Back home after a wonderfully relaxing vacation..feels good to be home actually..
Tomorrow morning we will be welcoming a new family member..Shadow!
We are very excited to have him join our clan here..he will be smothered in love no doubt...
Thank you all who have been following us..it's been fun sharing our adventures with you..and we are so blessed to have you in our lives..
Happy summer everyone! Love ya!
Xoxoxoxo
Just left Sterling Colorado ..had a huge Pizza Hut buffet lunch..Sorry pizza hut..there will be no profits made on the Barrus family today..
Josh alone had 10 pieces of pizza..along with bread sticks..and mozzarella sticks..and dessert..
Perfect.
On our way to Council Bluffs Iowa...363 miles to go..go Nate go..
First I apologize to anyone who may be offended..but we needed a light to shine on the pile of cards as we were playing 10s and 2s..
Just a scout family using available resources to solve a problem..
Thanks Kurnicks!
We camped next to a wonderful family of 5 from Iowa the past two nights..Nick and Zach absolutely fell in love with their kids and had a blast with them..
This was their first camping experience..and were doing a great job..
Johnny, Evelyn and Nolan..thanks for sharing your rock..your campsite... and your stuffed animals with my boys.. you guys are awesome..it was great meeing you! Happy travels.!
He was not happy..We could hear him scratching and clicking under there..but at least he wasn't flying into us..
We released him right before we ran into the safety of our tents for bed..
Ewwwwwww.
Relaxing at the table last night before bed playing cards..and Nate was"hit"in the side by something..a brief investigation revealed the cause of the assault..
Screams..squeals..scrambling..
Kill it! ..get rid of it! . Help me!
Well it was wayyyy to big and crunchy to kill it..and besides were in the National Park. You can't kill anything there..but we HAD to get rid of it..
Scout ingenuity to the rescue again. ..
Please see next post for the solution...
And we made it! 1.8 uphill miles.. Emerald Lake was beautiful..We sat on the rocks for a well deserved water break..until Zach saw a wall of rocks..using the excuse he had to pee..(which he did not) he asked to climb the rocks..
Tired Nick..who is still drying his eyes from the injustices of the hike.. jumped up..with a big smile on his face and took off up the rocks..climbing climbing..
Really? Really! ? !
I soon followed as did Christian and the big boys..these were big rocks..with matching big crevices..probably beyond our safety limits but we had fun..The climb to the top of the rocks rewarded us with a view back through the rising canyonand lakes we just hiked through.. Nick wasn't complaining..and neither were we!
The walk back was fast..and all downhill. Nick counted nearly 4,000 steps...
Back to camp to relax! .
Our third lake .Crystal clear..The trout were swimming..and our tootsies were refreshed..The water was ice cold!
We had one more brief 0.6 mile section to get to Emerald Lake all uphill though..Pour Nick was tired and unimpressed...We were all breathing heavy from the high altitude though not as bad as yesterday..Zach was working really hard to keep Nick moving...We had come this far..We had to get there..onward! !
So the second lake is called Nymph Lake and is full of beautiful Lily pads in a cool mountain setting..a little Monet like in my opinion..and it would have been peaceful except for the fact we were sharing it with many other tourists (this is one of the most traveled trails in the park we were told)..
I'm not complaining..I don't mind the other people..actually one of the things I like is meeting and small talking with people from all over the country..
What did make this hike a bit of a challenge was the squeaky six year old who was not buying in to another hike..especially one that was all uphill..Nate was trying to keep him distracted as he walked..Zach was feeding him peanuts and M and Ms..from the stale trail mix bag he had in his bag..nothing was really working..I sent Christian Nate and Josh ahead of us too take pictures and hopefully be out of ear shot of the sounds of Nick's displeasure.. A good mom would have sat back with him at the trail head while the others explored..but this was my last hike too..so I was bringing his miserable butt with me...Poor Nick....
Took our last hike for the vacation yesterday ..3.8 miles round trip..past four mountain lakes..The first one being bear lake. The thing about mountain lakes is that they aren't between the mountains..they are up IN the mountains which means we were headed skyward..
