We started out an hour later than planned because of the 270 at 70 highway shut down on Sunday morning. After rerouting, we turned on our audio book and got moving...for a short time anyway. Heading east on I-70 this week means lots of construction, and we found a detour (thanks google maps), but it added another hour onto our 6ish hour drive to Columbus, OH. We wanted to hit the Ohio State Fair while staying the night in Columbus, and finally made it in time for dinner at the fairgrounds. Grandma and Papa split a hog-tastic BBQ sandwich after a short ride in the back of a State Trooper vehicle (don't worry-no criminal behavior, he was giving us a ride to the front gate). Grandma looked all over the butter, cheese, and the animals but they seemed to be gone by the time we got there so we hit the rides. A race down the giant slide declared Seth the winner. Seth got his adrenaline pumping on the Zero Gravity Ride which spins him and pins him against the wall before spinning on its side in the air. We closed down the fair, and took the high flyer ride back to the parking lot.
We headed back to our hotel to get some sleep, but not before hitting more...you guessed it...ROAD DELAYS from construction.
Day 2 started out in the same construction we drove through after the fair, but we made it through pretty easily.
We were just supposed to drive through West Virginia for a few miles, but since we hit more contruction road delays, we decided to make an impromptu pit stop (thank you google maps again). We spent a few hours at Oglebay Park which was beautiful, bought some chocolate and Grandma and Papa got Seth a new stuffie companion, Foxy. Now Papa has 2 stuffies to try and hide from Seth...one of their many games. After a delicous lunch at the park's Garden Bistro, we headed back into the contruction which continued all the way to our stop in Hershey PA.
So far what we have learned about PA is that their turnpike tolls are really highway robbery without a mask ($25 for about 100 miles). Construction may be slowing down our drive time, but at least we are enjoying each other's company and the audio book.
Our teepee provided a good night’s sleep after the long drive. We had breakfast at the outdoor open tent restaurant which was delicious.
Our original plan was to spend the day in Salt Lake at the Olympic park, but with COVID interfering we needed a new plan. We were able to find an outfitter for horseback riding near Bear Lake, and it was so fun!!! Grandma chose to stay in the car, amd take a peaceful nap.
We completed our round-trip back to Salt Lake City, and since we had time went to the beach for a bit. Grandma loved being able to put her feet in.
While on the road, we like to watch license plates and found one from every state in the U.S. except Vermont, New Hampshire, and Deleware (yes, Alaska and Hawaii were seen). We even had some Canadian bonus plates. Our animal spotting tally was also wide including: cattle, horses, pony, alpaca, bison, elk, chipmunk, black bear, big horn sheep, mountain goat, columbian ground squirrel, whitetail deer, mule deer, moose, sand crane, owl, magpie, ducks, geese, swans, local snake (unidentified) in the wild, and at the rescue: grizzly bear, grey wolf, river otter, bald eagle, rough necked hawk, and owl.
Day 8 is the flight home. Its been a great trip, but will be nice to stop living out of suitcases
Our rental on Belgrade, MT was a cute above garage apartment. We sat out on the deck and enjoyed the view while planning our route through Yellowstone. Seth’s favorite part was the bunkbeds.
Our 1+ hour drive to the north entrance didnt disappoint, and we saw several heards of Elk along the road.
Our first stop was Mammoth Springs, amd then a drive into Lamar Valley toward the East entrance. The springs were cool and weird. The ground is so unstable you can’t walk on it. Seth had no problem running up the boardwalk to the top. The sulpher is really stinky so having our face coverings was actually helpful. Grandma had seen it before so she stayed with the car, and kept a lookout for wildlife.
The drive to Lamar valley was amazing. We stopped at a beautiful waterfall, and got some photos.
The animals love Lamar Valley as well, and we got some great views of the bison and anteloupe. We were so close to the bison you could hear them grunting at each other to communicate
As we headed west back out of Lamar Valley Seth was hoping to play in a creek, and we found the perfect spot
Our route took us back through Mammoth Springs toward the west entrance. We saw a lone moose having a snack and some elk had come into town.
We were staying in West Yellowstone outside of the west entrance, and grabbed some dinner. Seth was happy they had a pool.
Waiting for our carryoutCannonball
Day 6
We started out the day at the Grizzly and Wolf discovery center. They rescue orphaned or problem bears, wolves, birds, and river otters. It was a neat experience to learn about the evolution of bears in Yellowstone. Until the 60s and 70s, they used to have garbage dumps to draw the bears and some people even feed them…lots of injuries occurred as you can imagine.
