June 9: Leaving Glacier headed to Yellowstone

It was raining when we woke up to pack up and head out from the West Glacier KOA. Adam was able to get a morning shower in which got him moving quick, that along with the rain got us moving and we were out by 10am. The drive to Cameron, MT was beautiful. We passed lakes and rivers that made for a peaceful drive. Well accept for the kids constantly asking “where are we going” and “how much longer?” Adam and I can tune them out to a point but it it doesn’t wear on you. This was actually a short drive compared to our previous drives, only about 5 hours closer to 6 at the speed we go at. Still shorter then the 8+ hours we were driving. We arrived at Driftwaters Resort a little after 5:30! This resort is about 35 minutes from the West Yellowstone entrance. When we started planning this trip close to 3 months ago every RV park that was closer to the entrance was already fully booked! Even this one that we stayed at is fully booked through August now. More people are traveling domestically this summer than ever before so I’m happy we start booking things early! Driftwaters Resort definitely had the laid back nature that pretty much all of Alaska has. I didn’t pay for our spot until we were about to leave and only because I reminded the owner to check to see if we had paid😂. We got in a decent time to it was time to make a good homemade dinner! I brought out the #blackstonegrill and whipped up some chicken enchiladas and quesadillas! We sat outside and enjoyed the gorgeous view of the Montana mountains.

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June 10: Yellowstone National Park

We actually set the alarm clock so that we could wake up and get into the Park. For those of you possibly traveling to Yellowstone this summer you only need your regular National Parks Pass or a day ticket. There are no special tickets and at this time they are not limiting entry. With that being said you will hit traffic. It took us about 2 hours from the west entrance to Canyon Village which is around 35 miles. We headed into the Village first and grabbed lunch and souvenirs. Next stop was the Upper Falls trail. Well we missed the turn to the first entrance and ended up driving to the viewpoint and parking there. We were now in the middle of the trail I wanted to take🤦🏼‍♀️. What to do now? Well we rolled with it! The waterfall was amazing! I definitely need to get out my thesaurus out to find more words for beautiful🤣 From the overlook we were pretty far away but could still feel the mist on our face! We decided to start the trail going south to get a better view or the river and falls. It was a relatively easy half mile but when we got to the end we had the choice to turn around and head back to the truck or take the 1.2 mile trail to Clear Lake and then .7 back to the truck. The theme of our trip is “adventure awaits” so that is what we did went on an adventure! An adventure it was, instead of being in the dense woods next to a river we were on hilly plains of Yellowstone, where the bison roam. Adam I were on alert but still enjoying the vast beauty of the park. Sure enough about half way to the lake we came up on a bison hanging out about 20-25 feet from the trail. Being as careful as we could we went off the trail a bit to give the bison a wide berth so that we would not scare it. It was pretty awesome! A little after that the whining began, this time it was both the kids but we pushed forward without briber this time. We made it to Clear Lake, another hidden wonder off the beaten path in Yellowstone! We rested up for a little bit but decided to head back after the smell of sulfur or something else, we aren’t quite sure, became too much for my senses. Thankfully the hike back to the truck was less than a mile and I carried Davis for about half of it. That is what happens when you take a hike during nap time. We got back to the truck and powered up with a quick snack and hopped back in the truck to explore the rest of the park. We stopped and walked the boardwalk at the Mud Volcano and Sulphur Cauldron. Then got back in the truck and headed to Yellowstone Lake. Fun fact this lake has the highest surface elevation of 7733ft in the lower 48. Adam and I only got out at this stop and took pictures quickly because the wind and rain were rolling in. Josey and Davis finally decided to close their eyes and take a nap🙌🏼 so the next miles of the park were peaceful. We passed the Continental Divide marker at 8391ft and 8262 ft. Adam and I hopped out again for a quick pic at the Kepler Cascades and then we headed to the Grand Prismatic Spring. Last minute we decided to swing the Old Faithful Village but decided to not get out because it was a little bit of a hike to see the geyser and the kids were still sleeping. We kept driving to the Midway Geyser Basin and this was the first place we were met with heavy park traffic at a point of interest. I really didn’t want to leave Yellowstone with out getting a glimpse. Adam got in the long line of cars waiting to park and I jumped out a ran to the boardwalk. I explored as quickly as I could with the boardwalk full of people. It was SUPER windy! You could see people’s hats stuck in areas we aren’t supposed to walk because they had been blown off. The Spring was amazing, well what I could see of it when the wind blew the steam away. The colors were so vibrant! Definitely a unique feature to Yellowstone and I’m so happy I got a chance to see it even if it was brief. I headed back out to find Adam, who unfortunately I just missed so I had to walk all the way back to the main road to find him. Thankfully we were able to turn around and not get stuck in the line again. After that our trip to Yellowstone was over! We drove the whole of Grand Loop Rd. We could have easily spent a week at the park exploring but alas we had to head back to the camper for dinner and bed. The last excitement for the evening was be able to feed the campground horses that were right behind our camper. The kids loved it and I have to admit I did too❤️. I am so grateful that we have been able to explore with our camper and we have many more adventures to come!

