Imagine slowing the pace of life down to a max speed of 15 miles an hour, with a drastically simplified list of daily responsibilities.  I wrote this a lifetime ago, but it sure set the tone for the future of the Hoffpack!  This was definitely one of our most definining experiences of our early years of marriage (but for the record, 14 years older and wiser, parenthood has far surpassed this experience as our biggest challenge yet).

At the completion of our coast-to-coast bike journey from Florence, Oregon to Newport News, Virginia, I reflect on the past 7 weeks (or 4003 miles).  While we never thought our trip would be easy, we never expected it to be what it was – our biggest challenge ever. 

Looking back, as we started out in Oregon, out of shape and hopeful for a pleasant and safe journey, we saw the most beautiful country of the ride.  On our first day out in Eugene, we met Case from the Netherlands on his last day, who impressed us with his knowledge and gave us a true feel for the journey ahead.  We learned that llamas and other farm animals are almost as intrigued by us as we are with them, as they ran to greet us on our bikes.  As we rode over the coast range, we experienced mountain ascents, pine-filled breezes, and of course, passing vehicles (and even logging trucks and recreational vehicles).  Our entire ride through Oregon felt like a true vacation – camping at Belknap Hot Springs to pedaling through Hell’s Canyon.  On just our third day, we did a 4000 foot climb through the Cascades – one of our biggest of the trip, only to find out that it wasn’t all that bad (well – except for the sleet/snow on top of one of the passes).

As we passed through Idaho, struggles with the wind became difficult and I was very tempted to quit.  I feel all the enthusiasm for the two of us prior to leaving on the trip, and I put all my energy into planning.  However, if it weren’t for Chuck, I might have ended our journey on several occasions.  We are a genuine team.  We would not triumph without each other.  Idaho offered perfect biking temperatures and unbelievably beautiful canyons along clear mountain rivers.  We even stayed at a campground where Copper was given a huge bone, and we were able to watch movies in their private living room!

Montana surprised us as we had only seen the most picturesque sites in the past.  While most was beautiful, we did experience some very barren country – the most difficult being the irrigated mosquito breeding grounds of Wisdom and Big Hole, where we had to maintain a speed of 15 MPH to rid the bugs.  As we passed through the Bitterroots, daily ascents of 2000-4000 feet became the norm, and the descents became more and more fun.  Heading north into Missoula (instead of our eastern goal), we were forced to remind ourselves that our trip should be about the journey, not the destination. 

As we headed into Wyoming, we learned that a tough or easy day is not determined by miles, but by conditions.  A 135 mile day down the Wind River with a tailwind (after a 4000 foot ascent) is much easier than 80 miles into the wind.  Visiting Yellowstone and the Tetons was wonderful, with blue skies and grizzly, wolf, bison, black bear, moose, and elk sightings.  It was almost too good as it reminded us that vacationing could be that great all the time, but alas, our journey was to continue on through many other parts of our country, a little too quickly.  We literally blew across the rest of Wyoming with atypical winds that we knew we had to take advantage of. 

As we entered Colorado, we struggled with the lack of shoulders and idea of shortly losing our awesome support – my Mom and Copper (our dog).  There would be no more pre-checks on upcoming camping areas, great food, and luxury items such as real pillows, chocolate, pop, etc in the rented Ford Ranger.  Ahead of schedule, we biked a short day, and then piled into the pickup to drive off route up to Estes Park to see Brent, Lori, and Chris, as well as our old stomping grounds.  Soon after, we made it over the highest point on the TransAmerica bike route, 12,000 foot Hoosier Pass past Breckenridge.  On our last day with support, we headed into Buena Vista for our third indoor stay (the other two being due to wind and Copper’s fear of fireworks on the 4th of July) to switch out tires and load up our bikes for the remainder of our lone journey.  Looking ahead at the next 6 of 12 maps turned out to be difficult, as we had actually completed the part of the trip we had looked forward to most.

The next 700 miles through eastern Colorado and Kansas was straight and flat, with almost nothing to see or do.  The sight of gas stations had never been so good.  Towns were rarely over 1000 people, with not even a McDonald’s for 500 miles.  The taste of tea-like hot water in our water bottles did not do much to cool us off or quench the thirst of 100 mile days, and refills with ice were the highlight of the day (even if the cool water only lasted 5 minutes).  Heading into Eastern Kansas through wildfires and 110 degree heat, Midwest humidity kicked in to top it off.  Strategies changed often – mileage only in the morning, breaks in the afternoon and then pedal into the night, only to find out evenings are not much cooler after the kind of heat that fired up the black pavement that we needed to ride on.  Century rides (100 miles) became the norm, and metabolism kicked in, causing us to eat through bags of donuts and 2 liters of pop.  Forward motion to get out of the flats became an obsession, even after being forced to slow down with my crash/sprained elbow from drafting a little too close.  Our fear of tornado alley reached its climax at this point, with storms chasing us, and me unable to ride after crashing (well, almost).  The friendliness of Kansas residents saved us, especially at the “Trail’s End” Hotel in Tribune, Kansas, ironically also the halfway point to Virginia.  The friendly doctors and hotel owner/chef/tennis players occupied our time for our only 2 days off of the entire trip. 

As we thought we had been through the most difficult part, we headed off into Missouri (now termed Misery), only to find out the entire state consists of the Ozark Mountains.  Hotel stays became the unexpected norm, as it was nearly impossible to sleep otherwise, especially with the only camping being available at city parks or rest areas, and showers became crucial.  The few times we did camp, we slept among trailer-park barking dogs, crying cows on the way to unspeakable places, and race tracks active only by night.  Mileage was cut back to accommodate grades in roads we thought must be illegal.  Chuck’s broken spoke slowed us once again, with the unexpected blessing of the Palmers taking us in, driving us in to Springfield to fix his bike, and replenishing our spirits.  We finished off Missouri awaiting an expected cool front and visit from my Mom in Illinois.

As we considered Illinois being our end point if we were cutting it close to the return of school, we were ahead of schedule, and knew that we would be continuing on.  By this point, Chuck had no consideration for stopping, keeping that coast-to-coast goal in sight.  Our trip through Illinois lasted 2 days, and we said an emotional goodbye to my Mom at a ferry where we crossed the Ohio River into Kentucky.  Going home was extremely tempting, but again, Chuck was determined to continue.

The further east we went into Kentucky, the bigger the hills, the smaller the houses, and the more dogs we encountered.  None of them were actually able to grab hold, but some of them gave us a run for our money.  In some cases, we were lucky to be pedaling downhill, as we don’t think we could have outdone them any other way.  Just as we were feeling the high of coming close to completing the trail, we met a woman from Holland who had spent 4 weeks crossing Virginia and told us of the dreaded Berea to Booneville stretch of dogs.  One owner actually told his dog, “Sic her!”  We met with Jan  (my college roommate) and her Kentucky-born husband, who drafted a successful dog-free corridor through that section.  We still experienced the fridge-friendly lawns of eastern Kentucky, but without the loose canines.  Living in the third richest county was quite a comparison to riding through the third poorest in the nation.  Still discouraged and worried about our plan to finish off Virginia in a week after our recent encounter, we continued on, worried about the bad roads and steep grades of Appalachia.  One of our maps warned of coal trucks, with coal flying off and hitting you on the head, or at best, causing you to fly over your handlebars as you ran into it.  It was plentiful on the roads, but we did manage to avoid any of those encounters as well. 

Moving through Virginia awakened us to finishing soon.  We were able to stay on pace, and some days, managed to cut off 15-20 miles with shortcuts from the mapped course.  Starting out in the west, on the only roads through the mountains, with all other types of vehicles, forced us to get used to riding with the traffic.  So, extra mileage in the east did not seem necessary since the roads were not even as busy as out west.  Plus, thoughts of home tainted our vision of seeing all the backcountry roads, some of which turned out to be in poor shape, with cracked pavement everywhere.  Virginia towns became rich with history and plentiful with good restaurants and hotels.  After 6 weeks of drought, we got 4 days of rain as we completed our journey.  Riding through the rain was difficult, as vision was impaired.  However, what we did see of Virginia was also some of the most beautiful along the trail, with lush vegetation and beautiful mountains.  On our last day crossing the mountains, we were forced to walk 3 miles up a 3000 foot climb on to the Blue Ridge Parkway, again one of the best sights of the trip.  The tough “no-walking” philosophy of the Rockies was sometimes not possible in the Appalachians.  As we exited the mountains, we spent our last day pedaling through Richmond, led by a fellow biker on a 135 mile trek to Williamsburg through pouring rain and eastern plantations.  The next day, we pedaled an additional 15 miles to pick up our car in Newport News on the Atlantic, totaling 4003 miles for our coast-to-coast bike trip.

As we drove home, we felt some joy and sadness at the completion of our trip.  Life was to change drastically from what it entailed over the last 7 weeks.  No more daily-rinsed wet clothes to put on every day, as we own a washer and dryer, and actually full wardrobes to be worn at home.  No more daily 5am wake-up calls to get on the road before the sun came up, with no “weekend breaks.”  No more worry about what Mother Nature would bring us each day, as we would now have cover from whatever that may be.  However, there would be no more peak shape, as we were absolutely certain we would not be riding 80-something miles a day for 7 weeks at any other point in our lives, and probably not even for 1 day (well, at least for a while). On the flip side, we would be allowed to take a day off whenever we pleased.

As we have been back over a week now, we have enjoyed the shelter of our home.  We have spent a lot of time outside still, working on landscape, and inside, watching movies.  Surprisingly, even to ourselves, we jumped back on the bikes the next day, although my arm hurts more now than during the endorphin-filled trip.  I have been forced into healing mode, especially with doctor’s orders to do hourly exercises to alleviate the 30 degree range of motion in that elbow.  Exercise is still a high priority however, and hopefully, running will do the trick until the arm is better.  This trip has shown us how lucky we are, and the little things are always so much better upon our return.  We always remember that when going through all the challenges life has to offer.

We were fortunate enough to repeat parts of this trip 12 years later in 2015, with our 5 additions.  Ironically, had we been self-sufficient on bikes like we were in 2003, we wouldn’t have been stuck waiting for our wheels for 18 days in California.  Someday, we will revisit the biking scene, but until then…

There are many days when I take for granted being married to this man for more than 18 years.  Today is not one of them.  January was a whirlwind of getting back into the busy swing of things back home in IL, yet not a day went by that I wasn’t filled with genuine appreciation for his unwavering commitment to me, love for our big family, hero status on the job, and creative talents that he generously taps into upon my sometimes unreasonable requests.

