Hi All
We are home - having mixed feelings. I loved traveling around the country, but it feels nice to be home.
While we were traveling today I realized that today July 12, 2011 marks the one year anniversary of Ellie being diagnosed with Leukemia.
This is a day to be thankful for: Paul and I still have our beautiful daughter.
What a road we have traveled, we could not have made it this far in this cancer journey without all the prayers and support we have received from our family, friends, doctors, nurses and even strangers.
We have been tested as a family this past year and have become closer having realized what is important in life. What use to stress us out is not even a minor speed bump in the road anymore. Life is fuller and a lot less petty. I wish everyone could have the liberating mind set that I have from things in life that just don't matter in the big picture.
My hope, wish and prayer is that our family never forgets these lessons as time goes on.
I would like to thank each and every one of you for the support you have shown us during this past year, each of your words of encouragement came at times when they were needed more then you could know.
Ellie still has a lot of treatment a head of her, but she will get through it with the continued grace and dignity she has shown during the past year.
Now that Ellie has done her make a wish trip ( which was so awesome) she is now looking forward to her next adventure: Camp Ta Kum Ta. She is so excited to be going. I can't wait to hear the stories she will come home with.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
St. Louis
Hi All
We have stopped tonight at a great KOA campground in Erie PA. It didn't take long for Ellie to jump in the pool, oh how she has missed swimming. Not many places we have stayed have had pools. Poor girl ours isn't even open for her to swim in when we get home.
We are not sure what we are doing tomorrow, Ellie and I would just as well stay her for another day, but we will see.
I was going to add more then this picture to the post but the wi-fi that we have in the campground is oohh sooo very slow. I will post them on FB.
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We have stopped tonight at a great KOA campground in Erie PA. It didn't take long for Ellie to jump in the pool, oh how she has missed swimming. Not many places we have stayed have had pools. Poor girl ours isn't even open for her to swim in when we get home.
We are not sure what we are doing tomorrow, Ellie and I would just as well stay her for another day, but we will see.
I was going to add more then this picture to the post but the wi-fi that we have in the campground is oohh sooo very slow. I will post them on FB.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Headed Home
Hello All
We left the Grand Canyon on July 9th and are heading home. We stayed at a hotel last night there were no campgrounds around when we were ready to stop, had to smuggle cubby up to the room. Thanks goodness he is a quiet dog. Tonights motel ( again no campgrounds around when you need one) allow pets.
We stopped at the Arch in St. Louis tonight. We took the tram to the top, Ellie had never been up in the Arch, I spent most of my summers here and went up in it as a kid and Paul and I had been up in it back in "93" on one of our visits here to see my relatives. It has changed alot, there is now a museum and interactive things for kids to play with while you wait in line to take this very small tram to the top. Once at the top you can actually feel the Arch itself swaying back and forth.
I do have pictures but have not down loaded them yet. These will come later.
We will get home probably Wednesday night. I had called Connie at Mekkelsen's were we got the RV from to see if we could keep it longer, turns out that it had to be back sooner then we thought. So we are headed staight for home, should take us two days from here.
I will update this blog and add pictures to it when we get home.
Good night all
We left the Grand Canyon on July 9th and are heading home. We stayed at a hotel last night there were no campgrounds around when we were ready to stop, had to smuggle cubby up to the room. Thanks goodness he is a quiet dog. Tonights motel ( again no campgrounds around when you need one) allow pets.
We stopped at the Arch in St. Louis tonight. We took the tram to the top, Ellie had never been up in the Arch, I spent most of my summers here and went up in it as a kid and Paul and I had been up in it back in "93" on one of our visits here to see my relatives. It has changed alot, there is now a museum and interactive things for kids to play with while you wait in line to take this very small tram to the top. Once at the top you can actually feel the Arch itself swaying back and forth.
I do have pictures but have not down loaded them yet. These will come later.
We will get home probably Wednesday night. I had called Connie at Mekkelsen's were we got the RV from to see if we could keep it longer, turns out that it had to be back sooner then we thought. So we are headed staight for home, should take us two days from here.
