Author: ssiermada

Wake up early and board the train from Durango to Silverton.  It’s a 100+-year-old narrow gauge steam locomotive.  We were all very excited, especially Lincoln and myself.  He has a nice train set and we have always talked about riding one.  It was quite the experience.  Being a narrow gauge it tends to rock back and forth consistently.  We were headed up the mountain to Silverton which still looks like it did in 1900.  Three and half hour trip up.  The kids started falling asleep and Diane and I were getting on them about not being able to see this stuff at home, and you should have gone to bed earlier.  About 45 minutes into the trip, the rocking, and the smell of the coal, and the warm air, it was all I could do to stay awake.  I looked up at Diane and she was mouth open sleeping like a dead guy.  We both eventually woke and were laughing that is was impossible to stay awake.  The scenery was gorgeous, and a bit terrifying when we were looking down sheer cliffs knowing that it was over 100 years when they put down these tracks.   We got a bus ride back to Durango and prepared for our white water rafting for the afternoon.  We have gone before in West Virgina, so we were pumped.   When waiting in line, there was a little bit bigger lady that had on a bikini that would be tight on Laney or London.  She jumped on our bus to the river and I knew she would be in my boat.  When got to the river and the instructor called out names for boat assignments.  Reiss was called first and we all jumped up.  Next, he yelled “Santos” and sure enough, “you’re with Reiss”.  I whispered to Diane, “good Lord, I am going to have to save her I know it.”  When loading the boat I ran to the front, I did not want that missing bikini butt in my face the entire time.  So we were off.  I looked at the other boats and each one had about 4 grown men onboard, ours was my family and the Santos sisters.  About 5 minutes in she dropped her oar and I had to row to it while Linc reached out to get it.   At one point she said, “we can do anything, we have Dad on board.”   Turned out she was fine and actually very nice.  The best part was after some pretty good rapids, we had a break, she stood up and said, “OMG my suit is all the way up in my crack”.  Needless to say, I stared forward in horror while Linc watched her without blinking.  After that, we were back to Hotel room for food and swimming.  The following day was almost all travel.  We made it to Texas for the night and stayed in a campground.  Today we put down some more miles.  We visited Cadillac Ranch and the kids got to tag the cars with spray paint.  We stopped at a huge cross for a visit and eventually made our way to the Soda-Pop Ranch.  Hundreds of different flavors of soda.  The kids were in heaven.

After that, we drove to a Jellystone Park on Keystone Lake, in Oklahoma.  We will be here for 2 night so the kids can get a full day of swimming in the lake on all the blow-up jumpy things.  It’s been a great trip so far and I am sad it is winding down.  Not as many pictures this time because we did not take phones with us while rafting.

Ok for the last couple of days we have been looking at a lot of rocks and roads.  First, it was Monument Valley, which was very cool to see.  I have seen many of the rock formations in movies, and I think I appreciated it more than the rest of the crew.  We did pull over at a small Navajo vendor stand alongside the road.  It was a grandmother and her grandson sitting by a car with a table set out with items for sale on it.  The girls bought some simple bracelets and Diane got a necklace.  They were very nice people and they told us some stories about their life.  Next stop was Moab and the Arches National Park.  Arches is a neat place and we enjoyed a short hike to do some climbing and exploring.  We didn’t spend a great amount of time there because we were ready to be done for the day and settle in at our campsite.  Little did we know that we would spend all evening inside the camper due to a dessert rain and thunderstorm.  It was pretty crazy, in the dessert and it rained for about 5 hours.  The next morning we were off again to see the Four Corners.  Extremely long, straight, and lonely roads, not some place I would want to have car(RV) trouble.  Four Corners is a cool place.  We got our picture on the spot and talked to some of the Native Americans represented there for the different states.  It was a great experience.  Back in the RV and down the road for our next stop which was Mesa Verde.  We got there a little late in the day and again everyone was ready to just do their own thing for a while.  We went into the visitor center and read the displays and talked to a ranger.  She said it was a 45-minute drive out if we did not stop to see anything.  We all cringed a bit and decided to head to our next campground for swimming and relaxing.  We thought maybe we would backtrack some and get there another day.  We made our way to Durango, Colorado which is where we had camp reservations for the next two nights.  On the way there we drove through a flock of ducks had one bounced off the windshield, scaring everyone half dead.  Fortunately, the windshield did not crack.  The way our RV is set up with a bunk over the top of the cab of the truck, I was thinking there is no way that thing bounced out and over the bunk.  Sure enough, when we pulled into the campground I got out and looked and yup, we had a duck hood ornament wedged in-between the cab and the camper bunk.  We spent the first night swimming and relaxing.  The next day we spent in the town of Durango exploring the local shops and places to eat.  Tomorrow is a busy day.  Up early to jump on a 100-year-old narrow gauge steam locomotive to travel to Silverton, an old mining town.  Lunch in town then we catch a raft and white water back to Durango.  Should be a fun day.  Random pics from the last couple days.

