Well we finally made it to Montana, after a 12 hour drive.  Thank you for all the prayers. We got started about 9 am after sleeping in an icebox because our oldest child decided we needed to sleep in 62 degree weather in the hotel room.  Everyone did well on the drive and we are all still speaking and no one got hurt. Finishing out SD seemed long to us but we have learned that the state of MT is VERY LARGE and Helena is on the west side.  We got to go through a tip of Wyoming and we were tempted to go see the Devil's Tower national Monument but decided that we needed to stay on track for the day.  Again the scenes were beautiful. The further we got into MT the more we started to see the Rocky Mountains that are still snow capped.  Along with the animals Christina alerted us that she was sure she saw an indian.  Some of the scenes did look like an old western where the indians surrounded the towns up on the cliffs.  It was also a very windy drive and we had a decent amount of rain. Of course, Christina asked about a million times how close we were to Helena.

Once we got here everyone was thrilled with our new diggs for the summer.  In fact, they are so thrilled that Caleb did some somersaults across the living room and Rebecca/Sarah started doing races down the halls.  They also immediately started exploring the land around the house at 9:30 pm. (the Durfields would be proud) 

Sorry for the late post it has taken until now to get our internet working.

The weather today was better (in the 60's and sunny). Although I was reminded this afternoon that here in the northwest this is what's called Spring. I keep forgetting we don't have that in the deep south.  We started the day with a trip to Mount Rushmore which was quite amazing.  The museum there had lots of interesting information about the scultpure and how it came to be.  One interesting fact was that Jefferson was originally on the other side of Washington. 

The kids liked it except it wasn't quite the kids playland as the Badlands. They kept wanting to climb all over the rocks which were in forbidden areas.  Caleb was especially disappointed that he couldn't climb on top of the sculptures or go hike around the mountain.  However, that didn't keep Joshua and Christina off of the rocks or walls that were accessible.

After lunch we made our way to Custer State Park.  The drive to the park from Mount Rushmore was on a very curvy road that winds up and down a mountain. In addition to the curves there were several one way tunnels but we made it even towing a trailer.  When we finally got to the visitor center we were able to hold several skeletons including the head of a Bison.  As we left there we noticed that there was Bison patties on the lawn and we connected the dots that these animals are all over this park even where the people are (oh my).  We went down to one of the lakes and hiked the trail around the lake.  This was pretty cool in that it had lots of rocks for the kids to climb and we got to see several cool birds along the way.  The most interesting thing happened as we were coming off the trail, suddenly we noticed up on the hill across the road there were 3 bison.  They continued to move down and across the road between us and our car. Actually they were right at our car.  Luckily the boys who had ran ahead to the car had come back to us before the bison started to cross the road. Gretchen decided this was not the time to rope a bison to cook for dinner. 

Our final hour or so at the park was spent going on the Wildlife Loop Road.  This was awesome because we came across a herd of Bison. There were probably more than a hundred and they included lots of baby ones.  The kids loved it and we now probably have about 50 pictures of these Bison.  As we continued on up the road we ran across a herd of burrows which were quite tame.  They came right up to our windows and let us pet them. There were a couple of baby ones as well.  Lastly on our way out we saw a horned antelope and more prarie dogs. 

As we left the park again we were greeted with beautiful landscapes of green pastures as far as the eye could see. On one of our turns today we were on top of a mountain and you could see the hill country and then the plains almost like you can see the ocean when you are at the beach.  God is Awesome and has given us a beautiful country to live in and enjoy while we are here.

Again today we met more people from TN, two elderly couples from Chattanooga and a lady from west TN. Caleb wears has been wearing his UT hat so we aer getting several comments on it.  It is so odd not to be in the south. He has had several people ask what UT stands for (can you imagine?).  I guess everyone is not clear on where God's country really is.

Please pray for tomorrow it is another very long trip but this time crossing Montana to the west side of the state.

