Vacation Log: 5 - The End.

I know that it's been a while since I last updated, but it's been busy the last few days.

August 9th:

We drove to Yellowstone and did some hiking around Old Faithful. There were a lot more people there than I have seen in a while. It probably didn't help that author C.J. Box was there to autograph books and such. It was a poopy day. The weather was shifting between rain and sunshine. We visited the new visitor center. It was very nice and more hands on than others in the park. We hiked along the geyser basin for what felt like forever. I have to say, though the geysers and thermal pools are beautiful, they smell like rotten eggs and sulfur. I absolutely hate that smell with a passion. For my suffering, we ate dinner at the Hamilton Store which is right next to the Old Faithful Inn. It's a gift shop and a diner. I love their burgers and their fries. Then we went back to Aunt Barb's and Uncle Ted's house.

[Pictures will be added ASAP]

August 10th:

We didn't spend the whole day at Yellowstone because we needed to get back to Livingston to pack since we were leaving in the morning. We went to the South Rim Ridge Hike of the Lower Falls and walked the whole 1.5 miles of it. I have to say, though it gave us great views of the canyon and the falls, the hike was mostly uphill the whole way there. It was pretty steep in places and the altitude made it difficult to breath. We started that hike at around 9:30am and didn't get back to the car until 12:30pm. Thankfully, I had my knee brace so it didn't bother me as much as it would've.

We went to have lunch at a picnic area with one of the worst smelling outhouses that I've ever been in. It smelled like someone tried to cover the smell with a freshener that only seemed to blend with the odor and make it a hundred times worse. On the way back to Livingston, we got stuck in a couple of traffic jams caused by people stopping to take pictures of buffalo and elk. Seriously, there are a TON of animals in the park, and they stop to take pictures of just six of them. People were leaving their cars in the middle of the road while they got out to take pictures of them and getting too close in the meantime. Now, I can understand that maybe this was their first time seeing them, but if you're going to take pictures, pull over to the side of the road and then get out.

August 11th & 12th:

On the two days that we drove home, we were either following or being followed by rain clouds. When we drive through South Dakota, on the horizon in front of us, there was a gigantic thunder cloud. We could see the lightning and knew that it was a bad one. We were between Rapid City and Presho when we sat a total of 7 trucks rolled onto their sides in the median. There was one that laid across the highway so they had to divert traffic off of the highway. I was driving at this point and thoroughly freaked out. But, there wasn't any wind causing me to have difficulty driving, so we suspected that we were going with the wind, not against it.

We stopped in Presho to get gas and switch drivers. But as it turns out, the gas station was out of power. There was a group of bikers that told dad that they heard of 80-85 mile an hour winds coming from the storm that was just ahead of us. So I happily handed over the wheel. We hadn't hit the storm yet, when we were shown the most spectacular display of lightning that I've ever seen in my life. I'm serious. I've never seen lightning like that. It would start off zipping across the sky and stay visible in one spot for a few seconds. There was this one where it started on my side of the car and zipped to Jake's side--all the while it would crash down to earth while it went. It lit up the whole sky with colors of blue and yellow. It was absolutely amazing. It wasn't so amazing when we hit the storm. The wind was absolutely terrible and the rain made visibility next to impossible. Though the speed limit is 75, we were going, at the most, 65. By the time we made it to Sioux City in Iowa, we beat the storm there but it was close to midnight. I didn't get to sleep until almost one thirty in the morning.

We left around eight the next morning and the storm had hit us again, though not as hard; it was more windy than rainy. When we drove over the Missouri River, they had sandbags up on either side of the road because the water was SOOO high! It was ridiculious! There was a farm that was under water and the water was just on the other side of the bags of sand! When we left Iowa, it was still cloudy the while way back to Michigan, but it wasn't horrible. The storm that was chasing us, hit Michigan this morning while Jake was mowing the lawn.

You know how when you get home from a long vacation, you just want to relax? Well, that didn't happen with us. We had a power outage while Dad and Jake were out west that caused something in dad's computer to fry and now he has to order a new part for it because it won't start. We had a few leaky pipes that we found out about while I was in the shower-I didn't have any hot water to speak of. The roof is leaking in my grandpa's living room and we now know isn't caused by my air conditioner that is right above where the crack in the ceiling is. And lastly, when we figured out that the pipes were leaking, they were leaking in the dining room (because the ceiling was wet) and in the basement (because there was water down there were there shouldn't be). My, today has just been a mess one right after the other.

My, it's good to be home.

[Pictures will be added at a later date.]

Vacation Log: 4

Yesterday, we did a lot of driving. We visited two ghost towns, even though one of them still has people living there. The first one was still occupied, and there were only a few buildings that could be considered ghost town material. The second place was in Bannack. In the photos below, I only have photos of the buildings that really interested me. In them, they looked like great scenes for horror movies. With it being a ghost town, I think the whole thing is appropriate.

