Maryland & Beyond

Upon leaving New Jersey we crossed the bridge into Delaware, then continued on to Maryland.  We are staying at the Washington DC/Capitol KOA for 5 days.  Our campsite is extremely roomy and private as we are located at the end of a row.  There are tons of trees which is nice for shade, but Daniel was unable to hook up the satellite dish.  I'm sure we'll be much too busy for watching tv anyways.

When we arrive at a new campground the kids love to explore.  This particular campground is really busy...but it probably didn't help that we arrived on the weekend.  They have the usual amenities, but they also offer outdoor billiards, ping pong table and giant chess game.  

At the pool there is a lifeguard on duty and parents are required to be present with their children.  This is the first time we have seen a lifeguard at a campground.  Every hour the lifeguard blows the whistle and everyone has to clear the pool for 10 minutes.  The lifeguard also checks the chemical levels and adds chlorine if necessary.  

The staff in the office are extremely helpful and friendly.  When traveling in an unfamiliar area you tend to rely on the advice of others and the advice we received there was definitely helpful.  There is a nice selection of goods for sale in the office too, including tickets for the trolley tour of National Mall.

Tomorrow we are taking the KOA shuttle into Washington, DC which means we have to be up and ready by 8:30am.  Daniel is excited because he won't have to drive and maybe he can enjoy some of the sights.  

Get your mobile devices ready by downloading the Smithsonian Visitors Guide & Tour app.

See you early in the AM,

Nicole

Lake George, New York

Today we basically drove the width of New York from west to east.  The countryside is beautiful.  Daniel was surprised by how much of New York is undeveloped.  We changed campground locations so we could be closer to the Six Flags which we are planning on visiting tomorrow.  The KOA (Lake George) we are staying in is at the base of the Adirondack Park Preserve so it definitely has more of a woodsy feeling.

Our campsite is extremely private.  However, with all of the trees Daniel was unable to set up the Directv. No worries though as we have lots of activities planned.

After we set up the trailer we headed into town to re-stock our grocery supply.  Our "driving days" have also turned into our grocery shopping days.  We are thankful that Wal-Mart is nationwide.

And of course the kids had to check out the pool here.  It was VERY cold so they didn't swim long.

It may rain here tomorrow so you will have to wait and see if we get to go to Six Flags or have to plan something else.

Nicole

Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls is the oldest State Park.  It was established in 1885.  It is easily accessible for those in a wheelchair. (James was in his wheelchair so I know from personal experience.)  Everyone we encountered was exceptionally friendly and helpful.

After scoping out the falls last night we decided that we would buy the Discovery Pass which allows entry to the Maid of the Mist, Cave of the Winds, the aquarium, an Imax movie, and unlimited rides on the trolley all day.  We figured we wouldn't use it for all of the attractions but it would still be a money saver.

The ride on the trolley was very accommodating for James and the tour guide was friendly and informative. We found out that it is only illegal to try to go over the falls if you survive and the fine is $10,000.  The first person to go over the falls was a 63 year old schoolteacher who went over the falls in a barrel in 1901.

We rode the trolley around to the Maid of the Mist as we decided this would be our first attraction.  There was practically no wait.  You can feel the force of the falls in the water as the boat sways back and forth.  As you approach the falls, the cool mist from the falls is enough to cool you down.  Johnathan loved this part.

After the Maid of the Mist, we decided to get some lunch then head towards the Cave of the Winds tour.

Daniel said this was probably the most exhilarating feeling he's ever experienced.  This part of the tour is called the Hurricane because of the wind and water that is produced from the waterfall.  Alex actually fell while going up the stairs.  Of course John loved it!  Daniel, Alex and John did it twice while I waited at the lower section with James and Amada.  

We enjoyed some ice cream before leaving.  The kids wanted to take their picture with this statue.

We headed back to the KOA for more swimming and the kids made some friends at the pool too.

We leave in the morning to head to Lake George, NY where we will visit the Six Flags and hopefully get to see the Statue of Liberty.