After a Very Very Very looooong day yesterday we are thankful to have at a max only an hour to drive today.  Once again we awoke to cold weather this morning in the high 40's and with a little drizzle.  After breakfast we started our tour (hiking) of the Badlands National Park.  We spent a couple hours on our first trail where we felt like we were on another planet.  The rock and soil is very soft and clay like so it breaks apart easily.  Of course, with the rain it also sticks easily to your shoes  :-).  Our biggest challenge on this trail was keeping up with the kids.  This was an exercise like hearding cats.  About the time we would catch up with one, another would be at the top of a pinacle that we could not fathom how they were going to get down. Just about the time we thought we got their attention and they understood to come down someone else would pop up next to them and to our horror most of the time it would be Christina. Of course in her mind she is as old as they are and can do anything they do but about half the time she would get up on these tall rocks and then need help getting down.

The Badlands are like a playground for kids so as you can imagine this scene of Caleb and Joshua jumping out of the car and immediately climbing the rocks happened at every stop.  The girls were usually not too far behind.  I don't think the word danger is in any of our kids vocabulary.  They all think they are invincible.  At one stop all of us but Gretchen decided to do this 1/4 mile hike up through these peaks.  Going up was quite strenuous and once we were up there the issue was how to get down safely.  The path was quite unstable because this clay continues to break apart beneath you and the path was almost vertical in some places. So our best and only option was to sit and scoot down the mountain. This was one time we threw our pride out the window.

After lunch we went through an area where animal fossils had been found in the last few years that dated back millions of years (according to the ranger).  As we continued to drive, there were several overlooks that were just breathtaking. As you stand high upon the mountain and look across these jagged rocks and see the many different colors of rock/clay and how beautiful and amazing it is, you really have no choice but to give God all the glory for this site.  There is grass that grows on some of them and animals that live amongst them and again how perfectly it all aligns together can only be from Him our Creator.  There was also beautiful prairies to overlook that go on for miles.

One of the highlights of the day was at the very end of our trip in the park when we stopped at what is called "Prairie Dog Town".  it was a huge open field and in it were just hundreds of prairie dog holes and lots of prairie dogs sticking up out of them.  They make this funny squeaking sound and it sounds like they are talking to each other. In some cases there are 2 or 3 gathered at one hole like they are visiting their neighbors.  In the distance we could see several Bison just laying enjoying the day.  However, as we turned to leave up from the crevacis of the Badlands walks a big bull bison.  We were able to just sit in our car safely and watch him go by and take a few pictures. Gretchen decided we could wait on catching one to make stew.

Tomorrow we hit MT Rushmore and Custer State Park. Thanks for praying for us and our safety.   One other quick note from the day was that we met a family from Alcoa TN (near Tony's mom's) and saw a couple from Ole Miss. It is truly a small world.

Today we left Minnesota around 8:30 and we hit South Dakota around 2:30.  Again I don't think we have ever seen so many corn fields and wheat fields.  Rebecca commented that she didn't understand why anyone thinks the world is being overpopulated and we would run out of room.  As soon as we drove across the Missouri River into South Dakota the terrain changed into more hill country and was absolutely georgous.  However, that only lasted a little while and then we were back to flat land except this time we could see for miles.  We had stopped earlier in the day to have a picnic lunch in the 49 degree weather. (I don't think they know in MN and SD that it is suppose to be summer yet).  However, as dinner approached we continued to look for somewhere to pick up a bite to eat.  By about 6:30 we stopped for gas and decided just to eat in the gas station which turned out to be pretty good.

Finally, we started seeing rock formations that told us we were getting close to the badlands (our destination for the day).  Once we got off the interstate and drove into the park we were able to see the awe inspiring view that was like a scene from a movie.  Again what a wonderful reminder of the Great God we have that he created such a unique and beautiful sight. As we continued into the park the scenery of these jagged rocks continued to expand. The kids were immediately inspired to want to hike, rock climb and repel.  I don't know that we can fullfil all their wishes but we will at least do some hiking tomorrow.  Caleb had actually practiced rock climbing earlier today as he scaled the side of one of the SD visitor centers. 

