Logan's turning FIVE!!!

 Logan's actual birthday isn't until Wednesday, September 29th, but the family dinner was Sunday the 26th. Nick and Kaylee are such wonder hosts. We enjoyed spending our Sunday with them, enjoying a lovely big breakfast together, attending church, playing a new game, ("Taco Cat Goat Cheese Cheese Pizza") getting to see Rachel and Logan sing and recite their lines for the Primary Children's Sacrament meeting program.

I picked up this little game in Vernal. "Daring Dinos."

Kaylee's having Rachel help her with cooking math.

Oh, that sassy expression!

He's stirring the cooked icing for the chocolate sheet cake. 

Logan is helping Kaylee make the icing for his chocolate birthday cake. Yum.

At 5 pm, family gathered for a yummy dinner that Kaylee prepared.  I think I mostly just held baby Emily to "help" out. Kaylee's parents, her three close-by brothers and families all came.

Emily likes sitting in Rachel's "nest". 

Nick and Kaylee had a slide show of Logan photos displayed on their TV while everyone was there.

Logan was supposed to be sitting on the bench under the TV, but he kept inching over toward Nick. And so did his "helpers", until little Emily looked like she was feeling a bit cornered while sitting in her Dad's lap.

A very Cornered Emily.

Çute little Logan pictures on the TV.

Of course, Mike Christensen also MEASURED Logan. I wish I would have remembered to look at the stick and see how much he has grown the past year!

I think he is trying to stand up tall!

Logan opened his gifts, we enjoyed cake and ice cream, then Mike and I headed on down the road. We have been gone TEN DAYS!! We got home just before 10:30 pm. No incidents. 

We finished listening to the last chapter of our audio book after we emptied our suitcases of all the dirty clothes and put away all our left- over snackies. I TOLD Mike we didn't need that much junk food (but it sure was fun)!

Also, I wish I would have taken a photo of the mountains to the east that we could actually SEE this trip. The weather was really gorgeous and there was hardly any smoke, haze or pollution in the air for a change. It was such a contrast from our last trip up there! It was more like summer than fall in their back yard.

Oh, we'll miss seeing those cute little kiddos! Such a fun ending to our road trip.

Tracy Aviary

 Saturday, September 25. Mike and I took Rachel, Logan and Jane to Tracy Aviary. It was really fun. I'd never been, at least not that I remembered. Lots to see. Luckily, Kaylee packed snacks for them(and us!), so they lasted a few hours. We saw a bird show, observed and learned lots and enjoyed time with our Grandkids here in Salt Lake. 

During our snack break, Rachel got a front row seat to some Raven behaviors while Logan and Jane jumped around on stumps and rocks. With much agility, I might add.

After that, we came home for lunch with Kaylee and kids, Mike napped. At 3 pm we had a nice visit in Centerville with Kathy Gardner. She was in our ward in Kailua and we have stayed in touch. Nope, I never thought to take a photo there, either! Drat. She's 81 and doing well 

Tacos for dinner with Nicks family, more outdoor play with kids, and BYU football game on TV for Mike. What's not to like on our vacation?

Love spending time with friends and family. 

Hmm. Very dirty car after 87 miles of Wyoming and Montana dirt roads!!

Sitting in the hot sun for a bird show. 

The birds flew right over our heads and usually landed on postsat the back, like that one owl behind me.

Rachel listening and learning all about Ravens. This one was playing 'Connect Four'.

Emily, below. 4 months.

Gillette, Lander and Salt Lake City

 We had a very comfortable evening in Gillette at our hotel. We had dinner at Applebee's and retired early . Well, early for a vacation night. We did listen to a few more chapters of our audio book.

We got up early-ish, ate a hot breakfast in the hotel "dining room" and hit the road. We were heading for Lander and lunch with Andrew and Christine. Who are now "Cade" and Christine. Cade is a city councilman and he's taken to using  his middle name, which is strange to us family members. 

We got a tour of his business establishment, Maven Outdoor Equipment. He has really done well. It's growing really fast and they are starting a new buiding soon to accommodate that growth.

Mike and I ate a lovely lunch outside with the two of them, said our goodbyes and drove on. Nope, I didn't even think to take a photo while we dined together.

Two incidents on the way TO Lander:

1) Almost crashed head on with a UPS tractor trailer who crossed over the line well into our lane. Mike was aware and braked and headed toward the right hand shoulder. We probably might have been able to take out an antelope or two or ten, heading out to the bush. Luckily, the truck driver corrected his path and disaster was averted. Mike's heart rate returned to normal fairly quickly.

