The Wild, The Weird and the Bad

It's been quite some time since I've been active on here! Our little family has gone through some major changes, including purchasing our forever home and adding a new member in March of 2018. This has kept us pretty much in place in Cape Breton with renovatons and a tiny human. I'm hoping our little family can get back to travelling, but  for now I want to go back about  a little over three years to continue sharing all of the wonderful places we visited on our 2016 road trip.

South Dakota was a state that far exceeded our expectations. I'm pretty sure I mentioned that already in my previous post, but today I have a lot more to share about the Mt Rushmore State.

While visiting Jewel Cave and Wind Cave we stayed in Custer, South Dakota as it was quite central to most of what we wanted to see while we were there, including Mt. Rushmore. To be honest, when we arrived in the state, Mt Rushmore was the lowest on my list of places to see. The only reason we decided to go was to say we visited and so that Halle could earn another Junior Ranger badge. When you approach the monument, you catch your first glimpse of the faces from the side, and from that moment I changed my tune and could not wait to get a better look. We ran into a little bit of attitude with a grumpy 4 year old when we parked, but after working things out we headed inside and made our way to the Ranger Station to collect Halle's Ranger booklet.

I must say that I was far more impressed than I had expected. When you stop to consider the work that was put in to create these faces and the lengths they had to go to, to complete the project it's hard to imagine what the site would have looked like as the carving was happening. 

We visited later in the day since South Dakota was extremely hot during our June visit. We were able to avoid the hottest (and probably busiest) time of day and we met a really great family who gave us some good tips about visiting the Badlands later on in our trip (we exchanged a few tips since they were headed the direction we had just come from). We got some great photos and I would've loved to stick around longer to see the studio that Gutzon Borglum worked from, but with two grouchy kids and all of us still feeling quite warm, our trip was short. That just gives us a good reason to return again one day.

One place in Custer I wish we had, had the chance to visit but didn't was Custer State Park. We heard a lot about it, and read a bit as well. Though we didn't drive through the park itself, we got a sneak peek of what it offers- especially those impressive rock outcroppings that are scattered throughout the Black Hills area of South Dakota. I know the next time we make it to South Dakota, we will most certainly make time to see Custer State Park.

Once we had stopped to see Mt. Rushmore, it was time to take in Badlands National Park. While we potentially could have made a day trip to the park from Custer we decided to include a little side trip into our adventure and camped in Wall, South Dakota for a few days. The town is not much to take in but has been made famous by Wall Drug, an outlandish store that became famous by it's signs advertising free ice water to parched drivers along the highways in the 1930's. Since then the store has grown into a mall/tourist attraction that draws some two million visitors to the area each year - quite a feat for a once tiny drug store "in the middle of nowhere".

Enjoying the famous free ice water & Halle driving the horse drawn carriage

Don't miss the donuts, made fresh throughout the day!

We had a lot of fun there and enjoyed some free ice water, 5 cent coffee and their delicious donuts. Halle had a chance to play in one of the arcades and we browsed through quite a few of the stores, my favourite being the bookstore that carried a lot of books based on the history of the area. I didn't pick up anything at the time (we had enough books in the trailer with us), but maybe on our return visit I'll pick up a few new reads for myself.

The 5 cent coffee is available on the honour system, drop your nickel in the box next to the machine!

Heading back to our campsite after exploring Wall Drug

Wall is the perfect spot to stay if you're planning to visit the Badlands. We stayed in a nice little park that allowed us to swim and do our laundry and the people who owned it were incredibly friendly. There weren't any places to camp close to Badlands (or in Badlands) that would allow us to plug our trailer in and have air conditioning on the hot days we were there, and that was why we decided to stay in Wall. This way the dogs would be comfortable in the trailer with AC and water while we explored the park (where dogs are not allowed on the trails with us). It was a good thing we had it, as the day we ventured to Badlands it was 40C/105F and there is no way we would've kept the dogs unattended in a vehicle in that type of weather.

With the heat during our visit, we didn't even take time to hike the trails in the Park but we drove the roads and stopped at as many viewpoints as we could. It is such an impressive park with a variety of landscapes and so much wildlife to experience.

When you arrive at the park it's impossible not be impressed by the staggering spires of colourful sediment, which contain one of the world's richest fossil beds. It blew my mind to stand amongst them and know that some 75 million years ago this was a large sea and is now home to bison, big horned sheep and rattlesnakes! 

