Our Summer Vacation to Montana - day 1 and 2

Vacation 2011 Our Trip to Montana
We left on Friday, July 29th.  Our plan was to get up at 7:30 am which is actually early for us.  Josh was very excited and woke Dave and I up at five am.  We finally gave up on sleep and got up at 5:45am. Rosi, the boys, and I were in the car at seven am.  Then we waited for Dave.  I have learned that the more I rush the Dave the more Dave slows down and the crankier he gets.  We finally left at 7:30am which Dave reminded me was the time we were going to get up.  It was the taste of leaving at 7am that had made 7:30am frustrating for me.  

I grew up taking vacations that were missions.  Our goal was always to get there faster, to see the most that we could.  It was quantity verses quality.  I do not remember lacking having fun or feeling like I was missing anything.  Dave did not grow up taking a lot of trips so for him it is about making memories and experiencing everything.  He is about relaxing on a vacation and since he doesn't plan any of the detail he does not understand how detouring from the schedule can cause us to domino out of control.  After 16 years we have learned this about each other and for the most part we do fine.  It is only when we get tired that things can become disastrous.  Most days our extremes melt together to make a perfect midline.

After stopping for coffee, gas, ice, and a final bathroom stop we were off and on hwy 29 by 8am.  A whole hour before my goal!  Miracles continued to occur and we made it all the wash to Hudson, WI before our first stop!  This was almost four  hours and in my family it must have taken angels in our car to make this occur!  We grabbed lunch and crossed into Minnesota before 12:30pm.  We made it two more hours and then stopped for gas.  I reloaded the snack provisions with a goal of 4 more hours and our hotel being our next stop.

I came to the conclusion, evidenced by the fighting in the back seat, that we were going to need a stop before Bismarck, ND.  I suggested that we stop at the next rest-stop and find a geocache.  Dave eagerly agreed and this became the plan.  The rest-stop had a geocache that was supposed to be a travel bug hotel. Unfortunately the travel bugs had been removed and not replaced, so much for the rules of the hotel.  But it did serve its purpose and the ants in the pants were dislodge and we were able to make it to Bismarck.  

We checked in at our hotel and went for dinner.  The wait at Ruby Tuesday was too long, so it was decided that we would go to Golden Corral.  We all enjoyed our dinner.  I took the boys back to the hotel and Dave went to go geocaching.  The boy enjoyed swimming and then it was off to bed at our Holiday Inn Express.

Day two
Our second day start at 7:30am when our alarm went off.  Based on the attitudes of our gang, we probably needed another two hours of sleep, however, I knew that we needed to get going if we were going to hit a national park today and two parks tomorrow.  Dave needed to work on his Geocaching papers for his new travel bugs.  Unfortunately it took an hour.  We finally hit the road at 10am.  Good thing we gain an hour today!

Thirty minutes into the ride and both boys were cranky and being difficult.  Ryan spilt milk on his bear and seat.  Rosi announced it was going to need a bath.  I took the bear and washed it with a wet paper towel and then used the air vent to blow dry it.  I gave myself a survival badge and handed the bear back to a very happy boy.

Our next stop was Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  Although we had driven through North Dakota, neither Dave nor I had taken the time to stop at this National Park.  The boys and Rosi had never been to North Dakota, so we had all agreed it would be fun.

Our first stop for the Painted Canyon visitor center.  This visitor center is combined with a rest-stop and is free.  It overlooks a beautiful canyon full of interesting rock formations that are part of the northern badlands. The boys received their junior ranger workbooks and we were ready to head out.

Next, we were off to the main entrance of the park.  We skipped the visitor center, deciding we would hit it on our way back.  The first site we came to, on our 32 mile trek around the park, was a prairie dog town.  It did not take long for Ryan to determine that he would like a pet prairie dog.  We convinced the boys to name the prairie dogs as a distraction from wanting to take one home.  The boys named the one in front of the car "Digger".  Dave thought that was funny, as it had not moved the entire time we were there!

Digger

Next we stopped to do the Wind Canyon hike.  From the parking lot it did not look very impressive, but all it took was to climb the hill in front of us and our opinion was quickly changed.  Before us lay a white canyon of sandstone, that lead to the little Missouri River below.  I was worried about my fearless Ryan, who of course wanted to go to the very edge.  

Josh quickly noticed a buffalo crossing the river to join the rest of the group of buffalo in the grassland below.  Then turning around Josh realize that the hill behind the parking had at least 50 buffalo on it.  We had been so fixed on the trail that we had missed the sight directly behind us.  The boys continued on to the peak and I returned to Rosi to drag her out of the car, so that see could see the buffalo.  

We continued around the winding loop, which weaves up and down throughout the hills and valleys of the Park.  We were fascinated by the rock formations and the colors of the layers of rock.  The sage brush had a wonderful smell.  Around one corner we saw a heard of wild horses, enjoying the Summer day, high above on a hill.  We had to wait twice for buffalo in the road.  One juvenile became separated from his pack and was very upset that he could not get over the guard rail.  I was glad we were in the van and not on a motorcycle, like the person coming the other direction.  That would have made me nervous to have a buffalo next to me!  We also saw a dear and her fawn up on the side of a rocky hill.

We returned to the visitor center and toured Teddy Roosevelt's cabin.  The boys received their junior ranger badges and then we were off.  It turns out that the end of North Dakota and the beginning of Montana do not have a lot of fast food places.  Finally, around 3pm it was decided that we could not go further without lunch.  

We pulled into the small town of Terry, MT and could only find a small diner. Upon learning they could make orders to go, our order was placed and the boys and I went outside.  It turned out to be a perfect stop.  The boys could run and play and then we all could eat in the car and it was  better than McDonalds!

At 9pm we arrived in Boseman, MT as a thunderstorm was building.  We quickly headed to our room before the rain arrived.  Upon entering our room we discovered that it was missing the sofa bed I had been promised.  A roll away bed was brought up and $10 was taken off the bill.    The room was not up to my normal standard, but at least it was dry and had a bed.

Day three
After a restless night of sleep and Dave's phone with a 5:45 am reminder that we go to the cabin today, I decided to get up and work on my journal.  I am sitting here listening to the other four people in the room sleeping.  I have decided that I will do everything I can to avoid a Super 8 in the future.