking forward to fishing, looking for wildlife and getting another Junior Ranger badge. Charles is wanting to fish (so he can eat fresh salmon), trying reindeer sausage, and having Alaskan King Crab. Notice his is all about food. He’s fourteen. He’ll actually turn fifteen while we’re in Alaska! Jerl is looking forward to the scenery, smoking some salmon, and the wildlife. We have a list of all of the wildlife we’ve seen.

Y’all know I’m a planner. I’ve been planning Alaska for over a year now. We’ve plotted our course to Alaska, in Alaska, and back from Alaska. Here’s what it looks like.

Alaska_tripThe plan is to take one course up and take a different course back so we can see as many different areas of Canada as we can. The little blue squares indicate something to do or see, the tents indicate a place to stay, the fork and knife are places to eat we don’t want to miss, and the suns mean there’s a day trip there. While we have a list of what we want to do or see, it’s forever changing. We find new things or someone tells of a “must see” place and that’s awesome! We love insider’s tips so if y’all have one let us know!!

See y’all down the road!

#alaskabound
7th Ranch RV Park

7th Ranch RV Park

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Hey Y’all! I don’t normally post about the RV parks we stay at, but this one is my favorite so far! The owners were super nice and so helpful with things to see in the area and bonus…we got free ice cream when we arrived!!

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Besides being one of the cleanest, best organized parks I’ve seen, it’s also a working ranch which means…

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There are real horses! You could take a riding lesson or just hang out with the horses. The horse above was thoroughly convinced my camera was really an apple meant for him. He nosed me a couple of times and followed me until he realized I didn’t have anything for him.

There was a great little playground for the boys to spend their days in.

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And some hiking trails for the evenings.

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One hiking trail leads up to a hill behind the park where I snapped the picture above. If you look really closely, you can spot our home on wheels!

Some of the other details about this place that make it so great…

The tipi we got to watch them put up and then explore,

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the community fire pit (that for some reason reminded me of the Flintstones),

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and the wonderful landscaping! I’m a sucker for pretty flowers.

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The view wasn’t bad either.

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Combine all of that and the cleanest bathrooms I’ve seen so far and you’ve got yourself a fantastic little RV park!!

See y’all down the road!

Montana Flowers

Montana Flowers

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Hey Y’all!!

I just wanted to do a quick post to share with you all of the beautiful flowers I’ve been enjoying while here in Montana. I don’t know their names…sorry. I’ve got quite a few pictures and in the interest of not bogging down everyone’s internet connection…I’ve put the pictures into two collages.

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If anyone knows the names of any of them I’d love to know!

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I’m aware that there are two weeds in the picture above, but I couldn’t resist them. One was so perfectly round and the other was so stinkin’ big! Some of the flowers are wild flowers and some are not.

Anyway, there are some of the many flowers I’ve been enjoying while we’ve been traipsing around Montana! Hope y’all enjoyed them and let me know if you know any of their names.

See y’all down the road!
Billings, MT

Billings, MT

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We recently spent some time in Billings, MT. Billings isn’t a huge metropolis…it only has about 100k residents…but after the teeny tiny towns we’ve been staying in, Billings felt like it was huge! We found an excellent burger place to eat.

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Although the burgers looked amazing, I opted for one of their house salads.

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It was big enough for two people. I got mine with pepperjack cheese melted on a burger with spicy ranch dressing. I think I could eat there a couple of times a week and not get tired of it. For all of you who know what Five Guys is…Mooyah is a similar set up except they have more options and…they have shakes too.

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Even if the food wasn’t stellar, they would’ve had me with this sign.

After we filled our bellies with some top notch food, we went out on a hike above the city.

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Billings isn’t big, but boy does it have some nice views!

We walked along the bluffs appreciating the views,

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playing on the rock formations, and I took a ton of pictures of the prettiest flowers growing there! I won’t bore you with all of them…I’ll just post up a few of my favorites!

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These were the most abundant flowers on this hike. The purple flowers were everywhere! I think I spent more time looking at the flowers than looking at the view.

Another favorite place we found is Scheels. It’s like a combination of a Bass Pro Shop and an Academy Sports store. It’s probably one of the biggest I’ve seen. The prices weren’t bad and they had fun things to keep the boyos entertained while we shopped.