I enjoyed seeing the different landscapes change from barren spires, reminescent of the Grand Canyon, and then the lush grasses bursting with beautiful yellow. It was like being in two totally different parks (and made for some pretty great photo opps!).  

 
We'll always recommend visiting Badlands National Park and South Dakota to anyone we talk to who is travelling. We hope to one day return to this spectacular part of the United States to see more of it, and actually hike some of the impressive trails at the park.
Have you been to South Dakota and Badlands Park? What are your favourite sites to visit? How about a state or attraction that took you completely by surprise? I always love new travel tips and places to see.

Wednesday Wanderings: Summer Camping

This time of year, during these warm summer days I love to think back on all of the beautiful places that we camped and visited during our summers in BC. There was so much to see and do there, that we both know we'll inevitably be back one day - whether it's to live or just to visit.

One thing I loved about last summer was our little Boler travel trailer that Brett had purchased for us to camp in. It was by no means luxurious, but it made it so much easier to camp comfortably with a preschooler and a baby. We made two trips last summer to Ross Lake, and Nolan was only 6 weeks old during our first visit. 

The campsite is located just outside of Hope, BC on the border of the United States. There are actually campsites located on the American side, which are only accessible by car if you drive through Canada. Last summer we camped in both the Canadian and American campgrounds, and had great experiences both times.

The campgrounds are nestled within the North Cascades mountains, placing the American side within the National Park. I never realized this last summer, and was one of the things I learned using our National Geographic Road Atlas.  

Our first trip we stayed in the Canadian campground and the second time we camped on the American side. Both campgrounds are on a first come, first served basis and we had great sites during both trips. The only difficult part about making the journey to Ross Lake is the hour long drive along a dirt road. If something happens (which it did to our friends son), you have a long drive to any sort of medical care. It's also not a great spot to camp if you can't handle mosquitos, there can be quite a lot, especially during the late summer.

However, it's quiet and a great family camping spot. The water is great for swimming and it's also perfect for recreation like hitting the water in a canoe or kayak.

Despite having a small travel trailer, camping with a baby was not always easy but we had a great time during both of our visits to Ross Lake last summer. Great memories were made with great friends, and we are so glad we had the chance to make both trips with them during our last summer on the west coast. 

Our Adventures in Yellowstone

What words can I possibly use to describe Yellowstone? The most incredible place I have ever seen. An absolute wonderland of mountains, plains, hydro-thermal features and wildlife. I feel like there is so much that could be said about this natural Wonderland. I could talk about the debate on conservation (I can see both sides after visiting this park and experiencing both the wonders of the earth and the restrictions on visitors), I could talk about the absurdity of those who choose to endanger their lives to get an up close encounter with a wild animal or get too close to a hydro thermal feature. Really, I could say an awful lot about Yellowstone, but I will mostly say that we loved it.

Setting up camp at Madison campground

We spent three nights camping there, one on the West side of the park at Madison Campground and two in the east at Fishing Bridge RV campground. The second spot was restricted solely to hard-sided camping vehicles (no tents or tent trailers) as the area is frequented by bears. Did I luck out to see a bear? Nope... still no bears. 

After setting up camp on our first day we headed straight south to see Old Faithful. Our timing was pretty impeccable and we only had to wait about 20 minutes to see the geyser erupt. I think it was a little anti-climactic for Halle who of course doesn't understand all of the science behind it, or the fact that they can predict it's eruptions to within 20 minutes. For us, I felt pretty thankful to be there as we were sat next to a couple in their 80's who were just visiting the park together for the very first time. If we hadn't taken this opportunity to travel, who knows if or when we would have witnessed this majestic place.

Waiting patiently for Old Faithful to erupt

After leaving Old Faithful Village, we began driving back towards our campground stopping as often as we could to check out the different hydrothermal features. Though I had some idea of what to expect here after doing research on Yellowstone, no words could ever accurately prepare you to see everything first hand. The steaming pools of water and the vibrant colours created by different bacteria and organisms. As I said to Brett one afternoon, Yellowstone is a nature lover's amusement park!

We ambled along boardwalks staring into "stink water" as Halle liked to call it (many of the features smell of sulfur), but I was most taken by the colours that appeared in the hot pools of water. The sounds and the sites were like nothing I had ever experienced. What we were most in awe of was the fact that we were standing inside of a Volcano! If you're not familiar with the history of the park, Yellowstone was once a supervolcano that was transformed into a caldera over the course of three eruptions - the most recent taking place 630,000 years ago. Most of the southwestern area of the huge park is the massive caldera and we were constantly reminded that at any time that whole area could change drastically, taking us with it!

