Lotsa Places Today

Sooooooo today we went to a lot of places! I didn't even know what to put for the title because we had about 3 different destinations. We didn't leave Bend until around noonish. We just kind of hung out in the morning but once we started on the road, we drove about 2 hours to Crater Lake. It was a really pretty drive up and also really cold! There was snow everywhere and it was about 40 degrees! The lake itself was just breath-taking. The water was SO blue and there's an island in the middle that's also a volcano called Wizard Island. We went to about 3 different viewing spots to see the lake and then started down the side of the volcano. After that we drove another few hours to a river called Rogue Gorge and hiked around there for a little bit... really pretty! Then we drove to a little restaurant where we had a quick dinner and about the biggest pieces of pie I have ever seen. I swear I gained 5 pounds just eating half of it! Then we drove another few hours to our hotel at the base of Mt. Shasta. Tomorrow we're finally heading home!!

Bend and Eugene, Oregon

Sorry for not blogging yesterday! I totally forgot! Anyways yesterday we left Seattle in the morning drove about an hour to Tacoma. We stopped in a little restaurant and watched the World Cup..great yet depressing game :( It was really fun though! Then we continued driving and we got to Eugene around 7 p.m. We had dinner with my 3rd grade teacher, Mrs. Muscatell, with her husband, Dan, and her daughter, Jessica. Mr. Muscatell is the assisstant coach for the Oregon Ducks women's basketball team. He took us over to the brand new arena and gave us a private tour. It was the coolest thing ever! Then he took us over to the Oregon Ducks football stadium and let us run around. SO MUCH FUN (: It was really cool getting to see my 3rd grade teacher too! The next day we drove to Bend, Oregon. We left Eugene sort of late..we went to this really cool donut place - Voodoo Donuts - they put toppings on their donuts like captain crunch, oreos, peanut butter, yum!!! That was our appetizer :), and then we had lunch at Vero - super yummy! Then we started driving. It was a really show drive because we kept stopping..as usual (: When we finally got there around 6ish, we went to a brewery called Deschutes Brewery which is supposed to be kinda big in Oregon. Anyways it was really fun and good. Now we're back at the hotel and the kids are swimming with dad while me and mom are just chilling in the hotel room (:

Seattle, Washington!

Today we arrived in Seattle, Washington...our final destination! We left Spokane pretty early because my mom really wanted to stop at this breakfast place called "Chaps". She had seen it on the food network so we decided to give it a try. It was one of the best meals we've ever eaten. The restaurant itself was so unique. It was all just a good "meal experience!" We got to Seattle at about 6 p.m. and then we checked into our hotel, at a Sheraton which is a little weird for us since it's the nicest hotel we've been to so far. Then we took a taxi to a restaurant near the stadiums for the teams in Seattle. It was a pretty good meal but nothing compared to Chaps! (: Then we decided to walk back to our hotel so we wandered around the downtown area. We went to the Public Market...it was pretty cool! We walked down this alley where the walls were covered in gum. If you were within a five yard radius of this section of the wall, it smelled like mint! SO gross! So we checked that place out and walked around for about an hour and then finally got back to our hotel. Seattle is super cool city! It reminds me of San Francisco, just without the hills! We board the ship tomorrow around noon and are meeting my cousins, grandparents, and Auntie Carol around 11. Everyone is super excited and we can't wait to come and check out Seattle some more after the cruise!

Spokane, Washington

Today was a good day! We slept in pretty late, enjoyed the big fancy buffet breakfast the hotel set out for us, and headed off! We had a short drive today..about 3 hours total but it took us a little longer..as always (: We stopped in Sandpoint, Idaho for lunch and walked around a little bit. It was a super cute town! Then we kept going and only stopped when we saw a sign that said, "Tate" because I begged my dad to turn around! Once we got to Coeur d'Alene we checked into our hotel but since we were so early, my parents decided to keep going to Spokane. We dropped off our stuff and drove downtown. We took pictures and walked around for a while looking for food. We ended up eating in the mall and then going to see the movie, Monte Carlo, which was REALLY good! (Just don't ask my dad) (: We came back to the hotel and Beck and Reede went swimming and I'm just chilling in the hotel room, blogging! Tomorrow we're heading to Seattle! We can't even put our excitement into words!

