Day 50-57 July 14- July 21

Below are seven days worth of blog to catch up a bit. I will post pictures later.

Monday July 21, 2014

We did it! We are almost done with our trip! We are almost back in eastern time zone! Today wowee arrive in St. Ignace, MIchigan and we will officially be back in your own time zone! The kids are excited. We got up early. Today we have a none hour drove...which translates to 12 hours total because of meals, gas and bathrooms. Ughh. At first" the kids were terrible travelers. They are much better now! Chris has been doing better the past four days. We are trying some new things and they just might be working. Doug is better too, his back still hurts and he moves slow though. Geoff and Chris packed almost everything, with my token help. All along, it has been Beca who has done the best, except for a blue day or two in the middle of the trip. We are all thoughly educated on history and science in the USA. We are almost fried with learning. The kids did over 12 junior ranger programs not counting the family programs we did.

We did not drop off the face of the earth, we just had no access to internet or we were so tired to do anything.

Here is your recap, going backward.....

 Sunday, July 20, 2014

We are  at Mall of America in MN. It is large, but did not seem overly crazy big. We did spend lots of money though, and that was fun! We found a juggling store. Geoff and the boys went to it 5 times. I only went twice. Six Henry pro juggling pins, one snake top, one pro henry Diablo, two Carbon sticks, two bubble sticks, three juggling balls, one speed Rubix cube, four fighting majhining swords, and a few other things later...and the kids and Geoff were smiling ear to ear.... There are almost no places to buy Henry or Dube juggling things. It is usually mail order only. Meanwhile, Martty and I took Beca to the American Girl store for a birthday lunch. We had a wonderful meal, and a cake! I think we all still love American Girl still. She didn't want a doll, but we enjoyed just looking! We had lots of fun shopping at the Lego store and all the small shops. We met up with the boys in the Peep store. They really have a Peep store!!! How fun that was to look in! I pulled out the birthday cake to show the boys and joked we had to eat it before we traveled back to NY. The sales clerks were bored' they came over and said congrats and gave Beca a GIANT box of peeps! 

Martty and Chris were tired, so they sat on a bench with all our bags. The bags took up a whole bench! Martty sent the kids and Geoff away for a ride in the amusement park. Zack and Beca went on little kids hot air balloon ride. Sam and Geoff went on an insane roller coaster ride. They had a ton of fun. We all split up again, so Geoff and Sam could go run back to the juggling store. We went downstairs in the mall to catch a shuttle back to our hotel. They gave us a business card to use to call, unfortunately, I had no cell coverage underground. The night before Geoff used his phone he had coverage. So we sat and sat and hoped for the best. Finally a shuttle came! Back at the hotel we had snacky dinner and cake! We packed up the trailer as best we could with most of out things. The kids played with the new toys outside for awhile. Doug was in bed most of the day again, with his back pain. Martty went fr dinner from the hotel restaruant....and called us on the phone soon after...she got stuck in the elevator. The bells went off, but Geoff saved her! We all thought it was funny though. Beca burning the Mac and cheese in the Denver, CO hotel was funnier though! The fireman came for that trip!

Saturday July 19, 2014

We arrived at the hotel at the Mall of America,MN from camping at Jellystone Park in Sioux Falls, SD. It was a easy day driving this time. We unpacked, and left dad to rest his back in bed. He strained a muscle in his back and has been in pain a few days. The Mall of America was big and we had fun. We don't usually shop much at our big mall back home,but this mall had sme unique stores.

Friday July 18, 2014

Camping at Jellystone in SD. 

Not too hot, not too cold. Just right Boo-boo!

Martty, Zack and I went to walmart for food. Dad rested his back. Kids played.

We jumped on the giant jumping pillow. I so want one! We went swimming, but Zack was mad he was not allowed in the hottub, per the campgrounds rules. We had a really nice campfire. They seem to be luxuries for us. We are either too tired, too wet or out of time t have one. Some campgrounds out west don't even allow campfires.

We had a relaxing time.

Thursday July 17, 2014

We arrived at Jellystone in SD from Rapid City,SD

We went from camping to more camping. It was not as bad as I thought it would be.

Not much happened, just driving and more driving... We did stop and get another junior ranger badge at the Minuteman Missile National Monument. The kids learned about the Cold War and watched two short movies. It was a great small site.

Wednesday July 16

We were still at Rapid City KOA camping.

We woke up much better than the night before! The campsite had a great pool. It also had the cheapest, best pancake breakfast ever!! It also had a large outdoor chess set. I think I have Geoff convinced to buy a set, after we make an outdoor spot for it, and after we do a few other house projects. It was really cool though. The kids had a great time playing!

