Our trip has come to a close and we have returned to Florida!
It’s been a bit of a whirlwind as we’ve gotten settled back in and immediately got started catching up on appointments, doctor’s visits, and the like.
We’ve also been dealing with cleaning up maintenance on the vehicles and the RV itself. I picked up ‘Fenrir’ – the truck that I sent back from South Dakota. The van (Zephyr) and the new truck (Huginn) await their turns at the shop to have various maintenance issues addressed as well.
The front AC on the RV is on the short list to get replaced, which I hope to get done this next weekend. We have the replacement on hand, but the last two weeks have been rather busy with all the things, and not to mention, the rain and fog which is contra-indicated for an AC replacement job which exposes a hole in the roof.
It is my hope to get the physical holiday cards out in the mail this weekend.
I’m also working on the 2024 in review post, which will be a bit different this year, given that so much happened! I plan for that to release on 2 Jan 2025 – so watch for it then! There are still quite a few posts that I need to do about the other adventures on the trip – I haven’t forgotten those! They will be coming as well, but perhaps they will flow out in the new year as time permits.
Happy Holidays, wishing you a Merry Yule and a Happy New Year!
Randal hangs out with me in the morning by the river, enjoying some quiet time outside the RV and all the chaos inside as the rest of the family wakes up and gets breakfast.
It was a nice drive through the mountains of Idaho and Montana and the remote forests. Most of the drive was without cell phone service.
It was a blustery day, the winds had picked up a bit and it was cool. We got to the visitor center and there were a few people there, but you could easily tell that they did not get as much foot traffic as other sites.
An overview of the battlefield and movements.
The kids work on their books while waiting for the park movie to start.
All done with their books, they get their badges.
Duck explores the touch table at the visitor center.
Ducky tries on the bandoleer of Winchester 45-70 ammunition, used at the time by the US Calvary units.
Meanwhile, Evan and Randal work on some coloring.
Back at the RV, Randal checks out one of his favorite books.
Ducky is enthralled by motorcycles. These travelers showed up and the gentleman was showing off his bike to Ducky. He offered to let Ducky rev the throttle, but it was a bit too loud for him.
Randal, however, was not interested in the loud motorcycle.
Randal enjoys his dinner on the rocks, shaken and not stirred.
After dinner, Randal and his one sock head to the river for some playtime with Evan and Ducky.
Daddy rescues the wet baby and delivers him to the shower, much to his dismay.
Later that night, the kids enjoy some s’mores!
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After spending the day before driving, we took a rest day. Here, at the crack of late morning, the little snuggle bugs have taken over the bed. Garrett is not happy with my photo taking!
While the minions slept, I enjoyed my coffee with the view from the back of our site along the Salmon River. Really, a rough start to the day.
A view the other way, behind the lodge rooms.
After finally getting up to face the day, the kids made fast friends with the one of the owner’s family who was also spending a weekend at the site. They set up their lemonade stand and our kids quickly helped out. I’m not sure how successful it was at $3/glass, though, but they sure had a lot of fun!
Our site at the campground.
Randal played hard. He was playing up front in the RV, and then it got quiet. I went up to investigate and found him passed out on his own – a rare occurrence!
Later on, the kids went with their friends to do a float down the river. They took some kayaks and a paddle board up stream and then floated down back to our campground!
This was a very peaceful campground. No cell service, and the only internet was via our Starlink. The campground also had their own Starlink set up to offer wifi to the guests.
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About a week ago as of the date of writing this post (early Nov 2024), Gizmo got very sick and was having some accidents. Meagan took her to the vet and the prognosis was grim. Gizzy was diagnosed with advanced heart disease, and the vet thought that Gizmo had had one heart attack, and perhaps several others thus far.
We made the decision to put Gizmo down as there was no real treatment path forward for her to get better, and she was at times struggling to breathe, causing air to build up in her stomach, and thus also making difficult for her to eat.
We drove out to see the Minidoka NHS. Minidoka was one of the sites that Japanese residents and those of Japanese descent were relocated to during World War II.
Family shot in front of the Visitor Center, which was a remodeled warehouse from the camp’s operating days.
Meagan checks out some of the displays while the big kids work on their Junior Ranger Books. Randal and Garrett hang out and cause chaos. Generally, the visitor center was fairly kid friendly without too many things they could get into.