I will update this blog and add pictures to it when we get home.
Good night all
Yellowstone to Grand Canyon
We left Yellowstone on July 5th, it took us two long days ( one night) to get to the Grand Canyon. The roads were very long, winding and up and down. I'm glad Paul was driving. We went out of Yellowstone through the south entrance so we could see the Grand Teton Peaks, beautiful, very beautiful. These peaks still has snow on them too. Utah mountains also had lots of snow on them.
Arizona was a lot warmer, the days got up into the high 80's but it was much warmer then Yellowstone. We had a couple of thunderstorms in the late afternoon early evenings, got some good videos on the rim of one of the storms.
Thursday July 7th we went on a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon, this was very cool. Ellie had never flown so she was very excited about this adventure. She did not want to come down, I can see her wanting to learn how to fly one. We also went to a bird show that had huge condors, cranes, falcons and ravens. Where the bird show is there were also an Imax movie on the Grand Canyon, very cool.
We took a shuttle bus to different parts of the rim, at each stop you can get out and hike along the rim alittle or a lot. During one of the stops, at Yavapai Geology Museum there was a storm coming in across the canyon, it was such a site. I got some pretty cool videos of the storm and lighting. These storms tend to come in fast and hard. Ellie had talked about going to the skywalk, which is a a glass ridge out over the canyon, but we found out that it is actually 250 miles away from the canyon on an indian reservation, you have to book a seperate tour to go out on it, so we weren't able to do this, maybe next time.
Back on Line
Hi All
Finally we have internet and cell service. We could not find a campground on I 70 in Illinois, so we are in a super 8. Whats up with the National Parks and not having any electronic connections. It seems like so long ago I was able to connect with anyone.
I am going to catch the blog up in sections as we did things.
The last time I wrote we were leaving Mount Rushmore on Sat the 2nd of July, it was only a day drive to Yellowstone so we got there later that day. Wait til you see the pictures from there, snow everywhere driving in. The mountains were so beautiful with all the snow on them, until we got up close and personal with the snow. We had snow in our campground. Ellie said she couldn't believe we drove all this way to see snow, I couldn't believe she wouldn't even make a snowball. The days were really nice 80's but the nights went down to 35, burrrrrr. there was alot of flooding in Yellowstone, Lake Yellowstone was way over it's banks, as well as the rivers and streams. There were some roads that were closed. Yellowstone had just opened the week prior to us arriving, they had 117 feet of snow this year. Wow I thought we had a lot.
Sunday we went horse back riding, yes all three of us. Ellie of course was a natural, Paul and I on the other hand didn't. Ellie was thrilled out on the trail, she didn't want to come back. There was one part of the trail that we went on, it went right along the edge of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, very close, I was pretty nervous, not Ellie she loved it. As we were going out on the trail there were lots of Elk up behind the barn, very pretty animals. We drove around to a couple of hot springs after horseback riding, at one of them there were two Bison standing right were everyone had to walk, of course we all were getting pictures. Ellie was so close she could have reached out and touched it, but didn't.
On Monday the 4th of July we took an 8 hour bus tour, we figured it would be nice for Paul to actually be able to look at the landscape instead of just the road. The tour went all around the upper portion of Yellowstone. We went to Old Faithful and saw it errupt twice. Very cool. We also went inside the Old Faithful in this is cool, it has staircases on each side of the lobby which you can climb up to the landing.
During the tour we saw lots of wild life, Bison, elk, otters, deer.
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Finally we have internet and cell service. We could not find a campground on I 70 in Illinois, so we are in a super 8. Whats up with the National Parks and not having any electronic connections. It seems like so long ago I was able to connect with anyone.
I am going to catch the blog up in sections as we did things.