First we traveled to Wall Drugstore and wandered around all the little stores. Of course we found ROCKS! We ended up reorganizing our stuff in the trailers somehow we now have 3 coolers of food, one cooler of ROCKS, one cooler of medicines for Martty, Beca and Chris. We have rocks everywhere in the SUV too. Of course they are labeled clearly....so no fighting later I hope. We had a hot picnic in the parking lot, it was very good though. And course we sorted rocks in the parking lot. We all piled into the SUV and went for a gorgeous, long drive in the Badlands National Park. We saw lots of wildlife, giant birds on the cliffs, and a sweeping, tortured landscape of erosion. It was fascinating to see. The Badlands is one of the places where the dinosaur extinction layer is exposed. While we were there, Geoff decided to go for a run in the desert...need I say more? Yes, he got lost, yes we laughed at him, yes he took his phone but that did not help at all. You would think he would learn by now at 43 years old! He claims the trails were poorly marked....the kids and I explored on of the Badlands hills that they let you climb around on. That was fun, and then we realized the backside was dangerous with a huge drop off for about 1500 feet! We finally caught up with him. I keep threatening Geoff that I will come hiking looking for him one day. We went to the visitor center and saw a neat movie about the Badlands. The Blackfooted ferret eats the prairie dogs. One can eat 200 prairie dogs a year! We only saw the videos of the ferrets. At night their eyes shine in an eerie glow from a flashlight. As we were driving along, we came to a prairie dog town. They were so stinking cute! They stood around outside their mounds and then hopped back in. They whistled and chatted to each other. It was adorable, until we found a sign that said to stay away, because they are dying of the plague. If an animal eats one, then they get the plague and it can be passed that way as a vector. There is also a rare airborne version. It was still cute! We got home way too late and found a pizza place at 9:30 pm for dinner. It was a long fun day with another junior ranger badge gained!

Tuesday July 15, 2014

We hung out for the day at the campground. 

Later around 6 pm we left and went to Mount Rushmore for the evening program.

Mount Rushmore National Memoria is something you don't want to miss. It's the greatest Attraction in the US!
"Until the wind and the rain alone shall wear them away." Those are the famous words Sculptor Gutzon Borglum used to describe the length of time his most famous work, Mt. Rushmore, will endure.
The mountain itself was originally named after Charles E. Rushmore, a New York lawyer investigating mining claims in the Black Hills in 1885. Gutzon Borglum chose this mountain due to its height (5700' above sea level), the soft grainy consistency of the granite, and the fact that it catches the sun for the greatest part of the day. The presidents were selected on the basis of what each symbolized. George Washington represents the struggle for independence, Thomas Jefferson the idea of government by the people. Abraham Lincoln for his ideas on equality and the permanent union of the states, and Theodore Roosevelt for the 20th century role of the United States in world affairs. The carving of Mt. Rushmore actually began on August 10, 1927, and spanned a length of 14 years. Only about six and a half years were spent actually carving the mountain, with the rest of the time being spent on weather delays and Borglum's greatest enemy - the lack of funding. The total cost of the project was $900,000. Work continued on the project until the death of Gutzon Borglum in 1941. No carving has been done on the mountain since that time and none is planned in the future.

The granite faces of four American presidents' is scaled to men who would stand 465 feet tall! President Calvin Coolidge believed Mount Rushmore was "decidedly American in its conception, magnitude and meaning. It is altogether worthy of our country," Coolidge proclaimed at the dedication of the project in 1927.

The most spectacular program at Mount Rushmore is the evening lighting ceremony held in the new amphitheater, 9:00 PM sharp. A must see when you are touring the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota. In the end, we scored an other junior ranger badge for the kids and watched another movie about the park. They had a great exhibit hall also. The evening program reviewed the past wars of The USA, and was very patriotic. They honored all veterans in the audience, by having them go up front for the flag ceremony. Mount Rushmore was all lit up at night. The evening was perfect. The audience sang America the Beautiful and everyone was wiping tears from their eyes. I am glad we went!

Monday July 14, 2014
Mammoth,WY to Rapid City,SD

Okay...it looked doable on paper. It was not doable in real life. We drove and drove and drove and drove and drove. No one liked it. We ended up getting to our Koa campground at almost 11pm at night. We set up 3 tents in the dark. Zack was asleep and woke up crying. No one was really happy. The campground had a great pool though, as far as we could see!

Pictures for Everett,WA and on to Missoula,WA

Pictures for the two days of blogging before this.
Be sure to realize this is actually two posts in ten super long email. First is this paragraph, the  hoots, then the next blog entry at the end all about Boeing and the rock shop and time change..keep reading!
By the way, outside the rock shop is where all the rough rocks were. I took pictures of Doug and Sam having the best time! Inside the shop was the polished' expensive rocks! We bought those too! Doug even found out, after the fact, the cool petrified wood Mandy bought...he keeps hinting he will have to take it when when we get back to NY. On the other hand, Martty snagged the piece Mandy originally wanted, put down and went back to get a minute late, and was puzzled where it went!!