After returning from CO, our three boys decided unanimously that a room switch was in order.  Ethan would move into Gavin’s room, and Gavin couldn’t wait to take over the top bunk with Braden hanging in the bottom.  Ethan was stoked after spending time snowboarding in the mountains, and couldn’t wait to convert Gavin’s little cowboy room into a snowboard haven. 

On our first weekend back, I informed my busy husband that our first day would be filled with scout pinewood derby car building while I took my oldest son downtown to snatch up some “super-clearanced” Burton snowboard decor.  He willingly decorated all of our kids pinewood derby cars while Ethan and I snatched up the last of the clearance Burton snowboard bedroom line, and created some fun wall decorations and shelves.

Day two was spent sending our kids, along with the other family we will be going with, on an afternoon scavenger hunt of gathering clues to retrieve our final clue, a home-made movie. The movie was filmed and edited by my talented husband a few weeks before to reveal our big plans of taking the kids to Disney World over spring break.  Check it out at https://youtu.be/Cgu_ZRKnpqA.  We sure are looking forward to that!

To top it off, celebrating Martin Luther King allowed us to soak up a third weekend day.  After collecting several cans of discounted $5 paint cans, my next vision was in place.  With little hesitation, Chuck agreed to take on my next endeavor, a wrap-around mountain room mural for Ethan’s new snowboard-themed  bedroom.  In one day, this amazing guy created a peaceful mountain getaway for a very happy Ethan.  I helped as much as I could, but mostly, I just sat there, jaw down in awe of the talent he can revive, watching my vision come to life, even better than I imagined.

 

Even after a difficult circumstance this month brought on by me, this man continues to offer nothing but support and comfort to me.  January is also our summer planning month, and I loved knowing that as I got stuck in places unknown, he is right there to find a new destination and get excited about a new adventure together.  He is my “home and adventure all at once.”  I don’t think it’s possible to know if a spouse will be capable of all of this when you choose to marry your first love right out of college, but I am so thankful for the man he is, and every blessing we have been given since spending life together.  I love sharing so many memories together and I know it’s cliché, but I truly couldn’t ask for more.  I’m shocked that at this point, we have spent more time together than we spent growing up before heading away from home for college.  As Valentine’s Day approaches, I reflect on the fact that we’ve known each other almost longer than we’ve actually known ourselves, and life just gets better together every day.  I couldn’t have dreamed of this “home and adventure” of a lifetime. 

 

 

One of the hardest, yet most amazing things in life is watching your children grow up.  After 3 boys, these 2 girls have thrown us for quite a loop.  Not only are they the babies, but our sweet girls are racing through all life’s firsts, exciting and devastating at the same time.  Our winter trip to Colorado was an eye-opening confirmation that our babies are turning into brave and adventurous big girls.

 

Two nights at Snow Mountain was not enough to get our mountain fix, so we excitedly moved over to Indian Peaks Lodge to take advantage of their 3 night Snowtacular lodging special.  Indian Peaks is the newest and nicest of the three lodges, and we loved the advantages of having a beautiful great room to hang out in, and the fridge and microwave to cook all our grocery store “quick” meals.

We loved taking advantage of the fire and great room for some great game playing.

As luck would have it, our room was just above the amazing Nordic center cross county ski trails.  We made sure to use them daily!

The forecast showed our first night there would be the mildest, yet the snow kept falling.  We took advantage of tubing and fort building while we could still get outside.

 

 

The girls asked to go ice skating for the first time, and we hesitantly gave it a try.  They shocked us as they skated circles around me.  Laney and Ellie asked to go back daily, and it was a great spot for us since it was blocked from all the blowing snow.  Ellie would not come off the ice.

 

 

As the weather continued to get worse, we spent lots of time in the KIVA roller skating (the girls surprised us once again with their skills and raced away with their walkie talkies), playing dodgeball, basketball, ping pong, and pool. Ethan raced to finish a book from the SMR library before we had to leave.

 

 

   

All five kids tested their skills on the indoor climbing wall, and even the girls made it to the top of the wall.  Unfortunately, they didn’t trust the automatic belay system, and Chuck had to rescue them more than once.

 

As the snow continued to come down harder, and the weather got colder, we took advantage of a group movie night and the library, full of games and puzzles.

The drifts just kept getting bigger and bigger.  We were thankful we did not have to travel off site for anything.  The pass had been closed down for a couple of the days.

 

We took turns having free breakfast, and the girls were free every morning because they were under 6.  What a treat!  Gavin probably got “the most for his money.”

The morning we left, we woke up to some really frigid temps.

We were just hoping Berthoud Pass would be open, and as luck would have it, it was!

We said our goodbye while driving along Steve and the sled dogs. So long second home!

Laney had a miserable ride down from 9000 feet with her poor ear, but was smiling by the time we got to our favorite Kearney hotel and a Fazoli’s lunch stop.

We knew the boys had already gotten the adventurous streak in their blood like us, but this trip showed us the girls were ready too.  We love spending time with all these kiddos and watching them become brave boys and gutsy girls.  At the end of it all, we were shocked that roller skating, ice skating, skiing, rock climbing, swimming without floaties all happened for these two in the blink of an eye.  It seems like yesterday they were crawling, and now, they’re hanging with the rest of the Hoffpack!  Go girls!

I love places that make you realize how tiny you and your problems are.  Perhaps that is why when we won our two night cabin stay, we couldn’t wait to escape winter in Illinois for 10 nights in the Rockies.  Just before Christmas, we received a card from SMR, and waited excitedly for the day we could return. “We are coming!”

While staying with our dear friends, we were once again humbled by the mountains.  With the inflated holiday ski rates, our plan was to night ski when prices are $15, aside from the littler kids, who are free all the time.  Once our altitude sickness ended and everyone was acclimated, we raced to Granby Ranch suited up and ready to go, only to find the night ski lift (which is also the main lift) closed down indefinitely. You see, that was the day the mom and two daughters (age 9 and 12) fell from a malfunctioning lift.  Although one daughter was Flight for Life’d off that mountain, both survived.  The Mom did not.  We spent the entire trip looking for answers.  Regardless of what questions were answered, this poor family’s lives were forever changed by this horrible tragedy.

We wondered whether we should make a go at it after Laney’s allergic reaction subsided, and ultimately decided that we would when they discounted lift tickets for the remaining lifts still open.  Statistics said driving in a car or riding an elevator was far more dangerous than riding a ski lift. Logic beat out fear, although this experience left us forever changed.

As we left the M family’a home, headed for our free cabin stay, we spent New Year’s Day on those scar-ridden slopes.

It was an amazingly typical, sunny-skied day in Colorado.

Ethan taught Faith how to snowboard.

Cautiously, we opted to keep Laney inside the lodge

and take turns going out with Ellie and the other kids.  We were pleasantly surprised how much easier skiing became for the kids this year, especially the girls.  While we love to ski and snowboard, the last couple years of skiing with 5 young children (specifically the girls) has definitely challenged our patience.  This year was the payout.  Ellie absolutely loved it.

 

Gav loved teaching his sister how to slow down.

Laney begged to try it, and her miraculously cured swollen feet were just fine.

Ellie took a break inside while I hit the slopes with Laney.

Excited about staying in our free cabin in the mountains, we left Granby Ranch on a “Colorado Rocky Mountain High.”

I took all 8 kids to the grocery store, which was quite the experience! The looks and comments we got were priceless.  When I think my hands are full, there is always fuller.

Rick and Chuck went to pick up Julie while we stocked up on groceries and unloaded our ridiculously full carload! I love using all 9 seats in the Suburban when we can!

We spent the evening playing games and eating a delicious spaghetti dinner.  If you haven’t played the card game Gubs, now may be the time to start.  The kids are truly addicted!

We were sad that the M family would be headed back down to Denver the next evening, but planned our last day with them excitedly. After such a fun day on the slopes, we all wanted a repeater.  Of course, things never go quite as planned, and I was challenged once again as we soaked up SMR Chaplain Steve’s weekly dogsled presentation before hitting the slopes. In that moment, Laney’s ear infection came back full fledged.

As we raced off to Granby Ranch, I called doctors and the insurance company, searching for a plan.  Finally, the paging service answered and thankfully, the doctor called in another prescription.  I sat inside with her, waiting to see how bad it would get, while Julie calmed my fears.  We are so thankful for this family and the friendship we have with them.  While we don’t get to spend much time with them, the days that we do are cherished.

We spent much of the day soaking up the discounted lift tickets shuttling and riding the condo lift to take advantage of a long, easy run.

After another full day, we returned to the cabin with all 8 kids once again while Rick and Julie closed up the house.  More Gubs ensued.  We frantically tried to finish our cabin puzzle, a luxury of time only afforded while at Snow Mountain.

We were so sad to see them go, but glad we snapped a quick pic before our good friends left for Denver.

The next morning, we soaked up the perfect spaces in the cabin for our family.  A bedroom for the boys, a bedroom for the girls, and one for us.

Ethan practiced his scout skills and cooked us all a delicious breakfast.

 

We would certainly miss our Bright Star cabin retreat!

Not sure what happened, but somehow we ended up packing our car to the brim with all our stuff plus groceries, so the boys reverted to summer style, running from the cabins over to our new home at Indian Peaks Lodge.  By now, we were altitude adjusted and loving our mountain retreat.

With the longest break to date following Christmas Day, winning a two night cabin stay at Snow Mountain Ranch, and friends willing to host us for almost a week while they were at their mountain home, we knew this break would find us in a place we love, Granby, Colorado.  This was one decision that was unanimously agreed upon.  All seven of us couldn’t wait to get to the place we love so much.  We were still able to do all the family Christmas parties, but then immediately bolted the morning of the 26th.

With no camper in tow this time, we hotwired a hotel in Kearney, Nebraska at the Country Inn and Suites for a whopping $58.

The 9 hour drive was easy, and like all Nebraska hotels we have stayed at, it did not disappoint.. if anybody knows hospitality, it’s Nebraska.  We arrived to a free family friendly happy hour, with snacks and soft drinks, followed by a fun dip in the pool.

Breakfast was great, complete with omelet bar.

Day 2 of driving was uneventful except for the flat tire we had driving through Denver.

