Tag: 48stateroadtrip

Chicago, Illinois

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September 28, 2015

We woke up in Union, Illinois. We got ready then drove into Chicago. We first drove under the L. It was really cool driving around Chicago. I loved looking up at all the tall buildings. We saw a building that for the roof it was a steep slant. It’s very dangerous that it’s at a slant because in the winter snow piles up on it and then big ice sheets fall on the intersection. After driving around a little bit we found a parking spot. We had to go up 12 floors to find a parking spot.

The first activity we did was the Willis tower. We went up the elevator which was really fast! When we got to the top we went in the cubes that hang over the road 108 floors down. My dad was freaking out. It was a little scary at first. It was so cool! We got some pictures then went to go look at the gift shop. We went down the elevator to go look at more things.

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After looking at the amazing Willis tower, we went to go eat at Giordano’s which is a super good pizza place. We wanted to get the bus tour so we went to go get tickets. We started talking to someone to get the tickets but then the other people who work at the other company tried to get us to get their tickets so then they kept changing the prices back and forth. We finally decided one of them.

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When we got on the bus we stopped at the bean and got off. It was really cool. I got some pictures of the bean then I walked under it. It looked so confusing. It gave me a headache. We got back on the bus and the bus went to the lakeside off Chicago. It was really windy on the lakeside but we got to see Lake Michigan. It was amazing!

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Then we drove up to Wisconsin. To get a keychain and to get a picture by the Wisconsin sign.

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My favorite part about the whole day was the Willis tower because I thought it was really cool going into the cubes. A cool fact I learned was that the Willis tower was first called the Sears Tower but then Sears sold it and the new owners named it the Willis tower.

-Greta

Dubuque-Iowa’s Oldest City

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Yesterday we drove to Dubuque, Iowa. When we got there we went to Fenelon Place Elevator Company. It was super cool. It is a trolley that a man built because it took him an hour and a half to get home from work. The trolley goes up a large hill. What we didn’t know is that your supposed to ride the trolley up then back down. So we walked up the hill until we got to the top. When we got there we then realized that we had to go over one block from our RV to get onto the trolley. So we rode the trolley down. When we got to the bottom we went out to get some ice cream and then went to a cute little store. We then rode back up and walked back down the hill. The way down was much better.

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After that adventure we went to “Matter”. It was in the same town. It was really fun. It is a place that has pottery and giant legos and lots of cool things to play with. Us girls did pottery while the boys played. Hannah, Greta and I made some mugs and my mom made a super cool bowl.

My favorite part was playing with the cars because I like racing – Buche

My favorite part was racing the cars too. We smashed them and it was super fun. – Burka

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-grace

Driven by our last name

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Saturday, September 12, 2015

After getting to Boise, Idaho late in the night and finding our parking spot at the local WalMart, we work up early as the employees for the nearby Burger King were arriving for work.  We really need to have more appreciation for a Croissan’wich as they get there quite early!  We hit the road with our destination being Portland, Oregon for the day.  As you’ll see as we entered Oregon, the RV was at max speed (about 68 miles per hour).

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As the kids were all still sleeping Rachael and I were able to enjoy the sunrise over the distant hills.  Then as we climbed out of the valley and went over a large pass we had a 6 mile 6% decline.   We discussed if anyone ever has to use the “run away” truck ramps and if they apply to RV’s as well.  I told Rachael my plan was that if the brakes went out we were just going to ride the bumper of the semi in front of us all the way down, however that would have proved to be a bad plan.  Shortly after that we could see his brakes were starting to fail as blue smoke was starting to come out from under his truck.  The semi was able to stop and pull over to the side so it did not go completely out of control but did make me think that steep inclines need to be taken seriously!  This brought us down to drive along the Columbia River which we were able to enjoy for a few hours.  The pictures below will not do it justice.  It was truly beautiful!

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When we got to Portland the kids were starving so we decided to try out a Burgerville.  We heard they were known for their milkshakes but after being there we are still fans of Culvers.