The exclusion zone and other camp sites across the country. Meagan and the kids would happen on Heart Mountain later in our journey.
There were a number of displays with historical photos and documents. This was good for the kids to see and get a sense of what happened.
We took a tour of the facility. There was a talk by one of the Rangers, which I recorded. I’ll look to process it a bit later when I have time to do so. I spent most of that time chasing Ducky around, so hopefully the audio comes out ok.
This was one of the mess halls showing where the Japanese-Americans would eat their meals.
Barracks building.
The Japanese Americans did a good job farming, and were also utilized in the local agriculture efforts. They were underpaid and generally taken advantage of. There was evidence in the displays of coordination to provide labor from the Federal Agencies overseeing the relocation to various states.
They were very productive in their farming efforts. The display on the root cellar that the Japanese Americans constructed showed just how much produced they grew.
The ruins of the root cellar. It was an impressive structure.
This was a very good site to visit, and relevant and sobering. It provided us an opportunity to introduce and discuss civil rights with the kids, as well as the role of the Constitution and the later Supreme Court decision that, many years after the fact, declared the incarceration unconstitutional.
It was also timely to explain to the kids, who were a bit shocked that the Government would round up large numbers of people. It was good to point out to them that it had happened before, and to not discount it happening again in the future.
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After Craters of the Moon, we drove the other direction to City of Rocks National Preserve. The visitor center is co-located and run by the Idaho State Parks, where Castle Rocks state park is also near by.
It was a small visitor center, with a few displays. Outside, there was a small path/trail with a couple of wagons out front. This area was part of the westward migration in the 1800’s., with the California Trail passing through the City of Rocks area.
Ducky had a great time doing his book and exploring the trail!
We drove by Register Rock, where travelers left their names when they passed through what is now the park.
A view of the rock formations as we enter the Reserve.
The City of Rocks.
Further in, we came to a trail to Window Arch. Window Arch was past several campgrounds. Meagan and the kids went out, then we tagged out while Randal slept.
Selfie at the Arch!
More amazing rock formations!
Kids on top of Bread Loaves rock!
We stopped at a picnic area at the end of the road in the park, near Bread Loaves rock. Randal was all about getting out of the car and running around.
He promptly armed himself with a stick and began on his mission to cause chaos!
Scenic vista at the park.
View of the Bread Loves from the other side. There is a group campground there. The National Reserve is very popular for rock climbing and camping for the locals.
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After a few days hanging out with the grandparents, we headed north to check out Craters of the Moon NM.
The kids knocked out their Junior Ranger books in the visitor center and the small museum. I took Ducky and Randal out so they would cause less chaos, so we didn’t get pics of Jarek and Evan getting their badges.
After the visitor center, we embarked on the scenic drive. We stopped off at the Devil’s Garden area for a picnic lunch and walked the short paved trail.
A view of some of the lava formations.
Happy kids on a hike!
We drove on and came to a cinder cone. There was a trail up to the top. Randal was asleep, so Meagan and the kids went up to the top first while I stayed with Randal. Zoom shot from the cell phone came out well!
Ducky works his way up. You can see the van and the parking lot down below.
On top of the world!
Views from the cinder cone.
Arya and Ducky walk along the top of the cone. As they were heading down, Arya asked Ducky to hold her hand. Ducky says “No, I don’t want to hold your hand!” Arya says OK, and walks down the hill a bit. Ducky sees this, then shouts after her “I want to hold your hand! I want to hold your hand!”
At the end of the scenic drive, we came to another lava field. The kids and Meagan took a short walk out to explore it along the trail.
Back at the RV, Ducky poses with his new duck he got from Granny!
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Two kiddos, snuggled up and not wanting to leave the nest.
Granny and Grandaddy came to visit us. They brought us some home grown blueberries. Randal thought they were great! And it was also great to share and feed Mommy!
Ducky communes with the chalk before continuing work on his masterpiece.
Jarek gives Grandaddy a run for his money on the chessboard. Arya is having a harder time with Granny.
After chess, it was time to go to the playground. The playground, as you know, is a lot of hard work. Randal gets a drink between chaos-causing events.
They had this really neat sundial out front where you could line it up and it would match the current date. However, it was based on solar time, not daylight savings time.
Ducky was fond of the library and explores some books.
There were a number of Native American displays as well as artifacts from other cultures around the world.
We also watched a couple shows at the planetarium they had there.
