Playset...

Madison and Julia on the play set...

On The Scooter!

Blakely had time for a photo op while she was catching up to her sisters!

Riding Bikes At The Beach...

The kids with Papa riding bikes infront of the R.V. at the Beach - Camping On The Gulf, Destin, Florida! Blakely just took a spill on the scooter and Julia helped her up - what a great big sister!

Destin, Florida! Are We There Yet!

Last vacation before school gets back into session! Spent the night last night at Grammie and Papas house... got up around 6:00a.m. and hit the road close to 7:00a.m. this morning - Grammie and Papa came with us! Got to the R.V. site - Camping on the Gulf, R.V. Resort (yes, I said resort!) around 1:30p.m. and quickly got the R.V. set up... hit the beach! We had a little rain when we got here but not enough to keep us from the beach - we played in the sand - made a sand castle and the kids caught jelly fish - yes, jelly fish (great parenting, I know), they were catching them in buckets (catch and release program for all you tree huggers - Rik Moore)! After the beach we hit the pool (yes, for the most part just to wash the sand off our bodies - Linda will deny that - we are supposed to "shower" before the pool - but right!). Kids came back and rode the bikes in the street infront of our site...

R.V. Park is pretty sweet! It is 100% kid friendly - we are about 50 yards away from the beach and about 20 yards away from the pool... most importantly about 20 yards the other way from the showers!

We had spaghetti for dinner then hit the "game room" (has pool table, t.v., shuffle board, and SOFT SERVE ICE CREAM!). Papa bought everyone a soft serve ice cream cone!

Destin Florida!

Heading to Destin Florida tomorrow evening! Trying to get one last vacation in before we go back for teacher workdays / kids get started in school!

Going to pick-up the R.V. tomorrow - get it loaded and start heading that way (Camping on the Gulf!)

Will keep you posted... Hope to have some pictures as good as from Wyoming!

Wow! Luckily we didn't have any bad luck like this person did! 5th wheel sets up pretty high!

Kids Garden!

The kids garden! Grew like crazy while we were on vacation! And yes, that is "chicken wire" we have around the garden (have to keep the dogs out)! The homeowners association loves it (I'm sure)!

Back Home!

Wow! What a great way to finish the trip... on the way back from Yellowstone we stopped by to see my Grandma (Kids Great Grandma) - she will be 98 years old in November (and doing awesome!)... my Mom and Dad were in Seymour, Indiana for their 50 year class reunion so we were able to connect up there with them on the way home.

Overall 4246.5 miles from doorstep to doorstep! Kids did great and had an awesome time! If you aren't flying out there I would say this would be the way to go (RVing). We saw everything from Elk, Buffalo, Antelope, Deer, Grizzlies, Black Bears, Flamingos (maybe) and even a Giraffe (maybe not)... kids did awesome on the trip - they traveled really well! Linda did an awesome job of putting the vacation together!

It was good to get home last night (right at midnight) and get to sleep in our own beds!

Pretty sure it will be a vacation the kids will be able to remember for awhile!

Heading to Destin, Fla. in the RV next week (last trip out before school starts)!

Girls in the Grandstands! Next to the 1/4 mile dirt track!

Everything from fishing for magnets to John Deer Tractors!

Seymour Ind., Jackson Co. Fair

What's a trip to Seymour Indiana without going to the Jackson, Co. Fair! Saw tons of livestock! Not red at all!

4 Generations of the Schroer Family!

4 Generations!

Off to Great Grandmas House!

Great Grandma and the girls! Great Grandma just gave them some necklaces...

Wow!

Hot Mamma! Not only did we see lions, tigers and bears on this trip we also saw some foxes! Look at that determination in getting a towel for her girls!

Kids playing in the creek!

Decided to put a life jacket on Blakely (right

after she went under)... no need to call the authorities - we were only a few feet away and were watching - Linda (as light and quick on her feet as she is - was on top of it)... It looks like it is about 4-5 feet deep - it is only about knee deep.

Campfire...

Campfire - tried to make some "pizza sandwiches" right before the sky fell out!

