Summer Road Trip: Utah and Nevada

We continued our journey through the states and made it to Utah. The first visitor center had a nice sign for photos just on the other side of the parking lot. Not sure if you noticed, but we stopped at a visitor center in each state because Adam insisted we had to stop to pick up a state map. Never mind the fact that we had a current Atlas for us, atlas' for the kids, google map print outs, a GPS, and maps on my phone. He has turned into a total DAD on these trips! Why do they all need more and more maps???

D and L were super excited to see more prairie dogs running around by the building eating food that had fallen.

One of the places along the route the kids were most excited to see were the Bonneville Salt Flats! Have you watched the movie The World's Fastest Indian? It's a great movie that takes place there and talks about the racing that has occurred in the area for decades. D was the one that was just itching to get out there and run on the salt flats, and Adam was happy to let her! We just pulled off to the side of the road in a safe place and let them run. We scrapped up some of the salt on the top layer and brought it home for my dad. My dad has a love of cars, racing, and travel and has not yet made it out west yet even though he has dreamed of it for as long as I can remember. It was the least we could do.   I found it really interesting to see all the tires marks as we drove along. People get out there and drive around all the time. I also thought it was really neat all the messages people left either spelling it out with rocks or writing in the salt. Very cool stuff!

The Tree of Utah

And just like that, we cross into Wendover Nevada. You can tell that gambling is all the thing here, there are slot machines in the bathroom!!!

Once again we found a camp site through the free camping website. This was South Fork State Recreational area in Nevada just south of Elko. We got in later than we wanted, we got lost in the park trying to find the tent camping, and tensions began to run high. We finally found our location, set up camp for the night, and ate a quick dinner. The kids and I got in the tent while Adam cleaned up, we had a lantern on inside the tent while we wrote about our day in our travel journals. It sounded like it was raining, and that was when I realized it sounded that way from all the bugs hitting the outside of the tent. YUCK!!!!

We set up the tent on the gravel by the picnic shelter because we saw tons of prairie dog holes in the ground. We didn't want to take any chances. In the morning, L had noticed that the prairie dogs has closed up their holes overnight. Hmmm, I guess we didn't need to worry. We packed up with the exciting knowledge that by that night we would be at our friend's house in the Bay Area! California here we come!!!

This casino houses the world's largest dead polar bear. We had heard that they have postcards with him on them so I headed into the casino to take a look. The place was pretty empty, and I struggled to find a worker, much less one that spoke English. I found the bear, looked around, and didn't see anything. The bartender finally saw me and asked if I needed help. I asked about the postcards and she looked at me like I was crazy. I explained how I read they had some postcards, and that maybe they were out of them. She laughed and said they haven't had those for about 40 years. Oh well!

This was at a really pretty rest stop along the way in Nevada, pretty much right in the middle of the dessert. The bathrooms themselves were horrible, but the rest of the area was really nice.

And finally on our last travel day before we arrive, we stopped at a pizza place for a pizza buffet lunch just outside Reno. The kids thought this little guy was so cute they needed their picture with him.

California bound, here we come!!!!!

Summer Road Trip: Wyoming, and Colorado???

Day 2 of our travels brings us to Wyoming, or Adam's favorite state. The views are absolutely amazing here, every where you look. One of the first rest stops/visitor centers is in Pine Bluffs. The facilities are perfectly fine, but the cool part is that you can go on a short hike to a real archaeological dig site and explore the area.  The kids did great on the hike there even though the temps were soaring well into the 90's at this point. Once there, we were able to find out a lot about the people that used this area as a mode of transportation. The kids were even able to "hunt" for arrow heads. We were just about to leave when the lady working there asked where we were heading. We told her our camp location and she said it was beautiful. Then Adam noticed a sign by the door, "Please don't tease the rattle snakes". He of course made light of it and a little joke. The lady then goes on to tell the kids that was why she had a shovel at both doorways, and that you can sometimes find them on the path back so to be careful and watch your step. THEN she says that they have grasshoppers there that make the same sound as a rattlesnake but they stop making the noise after a bit. What was just a 7 min hike there, turned into a 15 min hike back resulting in Adam carrying D because she was too frightened to take another step. Thanks lady!

 (see those super cool looking shirts we are all wearing? We made those the week before our trip so that we could have fun looking shirts to wear. All you need is a cotton shirt, Sharpie markers, and rubbing alcohol. Check here for more details)

 We made a stop at the tree in the rock just outside of Buford. D was super excited to see prairie dogs just running around by us while we stopped.

