Summer 2015 kickoff in S. Dakota!

We decided to head toward Michigan via the Upper Peninsula for the first part of our trip heading out through the Dakotas. We chose Rapid City because of the Lakota history and the rich geological features in the area.  

On the way up we stopped at the Mammoth Site of Hot Springs as a shake our sillies out stop. Normally, we pick parks for these stops but it had been raining and snowing on and off all day and both the girls objected. 

The dig site itself is fully enclosed and has a wonderful exhibit on the topic of mammoths locally and abroad, theories of extinction and even covered the usage of the bones outside of the Americas.

I lost most pictures on my phone after it met the highway, my phone backed up the week prior to the trip and had not done so since. 

Overall, there were two species of Mammoths in the pits and all mammoths in the pit were male. 

After the dig site we headed up to Rapid City where we spent our time exploring he caves at both Jewel Caves and Wind Caves learning about bacon formations, calcite crystals, stalactites and stalagmites as well as box work. A1 was fascinated while A2 preferred the hiking above ground. 

Because they are caves both parks require tours, both were equally fun but a few older people complained about the hikes taking a toll on their bodies. A2, now 3, did not share their complaints. 

Our ranger at Wind Caves told the Lakota immersion story which sparked a major interest in a unit, perhaps for this fall? 

This is probably a good time to mention A1 helping to plan this trip. She has spent a great deal of time researching national monuments and parks, museums and more. She begged me to do this and I am ashamed to say I paid $11 to park but I did...

As we left the visitor  center with our Jr. Ranger booklets and as I thought, "I can not believe I spent money to see this..." A1 proclaimed at the SAME moment, "I can't believe you took me here!" It was funny and made it worth it:) 

We started learning about the colonial history when she became obsessed with George Washington or "General Washington" as she refers to him. She was elated to see his face carved in stone. 

Exploring Badlands, they are gorgeous... The girls loved spending the day hiking and climbing. For some reason I'm okay with kids playing near the edge of the Grand Canyon or in an arch at Arches but I was freaked out a little by!

Perhaps it was the cracked ground? Either way, I will admit my pretty mellow attitude on hikes disappeared- fast. A1 pointed out I seemed a little tense. Nauseated would probably be more accurate;) Overall, S. Dakota seems to be a strong favorite for our family. 

We can also recommend the Keystone Climbing Area for a campsite, while it is very basic it is in a nice location and great for kids to play near.

Taking on Idaho in a Day

We decided to knock Idaho off our "to-do list" during this trip and because we were in Northern Montana visiting GNP the day before we wanted to stay near Coeur d'Alene. We started the morning with a mine tour... Considering nobody in our family has mining experience outside of Snow White's seven little buddies singing, "Heigh Ho" it was bound to be educational or insightful.

*Note: It was slightly disappointing when Athena missed the Snow White reference, yet at the same time I was relieved.

The tour company we used was the Sierra Silver Mine in Wallace, Idaho and Lenny, AKA the "Smurf" was our guide. He was funny and brought the tour to life. He had a lot of personality for someone so small, hence why he was nicknamed the Smurf. The tour touches on every aspect that went into mining from the air channels, mine shafts, equipment used, miner safety and more. It covered things which seemed obvious and many "Oh, so that's how it works." I would highly recommend The Sierra Silver Mine. The office staff was equally helpful at answering questions.

Our guide, Lenny. He may be heading back into the mines to work again.

I would be lying if I said I did not want to hijack a mine cart and sing, "Heigh ho," it is however, slightly less tempting than driving on a runaway truck ramp in the mountains.

Lex has had the same life motto going on three years, "Not impressed."

No car seats...

 

We arrived back safely, spinal cords intact, thanks to a great driver and few cars in sight.

As we were leaving Wallace, we needed to grab lunch... The idea was to head towards Old Mission State Park and pick up lunch along the way. There was nothing that was not fast food so we decided to head towards Coeur d'Alene and explore the town. We had lunch at the Dockside, I highly recommend for the views alone. The food was decent for a hotel restaurant.

A fun view from our table:) We took a walk around the boardwalk following lunch.

Athena has always had a strong interest in historical sites so I was a bit surprised when the Cataldo Mission was of no interest to her.

Except sarcasm and goofy smiles.

Our family did enjoy walking the grounds and viewing the graves. However, I would not recommend Old Mission State Park to friends passing through unless they have a strong interest in religious history... which we do not.

That said, it was a fun day in the area. I am interested in finding a coal mining tour to explore the differences and similarities in mining styles and we would love to visit Boise in the nearish future.

Idaho, The End

Yellowstone: Part One

We had planned to spend five days exploring Yellowstone and Grand Tetons but quickly realized we would need more time. We added another two nights onto our trip but because of unexpected events we had to cancel those two days. Both of the girls adored Yellowstone so it was not enough time. Animals, hiking, water shooting out from the ground. I'm pretty certain they would consider this the Disney World of National Parks.