The last time I wrote we were leaving Mount Rushmore on Sat the 2nd of July, it was only a day drive to Yellowstone so we got there later that day. Wait til you see the pictures from there, snow everywhere driving in. The mountains were so beautiful with all the snow on them, until we got up close and personal with the snow. We had snow in our campground. Ellie said she couldn't believe we drove all this way to see snow, I couldn't believe she wouldn't even make a snowball. The days were really nice 80's but the nights went down to 35, burrrrrr. there was alot of flooding in Yellowstone, Lake Yellowstone was way over it's banks, as well as the rivers and streams. There were some roads that were closed. Yellowstone had just opened the week prior to us arriving, they had 117 feet of snow this year. Wow I thought we had a lot.
Sunday we went horse back riding, yes all three of us. Ellie of course was a natural, Paul and I on the other hand didn't. Ellie was thrilled out on the trail, she didn't want to come back. There was one part of the trail that we went on, it went right along the edge of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, very close, I was pretty nervous, not Ellie she loved it. As we were going out on the trail there were lots of Elk up behind the barn, very pretty animals. We drove around to a couple of hot springs after horseback riding, at one of them there were two Bison standing right were everyone had to walk, of course we all were getting pictures. Ellie was so close she could have reached out and touched it, but didn't.
On Monday the 4th of July we took an 8 hour bus tour, we figured it would be nice for Paul to actually be able to look at the landscape instead of just the road. The tour went all around the upper portion of Yellowstone. We went to Old Faithful and saw it errupt twice. Very cool. We also went inside the Old Faithful in this is cool, it has staircases on each side of the lobby which you can climb up to the landing.
During the tour we saw lots of wild life, Bison, elk, otters, deer.
Friday, July 1, 2011
MT Rushmore, Gold Mine, Reptile Garden, Wax Museum
Hello All
It is our last night in Keystone. We are sad to leave yet excited for our next adventure: Yellowstone here we come.
Today we started out at Mount Rushmore. Another amazing site, even in the rain. Unfortunately we never made it back tonight for the lighting ceremony, this is where they light up the heads for a little while each night. I am just in awe of these carvings that were done so many years ago. They are a beautiful site.
Next we ventured into a gold mine to see how those work. The mine we went into they say it was a working mine back in it's day, but the two men who owned it only pulled $200.00 in gold out of it during the 35 years they worked it. They had as much luck as Ellie did panning. She found a few flakes, now they sit in a little vial like a million dollar prize. She will cherish it forever.
We also went to a Reptile Garden, just let me say I really had no interest in going her, but Ellie really wanted to. I will say it was alot different then I had expected. This place had more frogs, turtles, snakes, lizards of all varieties, alligators, spiders just to mention a few. One of the alligators weighed over 1000 pounds. There were also pythons that were 23 feet long. We saw shows with birds, alligators, and snakes. There were also prairie dogs and tortoises that had to have weighed 500lbs. One of the coolest things was the skelton of the largest sea turtle found in South Dakota, it lived when the dinosaurs lived, it was hugh. I will try to post pictures here, if they don't post look at them on facebook.
The last thing today was the Wax Museum of all the presidents. This was ok, some of the presidents really looked real, others were too shiney. Ellie had a history lesson and didn't even know it too funny.
Tomorrow we pull out, we have around 500 miles to drive to Yellowstone.
We are hoping to stop at Devils Tower on the way, we shall see.
Good night to you all
It is our last night in Keystone. We are sad to leave yet excited for our next adventure: Yellowstone here we come.
Today we started out at Mount Rushmore. Another amazing site, even in the rain. Unfortunately we never made it back tonight for the lighting ceremony, this is where they light up the heads for a little while each night. I am just in awe of these carvings that were done so many years ago. They are a beautiful site.
Next we ventured into a gold mine to see how those work. The mine we went into they say it was a working mine back in it's day, but the two men who owned it only pulled $200.00 in gold out of it during the 35 years they worked it. They had as much luck as Ellie did panning. She found a few flakes, now they sit in a little vial like a million dollar prize. She will cherish it forever.
