Full day at Shenandoah.

On Wednesday we decided to take a hike to Camp Rapidan. It was a 4 mile hike round trip and the trail went over streams and passed by small waterfalls. The land you hike on is mostly untouched. When we arrived at Camp Rapidan we ate lunch and explored the 3 original buildings left of the camp. Later we took another hike up to Stoney man which had an amazing view of the valley below. The last thing we did was go to one of the many look out points on Skyline Drive and dad took Sunset/Night photos. Shanendoah was truly and amazing place to be at and the fact that it is so close to so many people is cool, but it is sad to see the view around the mountains is being taken up by more growth in the towns around the national park.-Isiah 

Gettysburg to Shenandoah.

Yesterday we ate breakfast at an old style diner. After we ate we went to General Reynolds statue and the monument for the Iron brigade. We then went to the visitors center and toured the museum. We watched a movie narrated by the best narrator, Morgan Freeman. After we toured the museum we got ice cream and lunch in town. Then we went back to the visitors center to meet up with our tour guide. We drove around the battlefield, we spent most of our time by where the fighting began on the first day. Which was where the mostly Wisconsin Iron Brigade had most of their action. Our tour guide was awesome and we are glad that we got the opportunity to go on the tour. After the tour we went around and explored the park. Dad decided to take sunset pictures on little round top. After that we went back and ate at a place called Dobbins. The restaurant building once served as a stop on the Underground Railroad and was turned into a hospital during and after the battle. Today we ate breakfast at the same place and we walked around the town. Then we drove to Antietam and toured the battlefield. After we finished we ate lunch in Sharpsberg. We then continued our journey to Shenandoah National Park. We made a quick stop at dinosaur land where we had to escape the island of dinosaurs that were genetically brought back to life.... Wrong story. After driving a little more we finally arrived at Shanendoah. We made plenty of stops up the mountains and saw some awesome views. We checked in and ate dinner at the dinning hall there. Finally we watched a beautiful sunset and are here now. -Isiah

Choices of travel

Last week before this trip I got news my grandmother was not doing well. Originally my Father was supposed to come with us as he is the big Civil War buff and could guide us.:) With the news of my Grandmother he stayed behind and I had to make the choice of pushing on with Isiah or staying. It was one of the toughest choices i have had to make and was in the midst of probably the busiest work week of my year. My Aunt Bonnie then sent me a message telling me how during last years trip she would show photos of it to Grandma and she made the comment about how that was so great and traveling and seeing things is so important. She tried to do that with her kids. This made my mind up. It was still hard to leave on the trip and leave my dad behind as well. We continued on. Yesterday evening I wanted to go out in the battlefield and shoot sunset photos. I thought maybe Little Round Top but figured it would be just and that's easy shooting. Something made me go anyway. While up on Little Round Top...the most amazing sunset happened. And then I got the call Grandma passed. The rest of he sunset was lackluster except for those 15 or so minutes. I snapped photos with my good camera but unfortunately do not have any internet to load them up. Attached is the photo I took with my cellphone around the time she passed. I made the right choice to come and I was exactly where I was supposed to be. Grandma and Grandpa looking down and keeping us travelers safe. We are a family of travelers and we have the two best guardian angels ever now. 

-Ty 

Rock and roll and Gettysburg.

We did a lot of driving yesterday and stopped in Cleveland. We ate dinner and walked around the city. This morning we visited the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They had so many things there from so many artists, yet I failed to see anything from CCR. Then we started traveling towards Gettysburg. We made a quick stop at the cemetery where they filmed Night of the Living Dead and got back on the road. We arrived at Gettysburg at about 7:00 P.M. and went to check out the sunset along cemetery ridge. We ate dinner across the road for dad's birthday and now we prepare to go to bed.

The end and some ranting.

Well the trip has ended. Laundry has been done. adjusting back to normal life and work. I am happy I got to spend that much time with Isiah and show him so many amazing things.  Seeing that part of the country was amazing and beautiful.  Words can not describe The Tetons...or how it feels to see Old Faithful go off for the first time.Or stand in the Inn and look around you at over 100 year old craftsmanship.  You actually have to go there and smell..feel..touch it to understand how amazing the whole area is.  You are standing on living breathing ground.  We were lucky enough to stay in many different places along the way from tents out in the wilderness to cabins atop mountains. We made memories that will hopefully stay with Isiah forever and I believe have started him down a path of conservation and understanding and respect for nature.