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After leaving Burgerville and feeling that the kids were content we opted for a “mom” activity and went to the Portland Saturday Market.  It was a very cool market that happens every Saturday and Sunday;  March – Christmas Eve.   There was a booth for every interest from shirts to wood carved utensils, pottery and many types of artwork so unique I have no clue what it was.

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After the market we wanted to go to Washington to get a picture by the state sign. Unfortunately where you cross from Portland  into Washington it has multiple lanes of traffic on a bridge so it seemed it might be too dangerous for our family to climb the bridge and use our selfie stick to take the photo.  We only have the one below.

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For the few hours we had to spend in Washington State we had to choose what to do.  Some of the places we discussed were Mt. Rainer, the Space Needle, Pungent Sound, Mt. Saint Helens or visit the only rainforest in the continental US on the Olympic Peninsula.  BUT, we unanimously decided (or maybe just me) we should drive 5 hours round trip visit McCleary, Washington!  We have pictures of our adventure below.  The hospitality at the local diner was amazing once they were awe struck with meeting “real” McCleary’s.  After being a celebrity for an hour, meeting the mayor and signing the guestbook we left the BEST named small town in America and the kids and I slept while Rachael drove us back to the RV park.

Trucker in training,  Ryan

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Irresistible Idaho

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We woke up this morning in West Yellowstone, Montana.  We went shopping to go look for a key chain.   I am collecting a key chain from every state!  As we were walking down the street we bumped into the “Yellowstone Pawparazzi”.

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After I found my key chain we left Montana and entered Idaho.  I learned this boarder is also the Continental Divide where the water flows on either side to the Pacific (west) or to the Atlantic (east).

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Then we went to Craters of the Moon in Idaho.  Craters of the Moon is a area in Idaho that molten magma or lava built up pressure and pushed through the ground.  It was not one big volcano, but many acres of land that the lava had covered.

IMG_0252First, we hiked up the Inferno Cone.  It was very hot outside and it was very steep so it was hard to hike up.  But, once we were at the top it was a beautiful view.  On Inferno Cone, the rocks were very small and had little indents in them and they were very light.  I learned that Inferno Cone is a cinder cone that splashed up lava and exploded rather than large masses of lava rolling across the land.  Below is a picture of us walking up the Inferno Cone.

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Then, we went to the caves that we formed by the lava rolling across the land.  They were made by the lava on the top layer hardening and lava still moved underneath the top layer.  This is a sign that was in front of the caves that we went into!

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The first cave we went in is called “The Beauty Cave”.  This cave, which is actually lava tube was nice and cold.  It was like really big!  It was pitch black inside.  We had to use our phone flashlights to see.  On the ground it was really rough and kind-of hard to walk on.  As we walking we came to a dead end.  The sign said that we could not go any farther for our own safety.  It was a little creepy at first in the cave but then I got used to it.

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Next we attempted “The Boy Scout” cave.  We went in a little bit and realized quickly that it was too small and narrow that it was too hard for us to go into without helmets, kneepads and super bright flashlights.  You would need to have really bright flashlights to see.  Grace bumped her head twice so we decided to go to the next cave.

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The last and my favorite cave we went into was the “Indian” Cave.  It was the longest cave we went into and there were big holes in the top so we could actually see.  It was very rocky so this one was also kind-of hard to walk through.  Since I could see, we noticed the ceiling showed drips of lava that had hardened.  I also noticed that the ceiling was missing a chunk and right underneath it was a big pile of rocks that had fallen.  It made me a little bit worried because I wondered if rocks would fall on us!

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We left Craters of the Moon and got back onto the road to go to Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls, Idaho.  We arrived at Shoshone Falls, which is claimed to be the “Niagara Falls” of the west.  We were surprised when the water falls at Shoshone Falls were not going!  There was two small spots that had a little water going down them, but nothing like the pictures.  In the picture we took below the water is supposed to be flowing over all those rocks.   Now I am excited that we get to see Niagara Falls in a few weeks.  Hopefully they are not “out of order”.

