Road Trip Day 2

Yesterday, we made it all the way to Butte, Montana, so this morning we headed to Yellowstone! We didn't stop to see much along the way, other than spotting some wildlife - elk, buffalo, deer, etc., but our real destination at the park was Old Faithful! We entered the park through the west entrance, then headed south to the geyser. We had about an hour to kill before the next predicted eruption, so we got some dinner and souvenirs from the gift shop. When we headed to the viewing area, I couldn't believe how many people were there! So, Old Faithful proved to be just that, and within 2 minutes of the predicted time, the geyser started spewing. It was really cool, especially considering how long it has been doing that, and how many millions of people have seen it. It was definitely one of the things I wanted to see in my lifetime!

On our way out, we headed to the north park entrance, and saw all kinds of animals along the way. We also saw a cool waterfall, and drove by the Mammoth hot springs area - a must see on our next trip through!

Now, we're on the road again, headed toward Bismarck tonight then should make it into Minnesota tomorrow night.

More adventures to come!
:)

Great American Road Trip Day 1

Today we started out on our big trip to Minnesota! Mike's kids were out to visit for the past week and a half, and now we're all headed to the big Lovejoy family reunion. We left our cute little house in Steilacoom late this afternoon, and started heading east. I like to see interesting things along the way, so I got on roadsideamerica.com and started looking for cool roadside attractions. The first one that we found was the wild stallion sculptures, in Vantage, WA, overlooking the Columbia River.

From a news story on the web by Terry Richard:

A sculpture of 15 wild horses has crowned a barren Central Washington hillside for more nearly two decades, but the rusted sheets of steel still are an inspiring sight to travelers along busy I- 90.

The 200-foot line of life-size charging horses, the creation of David Govedare of Chewelah, Wash., captures a mystical spirit from a time when real wild horses roamed the steppes.

Titled "Grandfather Cuts Loose the Ponies," the scene symbolically re-creates the Great Spirit turning loose a herd of wild horses above the Columbia River's Wanapum Lake.

So... We stopped and looked, then decided to hike up and see them up close. Not exactly a long hike, but not very easy either with flip-flops on, carrying a 4-year old, and leading the dog, while trying to keep up with Mike and his son Ayden! It was still pretty cool, and I got some good pictures!

Adventures in Washington

So the weather forecast actually called for some sun today! It's June after all, why shouldn't there be sun?! Oh yeah, because sun in Washington is like rain in So Cal... Well anyway, we decided that we would take a little motorcycle ride up to Bainbridge Island if the weather was nice today and do some sight-seeing. So off we went, and of course it was cold and cloudy!! :( But it was ok, because we found some wineries and had a great lunch on the water! I prefer riding my own bike, rather than being a passenger, but I still had fun. It was nice having Mike block the wind from me too!

My favorite winery today was Bainbridge Island Vineyard. They grow their own grapes right there, and I really liked all of the wines we tried. We even managed to fit 2 bottles on the back of the bike, in my purse, so we decided to buy our 2 favorites! A Gewurztraminer and a Raspberry dessert wine.

The ride home was beautiful and sunny, and I got some great pics, which I'll upload later!

Nieve's adventures continue

Well, we finally made our way to WA for the summer! Nieve loves her new summer house, except for the inevitable rain!! :)