Then at the end of the day, on our way back to Aunt Barbe's, we saw the greatest rainbow I've ever seen. You don't get rainbows this vibrant in Michigan. To make it even better, it was a double rainbow and one of them was almost a full rainbow because you could see the end of one on the other side of the street.

Because we did a lot of driving, we didn't get to see as much, but we did get a lot of great pictures. Which are below. Today is going to be a day of relaxing so I don't suspect a lot of exciting things happening today. I may just skip tomorrows blog and add it to tomorrows. That way it will be longer and more interesting.

Anyway, have a good day everybody!

This was taken in Marysville. Ghost Town #1

Taken inside a hotel in Bannack. The stains remind me of the scene in The Messengers [featuring Kristen Stewart] when her mom/stepmom tried to get the stain out of the wall in her bedroom.

Picture of the upstairs hallway.

The sweet staircase in the hotel.

Those were the chains that the townspeople used for their mining. Believe me, they're heavier than what they look.

A shot of the town.

This house reminds me of Boo Radley's house in To Kill A Mockingbird.

On the way home.

Picture 1 of the rainbow. You can just see the second rainbow on the right.

I love this picture. I did it myself.

Vacation Log: 3

I know that I was supposed to blog about yesterday, August 5th, but we were staying at Uncle Ted's cabin and there was no electricity, let alone internet access. Anyway, here's what happened yesterday.

We left the house at around 9am mountain time, so we could go to Gem Mountain just outside Philipsburg, MT. This place has to be the coolest place in all of Montana. It's a place where you can hunt for your own sapphires! Real, genuine, sapphires that you can find on your own. You don't go to the mine or anything, they've already done that part for you, and all you have to do is buy however many buckets you want and pick a spot around the large sluice. They provide you with a wash screen to put your 'dirt' in and you go to the sluice to wash the rocks. The way you do this, is to try to get the sapphires--which are heavier than regular rocks--in the dead center of the bottom of the screen; so when you flip the screen, your sapphires should be right there.

I've been to this place once before and though I don't call myself an expert, I am rather good at it. But being good doesn't make you find the best stones. Anyway, mom and dad shared three buckets while I had three all to myself. Aunt Barb, Uncle Ted, Kenzie, and grandpa came with us and tried it as well. Jake came too, but he just helped us find our rocks, so that was okay with me. Let me tell you, we found bigger gems than we had in the previous year. Dad found one--even though it was really from one of my buckets--that was nearly 3.54 carats with only the slightest of flaws. The people next to us found a 4.?? carat stone that was flawless (really rare). I forget what the biggest one I had was, but I did find a yellow one that was big enough and cut-able. All together, I had 3 flawless cut-able, and two flawed cut-able. I sent two of my sapphires in. During the summer, I had also had sent for some sapphire gravel as well as amethysts. I sent in a 18.?? carat flawless amethyst to be cut as well.

So the total of what I had found was:
Sapphires: 75.55 carats (not including the ones I had sent in)
Amethysts: 194.95 carats (uncutable stones) + 16.99 carats (cutable) [not including the one I sent in]

This is the yellow sapphire that I found.It's cut-able and flawless. The person that examined it said that she wasn't sure that it would keep it's color if it were to be fired and suggested that it be cut the way that it was. Well, I decided to keep it and decide later.

All in all, it was a VERY good beginning to the day. :)

Next we went to Philipsburg where they have a very nice and sophisticated candy store. For a pound of candy, it was $7.99 for anything that was on the walls, and nearly $10 for the chocolates in the middle of the store. They also had fudge there--I had some of the Mint Chocolate Swirl which was very good. But I would have to say that I like the candy store in Red Lodge better because they have more trinkets as well as candies. I got a full pound and a half where dad got nearly two pounds of almost every kind of cinnamon candies that they had there.

Next we went to Uncle Ted's cabin which was located deep in the forest of somewhere outside Helena. I have to say, it was pretty decent for what it was, but the sleeping arrangements needed to improve drastically. In the photos [that I'll add tomorrow morning] you'll see what the dining room/kitchen looks like as well as the upstairs where we slept. Thankfully we had sleeping bags and pads, but there was much to be desired. We had a wonderful fire that night where we did hot dogs and brats and beans for dinner. Then we sat around the fire for a while, listening to the thunderstorm heading our way and having a good time.  Oh, there's also one other thing that I forgot to mention...As you'll tell by the pictures, the toilet is an outhouse and the shower is just decent enough if you're the right height. Thankfully, I didn't have to use the shower, but I did have to get up in the middle of the night and use the toilet. That was kind of creepy because you have to walk nearly twenty feet before you get there and scenerios from horror movies pop into your head while you're walking. Like, creepy guys watching you, predators-both animal and human-waiting for the right moment- or even zombies showing up right when I'm about to go back inside the cabin. You know, the normal things.

I have to say, I'm rather glad that I am able to sleep in a hard mattress tonight with actual plumbing and running water.

This is the candy store in Philipsburg that I was talking about.