Nicole

 

We Arrived In The Show-Me State

We made good time and had better gas mileage today.   We arrived at the St. Louis West KOA, which wasn't too full.  It's location is outstanding for what we want to do.  The kids spotted Six Flags on the way to the campground which amped up the excitement quite a bit.  However, we will make them wait until tomorrow for all of the fun.

We need to head to the grocery store and get caught up on laundry first.  Luckily we aren't very far from a Wal-Mart and were able to find everything we needed.  An added benefit to staying at a KOA campground is that they have laundry rooms.  I make sure that we save any quarters and they go into our laundry money bag.  We also found this collapsible wagon at Costco which fits the laundry baskets perfectly for a more convenient way to transport the laundry to and from the trailer.  When we are not using it, it folds up and stores easily under one of the bench seats in the van.

While James was "helping" me with laundry, Daniel took the other kids to the nice, big pool here.

 

Before we embarked on this 2 month cross-country voyage we practiced by taking small trips not far from home to see what we really needed to bring and where/how we would store items.  One storage dilemma we faced was what to do with ALL the dirty clothes.  Well we have this large storage area under our bed and it is perfect for 2 laundry baskets, plus other miscellaneous storage.  As I toss the clothes into the laundry baskets I sort them by lights or darks.  Then when we need to do laundry I just remove the baskets from underneath the bed with the clothes already sorted.

Get your walking shoes ready tomorrow because we are headed to Six Flags St. Louis.  The kids have waited long enough.

Nicole

In Route To Missouri

We knew we would have 2 days of driving ahead of us as we left Mt. Rushmore and headed to Missouri. What we didn't know is how windy it would be.  We ended up losing a hubcap to the van and the spare tire cover on the trailer somewhere in South Dakota.

While we didn't stop at Badlands National Park, we caught just a glimpse of the "badlands" from the road and they were beautiful.  They reminded me of a "mini" Grand Canyon.

We continued through a portion of Iowa and into Nebraska where we stopped for the night.  We lost another hour today as we crossed into the Central Time Zone, which made it feel like an even longer day.

We made reservations at the KOA in Gretna (West Omaha) just the day before.  We were ecstatic to have cell service and a better wi-fi connection.  And we were finally feeling the humidity.  This KOA had a great area for the kids to play, which is exactly what they needed after being in the car all day.

They also offered freshly-made pizza and boneless chicken bites inside the store & delivered them to our campsite.  Since we had been eating/snacking in the car all day, this was a nice and unexpected treat.  Our camp site had a little table area on a brick deck and lots of shade.  It was also a long enough site that Daniel didn't have to unhook the trailer from the van.

All the kids had baths and went to bed without any complaints.  They were forewarned that tomorrow is another "driving day" and we will be waking up early.  The kids are "extra" excited to arrive in St. Louis because they are aware we will be visiting a Six Flags park there.

Nicole

Mount Rushmore

The drive through Montana, Wyoming and into South Dakota was more mountainous terrain.  We saw numerous creeks & rivers in Montana and a lot of horses, which always excites James.  More of the same in Wyoming, along with many trains carrying coal.  I was fascinated with the huge fluffy clouds and rock formations in South Dakota.  Daniel says he's ready for some flat land though.

Cute little town in Montana

South Dakota skies

The kids are doing much better than I anticipated, but I believe it is due to having assigned seats, lots of activities to do in the car, and a variety of snacks when needed.

The KOA we stayed at is actually a resort, The Palmer Gulch Resort, and it is humongous.  They offer over 500 campsites, cabins, a lodge, restaurant, and many more accommodations.  You could make your entire vacation just visiting the resort (resort map).   They have 2 pools, water slides, pond with fishing/paddle boats, playground/basketball court, horseback rides, and chuckwagon dinners to name a few.  The only complaint I have is that I had a terrible time trying to connect to the internet through the free wi-fi they offer.

