This is our sixth and final blog
Trip Start
Jun 22, 2010
1
7
Trip End
Aug 08, 2010
Where I stayed
Our sixth and last blog!
Springdale, Montana
Friday, July 30, 2010
Stayed with my cousins: Uncle Cousin Steve, Cousin Shyla, and Cuz John and family for 2 nights, was a SUPER time! Thanks for all y'all's southern hospitality in Montana (see details below). Drove to Cody for a rodeo, and then to Mt. Rushmore to see the night program which was very moving and patriotic. Brought a few tears to our eyes when the veterans/tourists were asked to come down for the flag lowering. I met one of the stone carvers responsible for this amazing sculpture! He was in his 80s. Drove to Chicago to see the amazing Millennium Park, with the famous water sculpture and "Cloud Gate," the gigantic polished stainless steel sculpture shaped like a drooping cloud (see photos). These two sculptures are some my favorites in the world! We also saw our third Frank Geary building, the outdoor symphony ampitheater, pretty neat. Drove to Findlay, Ohio to see a "Rubenstein." I was commissioned five years ago by the state to create "Sunburst" (on the website) for Owens Community College. It was nice to share it with the kids, especially after having seen so much art and architecture this summer.
We are now only one hour from home (Friday, Aug 6, 3pm), finally back in MD! This trip has been filled with so much adventure, discovery, the unexpected, and seeing and meeting all the people that live within the four corners of our country. It has been a time to be inspired about art, to see our country's natural wonders, and sleep in a tent under the sparkling stars. It has been a time for filling the water bottles, reading and singing (and arguing) in the car. It has been a summer of jumping into cold rivers and lakes and screaming at the top of our lungs. It has been a summer of sharing my love of the great outdoors with my family, something I hope they will cherish for a long time....Lastly, thanks goes to you, our readers, for reading our blog, sharing your enthusiasm and thinking of us while we have been on the road. We look forward to giving each and everyone of you a hug.
Cheers.
Sabrina:
When we stayed with our cousins in Montana I had a great time! We rode horses, took some hikes, and had amazing homemade meals! I had a great few days! From there we went to a rodeo! It was really fun but as the night went on I decided that I will probably not go to one again because i realized that all they did was hurt animals! I liked the barrel racing though! After that we went to mount rushmore. The sculpture on the rock was so big and beautiful! I felt very patriotic there!
After mount rushmore we drove to the badlands! The first 45 minutes were amazing; seeing lots of prairie dogs and buffalo. Then, as the afternoon went on the sky started to change dramatically and all of the sudden we got caught in a huge thunder and lightning storm. From there we drove away from the badlands and on to the highway in the direction of Chicago. On the side of the road almost all of the cars were parked with people inside them because they couldn't drive through the rough rain! But of course my dad drove!
Benjamin:
When we went to the Reich's we all had a great time. We got to shoot the shot gun, or at least I did. We also got to go riding and play golf. We had so much fun just hanging out with the family and getting to know each of them better. It felt kinda good being in the middle of nowhere. After that we went to Cody, Wyoming. We saw an awesome rodeo!!! It was so cool to see people bucked off haha!! We went to the Badlands and there was a giant thunderstorm that blurred our vision. It was still pretty cool. We also went to Mount. Rushmore. I got to experience a little bit of history. It was very cool seeing granite carvings!!! This is the last strech of the trip and we will be home Friday!! See everyone soon!!!!
Ari:
When we went to the Reichs, I got to go horesbackriding. It was soooooo fun. There were 4 horses , FIX, JESSIE, RED and LEROY. They were so nice. I liked FIX, he was cool. JESSIE was the best runner . JESSIE ran beautifully. RED had spots . RED likes to roll in the mud. I got to ride a horse all by myself.
We went to a rodeo. It was fun because all the kids 12 and under played a game in the middle of the field. We had to chase baby bulls and pull a ribbon off their tail. I didn't get one but still fell in the dirt because someone tripped me. She didn't care, she didn't even say sorry.
Mount Rushmore was so fun because it glows in the dark at midnight. We got to see it up close.
When we entered the Badlands, it started to rain.LIGHTNING started booming. I saw three types of lightning, yellow, purple, and orange. It seemed like lightning was right next to us, but it wasn't. We saw four types of animals, a fox, and many prairie dogs. When the fox came toward the prairie dogs, they squeaked. And we saw bison. They were really big. We saw grasshoppers and one came into the car and jumped on my brother. Then it climbed on the ceiling.
That night we slept in a hotel that had an indoor water slide. It was one of the spiral ones. It was fast and bumpy. It was the first big water slide that I have ever been on.
When we got to Chicago, we saw very cool things. We saw a person on a large screen and every five minutes it would squirt water. I got soaked. We saw a dinosaur sculpture and we saw this mirror. It was very cool because you could see yourself. I got into a move where I went backwards and I did a handstand in the air with my feet on the sculpture.
Shereen:
After driving over 10,000 miles, traveling for 46 days, going to the bathroom in gas stations way more than I want to number, preparing peanut butter sandwiches on my lap while using a piece of cardboard for a cutting board, handing back apple slices, cookies, gum, and anything else at my feet that is easy to throw to the chirping birds behind me, it's hard to comprehend that we are actually on the road today leading to our home on Dorset Avenue.
Our time with the cousins in Montana was so much fun for all of us. Enjoying the luxury of space, delicious food, great conversation with people other than the five of us, riding horses, and taking in the big Montana sky. So fun to watch Sabrina and Morgan braid the horse's tail and paint his hooves with sparkly nail polish. Ari came to love the horses so much that two nights later I found him weeping in his bed and he told me it was because he missed those horses. : ) He couldn't get enough of riding them and brushing them. He also couldn't get enough of playing with Evan Dee. They are two peas in a pod. They each met their match. Shayna and I went for a morning ride with the horses and saw beautiful morning sights, including a rattlesnake. That's when we returned to the ranch. There have been many firsts on this trip and skeet shooting just made the list. Steve, Shyla, and John showed me the ropes. It was so powerful and shook my whole body.
The Badlands really took my breath away. We happened to be driving through when a thunderous storm came upon us, adding lots of wonderful drama to the landscape. The lightning was close by and a bit frightening, but also created lots of giddy excitement in the car! Silently watching up close a fox walk slyly towards prairie dog holes was a treat, better than Planet Earth!
No way to summarize this unique experience. Barton gets huge kudos for taking the dream that we spoke about when dating 18 years ago and making a reality for our family.
Comments
What a fantastic journey. The text are great, the pictures full of joy and energy. What a memorable trip! What a wonderful learning experience for the kids. I also know from experience that this time spend together will be for ever engraved in your memories, as one of the greatest of your life. Congratulations! I'll share the link to your blog with Marly but also Hillary and my other daughter Kesso. Very best.