Back Home!

From Missoula, we left the hotel at about 11:00 in the morning.  (after letting the children swim for another couple of hours after breakfast)
We had planned to spend the night somewhere near Ritzville, but we passed Ritzville before 4:00, and were really dreading another night at an RV park and then another day of driving.  Somewhere before tri-cities, we decided to keep driving and just arrive home Saturday night and sleep in our own beds.

Loaded up with snacks and a non-caffeinated soda to sip on, we plowed ahead.  We cheered when we saw the "Welcome to Oregon" sign on the bridge.  Then we cheered when we saw Mt Hood in the distance.  Then we oohed and awed at the golden clouds and the sunset over the Gorge.  Then we hit Portland.  Enough said.  We pulled into the driveway about 10:40PM Pacific, which was 11:40PM Mountain time where we had come from.  But we were in our own beds.

Overall, we put 10, 963 miles onto the truck during our 70 days / 10 weeks away.  Carrie says that we passed through 30 states, but I think that includes Oregon and Idaho twice since we went back through them.  Have to double check later.

Here is a picture of our evening drive with Mt Hood visible, and one of the updated state-map on the RV:

Missoula, Our one night in a hotel

We wanted to give the children a good last couple of nights, so we stopped by a hotel in Missoula that we have used before that has a pool with water slides, and a kiddie pool for Ellie. (Wingate Inn?)
We thoroughly enjoyed the big comfy beds, the pool and slides, the deluxe shower, and even watching television.  (The family watched an hour of HGTV, which was our only television aside from 2 movies during the whole trip)

Here are some action shots of the adventurers sliding into the water:

Matthew:

Sarah:

Ellie:

And coming off of the "fast" slide:

Clydehurst!

As we drove through Montana, we decided to stop by the Clydehurst offices in Billings, and found Wayne and Curtis both working.  They called their wives and allowed us to take them out for lunch.

After Billings, we camped just south of Big Timber for a couple nights, and drove down during the day to visit the Boulder River valley and Clydehurst. (without people, the camp isn't as interesting...)  We were happy to see the new cabins that are being built this year to add room. :)
We saw lots of menacing clouds, but the weather patterns kept the rain to the north of us, or south of us, and we had a windy but beautiful day. Jason and the kids tried to catch some fish, but nothing caught.  We had a beautiful time on the river though. 

Our Campsite in Big Timber:

"Devil's Tower"

On our way to Montana, we drove through the corner of Wyoming and detoured to visit Devil's Tower.  We stopped long enough to eat lunch and take the hike around the tower.  Everyone loved it and had a good time on the hike. Highlights were the views and watching the mountain climbers.

The Black Hills Part III: Jewel Cave

On our way out, we stopped by Jewel Cave national monument and took the 30 minute "Main Room Only" since it was shorter, and was the children's first time inside a cave like this.
The cave is one of the few with Calcite crystals covering many walls, which is how it got it's name.  (the main room had a few crystal areas, but not too many)

Ellie was a bit scared down there, but the rest of the family did OK.

The Black Hills Part II: Custer State Park

One of our highlights was seeing the larger herds of Bison, and especially with the babies running around.  Yes, they actually did Run, and Jump and Play.  Not the adults though, they were pretty slow moving.

Traffic Jam:

The Black Hills Part I

We spent a few nights in the Black Hills near Custer, SD.
On the first day we drove through "The Needles", saw Mt Rushmore, and then drove through Custer state park to see the Buffalo (Bison).

Here are the pictures from "The Needles" and the 8' 4" Tunnel that we had to drive through (no trailer):

There was a beautiful lake that we drove past:

We stopped at the side of the road to peek at the "Profile View, then we drove up to the main Mt Rushmore site and did the short walk to their viewing place / auditorium / museums, etc.

We could see the monument from many miles away as we continued on towards Custer State Park many around the loop.  It's hard to imagine just how large the monument is until you see it 20 miles away.