San Diego, Campland... Here come the Bulson's

OK, we are gearing up for another RV trip. This time for fall break we will be going to Campland in San Diego. First time Lola the RV has gone to the beach and she is so excited! OK, maybe it is me that is excited... I do love the beach and I have been begging to take Lola there since we bought her! We are going with friends so our kids will have fun playing with them the whole time! (We got our fill of alone family time in the summer!) We will be there October 10th-15th. I look forward to blogging about this trip and how different it will be from our summer vacation. For now, time to start menu and trip planning. Already printed out the spreadsheet so I am ready!

Rocky Mountain National Park- Day 20- Favorite Things

This morning we leave… there are mixed emotions for all of us. We are excited to get back to our family, friends, home and doggy. We will not miss all of our bug bites but we will miss the family time together in nature and the relaxed way of life. Here is a list of our favorite things:

Tim:

Favorite campsite: Yellowstone

Favorite sight: Bison in campground in Yellowstone, seeing bear in Yellowstone

Favorite activity: Mt. Rushmore at night

Favorite hike: Narrows hike in Zion

Kamisha:

Favorite campsite: Yellowstone- grass, meadows, wildflowers, lake view and wildlife- what could be better?

Favorite sight: Bears in Yellowstone, bison and deer in Yellowstone campsite

Favorite activity: White water rafting, alpine slide, Mt. Rushmore at night

Favorite hike: Navajo loop (Bryce), Jenny Lake (Teton), Sylvan Lake (South Dakota)

Noah:

Favorite campsite: South Dakota- Pool, store and arcade

Favorite site: Bison in our campground at Yellowstone

Favorite activity: Whitewater rafting, horseback riding, alpine slide, Mt. Rushmore at night

Favorite hike: The Narrows in Zion, Sylvan Lake (South Dakota)

Megan:

Favorite campsite: Zion (the river), South Dakota (the pool and store)

Favorite sight: Deer and bear in Yellowstone

Favorite activity: Horseback riding, alpine slide, whitewater rafting

Favorite hike: The Narrows in Zion, Sylvan Lake (South Dakota)

Leah:

Favorite campsite: South Dakota (the pool and playground), Zion (the river)

Favorite sight: The deer in our campsite in Yellowstone

Favorite activity: Alpine slide

Favorite hike: The Narrows in Zion

Most memorable things are: Mommy screaming at deer running toward her at Jenny Lake, car troubles in Jackson, Old Faithful in the rain, Megan's mangled bike and hay coming at us on drive in Wyoming, being in constant awe of God and His creation, countless hours of family time, watching my children in their imaginative play (stuffed animal campfire), priceless memories that will last forever!

That is the end of this blog until our next RV adventure!

Rocky Mountain National Park- Day 19

Our last full day of camping… what shall we do? We decided to go into Estes Park and walk around… it is the town outside of the park and it is set up well for tourists. We spent a couple of hours going through T-shirt shops and Christmas stores, and then we had lunch on the river at a restaurant called Poppy's. It was really tasty. Then it was back to camp. We spent the afternoon playing a new monopoly game, well the kids did, I don't have the patience for that but it kept the kids busy for hours while Tim and I sat around and reflected on our trip and did some packing up and cleaning. Dinner came next then it was back to the amphitheater for our nightly ranger program. Tonight it was about the pine mountain beetle which is destroying a lot of the forests in the west. They made it like a play where the ranger was a beetle telling her story and they played a lot of Beatles songs… the girls got to be beetles and were dancing on the stage. Rocky Mountain has to have the most creative and fun ranger programs; we were so excited for them every night. Then it was off to the RV for bed. We will leave first thing in the morning, done with camping and soon this trip will be a treasured memory…

