July 8, 2016

We made it to Berkeley this evening, tired but happy. Here are some fun facts from our road trip.

Itinerary

• Breezy Point, Minnesota—picked up Elena (June 24)
• Mandan, North Dakota (Bismarck)—hotel overnight (June 24)
• Shelby, Montana—hotel overnight (June 25)
• Glacier National Park—camped 3 nights (June 26, 27, 28)
• Belgrade, Montana (Bozeman)—hotel 2 nights to regroup (June 29,30)
• Yellowstone and Grand Tetons—camped 3 nights (July 1, 2, 3)
• Boise, Idaho—hotel overnight (July 4)
• Bend, Oregon—hotel overnight (July 5)
• Crescent City, California—camped two nights with Ernesto’s sister and family (July 6-7)
• Berkeley, California—10 days (July 8 – 19)

 

States traveled: 7

Minnesota

North Dakota

Montana

Wyoming

Idaho

Oregon

California

 

National Parks Visited: 6

Glacier National Park

Yellowstone National Park

Grand Teton National Park

Craters of the Moon National Monument

Crater Lake National Park

Redwoods National Park

 

Big Cities we Visited/Passed Through

Bismarck and Mandan, North Dakota

Belgrade and Bozeman, Montana

Boise, Idaho

Bend, Oregon

 

Small Towns we Passed Through

Hundreds and Hundreds

 

Favorite Places Visited

• Atomic Energy Museum—it was so bizarre, in the middle of nowhere and just like you’d expect is that there was a nuclear facility. I wished we had stopped to get an atomic burger and pickles. (Ernesto)
• Glacier—it was astounding and I liked the Ranger Programs, they belonged to the part and they were sharing it with you. They loved the park and were sharing it with us and that came across. (Ernesto)
• Yellowstone—it was strikingly beautiful even though it was crowded, the landscape overcame that. (Ernesto)
• Two Medicine at Glacier NP—I liked learning about the history and Native American culture and it was beautiful (Julie
• The Redwoods (Julie)

 

Favorite Restaurant

The Roost in Bozeman, Montana—all my sides had bacon in them, yummm! (Julie)

The Roost—I like fried chicken and the cole slaw was good and Dreamer got to sit with us (Ernesto)

The Roost—it was good (Benjamin)

I don’t know (Elena)

 

Miles Traveled

We forgot to track them but we guess about….3050 miles so far

 

Gas Stations and Restrooms

Too many to count

 

Parks Dreamer Ran in and Dogs Sniffed

Too many to count but Hines Park in Hines, Oregon was a favorite because of the sprinklers (Dreamer and Benjamin) and the vintage playground equipment (Julie and Elena)

 

Movies Watched

Letter to Juliette (Elena and Julie)

Dirty Dancing (Elena and Julie)

Bourne Identity

Inception

Lots more…

 

Books Listened To

Benjamin and I finished listening to a trilogy that we started in early June when we took a road trip to visit family, but for the life of me, I can’t remember the name. I’ll post it later if I can remember it.

 

Knitting Accomplished

1½ skeins of yarn on my shawl—Rowan felted wool yarn and that really easy shawl pattern that is a rectangle that is folded in half. See above about not remembering things. I’ll post it if I can find the pattern in my jumble of stuff.

 

Interesting Billboards

Follow Me (God)

Famous One Log House

The Legend of Bigfoot

Confusion Hill 1 mile

Chili Cook Off and Dance

Pour Girls Coffee House

Don’t Forget the Magic!

Mr. Fish Seafood

The Human Brain Continues Growing Until Age 25

Plant Something—Roots Organics

You Just Missed It!—The Skunk Train

Purple Moose Thrift

 

Junk Food Eaten

At least 10 of potato chips

1 box of gummy Jolly Ranchers

1 box of Milk Duds

1 bag wintergreen Lifesavers

1 bag peppermint Lifesavers

25 or more s’mores