The Story Book: Road Trip 2014 (Westward Ho!)

On July 18th we packed up the Family Truckster and headed west to see family and all the beautiful sights.

The Great Salt Desert is always a scheduled stop along the way.

We arrived in Elko, Nevada on July 20th to visit Grandma and Grandpa Glass.

We did some horsing around...

Easy took good care of us all.

We headed up Lamoille Canyon to see the beautiful sights.

Landen, as usual if water is around, decided to do some dam building

We had a lot of fun visiting Auntie Bev and Brandon, especially playing with cousins Soulara, Lehla, and Brison (sorry if I got the spelling wrong). Trampoline, Slip and Slide, and chickens are such fun.

We headed to the Wells hot spring for a dip.

The girls decided to go for a walk. Mackenna came back with a shirt full of rocks. She carried them a long way just to throw them in the stream.

Don't drown Grandpa.

Grandpa took everyone to see his ambulance on the way home.

That siren is loud!

We did a day at the museums too. The California Trail Center is a beautiful new museum that tells such an interesting story.

Mackenna hosted a pioneer tea party while Landen and I fetched the water.

Landen got eaten by an alligator at the Northeastern Nevada Museum, they have a great collection of animals.

Party finally won and got both children herded into one place.

Thank you, we had a wonderful visit.

On Friday we packed up and headed for Lake Tahoe to see cousins Alex and Julia.

Mackenna and Julia spent a lot of their time being princesses and riding their "horse" (a.k.a. the hammock frame)

We had a great day at the lake. Lake Tahoe is beautiful.

The boys spent most of their time crayfish hunting.

Fish eating a potato chip from between my toes.

A nice hike in the meadow.

There's a princess on this hike.

There were some very twisty trees along our hike.

Our farthest point west - the Family Truckster made it to California. Even though we were staying on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe, we had to drive to California just so Landen could say he was there. He's been telling people for months that he was going there.

Hanging out.

Mackenna reading to Julia

Thank you David and Janelle for arranging the lovely accommodations. It was so nice for the cousins to finally meet one another.

On Sunday we started our journey home. We picked up a hitchhiker (Grandpa Al) along the way.

We got a special treat when we stopped by Uncle Robert and Aunt Mary's house on our way back through Nevada. They spent the day preparing a feast with all the fixing's for us, probably the best ribs we've ever had expertly cooked over homemade charcoal - awesome!

That hitchhiker caused all kinds of silliness and shenanigans in the back of the van.

We spent a few hours in Jackson, WY where Landen found his new favorite ice cream, huckleberry.

Grandpa Al couldn't resist getting an old time photo taken of himself and the kids. Mackenna was pretty excited about being a cowgirl princess and Landen, the man with too many bullets.

That's a lot of antlers.

We took a little ride on the stagecoach.

Then we headed to Grand Teton National Park

Our little cabin in Coulter Bay Village

All you can eat pancakes at Dornan's Chuckwagon in the morning. I'm not sure how anyone eats more than just one plate. We had a nice view from our seats under the teepee.

You know you love your sister Landen, don't pretend you don't

The wildflowers were blooming and beautiful even though it was quite rainy and gloomy during our visit.

We took a boat ride across Jenny Lake and started to hike toward Inspiration Point. It was a beautiful hike that unfortunately got cut short when drizzle turned into rain.

Hidden Falls and Landen's selfie at Hidden Falls.

The views from Signal Mountain.

Did you know there are bears on Signal Mountain - look out!

The bison and homes near Mormon Row.

Yellowstone, here we come.

The volcanic activity in the area makes for such interesting things to look at.

Castle Geyser

By the time we got to Cody, we decided we'd had enough driving so we explored that area instead of heading back to Yellowstone.

We went on a hunt for the elusive wild horses.

We didn't find horses but we did find cacti. Landen has wanted to see a cactus in the desert for many years so he had a good time finding them and pulling a few spines out to bring home. I'm not quite sure what we'll do with them though.

Proof that Grandpa Al does own a swim suit.

Landen worked on his snorkeling skills.

The Buffalo Bill Center should not be missed if you head through Cody. It's surprisingly large so you'll need quite a bit of time if you want to get through it. Brant was very impressed with the gun collection.

Dinner at the Cody Cattle Company came with some great entertainment.

We ended the day with a visit to the Cody Nite Rodeo. Not that we have a lot of experience but it was the best rodeo we'd even been to.

Landen decided he wanted to try his hand at bull riding, he waits anxiously in line with Grandpa.

Round 1 goes to the bull

The walk over the cattle pens to the Buzzards Roost.

It was so entertaining it kept us on the edge of our seats for 2 hours.

Getting ready for the calf scramble. Playing Simon Says with the clown. Simon didn't say roll on the ground.

Round 2 and 3, Landen wins!

Our last stop was at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Since we didn't head into buffalo country in Yellowstone we decided to track them down in North Dakota.