Another view of the candy store.

This is Uncle Ted's cabin. The side portion isn't finished so it doesn't have a roof or floor.

This is the closest thing to plumbing you will get up here.

This is the shower.

This is the dining/kitchen area.

These are the bunks that I was talking about. Thank God for our sleeping pads.

Grandpa and Kenzie cooking dinner.

Vacation Log: 2

Yesterday was a pretty laid back day. After taking a three hour nap to adjust to the time change, mom, dad, my brother, and I went to the gallery that hosts some of my dad's pictures. I have to say that the place looks nicer than I had thought it would be. It was very sophisticated. There is only one other person that takes pictures for the gallery, the other 58 artists are either painters or sculptures. When we walked inside, the lady at the reception desk handed dad a check because he had sold another picture. It was perfect, we walk in somewhere and we get paid for it. Dad was happy. Anyways, most of dad's pictures were located on the bottom level of the place--he has 6 or 7 pictures featured there and they're asking him to let them show another one. It was an extremely nice place, and we're honored that they chose dad's pictures to feature.

 After that, I went to Big Timber, Montana for lunch with the family and Aunt Barb and grandpa. The first place we went too was at the stage in between lunch and dinner. The second place was a Chinese restaurant and we left before they could get us our drinks. The third place was a bar where they had burgers and stuff--more our style--and Cheeseburger soup! It was pretty good actually, which surprised dad and I.

After that, my brother, Jake, and I went with my aunt back to her house and we stopped at one of her friends place to see all the new baby horses they had. Four all together. Three of them were considered buckskins and one of them was a really pale palomino. The owner let us go up and (attempt) to pet them, but the babies were too shy and ran away from Aunt Barb when she got too close. I was able to pet one of their noses for a millisecond before it ducked behind his momma. They were so cute! I don't have up close pictures, but I do have some from farther away.

When we arrived back 'home,' Jake and I brushed Micasa--Aunt Barb's dog. Well, we attempted to brush her. She's a hyper little devil with long hair and thinks she can fit in your lap. I can't tell you what kind of dog she is, but she looks like a slightly smaller, hairier, wolf. She is extremely pretty and loves to have attention. It's because she's so hyper that they have to keep her penned up all the time--which makes me sad because she's almost on the other side of their property (nearly fifty feet from the house). So whenever I see her, I feel guilty when I have to leave her there. It must be because I'm a animal lover. Because of that, I'm going to go down to see her every day we're here.

After brushing Micasa, Jake convinced me to go on the Gator--a large, heavy duty, golf cart. It only goes 35mph, but there's no windshield and no doors. Thankfully there were seat belts and handlebars to keep you in. Jake drove us and we went across the road to see the country side for a little bit. That was more fun than I had thought it would be. Especially with Jake driving. After that, we had dinner and played ping-pong for a few hours. I have to say, I've gotten extremely better than what I was earlier that day, usually Jake was nearly 10-15 points ahead when he won, but now it's closer to 4-5. What fun, lol.

Well, that's all for yesterday. I'll post what's happening today tomorrow morning.

You can see two of the baby horses.

You can see three of the baby horses. Two of them are laying down the other is the blond one looking at the photo.

MICASA!!!

From my aunt and uncle's house.

Picture of the mountains.

A cool painting from the gallery. It was almost $800!

This and the next picture are wood burnings. The artist burnt the image onto a piece of wood. The darker the color, the more it needed to be burned.

Vacation Log: 1

Well, I arrived in Bozeman last night and thankfully it wasn't completely awful. The flight from Minneapolis to Grand Rapids was late, so we didn't leave until around 8:35 and didn't arrive until 9 (because of the time difference that's). Unfortunately, our flight from Minneapolis to Bozeman was boarding at 9:25. We landed at gate A3 and we had to hike it over to F13. Let me tell you, we couldn't have gotten there faster even if we had run. We made it there in time, thankfully, and we arrived at our destination on time.

I have to say, when we were descending into Montana, the stars were out and extremely bright. I was able to see the Big Dipper perfectly through my window. It was pretty cool. And seeing all the city lights at night was awesome. You know those sets where you can build your own miniature town with cars on the streets and everything? Well while we were descending, it was like I was looking over one of those things and seeing headlight trails as they were on the road.

Since we arrived so late into Bozeman, we didn't do a lot of sight seeing. We just went to Wendy's and got a little something to eat before we went to my aunt and uncle's place in Livingston. It was sixty-seven degrees when we landed and it was a climate shocker from the high eighties it was in Michigan.

Below, I put in some pictures that my dad has taken so far. I hope you like them!

If anyone doesn't know...this is a Moose.

This is my aunt and uncle's farm. They just redid the barn so it's nicely painted and everything.

This is the Diamondback Rattle Snake that my dad almost STEPPED ON!! He says that it didn't even rattle or coil up. He says that it might have been too cold or it had eaten recently and was digesting it. Either way, he was REALLY lucky.