So our last full day in the Zion area was spent heading over to Bryce Canyon.  It was about a 2-hour drive from where we spent the night, which is just a short cruise for us at this point. The coolest part of the trip was going through the Mt Carmel tunnel.  It was built in 1930 and is 1.1 miles long with no lights.  It is 13ft in the center and 11ft on the side.  We had to get a pass that shut the road down and allowed us to drive down the center in order not to hit the top.  Needless to say, it was a very strange feeling pulling into a completely dark, super tight tunnel and going for over a mile.  Definitely a unique experience.  We eventually arrived at Bryce and readied ourselves for another day of hiking.  We chose a 4-mile loop that went from the top of the canyon to the bottom and back up.  It was truly an unbelievable sight.  The colors and shapes caused us to say “wow”, and “how pretty”, so many times.  To the bottom was easy, and we soon realized that every step we took down we would have to take a step up eventually.  When we got to the last quarter mile we were spent, totally gassed out.  It took a couple of water and snack breaks to get to the end, but we made it.   

The next day was when we put it in gear and super toured some sites.  Up and breakfast and in the Minnie on the way to the Grand Canyon.  2 and half hours later we were pulling up and ready to see this hole in the ground.  OMG…that hole is HUGE!!  I never would have guessed just how massive it is.  As far as you can see, Grand Canyon.  Just amazing.  We set out for yet another hike but with different results this time.  We were walking a trail that had no guard rails or barrier to stop you from taking a mile long fall to the bottom.  As I looked out, I suddenly was having trouble walking down the 6ft wide path.  It felt more like 6 inches.  The height and massive scale of it had my legs not working as good as they should of.  I felt like I was on a balance beam 5000ft up.  We survived and ate lunch at the lodge.  It was then back to the Minnie and heading to Horse Shoe Bend and Lake Powell.  Horse Shoe Bend was diceveing.  What looked like a short hike turned out to be down a half mile hill in the middle of the Arizona desert, which meant we would eventually have to hike back up.  By now you would think we would be professional hikers, but it still felt like about 10 miles straight up.  Back in the Minnie and pedal down headed to Monument Valley where we had reservations for a camping in the middle of now where.  Smack-dab on the Arizona – Utah State line in the desert.  We pulled in about 9:30 and it was pitch black.  Pitch black in the desert is a lot darker than pitch black in McCaryville.  We parked Minnie for the day after 400+ hard miles and 3 big items checked off.  Is was a full day for sure. 3250 miles checked off so far.

After a great time in Jackson Hole, we ventured south for about half a day’s drive.  We finally arrived at the heat, 100+ degrees!  I can’t imagine the temperature of the road surface.  At one point we stopped to fuel up and I believe the gas was almost boiling in the Minnie’s gas take.  I took the cap off and hot air blew out for quite a long time.  It was like gas vapor to hot to even put my hand in it.  I put the gas nozzle in and it wouldn’t even start, just clicked.  It took about 15 minutes of letting steam out until I could get it to fill.  Obviously, we had to pull-over at a local ice-cream stop to cool off a bit.  We ended up stopping in Fillmore, Utah at a KOA for the night.  It was very nice and clean.  The following morning we had about 2 hours worth of driving till we hit Zion National Park.  Zion is BEAUTIFUL.  We had reservations at a hotel for the next couple of nights.  Our room wasn’t ready so we parked the Minnie and hopped on a shuttle into the park.  We did a hike that was absolutely beautiful.  It was labeled moderate and it definitely worked us.  They apparently use a different labeling system than what I am used to.  We made it to the top and took a break, sitting there in awe of the gorgeous canyon.  Back down the Mountain and to the hotel for supper and swimming.  Today, July 8, was started with breakfast then to the shuttles for more hiking.

108 degrees today, so we were in hunt of some water.  When we found our spot, it was awesome. We swam and jumped and just had an amazing time.  There were times when it was just us five and we felt like we were on our own paradise island.  It was a great day and we ended it with some Chinese food and some lazy time around the hotel.  Dad’s (my), legs are tired, knees and hips hurt, so it’s resting that is in my near future.  Assorted pics below of our Zion adventures.

