fowlandfishmommy 10 Posted September 30, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2016 So we left at about 3:00pm from the Birmingham area. It immediately started raining and we got in horrible traffic. I guess due to the rain and early Friday traffic. Throughout our traveling to avoid having to find restaurants and to save money we took sandwich stuff, hummus, pasta salad, chips, and fruit. We did eventually get tired of it, but it was fine. We stopped at rest areas along the way. This was also so the boys could run and burn some energy. I also had the car fully stocked with snacks and we had a small cooler for drinks that we restocked when we stopped for other reasons. This is where we camped in Paducah. It was pretty nice. I don't remember much though. Other than the showers were clean and tiny. http://www.duckcreekrv.com/ The next morning we gassed up and headed out to our next destination. We are Good Sam's members so we got discounts at all of the campgrounds on our way and on gas at Flying J. These are pictures from our drive on Saturday. Know where this is??? At first I wanted to go in the arch. Then I read how small the pods where that you ride in and I said, "Um no thanks" so we soldiered on. We made it to a splash pad in Independence, MO and let the boys have some fun. Daddy wasn't to thrilled about this stop but the boys loved it and they needed some fun. We eventually made it to Nebraska City and this is where we stopped for the night. It was a super nice campground and I wish we could have stayed longer. There were TONS of huge toads everywhere which the boys loved. They chased tons of them. Showers were awesome! http://www.victorianacresrvpark.com/index.htm Quote Link to post Share on other sites
caveat lector 181 Posted September 30, 2016 Report Share Posted September 30, 2016 Cool pics of the Arch and the Stan Musial bridge. The pods to the top of the Arch are tight. In addition, due to the curve of the arch,they "adjust and self level" as you go. It's a bit unsettling. That being said, the view is insane. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beckers 1,136 Posted September 30, 2016 Report Share Posted September 30, 2016 Watching the videos of the pod arches almost make me ill. I could never go in them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
momof3kids-Yvonne 594 Posted September 30, 2016 Report Share Posted September 30, 2016 You took the same path we do when we head to Nebraska. How long did you stay in Nebraska City? Did you have the same conversation we do when going through St. Louis? Steve, "Should we go through downtown or go around?" Me, "Let's just go around" Steve, "Kids, do you want to to drive by the arch?" Kids, "Not really." Steve, "So do we want to drive through downtown or take the bypass? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted September 30, 2016 Report Share Posted September 30, 2016 This is a fun read. I'm enjoying your thoughts and narrative on how you planned the trip, planning for the kids to blow off some steam now and then, etc. Keeping it real. I also like the trailer you selected. That will serve you well for a long time. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fowlandfishmommy 10 Posted October 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2016 Test run Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fowlandfishmommy 10 Posted October 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2016 Hi everyone, I'm recovering from my surgery so hopefully I can get several installments done on this trip report. I have no idea why my last post pictures are no longer showing up. Hopefully that won't happen again. We left off in Nebraska City where we stayed the night. The next morning (Sunday) we headed through Nebraska. Up until this point the landscape we were traveling though wasn't that different from Alabama. One of our favorite things was seeing how different this country of ours is. I think we all think where we live is how it is everywhere else and we forget how big the United States is and how different the climate and landscape is. Starting in Nebraska City all we saw was corn, corn, corn, soybeans, and corn. And very few trees. This day was kind of hard. It was a fairly boring drive and it was a constant gradual up hill pull. The truck strained a lot and we sweated a lot. But thankfully there were lots of beautiful rest stops and we got to enjoy a wonderful lunch and the boys got to wrestle. As I said before, we made sure to stop at rest areas to eat. So the boys could run and play and stretch their legs. It was also fun to read the signs at the different stops. This stretch of road had tons of rest stops, plenty to choose from. Then as we started getting closer to entering Wyoming there were no trees and rocky cliffs and plateaus. We were all amazed. And finally we were in the state of our destination. We planned to enter Yellowstone from the East Entrance. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fowlandfishmommy 10 Posted October 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2016 More from Sunday's drive. We had just entered Wyoming. Sorry for the dirty windshield. Finally we made it to our destination, Casper, Wyoming. This is where we stayed http://www.caspereastrvpark.com/ It was not an extremely nice campground. In fact I'm pretty surprised it was a Good Sam Campground. We called earlier in the day and reserved a spot with a credit card. They told me they'd have an envelope waiting on us with our spot on it. Well we got there and our spot was taken. We really had no other choice and it was about 11pm so we just found an open spot and parked for the night. We woke up bright and early before they were open and got on our way. I really have no idea if they even charged us. From our one night opinion Casper is a fairly rough town. I'm sure you have to be a pretty hard core person to live there, so we understood. But we were yelled at and cussed at when heading out the next day (while driving). And it was just not a very pretty town, or at least the parts we saw. (Sorry if any of you are Casper residents) All was fine though and we continued on to Yellowstone. woodsluvdis 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