Hotsprings Creek Yellowstone...

Kids playing in the creek at Yellowstone...

Nightfall at Yellowstone...

Cool night shot with some Elk...

Mammoth Hot Springs...

Cool shot of Mammoth Hot Springs (northern portion of Yellowstone).

Team Schroer in the meadow...

Team Schroer in the meadow...

Redneck Games...

The kids were playing some redneck games as lunch was being prepared (pizza sandwiches) over the campfire (2nd campfire in 2 days)... 3 circles drawn out in the dirt and throw a rock into one of them for a point value! How creative they are!

Impressive!

Huge Grizzly... we saw 3 of them within about a 30 minute period on about a 1-3 mile stretch of road. We were about 15 yards away from this one - teeth / claws were huge!

Flowers In The Field...

Pretty picture of the kids sitting on a hillside surrounded by tons of flowers...

Elk...

Nice Rack! This huge Elk was just sitting on the side of the road - pretty impressive!

Grand Canyon - Yellowstone...

Great view (if you like heights) of the Grand Canyon - Yellowstone...

Old Faithful...

The kids waiting infront of "Old Faithful", another "Castle Geiser" and "Old Faithful" getting after it. Old Faithful goes off about every 1 1/2 hours (pretty accurate), impressive went off for about 15 minutes.

Rainbow over the lake / through the trees...

Awesome picture Linda was able to capture of a rainbow - on our drive to our campsite...

running from a bear...

This is what it looks like running from a bear through the woods... Linda bearly made it into the car before the bear got her!

1st sight of Elk inside the park...

Linda petting the Elk on the rear end! Madison and Julia about 20 yards away from an Elk getting ready to take a swim in the lake!

Inside the park... (Yellowstone that is)...

Infront of the "Geisers" at Yellowstone (some of many geisers)

Pictures Of Yellowstone (and the trip there)!

Yes, that is a Jack O Lope we stopped in a small "podunk" town on the way to Yellowstone to pose by! A little more spectacular than a Jack O Lope... the Grand Tetons!

Heading Towards The House (via Indiana)!

Heading back towards the South! Woke up and on the road around 6:00a.m. (Atlanta Time / 4:00 Wyoming Time)… hit the road and traveled to Grand Island KOA Nebraska… tons of time on the road today – tried to put in a decent drive today so we can get to Springfield, IL tomorrow – looks like there might be a lake close by we can take the kids to. It is 6:15p.m. (Atlanta Time) we have been on the road for 12 hours (I have driven all 12 hours so far – Linda carry your weight! She is driving right now) – kids have done AWESOME! We have made 2 stops (1 gas / eat and 1 gas) so far – hope to get to Grand Island this evening around 8:30p.m. (Atlanta Time). Got to the campgrounds around 8:30p.m. or so (just as planned) - checked in and went into town to get some dinner - God Fathers Pizza (good eats!)... Came back to the campsite played on the swingset / jungle gym with the kids / everyone got a shower / plan to watch a movie and hit the sack!

Day 4 At Yellowstone!

Got up around 7:00a.m. this morning and went down and paid $3.25 for a hot shower (felt awesome), when I got back Linda did the same… we are heading up to do the top portion of the figure 8 this morning… just got back from the excursion today – done with riding in the car! Kids are toast! Got the entire figure 8 completed… saw Mammoth Hot Springs pretty cool, saw an antelope and some elk… did I mention the kids were toast! Great trip – heading out to Indiana in the morning – to meet up with Mom and Dad and to see Grandma Schroer!

Day 3 At Yellowstone!