Out of Yellowstone and south to Jackson Hole.  Three nights in a fancy hotel sounded very good to us after being off the grid for 3 days.  The Lodge is a very nice place to stay.  Lincoln said the pool looked like Hawaii.  The town itself is a very swanky, clean town with a ton of little shops.  When we first got there we ran to get some supper then it was back to the hotel to swim and catch up on all things wifi.  The next morning was the 4th and we were up early to get to the town square and enjoyed a community breakfast of pancakes and sausage.  There was a local band that played the National Anthem and the whole town stopped and stood in respect.  It almost sent a chill down your spine with how cool it was to be there at that time.  After breakfast, there was the town parade which was quite impressive.  A little different, but fun.  They threw out ears of corn and popsicles.  Then it was off to do some local shopping, which was enjoyable.  We even did the Old Time Photos that we had a blast doing.  Straight faces were harder for some than others.  Back to the hotel for supper, then a walk to the edge of town for some very good fireworks.  The next day June 5, we went to do some hiking in the Grand Teton National Park.  The first trail was to Hidden Falls which was .6 of a mile.  Remember we are at approx. 9k feet and hiking up a mountain.  We made the hike easily and the view was incredible.

Back down .6 of a mile and we were still pretty full of gas, so we decided to tackle the 1.3-mile hike up to Inspiration point.  It was labeled as aggressive, but we were confident in our ability to walk 1.3 miles up and 1.3 miles down.  WOW,  so you know, 1.3 miles uphill at elevation takes about an hour.  We started out looking like pro’s with the backpack and pep in our step but about 30 minutes in we were getting pretty gassed.  We passed an overweight younger guy and asked how far we had.  He said, “where you going?”  We said “inspiration point”, to which he said, “not far, bout a mile.”  I thought Good Lord and asked if he had made it.  He said “yes” that he had passed it not long ago, followed by “I have been hiking for 5 days, started out at devil’s hole, and am ready to be done.”  The Reiss’s were ready to be done at .3 of our 1.3 trek.  We hammered on and finally made it, but we were done with hiking for the day for sure.   Swimming then supper in town at a great steakhouse called Local.  Tomorrow we get up and start heading a new direction, South.  No plans for the night, so we will stop when we feel we have made enough progress for the day.

Yellowstone is huge! Wow!  We camped 2 nights at Canyon Campground and 1 night at Grant.  Both were “dry camping”, no hook-ups, so we were at the mercy of the Minnie Winnie.  It performed wonderfully, kept us warm at night when it was down in the lower 30’s and was always able to get a satellite signal for overnight entertainment.  Except for the satellite connection, we had no other outside connection, cell signal was non-existent.  We actually ran into a family from Minster, Oh that lives about 5 miles from us.  My wife knew them and it was a pleasant surprise to run into them in a ridiculously large national park 1400 miles from home.  The dad’s Moeller Brew Barn hat caught the eye of my daughter which led to us yelling at them.  The sights in Yellowstone are fro a different planet I believe.  A lot of wildlife and awe-inspiring landscapes.  My only complaint would be the crowds and the incredibly rude people from another country.   From Yellowstone, we are headed to Jackson Hole, Wy to enjoy the 4th.  With that, I will post pictures from the last 3 days.

We slept in this morning till about 9:30, I think the comfort of a nice hotel had an effect on us.  We went down for breakfast, then back to the room to prepare for our day exploring Cody, Wyoming.  We did the guided trolley tour which was very informative.  Buffalo Bill Cody was a very busy man.  The town is set up for tourism so there were plenty of shops in town to take our money.  We stopped at an old soda shop and had drinks and a snack which was a cool experience.

We then shopped for a bit till we came across a camping supply store.  I wanted to go in and get some bear spray before we headed into Yellowstone tomorrow.  We walked in and were greeted by an employee that became very helpful.  He circled some trails for us on a map and gave us the experienced guide education for newbies going into the park.  Then he showed us the proper way to use the bear spray in case we needed it.  I felt better after talking to him, but I also felt nervous after talking to him.  There had been 1 grizzly attack already and he told us of his experience with running into one also.  After that, we journeyed over to the famous IRMA hotel and restaurant.  The bar was a gift from Queen Victoria to Buffalo Bill so the place had some history.  The meal was very good, it was a prime rib buffet.  Afterwards we headed back to the hotel for some lounging while the kids swam.  To finish up our day, we went to the Cody rodeo.  It is the most famous rodeo in the world, there were people from everywhere there.  We watched and enjoyed the show, but it was very cold outside so that might have damped the overall excitement of it.

