June 30, 2012 - Kennecott Mine & Rocky Mountain Speedway

We have been wanting to go to the Kennecott Mine & the Rocky Mountain races for a long time. We finally were able to go. Sallie, our good friend and neighbor, joined us for the day.  

The Kennecott Mine is amazing. It is hard to believe how big that mine really is and how much mountain they move every day. It was fun to watch the big trucks work. Afterwards we ate lunch at Ruby River and then went to the speedway. We got there about 6:00 and apparently they had been racing all day, but the main races started at 8:00. It was really hot for the first couple of hours, but then cooled off. We loved the races and hope we get to go back soon. There were cars that got up to over 200 mph in just seconds. I think Parker and Eric could seat there all day and watch cars. They are definitely boys.

June 28, 2012 - Logan Photography Group

I decided to go out of my comfort zone and attend a local photography group. Today they were focusing on landscape shots. It is a very relaxed group and the main focus is just to have fun and learn from each other. We jumped in a couple different cars and headed out toward Clarkston and made a couple different stops along the way to take some landscape photos. I actually had a lot of fun. It was fun to see what other local photographer's see and do. I hope to attend some more group gatherings in the near future. Here are a couple of photos from the evening.

June 21, 2012 - Day 10, Last Day & Arriving Home

We woke up to an empty KOA. It just confirmed that there really is nothing to do in Rawlins, WY and that it is just a passing through town. We were on the road quite early. Our only stop was at the Little America. We got fuel and the famous ice cream cones. The adults sat in one booth and all 6 kids sat in another booth. A couple asked if they could take a picture of the kids. They were just amazing that 6 kids could sit so good eating their ice cream. Or they couldn't believe that we were traveling with 6 kids. Not sure what they were thinking, but they now have a cute picture of our dirty kids in their photo collection.

We arrived home early evening. It was nice to be home, but sad that it was over. 

We had a great time and the kids were such good kids. They didn't complain much and got along really well. For as much as we did and as much driving as we did, they were angels. We can't wait to plan our next trip next year. We are hoping to visit some of the State National Parks and visit the Four Corners. We decided that traveling with our trailers is a much more affordable way to travel. For a 10 day vacation it ended up costing us about $1500. That included all excursions, campgrounds, and spending money. Not too shabby if you ask me. 

June 20, 2012 - Day 9, On Our Way Home

This was a sad day. Our trip was coming to an end before our eyes. We had planned and waited so long for this long vacation and it was going to be over before we knew it. We had a long day of driving ahead of us. It was still raining when we got up, so we just packed up and got ready to hit the road. It only rained for a short time and then it cleared up. We had about 6 hours of driving to do. The only real stop we made was at Independence Rock. The kids took off their shoes and headed up the big rock. They all made it to the top. They had a great time running around the top of the rock and looking over the valley.

 Then we hit the road again. We were 9 miles from Rawlins, WY when we heard a loud noise. Eric says, "I think I blew a tire." We pulled over and it took a few minutes to figure out what had happened. It wasn't a tire trailer, which is to be expected when pulling a trailer. It was one of our back truck tires. It was one that Eric had replaced a couple of months ago, but had decided to buy a used tire instead of spending a lot of money on a new tire. When we arrived in Rawlins, we were highly disappointed in the KOA. First the pool was dug up and we had promised the kids they would get to swim. The campground was pretty much just gravel. No grass, no fire pits, and not a whole lot to do. We found a place to get a new tire and then picked up Domino's for dinner. The kids played on the playground. Misty and I drove into town to get fuel in the truck and then took a scenic route around Rawlins. We were talking back and forth on the walkie talkies when some little kids started talking. They must have been on the same radio station. We were joking that we were in Hill Billy Hell. They didn't know what to say when we said that. It was funny. We had a really nice neighbor in the campground that visited with us for a while. It is amazing how nice people are in these campgrounds. You get to find out where everyone is going and where they came from. Other than that, our day was pretty uneventful.

June 19, 2012 - Day 8, South Dakota

Today was a day that we took our time getting up. Once we ate breakfast and got ready we headed to Keystone to the Big Thunder Gold Mine. We did a tour of the mine and then got to pan for gold. The kids actually had a lot of fun, but again playing in the water. They weren't really into finding the gold, but the water and rocks were sure fun to play in. Afterwards, we sat down and ate our packed lunch. 

Then we headed to Bear Country. There were a lot of bears both black and grizzlies. The baby bear's were the funnest to watch. We could have stood there and watched them forever. We went through the gift shop and the kids picked up some little treasures and then we headed back to camp for a relaxing evening. The kids swam for awhile then we cooked dinner and had a fire. It started to rain so we hit the sack early. We were very blessed to have wonderful weather the whole time. Wasn't hot at all.