We raced to the nearest Discount Tire as we deflated, hoping not to have to empty the full car to switch to the spare… and we made it!

We almost always have some trouble getting through Denver, and the snow chain link through the tire was no exception.  The I-70 view never disappoints once we make it into the mountains!

Luckily, we were on our way within an hour or so, and made it to the M family’s house before dinner.

We were so excited to see our dear friends, and thankfully, they were happy to have us.  Check out the cool view we woke up to every morning.

Unfortunately, we put our poor friends through lots of drama in the first few days of our stay.  Ellie and Braden suffered from a little altitude sickness during our first couple days, which often portrays itself with flu-like symptoms.

Right after they acclimated and recovered, Laney developed a series of bite-like lesions on one knee.

As it is winter, and there aren’t many bugs around, we were certain we had infested ourselves and consequently, our friends’ home with bed bugs from our Nebraska hotel stay!  We started washing EVERYTHING that night, and I didn’t sleep a wink that night, plotting how to attack what we thought was our biggest travel issue ever!  However, we awoke the next morning to only Laney with a Continue reading →

Anyone planning to hit the national parks this coming year? We just stopped at the Forest Service office to pick up Braden’s national park pass, which will allow entrance to our parks until 8/31/17. Braden is currently in 4th grade.

If you have a 4th grader, you can have free admission to the US national parks as long as your 4th grader is with you.   Go here for more info:

https://www.nationalparks.org/our-work/campaigns-initiatives/every-kid-park?gclid=COO5iN6CldECFQusaQodBxQBIw

In addition, you can get a free Canadian national parks pass for 2017.  How awesome is that?! Here’s the link:

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/index.aspx

Canada has some of the most amazing views in the world!  Here’s a photo from our trip to Banff last summer.

Let  us know if you are heading out there!

 

 

With November wrapping up, I cannot help but reflect on how thankful we are… In regards to our trip, for a safe journey, a healthy family and friends to spend it with, luxurious and spacey accommodations in comparison to our minivan and popup, and to be blessed with the most incredible gift of time to follow this dream of ours.   I am reminded daily how precious this time is, and how important it is to prioritize the things that are most important to us.  There are countless incidents every day, many of them way too close to home that lead us to count our blessings always.  With that, there are never enough minutes in a day, and it is with great purpose that we squeeze everything we can out of each moment. If only each day was a little longer 😉

We finished our trip by spending a few days in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with my family.  It was a privilege to have all of them take the time off to escape for a few days to a place we loved visiting as we grew up.  We started off by enjoying one of our favorite parks, Chutes and Ladders in Houghton.

Up next, we met up with my mom at my alma mater, Michigan Tech. After almost two months of not seeing Grandma, the kids were elated (and of course, she spoiled them a bit too)!

  

Our oldest guy is already claiming he wants to follow in my footsteps.

It’s amazing to have a grandma that loves these kids so much, and for the kids to know how lucky they are.  We also joined some of our favorite annual travel buddies, my cousin John and his kids.  After a couple days at the awesome Hancock Campground,

we took one of my all-time favorite drives

and headed off to the northern tip of the UP, Copper Harbor.  This is what we think of when we picture a perfect campsite…

In contrast to the rest of our trip, where we raced from site to site to “get it all in,” Copper Harbor was a refreshing reprieve. We sat around the campsite,

just listening to my bro play his guitar,

ate some of the best home cooked meals made by mom,

picked berries,

played in the creek catching crayfish,

kayaked in my sisters kayaks,

and swam in and across the Fannyhoe Lake (something I always dreamed of doing as a kid)

and spent precious time with cousins we rarely get to see!

We were excited about my sister’s growing family!

The farthest we went from our campsite was walking to local Fort Wilkins,

hiking by the big Lake Superior,

and driving over Brockway Mountain

all the way to Jacobs Falls

which was not nearly as spectacular as we remembered! (although only a few of us made it to the top)…

 

The Jampot (run by local monks) is also a huge hit here, but there was no way we were spending $50 on their famous fruitcake!

One of the most fascinating things to me is the ability to connect with people all over the country (this summer we met up with over 70 friends and family), some who live much closer, yet we cannot seem to find time to spend time together throughout the year.  On this particular weekend, we were able to watch our good buddy Jeff Zematis race in the Copperman Triathlon, placing third overall! Not bad for a guy in his 40s!

We loved connecting our worlds and having the family cheer him on throughout the race!

Sometimes, it is so therapeutic to slow time down and just savor each moment.  A great trip, over again… leaving us with amazing memories that we will be forever grateful for.

As we go into December, “the greatest gift you can give someone is your time.  Because when you give your time, you are giving a portion of your life that you will never get back.”

Time.  It goes sooo fast, and tomorrow is not guaranteed. Spend it intentionally and soak up every minute!

As I reluctantly sit with the most awful neck and back pain again, thoughts of what I want to do or should be doing speed through my head.  Sometimes, we are forced to slow things down, as much as we don’t want to.  It’s frustrating that something as simple as cutting an onion for tonight’s dinner instigates such agonizing pain.  I recall that just days before, I was racing along the road of life, squeezing every moment out of what life has to offer, taking for granted how finely tuned a body must be to function properly.  Something as simple as a slip of a vertabra can change everything.  Perhaps it happens to remind us how lucky we are, to slow things down, and teach us appreciation for the world around us.

Everything can change on a dime.

This year, despite the lack of beauty after leaving the most magestic of mountains, I vowed to appreciate our drive across the beautiful country we live in.  One moment, we were at the most gorgeous spot we could imagine, only to be thrown into a race across the most barren parts of our continent.  Our return from the West involved a 24 hour, 1500 mile drive from Banff to Houghton, MI… something that could take us a couple days, or possibly weeks if our luck ran dry like last year (although we still only allotted 4 days, feeling optimistic with our new car and camper).

Leaving the mountains is hard on us every year… we love seeing everything and everyone in the most beautiful settings possible.  This year, the luxury of a new camper left us not missing much from home.  The only things we looked forward to were getting back to the familiarity of US currency and speed limits,

cell reception, and visiting family members in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan before heading home to our other world.  So…. the day we left Banff, we took it all in as we raced across Canada as fast as we could, in fear that the border may close before we made it to our crossing.  We laughed at some of the coolest and funniest things we saw,

and cried, as we struggled with the many hours in the car (well, some of us did).

We finally made it to our first destination, a Walmart in Minot, North Dakota around 10pm, after the hour time change.  Chuck was in culture shock, and insisted on heading over to the Buffalo Wild Wings across the parking lot.  To our surprise, the place was packed for the evening fight.  We surely looked like the craziest of parents for bringing our 5 kiddos in for the big fight.

We slept hard in the Walmart lot that night (free “camping” – one of the perks of having a hard sided camper), but rose early as we continued our race across North Dakota and Minnesota.  We learned that some travelling friends we had met a few years prior would be passing through Duluth that same day, and managed to meet them at Park Point Beach in Duluth for a little swim.  Once again, after hearing more about their past year, we were reminded how much can change in a short time, but it was so nice to catch up, and we were so thankful for this time together, with all of us happy and well!

When we left, we realized we were running on ‘E’ and decided to stop for the night, but not until after we cashed in our free coupons at the local Culver’s, a sure sign we were back in the Midwest.  The kids couldn’t have been happier!

We slept in another Walmart parking lot in Superior before making the trek across the UP to my alma mater, MTU, in Houghton, Michigan the next day.  We were lucky enough to catch a fellow alum and his family on their way out.  We love re-connecting with friends like that!

Amazingly, in just three days, we flew across the entire country back to what felt like our homeland, while still 8 hours from home.  Everything had changed in those few days, and as we were to return home very shortly, everything would change once again… a reminder to all to appreciate every moment we have because ‘everything changes on a dime.’

The pain of leaving Glacier was only softened by the fact that we were returning to one of the most majestic places we have ever  seen, Banff and Jasper National Parks (travel dates 7/22-7/30)  15 years prior on our drive to Alaska.  As we left Many Glacier, we were excited about connecting with the world again from our phones, but quickly learned that AT&T does not service Canada, rendering our phones useless still, aside from quick stops at visitor or welcome centers to recalibrate directions to Banff… because of course we forgot our Canadian maps at home!

We found that it was so easy to get through customs into Canada…it surprised us that nobody even looked twice at our camper.

All seven passports were finally put to good use!

We switched our settings over to Celcius and kilometers per hour to make sure we weren’t speeding, which took some getting used to!  It surprised us that just a couple hours from the American border, so much had changed.  We had called our credit card companies ahead of time, and planned to use our Discover card since there were no foreign transaction fees, only to discover that Discover is not accepted in Canada.  For the most part, we used our debit card and cash to avoid higher fees on our other credit card.

The weather in Banff and Jasper did not look great for the next week, with colder weather and thunderstorms in the forecast, but we discovered these temperatures must have been measured at the top of the Icefield Parkway or somewhere much colder than where we camped.  Hooray!

Unlike the US national parks, the roads going through the Canadian parks are highways.  They even have fences along the sides with animal overpasses every few miles.

In addition, the campsites are very different too.  Most have electric and include the price of unlimited firewood if you buy a fire permit.  Our site at Lake Louise was in a trailer-only campground back-to-back with another campsite, and Jill had to stay in the “tent” campground next door, surrounded by electric fence and a large gate due to the area being a popular wildlife corridor.

Within minutes of arriving, we met up with this big guy along the road.  Bears abound in Banff!

Lake Louise is something that everyone needs to see sometime in their life.  The colors in these photos do not do it justice, but the sparkling blue water is simply incredible.

In addition, the Canadian park lodges spare no expense.  If you don’t like roughing it in the US bare boned park lodges, Canada is your place!  Nothing compares to the views out these windows!

Just outside of Lake Louise is my favorite spot in all of the parks – Moraine Lake and the infamous Valley of the Ten Peaks.  Again, my photos do not do this lake or view justice – you will have to see for yourself just how stunning it is!

The boys were excited to receive these cool rocks from a Moraine Lake gift shop from my cousin Jill, who met us for our entire Canadian visit.  She has been able to adjust her nursing work schedule for the last three years to join us for some of our most remote stops, and needless to say, she’s hooked!

We took a short hike from Moraine Lake to Consolation Lakes on the coldest day of our trip.  It was a great way to keep warm, and the kids loved climbing on all the huge boulders.