 We then made it to our camp site for the 2nd night. We stayed at Vedauwoo Campgrounds in the National Forrest in Buford Wyoming. Super cheap at just $10 a night. Tent camping was nice and quiet. Because we arrived on a Sunday night not many people were there.

 Our site for the night. Here is really where the Leave No Trace policy is super important!!!! The views from our tent were just amazingly breathtaking! We could not believe our luck and finding this wonderful little diamond in the rough. After dinner we went for a short little hike. The kids were still spooked by the lady's warnings of rattle snakes, but to make it worse, they spotted signs all over that said, "Bears love trash". So now not only were they freaked out about rattlesnakes, they were frightened of bears. (I must say, so was I)

 On our hike, we made sure to stay on the path way and to not disturb any of the rock formations. We only climbed where it was safe, and on the path. The kids found to rocks to be fun and silly at times.

(I spotted this one and thought it looked like a face)

Our site in the morning just before packing up.

Just across I-80 on the same road as our campground sits the Ames Brothers Pyramid. Once you arrive to the road, don't be surprised that it is a gravel road for about 3 miles. This pyramid just sort of showed up out of nowhere as you are traveling down. When we arrived there, a small group of college kids were hanging out. They had sent off weather balloons further down the road, and were waiting there for them to land somewhere so they could go and retrieve them. Pretty neat!

Just a little bit further down I-80 sits this really interesting rest stop. It also holds a giant statue head of Abraham Lincoln, and is the highest elevation point along the entire route of I-80. The kids joked that they were about to get sneezed on while standing underneath this head. There is also a museum inside the rest area. An added bonus is that a bunch of rest stops along the way were giving out Wyoming tourist stickers that have a fun vintage feel to them.

Now if you have ever looked at t a map of I-80 through Wyoming or even traveled it, you would know that it runs very close to the southern border. We were playing a game in the car where we had to look for someone picking their nose (fun, right?), and we missed what looked like a turn off for continuing on I-80. Next thing we know we see a sign that says Welcome to Colorado! Wait, what??? That was not a state on our list to go through, how did we end up here?? So we stopped at the visitor center to find out. We explained to the nice ladies inside what had happened, and she said that 90% of the people they get in are for the same reason. Who knew?!?!?!

So we added on an additional 30 min to our travel time that day, but got to knock off another state on our list! Next stop Utah and Nevada!!!

Tips for camping/road trips for families

This summer our family took a giant road trip! We drove from Indiana to San Fransisco and back within 2 weeks. WITH KIDS!!!!!  I know what you are thinking, "What are you, crazy????" Well yes, we pretty much are, but we also know our kids. These 2 are amazing little travelers, and love to see more and more of the world. With our budget we need to be creative with our exploring because we don't have extra cash for airfare, hotels, and fast food while on vacation. So we drive and camp.

We decided to take this trip for a few reasons. 1. Adam and I took this trip on our honeymoon and this year we were celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary. So why not take the trip again but bring the kids with. They have heard our stories for as long as they have been alive, and were so excited to see some of the places from the stories and pictures. 2. Adam has been friends with Andy since they were kids, Andy and his wife Monica now live in the Bay area and were saying that no one comes to visit. We really wanted to be able to visit with them and change this. So off we went!

Scouting camp sites:
I kept our receipts from our last trip for some reason, and went online to check to see if they were all still there and how much the price has changed. Adam wanted to camp in new locations, and he ended up stumbling upon an amazing resource! http://freecampsites.net/usa/ has lists of free or cheap campsites listed according to state. The site gives tons of info on each site, price list, reviews, and links to the campsites own web pages.

Food:
This was a tricky one. Adam was adamant that we would not eat fast food the whole time we were gone, which is great, but with camping AND car snacks, I had to really think. We did most of our shopping at Aldi, Meijer, and I scored some giant bags of candy on clearance at Walgreens.

While packing the food, I divided big packages into smaller containers. I found that Crystal Light containers worked amazingly!!!! I filled them with candy (Skittles, Life Savers, and Gummy Bears), Goldfish crackers (so they wouldn't get crushed), pretzels, and dried fruit, nuts, and seeds. I also found that containers a friends gave me leftover after using Dole Shakers, these were also great for the above, but I had stashed creamer, condiments, and napkins.

