Road Trip to the Northwest-Getting there

Our journey West began by heading North on I-25 from Fort Collins through Wyoming and stopping for the night at the Crowne Plaza in Billings, MT. We headed West on I-90 all the way to the outskirts of Seattle, with a few stops on our way. The first was at the headwaters of the Missouri River, where we spent a couple hours hiking, exploring and having a picnic lunch. We crossed into Idaho and made it to a campground in Coeur d'Alene, we set up camp then headed into town to have dinner at the local brewery and tour the waterfront. A place we will have to go back to some day for sure. The next morning we went through spokane, stopped along Moses Lake for the kids to play on a playground, then continued to the Gingko Petrified Forest, which was very very very windy, but cool to see and a nice hike to stretch the legs.

Missouri Headwaters state park in 3 Rivers, MT

The confluence of the Madison (near) and Jefferson (far) Rivers, a little ways downstream the Gallatin River joins in to mark the official start of the Missouri River. On the far side of the confluence, a campsite used by Lewis and Clark for 3 nights on both their trip out West and return East.


Doug and the kids found a little leach while testing the temperature of the water

The Coeur d'Alene pier and waterfront, it was most unfortunate that we did not have more daylight hours to spend at this beautiful location

The first of the wooden boats, the Karen Ann, tug boat style

One of many of the Criss Craft style, the Satisfaction, the fading daylight was really limiting my photo opportunities

An old 1947 Johnson outboard motor on one of the boats

A close up of one of the petrified trees, I can't remember if this one was a fir or an elm, but pretty amazing

The kids and I braving the 60+ mph wind in front of an old elm tree

A look back at I-90 crossing the Columbia River in central WA, at the Petrified Forest headquarters

Glendo in August

After attempting a trip to Guernsey Reservoir, only to find there were no suitable campsites left, we went the additional 30 miles to Glendo, where we were surprised to see how high the water still was, and even more impressive the level that the water reached earlier in the summer. The first night we just found a place to pitch the tent as it was an hour or so past darkness, but the next morning we drove around to find one of our usual sites still vacant. The weather was perfect the entire weekend, and we had some great company. I guess I must have been having too much fun, because I only seemed to take photos for a couple minutes out of the entire trip, but you get the idea!!!

Doug helping the kids eat crawdads that we caught by hand earlier in the day

looking back at our campsite and our new tents first camping trip

Our private bay, or so it turned out thanks to the water still being so high and very poor access


Looking out towards the main body of the lake, notice the perfectly straight line of leaves on the trees which marks the high water line, a good 20 feet above it's current height

Doug and the kids racing cars and trucks on the dirt track

Camping near Red Feathers and other August activities

A double rainbow on the road to Red Feathers, the end of the rainbow was right next to us and travelled along side us for several miles and I never caught a glimpse of the pot o gold, but it was probably the best rainbow I have ever seen even without the gold! A mini island forest right next to our selected camping area, the kids love climbing the rocks and exploring

roasting marshmallows after dinner

Bed time stories with Grandma Cindy

Oh my favorite time of day, after the kids go to bed, sitting by the fire

campfire with the last light of the day over the horizon

Boulder climbing

Rachel and Doug at the peak, she didn't want to stay long

play date at the water park, Caleb investigating the spraying water

Rachel and Maia at a different water park

Maia and Caleb one evening at our house while we babysat

Maia and Rachel cheesy silly faces while drawing with chalk

All dressed up for the county fair

the motorcycle ride was so much fun and one that they could do by themselves

Rachel at one of our last days at the pool for the year

July

superman belly flop

Rachel leaping in, both kids' water confidence and abilities sky rocketed over the summer with our almost daily trips to the pool

choo-choo express down the slide

more playground fun

Caleb's last day at Vacation Bible School, he was so cute with all his classmates

Rachel joined in on the end of the day/week praise and dance session

we finally got training wheels for his bigger big boy bike, and he loves it

static charged on the trampoline

more static

chaos at the pool in Beaver Creek

Caleb, Rachel, Sarah and Matthew couldn't stop splashing long enough for a photo

Caleb showing off his new swimming abilities where he can't touch without a life jacket

Doug's team the Internationals, they took 2nd in the tournament after losing in overtime

playing at the playground near the condo in Beaver Creek

Discovering new ways to go down the slides

Early July, Horsetooth & Brett's Wedding

I came into the living room one day to find them peacefully sitting next to eachother watching cartoons, which is so much cuter than picking at eachother

Caleb giving his princess sister a pony ride

Dylan, Caleb, Rachel and Maia at our pretend 4th of July celebration

corraling the wild animals

4th of July up at Horsetooth, we had bad weather so opted for some hiking instead of water/beach play

Rachel bringing up the rear with Grandpa Jimbo

A view from the trail down below of Horsetooth Reservoir and our campsite in the cove below

A big rock rest break for Caleb, Taylor, Rachel, Doug, Carmen and Ty

Tiny legs are tired after 4 miles

Even nastier weather prevailed in the evening, Ty and Jim holding down the insta shades and everything in site as a massive 4 hour thunderstorm struck overhead

A brief lull in the rain brings out the geese on the lake, notice the trees are in the water here too, there is a trend of too much water everywhere this summer

The sun peeking through the clouds in between thunderheads, these storms were so persistant that we ended up missing all the firework/boat parade festivities and it didn't really feel like the holiday ever happened

playing by a decorative stream at Brett's wedding

A mostly cooperative photo

family photo with the sun setting behind us