The Trip, Mt. Rushmore, and Devils Tower

This is Mt. Rushmore - up close and personal. Amazing!

My family and I just got back a few weeks ago from a wonderful road trip to visit my grandparents in Iowa.

It was really such a great trip. The driving wasn't even too bad. ;) We drove through about five states: Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Wyoming, and then part of Iowa. Wyoming was so...western! (It's called the 'Forever West' state...) It was really cool! It definitely feels western...and looks it. ;) In the part of Wyoming we drove through, there were definitely not many cities; a lot of open land with rolling hills and farmland. On the drive home we even saw a herd of wild horses! I think it was my favorite state we passed through.

South Dakota was pretty too! On the way to Iowa, we passed a field of sunflowers, and the sun was setting...it was beautiful! South Dakota has a bunch of flat land mixed in with rolling hills as far as the eye can see, so it's somewhat similar to Wyoming, but not quite the same.

Montana? Well, it seems a lot like Idaho and Washington. ;)

Staying at my grandparents' house was really great, o' course (we always sleep out in their camper in the backyard). We did so much while there! One Sunday we got together with some of our relatives and had a fish fry. (My great-uncle Ed made homemade ice cream...but it was sugar-free, so it didn't taste very good.) ;)  Then there was a whole day of shopping in Des Moines, a trip to a fun tea house (where my sister bought a light-up cherry blossom bonsai tree!), and mowing yards - yes! I learned how to mow. :) My grandpa taught me! Then there were the good ol' days - and evenings - of just relaxing together playing Dominoes Train, and sometimes drinking blended coffees. :) 

Mowing! That's me on the mower, and my grandpa and younger brother, Jeremiah in the back.

Bike rides around town - some days to visit with some of my grandpa's buddies at coffee time at 4:00pm, fishing, kayaking, and even speaking at a Night Owls' meeting about homeschooling! (That was frightening. I don't necessarily want to do that very often.) And there was helping out around my grandparents' house trimming trees, cleaning out the gutters, and hauling it all to the shrubbery-dump on the lawn mowers. And on the last day we were there I had the really fun idea to have a water-fight, complete with buckets, hoses, and...eventually puddles. That. Was. Fun. Crazy, right!? ;) 

Oh, and I actually got to watch Little Women! It was on TV when we were there. I must admit, I was rather disappointed with the second half - we watched it in two nights. I was loving the first hour and fifteen minutes - so fun! I loved Laurie, and they all got along so great, and then.... Part two came along. And it was horrible! Okay, so it wasn't horrible...but maybe it was. Let me explain: Laurie becomes some completely different person when Jo rejects his proposal, and then he ends up with Amy!? I loved him in the beginning! And then Jo marries a German professor, and I admit, he was probably better for her than Laurie was, but... *sighs* Anyways, it had a super fun beginning half, and the ending just...ruined it for me.

I got to reread my favorite book while there (if you guessed Brothers at Arms, you'd be right). Again, it's such a good book. I love it! If you haven't read it yet...read it! ;) I will be updating my review on here soon - well, just posting another - so be on the lookout for that. Oh, and in August I reread Secret of the Lost Settlement, the third installment in the Men of Grit series by Mr. John Horn. It was a lot better the second time around. Surprisingly, I enjoyed it more because I knew what was going to happen - I wasn't completely freaked out wondering... "What is going to happen to these characters!?" Yeah...so, I am hoping to review that soon too. :)

I believe fall is finally upon us. It got down in the 40s last night! Granted, it's still about sixty-four out right now, so that's not cold at all.

On a whole different note, you might've noticed that I added a page to my part of the blogosphere, titled 'My Reviews'. This is just a page listing all of the reviews I have on my blog, with links to all of them. If you're looking for a new book, go check it out! :) Oh, and I updated my 'About Me' page - I like it better now!

Now, below I'm sharing some pictures from vacation with you. On the drive back home, we stopped by Devil's Tower in Wyoming, Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota, and Waldrug (also in SD). Mt. Rushmore was...really cool; amazing. I would recommend going. That was one of my favorite parts of the trip! I got a snowglobe of both Mt. Rushmore and Devil's Tower too... So now they're on my bookshelf. :)

And more good news: My brother, Jesse, fixed my computer. (Thank you!!!!) It was running incredibly slow on the internet - so much so that I didn't even get on it anymore. All he did was shut down some programs, and a few other odds and ends, and it's working so much better now! Just thought I'd update y'all... ;)

Seeing in detail - and there is a ton of detail! They even carved the pupils of everyone's eyes. It's really amazing to look at!

The gals. (Mom, me, and Ashley)

The badlands - well, in the distance, that is. We didn't drive through them this time.

Ashley, Jeremiah, and I! Oh, and don't forget the fluffy thing on the right: our dog, Azaliah.

A cool looking bridge we saw on the way to Mt. Rushmore.

Driving through Wyoming on our way to Devils Tower.

We're here!

Devils Tower, up close. So big!

And....there are more pictures of course, but these are mainly from our trip back! My grandparents took more photos while we were there that we'll have to get some of. :)

-Micaiah-