After our 6 hour drive the day before, we stopped at the visitor center and discovered we didn’t really have enough time to squeeze in another big attraction, so we opted for rest time for Chuck and the younger kids, while Jill, Ethan, and I went straight up a mountain to Mirror Lake and Lake Agnes.  Despite the fact that the trail was widely used by horses, and more like a road, there was such a beautiful view up there!  I love how Canada incorporates these cool tea houses in the middle of nowhere!

 

We began our next day with the highly recommended Stanley Glacier Trail in Kootenay National Park.  Not only are Banff and Jasper connected, but also Kootenay and Yoho National Parks, with some amazing sights.  Since we had converted to kilometers, this 9K, 1/2 day hike was beautiful, and the boys discovered a couple really cool fossils along the way.  Even though we were spending 3 nights in the Lake Louise area, we were still having a hard time fitting in some of the biggest highlights of the park, so this was one of the few longer hikes we took in Canada.  It seems that many of the attractions are roadside in Canada, so time wise, it worked better to see more attractions and take shorter hikes.

Not far from Stanley Glacier is the short 2K hike along the amazing Marble Canyon.  The further you walk, the deeper and more amazing this canyon gets!

 

From there, we checked out the culturally significant ochre beds and paint pots.  If we weren’t in a hurry to head back for lunch and hit another national park, our kids would have loved to get messy in those paint pots!

After heading back to Lake Louise for a quick lunch at the camper, our crew took off for the also incredible Yoho National Park.  Takakkaw Falls tumbles almost 400 meters (1200 feet), and the roaring water and spray from below can’t help but give you the chills.

We made a quick stop in the cool town of Yoho, as well as the visitor center (one of the few places we could check in with the world on the spotty wifi) before heading off to our next stop.

Perhaps our favorite stop on our two day race through Kootenay and Yoho is the jaw-dropping Emerald Lake.  These glacial waters were more amazing than any others we had seen, and we only wished for more time here.  The European type villas along the shore would be the perfect spot for non-campers.  Perhaps someday we will return to enjoy the beauty of this amazing spot.  We would have loved to take a rowboat out on those waters, but as our stop was late in the day, the dock was already closing down when we arrived.  We did have a great walk around the lake though.

I love how well our kids get along…usually.  We could understand why Laney thinks her brother Braden is a prince and wants to marry him 😉

 

The next morning, we took off on a 3.5 hour journey over the Icefields Parkway to Jasper National Park.  It is difficult to stop with the camper now, but we enjoyed seeing many more turquoise glacial lakes.

The visitor center at the top has a gift shop, restaurants, movie, and more.  If you decide to do the skywalk or tour the Columbia Icefield or Athabasca Glacier, this is the place to do it all!

We are getting accustomed to the advantages of travelling with a camper.  Here’s our camper parked atop the Icefields Parkway with an amazing view of the glacier, eating frozen pizza for lunch.  Ethan, Jill, and I went for a walk out by the glacier while the others played a game of Splendor in the camper instead.

After a long drive up to Whistlers Campground in Jasper, we were happy to explore the town of Jasper, and Pyramid Lake.  Cold lakes are a norm for us now, so the kids are totally unfazed by temps I wouldn’t dare.

The bridge through the lake allowed us to explore a nice island just for kids.

Back at the campground, the kids gathered around what we call a “nature playground.”  The girls enjoyed a girl party sleepover in Jill’s tent while the boys stayed up late listening to “Glacier Ghost Stories.”

 

As simple as each campsite might be, the excitement over a new home never ends for these kiddos.  The hammock has provided a nice break from all the action, and the animal home building amazes me each time they recreate a new habitat.

We were greeted by these elk every morning in our home at Whistlers Campground.  The baby provided the best entertainment!

The electric campsite provided a nice break from our dry camping in the US national parks.  Our griddle got a lot more use this year than many other trips!

Like Lake Louise, we had lots of places to see during our 3 night stay in Jasper, so the next day, we headed off for a full day of sightseeing.    Our first stop was the amazing Maligne Canyon.  While it was pretty amazing to see the water flowing and continuing to form the canyon, I look forward to a day we can return to walk inside the canyon when it is iced over.

 

Along the same road, we passed so many bighorn sheep.  The reflection of the mountains in Medicine Lake is something I will never forget.  We were fortunate enough to see a bald eagle and bear along the way.

After missing out on a boat ride in Emerald Lake, we were excited to rent a rowboat on Maligne Lake.

Since boating is such a popular activity on these amazing lakes, we waited near the boathouse while getting a little swim in.

We had so much fun floating through the turquoise waters.  Of course everyone had to take a turn trying to steer our big boat.

 

As we continued on to the Miette Hot Springs, we encountered lots of road blocks trying to get there!

 

Dinner was cut short as our new friends decided to close in fast!  We had the girls hide under the picnic table as they could not be deterred.

Nothing is better than an evening in the mountain hot springs, some ice cream afterwards, and to top it off, rainbows on the ride back.

Our last day in Jasper was action packed and fun filled.  At Mt Edith Cavell, we enjoyed learning more about Angel Glacier and the avalanches hitting the area over the years.

A nearby lake was so blue we couldn’t resist pulling off the road to get a little closer.

Lunch at Athabasca Falls was topped off with stuffed Twizzlers to the delight of the boys.

We were surprised at the thundering white milky waters after seeing pictures of the turquoise river in many pictures.  As we read the signs, we learned that the heavy glacial melt in the summer makes the river white, while the blue waters return in the winter as the glacial melting decreases.  It was so cool to walk right through old canyons formed by the powerful river.

The Jasper librarians number one recommendation was a hike through Valley of Five Lakes, so the boys, Jill, and I took a chance on some rainy weather and hiked out into the valley.  We were so glad we did!  All five lakes were so colorful!  Again, if we had more time, we surely would have joined the Canadian natives for a swim!

Our evening was spent swimming in Lakes Edith and Annette.  We made pie irons for dinner on the provided fire pits, with our own pavilion to shelter us from the threatening weather.

After being as far north as we would be on this vacation, it was time to start backtracking south and east.  The next day, we drove the 4 hours back over the Icefields Parkway into Banff for our night at the highly popular Two Jack Lakeside campground, also popular with the bighorn sheep.

Of course, we had to take a picture of the famous red chairs, which are strategically positioned amongst the best views in the Canadian parks.

One of our sites was right on the most colorful water we had seen yet.

We wished we could have stayed here even longer, but our last night was to be spent in Johnston Canyon.  Chuck and I had been here many, many years ago, and had forgotten just how cool it was.  The manmade boardwalk through the canyon is the most amazing way to experience the true beauty of this place.

Our last evening was spent driving in to Banff for a fun night with Jill before we went our separate ways.  We explored Cave and Basin National Historic Site, where the endangered Banff springs snails live.

 

We had a bit of culture shock as we explored Banff, the biggest town we had been in for a month.  It was so nice to experience a restaurant meal after so many camp meals!

 

The evening was topped off by a trip to the Banff Hot Springs.

We packed up early the next morning for a long drive back into the US.

Our early wake up was rewarded with a great view of this guy, just outside the campsite. Yikes!

 On the way out, we passed back through Calgary and the Olympic Center… a reminder that we will be back again when we have more time to explore!  Oh Canada!

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One of the things we cherish most about our summers is the quality time we get to spend with people.  When we arrived at Glacier National Park (travel dates 7/13-7/18), we had coordinated with 49 friends in the last 27 days, 51 if you include my cousin and his daughter, who were able to meet us the day we arrived (on their last day in the park after a week in the backcountry).

Our pace was unmatched to any other year, trying to squeeze everything in for all our vacation companions.  That old guitar I brought along for that “downtime” in the campsite saw the light of day only once (this may have been the single most abusive space hog on the trip, but don’t tell C that I admitted it ) ;).

Day 28 was the first day of our trip where we determined our own, and only our own plan.  Of course, we could have relaxed in the campsite at Fish Creek,

and sat in new hammock more,

but we were in Glacier!  This is by far our favorite national park, which was only confirmed after another great visit.  We couldn’t wait to get out to some of our favorite trails, so our first morning on the west side, we raced up to Trail of the Cedars to head up to Avalanche Lake.  There are shuttles up to Avalanche, but they often get busy and crowded, so we opted to drive even though the parking situation is also difficult, especially at this popular destination.

It is so worth it though!  The west side of Glacier is pretty civilized, with a decent sized grocery store in Columbia Falls, and cell reception at Fish Creek and Apgar, but by the time you drive the 15 miles or so to Avalanche, you are off the grid. The entire west side is covered with beautiful big trees and a moist climate, but the cedars here are just amazing.  There is a short loop, Trail of the Cedars,

which we like to extend 2 miles to get to Avalanche Lake.

The trail goes through the Cedars,

along a beautiful creek,

 

  

an avalanche area,

all the way to one of Glacier’s most picturesque lakes.

We adopted the Chinese paparazzi again – they just LOVE taking pictures of us, especially the girls.

They tried to hide it for awhile, but this time, I asked them to take our family pic as long as they were taking pictures of us anyway 😉  Of course they promised to email us their best ones, but we never heard back from “Jay.”

The kids basically ran back along the trail, dodging through trees

  

and  atop the big boulders.

We wished we had them wear their fitbits, as their mileage surely doubled our 4 mile hike.  We had a picnic lunch near the campground,

and then Chuck and Ethan ran down yet another cedar trail to meet us at Lake McDonald Lodge.

 

You never know what each trip brings, even when you revisit the same destinations.  The kids loved playing in the river-meets-lake water near the boat dock.  Us adults tried to join them, but it was FREEZING, so we ended up people watching while the kids soaked up the cold, rocky water.

We spent the evening relaxing over dinner and packing up backpacks to hit the Highline Trail the next day with the boys.

Chuck  is so good with this, always pushing me out the door to get the big hikes in with the boys even though I insist I want to enjoy the entire family.  Once I get the taste of that high country Glacier, it’s all over!

The boys and I parked at Glacier the next morning for the 7am express shuttle to Logan Pass. We figured this would allow Chuck to walk from Fish Creek to get the car if he needed to.  Along the way, we met a family whose son worked on the same trail crew as the young man mauled by a grizzly while mountain biking just a couple weeks prior.  Such a sad story!  We saw a bear cub and mountain goat from the shuttle, and all three boys were elated they chose to wake up early and hit the trail with me.  Their day could have been complete then!

Upon arriving at Logan Pass, we immediately headed down to the Highline, and proceeded to meet up with another mountain goat on the trail.