momof3kids-Yvonne 594 Posted October 25, 2016 Report Share Posted October 25, 2016 I wish you would have had time to get off the interstate in Nebraska and drive on the highways. There really is much more than just corn and soybeans. Sadly though that is all that is really visible from I-80. Truth be told I didn't even know about the other landscape like the sandhills until I started dating my husband. I had lived in the state and had never been there to visit. My goal each time we go back to visit it to find a new place or thing to do there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fowlandfishmommy 10 Posted October 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2016 6 hours ago, momof3kids-Yvonne said: I wish you would have had time to get off the interstate in Nebraska and drive on the highways. There really is much more than just corn and soybeans. Sadly though that is all that is really visible from I-80. Truth be told I didn't even know about the other landscape like the sandhills until I started dating my husband. I had lived in the state and had never been there to visit. My goal each time we go back to visit it to find a new place or thing to do there. I would have loved to have done more everywhere we went. We travel a lot with little kids and we have learned keeping it simple is the key to enjoying a trip. We'll go back is our motto. :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547 Posted October 25, 2016 Report Share Posted October 25, 2016 Really enjoying your pictures! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fowlandfishmommy 10 Posted October 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2016 Next off we have made it to Monday. If you remember we left central Alabama at 3:00 pm on Friday. Monday is the day we will arrive in Yellowstone. We knew that we need to stock up for a weeks worth of groceries before we got there. So we planned to head out off Casper, WO and drive to Cody, WO stop and buy groceries at WalMart and then head on in to Yellowstone. This was a really fun day of driving. Just a little information. Yellowstone does have quite a few "camp stores". They are super super nice and have everything you might need (I even forgot apple cider vinegar and they had it there!). But they are pretty expensive and hard to park and get around there. I highly suggest you buy groceries before entering Yellowstone so you are ready to go once you get there. Every different area of Yellowstone has very nice restaurants. Usually a "table service" and a "counter service". They are very good and not overly expensive. But for a family of 5 it would have added up quickly. And it would have been very inconvenient to have to make sure to be in one of the little "towns" of Yellowstone every time you are ready to eat. Taking a cooler and a blanket in the truck with lunch everyday worked perfectly for us. There are picnic areas everywhere. And I put a meal in the crockpot every morning before we headed out and that way when we got home dinner was ready. I planned all of our meals before we left so I could check and double check the grocery list before I got there. This was a rest area in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming. They had a nice warning on the door. Apparently in the winter snakes like to hide in there to get some heat. We started to see mountains! A lot of people have asked us about the drive, pulling a camper. (I may have answered that question on her) But you really go through the mountains, not over them. So it was fine. The Nebraska day was the hardest. This was much easier. We passed by the Buffalo Bill Center. And really wanted to stop. But we were exhausted and ready to be in Yellowstone. And we made it to Cody. Cody is a beautiful town. We plan next time we go to reconfigure our stops so that we can stop here and go to a rodeo (they have one every night) and camp here. Lots of other campers stocking up too. Pretties view at a gas station I've ever seen. Big brother and daddy went to buy gas while myself and the little two got a head start with groceries. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fowlandfishmommy 10 Posted October 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2016 Next we left Cody after buying groceries at Walmart. FYI there are no frozen buttermilk biscuits or tea bags (for sweet tea) at the Cody, WO Walmart. Ha! There were several awesome tunnels that we drove through. The kids LOVED it. I have a video that I can't find, but if I do I'll post it. <a href="http://s1267.photobucket.com/user/fjvick/media/trip42_zpsa1x8ciqy.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj554/fjvick/trip42_zpsa1x8ciqy.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo trip42_zpsa1x8ciqy.jpg"/></a> There were tons of ranches along the way. Many that you could stay at and get the whole "City Slickers" "Hey Dude" (y'all remember Hey Dude??) experience. We learned that this land was given to WWI veterans for free if they were willing to homestead it. (AKA move to the middle of nowhere) So since it was very hard to grow anything they had animals (sheep especially) and eventually they were sold or families passed them down and made ranches for tourists. Wish some of my ancestors would have taken up that offer!! There were campgrounds all along this roadway. I'm not sure if they were full hookup or not. If I had to guess I'd say not. But I could be wrong. From the way it freezes and snows here in the winter I think having water and sewage all over the place like a campground requires is not very common. Another ranch. These pictures do not do this justice. This was the most gorgeous stretch of land I've ever seen. (Well up until then) And FINALLY!! The national parks currently have a program called Every Kid in a Park. Basically if you have a forth grader, your whole family gets into the park for free. From this point on we realized these park rangers were amazing. They all LOVED talking to the kids and seeing the kids enjoying the park. They were very much like castmembers. So knowledgeable, so helpful, so nice, so fun. So our oldest had to do a little pledge and sign his name to a card and we were in. For free. (not the camp sight just the park entry) https://www.nationalparks.org/our-work/campaigns-initiatives/every-kid-park?gclid=CO7Nl4WI988CFYEvgQodKgcA_w And the Park Ranger who checked us in told us that there would be a bison (they are very serious that they are bison in Yellowstone) on our right as we drove in. We were thinking oh he'll be off in the grass. Um nope... We learned that the rangers constantly talk