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Yup, they have a Ferris wheel in the store.

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Along with these fun photo ops set up! We got there an hour before they closed. We had a great time looking at everything and walked out with some great deals! I think we could have spent several hours walking around.

We enjoyed Billings. It was the first big-ish town we’ve come across for awhile with some of the stores we’ve come to miss.

See y’all down the road!

Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument

Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument

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The Little Bighorn Battlefield was a lesson in history for the boys. The Rangers do a great job retelling the story of what happened and the museum has some amazing artifacts. We spent close to five hours here walking the trails, listening to a Ranger Talk and learning about Lt Col. George Custer’s Last Stand.

IMGP1251The museum was our first stop. The Little Boys didn’t waste any time getting started on the Junior Ranger Field Guide.

We’ve all heard the story, but walking the paths while reading the descriptions at each tour stop really illustrates what happened here.IMGP1311The Picture above shows what was at each stop on the driving tour.

This National Monument memorializes not only Custer’s last battle and the loss of hundreds of soldiers, but it also memorializes the Northern Plains Indian’s fight to preserve their ancestral way of life.

IMGP1289The picture above is Last Stand Hill. It’s the final resting place of not only Custer, but nearly 40 other soldiers.

IMGP1292There’s a memorial at the top of the hill dedicated to the hundreds of soldiers who lost their life in the battle.

IMGP1283There’s a headstone like this for every soldier who lost their life. They’re placed where the soldier was found. They look like ghosts dotting the landscape.

IMGP1299All of the Indians who lost their lives have headstones that are like this one. They too dot the landscape, but there aren’t nearly as many…less than 100.

IMGP1294Several different signs reminded us that we’re in rattlesnake country. The boys kept asking if each sound they heard was a rattlesnake.

IMGP1301There is a wonderful Indian Memorial there as well.

IMGP1305You can see the Soldier Memorial through a slit in the wall.

IMGP1308This is a picture of nine remaining Warriors that gathered together back in 1948.

IMGP1280The battlefield looks so peaceful now. It’s a beautiful area.

IMGP1314The Little Boys finishing up their Junior Ranger Field Guides. They’re up to four badges now.

We all walked away with a better understanding of what really happened during the Battle of Little Bighorn.

See y’all down the road!
Historic Graffiti

Historic Graffiti

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What is Pompey’s Pillar National Monument? It is the only place you can be assured to stand in the footsteps of William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

IMGP1167Clark carved his name in the rock…I guess you could call it historical graffiti. This carving is the only remaining physical evidence of Lewis and Clark’s Expedition still around today. They’ve taken measures to protect it because there are tons of other names carved into the rocks around it, but you can clearly see his name under the glass.

IMGP1195Clark named the pillar “Pomp’s Pillar” using his nickname for Sacagawea’s son.

IMGP1176You can walk all the way up to the top using the 200 or so stairs. It’s worth it.

IMGP1180The view is great and there are benches up there you can use to rest up for the trip down if you need to. The little boys utilized the benches to work on their Junior Ranger Field Guides. You can also see our tour guide to the left of the picture.

IMGP1172Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and volunteered to take a picture of all of us.

IMGP1170He also pointed out a family of marmots

IMGP1173and showed us a rock that looks like a mountain lion!

IMGP1184There was a short, paved walk way that went down by the Yellowstone River. It was a nice leisurely stroll with some educational signs along the way.

We spent some time in the museum learning about the Lewis and Clark trail and some of the hardships they endured. There were replicas of boats they made and some rawhide clothing the boys could try on.

The visit didn’t take long and it was very educational for all of us. It was well worth the small entry fee.

See y’all down the road!

Makoshika State Park

Makoshika State Park

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IMGP1097We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Makoshika (muh-KOH’-shih-kuh) State Park! What we thought would be an hour activity ended up being an entire day of hiking, gumbo, and other worldly rock formations!

It had rained in the area the entire day before we went to Makoshika. We knew we were in for some mud…but we didn’t expect gumbo. What is gumbo? It’s not what you think. There’s no shrimp or sausage or okra in it…you don’t eat this gumbo. This particular type of gumbo is a fine silty soil that forms an extremely sticky mud when it gets wet. It sticks to everything and makes perfectly good hiking boots completely useless.IMGP0892See that dark blackish brown stuff they’re all standing on? Yup, that’s gumbo. We slipped and slid up and down the Cap Rock Trail on this stuff for a good hour that morning and ended up having to turn back because we felt it was too dangerous to go on.  The rock formations were really other worldly. It felt like we’d been transported to the moon.