We also went to a Reptile Garden, just let me say I really had no interest in going her, but Ellie really wanted to. I will say it was alot different then I had expected. This place had more frogs, turtles, snakes, lizards of all varieties, alligators, spiders just to mention a few. One of the alligators weighed over 1000 pounds. There were also pythons that were 23 feet long. We saw shows with birds, alligators, and snakes. There were also prairie dogs and tortoises that had to have weighed 500lbs. One of the coolest things was the skelton of the largest sea turtle found in South Dakota, it lived when the dinosaurs lived, it was hugh. I will try to post pictures here, if they don't post look at them on facebook.
The last thing today was the Wax Museum of all the presidents. This was ok, some of the presidents really looked real, others were too shiney. Ellie had a history lesson and didn't even know it too funny.
Tomorrow we pull out, we have around 500 miles to drive to Yellowstone.
We are hoping to stop at Devils Tower on the way, we shall see.
Good night to you all
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Crazy Horse, Custer State Park
Hello All
Today we decided to rent a car for our stay, the roads and hills around here do not make good driving in an RV.
We headed our this morning to Crazy Horse. It is amazing what a man can do when he sets his mind to it. The blasting the sculptor did on the mountain way back in 1948 with very little tools is outstanding. I am wishful that it will be finished in my life time. Ellie was intriqued by all the indian artifacts that some of the tribes were making on site. Very expensive.
On our way back we decided to take a drive through Custer State Park. Thinking this would not take very long we headed in, it took us a half an hour just to drive to the park, which no one at the first gate bothers to tell you. Poor Ellie is watching out the window looking for all the wild animals that were suppose to be around and there are none. After finally going throught the gate to the park it took a while but we came upon a pack of wild donkeys on the side of the road. They were very cute. One of them was standing right in the middle of the road so everyone had to go around him, he was not about to move. There were other donkeys along the way, one mom and a baby that were really cute. The funniest one was at a pull off site where you can get out of your car and take picuters, there was a white one that people were petting and feeding carrots to. Ellie got out and got some really good pictures. We saw a few deer, gazelles(?) and one buffalo. Ellie had been waiting the whole car ride for a head of buffalo's and she only got to see one.
On the road to The Needles Eye, (which is a rock formation that is standing up straight and tall, and at the top of the rock there is a slit in it just like in a needle) she did get to see a deer that came over to the car window, very excited. The last animal we saw were chipmunks, there was an area on the road to needles eye that we pulled over to, there must have been a dozen chipmunks on this one rock, they would come right up to you, looking for food. Ellie wanted them to come over to her and when they did she would freak out, Paul and I were laughing so hard.
The road to The Needles Eye was so cool, very windy and lots of hairpin turns, also the tunnels we had to go through were very small, there was one I didn't think we were going to make it. I was glad we had gotten the car because the RV would never had made this road.
We were going to go to Mount Rushmore tonight to see the lighting of the mountain but a storm blew in with thunder and lighting, so we will go tomorrow. It is nice to have one more day here, lots to see. Ellie wants to go pan for gold tomorrow and then to a reptile garden, lots of snakes, alligators and other reptiles (yuck).
Things are going very good. It is a very exciting trip for Ellie, thank god she is feeling ok.
Until tomorrow
Good night all
Pattie, Paul and Ellie
Today we decided to rent a car for our stay, the roads and hills around here do not make good driving in an RV.
We headed our this morning to Crazy Horse. It is amazing what a man can do when he sets his mind to it. The blasting the sculptor did on the mountain way back in 1948 with very little tools is outstanding. I am wishful that it will be finished in my life time. Ellie was intriqued by all the indian artifacts that some of the tribes were making on site. Very expensive.
On our way back we decided to take a drive through Custer State Park. Thinking this would not take very long we headed in, it took us a half an hour just to drive to the park, which no one at the first gate bothers to tell you. Poor Ellie is watching out the window looking for all the wild animals that were suppose to be around and there are none. After finally going throught the gate to the park it took a while but we came upon a pack of wild donkeys on the side of the road. They were very cute. One of them was standing right in the middle of the road so everyone had to go around him, he was not about to move. There were other donkeys along the way, one mom and a baby that were really cute. The funniest one was at a pull off site where you can get out of your car and take picuters, there was a white one that people were petting and feeding carrots to. Ellie got out and got some really good pictures. We saw a few deer, gazelles(?) and one buffalo. Ellie had been waiting the whole car ride for a head of buffalo's and she only got to see one.