Glacier National Park, Montana

We spent the entire day in Glacier National Park! We woke up super early...again... and left for the park. The biggest hike we were going to do that day was to a lake called Avalanche Lake. It was a steep 4 mile hike, 2 there and 2 back. It was a beautiful hike up with a raging river right next to us. It was so full that it was really close to spilling onto the trail. My parents said that if you slipped in, you would be dead. Everyone there was saying that the river was at least twice as high as it usually is. Still really pretty though! About a mile in...me, my mom, and Reede were walking way in front of my dad and Beck and this couple passes us and about 10 seconds later they start yelling, "Bear! Leave! Go!" Just shouting really loud and when we turned around there was another black bear coming up the trail following us. He was maybe 10 yards away and obviously way too close. They must have scared it though and it went up the mountain..we ended up seeing it again later. But it seems black bears have a thing for Shadbournes. (: Anyways, the view from the lake was breathtaking. There were mountains surrounding it with 3 waterfalls leading into it, all being fed by the glaciers on the mountains. It was SO pretty. We took a few pictures and relaxed for a few minutes and then looked up and realized Beck had taken off down the other side of the lake. So my dad followed and the rest of us just hung out.... for 2 hours! Apparently my dad had a hard time getting Beck back (: Once they finally returned, we headed back down the trail and walked back to our car for a picnic. Then we took a shuttle bus up to Logan Pass and took a few pictures. Beck and Dad took the shuttle back down so he could nap, and me, Reede, and Mom hiked for about 40 minutes. We met them back down at Lake McDonald and went out to dinner. After that we went on a short one mile hike to Lake Johns and then finally headed back to our hotel. Overall, Glacier was amazing and we barely touched it. Tonight, everyone is reaaallyyy tired! But this was our last major stop before the cruise! Tomorrow we're heading for Couer d' alene, Idaho and then the next day is Seattle! SUPER EXCITED (:

White Fish, Montana

Today was another pretty relaxing day. Me, Beck, and Reede slept in while my parents went out on a run. They came back and I swear the could not stop talking about it. "It was so beautiful." "Oh I love this town!" "We met the nicest man!" on and on and on... (: By the time they came back it was about 10 a.m. so we packed up and headed out for brunch. We ate at super cute restaurant and had a great meal. After that we just started driving...everyone in town said it would take about 1 1/2 to 2 hours to get there. Well, it took us about 4! We got there around 5... Beck and Reede headed straight for the swimming pool as always! Then we headed out for Glacier National Park for dinner. It was really pretty and we ate at a fancy restaurant right on a lake McDonald - where Lake McDonald Lodge is. My Dad has always seen pictures of this place and the red Jammer cars that run tours from it. They're all just too long (3+ hours and us kids will go crazy so we'll just do our own touring). We hung out there for a little and then headed back to the hotel. Pretty simple day! Right now, everyone is packing up backpacks and getting ready for tomorrow because we're spending the whole day in the park! Very excited!

Missoula, Montana

Happy 4th of July everyone! Our day was pretty mellow...we woke up in Yellowstone and just started driving. It was about 3 hours to get to Missoula, and this time we got to drive on the freeway (: We stopped in Big Sky to get gas but then we also stopped in Butte where we ate at a bar. In Montana, kids are allowed in bars. It was really fun and everyone was so nice. There was a guy around the corner who was sitting outside on a barstool and his pants were falling way down and Beck kept saying it was too hot inside so he could go look at him and laugh. My dad says this is where Butte got its name (: After that, we finished our drive to Missoula and went swimming at the hotel for a little bit. Then we went out for dinner. In the whole town, only a few places were open! People said that they close for every holiday, or just cause its Sunday, or even if there's a big college game on. We ate at some pub/bar place but it was really good. Then we headed over to the mall and parked our car with the other thousand-ish people who were there and settled in to watch a firework show. It was the longest and prettiest firework show I've ever seen. By then it was about 11 p.m. so went straight back to our hotel and passed out. Tomorrow is Glacier National Park in White Fish, Montana!