Tomorrow we get up and head into Yellowstone for the next 3 nights.  This might be my last post for a couple of days due to being off the grid for a bit.  Camping and hiking in Yellowstone are going to be crazy experiences and we are very excited.

We got up this morning with intentions of traveling to Cody, Wyoming.  Diane and the kids went for donuts and coffee at the camp store while I showered and starting picking up our site.  After a top off of propane and some searching for a safe route through the Big Horn Mountain Range, we were off.  Lunch was in the camper as we traveled and the kids watched TV and took naps.  Wyoming is a big place full of nothing.  Long stretches of nothing.

When we started heading int to the Big Horn area the scenery changed dramatically.  We went from prairies to the Rocky Mountains in what seemed like 30 minutes.

The Winnie did pretty well up the mountain pass.  At one point I had the pedal on the floor for 20 minutes or so and our top speed was 30 mph.  Approximately 8 miles of uphill.  Downhill is always another beast in itself.  No one was behind me so I took it very slowly, letting the engine do most the work.   Of course, after the mountains, we hit another open prairie storm which we have become pretty good at by this point.  The day to this point was pretty un-eventful.  About 70 miles from Cody that all changed.  Siri, who has been a wonderful guide so far instructed me to turn down County Road 5.5.  I slowed down to look at the turn and said “nope”.  It was a gravel road that just didn’t look like somewhere I needed to be.  We passed that “road” and allowed Siri to recalculate.  10 miles down the road was our new turn so I hammered down.  Well, it looked the same when I got there so I figured we should go for it.  Siri said it was only a mile until the next road so I figured we could just slow down and make our way.  This was a 1 lane gravel road to start.  The farther we went the skinnier it got and the less gravel it had.  It became to the point where it was just a farmer dirt trail with 3-foot holes.  I had no option to turn around.  The kids had to stand up and hold the doors of everything in the RV just to keep crap from shooting across and killing someone.  We were literally moving 2 ft, then waiting for everything to settle then move again.  We were having our first Griswald moment.  I knew it would come, but didn’t know when, it was here and man I was wishing for my Jeep!!  Finally, we came to a pull-off that a farmer had made and we were able to jockey the RV around.  Back through the Grand Canyon of a road, we went, laughing the entire time.  The photo is on the way out after the holes because we couldn’t take pics while holding on to everything.  

We stopped and did some mapping and voted not to take any county roads, at least in Wyoming.  We made it to Cody and got checked into our amazing hotel.  We had fancy suppers(not at camper), and the kids swam while Diane and I enjoyed some local beers.  Tomorrow’s schedule is hanging out in Cody doing the tourist thing, then the famous Cody rodeo tomorrow night.  Yellowstone in 2 days, so we will take in the luxuries here in town while we can.

Okay, for the last 3 days we have had very limited access to any cell reception, let alone wifi.  It was a different experience for us for sure.  I had zero for 2 days then all of a sudden somehow it connected and my phone beeped for 25 texts and 700 emails.

No connection to anyone was no problem because our time here has been amazing.  Traveling from Mitchell SD and on to our stopping point for the night in Hill City SD, we saw some very interesting sights.  We had a pit stop in Wall SD to visit the famous Wall Drug store.  Did the tourist things and even picked up a free glass of ice water, (That is what made them famous).  We then did the Badlands Scenic Drive which caused us to stop ever 2 minutes to pull over and get out.  The views were something else, like a different planet.  From the Badlands, we moved on to Hill City SD where we had 3 night reserved at Palmer Gulch KOA.  We pulled in and were blown away at what a wonderful place this was.  Our campsite was tucked in some tall Ponderosa Pines on the side of a hill.

Diane and the kids went to explore the campgrounds and I went to the office to rent a van for the next 2 days for site seeing.   We settled in for the night with brauts on the grill and snacks in the camper.  The next morning, June 26, we started the day heading to Mt Rushmore which was 4 miles away from camp.  Let me just say that Mt Rushmore is awesome!!  All of us just loved being there and walking the Presidential trail.