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The sun started setting and even though we didn’t see a huge water fall the river canyon was beautiful.  Then my mom and dad took me out for pizza!

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My favorite part of the day was going in the Indian Cave and exploring it.  It was just fun!

Now we are on the road to Boise.  Goodnight.

Greta

Wyoming

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Grace has put together this blog and written the last posts.  I think she’s done a great job!  She’ll be back as well as the rest of the kids taking their turn. For now, you get the musings from mom.

Today, as I sat listening to Burka read to me I could hear Grace and Greta at the table quizzing each other for their science test they take tomorrow. Hannah and Ryan discussing her Economics class in the front of the RV. All this was happening while were watching breathtaking views of Wyoming out our windows. I could not help but think I am one lucky mom.   Really, I’m not sure that it gets better than this unless my two college kiddos were with us. I love learning more about the hearts of my kids while we experience our beautiful county first hand.

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We woke up in Gillette this morning. We traveled up through the Bighorn Mountains and back down through them as well. I watched as my kids looked out the windows of our RV down to the valleys and up to the peaks. They noticed houses built way up high in the mountains and day dreamed about what kids would do if they lived there.   We talked about how getting groceries would be different if you lived in the mountains versus living in Alexandria MN.

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I packed our efit boards so Hannah and I got to get out and do a little stretching and working out in the Big Horn Mountains.  It sure did feel good to get out and move a bit on our long stretch of driving.

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Each of us has things that we think are great about our day as well as things that were not so great.  Things happen – like when Hannah lost a paper she wrote for her college class due to the Internet going down. It’s all part of the adventure.

In the afternoon we made our way to Yellowstone. The geysers and sulfur pools are really amazing. A bit stinky for some in our group, but really it blows my mind to think about these boiling pools of water.

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Buche is usually our comic relief and he’s not failed us on this trip. Our first stop in Yellowstone was “Mud Volcano”. We stopped in the bathroom before heading down the trail. After checking out the toilet (that did not flush) he said with a fearful look on his face… “DON’T fall in mom!”

The girls talked about memories we made on our trip with our friends the Thomas’ that we traveled to Yellowstone with some years ago. Those memories make me thankful for friends. Thankful for times spent together.

We watched the sun go down over Yellowstone tonight.  We walked a path until darkness had set.  It was beautiful.  It was quiet.  It was peaceful.  This place is a mystery to me.

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It is an adventure. It is good. And, I am so very thankful.

Day one

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The first day was very fun, but very overwhelming as well. We started in North Dakota, where we went to the Enchanted Highway and we saw the worlds largest holstein, Salem Sue.  Next was South Dakota where we stopped and ate lunch at a park. It was good to get some fresh air. Then we where headed to Devils Tower in Wyoming.  Although, we did get lost on the way.  It was a 60 mile gravel road “shortcut” that we had no intentions of taking.  We crossed Montana somewhere along that “shortcut” and had to stop for a picture. We will hopefully be visiting Montana more tomorrow! Here our the pictures by the signs. I guess selfie sticks actually are kind of helpful.

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We managed the first day! The one good thing about being in a RV is that it makes you get school done out of boredom. My favorite part of the day was climbing on the rocks at Devil’s Tower. My least favorite part of the day was waking up early in the morning to everything bouncing around as we where going on the road. I guess I’m just going to have to get used to that.

Love, Grace

First day of school

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Everybody is posting their back to school pictures, so here is ours.

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Our first day of school was not like yours. We headed out on our 48 state adventure. We are now in North Dakota and we’re planning on going to the badlands today. We have not been able so see much yet because when we started driving last night it was already dark.

This morning we took the time to organize our school so we can work on the road. All of our clothes and most of our stuff is under the RV so we will have to stop when we need anything. Last night we slept in a Walmart parking lot in Jamestown, North Dakota. That will most likely be where we sleep a lot of the nights.

We will be missing my brother and sister to start out with, but we are looking forward for them to join us along the way! We are excited to share with you guys!

Love, The McClearys