Day 2 in Yellowstone

Best. Day. Ever. We woke up at 6 in the morning...Mom says "It was 5:30, thanks to Dad!" We left for the park by 6:30 in search of 2 things: bears and bison. Our first stop was hydrothermal geysers and artists paint pots. The pots have hydrosulfuric acid under the surface at huge, high temperatures and when it mixes with the rock it makes this crazy kind of paint craters that bubble like little volcanoes. Beck absolutely hated them...see photo (: Then bison were coming our way and I swear they kept coming ALL day. We saw them everywhere...in campsites, walking down the road, walking across the road, throwing themselves around in the dirt...bison everywhere!! By now it was 8:30 and we were driving along and then...dunh dunh dunhhhh critter jam! We pulled over and sure enough everyone is watching a big grizzly bear dig up stuff...just about 25 yards away! Coolest sight evveeerrrrr. Could the day get any better? It wasn't even 10 a.m.! Much to Beck's...slight complaining ("Why do we have to keep stopping at the smoke places?!") we headed off to more geysers in Mammoth Falls and elk sightings galore. Next, we went to the northeast corner of the park and pulled off to see a petrified tree. Woot woot. Mom needed out of the car...desperately. Since everyone in the car agreed we could hike now, we turned away from the petrified wood and headed into bear country down a cute little trail that Dad kept saying "I wish I had my running shoes!" And it was beautiful by the way (: About 1/4 mile in, Dad says to Beck, "Hey buddy, I should probably be in front in case of a bear." And for the first time ever, Beck said, "Okay!" Dad takes the lead and sure enough, right around the corner there's a black bear rummagin' in the grass. We watched for awhile until he decided he wanted to escort us back to our car! Sooooo, he starts walking towards us at his "lumbering pace" while we're almost jogging trying to keep our distance. By this time, we had picked up more people and the little bear was driving about a herd of 15+ people towards the parking lot. At certain points he was about 10 yds away... yes 10. And we weren't trying to be that close...he was just fast! We were almost to the parking lot when my Dad spotted a second one in front of us. Turns out, "our bear" didn't like us in between him (her?) and his buddy. We got to the car still buzzing about what had just happened and having had created a HUGE critter jam. Reede felt the need to prove this so she decided to yell really loud... "WE CREATED THIS CRITTER JAM!" Luckily we beat the traffic and headed off to find more pronghorn antelope...see picture (: After that, we drove off and found a huge valley full of thousands of bison. Mom and Reede found bison hair? fur? and gave it to Beck because apparently his life wouldn't go on without it. And we're off again looking for Bighorn Sheep...practically the only animal we hadn't seen yet! And guess what? Dad spotted some on the top of a cliff dropping into a suppppeeerrrr steep canyon. Next up, 1) Beck fell asleep. Good. 2) Exciting for my parents, not for us kids...we pulled over in Hayden Valley looking for wolves. We were here for 1 1/2 hours looking for the wolves that never came. But we did see 2 big herds of elk that were supposed to alert us when the wolves arrived. Yeah. They didn't have a care in the world. I don't know if wolves were ever coming. Great fun. Mom says "We met the nicest people ever! Anyone who has a 3 inch binder full of wolf data dating from 1995 is going to be an interesting conversation." I guess I could agree to that...oh and by the way we're making Reede a "poo-folio" cause she seems to like taking pictures of it. 13 hours in the park and we were drop dead tired. We headed out and once back at the hotel, Mom and Dad went on a date while I watched Beck and Reede in the pool. Then we ate dinner and went out for ice cream! Tomorrow we're spending the Fourth of July going through Big Sky, Montana and up to Missoula for the night.

Okay the pictures wouldn't go tonight so I'll put them up tomorrow when I have better connection..sorry bout that cause they were pretty good (:

Yellowstone, Wyoming & Montana

Today was the best day so far! In the morning my parents went on a run through Jackson and had a great time! We kind of just hung around till about noon and then headed off. We drove through Grand Tetons National Park which was just gorgeous. Once we finally got to Yellowstone, we stopped at Grand Village to get gas and then drove to Old Faithful. We got there a while before it was supposed to erupt next so we went and checked out the visitors center for a while. After about a half hour, we went outside with the rest of a couple hundred people that had gathered around the geyser and just waited. After about five minutes it started erupting and it was SO beautiful. It was one of the most amazing, fantastic, awesome things I have ever seen. When it was over my dad said, "I think that was on my bucket list." Then we headed to some more geysers up the road. They didn't erupt as big as Old Faithful but they were still fun to look at. We went on this thing kind of like a boardwalk that went in a big loop around several hydrothermal pools that were such a pretty blue color (: After that we kept driving and got stuck in our first "critter jam" but it was only a deer... but so far we have seen an elk, a moose, bald eagle, fox, deer, and pronghorn antelope! Not bad for one day! When we finally got to our hotel-which was in Montana, the only state my dad hasn't been to- we went out to dinner and now we're just chilling in the hotel room. My dad went out to explore some more though, of course. As for tomorrow, we get to be in Yellowstone for one more day (:

Jackson, Wyoming

Today we drove from Salt Lake City to Jackson. It's about 200 miles but took around 6 hours because there wasn't a freeway the entire drive! However, it didn't matter because the view was stunning the whole way. We visited the Mormon Temple in the morning. Later we stopped and took pictures at Bear Lake right before we entered Idaho...the view the whole way was huge mountains, lots of beautiful houses with horses, vast open spaces with flowers..all green though! In Wyoming, we stopped in Afton (Home of the largest elk antler arch in the world!) for some ice cream and Mexican food. Later, we passed the Snake River and it was flowing really fast and seemed close to flooding. Once we finally arrived, we found our hotel, dropped our stuff off and we were literally out the door in about 5 minutes. Our hotel is 3 blocks from the town square so we went and shopped around there. We even found a store called "Leslie" where my mom got free stickers which is always a bonus (: After that in the middle of the square there was a shootout show with stunt people acting like the old wild west! It scared me so bad though..guns are louder than you think! We took a picture in front of the arch made of antlers and then headed back to the room to put warmer clothes on! And then of course, we went to another brewery. Mom actually picked this time! Tomorrow we have a short 2 hour drive to Yellowstone! Sleeping in while Mom and Dad go for a run.

As for the pictures...the first one, with just us kids, is in Afton and the second one with the whole family is in Jackson.