Of course, we all had to take pictures with it.

Each turn and bend of the trail rewards hikers with the most incredible views.  I had to pull out my camera repeatedly to capture it all, and of course, the photos do it no justice.

Ethan and I had hiked the Highline with my cousin a couple years ago, but we were in the clouds for most of our hike.  In a way, it was our first time all over again.  Poor E had a bloody nose for the first mile or so, but was such a trooper!

The Grinnell Glacier Overlook had been socked in last time, but there were nothing but blue skies this time!  Some say this is the best view in the park, and I can see why.

The boys loved counting all the marmots up there, but they were so aggressive by the time we got to the top, they would hop right in your pack if it was left near your side.  We captured a great pic of two of them fighting it out!

And another of them hanging out a little close for comfort.

The way down was steeper than we had remembered, and there was a lot of butt sliding to get back to the Highline.

One of the most magical parts of the Highline is the amazing Granite Park Chalet, somewhere we hope to stay in the future.

This time, we stopped for a quick lunch.

All the supplies for the chalet are brought up by mule via the loop trail, so we had lots of poop dodging on the way down.

We were rewarded with huckleberries before we exited the trail for the shuttle down.

This bench was a welcome sight after 15 miles on the trail!

The bus down was enjoyable,

but we couldn’t wait to get back to Chuck and the girls, who had spent the day swimming and relaxing back at Fish Creek.

Our three nights on the west side ended quicker than we anticipated, but we managed to squeeze in a trip up to the legendary Bowman Lake.  The dirt road was surprisingly narrow (and we missed seeing a large grizzly male by minutes), but what a beautiful place!

The next morning was rainy, but our new camper served us well.  We made a stop at the local grocery store (as the east side is much more expensive), visited the junior ranger cabin,

cooked some frozen pizzas in the camper, right in the visitor center parking lot,

and crossed over to our new campsite at St Mary’s on the east side.

We spent awhile enjoying our view and checking out the St Mary’s visitor center before loading up to hike a few waterfalls.  On the way out, we ran into a grizzly playing out in the fields.

We headed out a little over 2 miles to Virginia Falls, 

Followed by St Mary’s Falls on the way back.

The boys continue to amaze me with their vivid imagination and friendship on our hikes. Who knows what they were talking about here, but they always have something to do together!

The girls spend their time asking us to take pictures with every step.

It was sad to see this area burned so harshly by a recent fire, but beautiful nonetheless.

Laney spotted this deer right next to us when nobody else saw it. It is frightening to think how much wildlife we miss along the way(especially the big guys like grizzlies)!

We even managed to see a third waterfall on our way out before sunset!

Braden had a good fall on the way out as we ran back to pick up the car, but he toughed it out and was ready for another 15 mile hike the next day over Piegan Pass to Many Glacier, one of the most beautiful hikes we have been on!

There were not many people on this trail, as you would have to have a ride over at Many Glacier to bring you back to Going to the Sun Road.  Thankfully, Chuck and he girls came through for us again!

 

Once again, I found myself pulling out my camera at every twist and turn…

There was a very cool rock shelter on top of the pass, which we stopped for a short snack break.

The boys are all about snacks when we hike, and these bugles were as big a hit as anything after seeing all the mountain goats!

There were a series of suspension bridges like the one below, but one crossing had no bridge.  We made it across pretty easily after Ethan crossed to be sure the trail was on the other side, but we did have a small incident while Gavin put his shoes back on.  Two backpacking “mountain men” met us on the other side of the creek, and they were as surprised as we were that there was no bridge. They proceeded to strip down, Braden in pure disgust and very vocal, and me with my back turned trying to get Gavin to quickly put his shoes back on his wet feet, a task I have decided must have taken an hour that day!

The last couple miles is much more civilized going into Many Glacier, but we were rewarded with lakeside stops at Grinnell Lake and Lake Josephine before finishing.

The shuttle to Lake Josephine allows for all kinds of visitors, which was a bit of a shock after seeing hardly anyone going over the pass.

When we arrived at Many Glacier, we were surprised that most of the lodge was closed down for construction, but still managed to meet up with Chuck and the girls quickly. It’s amazing how well we can now predict the time it will take us to hike 15 miles!  We watched these horses head back to the stable,

and then looked behind us to see a family of bighorn sheep headed towards the high country!

We followed them in the car back up towards the lodge,

and watched them head to high ground.  Ethan had raced out of the car without his shoe, hopping on one foot all the way down the trail!

That evening, we decided to head up to Logan Pass to look for more wildlife.  It may have been the most rewarding two hours of the trip here, with several bears, a coyote, dozens of bighorn sheep, and many mountain goats!

The goats forced us to turn around when we headed down the Highline and ran into them on the cables!

It started to rain as we headed back to the car, and with the rain came one of the most gorgeous rainbows atop Logan Pass!

What a way to end our time at St. Mary’s!  We had reservations at Fish Creek, and then at St Mary’s, but had decided to leave early (they even refunded our money for the night missed) to attempt getting a non-reserveable site at Many Glacier to meet up with friends. Stay tuned for that story and our time there…

 

Our crew was in the best of spirits as we continued adventuring with the Beintums  (Yellowstone travel dates 7/9-7/13, 2016), a family that makes our journeys that much richer for all every day we build memories together.  On our way out of the Tetons, our Wi-Fi sneak peak of the weather alerted us that we would have one warm, sunny day before the bottom fell out and snow might be coming.  When it’s a beautiful summer day, that is always hard to believe, but after spending many summers in the mountains, we knew better and planned accordingly.

One of the growing pains of moving up to a bigger camper means that we need the rare 40 foot sites in the park campgrounds.  We had no problem getting a big site at Grant back in January when we made all our reservations, but were only able to get one of the few at Canyon after stalking the site daily for cancellations.  Luckily, it fell within our date range, but it meant we had to pass right by Grant and head to Canyon first, then go south again to hit Grant before heading north again to Glacier.  Thankfully, I was the only one irritated about that, and our friends, the Beintums, happily accommodated and changed their reservations accordingly.  Yellowstone reservations open the summer before, and you only have to pay the first night’s stay as a deposit, allowing for flexibility and free cancellations 30 days prior, but it means planning further in advance for those with bigger campers like us.

As we entered Yellowstone, we were reminded of the automatic busy-ness of the park, with long lines right at the entrance.

Our first stop is my favorite exhibit in the park, Dragon’s Mouth Spring.  It was amazing to stop and be able to take potty breaks in the camper instead of waiting in the long lines for the stinky outhouses before heading up to the springs!  Dragon’s Mouth doesn’t take a whole lot of imagination to hear the powerful roar of the dragon inside the cave of rocks.  I could stand there for hours letting my imagination take over!

After the Marciseks told us about a learning kit at Old Faithful that allows kids to measure the temperature of the geysers, Chuck decided to put our “tire checker” to good use.  He became the most popular guy on the boardwalks as everyone walked by discussing what a great idea it was and asking him what all the temps were.  As if he needed further encouragement, he thought he was just the coolest.

This whole geyser basin is filled with bubbling mud pots and the fresh scent of sulfur, bringing back memories of weeks spent in one of our favorite parks.  It was exciting to witness the excitement of the Beintum girls first visit to our nation’s first national park.

We were able to see our first bison of the year, basking in the sun amongst the bubbling geysers.

After setting up in the Canyon Campground and eating a quick lunch, we raced off to savor the last day in the 70s on one of our favorite loop trails in the park, through the prairie,

checking out bear clawed trees,

along Clear Lake,

a geyser basin all to ourselves,

and finally, a walk along the magnificent rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

Along the way back, we came across a phone belonging to a Japanese man, and were amazed that his phone worked better than ours in our own country!

We had a blast writing a note for him and contacting his buddies on social media to explain where we would be returning his phone (especially the guys).

 

Before returning the phone to the visitor center, we ventured down the infamous stairs to get a better view of the falls.

 

 

Back at the campground, we grilled up some chicken and got the fire ready for some delicious pie irons.

Thankfully, we set up under the awning, as the weather came early and we endured several hail storms as we cooked dinner and made s’mores.

Thankfully, we rescued “sparkle butterfly pumpkin” wolf before he got too wet.

The next day, we planned to drive up to our favorite spot in the park, Lamar Valley after spending the morning in the warm visitor center.

While it is usually rich in wildlife, we were beginning to think the animals abandoned the park.  After a stop at our all-time favorite campground, Slough Creek,

and examining bison poop as instructed by our favorite travel book, “Who Pooped in the Park”

we looked for wolves along the road in.

We did run into this coyote,

and a bison in our usual bear lookout picnic area.

We failed on our bear lookout,

but the kids enjoyed checking out the ground squirrels as we made dinner.

On the way back, we were disappointed that we ran into a few lone bison, but none of the herds that usually block the road for miles.

I think that perhaps the animals were as disturbed as we were about the cold weather!  We spent the evening playing games with the kids watching a movie in the camper, and I can honestly say this was the night we were most thankful for its warm and size as we squeezed all 12 of us in.

We awoke to blowing snow the next morning and I have to admit our spirits were low.

Our usually irritatingly optimistic husbands abandoned their “LIG” attitudes, but not for long.

We checked out of Canyon, into Grant, bundled up in coats, hats, and gloves, hiked out to our favorite suspension bridge along the lake to warm up,

 

and headed off to explore the West Thumb, just outside of the Grant area.  Brrrr!!!

After warming up in the Grant Visitor Center, we built a big fire back at camp for the evening.  It’s a good thing we had been collecting wood as campers abandoned their campsites in the cold!

We all looked forward to eating brunch in the Old Faithful Inn that next morning.  Civilization never felt so good!

This is by far, my favorite log construction in the parks, and we always enjoy exploring the different levels.

The Old Faithful basin is huge, and after watching Old Faithful erupt as predicted,

 

we explored the many geysers, thankful for blue skies and warmer weather.  Chuck was back at it again measuring temperatures and enjoying the crowds.

The crew collapsed on some benches to wait out one of the geysers, but the long time span urged us to move on eventually.

A lone deer wandered the river and geyser basin with us.

Braden always seems to find the same bench to take a rest.

Rich gave me my a good laugh by bellowing “She’s gonna blow!” for all to hear 😉

Perhaps one of the most beautiful geysers is Morning Glory.