   For me these trips and things we do together have been to show Isiah there is so much out there in the world to see. DO not stay in one spot and never take time to experience what is there.  Yeah sure you can watch it on a computer or tv screen and never leave your home town but that does not let you experience it for real. You have to get out there...like I said touch and feel and smell and be in the middle of those places.  Feel it for real.  Not virtually.  I want him to know as he goes into high school that every door is open to him going forward.  Anything he wants to see or do or become he can. Getting out and doing things and experiencing them is a better lesson then any textbook.  We have this great resource of National Parks that we can use and experience. 

  This brings me back to conservation and understanding and RESPECTING nature. 

I saw a lot of people not respecting anything on this trip.  Be it plants...thermal features or even wildlife.  I saw cigarette butts on the trails. People walking where they want not following warnings or signs.

I know there are some people who made read this and be in the camp that climate change is bogus and our planet is fine.

It is not.

We are hurting our planet every day.

We have one planet.  One Yellowstone. One Grand Tetons. Once we trample and abuse it its gone.  Once we disrespect it ..it is gone and no future generations can show their kids like I had the opportunity to show mine.  That is not right.

Now I am by no means an expert on anything in nature or conservation...not by a long shot.  I have friends who are who can probably chime in.  What I do know is there are little things we can ALL do to help.  I saw so many people not following very simple rules in the parks that it drove me nuts.  When a guide or boat driver or a sign says stay on trail...you should stay on said trail.  I saw so many people trampling plants etc walking off trails when they were not supposed to.  A lot of them were kids...and the parents said NOTHING.  Teach your children to respect.  Don't litter...don't be a general jackass.  You may be one person but you are not the only one to visit.  There are thousands of people who visit.  Be the one to make a change and do something positive. hearing from rangers and seeing the destruction WE as humans cause is awful. 

Like I said I am no expert.  I know first hand things I saw with my own eyes we do not respect are planet.  I want Isiah to be able to take his children to Yellowstone and see the things we saw without it changing due to humans being dumb.  I know there are many hard working people out there trying to help but we can all do our own little parts at home or when out visiting these great places. 

 Also Stay away from wildlife for the simple reason they could KILL YOU.  Stay in your car!  Dont walk up to them to get a better photo.  It is a wild animal...it will kill you. 


Remember we should all leave it like we found it so future generations can experience how amazing our planet is.  Get out and see all the great things there are out there. Don't sit on your ass! 

Last day at Yellowstone.

Our last day of the trip started early with a buffet breakfast at the old faithful snow lodge. Than I went for a walk around he geyser basin. Dad wasn't feeling well so he stayed in the room and rested. I had to have walked 4-miles. Than I came back to the room front to find dad and he was already out on the trail. We were going to see a geyser go off. We meet on the trail and heard towards daisy geyser. We waited a half a hour to see it go off once we got there. After watching it go off we ate a quick lunch and watched old faithful go off again. Than we got in the car and headed to black sand basin. After taking some pictures there we headed to grand prismatic pool, which was he biggest hot spring in the park. We than headed back to the old faithful inn and ate at their restaurant. They had an amazing prime rib buffet. They had prime rib, potatoes, salad, and a bunch of other things to see. After eating we went to old faithful and and watched it go off at night with barley anyone around. After that we went back to the room and went to bed for the drive and flight home the next day.-Isiah 

Crevice mountain lodge - old faithful inn

We left the crevice lodge and headed back into the park. We drove through mammoth springs and headed towards old faithful. We were taking a longer way than usual. We stopped quickly at tower falls and made a few more stops to take some quick photo. We continued and stopped at the sulphur caldron on the side of the road. We than continued and ate lunch at canyon village. After eating a good lunch we stopped at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. We saw both the upper falls and the lower falls. After making that cool stop we drove to lake village. We saw the old hotel and took some pictures of the lake. We saw two male elk on the side of the road and took some pictures of them. We continued driving down the scenic road. We than arrived at old faithful inn. The place was great, it had a lot of wooden architecture and it looked very old. Our room was decent size and the bathrooms were nice. We saw old faithful go off quickly and went to meet up with a ranger for one of their programs. We learned a lot about all the different types of thermal features and learned about their history. After he program we saw grand geyser go off. We headed back to the inn and had dinner at the old faithful snow lodge. Than we retired to our room and slept for the next big day. -Isiah