Devil's Tower

Day two we drove from Missoula to Gillette, Wyoming.  Just another day on the road,  We tried to stop in Buffalo, but the hotels were all full because it was "Longmire Days".  We had no clue what that meant, apparently we are not up on our Netflix, so we pressed on.

Day three started with Starbucks, then on to Devil's Tower which I had never been to before.  It is a ways off the interstate, which is why I'd never been there, it just isn't the most convenient place to stop, so you have to make it a destination!

Here we are getting our first glimpse of it.

Asher is getting a granola bar.  Priorities!

 We made it!

The first bit of the trail, you are allowed to go 'bouldering' below the tree line.  The kids had a great time after being in the truck for 2 solid days!

We hiked all around the tower, choosing the short trail.  It was a pretty hot day, & when we were almost at the end of the trail, Chancery declared, "Sheeshamoly, I hate hiking!"  Good times were had by all.

We did see some wildlife along the way.  There was a deer on the trail & we crept quietly towards it, & managed to snap this photo of the kids with it.

 On our way out of the park we saw a field full of prairie dogs, which the kids had never seen before.  I agreed they were cute, then told them all the reasons they are a menace.  That's the farm girl in me coming out!

We carried on our way & made it to Oacoma, South Dakota for the night.  We enjoyed dinner at Al's Oasis, another place I'd never been, seems like a smaller version of Wall Drug.

Dinosaurs!

Southern Alberta is a place where dinosaur fossils have been found, & as we were driving to PChad's parents' house, we passed a few signs for the Devil's Coulee Dinosaur museum.  The kids thought that sounded exciting, so we went one morning to check it out.

There's a museum as well as a site where they found several fossils that you can go & look, but you are not allowed to take anything home with you.  It was a hot smokey day, but that didn't stop us from finding a few treasures.

 At the top of the picture is a fossilized dinosaur bone, & the black bit is part of a dinosaur egg shell.  We also found fossilized turtle shells, teeth, & Chancery kept finding fossilized poop!

 Here's large piece of fossilized dinosaur bone we found!

 It was cool to see on the different levels of ground, they different types of fossils.

Strange to think there were turtles, crocodiles & dinosaurs out here on the prairie!

The Deal at Yellowstone

The kids really wanted to eat breakfast at the campground on the second morning, but since it was so cold, we had to do something to keep warm.  I came up with a deal...  We went out to dinner, & I told them if they behaved well, we'd go look at some shops afterward & see if we could find some sweatshirts for a good price.

 They kissed a fish for good luck, & we were off to shop!

I told the kids they had to find a nice sweatshirt, which fit them well, for under $20.  They had a great time looking in the giant outlet store we found & both ended up finding good deals.  Then it was my turn, since I had to stay warm too!

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After breakfast at the campground in our new sweatshirts, we were off for more hiking & hot springs!

We took a little hike through the woods & found a nice waterfall

 Then we wandered around the Artist paint pots, but we kept losing Chancery!

This wolf kept following us around, & we were not sure if we should be worried, but it seemed friendly.

Chad & Asher, watch out for the wolf!

 Asher wanted to stay by this geyser until it erupted, but it looked like it might take awhile, so we convinced him to move on.

I guess Asher had nothing to worry about, the wolf ended up to be quite tame!

The kids & I are quite pleased with our new sweatshirts, we even did the unthinkable & wore our new Yellowstone sweaters to Yellowstone!  But it was cold, so we decided it would be ok.

Eastern PEI

When my Aunt & Uncle & parents were all here, we took a Saturday to explore the Eastern end of the island.  We started by heading to Greenwich, the iconic boardwalk-over-the-marsh-on-the-way-to-the-beach part of the island.

The kids & I head out here about 4 times over the course of the summer.  We love it!

We found this colourful salamander on the path!

 

We then drove further to East Point lighthouse.  As the name implies, it is on the most Eastern tip of PEI.

 

Then we drove some more & found another lighthouse at Naufrage, & we found our hole again!

I can’t believe I just happened to be wearing the same shirt, in the same hole, 2 years later!

 

Then Asher & Chancery decided to play around a bit…

What happend to your legs, Chancery?

Port au Choix & L’Anse aux Meadows

Newfoundland trip, Day 5 took us from Gros Morne National Park up to the Northern tip of the island to see where the Vikings landed.

We stopped at Port au Choix first, thinking there might be something exciting to see. What we found was a lighthouse & lots of wind…

 

But we also found a visitor center with some friendly staff who walked the kids through some of the history of the place.

 

And they had a one-footed hopping competition.

 

After the visitor center, we had a bit of lunch & hit the road again!

 

We arrived a bit late in L’Anse aux Meadows, so we only had time to visit Norstead that evening.

 

We took a little hike up to the top of a nearby hill overlooking the ocean.

 

 

Asher tried to pull Owen in the wagon, but it was a bit too tough for him.

 

So, he got a little help, & all the kids had a tiny ride!

 

Chancery showing us how she’s like Atlas.

 

We just had enough time to stop by the L’Anse aux Meadows visitor center before it closed for the night.  We’d have to return the next day…

All Around Gros Morne

We started out the morning by heading to the Bonne Bay Aquarium, but we had to wait a few minutes until it opened.

The kids busied themselves with playing on the anchor.

 

We enjoyed a brief tour of the aquarium, and then spent some time at the touch tank.

 

We found some itty bitty sea stars!

 

We had a bit of a snafu at the “Wings n’ Tings” restaurant for lunch.  Through a mix-up in the order process, we received our food…

 

But Tara & Troy didn’t.

After lunch we went to the Western Brook Pond for a boat tour of the lake/pond.

 

It was a bit of a hike to get from the parking lot to the boats, but the kids seemed to do alright…

 

There were some disgruntled children once this photo surfaced after the trip!

 

The Western Brook Pond is actually quite a large lake!  It took us over 2 hours to go from one end to the other & back again!  It was nice to see some ‘mountains’ as well.

 

Spencer also discovered Pineapple Crush on this part of the trip, & he was hooked!

 

Chancery had a funny way of showing her affection to her cousins!

 

Overall, we enjoyed our boat tour.  We were glad that we missed the rains, since it would have made it difficult to see much.

 

Once again, we need a moment of silliness!

 

On our way back to the parking lot, there were a lot more rest breaks!  Chancery was sure she could climb this ‘tree’, but had a bit of trouble once she got started!

 

Asher enjoyed his shady spot for a break.

 

Since we had some time, we also stopped off at Lobster Cove Head on our way to the cottages.

 

It was a good place to stretch our legs a bit, & see another corner of the National Park.