On the road to The Needles Eye, (which is a rock formation that is standing up straight and tall, and at the top of the rock there is a slit in it just like in a needle) she did get to see a deer that came over to the car window, very excited. The last animal we saw were chipmunks, there was an area on the road to needles eye that we pulled over to, there must have been a dozen chipmunks on this one rock, they would come right up to you, looking for food. Ellie wanted them to come over to her and when they did she would freak out, Paul and I were laughing so hard.
The road to The Needles Eye was so cool, very windy and lots of hairpin turns, also the tunnels we had to go through were very small, there was one I didn't think we were going to make it. I was glad we had gotten the car because the RV would never had made this road.
We were going to go to Mount Rushmore tonight to see the lighting of the mountain but a storm blew in with thunder and lighting, so we will go tomorrow. It is nice to have one more day here, lots to see. Ellie wants to go pan for gold tomorrow and then to a reptile garden, lots of snakes, alligators and other reptiles (yuck).
Things are going very good. It is a very exciting trip for Ellie, thank god she is feeling ok.
Until tomorrow
Good night all
Pattie, Paul and Ellie
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Niagara to Mount Rushmore
Hello From Mount Rushmore
We made it, acutally a day early. We were suppose to spend two nights on the road, but made it in less time. Thank goodness the campground here was able to let us come a night early.
The ride here was pretty cool. Some of the hills and valleys reminded us of Vermont, until we came to the bad lands. Ellie was in awe of the landscapes in front of her. We were able to get out and actually walk on some of the formations, it was amazing. We are seeing things that we never expected. Tomorrow we will go to Mount Rushmore, Custard State Park, and a gold mine. Ellie wants to pan for gold, hope she makes us rich (ha ha).
There are a few other things that Ellie wants to do, having an extra day here will come in handy. We do not leave here until Saturday.
We made it, acutally a day early. We were suppose to spend two nights on the road, but made it in less time. Thank goodness the campground here was able to let us come a night early.
The ride here was pretty cool. Some of the hills and valleys reminded us of Vermont, until we came to the bad lands. Ellie was in awe of the landscapes in front of her. We were able to get out and actually walk on some of the formations, it was amazing. We are seeing things that we never expected. Tomorrow we will go to Mount Rushmore, Custard State Park, and a gold mine. Ellie wants to pan for gold, hope she makes us rich (ha ha).
There are a few other things that Ellie wants to do, having an extra day here will come in handy. We do not leave here until Saturday.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Day 2 at Niagara Falls
Hi All
This has been one very busy day. We left the campground via a tour of the whole American side of the falls. Our first destination was Whirlpool Falls. What an amazing site, the water was the prettiest shade of green, the green you usaually only see out at sea. When we arrived here there was a TV station camera crew, we found out that two teenagers had snuck into the river up above this portion of the falls last night and were now missing. Why do kids do the things they do, they all think they are indistructable. I hope they are found soon.
After leaving this area we made our way to the Cave of the Winds, another amazing site. We were given these all so beautiful sandals, and yellow ponchos, of course the ponchos barely covered your fanny, so no matter what you knew you were in for a soaking. We took and elevator 175 feet down to the caves, then walking out on boadwalks and steps going up and down all over going right next to the falls. You could reach out and touch them they were so close. There was one area called Hurricane Deck, standing there it felt like you were in a hurricane, Ellie loved this area.