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The fact that we were the only ones on the trail added to the other worldly feeling. I think we would have spent another hour or so just on this trail if the gumbo hadn’t slipped us up so much. And honestly, if we’d known it was a loop trail we would have probably pushed on through, but the thought of having to climb back up some parts of the trail we had slipped down made us turn back. We want to go back when it’s dryer so we can finish the trail.

Once we were done we had to spend some time cleaning all that gumbo out of our hiking boots.IMGP0912It was quite the task.

 We took the scenic drive.IMG_0611It was full of wonderful views, some wildlife and more mud than we want to remember. We’re still cleaning it off our car! We were so glad to have a 4 wheel drive on this scenic drive…there were many parts we would have missed otherwise. Jerl had fun getting to actually use the 4 wheel drive function in all the mud and on all the hills. After the drive and some lunch we headed out for another hike.

This hike was supposed to be easy peasy and it was…until we lost the trail.IMGP1083It was after we had scrambled up a hill to get the view above that we realized the trail was gone. We could have just turned around and gone back the way we came, but where’s the fun in that?

IMGP1088Thankfully, by that time, the gumbo and dried and hardened and what would have been thick, slippery, sticky mud was now hard with what seemed like loose gravel on top…so it was still kind of slippery, but at least it wasn’t sticking to everything. After we slid down the picture above we spent some time trying to find the trail again.

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Nope…no trail to be found, so we blazed our own!IMGP1092We eventually found a way across a wet, sandy stream and through the field above to the park road…after we ran from a surprised snake. I’m not sure who was surprised more. Us or the snake…

IMGP1004IMGP0976IMGP0998IMGP0988We left Makoshika State park very muddy, very tired, very inspired and with some very cool memories of working together to find our way!

See y’all down the road!

Pizza Roundup- Pizza Ranch

Pizza Roundup- Pizza Ranch

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For my fellow pizza lovers, I give Pizza Ranch a 5- star review. IMG_0431

The Pizza Ranch has good food, the restaurant is very clean, the desserts are fabulous, and it has a nice, clean and tasty buffet.

My favorite pizza there is the Chicken Bacon Ranch pizza IMG_0420 and my favorite dessert pizza is the cherry dessert pizza. IMG_0426

 The buffet also had fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, homemade chips, mac-n-cheese, BBQ chicken, and all the usual salad fixings.

The decorations were western themed and very cool.IMG_0425

See you on pizza street!!
The Dakotas

The Dakotas

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I’m going to be honest…the Dakotas are a bit of a blur for me. It was raining on and off the whole time so we had to cram the few activities we had planned into a couple of jam-packed days. Now, keep in mind, we’re really just making our way up to Alaska and checking off a few things on our list as we go.

Since there really wasn’t a whole lot we could do during our time in the Dakotas this go around, I’m grouping them together into one post.

IMG_0555South Dakota! We didn’t get to see Mount Rushmore this time around. We will definitely be doing that before it’s all said and done though. In South Dakota we stayed in Fort Pierre which is right across the river from the State Capital, Pierre. Every time we crossed the river we switched time zones. It got to be a joke for us. In the movie The Mummy with Brandon Fraser, there’s a part where a boat they’re on goes down and half of them are on one side of the river and the other half end up on the opposite side of the river. The good guy calls out to the bad guy, “You’re on the wrong side of the river!”…Anyway, that phrase was said quite a bit and we all laughed every time. Yes, we’re those people. IMGP0600Fun fact…Pierre is the second smallest State Capital.

Not so fun fact…there’s not much to do there and almost no cell service.

Fort Pierre and Pierre (seen in the picture above) are really quite picturesque! We went up on some of the surrounding hills and found some great views of the cities of Fort Pierre and Pierre. There are pheasant everywhere! They’re like the armadillo of The Dakotas! For some reason they like to stay right by the road.

IMGP0610We stayed near the ruins of the original Fort Pierre. There wasn’t really much to see. A rock with a plaque in the middle of a grassy field. There was a sign that told where they thought everything was based on a wall they found.