Mount Rushmore was only 6 miles away from the campground and we had no problems finding it.  Once we parked and began walking towards the monument, it took my breath away to see how big it actually is. Along the pathway there are flags of all 50 states displayed.  The kids were able to find the California state flag very easily.

After we marveled at the monument, we went downstairs to the museum.  We were all fascinated to see the actual tools that were used and the pictures of the carving process.  If we didn't have all the little kids with us we probably could have stayed several more hours looking at everything.  We also found out that part of the movie National Treasure 2 was filmed in this area.

The next 2 days will be long as we head to Missouri with an overnight stop in Nebraska.

Nicole

Yellowstone

The rest of the drive through Idaho was rather uneventful with not much to see but farm land and mountains.  We arrived at the KOA in West Yellowstone,Montana (at 6600 ft. elevation) just in time.  Not even 5 minutes after Daniel got the trailer unhooked and situated did the thunderstorm begin.  Here is a video I took of the hail.  It stormed (hail, thunder, lightning, wind, & rain) for a little over an hour then as fast as it started, it was gone.  Once the storm was gone, we took the kids swimming at the indoor, heated pool.  

The next day we packed a lunch and headed to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming (only 6 miles from the campground).  We had to wait a while to get into the park because of the time of day.  There was also a $25 entrance fee.  We started at the west entrance and made our way around the entire loop.  

We stopped at the Lower Geyser Basin to check out the Fountain Paint Pots.  There was a wooden boardwalk type trail that you walked on and made a loop around.  There were so many sights and sounds {& smells too}!

Next we headed around the loop to Old Faithful.  The parking lot was extremely full but we drove around until we found a parking spot.  We had packed a picnic lunch, but I was feeling really light-headed and needed to eat now so we sat in the car and ate sandwiches.  It dawned on me that I had forgotten to do my breakfast shake that morning.  By that time, everyone needed a bathroom break so we found restrooms.  We had read that Old Faithful erupts approx every 60-90 minutes, but we weren't sure when the next eruption would be.  Then we saw the mass of people waiting and figured it must be soon.  We were so lucky again...we only waited about 5 minutes and Old Faithful put on quite a show for us.  Here is the video I took of it.  We spoke to some people who waited over an hour.

We decided to complete the loop around Yellowstone National Park and I am glad we did!  Even though we were in the car {again!}, the amazing sights made it all worth it.  We saw Yellowstone Lake, waterfalls, bison, elk, and more geysers.  It took us about 4 hours to drive around the loop because we only stopped a couple of times.

Once we were back at the campground, the kids enjoyed playing on the playground, playing a game of miniature golf (only $1/person), riding bikes, and a campfire complete with s'mores.  

Tomorrow is a driving day so you'd better set your alarm because we will be leaving the campground at 7:30 am as we head to South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore.

Nicole

Goodbye Oregon, Hello Idaho

It was sad to leave Oregon because we were leaving family and we had such a great time visiting with them. We also noticed that Johnathan did not have quite the amount of behavioral difficulties as he usually does.  BUT, it was time to begin our cross country trip.

We followed along the Columbia River from Portland until we started heading southeast in Boardman.  Some of the views were absolutely captivating.

I did not realize, however, that not all of Oregon is green and lush.  In fact, some parts reminded me of southern California.  Once crossing the Oregon-Idaho border we entered into Mountain Time Zone. 

We stopped for the night at a KOA in Meridian, Idaho that has full hook-ups so we could run the air conditioner.  They were very accommodating considering we didn't have a reservation and the charge was only $33 for the night. This particular KOA must be a popular overnight stop because the RV sites were not spacious at all.  In fact, we were backed up to another rig.  They also advertise free wifi but after 45 minutes of trying to connect, I gave up.  However, we slept very well and were ready for more traveling the next morning.  

Next stop: Yellowstone National Park

Disclaimer: Due to internet difficulties, I have not been able to keep the blog updated daily.  For the most up to date information regarding our cross country travels, please check Facebook.

Thanks for your patience,

Nicole