When we left the caves we wondered around the other portions of the falls, Horse Shoe Falls, Bridal Falls, and Luna Falls. This was the area we were at last night for the fireworks. Our last stop on the trip was to a boat ride called Maid of the Mist. We took another elevator down 270 feet to board the boat, first getting these lovely blue ponchos. These were longer then the yellow ones so of course we thought we were going to stay dry, yea right. The first part of the ride was nice, you could take great pictures of the falls and the breeze was nice, then all of sudden you are right next to Horse Shoe falls and all you see is mist. Paul and Ellie were on the top part of the boat, I stayed down on the lower deck to take pictures without ruining my camera. When they came down they were soaked from head to toe. So much for those lovely ponchos. Paul said that you could not open your eyes for very long up there the mist was so bad, and the wind was awful. Of course Ellie loved this part too. It was a very hot day so getting wet had it's benefits today. We are sad that we did not have enough time to go to the Canadian side. Some day we will come back.
We finished they day off with a very nice dinner at outback.
Tomorrow we head out very early for Mount Rushmore. It is 1500 miles from here to there, tomorrow will be a very long day, but the destination will be so worth it.
Until Mount Rushmore
Good night All
This has been one very busy day. We left the campground via a tour of the whole American side of the falls. Our first destination was Whirlpool Falls. What an amazing site, the water was the prettiest shade of green, the green you usaually only see out at sea. When we arrived here there was a TV station camera crew, we found out that two teenagers had snuck into the river up above this portion of the falls last night and were now missing. Why do kids do the things they do, they all think they are indistructable. I hope they are found soon.
After leaving this area we made our way to the Cave of the Winds, another amazing site. We were given these all so beautiful sandals, and yellow ponchos, of course the ponchos barely covered your fanny, so no matter what you knew you were in for a soaking. We took and elevator 175 feet down to the caves, then walking out on boadwalks and steps going up and down all over going right next to the falls. You could reach out and touch them they were so close. There was one area called Hurricane Deck, standing there it felt like you were in a hurricane, Ellie loved this area.
When we left the caves we wondered around the other portions of the falls, Horse Shoe Falls, Bridal Falls, and Luna Falls. This was the area we were at last night for the fireworks. Our last stop on the trip was to a boat ride called Maid of the Mist. We took another elevator down 270 feet to board the boat, first getting these lovely blue ponchos. These were longer then the yellow ones so of course we thought we were going to stay dry, yea right. The first part of the ride was nice, you could take great pictures of the falls and the breeze was nice, then all of sudden you are right next to Horse Shoe falls and all you see is mist. Paul and Ellie were on the top part of the boat, I stayed down on the lower deck to take pictures without ruining my camera. When they came down they were soaked from head to toe. So much for those lovely ponchos. Paul said that you could not open your eyes for very long up there the mist was so bad, and the wind was awful. Of course Ellie loved this part too. It was a very hot day so getting wet had it's benefits today. We are sad that we did not have enough time to go to the Canadian side. Some day we will come back.
We finished they day off with a very nice dinner at outback.
Tomorrow we head out very early for Mount Rushmore. It is 1500 miles from here to there, tomorrow will be a very long day, but the destination will be so worth it.
Until Mount Rushmore
Good night All
Sunday, June 26, 2011
End of First Day
Hi All
We have had a marvelous first day.
We just got back from the American side of the falls, we took a taxi there for dinner. The resturant we went to was not the one we were told it was, so no spinnig floor. That one is on the Canadian side, we will go there tomorrow.
We are also going on a 4 hour tour tomorrow which I am told entails getting very wet, that should be fun. I hope it's warm like today.
Our campground is small but nice, Ellie didn't waste any time jumping in the pool, she was hoping it would be heated, but it was not.
Good night everyone
More tomorrow from Niagara Falls.
Niagara Falls
Hello Everyone
We have reached our fist destination Niagara Falls. We have set the camper up and are headed over to the falls for dinner at the Top of the Falls Resturant, suppose to be great views and the whole resturant spins, hopefully not too much.
I will write more when we get back tonight.
I hope everyone can access this.
We have reached our fist destination Niagara Falls. We have set the camper up and are headed over to the falls for dinner at the Top of the Falls Resturant, suppose to be great views and the whole resturant spins, hopefully not too much.
I will write more when we get back tonight.
I hope everyone can access this.
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