Today's challenge was a 9 hour drive in the car with few stops.  The first half of the day went very well but the longer we drove the more interesting it got.  We kept trying to come up with the Bible verse that says "Thou shalt zip your lips when your parents say so". If you know it please send it to us.  We also learned that watching a movie in the car causes your child to forget how to read. So for future reference read first then watch a movie or just don't watch at all.  There was at least once if not several times we tried to point out a beautiful scene by suggesting we turn off the video for just a minute and I am positive that we were deemed aliens from a different planet. Oh well God continues to teach us all lessons no matter how old we are.

Again thanks for the prayers. Tomorrow will be an entire day at badlands before heading over to Rapid City where we get to visit Mt Rushmore and Custer State Park. 

Today we woke up to 60 degrees and heavy winds. Yes it really is May!!!. Cousin Don had warned us last night that it would be cold today and he was right.   After getting dressed for the day we piled into Linda's car and Gary's truck and headed over to Aunt Irene's apartment so we could see it.  Gary's truck was quite the popular vehicle for the day.  New passengers each time we stopped. 

After picking up Aunt Irene we drove north to the St. Croix river and toured the Minnesota Interstate Park and saw some natural pot holes (not like in roads) created by the glaciers and rivers.  After a picnic lunch we all boarded a paddle boat and took a ride up the river for a beautiful and scenic trip.  The river was actually at a high water level and had flooded several parks along the trip.  On the trip back up the river the boys were squabbling over a hat and Linda turned around and said she was so glad we were real after all.  I told her it only takes a few hours for the kids to warm up to new people. Oh well...

We all traveled over to Don and Gail's for pizza.  There we got to meet their son Jesse and Irene's friend Jack.  Cousin Don has the most beautiful yard/garden full of Hosta's.  He grows lots of different kinds of hosta's and actually creates new kinds. How cool is that!! 

Later we all ended up in the street playing a game called pickle.  This was quite an entertaining game which was a mix of dodgeball/keep away. The most entertaining part was seeing all age ranges of people trying to do this and run between 2 bases and not get hit by a ball.  It's too bad the video recorder was not going because I think we could have won an award on either YouTube or America's Funniest Home Videos.

Well, tomorrow will be a 8-9 hour journey to the Badlands. 

The day started off in Cedar Rapids, IA and we made it to Minnesota by early afternoon.  We stopped at the Mall of Americas and went to the Lego Store. The boys were in Heaven. They each got to fill a cup of legos to the top for a price. There were also these gigantic legos above the store that weighed in the neighborhood of 9 tons.  There was also an amusement park in the middle of the mall.

After the mall we drove about an hour north of Minneapolis to Oak Grove to Gretchen's cousin Linda and Gary Dagenais. They had all the family come over for Memorial Day picnic.  Christina was excited about this all day and continually asked when we were going to meet the cousins.   We were all excited and suprised to find that the first set of cousins we met had 5 kids and the next group had 4. Wow!! Needless to say there were lots of kids of all ages from 14 to 18 months.  My test is to see if I get them all right. Aunt Irene, Linda & Gary, their son Chad and LaSaundra (kids Braden, Lexi, RJ, Maddi and Colton), their daughter Kara and Joe (kids Kella, Kylar, Avery and Reece), Doris, Don & Gail.  There was food, soccer, football, bocci ball and lots of fun was had by all.  Christina decided to be mother to Maddi and Colton which was very cute.  We have already been asked by our kids to see when we can come back to visit. 

Tomorrow will be a trip up the St. Croix river on the border of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Should be fun!!