Two days worth, but not sure what is this Day??!?! Everett,WA to Missoula,MT

Today is Monday...Not sure what happened today. We seem to be in a time vortex! Every time we turned around, we lost time. For real! We found a gift shop along the way, then a rock shop, then we needed gas a million times, then bathroom breaks, then a place to eat...then gas again! Then air for the tires.....it was crazy!
Worse yet, we actually lost an hour as we headed east for the first time on our trip. So we are all messed up! You see some of us ( me especially, functioned on NY time most of the trip).Martty did too. So now...we woke up at 6:30 am....arrived at Missoula,MT at the hotel at 10:30 pm, which is really 11:30pm for what we have on for a long time so far in CA, OR, and WA...so Zack arrived at the hotel at 10:30, which was really 11:30pm...BUT by the time I fed him snacks and got him in bed..it was 11:30pm here in MT, but really 12:30am for what he has been doing recently....so he was up REALLY late! I am really worried how tired he will be in the morning when I wake him at 7 am...which to us is 6 am from the past three states worth of time, but is really 10am back in NY. We are messed up on time...can you see? At least Zack is asleep!!!

We drove from Seattle, WA to Missoula, MT

It turns out, to our chagrin, most of WA is flat like Kansas. It is easier on the SUV and trailer, but not on our eyes! We are at a high elevation on the Columbian Plateau. It is a huge basalt flow from cracks in the earth from a long time ago. The flow is one of the largest in the world! 

Look it up! It is huge. There were many volcanoes also in WA, all exploding and burying giant forests. It turns out the state gem is petrified wood. It literally grows in trees! LOL!

We stopped at a tiny shop, out of the way on Route 90 heading east. The owner was an older man, who loves petrified wood. He has property and backhoes it out and brings it down to his shop. Look at his website!

https://www.ginkgogemshop.com/store/index.php

Anyhow, he told us sorts of cool stories, while his cat slept on the counter. We bought a ton of rocks and petrified wood of course! I bought petrified monkey puzzle tree, dad bought Douglas fir and redwood. Monkey puzzle tree is only found naturally, in one area of South America nowadays. It is considered a living fossil, after they found it again after 15 million years of it being extinct. Zack is tickled pink, because we let him get a fossilized fish! His new pet?! LOL! Chris just looked it all over, and was very patient with us. Yesterday was his day at the Boeing Plane Tour! Today was our day with rocks! We were not planning on going, but our trip today has been painfully slow. We got up at 6:30 am and headed out. We stopped lots of times for bathroom breaks and food and sanity. Finally,me gave up and stopped for the rock shop we found. Sam was SO excited! We let him get a giant piece of obsidian. Even Geoff got into the act and bought Boron! It dissolves in water and is very soft and white looking. We joked, he shouldn't take a nap with his pet rock! It turns out there are Dairy Queens out here, that you eat at. They even serve you at your table. We went there, because it was 94 degrees out, and the idea of eating from our coolers standing outside in the sun, with no shade seemed like it wasn't going to happen!! Chris almost had a exhaustion meltdown, but somehow it was averted?! Sam had one anxiety meltdown. Zack had a tired meltdown, but what else can I expect from a six year old who woke up at 6:30am and traveled all day in the SUV? Martty is tickled pink, because she bought an ipad yesterday and is learning to use it in the back seat as we keep driving forward...finally east!!

She is in our Apple cloud, since we have hundreds of apps, books, music and videos already. It was easier just to incorporate a new device onto our account, then have her start fresh. Doug is driving, as usual, with me "nag"avating the whole way. He just have us a good report from Sue that Uncle Tom is doing better! We are so glad!!!

Okay...here is SUNDAY'S  news , while were in Everett,WA...
On Sunday, Doug, Geoff, and Chris took the Boeing Factory Tour in Everett, Washington just north of Seattle. It meant getting everyone out of bed early at 6:30am so that we could pack up from Mt. Saint Helens, and get on the road to get to our hotel in Everett in time for the 1:30pm tour. We were all tired later that day. But the tour was well worth it. Afterwards, Chris said it was the best part of the trip so far. That’s saying a lot since we have already visited Creation Museum, Mammoth Caves, the Grand Canyon, Crater Lake, Mt. Saint Helens, and many other sites.