to each other via radio about the location and status of wildlife and really anything else going on in the parks. We also learned that they just let the bison roam. They are happy there and are thriving and so they just let them be. Every once in a while when one was completely blocking traffic they would run them off the road. But over all they run the place. This was so neat to see two minutes after entering the park and the boys went nuts! This is why we travel with kids. We wouldn't trade seeing their faces for any money (or bigger house) in the world. (I have to keep telling myself this when I'm frustrated in this tiny house with three boys!) djsamuel 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119 Posted October 26, 2016 Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 All caught up. We have a very similar camper to yours. Ours has the bunkhouse in the back with an outside kitchen, Jaycos are so great and like you, we love traveling with it. Pulling with kids can be so challenging. We have plans for Colorado next year and if that goes well then Yellowstone is next. Great pictures and your children are so sweet. Good to see another home schooler on here btw. Hope your recovery is going well. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
YJeepgirl32 3 Posted October 26, 2016 Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 I'm in and all caught up. Love this report. We are planning a trip but not for a couple of years. This is very helpful. Thank you. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted October 26, 2016 Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 I'm glad to hear the surgery went well, and I'm glad that you've resumed writing this report. I enjoyed all of your landscape photos, and I really liked the bison photo. How cool for your boys to see that! TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fowlandfishmommy 10 Posted October 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2016 On 10/25/2016 at 5:25 PM, CCIntrigue...aka Gwen said: Really enjoying your pictures! Thanks! On 10/26/2016 at 8:08 AM, Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie said: All caught up. We have a very similar camper to yours. Ours has the bunkhouse in the back with an outside kitchen, Jaycos are so great and like you, we love traveling with it. Pulling with kids can be so challenging. We have plans for Colorado next year and if that goes well then Yellowstone is next. Great pictures and your children are so sweet. Good to see another home schooler on here btw. Hope your recovery is going well. Our kids did so great. 100 x better than we thought they would. We loved Yellowstone and Colorado. So beautiful. On 10/26/2016 at 9:06 AM, YJeepgirl32 said: I'm in and all caught up. Love this report. We are planning a trip but not for a couple of years. This is very helpful. Thank you. We are so glad we did it when we did. We were very surprised with how inexpensive the whole trip was. On 10/26/2016 at 11:34 AM, Tri-Circle-D said: I'm glad to hear the surgery went well, and I'm glad that you've resumed writing this report. I enjoyed all of your landscape photos, and I really liked the bison photo. How cool for your boys to see that! TCD Thanks! They loved the wildlife so much! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799 Posted October 28, 2016 Report Share Posted October 28, 2016 Hmmmmm.... I can't see the pictures. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fladogfan aka Gretchen 259 Posted October 28, 2016 Report Share Posted October 28, 2016 12 hours ago, GaDawgFan.....Kelly said: Hmmmmm.... I can't see the pictures. Neither can I, what am I doing wrong? The written part is very informative, thanks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted October 28, 2016 Report Share Posted October 28, 2016 13 hours ago, GaDawgFan.....Kelly said: Hmmmmm.... I can't see the pictures. 41 minutes ago, fladogfan aka Gretchen said: Neither can I, what am I doing wrong? The written part is very informative, thanks. I thinks there's some kind of glitch. I was originally able to see the photos, but now I can't. So, I don't think you're doing anything wrong, Gretchen. TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fowlandfishmommy 10 Posted October 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2016 Hey guys I can't see them either. I wonder what's wrong. Any ideas? Something I'm doing wrong? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted October 28, 2016 Report Share Posted October 28, 2016 31 minutes ago, fowlandfishmommy said: Hey guys I can't see them either. I wonder what's wrong. Any ideas? Something I'm doing wrong? It must be an issue with the site you are using to host your photos. I have only ever used Photobucket. One issue there is that if you make any edits to the photo after you post the link, it gets assigned a new link, and the one you previously posted doesn't work. Also, Photobucket will block the photos if the free capacity is exceeded. Maybe there's some information about this on the site you use to host your photos? TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fowlandfishmommy 10 Posted October 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2016 35 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said: It must be an issue with the site you are using to host your photos. I have only ever used Photobucket. One issue there is that if you make any edits to the photo after you post the link, it gets assigned a new link, and the one you previously posted doesn't work. Also, Photobucket will block the photos if the free capacity is exceeded. Maybe there's some information about this on the site you use to host your photos? TCD I tried to put the shareable link and that's not working either. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted October 28, 2016 Report Share Posted October 28, 2016 7 minutes ago, fowlandfishmommy said: I tried to put the shareable link and that's not working either. Did you exceed their free bandwidth or something like that? TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fowlandfishmommy 10 Posted October 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2016 Just now, Tri-Circle-D said: Did you exceed their free bandwidth or something like that? TCD No, its amazon. We are members. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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