Corvello Wedding

After coming home from our vacation Dave decided to stay behind with the boys and I went with my parents and sister to Sabestapol to Ryan and Jordan's wedding.  What a FUN weekend!  A three and half hour drive with my Mom and Taylor is always a good round of laughs and when we arrived at the hotel the night before the wedding there were tons more.  A beer run and sitting a hotel room full of parentals is an even better round of laughs!

 

The day of the wedding started with a family walk/run through town and pedi's with Mom and Taylor. 

 

I have known the Corvello boys since they were born, babysat them for an entire summer when Ryan was 4 and Daniel was 2, and spent countless hours on the lake with them.  Their parents were my parents houseboat partners after summers of renting them together.  It's crazy to think I used to make tuna and mustard for Ryan for lunch almost every day and dig apple peals out of Daniel's cheek prior (where he stored them) to his nap.

 

This wedding was more than AMAZING! The wedding was at Ryan's uncle's place in Sabestapol and it was gorgeous.  Valet parking, wedding up in a vineyard, cocktail hour by the house, dinner under a tent by the pool, dessert in the yard, dancing in the barn, and a taco truck for late night snacks! 

 

The wedding was beautiful and the party was a blast.  It felt like very fancy houseboat reunion! Everyone was dancing, drinking, and having a great time.  The bride, Jordan, was absolutely beautiful as was the entire wedding party.  Her dress was very full for the ceremony and she changed just her skirt for the reception, such a pretty girl!  She and Ryan are so lucky to have married great families. 

 

Summer Trip

Dave and I started talking about our summer plans some time back in December/January.  Throwing out ideas of places we would like to visit and I expressed my desire to visit my grandparents in Oregon and Montana and Steph in Idaho.  Dave has always wanted to visit Montana so he started to research the best way to do this trip.  After some research we decided taking the trailer was the direction we were headed for a 2 week trip and it was going to cost around X amount of dollars! Key word in that last sentence is AROUND this would be Dave's estimation of the trip guessing how much the nightly fees would be, gas, and some spending money.  Nice try Sweetheart, but your wife needs a lot more details than that!  I started an excel spreadsheet (no joke) and labeled each day and asked for him to complete the locations, miles, and cost of campsite.  Of course Dave thought I had completely lost my mind, no surprise here, just fill it out! 

A couple of weeks went by and Dave spend LOTS of time on the computer mapping out our trip and researching/emailing RV camps along the way and ta da the spreadsheet creation was beautiful!  Dave did a great job calculating the "must see locations" and filling in the gaps with a max driving time of 5 hours from place to place.  The sticker price for a 28 day road trip in RV camps $1071!  Not bad for a month on the road and WAY cheaper than hotels would have been.  Yes, we were pulling a trailer so the gas cost a little more, but it was a way nicer way to go and the only way the trip would have been doable. 

Dave then began researching "things to do" along the way and we nailed a few of them in place prior to leaving home.  One was the baseball game in Seattle, my half marathon in Missoula, and visits to my grandparents and Steph. We knew there were lots of other sites and people along the way that we wanted to try and see, but none were confirmed until we were closer to the/their destination. 

I won't say that even after all the hours put into planning there wasn't a point that I really wanted to pull the plug...do we really want to spend X amount of dollars this year on a vacation!?!  I of course didn't push this and it wasn't until Dave's Aunt Vicki become suddenly very ill (in Southern California) that I realized this could be one of the last times I see my grandparents in Oregon and Montana.  Both have had medical issues recently and I would have been crushed if I hadn't put out effort to go see them.  So, yes the trip cost X, but I knew it would be a priceless experience! 

Yes, I thought we would go crazy in the car and in a 33 foot trailer with no doors to separate from each other. Eating, sleeping, and playing with each other day in and day out for 28 straight days. I honestly don't think Dave and I have spend this many consecutive days together in the 8 years we have known each other and I know he hasn't spent this much time with the boys.  If I have it hasn't been since they were babies and I was home with them on maternity leave and even then I'm not sure I never went to the store without them!  I was a little unsure if we wouldn't want jump off a cliff at times...

I have to shout a big, THANK YOU, to my husband for creating an itinerary that I was comfortable with prior to leaving home.  I swear because of this I was completely at ease with our plans prior to leaving I was able to simply relax and enjoy the trip!  THANK YOU for driving the entire trip while I sat in the passenger seat reading my books! THANK YOU for researching and reserving campsites along the way that were "best rated" they were all great! THANK YOU for researching activities along the way, and being calm and patient with us.  THANK YOU for allowing me time to finish my training and encouraging me to run the half marathon in Missoula (I guess I did have time away on the trip). THANK YOU for allowing me so much time with my grandparents and best friend, they truly will always remember this time and as my Dad says "are on cloud 9" because of our visit.  It meant the world to me and truly was a PRICELESS vacation! 