From there, the guys returned to the car and drove over to the next basin with Gavin, and Ellie, who insisted on going back to see Castle Geyser, while the rest of us moved through the Upper Geyser Basin to Black Sand and Biscuit Basins.

While Grand Prismatic was not as stunning as usual with the cold temps creating lots of steam,

we were happy to explore further with temperatures 25 degrees warmer than the day before!

All the steam made it feel like we had reached the end of the earth!

Even though temps in the 60s did not feel warm, we ventured off to our favorite swimming spot in the park, where the warm spring waters meet the cold in the Firehole River.

While the water is warm in comparison to the river normally, the air temps were cold and more rain had everyone racing back to their cars to change!  We were really sad to say goodbye to the Beintums,

as they like to travel through the night and headed off to Seattle while we headed back to camp to do laundry before heading off to Glacier.  After heading to bed early, we were able to get out early and enjoyed a misty drive out of the park.

While our time in Yellowstone was cold and we sure felt it, we knew we would only be in the park for 4 days, and we are thankful we made the best of it.  Sometimes, the most challenging days make the funniest stories, and bring everyone closer together.  We look back on our time there with fond memories as always!

The last month has been a whirlwind of exploring our national parks, and along with that comes no cell service, no electric, and a whole lot of time with Mother Nature.  While we are always so sad to leave Snow Mountain and all the comfort it offers to us, we were looking forward to one of our favorite places, Grand Teton National Park.  We were thankful this was the only roadblock this year 😉

Our friends, the Beintums, were sticking with us through both the Tetons and Yellowstone, the kids were ecstatic, and we couldn’t wait to soak up the beauty.

Our first stop was Gros Ventre Campground, on the south side of the park.  We love staying there because it is close to Jackson, an awesome town we couldn’t wait to enjoy.  In addition, it rarely fills, so an evening arrival still allows for available campsites, unlike the rest of the park.

Our first evening was spent enjoying the view,

playing with the animal toys in the campsite,

cooking one of our favorite meals (pie irons, with scout Ethan as chef),

and adapting to dry camping.  This would be our first of many nights without electric and water and we were anxious to see if the new rig would all work as it was supposed to.  With our old popup, things rarely went as planned, so we were prepared for the worst. 

We were pleasantly surprised when the fridge and full tank of water worked, and we even have hot water now for showers and dish washing.  Our old method of bathing included a cold lake, and dishes were typically done in the “toilet tank.”  With a freezer, we can even enjoy ice cream on special occasions! 

It didn’t take long to adapt to this plush form of camping!

Two nights in Gros Ventre allowed for one full day in Jackson to sightsee and restock on groceries for the next week and a half in the parks.  After exploring the visitor center,

town,

and taking the traditional antler walkway pictures,

we headed off to find lunch when we came across the coolest rock climbing park we have ever seen,

 

which resulted in hours of play before we returned to town for the evening shootout. 

As luck would have it, the local firehouse was having their annual open house, complete with a free barbeque and ice cream for all!  I think we enjoyed it as much as the kids did.

  

From Gros Ventre, we headed straight to one of my favorite campgrounds of all, Colter Bay.  While Colter Bay does have a reservable trailer park, we always opt for the $25 non-reservable campground as opposed to the $60 trailer park.  The smell of pines fills the sites, and it is within walking distance to one of the most awe-inspiring beaches in our country,

with some of the best skipping and building rocks.

 I always wish we had more time to spend in Colter Bay, and especially this year, with only 2 nights to spare.  Our first day was spent walking around the bay,

checking out the neighborhood bald eagle,

taking a guided hike to Swan Lake,

working on our junior ranger books,

and loving our new hammock! 

The girls loved picking out their souvenir twin wolf pups.

Even though the Hidden Falls trail was closed this year for maintenance,

we decided to shuttle one car over to String Lake and hike Jenny Lake

around to Inspiration Point

and on to String Lake,

our favorite swimming lake in the park. 

All 8 kids did an amazing job hiking over 6 miles with no complaints, and the older kids earned the title the “super six.” 

As the kids love to jump on every rock, they may have hiked double our 6 miles.

This was our longest hike this summer with all the kids, and it gave us all hope for trails to come. 

String Lake was warm and we had our own private swimming area to relax

and play.

I wanted to buy a paddle board for this trip, but Ethan made do without it!

While we had no service in the parks (which is difficult but refreshing at the same time), the restaurant has wifi, so we were able to check in quickly for a weather report… we knew we had one day to enjoy “summer” in Yellowstone before the weather took a turn for the worse.  Stay tuned for our quick adventure in Yellowstone!

We have been busy the last week and a half at Snow Mountain with our second group of visitors. Every time we return to SMR, it seems that we have more to do and less time to do it. Plus, we love just hanging around the campsite with our camping friends who are now regulars 😉

Aside from reworking the geocaching program and spending time with the sled dogs, we have played hard with the VanAlstyne, Beintum, and M families!

After relaxing for one short afternoon,

the Van Alstynes came in the day our first group left and we moved across the campground from near the yurts to a perfect party village site next to the grills and bathroom.

All the kids learned how to do some primitive fishing.

They also made a massive fort!

They were followed shortly by the M family and Beintums.
One time is never enough, so we enjoyed more climbing

 

while the girls wait (they won’t be old enough until next year),

mini golf,

 

running,

wildlife viewing,

more sled dogs,

roller skating (which the girls are finally catching on and loving it!),

 

s’mores, zip lining for B (who was injured last time),

walking sticks and visiting the homestead,

and of course, more tubing with our giant group.

 
We held everybody off from crafts for awhile, and eventually went in for a couple days of painting their latest creations.

 

 

The “Icy Bike” even made an appearance in the craft shop for free freeze pops.

Gav and I participated in one of the most unique activities, a human hungry, hungry hippos game,

and Braden enjoyed trying soccer golf after we lost our own soccer ball down the mountain.

There has been a lot of rain this last week, so we are loving our nice big camper to stay warm and dry…

And for having movie and ice cream socials with all the kiddos.

Rain gave us time to play games

and obsessively finish a 1000 piece puzzle.

And lots of rain means… You guessed it, more rainbows!

We are getting used to using public restrooms and showers once again.

One of our all time favorite activities is spending time with the M family on their boat,

 

and both Gav and E jumped in for a new challenge.

 

Crazy tubing always follows.

The M family was so welcoming to the other two families we had with us, and they spent one of the days on the boat giving everybody turns in shifts, while others enjoyed the beach.

  

We always seem to miss the Fourth of July festivities in Grandby, but we are so thankful we stuck around this year.  The Granby Rodeo

with the whole crew was a blast,

followed by some super cool fireworks.

We lived it up on the 4th, and loved the super cool Granby parade,

SMR snow cones,

games,

and festivities,

and a grand celebration for Rick’s birthday in Grand Lake with their neighborhood friends,

followed by more fireworks.

Departing on the 5th was difficult after all the great fun!  It seriously breaks our hearts every time we leave Colorado, and we already miss SMR,

but thankfully we were so fortunate to win this 2 night cabin stay to come back again soon!

We are looking forward to our new adventures in the wilds of our favorite national parks!

 We have been fortunate enough to be assigned a fun task while here at Snow Mountain Ranch.  In the past, we have enjoyed geocaching between activities.  The kids love finding the hidden treasures and trading out trinkets.  Our first year here, we were exploring the old mining cave, and stumbled upon our first cache – we were so excited about it, we had to look for more! 

Over the years, the program fell by the wayside and many of the caches have disappeared.  Trueman allowed us to revive the program by figuring out which caches are still there, and replacing the others.  His lovely wife, Wendy, donated a bunch of water bottles to the cause and we collected some trinkets from our car and friends. 

The last few days have been spent looking for caches, creating new ones, replanting them, and revising the clues. 

Caches can be found at 18 locations, including the Rowley homestead,

Just Ranch,

reunion cabins,

beaver dams, waterfall,

stable,

reservoir,

Sanctuary Point,

mining cabin, cave,

grill,

Meditation Labyrinth,

tunnel,

2 of the 5 Snow Mountain peaks,

Nine Mile trailhead, Nine Mile trail,

and the yurt village. 

Thankfully, whatever guests have been with us were happy to go along for the ride. 

While down at s’mores one day, we looked for the caches at the Just Ranch and Reunion Cabins, and came out ½. 

Many of the clues have become outdated – for example, the one inside the grill was supposed to be with the salad dressing, which is no longer kept out.  After asking where the salad dressing was, we got lucky and found it behind an old computer desk. 

Some of the caches have moved from in a tree to a under a pile of rocks, like the beaver dam. 

Others like the waterfall are gone, so we replaced them.

The cache at the Meditation Labyrinth was either eaten or destroyed by the elements when we found it.

The most difficult ones to find are on Snow Mountain, a hard 6 mile hike straight up and down.  One early morning (we even ran into 3 moose that day!),

the boys and I hiked up only to discover both were missing, but rest assured, they are now replaced and ready for someone to find!

The other hike was up Nine Mile Mountain, and we found ½ there in the mailbox. 

 

The Beintums joined us for the adventurous search on a sunny afternoon.

It was a lot more work than we thought to get things in order, but after 2 weeks at SMR, it’s done!  We have replanted all of the caches, and now that we have retyped all the clues, hope that geocaching will be back in action for many families who vacation at Snow Mountain Ranch!

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The dog sled program at Snow Mountain Ranch has had a tremendous impact on our family, and our group wanted nothing more than to give back to it.  Every Saturday morning, Chaplain Steve does a life-changing presentation, describing the value of perseverance and his experiences with dog sledding, followed by time with the dogs and a fun sled dog craft.  The value of his presentation is so great to our family and others that we find ourselves returning week after week to hear and experience it again and again.

The highlight of our week was taking a few of the Snow Mountain Ranch sled dogs (Aspen, Indigo, and Zoey) on a hike around Monarch Lake with one of our favorite SMR leaders, Chaplain Steve.  As our group continued to grow, Steve happily agreed to allow all four families (the Beintums, VanAlstynes, M family, and us) on the hike, followed by a visit to his beautiful home to see all the dogs.

Monarch Lake is a must see for those who visit the Granby/Grand Lake area, and the 4 mile hike around it is beautiful and rewarding. 

The sled dogs were so excited to go, and did not slow down for anyone!  Luckily, all 12 kids did a great job of walking quickly all the way with no complaints. 

 

Upon finishing the hike, we continued on to Steve’s home to visit the dogs. 

