THE EPIC TRIP 2016

Oh my friends/co-workers are so good to me. They knew how much I wanted to go to Mt. Rushmore before turning 50. I get a text from Jenny a while back.

Jenny: "How about a girls' trip?"
Me: "Kids or no kids?" (she has 4 little kids)
Jenny: "No kids."
Me: "YES!"

So we got with Starlyn and Erin our TA and started planning. We included tons of fun things; things that were bit odd, but we were happy to do because one or two of us wanted to do them. Starlyn made a binder with maps, information, etc. We were set. Here's how the trip went:

Epic Trip Early Start on Tuesday:

Since we were leaving early on Wednesday morning, Jenny and Erin came to sleep over at our house on Tuesday night. Starlyn stayed at her house and joined us in a parking lot.

Epic Trip 2016 Day #1 Wednesday: WYOMING

Jenny, Erin, Starlyn, and me

July 27, Jenny's 33rd birthday. I bought a birthday girl crown for her to wear and I got party horns for us to blow. I also put a battery-powered string of lights that read "Happy Birthday" in the van. We got an early start: 6:30 am. We headed to Martin's Cove in Wyoming. Each of us brought a sack lunch for our first stop there. We also had pioneer stories printed out to read. I shared the story of Ellison Jap Gourley and Nicholus Gourley and Sidney Teeples. Starlyn had a couple of pioneer stories from her ancestors. It was a nice drive.

We had a really nice sister missionary that gave us a nice tour of the visitor's center. I found names of the Gourley family and I found Sidney Teeples' name on plaques. I didn't realize it's a 5-mile loop to the actual cove and back. We didn't do that. We got there around noon and had to be on the road by 2:00 to make it to Kaycee, Wyoming. It was enough to just be there where a big part of my family's pioneer story took place.

We had lunch and noted how hot and dry it was. We saw kids starting their trek and felt kinda bad for them. They were all smiles and they were clean. It was obviously the beginning of 3 days in heat. Good for them.

We drove 2 hours to Kaycee, Wyoming, home of Chris LeDoux, country singer and rodeo star. This was a place Starlyn requested be added to the itinerary. Sure thing! In preparation, she played Chris LeDoux songs and read us stories from his biography that she was reading. Basically, he was a rodeo bare back bronc rider. He worked and worked to earn the gold buckle - to win the national title. He did it! Rodeo life was hard on him. After a few years, he decided to focus on his music. Nashville didn't want him because he was just a rodeo rider. But with his family's help, they got records/tapes out and he made it pretty big in music.

Anyway, Kaycee has a small museum of the west and they have a park to memorialize Chris. He died in 2005 at about 55 years old from cancer. His son Ned, who used to play drums in his dad's band has since taken over the band and plays his dad's and his own songs at big rodeos and big county and state fairs. Starlyn is a big fan so this was a big deal. We were happy to go to Kaycee. The museum wasn't much of anything, but we found out at the museum that the LeDoux boys run the store next to the museum. Star beelined over there and found Ned and another LeDoux boy working. A band member of Ned's was also there. Star was in heaven. She could have gone home happy at that point. We stayed in the store for about a half hour, just talking. Star bought pictures, t-shirts, hats, etc. She also got pictures. It was great. We couldn't believe she actually got to meet Ned. Wow!

We then drove a couple of hours to Gillette, Wyoming, where we stayed at the Fairfield Inn. It had a water park that was free for Marriott Rewards Members. Starlyn had signed up, so we got to enjoy that. It was a blast. We played water basketball. Us old ladies almost beat the young girls. We went down the slides and enjoyed the hot tub. Then we went to bed. A big day ahead for Thursday.

Epic Trip 2016 Day #2 Thursday: RUSHMORE and more and more

We got an early start after eating the complimentary breakfast at the hotel. I was still doing whole30, so I had eggs, sausage, and fruit. I snacked on cherries, carrots, snap peas, cashews, and raisins on the road. Not my usual road trip food, but I felt great! We first went to Deadwood, a small western town where Wild Bill Hickok was shot dead and buried. Calamity Jane is also buried there. Sadly, we didn't see the cemetery because it was raining quite a bit. We did walk downtown and saw the saloon where Wild Bill was shot. I got some Harley Davidson stuff for dad's neighbor. It was really a cute and quaint town. It's pretty much built on western lore, Native American casinos, bars, and t-shirt shops. We loved it thought. Then we went to Sturgis, the home of the giant annual motorcycle rally. Wow, that place is NOTHING. If it weren't for the rally, there would be nothing there. We all agreed it was pretty much a dump.

Near Harley Davidson St. Notice Sturgis on the mtn behind us.

Wild Bill shot dead here.

Inside Saloon #10

Sturgis is a dump, but this shirt was cute. My souvie from the trip.

We went to Bear Country, a wildlife preserve that has lots of animals, including bear. You drive through the park and take pictures. At the end of the park, there's a gift shop and there are baby animals, including bear cubs. It was really fun. We all enjoyed it. It's a good thing Starlyn has hunting experience, because she pointed out and identified animals for us. The bears were easy to spot, though. Then we headed to RUSHMORE.