We ate a buffalo burger and had ice cream that used Thomas Jefferson’s original recipe.  A stop at the gift shop was a pleasant surprise when we meet the last surviving man to work on the mountain.  He was 98 and worked there when he was 17, Nick Clifford.  We left Mt Rushmore and headed to Custer State Park to do the wildlife loop.  30 minutes into the 45-minute loop and no wildlife.  We finally ran into a pack of wild burrows that were on the edge of the road.  We stopped and got out and let them lick our hands.  10 minutes later we were at a stop while a herd of bison crossed the road.  They were inches from our van.  Some would walk onto the road and stand there for a while.  Altogether it took about an hour to move 100 ft, which was fine because it was very entertaining.   Lincoln had the side van door open to get the best picture.  We named some along the way; Sally, Sam, and Travis. It was an unreal experience.

A stop for some groceries and back to the campsite for supper.  Chicken and pork chops on the grill with corn and baked potatoes, it was delicious.  That night we ran over to Crazy Horse for a birthday celebration for the lady who helped start the project.  For the birthday party, they do a night-time blasting on the sculpture, it was very cool.  Before the blasting, we visited the National American Indian Museum which I really enjoyed.  We also listened to a local Indian from the Lakota Tribe talk about his Great grandfather and Crazy Horse.  It was a great experience, very humbling.  Back to the camper to warm up and tuck in for the night.  Temps here are high 30’s at night and low 80’s during the day, a big change.  Today, Tuesday, June 27, was a “rest” day.  Got up early for pancakes followed by some lounging around the campsite.  The kids ended up swimming and Diane did some laundry.  I read a book and watched some TV.  For supper, we ventured into town for our first official meal not eaten at the camper.  Desperado’s was the place of choice for some Western themed grub.  We ordered drinks and looked outside and noticed terrible looking storm moving in.  We chugged our drinks, paid the bill and attempted to zip back to our campsite.  We had left out some chairs and other odds and ends and wanted to get stuff secured before the storm, we didn’t make it.  It was an all out dust storm at first with terrible winds, followed by thunder, lightning, and rain.  It was so bad we could not see driving the sweet rental van, and had to actually dodge a flying road sign.  Back at the camper, we were lucky, just some wet odds and ends.  There was damage to others we noticed, mostly just ripped off awnings.  After the last of the storm we went back to Desperado’s and finished what we had started earlier, it was a good meal.  We finished our day with a fire at our campsite and discussed our travel for the next day.

What a day!!  A lot of miles laid down during pretty rough conditions.  Very pretty scenery, just hammering wind all day…  Could never relax, butt puckered, white knuckled all day long.

Little did we know yesterday when we pulled off for the night that we were only 10 minutes from the American Pickers original store.  We had to stop and look around which was fun to see.

Across the street was the Mississippi river and all the kids put a hand in it just to say they had touched it.

We then hit the road and made our way through Iowa and into Minnesota.  Large fields and rolling hills, very interesting to see.  While on a gas stop we happened to run into the Jolly Green Giant and had to stop for a picture.  We also bought a can of green beans to eat later at supper.

After another gas stop or 2, we made our way to a small campground (FAMIL-E-FUN) about 2 miles west of Mitchell, South Dakota.  We made sloppy-joe and *green beans* for supper.  We followed that up with some games around the campgrounds that included a tight game of PIG between Dad and Lincoln which was ultimately won by Linc.  A small fire with smores, then showers and popcorn.  A Great Day!!  Tomorrow we become some serious tourist.

Kind of a crazy day to say the least.  Started out in a rain storm and drove for 5 hours in a rain storm.  Crazy rain…all the way through Indiana and half of Illinois.  We pretty much just picked the red and drove through it, creeping and crawling along at some points.  8 hours of travel netted approx 500 miles.  We had to give up and find a place to stop on the Illinois/Iowa border due to high winds.  At one point I actually yelled “hold on”  as the Minnie Winne was shoved into the emergency lane.  Decided then to stop ASAP.  We found a little cozy campground on the edge of Geneseo.  Cooked burgers on the grill and baked potatoes in the microwave for supper.  After a little walk and some camp games, we came in the camper to watch AGT.

 

Here we go, it’s finally here…  Our family trip out west!!  Diane and I have been planning this trip for almost a year. As it stands we have 3 weeks worth of reservations and a 4th week of sightseeing if we have any gas left in our tanks.  We will be pulling out of our home on June 23 a little before lunch.  We are driving our Minnie Winnie Motorhome with plans to stay in it 50/50 with hotels.  Total trip mileage is 5500 miles with 85 hrs of window time.  I am sure we will argue, cry, laugh and be amazed every day.  The memories we will be creating as a family will be worth every second.

My goal will be to post something here every day or 2, specifically to keep an active record of our trip, with pictures and descriptions of what we did each day.  If you would like to follow along, please do, you are more than welcome.