Rocky Mountain National Park- Day 18

This morning we went for a hike. Tim was anxious to get going so the hike was not planned as well as it should have been which lead to a very long morning. We started from our campsite to the Cub Lake trail. It is a nice trail meandering through meadows with lots of wildflowers. We planned to hike the 2.5 miles and then there would be a shuttle to take us back… but once we go to the lake, there was no shuttle. We also had no map and we were running low on water when we found out from another hiker that we had to go another 3.5 miles! That was hard to swallow but that part was a lot nicer, mostly downhill, and shaded. We saw some nice waterfalls and walked next to the stream. Megan did cry most of the time again because of the forest but she made it. 4 hours later we were back at camp and I have never been so happy to have a drink! We learned some things, Megan and Noah have to bring their own water packs, always take a map, and plan ahead! The rest of the afternoon we just rested and hung around camp with a short jaunt to the visitor's center for the kids to get their Jr. Ranger badges.

After dinner we went to the ranger program and the topic was weasels. It was so creative, they put the weasel on trial to see if he was a guilty predator or not guilty because he is helpful to the environment. It was so cute and the kids loved it! We look so forward to our ranger programs; tomorrow night it is on beetles so we will be there yet again…it is our nightly entertainment!

The most magnificent gift from God came as I was sitting outside at 9 pm looking out from our campsite at the Rocky Mountains. All of a sudden I saw this orange glow come over one of the peaks and within 5 minutes the most bright, large harvest moon I have ever seen appeared. It was so beautiful I can't even describe it. Crowds were gathering in front of our campsite it was so amazing…we had the perfect view. What a great way to end the night!

Rocky Mountain National Park- Day 17

We left South Dakota this morning at 7am on our way to Colorado. The drive was not too bad, one of our shortest at 6 ½ hours but with all of the gas trips, lunch and the dreaded Wal-Mart shopping trip it is more like 8 ½ hours. We arrived at Rocky Mountain National Park and then right into our campground called Moraine Campground. It is nice but hard to compare with South Dakota and Yellowstone before that. We are camping in the Rocky Mountains so we won't complain. We quickly set up camp and then went for a walk around the campground. Shortly into the walk we did see a deer in our campground which was exciting for Leah. This campground has lots of pine trees and wildflowers. We had dinner and then went to the ranger program in the amphitheater right next to our campsite… it was about the alpine tundra. This park has a mountain that is over 14,000 feet high so the environment there is totally different including the wildlife and vegetation. It was interesting to hear how different it is. I don't think we will make it up to the tundra, they are doing construction on the road and the drive is 1 ½ hours at least and Tim is so done driving! So, even though we won't make it up there, at least we got to see the photos. After the program it was off to bed, a long day…

South Dakota- Day 16

Day 16… I feel like we have been gone FOREVER but I realize we are nearing the end of our camping leg. I could do another 16 days, easily… this is the life but I suppose vacations have to come to an end at some point. This was our last day in South Dakota and it was relaxing as well. We went this morning to a lake in Custer State Park called Sylvan Lake. It is a beautiful lake with lots of pine trees, and big huge rocks to climb on. We took a trail that went around the lake, most of it was easy but there were times when you had to climb through huge boulders. The kids loved it. After the hike we rented a paddle boat to take around the lake. The lake had a lot of people there, you could tell it is popular and people were pulling fish out of it left and right… Noah was wishing he had his fishing pole. I really love the Black Hills, there are so many trees on the mountains that they look black, hence the name Black Hills. The rest of the afternoon was spent at the pool and then relaxing a bit and packing up for the next leg. Tomorrow we leave early for our last camping spot, Rocky Mountain National Park where we will be for 4 days.

South Dakota- Day 15

Today we did a whole lot of nothin'. We slept in (becoming a daily occurrence), took walks, rode bikes, swam in the pool, played at the playground, and played games. It was a nice day of rest and relaxation for us and definitely needed. This campsite is a lot of fun… as we were sitting around the campfire in the early evening we heard a huge group of kids playing "Red Rover"… it seems like a lot of big family groups come here. We met some people at the pool who have come here every summer for 17 years. Here are some photos of our place here at J Bar Ranch Mountain Resort in South Dakota.