We began our trip on June 1st, still with a little chill in the air, and headed east. All fresh faced and excited! :) It took a day to reach the edge of Montana, then a whole day to drive through Montana. The rig, as we called it, was very comfortable. We were all able to walk around, color, play, or eat at the table, sleep in the back on the bed, sit looking out the front, etc.
Of course, we couldn't leave our puppies behind! Besides the five adults and two kids, we also had four dogs!!
Soon after Montana, we reached awesome Black Hill of South Dakota, which also houses Mt. Rushmore! Tory was SOOO excited, since she had had her history lesson of the presidents back in February. Since then, she has been wanting to see Mt. Rushmore, and here we were! She asked to do the YMCA . . . so there you have it. :)
Then, we were back at it, trying to get to my sisters: one in Mississippi, the other in Alabama.
 |
| Showing me the color of the tongues, after some Fun Dip! |
We reached the Simpsons in Alabama, after picking up the Sangsters in Mississippi!! It was wonderful reuniting again.
 |
| Playing a game of Sorry with Tory. |
It was so exciting for the girls to, first, meet each other, and then, to play, play, play!!
While we were visiting, Auntie Kelly was able to pull out a very loose second top tooth! Tory had the most Tooth Fairies ever visit her that night, scoring $6.00!
 |
| Natalia and Kennedi warming up after a run in the pool. |
 |
| Aunt Kelly, and cousins Elizabeth and Reagan |
 |
| Lisa and Kelly |
 |
| Can you believe I am actually their sister? :) |
During our time in the south, we were able to travel 2 hours east to Atlanta to visit the world's largest aquarium. It was amazing!! I also got to see Rita, a friend from college, and her three kids! Tory and Aly really hit if off and had so much fun together.
 |
| Kelly and the girls having a great time at a store!! :) |
When our visit was over (WAY too soon), we hopped back into the rig for our return journey. Our next goal: Dallas, where we would join up with some more cousins, and grandma . . . from El Salvador!
 |
| This is what most mornings looked like. . . the kids crashing for a couple hours since we started out around 5:30 or 6:00am. If you look closely, you will see a third head (Tory's) at the far right of the picture. And I was actually on the bed too, next to Natalia, before I got up to take this picture. BTW, this bed turns into the table. |
We didn't have time to see everything, so we decided to shoot for Mesa Verde in Colorado, and the Grand Canyon in Arizona.
 |
| A very cool sculpture outside the museum at Mesa Verde, CO of a Pueblo American climbing the face of a cliff with a basket on his head. |
Here we are waiting to begin our tour of the Cliff Palace, one of the largest cliff dwellings there.
 |
| Circling a Kiva, one of the many gathering places for the Pueblo people, to hear stories of their ancestors, as well as their spiritual ceremonies. |
 |
| Grinding rocks into dirt. :) |
 |
| Climbing one of the ladders as we exit the site. |
After Mesa Verde, we headed toward Arizona and the Grand Canyon, seeing some awesome rock formations along the way.
It was especially hot during these days, so it was wonderful to jump into a pool at the end of a long day of travel.
One of the fun things about going to National parks, is the Junior Ranger program they have for the kids. All three girls earned a badge at Mesa Verde, and here, at the Grand Canyon, for filling out a booklet as they observed the site. It was so cute and funny when the ranger had them promise to take care of the park, tell their friends about the Grand Canyon, and never, ever to ask again, when traveling, how long it would take to get there.
Then, back in the rig once more, heading north, to home.
