Days 24 & 25
July 20 & 21, 2014

Traveled 12 hours, stopped in Richfield, OH. Then, another 8 hours the next day.

We are home.  Sorry no pictures, but here are some interesting statistics about our cross-country trip.

Total days : 25
(Left on June 27 got back on July 21)

Total money spent: A LOT!

Total $ on gas:  @ $921

Total mileage:  @ 6,432

Number of different hotels: 12

Total states visited: 12

Total arguments: ???

Total family members before trip: 4

Total family members after trip: 4

Total beers consumed: A LOT!

Weight gained:  2 pounds, ugh!


   

Days 21, 22, & 23
July 17, 18, & 19, 2014

Day 21
July 17 -- Bismarck, North Dakota to Tower, Minnesota

The boys out in Lake Vermillion in Tower, Minnesota at our friend's cabin. They had such a blast!

Day 22
July 18

We finally got to see bears, but not in the wild. 

We saw black bears at the North American Bear Center in Ely, MN.

This is Honey. When she came to the Bear Center, she weighed 800 pounds. Now, she is much thinner at only 500 lbs. Even though she is brown, she is still a black bear.

The boys had a blast fishing for crayfish.

They caught over 20 of them with nets.

 Dave boiled them.

The boys ate off all of the tails. Yum!

Sunset at the cabin.

Day 23

July 19 -- Spent the morning on the lake and left for Minneapolis.

We all went canoeing and kayaking on the lake.

It was a cloudy and windy day. A little tough for canoeing.

Sabine and Ian hand-fed a chipmunk.

Sabine, thank you for a wonderful fun-filled visit!

The Pellicanes on the Mississippi River with Minneapolis in the background.

Too funny!!!

We continue East tomorrow!

Days 18, 19, & 20
July 14, 15 & 16

July 13 -- An addition -- We had a fire and made S'mores.

Day 18

July 14 - A little shout out to Dave's Dad -- our Poppy-- Happy Birthday!!

Today we were treated to a float down the Yellowstone River with the Brown family from Bozeman- Darren, Pam, Annabelle, and Larkin. Thank you so much to Darren & Pam for a great day!!

The Yellowstone River was running high and fast from late snow melt so it was great to just cruise along with the current. Some mini rapids made the kids happy, but not good for fishing.

Dave, Ian, Annabelle, and Darren were in the first boat.

Pam was nice enough to take a picture of me on the river.

After a four hour float, we went to Chico Hot Springs to get warm and relax with friends.

Larkin, Annabelle, Alex & Ian

If you remember, I won the World Cup bet, so here they are doing their 20 push-ups.

Day 19

July 15 -- Back to Yellowstone National Park for the day-- That place is huge!!!!

All the other tourists were taking pictures of the sign. Picture peer pressure!

Trout Lake

Wildflower-filled hike around Trout Lake.

I love when the picture comes out like you want it to. 

More bison-- this time they grunted at us. I felt like the auto insurance commercial.

Old Faithful

I made the boys go here. I said, "We can't come all the way to Yellowstone and not see Old Faithful." They agreed, after much debate.

Another geyser

After a thunderstorm with hail, they are still smiling. Can you tell we are not from around here?

Sunset with stormy weather in Emigrant.

Day 20

July 16 - Emigrant, Montana to Bismarck, South Dakota -- 7 1/2 hour drive

Got up very early to start driving EAST!

We are now in Bismarck-- the state capitol.

View right outside Bismarck.

Soccer, burgers and beer. What could be better?

Reza's Pitch Restaurant in Bismarck 

Minnesota, here we come.... tomorrow.

Days 16 & 17
July 12 & 13, 2014

Our cabin at Wild Rose in Emigrant, Montana.

Ian can't get enough of fishing at our own trout-stocked pond in front of the cabin.

MOM!!!!

A brown trout caught by the owner's son.

Day 16

July 12 -- Spent all day in Yellowstone National Park

Howard Eaton Trail -- The Hoodoos - rock formations on Terrace Mountain. 

 The trail book warned that bears like to walk this path. We were still surprised to see real bear footprints right where we were hiking. Yes, my stress level went up a few notches.

At the Ranger station later that day, we found out that the prints were of a black bear not a grizzly.

Marmot siting or sitting:)

On the trail

After a hike in the hot sun, it's time to go to swimming in the Boiling River to cool off. Oh, no!  It was closed due to high water.

Next stop, the Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces. 

This fox was walking along the road in Yellowstone, went poop and then ran off into the woods.

Yellowstone Grand Canyon with the Lower and Upper Falls.

The Yellowstone River -- the same river that flows right passed our cabin.

The Lower Falls with an iceberg still frozen.

Alex took a selfie. 

The 328 steps you had to walk down and then UP to get a beautiful view of the falls.

We were really on the lookout for bears today. We are getting bored of bison. Dave thought he saw a bear and yelled, but it was only a bison. Later on in the day, I saw a grizzly very far away. It was only a dot, but the other tourists insisted it was a grizzly.

Sunset from our front porch.  Ahhhh, this is the good life.

(If you look to the left you can see Ian fishing once again. This time in his pajamas.)

Day 17

July 13 -- Fishing, hiking, World Cup game, soccer practice, more fishing
Dave took the boys on a hike in the a.m., while I worked on my last graduate school paper, UGH!

Watching the World Cup game at The Sport in Livingston, Montana. I won the bet so each loved one owes me a chocolate bar and 20 push-ups. 

They were inspired by the game, so they decided to play a little football out back.

Ian waits for the cross.

 Alex heads it into the goal!

Oh yeah, we won!!!