After our time at the Herrett Center, we went back to the RV to make dinner. Ducky supervises Alan while he makes shells for tacos.
Then we went over to the hotel to hang out for a bit and use the pool.
A cold Evan sits in the hot tub to warm up after playing in the big pool.
Big brothers and sister had a lot of fun taking Baby Randal around the pool in his float. Ducky loved his baby shark float as well.
Time for some more chess after the pool, and then time to say farewell!
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After hanging out with the grandparents, we ventured forth to the Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument. This site is a bit unusual, in that the actual site is not co-located with the visitor center. We drove out to the site and were a little baffled when we first arrived that there was no visitor center. The drive took us out by the Snake River through some pretty country.
A sign at the parking lot in the actual monument. There was a hike that we didn’t do, we elected to drive into town to the visitor center before they closed so the kids could get their Junior Ranger programs done.
We arrived at the visitor center and found that it was co-located with and run the the Thousand Springs Idaho State Park and the State Park personnel. They were very excited to see us there!
Alan is posing with a replica sloth skull. The Ranger had me hold it up to represent the approximate height of the prehistoric ground sloths for the kids.
A mammoth skull, among others, were on display. It was fun playing keep away with Randal!
Evan and Arya work on their books. We also watched the park video. They had a table set up where a lady was preparing replica specimens for display.
Garrett and Randal enjoy some time outside in the grassy field surrounding the building. The flowers were much more fun than the fossils – Mom and Dad would let them play with the dandelions!
The staff kindly took our family picture by the mammoth skull.
We also tried to take a picture by the prehistoric horse. Ducky was in his shy mood and tried to run away (again)!
After we were done at the Fossil Beds, we returned to the RV Park. Big Sis takes Randal for a ride on the swings – one of his favorite things to do!
Granny helps Garrett out with a ‘clink clink clink’ super swing.
After a turn on the swing, Randal gets his dig on and explore the depths of the sand box.
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Unfortunately, we woke up to find that Jarek’s bike had been stolen. A neighboring guest at the RV park relayed to me the the story. Apparently one of the local homeless men hanging around the downtown KOA came in the campground and, while in the process of being chased out of the campground by the staff, grabbed Jarek’s bike and fled.
I filed a police report with the SLC PD, but thus far I haven’t heard anything back on it.
It was still very warm, so the kids spent the day playing in a sprinkler I set up on the grassy part of our site.
Chaos beast can be rather cute at times!
A baby…a bucket…some water…and mud. What could happen? You can see our Starlink in the background. I had to get rather creative as our site was almost entire under a heavy tree canopy and my usual positioning wouldn’t work.
With the determination of an Olympic track and field athlete, Ducky jumps through the sprinkler!
I also took the opportunity to change the cabin air filter in the van. The dusty miles in the Southwest had taken their toll.
August 4, 2024 – TD 126
Travel day
Departing SLC, we headed north to Twin Falls, ID. On the way out, Meagan stopped with the kids to get some long overdue haircuts.
Ducky gets his hair cut. He had fussed at the dentist last time we took him, but he was very cooperative and smiled the whole time getting his hair cut. He watched the big kids go and wanted to do the big kid thing.
Handsome Ducky!
On the way north, Meagan and the kids stopped for a bathroom break. Unfortunately, the bathrooms and store were closed, but there was a little petting zoo at the gas station. The kids had a good time petting the animals.
Arya got her goat.
At the RV site, Alan is setting up the front of the RV. Firefly is all done with this trip and ready to go home.
Later that night, Randal explores the bottom of the lunch box looking for snacks for 2nd, 3rd, or 4th dinner. The little monster is always hungry!
On the drive north, the truck popped some codes. I located a shop just down the road from the campground (in walking distance actually!) to work on it.
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This is the video from our visit to Golden Spike National Historic Park. After getting their Junior Ranger badges, we went out to look at the trains. The trains are replicas of the originals, as the originals were scrapped.
Engine 119 is coal fired, and Jupiter is wood fired, due to where the trains operated and the accessibility of the fuel needed.
Some of the technology and tooling had to be remade. Several parts were upgraded, such as the metals and method of construction – welding vs rivets. The brake system were also upgraded.
After completion of the line, it was quite the western boom town with lots of colorful characters.
World War 2 and its demand for steel caused the line to be salvaged. That little tidbit tends to get left out of the history lesson.
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