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I decided to skip forward to real-time on the blog because we had such an amazing day in Glacier I wanted to write about it while it was fresh so here it goes…

June 6 Back in the USA! We did it, 5 days to get through Canada and we did it! We drove 400+ miles each day which equates to 9-12 hour days. Needless to say as soon as we crossed the border into the Montana we felt a huge sense of relief to be back in the USA. The people we met in Canada were kind and genuinely disagreed with the policy the Canadian government was putting on US travelers. While it was frustrating at times I am glad we were able to get through and are now back in the Lower 48. It took us about 2.5 hours after crossing the border to get to West Glacier KOA. This resort is by far the nicest KOA we have been to to date. We got set up, the kids got a chance to play at the playground for a bit, we ate dinner and then passed out! After 7 total days of one night stays we were so excited to stay out for 3 nights!

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June 7 Recuperation Day: We ALL slept in 🙌🏼 I don’t think we got out of bed until after 9, it was amazing and much needed! The kids wanted to immediately go to the playground so took them along with my coffee so Adam could get in his Bible reading in peace and quiet. Adam definitely deserved it after all that driving non stop basically through Alaska and Canada. Getting caught up on laundry was next and then off to town to pick up some RV supplies and groceries. Adam stayed back with the kids while they had quiet time and I went off on a adventure!

Somewhere between Whitehorse and Muncho lake we lost the cap to the fresh water tank drain which meant we did not have water so we could not boondock as we had planned through Canada. Thankfully we were able to find RV parks along the way. Driving into Kalispell, MT I was able to finally get to RV parts to replace the cap. Next stop was the best by far, after 2 years and I’m not sure how many days I finally got to go to my favorite restaurant, Chick-fil-a!!!!! Wahoooo!! I was almost giddy walking inside to order and it tasted as good as I remember. I love Alaska but I have to find a way to get Chick-fil-a up there if we ever get to go back. I grabbed groceries and then more Chick-fil-a for the family and then headed back to camp. That evening we got a visit from our awesome friend/babysitter Rileigh! She just so happened to have moved from Ak to MT a couple weeks before! We all got our bathing suits on and went for a dip in the pool. It was cold🤦🏼‍♀️ well it was heated but it was still cold. We only lasted about 20 minutes. Davis and Josey lasted about 5 minutes. Anna would have stayed all night but everyone else was ready to leave. We headed back to the camper and all sat around the fire and enjoyed time with Rileigh and her doggies. For all who don’t know Rileigh I coached her in volleyball years ago when we were stationed at Fort Campbell. She went and grew up and has become an amazing woman with a strong faith in God. I’m so happy we got to see her again on this journey❤️

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June 8 Glacier National Park Day: Exploration day! We woke up, had a big breakfast, grabbed some snacks and headed out to the Glacier National Park! As we drove into the park we realized that this was going to be unlike our previous National Park adventures. Going into the park we were stopped by a group of Park Rangers asking if we had tickets to the “Going to the sun” road. We did not🤦🏼‍♀️ Unfortunately I did not realize that it was the only road to get into the park so we had to have special tickets in order to get in from 9am-5pm. Soooooooo we ended up turning around and headed back into the small town of West Glacier right outside the main entrance to the park. From the moment we got into the truck the kids had been whining so we knew it was going to be a rough morning. Thankfully West Glacier had a cute mini golf place, a cafe and gift shop. Instead of exploring the park we played mini golf, ate a yummy lunch, grabbed a few things from the gift shop and headed back for nap time. Adam and l were able to get several things done at the camper so it worked out. The kids definitely needed some naps and a little playground time.