Good thing Erin had her selfie stick

I was so excited. I had to get a picture at the sign. I needed a picture of me driving to Mt. Rushmore. As I was driving up the road to the park, I saw a head and I shouted, "I just saw George Washington's head!!!" I loved every minute of that place. The weather was great. Not too hot. We took lots of pictures and just had a great time. Now I could go home happy. I had seen Rushmore. A lot of people had told me it could be disappointing, that it wasn't very big. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? It was everything I expected and more!

On the road to the park

Great re-enactment of the monument

I'm seriously so happy

Me, driving to Mt. Rushmore

We stayed in Rapid City. We got to our room and rested a bit then went into town. On Thursday nights, they close some streets and have live bands playing and lots of food vendors. It was great to enjoy the nice weather and watch people dancing in the streets, especially the special needs young adults that were dancing. They were so funny. It was my last day of whole30. I got a Jimmy John's sandwich lettuce wrapped and it was delicious. Again, to bed at a decent time because we had a long drive to Denver the next day.

Epic Trip 2016 Day #3: CAVE and DENVER

Got to end whole30. Chose to have a Diet DP. Yeah, it wasn't that great.

Early start to get to a cave. Sadly, not early enough. Thursday night when discussing plans for Friday, Starlyn suggested we leave early to get to the ticket office of Jewel Cave at 8:00 am. Jenny said she couldn't get up that early. Since it was Jenny who really wanted to go to a cave, we deferred to her. Well, by the time we drove 90 min to Jewel Cave and got through the line and to the ticket office, all tours for the morning that we wanted were sold out. Dang. Oh well. We looked around the gift shop and got on the road to Denver. By the way, Jenny loves gift shops. I'm glad she let us know. An important rule of traveling with friends is to set up expectations early.

Hey, we had fun seeing if we could fit through the tight squeeze required for one tour. No thank you.

Yeah, I'm not paying to repair a rearview mirror on a van that's over 10 years old. Gorilla Tape.

hmmmm. Who should get this little gem I saw at a gift shop?

7 hour drive to Denver. Jenny really wanted to go to a museum. Because of traffic, we would arrive in Denver with only 1 1/2 hours to spend in the museum before we met up with Crocketts for ice cream. We decided to just split up and do what we wanted. I didn't really want to pay $13 to see a museum for only 90 min. Neither did Star or Erin. So, we dropped Jenny off to enjoy her culture and we went off to cause trouble in Denver. We tried to see an observation deck on top of a building, but it was off limits to the public. Erin and Star got as close as they could. In the same building, I got a video of Erin running and setting off the automatic revolving doors. We enjoyed ourselves. Jenny enjoyed her art, too. We then went to Little Man Ice Cream to meet with Crocketts. It wasn't only Karen and Alan, but also Shauna and Mary Ann and kids. The ice cream place is quite popular. There was a long line, but we had fun visiting and enjoyed the ice cream. I was off whole30, so I got a cone. I got 2 in fact, because they gave me the wrong flavor in my first cone. I only ate one, though. One of the kids ate the rest of my 2nd one.

Just some cool BIG art outside museum

Crockett cousins enjoyed looking for Pokemon with Jenny

Can you believe we saw Jenny and she saw us?

Yep, I'm done with Whole30 in a big way

Went to Karen's house and got settled in. Starlyn, Jenny, and Erin all agreed that Karen, Alan, and family are pretty great. We got to sleep in the basement. We crashed and slept very well.

Epic Trip 2016 Day #4: THE SPRINGS and CHECK ENGINE LIGHT

July 30. Happy Chris LeDoux Day! Got up and headed to Colorado Springs to see the Air Force Academy and the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame. Also thought about what to do about the check engine light that came on in the van. DANG.

When we knew we would have a day in Denver, I suggested we go to Colorado Springs. The chapel at the Air Force Academy is very unique, with separate worship areas for Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and Buddhist cadets. They really liked it. After that, Jenny and I dropped Star and Erin at the Rodeo Hall of Fame and we went to get the van diagnosed. It was a spark plug issue. Karen reached out to friends and found a mechanic that was open and could help us. We got the van dropped off around 1:00 pm. Karen got us and we went to the Savory Spice Shop in Littleton, where I bought 6 bottles of yummy herb and spice blends. We then went to the memorial near Columbine High School, where the first mass school shooting took place. I'd been there before. Everyone enjoyed it. It's a somber place, but very nice. We went back to Karen's house and played cards with Shauna and Mary Ann. We just chilled.

Killing time at McDonald's until Karen gets us. 

We wore out the little one, Erin

Karen and I went and picked up the van. $200 for spark plugs and wires. We got pizza for everyone. We then watched a movie. It was nice to just chill. It was also fun to find some sister time with just Karen, getting the van and pizza and later running to the grocery store.

Epic Trip 2016 Day #5: CHURCH and HOME

I'm glad we had decided to go to church with Crocketts before heading home. After spending a couple of days with Karen, Erin decided she had a new aunt and Star and Jenny had a new sister. After church we changed into comfy clothes for the ride home and drove 8 hours home. Right outside of Vail, there was a 5-mile line of cars waiting to head east. Thankfully, we were heading west. It was due to a car wreck. We felt so bad for all the folks tied up in traffic for who knows how long. The drive home was uneventful. Got home around 7:00 pm. I'm so glad we went. We didn't get sick of each other. We really had fun.