I can't wait for the next time we get this much time together.  It was SERIOUSLY awesome to have Dave all to ourselves, no work or FFA activities to attend to.  We had lots of great adventures along the way and visited 12 sets of friends and family. 

Garrett and Gannon had a great time and we troopers all along the way.  They were awesome on the drives thanks to Charlotte's Web, The Little Engine that Could, and other movies, road bingo, and LOTS of snacks! They were amazing during all the activities and loved every minute of it!

7 States,

12 Campsites,

4499.5 miles driven, and 28 AMAZING days!

Virginia City

Virgina City is a cute little old town at the top of a hill that reminded me of Columbia which is near home.  Lots of cute little "touristy" type shops and gun fights in the street!  We got to town right at lunch time so we found a BBQ place recommended by the train crew and grabbed a bit to eat. 

On our way to lunch I saw one of those old western photo places and asked for if we could do one.  I have seen these along the way at various places on the trip, but Dave nor the boys were very excited about taking a picture.  This time wasn't very successful either.  After lunch we went window shopping down the main street and a mine tour.  I'm not a huge fan of caves and not sure why I thought a mine would be any different.  It was great at the start of the tour, it was just our family.  About 20 yards into the tour two larger men joined us, making me feel trapped with them behind me.  I got all clammy and told Dave I was going back...he made me stay!  I know, face your fears.  Big dudes had to get in front of me so at least if I wanted to run back I didn't feel trapped.  It was a pretty cool tour, thankful not too long!

With about 40 minutes left I saw yet another photo place.  I begged and told the boys they could each pick a new car and hold a gun. What kind of Mom am I...I wanted a dang picture!  After we started to "dress up" they were VERY excited and dang it give them their guns.  A quick picture and mad dash out of there and we made it back to the train just in time! 

Virginia City & Truckee Railroad

This was definitely Gannon's most anticipated day of the trip! We had researched this train ride last year and now that we would be in the area decided it was a "must do" for the trip! We woke up early to drive to Carson City to catch the train and you can tell by the pictures below that both boys were very excited.  The train is very old and we had a narrated ride to Virginia City.  Funny how a 8 mile drive can turn into an hour and half train ride through the mountains!  It was a very cool ride and we learned more about the mining that was done in the area long ago.  When we got to Virginia City we had a little over 3 hours to explore prior to the train ride back.

Dinner with the Pindars

Dave's cousin and his family live in Reno so we met up for a BBQ.  Dave Sr. and Paula drove over to join us too! Billy and Emily have a big dog (that is very nice) and of course our boys were seriously afraid.  One of Gannon's many allergies are dogs so they are not around them enough to be desensitized and totally freak out every time one comes close to them.  When we first got there Gannon sat on the couch to avoid the dog and fell asleep!  Thank you Billy and Emily for understanding and keeping the dog opposite of where we were.

We had a great dinner and visit with everyone.  Lyla did great playing baseball with Garrett and Gannon and was getting good at "running the bases" by the time we left.  Billy and Emily were so kind to keep the boys for a couple of hours after dinner so Dave and I could have a little "date/card playing" time together. We met up with Dave Sr. and Paula, played a few cards/craps, won a little money, and called it a night.

Boomtown

Our campsite in Reno was just below the Boomtown casino at the KOA.  We had about an hour and half to kill prior to dinner at Dave's cousin's house so we took the boys to play.  What a great little place to beat the heat and get some energy out.  It cost ten bucks per kid to enjoy unlimited activities at Boomtown.  They had a Farris wheel (the covered wagon), a merry go round (the horse wagon), miniature golf, bowling, a bounce house, and tons more.  Needles to say, we were a little late to our BBQ because the boys were having so much fun playing!

Elko, Nevada

Elko was a "break up the drive" stop and although it was much bigger of a place than we expected we ended up staying at the camp.  There were lots of basque restaurants, but surely none that would measure up to Woolgrowers so we hit a grocery store and picked up some steaks.  My simple husband said to grab a can of vegetable and I really wanted something fresh so I grabbed some zucchini.  He was sure glad I was thinking outside the can because he said it was my best squash cooking he'd had! Funny guy.  I guess a little garlic salt and he's pleased!

The campground was very clean and nice so we thought we'd take a swim in their pool.  I don't even know if you could consider it a pool!  It was maybe the size of two hot tubs put together.  When we arrived at the pool Dave was very happy that he didn't have a suit on...three fellow campers that were at least 250 lbs a piece were "swimming" with a small little boy.  Two of the adults proceeded to throw a ball across the pool (remember like a spa!) to each other, splashing everyone with each toss. The little boy waited about 2 minutes before he climbed into my lap and my kids were totally in shock of the entire experience!  The other man waited for our kids to get comfortable enough to get in the pool until he decided to try and teach Gannon how to use a noodle as a water rocket....yes placing water in the noodle, creating a U shape, and blowing as hard as you can into one end of the noodle causing water to shoot out.  PUTTING YOUR MOUTH on the noodle! Thank you please don't share your spit via a noodle with my child!!! I about freaked out and told Gannon to please STOP!  Thank god they left quickly after.  Needless to say it was quite interesting.