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Around 4:30 we decided to venture out again because you didn’t need a ticket after 5pm to get into the park. We picked up some fresh cherries and huckleberry jam on the way and then headed into the park. Thankfully we picked up our Military National Park Pass while we were in Denali so all we had to do was flash that at the gate and head into the park. The “going to the sun road” was only open up to mile 15 because all the snow still hasn’t melted past that. We took it all the way passing Lake McDonald on the way to which Anna pointed out does not look like McDonald’s 🤦🏼‍♀️. It is though, an absolutely beautiful lake surround by green trees and mountains. We stopped at mile 15 Avalanche Creek. My plan was to take a simple .9 mile hike on the Trails of Cedars. Well we got half way through the trail and came to the start of the Avalanche Lake trail. The picture they had posted at the trailhead was beautiful! It was 2 mile out and 2 mile back trail so the smart thing to do with 3 kids would have been to continue the other half mile on the trail we were on and head back to the truck but we chose the roll the dice and go to the lake! Lots of bribes may have occurred on the 2 mile stretch to the lake. Adam and I eventually agreed to get them ice cream and somehow a stuffed animal got thrown into the deal too if they made it to the lake. Davis CRUSHED it! He got so focused on getting this stuffed animal mountain goat that he didn’t complain or whine the whole 2 miles out to the lake. Anna on my he other hand whined the whole time. Josey, on Adam’s back, sang and entertained all the other hikers on the trail. On the way to the lake was truly an amazing adventure. The views were breathtaking and hard to describe with words. We also had some up close encounters with wildlife. The first animal we saw was a black bear no more then 20 feet off the trail. The kids were being plenty loud enough that the bear was not going to come anywhere near us. Anna and Davis started growling at it🤦🏼‍♀️. Adam and I were definitely quick to squash that but again the other hikers (there were a bunch) laughed and thanked the kids for keeping them safe. The next animal we saw was a chipmunk. He almost came straight up to Davis looking for food. When we were only a few feet from the lake a doe went right on the path and was not at all scared of the crowd that gathered around her. We finally made it to the lake shortly after that encounter we stepped through some trees into a wide open area, Avalanche lake. We were surrounded by mountains and forest and suddenly this beautiful lake appears! Anna stopped complaining and David immediately started looking for the mountain goat another hiker told us about. We found it way up on a cliff just hanging out. The next 15-20 minutes we spent at the lake was taking pictures, snack time and just taking in the pure beauty the God created. Even the kids were taken aback by how beautiful it was. This hidden lake out in the middle of Glacier National Park was definitely the highlight of our trip thus far. I wish we could have stayed longer but we had to start the 2.5 mile trip back to the truck because it was getting late. We didn’t get back to the campsite until closer to 9:30pm. The ice cream places were closed but sure enough the gift shop was open and we were able to get them reward stuffies, yes Davis got his mountain goat he begged for. What a day?!? Adam said it was the best, most picturesque hike he has ever been on. I have to agree, Avalanche lake was definitely a hidden gem that I’m so happy to have found! That is a wrap for Glacier National Park. Next Stop Yellowstone!

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May 20: It was unfortunately dreary the whole drive to Seward so we didn’t get as beautiful views of the Knik Arm as we had on previous trips down. I was surprised by how much snow was still in some areas! The kids did well, they were eager to get to camping or “glamping” as Anna insists on calling it now. Thankfully while were in Anchorage I picked up a rain jacket because the rain continued all the way into Seward. I normally get out of the truck and direct Adam over the phone into spots. This was a back in spot but the trouble was well worth it, we were right on the water! We set up, ate dinner and tried to stay warm. I didn’t pack for cold weather, I thought we were done with it! I guess not quite yet, oh well, we have survived 2 Alaskan winters!

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May 21: The next morning we woke up to this beautiful view! It was still overcast but thankfully it stopped raining. The wind though was brutal. I took Josey out for an adventure to find light gloves and groceries for the week. Let me tell ya I should have left her at the camper with Daddy!! She was crazy! I even tried to bribe her with a Starbucks cake pop but she was still crazy! I shopped as quickly as I could and got out. Adam took the big kids to check out the playground which was a short walk from our site. This playground is one of the best I’ve seen in Alaska! We went back after dinner and the kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Adam and I enjoyed watching them and sipping a beverage from our Yeti cups😬

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May 22: I had a little bit of energy, the sun was out and it was warmer so I decided today was the day to whip out our new #blackstone grill and make a big breakfast! I love the grill, the breakfast was amazing, everyone ate their fill and the view was breathtaking!❤️ It was a great way to start the day, especially after several stressful days getting things set up for our move. Much needed!

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Around 11am we decided to go out to our 2nd National park on our trip. We rolled up to Kenai Fjords National Park and of course got out to take a family picture. We then parked the truck and headed out on a trail to Exit Glacier. Thankfully we wore our boots because there was still a lot of snow and moose poop along the trail. We decided on a shorter Glacier loop trail to start off with to see how the kids would do and keep going if they weren’t complaining too much. We got our first view of the glacier at the “1926” sign. This means that in 1926 the glacier was all the way up to this point! We continued along the trail with Anna and Davis pointing out every pile of moose poop we saw along the way, which was probably every two feet🤦🏼‍♀️. Once we got to the fork in the trail we could either go back to the truck or continue on to the Glacier Overlook trail. We decided to push forward and I am glad we did. Adam and the girls (Josey on his back) were way faster so they took the lead. I slowly walked with Davis as he is terrified of any kind of height. I’m not exaggerating here he will freak out looking at a hill. I held his hand and we made our way up! Even though he whined, he kept moving with me and we eventually caught up to the others at the overlook. It was beautiful! We sat down for a snack on some rocks at the overlook. I even let Josey out of the backpack for a little while even though I was worried she would take off over the cliff. It was awesome and I’m so happy we decided to push forward but it was getting close to quiet time so alas we had to head back down. Davis did really well, still whined some but this time it was mainly about having to walk in snow. Josey passed out! Like full limp noodle passed out! Adam said people kept laughing when they passed him. She did eventually wake up when I went to put her in the truck. On the way back we went to a restaurant and grabbed lunch and then gelato and headed back to the camper for quiet time. I headed to the laundromat because the kids were out of socks and we needed clean laundry. End day 3 more adventures to come!