We arrived in Cedar Rapids, IA around 5:30 this afternoon.  The day started at the Arch in St Louis. Wow!! We were amazed at how that monument can stand at 630 feet and not move with the winds that are here in the midwest.  The views from up there were AMAZING. The ride up (only 4 minutes) went well and no one was bothered by the small elevator type cars. The Western Expansion museum was pretty awesome as well.  We were so amazed and thankful that Lewis and Clark made that trip out west to expand our country.  What a hard trip that must have been for them. 

We are also learning as we go.  Today we discovered this new treat called "Kettle Corn". Some of you may already know about it. Its sweet and salty popcorn. Here they sell it on the side of the road so Caleb may have a new business when we get back.  We also learned that 200 years ago they cooked stew in the stomach of a buffalo (isn't that special).  Gretchen is so excited to get to Montana to "catch" a buffalo so that we can try it. The rest of us aren't quite as excited as she is.

Our kids are also teaching us things we didn't know as we go along the road as well.  Apparently the reason there is so much obesity is because when we get bored we immediately want to eat.  This seemed to happen over and over again today but we resisted the eating at every turn.

Mostly we are seeing how beautiful this part of the country is that God has created.  The farms go on for miles and we can't quite figure out why there is so much corn but there is a lot.

Tomorrow takes us to Minnesota the land of 10,000 lakes.  I don't think we plan to see them all but we may try.  Thanks for all the prayers.  As I said we made it safely and my allergies are all cleared up for the day.

Finally, 5/26/12 is here and yes we actually got everything in the U-Haul and headed out about 8 am this morning.  We have  passed through TN, AR, and into MO today without any problems. We did find that MO seems to be the windiest state and that I-55 turns in many directions other than north.  We made it to St. Louis about 5 pm and we were all excited as we rounded a corner and saw the Arch in the distance.  Our big adventure for the day was to go to the St. Louis City Museum.  We really have to thank the Watts for this suggestion.  It was FABULOUS and AMAZING.  We were there for about 4 hours and could have stayed an entire day.  It is a dreamland for kids (especially boys and dads).  There was a 10 story slide, Caves with lots of tiny holes to crawl through, an airplane suspended several stories above the ground and was connected to another plane via a wire tunnel in the air.  I watched amazed as our kids crawled through and continued into other high adventures.  There were slides galore and many more adventures to go on that we didn't even get to see.

Thanks for all your prayers.  God kept us safe and we feel so blessed to have gotten to be able to see the museum.  Continue to pray for our safety as we travel tomorrow. Also please pray for my allergies.  It has taken nearly all day to recover from an allergy attack early this morning.

Well we finally made it t May 25th the day before we leave for MT.  We have combed through the house and done a continuous process of moving stuff until it got to the garage.  Joshua and I went and got the U-Haul    That was quite the ordeal. I have not had to pull something behind a vehicle in 20 years.  We spent 2 hours going back and forth between the Uhaul place and various auto stores until we got all the hitch stuff they didn't tell me I needed. Finally we got it home. I got off work around 5 and we got to loading. Amazingly we didn't have as much to take as we thought so we of course, found more we think we might "need" and now its pretty full.  We will load the back of the suburban early in the morning.

By this time we are excited to go.  Gretchen is so excited to get to St. Louis to see the Arch that she is now watching a video on how its made. I can't say the kids were as excited as her to watch that. Although I think they will think it is pretty cool once we get there.  Our real goal tomorrow is to try to get to St Louis and be able to go to the St Louis City Museum.  It got a great reference from the Watts family.  I know if Dennis paid to go there and thought it was a good deal then it must be worth seeing.

My final goal for the day is to get everyone a bath (which can be a quite the tasks with kids especially boys) and then get to bed for an early rise.  Please pray for us as we travel tomorrow pulling this U-haul.

Only 2 days left befoe we have to load 7 people and all the stuff that is required to live for 3 months into our Suburban and the U-Haul.  It's finally almost here. Time passes quickly. Now we just need God to help get us through the next 2 days.