We headed back into yellowstone with Old Faithful on our agenda. Before we got to the geyser, we found a beautiful lunch spot. Seth made a friend while Arlene and I made lunch..
Making friends while wearing masks
We got to Old Faithful shortly after an eruption, and waited about an hour for the next. I couldn’t find my suncreen, and ended up with a bit of sunburn, but nothing a little aloe couldn’t fix.
We still had a long drive ahead to our next destination of Bear Lake, UT. Our route took us through the Grand Tetons which didnt disappoint. We stopped in Jackson Hole for dinner. While we waited for our carryout, Seth and I walked around. Jackson Hole was really crowded, but we found some space in a park.
We arrived at Bear Lake late, but we could still find our teepee by moonlight.
Our first activity out of the gate was a 1/2 day whitewater rafting trip on the Flathead River for Bruce, Seth, and me. It was Seth’s first time, and he said he didn’t want to paddle… That lasted about 2 minutes and then he slid into a rowing position. We hit some level II amd III rapids, and when allowed at the end Seth went for a swim in the 55 degree water (it was a short swim). It was a great time, and of course Seth wanted to jump back on the bus and do it again.
Arlene stayed with the car and enjoyed the park for a few hours on her own. She found some beautiful snow topped mountains, babbling brooks, and McDonald lake which seemed to go on forever.
McDonald Co x
After getting off the river and meeting up with Arlene, we ate the lunch we had packed and headed to Going-to-the-Sun road to explore the west portion of the park. The east portion of the park is closed due to COVID. We managed to drive almost the entire 50 miles of the road while enjoying the breathtaking scenery. It is a narrow 2 lane road with jutting rocks on one side amd the drop down the mountain on the other. I was driving so I took it slow, and we made frequent stops for fun and photo ops.
Snow/ice tunnelsSkipping stones class 101
We all walked around at the Logans Pass visitors center where we had some close encounters with Big horn sheep amd mountain goats.
As close as we could get for a photowalked right past our car
Seth and I did a mini hike at St. Mary’s falls trailhead, but we didn’t get to the falls since we left grandma amd Papa at the car. We did manage to see a whitetail deer eating right at the trail edge, and get a beautiful viewpoint.
Looks worse than it is…there was a ledge on the other side with a slope
By the time we finished the return drive, we were getting tired and hungry. We stopped at a local dive and grabbed dinner to eat outside, and headed back to our rental to get some sleep.
Day 4
We headed back to Glacier National Park in the morning, but after much discussion about what to do with our time we decided to explore the less traveled northwestern portion of the park. We came across the Polebridge area and found a quaint general store.
Bruce got a huckleberry pastrySeth took this one
Bruce was hoping for some fishing, and the rest of us were hoping for some wildlife sightings. We both got what we wanted. We found an accessible by foot part of the north fork of Flathead river on the border of the park, and dropped Bruce off at the river. Seth skipped a couple more rocks quickly
The rest of us ventured onward, and by chance we had a black bear sighting. It was so exciting.
Having a snack (probably huckleberries)
We went back and scoped up Papa, but since we were only 22 miles from the Canandian border so we decided to use the rest of our time to drive up to Canada (there was no operating border crossing in the park). After a very bumpy drive on a mostly gravel road through the forest, we came upon the old border crossing. We got some photos, and headed back to the park entrance.
Seth and Papa had to get their feet on Canadian soil if only for a moment. We had our passports just in case
Now back on the road to our next destination of Belgrade, MT for our yellowstone time tomorrow.
We hopped on our flight and headed to Salt Lake City, masks and all. Thanks to Southwest for helping with social distancing by eliminating the middle seat passenger.
We got picked up by our Lyft driver to take us to the car rental location. He was definitely not the chatty type (said 3 words, maybe). 4 hr drive took us to the little town of Arco, ID for our night stay.
Bruce and Seth found a little submarine museum while stretching their legs, and of course Seth had to get on a missle for a photo op.
Doesn’t everyone do “The floss” on a missle
The air conditioner squealed all night long which didn’t make for restful sleep, but the owner was very accommodating .
Day 2 started with an adventure at Craters of the Moon National Monument. We did the 7 mile loop drive, and some rock climbing and 2 short hikes.
Those 3 little people at the top are Bruce, Seth, and meTop of the hill. Climb was steep, but the views were worth it!!
The lava tube caves were closed (thanks COVID) but the landscape and adventure was still cool. Now back in the vehicle for the day drive to Glacier National Park for our next adventure tomorrow.