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The further you get away from the Fairbanks the better and better the beautiful views of mountains and waters get. Wasilla is surrounded by huge mountains, rivers and coastline, to put it simply is beautiful and serene. On this stop we found Big Bear RV Park right off the highway. It is a decent sized park with several options in terms of hookups. After boondocking in Denali we chose to go with full hookups so we could get everything ready for our next stop. For those who don’t know what “boondocking” means camping with no hookups. As soon as we pulled into the campground the kids noticed the best part of this site, a playground! This occupied them while Adam and I got everything set up. The favorite part of this campground for me was the WiFi🙌🏼 While I throughly enjoy the price we are paying with T-mobile the service in Alaska is terrible. If we lived in Alaska any longer we would have switched to another carrier, but I digress. The weather was absolutely beautiful! It was cold and cloudy in Denali so it was nice to have the sun. Wasilla has a plethora of food options so we decided to eat out. We had not taken the kids in a restaurant to eat for close to year so we decided to roll the dice and go to Hacienda Mexican Restaurant for dinner! It was the first legitimate Mexican food I’ve had in over 2 years🙌🏼 Let’s just say that nowhere in Fairbanks served a proper queso dip which is a true tragedy. Dinner was amazing, the kids actually ate their food and behaved for 85% of the time there!

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The next morning it was time to get to work. Our stop in Wasilla was deliberate for many reasons including to get Adam’s truck into service before our cross country trip and getting my van shipped to Georgia. Adam left first thing in the morning headed to Ford. I took the kids to Walmart to grab a few more things for the camper and some more snacks because that is all my kids eat. I soon got a call from Adam and we decided to get a few more things done to the truck then originally planned which caused it to be in the shop all day so I had to come pick him up so we could get everything else we needed to get done for the day. Once I picked Adam up we hit up Bass Pro and REI, got lunch and then headed back to the camper to grab laundry and then off to my buddy Breanna’s house! I lied earlier, Target isn’t the best part about Wasilla, the MacDonald family is!! My kids were so excited to see their Aunty Moe and Rauri when we arrived. I got to start some laundry and Adam took my van to get an oil change because the light decided to turn on just as we got to Wasilla and we can’t ship it with any warning lights on🙄. Thankfully being stuck without a car at a friends house is way better than an empty camper. I got laundry done and the kids played. As soon as Adam got back it was time to get serious about cleaning every nook and cranny of the van. All together it took Adam and I close to 4 hours to get it sparkling. I was literally unscrewing clips to get all the caked on food particles off. You may ask why we didn’t pay to have it detailed? Well the answer is we tried and everything was booked out for a month plus😩. Huge shout out to Breanna who took Davis and Josey to Finn’s baseball game so we could clean without interruption!! Anna found a friends in the neighborhood and played. Anna can find a friend anywhere! It’s truly inspiring, she is social butterfly and just loves to play. We got done around 8pm with the van and I didn’t want anyone to even breathe in the van after that🤣 Thankfully Breanna was able to meet us back at our campsite with Davis and Josey who immediately got thrown in the bath tub!

The next morning we woke up bright and early! We had to pick up the truck, get my van a car wash and drop it off to be shipped to GA. All before getting coffee😭, but we did it! After that we went back to the camper for some much needed rest and trailer organization time. Anna and Davis were really good while we had to run all our errands so we decided to treat them to jump time and Fly Trampoline. I dropped them and Adam off and Josey and I got to do some shopping at Target! Let’s just say I didn’t leave the store empty handed and Josey got a special cake pop from Starbucks. After all that we swung one last time to the Macdonald’s to give hugs and pick up a package we had sent there. Breanna wouldn’t let me say “goodbye” and I didn’t want to because when you make friends with someone like her you definitely want to see them again❤️

On Thursday morning we got new tires installed on the trailer and then finally started our real vacation set off for Seward, Alaska!

I realized while writing this that I only took a few pictures on this stop🤦🏼‍♀️ We were soooooo busy and almost every minute was taken up preparing to PCS. Don’t worry I more than make up for it in Seward, I will have a picture overload coming your way!