Now for breakfast, I knew it had to be pretty easy and possible to eat in the car. I made a double batch of blueberry banana muffins (to use up freezer stuff), and then froze them. We also had mini bagels with a jar of peanut butter. But the one I am most proud of was that I prepped scrambled eggs for us to have on the 3rd travel morning. I had a dozen eggs that I wanted to use up before we left, so I cracked them into a freezer safe plastic container, added a splash of milk, salt and pepper, and whisk until beaten. Now put on the lid, and pop in the freezer before it is time to go. We kept them in the cooler, and by our 3rd days they were mostly thawed, still chunks that were frozen and still very cold. We brought a vintage Colman stove that I had picked up at a garage sale for $5 a few years ago, and I picked up a nice deep skillet from the thrift store for cheap so that we could cook on the stove. We warmed up the muffins in this pan as well.

For lunch, I picked up flat sandwich buns, and we had turkey lunch meat in the cooler. We made quick sandwiches at a stop along the way for the day. Add whatever fruit and chips/popcorn/pretzels that we had in the car.

For dinner, Adam insisted on bringing rice dishes. I had also brought a package of turkey hot dogs. To keep the buns fresh, I also stuck those in the freezer before leaving.

For drinks, we used our 4 reusable drinking bottles the entire times. I picked up 2 jugs of drinking water to have in the car. This was used to refill anyone's cups, and also for cooking and cleaning while we were gone. We were able to refill our water jugs along the way at various camp sites or rest stops. I had made a batch of my homemade iced coffee, and kept it in a reused juice bottle in the trunk. That way we could have our morning coffee with little fuss. I also picked up some Starbucks Via to have on hand for the ride home. I was not a fan, too much caffeine in those gave me a massive headache.

To set up our cooler, we place 4 plastic cups open end down in the bottom of the cooler. We then added a bag of ice, and then a large flat tray on top of the cups. This way we could add the food into the cooler without everything getting soaking wet. The cooler stayed really cold this way still. Anything that needed to be the coldest like the eggs or yogurt tubes or lunch meat, went on the bottom of the stack. The breads and things went toward the top of the stack.

We did make a fire each night, but did not carry our own firewood. We used downed or dead branches, logs, and sticks. We also made s'mores almost every night. I kept the graham crackers and marshmallows in a large plastic container, and the chocolate in the cooler. To make roasting the marshmallows easier, I brought with bamboo skewers. That way when we were done we could just toss into the fire to help us leave no trace.

Two reusable bags were used to hold food items, another was used to hold all eating/cooking supplies (I found enamel camping plates at the thrift store for $.50 each), and then we used another bag to hold extra camping supplies like matches, flashlights, lanterns, small camping axe, weather radio, and thin floor mat (put at the door of the tent on the outside to help keep dirt out).

Clothing:
This was hard!!!! We had to pack for weather anywhere from 65-100 degrees!!!! Plus limited space!!!! YIKES!!!! We used the kids smaller rolling suitcases. I knew that when we arrived at our friend's house in the Bay area, we could do laundry. I just needed enough for us to all have clean clothes on the way out. We have 1 pair of pj's, 1 pair of jeans, and 1 sweatshirt for each of us. To pack the clothes, I actually rolled all the items for one outfit together in a small roll. This made it easy to pack in the case, plus when it came time to grab clothes in the morning, I could hand each kid just one roll and they were off.

A BIG suggestion, practice packing your car before you leave!!!!! This way you will have an idea where everything needs to go, and if you can actually fit it all. We have a smaller SUV, we were cramped at times, but we had everything we needed and everyone was comfortable the entire time.  

And last but not least, activities for the kids in the car. We had devices with us, but they were not allowed to be on them the entire time. Each kid had a fully charged Kurio tablet , and brought with the charger for when we arrived in Cali. They played them until they ran out of battery life. We also brought our first generation iPad that I had loaded with a few episodes from 3 of our favorite shows, and a few new games. We also had a portable DVD player, and each kid was allowed to pick out 3 DVDs to bring along. (The whole family sang along to the movie Frozen a few times). I had kid friendly headphones for each kid to use while using these devices. In addition, I had 3 chapter books for each child, a Highlights hidden picture book, a National Geography Kids Atlas,   Summer learning books, we made a print out Google map of each travel day, dry erase markers, a small pad of construction paper, kid safe scissors, glue stick, colored pencils.

Hope this has helped some. We did our best to do this as cheaply as we could. We also practiced Leave No Trace as best as we could. In fact, we cleaned up other sites that were left behind. I'm sure I will think of more things we did along the way, and will try to add them in as I remember.