We were all dragging in the am..slow start at the campsite despite a huge pancake breakfast (because we had to use up all the pancake mix)..Josh reported he ate 14 ..yikes..
Anyways..We had to take a shuttle to the trailhead..and three of us were sleeping on the bus! We figured out later that our problem was not lack of sleep..but elevation..We just weren't used to hanging out at 10,000 feet...everything we did was surprisingly tiring..this altitude issue is for real!
Our campsite bathrooms were downhill from where our campsite was located..and each time one of us returned from powdering our nose we commiserate that it was way more work to walk back to camp than it should be..
This is a picture of the first lake we saw which is right at the trailhead..
After breakfast yesterday..(Sunday)..We went over to the junior ranger headquarters at the park so Nick could be sworn in..I think this is his 16th park as a Junior Ranger..and most likely his last..i remember he was very excited about the junior ranger program two years ago..and happily completed the exercises in the workbook at each park along with making sure we attended a ranger program so we could review his activities with a ranger and then be sworn in at a short but very official ceremony.
This year things started out we'll..The very first thing he wanted to buy at Teddy Roosevelt NP was a new junior ranger vest because his old one was too small.
But then it all went downhill..he was shy around the rangers..didn't really want to say the oath out loud..and then..although he was insistent I sew his patches on his vest..he did not want to wear the gosh darn thing..I tried to bribe him when he wanted to buy a Junior Ranger wallet..I told him I'd get it for him if he would wear his vest..that lasted for about 6 minutes..(After four kids you'd think I'd be smarter than that right? )..He did begrudgingly wear out for his swearing in ceremonies .
We skipped the whole thing at Grand Teton..(because Christian found an old patch in the glove compartment from the last trip we could sew on his vest..and it gave us two days reprieve from " come on Nick just two more pages to go in your book"..Awwwww no! Not two more PAGES")..I know that is cheating..but hey no harm no foul right?
The pictures ate from a Junior Ranger program they had at headquarters..about the different types of rangers they have on the national parks. Zach was right up front though he was four years and at least a foot taller than any of the other kids there..his hand was first to go up when they wanted a volunteer and the ranger called him up and dressed him in a firefighter ranger uniform..he was a hit with all the little ones as he hammed it up and added little commentary as the ranger was explaining what he was wearing..his personality is infectious..!
Nick was also called up to be a "rule breaker" in the park. He threw a crumpled up paper on the floor (littering) so a four year old in an oversized police uniform could give him a ticket..precious..
And to answer your question he was not wearing his junior ranger vest..
It is very windy and cold up here..no trees can grow..and is below freezing for 5 months a year...The butler however is loving it..
So this is our first morning in our fifth and final park...we arrived at dusk last night and set up camp in the dark..our campsite is called a walk up..with the emphasis on UP.. we are 100 feet or so from the parking area..and up a rocky hillside..the best scenic campsite of our trip...
The bad news: The mosquitoes are pretty aggressive in Wyoming. The good news: You can whack you brother anytime you want and day you were swating a mosquito....c
Big hike day. Dad joined the Willoughbys for a boat ride across Jenny Lake and a hike to Hidden Falls and lookout called Inspiration Point. Then through cascade canyon. We left the little ones and Dad (wohp returned to the lodge for a swim...) for a big person hike up a hill over snow covered trails, a detour around a broken bridge, and a rise of 2400 ft. The reward was a beautiful half frozen lake, a cold foot falling through a frozen path, and the most work I have ever done on vacation. 9 hours and 15 miles later we made it back to the van sore but satisfied. Passed an old German couple who made it all the way to the lake despite my dad's old goat geezer comment to then early in the hike that we had trouble remembering the exact quote. Dad slept in the tent instead of in the hotel to experience the camping experience and make leaving early a little easier. Celebrated after the hike at the dinner in the lodge with free cake and singing to the almost birthday boy...c
This is the view from Mom and Dad's room..not to shabby....Will be better when the weather clears up ...
The butler has been accompanying us on this trip as well as the trip we took two years ago..
16 National Parks and counting...
