Cody, then on to HOME

Saturday morning we packed up camp in Cody. We'd planned to go the Lewis and Clark caverns, take a tour and camp there for the night.  The plan was to spend all day Sunday driving and get home somewhere around 10pm.  On our way through town, we stopped back at the Murals so Dode could take some more photos of the artifacts there. Getting the photos didn't make for a very fast get-a-way, but I didn't know when we'll have the opportunity again to get to collect that family history. It was getting late in the morning and since we were parked in the McDonald's parking lot to use their Wi-Fi, I sent Dode in to get some food for the kids.  The place was an absolute madhouse of people.  He finally got to the front and placed his order after a long wait.  Then, I (not knowing about the crowds) sent Anastaya in to tell him I'd like something too.  So,  he got to stand in line twice and wait for food twice.   We had to do a big loop to get to the caverns.  The only way to get to the caverns without going through Yellowstone (which we wanted to avoid due to the traffic congestion there and the entry fee) was going up to Billings (North-East of Cody) and then heading West.  We ended up having to go East in order to go West!

It's quite a walk to the entrance of the cave

getting our pre-hike instructions

William at the cave entrance

some of the formations

down one of the many staircases

After our slow departure from Cody, we got there in time for the last tour of the day.  Comparing it to the caves we saw in South Dakota, it feels like a more "wild" cave experience.  There are lots of areas where you have to duck down or edge around an obstruction.  The cave tour route was developed by the CCC so it really isn't as wild as it seems.  The best part of going on a cave tour (compared to going in a cave by yourself) is the way they light the formations.  You can see so much more when the whole room is lit with spotlights on the formations. 

Elizabeth had fallen and scraped up her knee at the campground that morning.  She refuses to straighten it out all the way so she limped up the trail slowly.  Miriam was worried she'd be cold in the cave so she wore her sweatshirt on the way up.  Then, she got too hot with the sun beating down on us on the steep trail so she put her hood on.  Silly girl!

After finishing with the cave tour, Dode sent me on my bike down the trail that went from the visitor center to the campground while he drove the road to the campground.  There's a reason I have Dode preview the trails before I ride them.  This trail was steep, rocky, narrow.  I couldn't stop to rest my hands without mosquitoes swarming me.  By the time I got to the bottom, the logo on my handle grips was imprinted in my palms.  I'd have much preferred to ride down in the car!

this was probably my last smile on the trail!

We'd wanted to stay at the campground but it was full.  We decided to drive to the parking area of the Route of the Hiawatha bike trail, on the border between Idaho and Montana.   We knew there was a large parking lot at the trail head where we could sleep and it would get us four hours closer to home.  We were driving at dusk and drove through swarms of bugs that were so dense, it sounded like rain hitting the window!

We arrived in the parking lot around 1:00 am.  The girls slept in the car, Miriam and I took the trailer and the boys and Dode slept under the stars.  Miriam had fallen asleep in the car but as I picked her up and walked her to her bed for the night, she looked up and exclaimed, "Look at all those stars!"  It was a clear night and the sky was absolutely filled with stars.  Miriam managed to kick the doors to the trailer open in the night so we got to sleep out in the cold mountain air too.  It was kind of sad to be right there at the trail head but instead of heading down the trail, we got in the car and drove away.  The trail is an old rail road grade that crosses the continental divide through an extensive network of tunnels intermixed with massive trestles.  The kids didn't feel that way, they were all exhausted and were soon back to sleep.

We left the parking area bright and early at 6:30 am and after driving for about an hour, stopped for breakfast at Treaty Rock, near the Idaho and Washington border.  We gave the kids cereal for breakfast which turned out to be a perfect "heading home" meal.  They've been eating pancakes and french toast for three weeks and cereal felt like a real treat to them.  It was quick and easy to serve, eat, and clean up.  I'll have to make it a tradition that we eat cereal on the way home.  After breakfast, we drove drove drove until we got home around 3:00 pm.  We fought headwinds across much of Washington which made it difficult to go much over 55 mph. 

Once we got home, it was time to empty and clean out the van and trailer.  It took us about 1 1/2 hours to get everything put away and cleaned up.  I don't think the van is ever as clean as it is right after we clean it up after a trip!  There is so much dirty laundry in the laundry room that you can't even see the floor right now.  Three weeks of laundry is not my favorite part of vacation!  The kids always love being home again.  Miriam went from toy to toy, playing with all her prized possessions.  Elizabeth went and opened the fridge and said, "Yes, Mom's homemade jam!"  Then, she went to the cupboard and said, "Yes!  Good bread!"  (Kind of ironic since we only buy bread from the day old bread outlet.)  We thought Isaac Colson would be eager to get home but when he heard we were having my homemade pizza for dinner, he decided to stay another night.

yuck!

time for a clean up