The Boeing plant building is the largest building (by volume) in the world as listed in the Guiness Book of World Records. We were buss’ed to 2 separate places in the factory (would have taken much too long to walk) where we took an elevator up and could look out directly onto the factory floor. In that building, Boeing does final assembly of the various 747, 777, and Dreamliner 787 model jumbo jets. You know the building was large because we could look down on dozens of jumbo jets (each of which seat 400 people or more) being assembled with giant overhead cranes and moving platforms. The large parts are shipped in by train and by airplane from North Carolina, Kansas, Japan, among others. A new jumbo jet rolls off the assembly line every few days. They have a fleet of 4 DreamLift puffed out 777 jumbo jets used for hauling the new Dreamliner 787 large pieces to the Boeing factory. We saw one of these large DreamLift aircraft landing while we were there. The workers take great pride in assembling the new aircraft and parade it out of the hanger as the tug tows the new aircraft out of the plant.

They then tow the aircraft out of the building to the “paint booth”. The “paint booths” are 3 jumbo sized buildings across the freeway. The new jets have to cross a freeway overpass to make the journey to the paint booth. They have to take down the traffic signs and pull all the railings to clear the jet. It’s done at night to minimize the distraction to the highway. Everyone typically stops and gets out to take pictures. The engines hang way out over the highway.

The factory is located next to an airport that is shared between Boeing and the county; each has their own control tower. The new jumbo jets are kept in the “nursery” parking lot and then flown for a number of test procedures before being flown out directly to the customer.

The tour guide was more than willing to take orders for a new jet from anyone on the bus. In the past private individuals have purchased them at a cost of about $250 million not including the engines. In case anyone is considering a purchase, its 1/3 down to place your order; 1/3 due at painting; and 1/3 due at final delivery.

After the tour we got to watch some of the new Boeing jumbo jets going thru their test flights; missed approach and an aborted take-off. The new GE engines they are using are extremely quiet. We also got to walk around the Future of Flight Boeing museum. They had 2 full size Rolls Royce and 1 GE jet engine. It’s so big you could drive our Suburban right thru the front of the engine.

The Boeing plant tour was a great overview, but left all 3 of us wanting for more details; many of which are considered proprietary.

Science lesson Virga

Science lesson
We see these beautiful cloud often out west.
Enjoy!

In meteorology, virga is an observable streak or shaft of precipitation that falls from acloud but evaporates or sublimes before reaching the ground.^[1] At high altitudes theprecipitation falls mainly as ice crystals before melting and finally evaporating; this is often due to compressional heating, because the air pressure increases closer to the ground. It is very common in the desert and in temperate climates. In North America, it is commonly seen in the Western United States and the Canadian Prairies. It is also very common in theMiddle East, Australia and North Africa.

Virga can cause varying weather effects, because as rain is changed from liquid to vaporform, it removes heat from the air due to the high heat of vaporization of water. In some instances, these pockets of colder air can descend rapidly, creating a dry microburst which can be extremely hazardous to aviation. Conversely, precipitation evaporating at high altitude can compressionally heat as it falls, and result in a gusty downburst which may substantially and rapidly warm the surface temperature. This fairly rare phenomenon, aheat burst, also tends to be of exceedingly dry air.

Day 38-39 Oregon to Castle Rock, WA July 3,2014

Day 39
We have been at Lake of the Woods, Orgeon. We stayed in a beautiful, giant wooden home in the forest. It was so far out from civilization! We had no cell phone coverage.
We were just off of Route 140, east of Medford,OR. As we drove out today, we passed the giant lava fields that come right down to the road. There were several big fields that touched the road. They are from Brown Mountain. I was really surprised when I google mapped it to see we were only seeing about 1% of the lava fields. It exploded 2000 years ago. We were staying only a few miles from it. It is still mostly bare, except for the lava fields all over.
We have a hard day driving today. A very long day in the SUV. We have to get all the way up to WA. It is the July Fourth weekend, and the is a touch of traffic. We are heading up to a house in woods, near Mount St. Helens. The kids are so excited! I am pretty sure we did not expect to see so many volcanoes. None of us realized that there were so many in the USA, and that they have recently exploded as recently as 700 years ago! This seems to be a volcano trip!
Day 38 Lake of the Woods
We all stayed home to repack our infamous rubbermaids. We are always struggling with rearranging our belongings. We managed to combine all the things we bought in to two bins to be mailed soon to NY. Geoff on the other hand had an itch. You see, he was all done limping from the Grand Canyon run, so why not run up a mountain? He found a high mountain nearby, actually across from Brown  mountain. It is about 10,000 feet high. He of course ran up and down in 6 hours, rather than the advertised 12 hours. This time I drove him to the trailhead at noon at least! He enjoyed it and had a great time. He loved his time away from a packing! The mountain below is Mount McLoughlin it is a steep-sided lava cone built on top of a shield volcano.