2) Fifteen minutes out of Lander ( going on our way there), we ran into some road construction and bridge repairs. Not a big deal. The bridges were narrowed to one lane, but the signal lights kept it safe and moving well. Until that last one... We stopped at the light, we were second in the wait line. However, the big bus-like motor - home on the bridge coming our way was not moving. Like, not at all. Road workers were able to walk around the bus, so there was room. But why was it not moving? Really weird. We wondered just what was up and how long would we be sitting there. It's not a busy road, so traffic wasn't all lined up or anything. But to go another way would be extremely inconvenient. Like to the tune of a hundred miles and a missed lunch appointment.  Luckily for us and the other waiting people, it was only the motor home's steps that had gotten hung up on the bridge construction that caused the delay. We were on our way fairly soon and made it on time. Mike was glad we didn't have to ford the almost dry creek that the under-repair bridge was spanning.

On to Salt Lake/ Herriman. Again, fall leaves through the mountains and canyons were spectacular. Our lunch was large (Reuben sandwiches), snacks were plentiful, so we just kept going and we're at Nick and Kaylee's before 7 pm.  Early to bed, long nights' sleep for tired ol' bones. Though we did enjoy sitting on their front porch enjoying watching the kids play out front with the many neighborhood children.

Thursday, September 23. Devil's Tower

 Or maybe the 24th. It's  vacation and I never know what day it is. But I'm pretty sure we had Devil's Tower planned for this day.

But first we got ready for the day by having a little breakfast at our hotel in Rapid City. We ate, packed up the car and headed out.

Our goal was to get to NORTH DAKOTA. Neither of us had been there, so off we went. Took the photos, then turned right around. And we aren't the only ones. Ha. A family from Florida was doing the same thing. Ha ha.

On our way, we saw a lovely National Cemetery. Those are white headstones, all in a row .

Wide open spaces. Everywhere. Very wide. Very open.

In all directions. Here we are, approaching the North Dakota border. That's as far north as we went.

We back-tracked to Buffalo, SD. Got gas, ate Gas Station Food for lunch. In our car. Out of the wind.

The route that my GPS mapped out was from Buffalo, down through a corner of Montana, then to Wyoming to the Devil's Tower. Only Highway 20 ended up being an UN-Paved "highway." That was interesting. We could have turned around, but figured staying on the prescribed route would make for a better story. 

How long WAS this UN-Paved road? About 80 miles.

Lots of nothingness, lots of deer and antelope. Mostly antelope, but I had a hard time getting decent photos of them.

There were a few cattle, too.

Trees along the Box Elder and Little Missouri River beds.

And more dirt road.

Deer!

And we were in the middle of a beautiful nowhere. Fall is in the air. The unpaved highway ran fairly parallel to the Little Missouri River. The river path was FULL of cottonwood trees, all in their full Fall Splendor. Lovely. And there were lots of antelope EVERYwhere. And deer. 

We do love seeing all the fall leaves, water in streams and rivers, and wildlife.

Eventually we made it onto paved roads and smoother sailing. We made it to Devil's Tower, I walked the short interpretive trail, and Mike walked through the Visitor's Center. But first we stopped outside the Park and (sort-of) enjoyed some ice cream and the view. The ice cream was hand-scooped, but not really great. Certainly not worth the $12 price tag. Oh well. It's vacation, right?

After flatlands were some hills.

Logging is big in this area.

They actually have water in this part of Wyoming. Real rivers and streams and canals!

From Devil's Tower, we drove on toward Gillette, our night's destination. We did take a detour around a lake neighborhood near "Keyhole Reservoir". It was a big lake, and we saw only one boat and two seagulls.  We just enjoyed more antelope. And very little traffic. 

We found our hotel easily in Gillette. Quality Inn. King size bed, clean room. Whew. We ate out at Applebee's. I had Nacho's. Mike had chicken and shrimp. 

Tomorrow, we drive off to Lander,WY.

And I'd love to add photos, but my phone can't seem to find the updated ones I took today. Lots of "middle of nowhere" shots and far-away antelope. And rocks. And trees. I'll try again tomorrow.

Oh, yes. As we were traversing the dirt road, I mentioned to Mike that the road parallels a river. Mike said, "I hope we don't have to ford it!" Yep, the road was that remote. (We didn't). 

Also, while travelling on that very VERY long dirt road, we could see a large vehicle barrelling toward us, way far off in the distance. A truck? There was a large gravel truck behind us and one had gone by us in the opposite direction....but the on-coming one in the distance seemed to have only one large headlight and looked like a train locomotive! But the dust cloud behind it??? Mike decided it was using the same wonky GPS as us and that train had gone off the track and was lost, too, rumbling across the prairies and hills. (It really was just a gravel truck.)

I also should mention that we enjoyed a few rousing renditions of "Home on the Range" together. Very loudly. Ending in laughter. 😁