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Our plan was to have the kids help do some chores, but after learning what Steve’s real needs were, we cleared the kids out and left the guys there to build a dog run from their individual houses to their playpen.   Chuck loves digging, working hard, and helping out when he can, so he was ecstatic to lend a hand.  While it rained, we spent the afternoon playing games at the library, while the guys worked on the run.  It was such a fun and rewarding day!  There is nothing like having the time and being capable of helping out such a great man and his dogs.

 

By the time the guys returned to the campsite, we were rewarded with rainbows all around camp, and a fun magic show for all.  We are feeling so blessed!  The Hoffpack and friends will definitely lend a hand when we can in the future.

Every year, more of our friends and family make the trek out to Snow Mountain Ranch, and this year is no exception.  Over the last month, a couple families have come and gone before we arrived, but we were grateful to spend the last week eating up time with the Dworchaks, Kinsellas, Hoffs, and a few other families that Chuck has taught back in Naperville.  Most of this crew was from back in Illinois, but Kimmy and Ben made the journey all the way from Thailand!  With 24 of us (13 kids and 11 adults) on many occasions, we served as a large group everywhere we went.

We arrived to an amazing campsite bordering the yurt village, which was great for us with 2 of the 3 groups staying there. 

 

There was our own little park just below our campsite,

 

and a covered pavilion with gas grills to meet in the middle for dinners. 

I think the Kinsella and Hoff kids could have just stayed in that area in the middle all week building forts and playing board games,

 

but there was fun to be had, so we kept them on the go.  Our first evening was spent saying hello to Trueman (the camp director) and staff, learning about birds of prey at the Hawkquest presentation,

followed by s’mores and mini golf. 

 

Late nights ensued as none of us wanted each day to end.

Day 2 included a great dogsled presentation with the YMCA chaplain (and we filled most of the seats!),

and the kids were able to make their own dog sleds. 

After more mini golf and a quick lunch, we enjoyed participating in a new SMR activity, ‘Lollygagging with llamas.”

 

Everyone took turns walking the llamas through the woods and trying out the string maze. 

One of our favorite places to take newcomers is the chairlift at Granby Ranch.  To our dismay, they now charge $5 for each person over 5 years of age, but after discussing what to do and the cashier negotiating a lower ‘family price’, we decided to walk all the big kids up,

and send a few adults up the lift with the littles.  We were so glad we made it work, as the views are amazing and the lift was quite the thrill for many. 

 

Snow Mountain Ranch has free s’mores almost every day, so we raced back for another sweet treat.  After dinner, we decided to take the 13 kids on a little adventure to the cave.  It was fun for awhile, but unfortunately, one of the kids was hit with a giant boulder, warranting a trip to the ER that evening.  She was so tough, and even smiled for a picture with that big rock before heading off to the hospital.

 

Day 3 was Father’s Day, and SMR celebrated with a free fishing derby.  Even though this is one of Chuck’s least favorite activities, he willingly spent the morning making it fun for the kids.  We didn’t catch anything, but it was a great way to start the day, and a testament to the kind of dad these kids have, which  is something I am thankful for daily. 

On the other hand, miniature golf is one of his favorites, so Chuck challenged the kids to a quick game before lunch. 

Steaks on the grill was a great way to celebrate before heading to the trike park,

 

followed by ice cream treats from the grandma we were all missing back home. 

Down by the craft shop, we enjoyed looking for some bugs.

Lucky for us, Chuck’s mom, sisters, and family all arrived at the ranch shortly after. 

As luck would have it, they were yurt neighbors to the Kinsellas!  It has been so nice having them enjoy one of our favorite places with us.  The kids were in a big hurry to go down to the Kiva for some roller skating (free for guests), so we raced our new arrivals off to see what this was all about. 

 

 

What a crew we had! 

We even ran into the Garloughs from Naperville.

It wasn’t hard to coax this crew out to the tennis courts for a few games of dodgeball.  Back at camp, we all made dinner over the fire, one of our favorites – pizza pie irons. 

Mary was in her groove by now, and finished off the night with cherry cobbler over the fire in her dutch oven.

By Day 4, the boys were used to running everywhere on camp, and boy are they getting fast even at altitude. 

Ethan’s cross country training log is coming along nicely!  Snow Mountain is the only place you can spend your morning painting a pony,

 

and the kids enjoyed branding our name on him. 

After a quick lunch, the whole Hoff crew enjoyed racing down the awesome summer tubing hill, free for Snow Mountain guests. 

 

As competitive as Chuck is, his family may be his match, proven during another friendly game of mini golf, also free for guests.  Free s’mores followed, including horseshoes and trying to locate a couple geocaches. 

In our first couple days here, we offered to get the geocaching program back up and running, so we continue to check to see which ones are still hidden, while others have disappeared.  Back at the campsite, we have been lucky to have a park right between the yurts and our site, which makes for fun during dinner.

Day 5 was a big day for everyone, as we spent the morning at the homestead making walking sticks,

getting a tour from Ann, our favorite guide,

and heading off property to Grand Lake.  I wasn’t sure how it was all going to work to have lunch, hike, get ice cream, and spend some time on the beach with our group of 24, but it couldn’t have gone any better.  We stopped at a favorite park in Grand Lake to eat lunch since there is lots of parking and a picnic shelter with more than enough tables for our big group. 

It was a gorgeous day, so heading off for an afternoon hike was little risk with endless blue sky.  One of our favorite trails is the East Inlet Trail to Adams Falls

and beyond to a beautiful meadow. 

To our surprise, we ran into several moose on the trail!  In the past, we would tell people about how many moose we have seen there, but stopped advertising it as such since many do not see them.  Additionally, we were hiking with the crowds in the afternoon, so we thought it was not the most opportune time.  However, after seeing the first bull moose deep in the meadow,

we continued on to discover another bull, right next to the trail!

 

Thankfully, the rangers were there and allowed us to take pictures and continue on to one of our favorite valleys. 

On our way back, we came across a female moose grazing in another location. 

As if all of this wasn’t enough for a day, we ate ice cream at our favorite spot

and spent the next couple hours on the Grand Lake Beach, with the kids happily engaged in their sand building. 

All of the adults were able to sit back, relax, and have some much needed relaxation and adult conversation.

 

We came back to camp just in time for a late storm during dinner, so we piled the entire Hoff crew in our camper for taco night. 

We are thankful for this space daily right now!  The best part about these mountain storms are the amazing rainbows afterwards. 

The skies at sunrise and sunset are also something impossible to capture with pictures, but Chuck’s photographer sister, Kimmy, does a pretty great job as shown below.

Day 6 was another busy day – sadly, we would be saying goodbye to one of the 3 groups with us, the Dworchaks.  We spent the morning climbing with them and the Hoffs,

(Chuck’s makeshift band aid so he could keep climbing)

 

 

 

followed by an afternoon on the summer tubing hill with our giant group! 

We got rained out during the last few minutes, so we raced over to the Kiva for roller skating, pool, ping pong, and volley bounce before saying our final goodbyes.

 

 

The Hoffs spent some time making crafts while we said goodbye to our friends.

We are so thankful for the opportunity to have so much fun with our friends, but saying farewell to each of them is so difficult!  Since the Kinsella family decided to stay an extra day after loving it so much here, they moved over to one of the lodges from the yurts, as they are very popular and fully booked most of the time.  After more Kiva fun on another rainy evening, we said another farewell to the Kinsellas before the left early the next morning. 

 

I am sooooo happy both of these families were able to make such a big trip happen with us this year, and we hope to see them again!

Day 7 was our last day with the Hoff crew, so we packed it in once again.  Chuck started it off with a run with old college friend, Seth.

First on the agenda was a hike to the waterfall on property. 

We had a few injured or tired, so only half of us made the trek, but it was a blast.  From there, we raced off to the Granby Ranch chairlift for the great views. 

Once again, the boys and us hiked up the mountain and sent the girls up with the family.  We are so glad we did this, as we got some great family pictures on top. 

 

After another quick lunch, we made it to archery just in time.

 

  

Afterwards, Jenny wanted to see the mining cave, so we took another little field trip down the road before another storm rolled in. 

 

I love how Jenny took advantage of every minute of her time here, soaking it all in, and eating it up.  Zip lining was next on the agenda – it was so fun to see our exhilarated guests and kids (and concerned Grandma)! 

 

 

 

Dinner, ice cream,

and s’mores followed,

 

but unfortunately, the evening ended before we would have liked with a big storm rolling in.

We helped the Hoff crew pack up their yurt early the next morning before our final goodbye.

We feel privileged to have been a part of so many wonderful families vacation so far.  It was so sad to see them go, but we cherish those memories, and look forward to round 2 of visitors coming in this weekend!

 

After spending a wonderful evening with the M family on our first night in Colorado,

we looked forward to all the fun we could fit in for three more days on the Front Range.  As hard as we try to keep some semblance of Central time and reasonable bedtimes, the light just doesn’t seem to dim and it’s 10pm before we know it!  There is always more fun to be had, and the goodbyes and goodnights are difficult.  Even though the Boulder County Fairground Campground is more like a parking lot, and the inmates seemed to be cleaning the bathroom every time we woke up, it served as a great basecamp for us. 

We were thankful to be right in the center of all the activities we had planned for the next few days.  Every morning started with a run around our old stomping ground for different groups of the Hoffpack.

We spent Tuesday with the Van Alstyne family,

visiting and feeding their new pets,

 

walking the dogs and biking to the park,

and then spending a relaxing day at their pool after travelling. 

It was so cool to be greeted by a fabulous family welcome sign for us on their driveway. 

Suzi was such a wonderful host, helping me with some back exercises to get myself healthy, and even treated us to a wonderful lunch and dinner before we headed off to meet Kyle at Chataqua in Boulder. 

Thankfully, we will get to spend more time with them when they come up to Snow Mountain to spend another week and a half with us!

Wednesday morning was spent driving into the mountains to see the flood damage and running into a mama moose and her baby. 

In the afternoon, we visited one of Chuck’s former students, Allie, at Pearl Street in Boulder. 

 

The kids loved playing in the water,

seeing the street performers,

cruising the creek to a little island,

and checking out the farmer’s market. 

Dinner in the park was just what we needed before heading to the Grooters house for a giant trampoline jump fest, and hike.

Thursday came too quickly, but Chuck couldn’t wait to meet up with an old college friend and his kids for a nice 6 mile run,

and I was pumped to spend the day climbing with my old boss, Chris. 