The ticket in the picture was Dave's sports bet that proved to be a good choice!!!

Ross Park

After a morning of spending time with Steph doing girl stuff, pedi's, lunch, and shopping, we got all the kids ready to go swimming.  In Pocatello there is a little swim place that is absolutely perfect for little ones. The small pool area was closed for chemicals as we got there and would stay closed for an hour so we started in the lazy river and then moved to the smaller kids area.  The boys were much more comfortable in the little area where they could touch the bottom and run around the play structure.

We ordered pizza and continued our fun afternoon/evening of water!

Richards Family Visit

One of my BEST friends lives in Pocatello, Idaho and she was one of our reasons for this trip! Stephanie and I worked together for a home builder for a couple of years when she was living in California and we have remained great friends since she and her husband moved to Idaho 10 years ago.  We talked on the phone for HOURS every week and have no matter how far apart we are and how different we are we completely understand each other and are there for each other even if that's means just for a chat.  We haven't seen each other since Garrett was around 10 months old and her second son Jett was 8 months old.  Prior to that we saw each other just about every year. 

It was so fun to be able to chat FACE TO FACE with Steph and to finally meet her youngest in person, Berkeley.  Steph had only heard stories of Gannon so it was fun for her to finally meet him also.  All the kids had a great time playing with each other.  It was fun to watch Gannon and Berkeley be the two little ones having a conversation and playing with each other like little buddies. 

Steph and her husband, Lowell, made a great dinner and even better dessert for us too.  Now if we only lived closer we could play and hang out all the time!

Yellowstone National Park

Our first full day in Yellowstone we woke up early, packed our lunches, and headed into the park for a full day.  Since we went in the night before to see Old Faithful we decided to take the counter clockwise loop that was recommended.  The weather was on the cool side and a thunderstorm was in the forecast so we were hoping to see lots of wildlife. 

We stopped at a pretty water fall first and then off to our first geyser of the day.  It didn't take Gannon long to figure out he didn't care to see another geyser on the trip, "they smell disgusting!" As you can see in one of the pictures he is pulling his sweatshirt over his face to block the steam.  At Mammoth Hot Springs Garrett was excited to take a nature walk while Gannon and Daddy went to view the gift shop. 

As we left Mammoth the only wildlife we had see was a chipmunk and tons of squirrels, not my idea off Yellowstone wildlife, I wanted to see some big animals!  Wasn't too long after this on our drive that we reached a parking lot full of people looking and watching something with a ranger guarding....a black bear and her cubs!  I was SUPER excited to jump out of the truck, walk up the trail to see from a better spot, which I couldn't see from.  The ranger was getting quite upset with the crowd trying to take pictures.  He quickly told us to get in our vehicles and leave NOW! Dang it we were blocked by cars behind us for quite some time so we go to watch the bears as they walked around.  It was so cool. 

After that we proceeded to see 17 bison, 8 elk, 1 coyote, and deer and her babies, and the little chipmunks and squirrels.  It was a great day for wildlife viewing. 

On one of our "nature walks" Garrett and I saw a bison laying between two geysers close enough to get a great picture, but I forgot to take the camera.  When we got back down I told Dave to go back with Garrett and take a picture.  On their way up the crowd was watching the same bison and heard something breaking branches, I guess another huge bison came out of the woods right past all the people to head down the path! People screaming and freaking out everywhere!!!  Thanks Dave for staying calm and getting great pictures!

It rained really hard from about 1:30 to 4:30 so we continued to drive on the loop until we ended up around Old Faithful, but because of the rain and a couple of grouchy kids we kept driving. 

The next day we headed back to watch Old Faithful one more time and to see the Midway Geyser.  We figured since we were 30 minutes from OF if would be a quick trip.  Well wouldn't you know we were about a mile from the entrance and a car three cars in front of us swerved into a ditch to avoid hitting the car in front of them.  Dave hit the Onstar button and jumped out to help.  Thank goodness for Onstar because most of the park does not have cellphone service.  About 45 minutes we were back on the road. 

Gannon and Garrett love Old Faithful, but any other geyser that they can get closer to may be beautiful, but surely stinks.  I figured the umbrellas would be a good shield from the steam and it worked pretty good.  The finally picture on this spot about sums up Gannon's thoughts of Yellowstone!

Bison, Bison, and Bison

West Yellowstone was full of artsy bison and of course we had to take pictures by most of them!  Maybe because they were beautiful or maybe because they were the animal we saw the most of while in the park.  Who knows, but the boys loved having their picture taken by them.