Some of the features Halle was more interested in than others. Of course, any that smelt of sulfur or other strong mineral odours were far less enjoyable. I totally understand, the smell of rotten eggs is not high on my list of things to endure even if a super cool hot spring or fumarole is involved. 

This picture of Halle gazing into one of the hot pools is one of my favourites from our time in Yellowstone. 

I'm so happy that we had bright blue skies for most of our time in the park. The brilliance of the sky made the most perfect back drop to the green hills and the striking hydro thermal features. As we've travelled I have found a passion for capturing nature and landscapes. It may have to do with my constant and growing love of nature and the outdoors, but either way capturing the perfect landscape photo has become my mission.

The textures and colours of everything make it that much more interesting. Especially once you learn that all of those shapes and colours inside of these ultra hot waters are actually living organisms. Science and Nature are surely the stars of the show in Yellowstone!

There is so much to see and do in this park that is over 2 million acres, that we barely scratched the surface. I have so much more to share, including our wildlife encounters and more of the unique features this park has to offer. 

Welcome to Big Sky Country

For some reason, Montana had been one of those states that I wanted to visit for so very long. I imagine it had something to do with the picture that had always been painted in my mind - rugged mountains, rolling grassy hills, rambling rivers, wildlife, fresh air. In my mind Montana was everything we had always hoped for in a place to call home, and as we approached the border I think we both thought to ourselves, "this could definitely be somewhere that we'd love to start a new life with our family". 

Arriving in Montana we got everything we had always imagined. Gorgeous mountains, green grass, fresh air and most definitely wildlife. Within moments of crossing the border we turned a corner to spot a mother Moose and her calf in the road ahead. They were too far away for us to capture a photo, and once they heard our truck roaring down the road they took off into the safety of the surrounding forest. It was a moment none of us will ever forget, including Halle who has proudly told the story to anyone who will listen.


Montana encompasses all of the things that we wanted to see and do when we set out on the road. Glacier National Park in particular makes you feel so close to nature and looking back on these photos, I am reminded of how much I truly loved our time in that park. 

When we arrived in St. Mary, Montana we sat down for lunch and began to plan our next move. Would we pop into Glacier quickly and move on to another entrance to the park? Or would we go and see if we could set up camp right there? We opted for the latter and when we rolled up to the park entrance in St. Mary, the ranger suggested that we purchase an annual pass for all of the National Parks, to save us some money. She also recommended which campground to stay in, which sold us on camping right in the park. We wanted to see as much as we possibly could during our one night stay.

The one thing that struck us the most about Glacier was the vast amount of the park that had been burnt in a recent fire. Halle mentioned that it looked so sad and not as pretty without all of the green trees. Brett and I explained to her that sometimes a fire can be good to help a forest continue to grow and thrive, but we agreed that it looked very different without all of the green trees.

Despite all of the burnt trees, the beauty of this majestic park still remained. The towering mountains with their snow capped peaks and the blue waters that swirled at their bases. Even with the sad bare trees, colour emerged in other ways! The bright green grass and wildflowers, the blue water and sky and even the needles and leaves that remained on a few of the trees made everything seem that much more alive. 

Though the "Going to the Sun Road" pass was closed (what many call the crowning jewel of the park), we made the most of our time there. We drove as far as we could and stopped as often as possible to get out of the vehicle and take in the hiking trails and breathtaking vistas. 

I now find myself wondering how I was so ignorant to the names and locations of so many of these incredible protected areas? Embarking on this journey, especially during this year while the National Parks Service celebrates its 100th birthday, has really opened my eyes to how many diverse and beautiful natural spaces there are on this continent. We are so very lucky to live in this wondrous area of this great big world. 

The only thing we missed in Glacier was the wildlife. When we were setting up camp the ranger on duty came around to chat with us and informed us that there was a small black bear who frequented the campsite. She let us know to just clap our hands and make some noise and it would scare off easily, unfortunately we never had the pleasure of seeing the small beast pass by. 

As always, one of the greatest parts for us was helping Halle to complete her Junior Park Ranger booklet and then see her earn her badge. She has learned so much completing the tasks at the parks and has even surprised us with some of the things she has been able to answer and do on her own. 

Life on the road has been treating us well. We've done our best to make the most of each day, and this trip really started on a high note! As we left Glacier National Park I had so much excitement about what was to come as we made our way towards Yellowstone...