July 2013 – Page 2 – Crawford Family Sabbatical

July 20, 2013

Lewis and Clark were Studs!

Kids learning Indian Sign Language at Center

Rainbow Falls-4 of 5 falls now have dams built on them

Today, we visited the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Grand Falls, Montana. It was AWESOME! We learned so much!! I highly recommend you take the time to visit, if you are anywhere near here. It is amazing how they planned for a trip that had so many unknowns. No man had traveled by land from Atlantic to Pacific. Also, they thought the West mirrored the East. They thought the Rockies mountains were farther south and similar to Appalachian Mountains. They crossed through territories of 50 different indian tribes. Have you ever had to buy a present for someone you didn’t know? They had to have presents for a multitude of indians they did not know. They were the first white men to see the Great Falls. They had no idea there were 5 waterfalls. They had to portage their canoes and carry their supplies by hand or makeshift wagons for 18 miles. Absolutely Fascinating! I could go on and on with all I learned today.

July 20, 2013

Meals

Some of you have asked about cooking in the RV. We are trying to eat most of our meals in the RV due to our budget. I have to say, I am pretty pleased with how smoothly it has been working out. For once, almost all the food is getting eaten. We plan out all our meals for the week and purchase the right amount. Since we are on a budget, we don’t grab the extras at the grocery store, like we used to do. I think that is where we used to waste food.

July 20, 2013

Laundry

Well, today was Laundry Day and we sure had a lot! I have a new appreciation for owning a washer and dryer in St. Louis. This is not something that was at the top of my appreciation list, but now it is. Also, the cost of doing laundry adds up. This is a line item that we did not think about. I spent $11.50 on laundry(I did bed sheets, so that was an extra load). I am hoping we can stretch laundry out till at least every 6 days. Yes, we are re-wearing clothes, as long as they don’t stink.

July 19, 2013

Driving to Great Falls, Montana

Friday, July 19, 2013

Yesterday, we left Yellowstone and headed north to Great Falls, Montana to visit the Lewis and Clark Interprative Center. Our kids and I had school time. We spent time learning about Lewis and Clark, as well as, the basics. It was the smoothiest day so far. We are all adjusting to Mommy being the teacher. We stopped in Helena, MT for dinner.

Parking is a problem for us. We thought parking in front of a church is the perfect spot!

Godfather’s Pizza! Oh, it tasted so good!!

July 15, 2013

What planet is this?

This was taken at Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park. Most of the springs here are dried up, and it truly looks like the landscape of a different planet. The trees actually drink in the calcified water (the hot water percolates up through limestone and brings the calcium to the top, creating travertine), and turns white.

July 15, 2013

Yellowstone July 15-19, 2013

Monday: Norris Geyser Basin(saw hot springs, mud pots and geysers). Steamboat Geyser, is the tallest geyser in the world and it last blew in 2005. Kane wanted to stick around to wait for it to go again. We got to see it sputter a bit, but that was all.

Kat was tired, so Big Brother gave her a lift.

Emerald Spring. It is funny how you get used to the sulphur smell.

Kane is waiting for Steamboat Geyser to erupt!

Stopped at SheepEaters Cliff for a picnic and some unexpected rock climbing(if there are rocks, he will climb).

Mammoth Hot Springs

Kids were excited to see elk for the first time.

TUESDAY: We met the Embleton Family at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. It was so wonderful seeing friends from home!

P1060858 — Can you tell the Big Boys were having fun?

WEDNESDAY: Joffe Lake(fishing and saw Black Bear) and swimming at Firehole River.

Scott helping Kane with Jr. Ranger Program

THURSDAY: Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic, Yellowstone Lake

P1060957 — After lunch fun. for one of them

July 14, 2013

We arrived at Yellowstone!

Sunday, July 14^th YELLOWSTONE

We arrived at Yellowstone Sunday afternoon. I was amazed by the size and beauty of Yellowstone Lake as we drove to our campground in Yellowstone. We stayed at Fishing Bridge RV park Loop B #61 on end. While we were getting settled, the kiddos were drawn to the woods where there was tons of sticks. They had a blast making a fort!

We attended a Ranger program, at Mud Volcano that was awesome. The ranger had been a seasonal ranger there since 1970, so he had great stories to share. We learned, we definitely do not want to fall into the water(it is boiling hot). Our favorite was Dragon’s Mouth, which is a hot spring. The mud pots were burping and belching which the kids loved!

July 7, 2013

Prairie Dog Closeup

Kat using DS and Kane using Sony Bloggie to capture prairie dog in Badlands, South Dakota.

I love this picture of the kids chasing down the prairie dogs with cameras. They are so excited to see any type of wildlife, and to be able to document their trip!

Video taken by Kane on his Bloggie:

Praire Dog Video

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