Finally, someplace I've never been before, Arches National Park. Hot here, 96 in the shade, but gorgeous!

It's Friday already. Today we'll be in Grand Junction to drop Mark off. Since he has to be back to work next week, he'll be flying home after he's had a chance to visit with my niece and some old buddies from here. It was 28 years ago this month that David and I were married and came out to Yellowstone on our honeymoon. I scattered some of his ashes before I left the park. He didn't enjoy the West, but I have good memories of our trip out here. Yesterday we spent winding south out of Wyoming. You just have to love a state that posts 60mph signs on mountain switchbacks. After we left Wyoming, things got a bit dicey. There were thunderstorms popping up all over. I wish I could have gotten a photo of some of the lightning bolts with the mountains and mesas in the background. It wasn't too bad until we came down Flaming Gorge. That's the road that posted signs 'switchbacks, 9 more to go, runaway truck ramp 1/2 mile ahead.' I did NOT enjoy that road, especially after my brakes overheated. Dang! Tonight we'll have to decide what we're going to do next. Home? California? Idaho? Don't know yet. :)

We're on our second day in Yellowstone. Last night we stayed at the KOA outside of West Yellowstone. The kids really enjoyed it, with its swimming pool. I went back to the candy store in West Yellowstone and bought all kinds of fudge to put in the freezer. They make the best fudge there. We're heading down to Old Faithful today, and then on down to the Tetons and Jackson Hole. I don't have the ability to express how much I love this area, the contentment and just quiet joy it brings to my mind. Except when I have an old fart on a motorcycle zoom by me yelling at me to follow the speed limit, which was 25mph on a very narrow, busy road with lots of people walking out on. Obviously he's never driven an RV before. You don't stop on a dime with them, and also, I'm in a meandering mode. I don't know if I'll ever get out here again. I'm going to savor my time here, not rush through it.

I love Montana, with its rolling buttes covered with sagebrush and stalks of yucca flowers, green valleys with winding rivers, and then the snow capped mountains.

We were all impressed with this house. What a view!! It's outside Cody, Wyoming, on the way to Yellowstone.

This photo is of the boys playing at Sylvan Pass.

Here's my RV by the the hot pots, and the rest are of buffalo and the Canyon.

I love Montana, with its rolling buttes covered with sagebrush and stalks of yucca flowers, green valleys with winding rivers, and then the snow capped mountains. We were all impressed with this house. What a view! It's outside Cody, Wyoming, on the way to Yellowstone. This photo is of the boys playing at Sylvan Pass, and the rest are of Yellowstone.

Oh, never a dull moment on these trips... The refrigerator isn't cooling (the freezer works just fine), the water pump isn't working, no water to flush the toilet when we're driving, the shower isn't draining, and now Scott's face is swelling up (he said it happened once before, had to go in and get put on antibiotics). So we're heading down to Billings and he's going to go to a doctor. The bright side? We're in Montana!!

Yesterday we went through the northern badlands, the real sign that we're in western country. Here they are, and here's Scottie, sitting in the same spot as he did 5 years ago:

If things go right, we're going to get off of the freeway after we hit Billings and start meandering our way up to Glacier National Park. Oh, and I guess Lukas is just going to be stuck with cable tv when we can get it. I forgot the satellite remote at home. What can I say, other than it wasn't on the list of things to take.