Athena developed an OCD need to time Old Faithful... Six times we timed it. SIX! No other geyser is good enough, strong enough, "bursty" enough if you will. 

Blue Star Spring at Yellowstone was Athena's favorite geothermal feature. 

We took a historic yellow bus tour, "Wake up to wildlife." I realize you can not schedule nature but I have to say, I would strongly suggest not doing this tour. 

A few reasons: They try to load 12 or 13 people to a bus and it makes the tours very difficult according to our guide. People have a difficult time seeing out the windows and people feel less comfortable with the tour in general. 

Secondly, it is early! A group of five people did not show, they had already paid... but likely overslept, I heard this happens a lot. Our guide seemingly appreciated this.

Lastly, Yellowstone has no shortage of bears, bison and pronghorn. Jus' sayin'. Everything we saw on the tour (and more) we were able to see driving down the roads...

A car... No car seats... on a tour run by the government. Look at my rebels;) 

Mesa Verde National Park

We spent a great deal of time this year learning about the ancestral Pueblo people, aka the Anasazi. We read books, watched documentaries but with Mesa Verde "close" I wanted to bring the experience to life.

Day three was spent hiking, relaxing at the rec center and getting a feel for MVNP.

We were told in e-mail and at the time of ticket purchase that Cliff House and Balcony House may not be the best suited tours for a toddler. It left me with a few choices:

A. I could go on the tour and risk needing to turn back, knowing Athena would not be happy with this decision.

B. We could skip the tour and miss out on an experience I knew Athena had been looking forward to or

C. I could barter with Athena to come back with Jay on a longer weekend.

None of these seemed like great options but I chose option A. As a parent it has always been difficult for me to accept I can't do something and I don't like allowing my kids to get in the way of living each others lives. I had the Ergo so I bought the tickets and decided to try.

We started with the Cliff Palace tour which is the "easier" of the two "hikes." Lex wanted to walk so I went with it. She hiked the entire way. Lindsay, our guide and archeologist, said she was the first toddler he has had hike the tour. He was informative and inclusive to the youngest tour participant, Athena. He asked her to lead the group and she did. Athena takes her Jr. Ranger duties seriously;) He was great at answering her questions. It seems rare that guides have the ability to customize a tour experience for all participants. We were happy to have stumbled into his group.

Some adults are seemingly surprised children are capable of walking. At least I discovered some of the adults on the tour were impressed by their walking skills;)

The following morning we did a tour of Balcony House. The ranger, Eric, invited Athena to help him lead the hike. This hike was definitely not recommended for toddlers, alas Lex did this again and I have an ergo if I needed it;) At the start of the climb into the dwelling there is a 32 ft ladder which was exciting to Lex... At first. Being two she has missed the "do not look down memo." She asked to be put on my back but I told her no and said, "You are strong enough to do this, you are smart and know how to do this and you are brave. It is your turn to be brave. You can do this and I will do it with you. We can do the hard things together." She breezed up with no issue following. 

Most of the people on the tour thought I was crazy for doing this with two small kids alone but all seemed genuinely surprised the girls did so well and were so respectful.

Following the tour we decided to explore the Spruce Tree House which has a recreated kiva a person can explore, a mano and matate to teach how the people would grind corn and rangers to interact and educate the people in the area.

Lex was asleep on my back from a long morning of hiking so I could not go into the kiva (BOO!) and I was a little nervous about letting Athena go down without me. I trust her but I'm not always sure if rangers appreciate that trust and a few rangers were nearby. Also, while my child is generally respectful of historical sites, you never know... A sweet German woman heard us discussing this and offered to take Athena into the kiva (and take pictures.) She was kind and I was thankful for them to reach out. Athena is now insisting on learning German:)

Spruce Tree House! 

Inside the recreated Kiva

Mano and metate

A ranger specifically pulled Athena aside to teach her about where the food was prepared. This ranger was amazing. 

Where the ancestral people would have cooked their meals. 

Overall, I would rate our experience in the Cortez area as a 9 out of 10. The park rangers at MVNP are AMAZING with children. Many times while we were exploring the rangers would approach us, interact with the girls and take the time to teach. We have visited twelve national parks this year from Rocky to the Grand Canyon to Yellowstone and the Mesa Verde Rangers win the award for the BEST RANGERS. We are absolutely recommending Mesa Verde to our friends!

A note from Athena: I really like Ranger Lindsay! He is an archeologist and knows a lot about the stuff. He discovered a new cliff dwelling and said that if you throw a rock and look for it you will find an artifact before you found the rock. We tried it and found pottery and I never found the rock. I found lots of lizards too! But you can't touch them and you can't take the pottery and that makes me sad. I want to come here again this year. It is a good field trip.