Day 7 was our last day at the cabin. We packed up the car early because we decided to add a stop at Niagra falls on our way home. After the car was packed, we went to the kids clubhouse for some fun.
Then we headed to the Lodge for a Luau with a band. The band and the Luau were pretty lame so we decided to ditch it and go for ice cream instead. Seth did get to do some solo limbo before we left, but the ice cream was more enjoyable for everyone.
Day 8 started really early in order to get to Niagra falls at a reasonable time, but we got to get some good pictures of all the deer we had been seeing all week.
We were only 5 hours away from niagra falls, and it was definitely worth the extra drive.
We did the Maid of the Mist boat ride, a trolley ride, and the aquarium.
After 1/2 day at Niagra falls, and the previous 5 hrs we had spent on the road, we were tired but had more miles to travel. We drove another 4 hrs, and stopped in Akron, OH. We were exhausted!! We did have one surprise visitor at our door before we fell asleep. Papa opened the door to see a skunk at the door. He quickly closed the door before the skunk fired, and then he scurried away into the night…thank goodness. Would have been terrible if Papa would have had to ride on the roof for the rest of our trip home.
Day 9 (today) is our last day of vacation, and is a travel day. We will be home in a few hrs after another great vacation in the books. We did get to see one last bit of wildlife…a black squirrel hanging out at our hotel.
We expected rain today, but ended up with good weather so we decided to see what PA state parks had to offer. The first one was so small we missed it on our first pass, and had to turn around. The short path ended at a little creek so we didn’t stay long.
The second stop offered a lake with a beach so Seth played a little, but no wildlife and no fishing so we moved on.
The third stop at Blakeslee Nature area was a gem!!
Papa thought it looked like good fishing so headed out to the creek.
The rest of us headed out for a short flat hike to a waterfall. It was so pretty.
Seth and I hiked a little further looking for a mysterious second waterfall, but we only found a photo op.
We headed back, collected grandma, and found Papa. He caught 13 small mouth bass so he was very happy. It was a lovely afternoon; we headed back to our cabin for the resort bonfire.
We found the rain, but not before we got to hear some music from the band, and Seth & Papa roasted marshmellows. The rain didn’t last long, and we were happy to wait it out. By the second set, the rain had passed and we got more tunes from the band.
Day 4 brought us a lot of rain so we had to find something else to do. Thanks to Google maps once again, we came across the Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway only 45 minutes away. We got ready and headed out, and the rain actually stopped. The railway is located in Jim Thorpe, PA which was a quaint little town nestled in a valley. We did the open cars, and it was so fun.
After the train ride and quick drive through town, we headed back to our cabin. Seth and I went the the pool since the rain had stopped, and then we all went to the Lodge for movie night. We got there a few minutes early, and got some groupies on the deck. It’s so pretty here!!
DAY 5
Today looked like the best weather day for outdoor activities so we headed to the “Island Recreation Area” of our gated community. We did some hanging out by the pool and rented some kayaks.
Papa did some fishing and had some success but overall the fish we decided must also be on vacation. We came back to the cabin, had dinner and played some cards. Nice relaxing day, and now time for bed.
We had Chocolate World on our agenda, but had no idea how big the Hershey park is. It’s like a little Disney world. We bought our tickets for our activities.
First up was the free tour. You start out walking through this long line with pictures and history blurbs along the way. I was thinking is this the tour??…it is free after all. But no, the long line takes you to a ride. Seth was so excited
We skipped the 4D movie, no need for dancing stuffed chocolates for our sophisticated crew 😆😆. Next up was making your own chocolate bar. Grandma decided to skip this one, she said she already had her favorite bar. It was very technical, but we all managed to work the computers
Seth liked his hairnet over his eyebrows
Next up, we grabbed some lunch. Grandma got the frozen hot chocolate based on Julie Fischer’s recommendation. She shared with all of us, and it was delicious
Last up was our Chocolate Tasting Journey. They put on a little show, and Seth loved it. Seth got picked to add an ingredient to the experimental chocolate receipe. It was a lot of fun, and you got to eat chocolate…can you really go wrong
Our last stop was the dessert counter. Seth found a $100 bill on the floor (he is always finding $$ on the ground but it is usually coins) and as difficult as it was, we took it to lost and found. If no one claims it, they will send it to him. The woman at the lost and found counter gave Seth 4 free dessert coupons for his honesty.
Since chocolate was starting to seep out of our pores, we headed to our next destination…our cabin in the woods at Arrowhead lake in the Poconos.
Eastern roadtrip vacation 