Just as we pulled into Boulder, Ellie threw up all over the car, and we weren’t quite sure what to do.  We were pretty sure she had altitude sickness (something we have managed to bypass the last few years, but didn’t get so lucky this time), and knew the high mid-90 temperatures were not going to help the situation.  Thankfully, we went up Boulder Canyon to where the temps in the mid 80s felt so much better. 

Chuck parked Ellie under a tree along the rock wall, with her car seat, blanket, and pot to recover. 

Kids never cease to amaze me – within the first couple hours, she was back to herself and begging to follow her siblings up the climb!  Ethan and Braden scooted up the first climb like it was nothing,

 

 

 

and Ethan made the second route look easy, although the 5.9 climb was quite impressive, especially for someone who had never climbed outdoors.  Chris quickly created kid-sized full body harnesses out of 20 feet of tubular webbing that we had picked up the day before.  Gav and the girls got quite the thrill out of getting up on the rocks. 

We finished off our climb with Chris belaying Chuck and me up the first route.  I think motherhood did something to me – as fearless as I think I was in the past, climbing the 100 foot route sure made me weak in the knees this time!  As if climbing wasn’t enough, Chris offered to zipline the boys over Boulder Creek (which is more like a raging river). 

 

It was so much fun!  Since we hadn’t gotten to see the rest of the Hill gang, we were invited back to their house for a barbeque. 

Colt and Lauren showed the kids their storm chasing videos and somewhere along the way, we discovered that Chuck’s friend Tim lived right down the street.  Of course, we had to pay a visit to them too. 

As quickly as our time in Boulder seemed to fly by, we are so thankful for all the visits with friends from afar.  We were able to connect with 25 awesome people, and are looking forward to spending time with all our Illinois friends at Snow Mountain Ranch!

After three consecutive years of troubles making it to Colorado, we have naturally been nervous about this year’s trek across the plains and beyond.  The last few weeks have been spent planning, researching, packing, and preparing the best we could. Chuck installed solar panels and an inverter for the many days we will be off the grid.

Although we have been filled with fear, we are so thankful that excitement won. My sore neck and back with two ribs popping out slowed our progress exponentially (this 40 thing is overrated), but we are hopeful that was this year’s breakdown and that I have been through the worst of it, with only recovery on the horizon.  My dear friend Cassie gave me a 40th birthday gift that serves as a daily reminder that “the mountains are calling.”

Anxious to get adventuring, we were able to leave 4 days earlier than originally planned.  While the list to leave seems to multiply the closer we got to departure day, we were able to head off Subday morning after some last minute preparations.

Our first gas stop was calculated when we saw a large station that would be easy to pull in and out of, but as we got close, we noticed the diesel plaza was in full swing, but the unleaded island was closed. We pulled into the station across the street only to realize we would have to back out… Our first growing pain with our big camper.

Shortly after, we pulled off at a rest stop designed for people like us, and were thrilled with the idea of pulling in and walking right into our camper for a restful lunch break. It may take us awhile to get used to that!

Along the way, we had decided this would be a great night to boondock at a Walmart for the night, so we made a few calls and narrowed our first stop down to three.  While it was in the 70s back in IL, we discovered there was a giant heat bubble over the state of Nebraska, which could make for difficult sleeping.  We stopped at a KOA to refill our propane tanks to keep our fridge going through the night, a gas refill, and another easy dinner and stretch break at a long awaited rest area.

650 miles later, we pulled into the Lexington Walmart at sunset. It was so easy to roll in and step into our camper for a plush and FREE night of rest!

We woke early, with only Colorado on our minds. You see, there are many times we have driven through the northeast part of Colorado with nasty storms and tumbleweed flying across the highway.  Today’s challenge would be here, where the cold and warm fronts met.  If living in Colorado taught us nothing else, we knew we wanted to cruise through that area before the afternoon storms gathered!

The storms came through just after we arrived in Longmont, where we lived when we were first married.  After setting up camp at the Boulder County Fairgrounds (which is not the most picturesque campground, but very convenient to the Boulder area), we were elated to spend the afternoon walking the Lake Macintosh paths and hanging out at the park we passed on our daily walks near our first apartment.  The kids shared our joy, walking hand in hand.

The rainy evening ended with rainbows and meeting some of our favorite people in the world, the M family for kids eat free, all you can eat Italian at the greatest place, Cinzzetti’s.

We are so excited to spend a few days on the Front Range with old friends.  After arriving without issue for the first time in years, we are cautiously optimistic that things are going to go our way this year.  Colorado and beyond, hope you are ready for the Hoffpack!

As we get excited to take off to the mountains, we are busy packing up the camper and car.  I will admit – organization is not really my forte, but so many people have been asking what to bring on their adventures, we decided to break it down a bit.

We have a system in our car that works really well for us.  At high altitudes, we often find that we need a variety of gear and apparel, so this is the most important place for us to have all our stuff in order.  We have a bin in the back of our car where we keep a few bags of essentials that continually pop up as necessities, whether we are hitting the soccer fields, headed out for a hike, or just heading into town for a bit.  There are separate bags of rain coats, fleeces,  an extra set of clothes for everyone that can double as comfy clothes to sleep in (as well as socks), winter hats and gloves, water bottles for everyone, and a bag of sunscreen, baseball hats, sunglasses, lip balm (believe it or not, that’s the first thing to burn at high altitude!), first aid supplies, and medicine.  This eliminates the need to pack up all this stuff on a daily basis every time we want to head somewhere.

Sometimes, we even carry around our swim bag (suits, towels, and goggles) for the unplanned dips in a lake.  Our bin or bag of shoes travels in our camper, but it often finds its way to our trunk so we can switch shoes when we get done hiking or want to hit the water.  One of my favorite and most commonly asked questions is whether the kids need hiking boots.  No!  We usually limit our shoes to a pair of crocs, gym shoes, and water shoes.  The crocs (or flip flops) are great for getting in and out of the car when travelling, and perfect for taking on and off at the campsite.  Comfortable gym shoes work great for any of the outdoor activities we do, including rock climbing, hiking, and running.  Even though Chuck and I have nice hiking boots and waterproof hiking shoes, we choose not to bring them just to keep things light.  Simplicity is key when travelling- we try to minimize what we bring by choosing the things that will work well across the board.  We spend a lot of time near water on our trips, so water shoes (typically keens) are perfect for hiking up the Narrows in Zion,

or just walking around in a rocky lake or river. 

The girls still like bringing cowboy or rubber boots for fun and to slip on in the morning over the footie pajamas. 

 

Even though our popup had a stove, we like to do as much as we can outside, including cooking, so we have a big trunk that stays near the camper with all our kitchen necessities, including pots and pans, rags, towels, dish soap, a dishwashing bin, plates and bowls, mugs, silverware, foil, zip lock bags, tablecloths, clothes line, paper towels, cutting board, lighters, barbeque tools, wipes, hand sanitizer, toilet paper, a collapsible water container, and more. 

Our Coleman stove is not only our #1 cooking source, it offers the security of a backup stove, which we have needed on more than one occasion.  Plus, we can use it wherever if we end up away from the camper for dinner. 

If we have electric for some of the trip, we like to bring along a toaster and electric griddle for cheaper and easier cooking.  Our most creative method of cooking is using our pie irons, a perfect way to use your campfire, limit dishes, and enjoy a delicious meal!

Although we have contemplated bringing only a few chairs, we continue to bring 7 camping chairs, one for each of us.  As crazy as it sounds, I am not sure if there was ever an occasion where all of them were used at the same time – the kids stay so busy exploring our campsites, and rarely take a break to sit down, even by a nice warm campfire.  Wonder if this will change some day?

We carry around a large piece of Astroturf for outside the camper – we like it because it is light, folds up pretty small, and if it gets wet, it is still manageable as we move around.  We also have a couple mats for outside and inside the camper to wipe off shoes.  Despite our best attempts at keeping the dirt out of the camper, it seems like the floor is always getting dirty, so a small broom is a necessity for us.

Nights are regularly in the 30s while camping in the mountains, so we also bring a ceramic heater to take off the chill, along with lots of blankets, pillows, and sleeping bags. 

Another favorite item is a portable lamp with a nightlight in the base.  We can’t use it when we don’t have electric (which is usually more than half the time), but it has been very useful several times when we struggled with a bad converter box and other electrical issues.

As far as clothes, we bring a variety for all sorts of weather, including fleeces, comfortable long pants, jeans, t-shirts, and long sleeves.  Everybody has their own suitcase. 

Because I’m crazy about pictures, I bring one bag with a coordinated family set of clothes (hiker friendly, yet a little nicer than our norm) that is only used when we are going somewhere I might want a nice family picture.  We have also enjoyed making matching shirts – it makes it easier to keep track of everybody as we count off 7 on and off the trails, and looks good in pictures.  A friend helped us make them last year, and this year,  we had them screen printed for under $5 per shirt. 

My new favorite trick is to bring along a few zippered throw pillow cases, but instead of a pillow, we put some essentials inside that don’t come out a ton, like coats.  They are so much nicer to look at than another suitcase sitting around!

One of my favorite things about camping is escaping from all the toys at home!  So, what are the toys that make the cut?  We bring playing cards, travel games (our new favorite game is Splendor-thanks for the intro Tom and Heather!), a soccer ball, frisbee, buckets, coloring books, crayons, paper, journals, pencils, pens,  books, movies, iPads, and bridge books (to keep the kids on top of the school game, we have them complete a page in their bridge book for each day we are out).  Our favorite toy after years of travel is our bucket of animals.  These are the souvenirs the kids have collected over our years of camping, and perhaps their favorite vacation pastime is sitting in our campsite building intricate homes for them in the dirt. 

Perhaps we didn’t have to leave home in the first place 😉

Some other necessities include binoculars, cameras, go-pro, headlamps, lanterns, backpacks, more water bottles, bear spray, propane bottles, batteries, a cooler bag, and a medium sized cooler (for those times our camper fridge doesn’t work).

Our mechanical must haves include a tool box, extra extension cords, tire pressure gauge, leveling pads, etc. And this year, passports!  I finally packed those up today after days of fearing I will forget them.  This list is far from complete, but these are some of the items we could not live without.  Everybody’s list is different, and we enjoy some of the luxuries other families bring along as well, such as crock pots (we don’t have electric often enough to warrant bringing one though).  Happy trails!