IMGP0536The State Capitol Building in Pierre was very ornate. The inside was richly decorated in golds and marble with murals and plenty of mosaic tile flooring. It really was very pretty. I’m a sucker for a good dome and this Capitol Building didn’t let me down.IMGP0538

We went to the South Dakota Culture Heritage Center and spent an hour looking at all of the history of the state. If you ever get a chance to go into one of the Culture Centers you really should. The ones we’ve found so far have been free (donation appreciated) and have been really spectacular museums! IMGP0498I won’t post up all the pictures I took (I took more than I probably needed to), but I’ll share the tee-pee with y’all. All three boys enjoyed walking through the tee-pee.

IMG_0556In North Dakota we stayed in Menoken. It’s a small town east of Bismarck (the State Capital). It was a teeny tiny town with zero cell service. I will say this about the RV park we stayed in…it had the cleanest and best bathrooms we’ve come across so far. The bathrooms had wall heaters! That’s huge when you’re trying to shower and it’s cold outside! Oh! And the showers were free! It’s the little things.

In North Dakota we went to see Sitting Bulls grave site and found Fort Manuel. This fort…sheesh it was hard to find and then when we finally found it, it ended up being closed. Plus, the guy’s drive way we had to go down to get to it…he was less than amused. We still walked around it and enjoyed the views. Here are a few photos from the Fort.

IMGP0690 - Copy IMGP0692 - Copy IMGP0695 - CopyIMGP0698They think Sacagawea (Sakakawea in the Dakotas or “Jane” by Lewis and Clark) is buried nearby. There wasn’t a headstone or a grave site so I’m kind of doubtful that she is.

On our way to Montana, we made one more stop in South Dakota!IMGP0836

We did the scenic drive stopping for a couple of quick hikes and to look at the wildlife! The Badlands were full of…IMGP0783 - Copybuffalo,IMGP0753 - Copy - Copyprairie dogs,IMGP0778 - Copywild horses,IMG_0582 - Copy - Copyand awe inspiring views!

The two little boys became official Junior Rangers.IMGP0830 - CopyRanger Amy was the best! You can really tell she loves her job. Because of her, our Littlest has now decided he wants to be a National Park Ranger.

So there you have it. Our time in The Dakotas. I’m sorry for the long, picture filled post, but now I’m all caught up with state posts!! We’re currently in Montana and will be taking this week at a leisurely pace since we only have one thing on our list to see for the whole week!

See ya on the road!

Nebraska!!

Nebraska!!

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Hey Y’all!!! I’m so behind on updating the blog with our adventures. I’ve been without cellular data for a week now and it’s totally throwing a wrench in my social media plans!! I’m writing this post on my phone again, so excuse any weird typos or spacing.

This post will be about our time in Nebraska. We had a great time in Nebraska visiting the zoo! For me, the best part was this gorilla (you can see his picture below) and the way he loved to scare unsuspecting victims! He would watch a group of people as they walked into his area and then he would rush up and slap the glass right next to them! Screaming would follow and he would walk away with (in my opinion) a very satisfied look on his face. I thought it was really funny until I realized there was a pain of glass boarded up from his earlier antics. Yikes!! So, we promptly left the enclosure.

We also went to visit the State Capitol Building which means we got to add another sticker to our state map! We are keeping a list of the State Capitols we visit and rank them in order of our most favorite to our least favorite. For Charles, Nebraska is on the top of the list as of right now!

My favorite thing was the hike though! It was amazingly muddy and I walked away with a few ticks and a new appreciation for aerobic exercising! Steep muddy hills are an amazing workout!!

  See that little path? Yeah, that little muddy path is on a ridge…so don’t fall off because it’s a long way down!! The views were so worth it all though!!

My good friend, Kristi, who is from Nebraska suggested we eat at Runza. Y’all know we’re foodies and always up for new food experiences so we found the closest one and gave it a try!! It was really good!!! The staff were all very nice and we ended up getting a discount on our food (all five of us ate for under $40) and we got free dessert!! Score!! We’re looking forward to eating at a Runza during our next visit to Nebraska!! They have the Runza Magic Dipping Sauce!! It is good on everything!!!

We really enjoyed our short time in Nebraska! From there we headed to South Dakota!!

See y’all down the road!!