Woke up this morning around the same time as we have been… no big rush to get going – everyone ate some cereal – loaded up the car and got rolling. Today we did the “upper half” of the “lower part” of the figure 8 (if you can follow that). We drove along the Yellowstone River and it takes you over to the Yellowstone Grand Canyon (driving towards Old Faithful but around the top half of the loop). Grand Canyon lived up to its name – breathtaking views – this is the first time I actually saw anything that resembled “Yellowstone”. We drove to an area which had more of the geisers called the dragons lair and black dragons caldron (pretty impressive). Drove on stopped and ate lunch then drove over to a Junior Ranger Station and had the kids certified “Junior Rangers”… pretty cool – they had been working on a “facts and information” worksheet / newsletter for the last couple of days and got to turn it in to the Ranger. The ranger grilled them on the newsletter they filled out but each of them passed with flying colors! She asked each of them what kind of animal they would want to be if given the choice… Madison: a bunny rabbit because it is kind and peaceful, the rangers reply, yeah nice until a hawk swoops down kills and eats you! Next stop we went to a small picnic area and had a campfire and made some pizza sandwiches (pretty good camping food) about midway through the sky fell out – packed up quickly and headed on (rain stopped). After that it was time either head back to camp or go driving and look for black bears / grizzlies! We headed up north (top right portion of the figure 8 loop)… we got to see 2 grizzlies and 1 black bear – pretty awesome (got some great shots of them). One of them was right on the side of the road so I jumped out of the car and was about 15 yards away from it (there was a suburban inbetween me and the grizzly). After the excitement of seeing the bears we headed back towards the campsite – stopped at a general store and got the kids some ice cream.

Day 2 At Yellowstone!

Team woke up this morning around 7:00a.m. Ate breakfast burritos and hit the road… we went to see the “Old Faithful Yellowstone Geisers” bigger than we thought. Yellowstone is made up of a “figure 8” or “2 circles” (so it looks on the map). Today we did the “lower half” of the bottom circle which brings you over to “Old Faithful”. When you enter the “Old Faithful” section of the park – it is a giant parking lot and the entrance is set up so you see “Old Faithful” first. We spent the entire day 5-6 hours here walking around looking at the different geisers / sulfer ponds… the section of the park is set up on miles of “boardwalks” and asphalt trails – which guide you through and over the different areas of the park. The geisers go off at different times throughout the day. Old Faithful goes off about once an hour – others vary going off every 2 hours, 3 hours, 5 hours or so. Old Faithful was the largest we saw.
This evening we ate hamburgers, hotdogs, baked beans and such… after dinner we went out (driving) and looked for some wildlife. We saw tons of Buffalo, Elk and Deer. Linda said she saw some Flamingos in the river as well as questioned if there were hippos in the water!

Heading To Yellowstone!

Heading to Yellowstone National Park (Fishing Bridge R.V. Campsite)… woke up this morning and finished getting the R.V. ready to roll – we were able to get on the road around 12:30p.m. Ride to Yellowstone was easy and really filled with some pretty views. We came through Teton National Park (got some great photos of the “Tetons”) and entered into Yellowstone National Park ($25.00 fee to go through the park – pass good for 7 days). On the ride through Yellowstone we stopped off at several good viewing areas – saw several waterfalls, geisers, buffalo, rainbow and even some elk (Linda got a chance to pet the elk on the rearend – not really but you will get it in the pictures). Got to the Fishing Bridge R.V. Campsite – good sites but very close to one another – we are becoming “seasoned” at setting this thing up – takes about 5-7 minutes (without pulling the awning out)… we have to back into the site (no big deal) but once you back in your space is limited the way they have the hook-ups set up for your R.V. we are not able to pull the awning out the way we are set.Campsite is “full hook-ups” (water, sewer and electrical). At the front entrance of our area (check in station) they offer showers and an opportunity to wash clothes… showers are $3.25 per person / per shower (doesn’t look like we will have many showers over the next couple of days).

Chad coming off the waterfall into a giant pool of water... yes, it is higher than it looks!

Seasoned hikers... on the way up the mountain!

Heading back down the mountain!

Madison and I coming up out of the "freezing water"! Julia hanging out at the "pool of water" and the rest of the gang next to the "giant rock slide"...

Chad and I in the "sandy bottom pool" just went under and back up!

It was a tough climb for each of us... over 750 ft. of climbing (the others stayed on the trail and took the easy route) but we all made it!

The kids on the first let of the hike! They were troopers all day!

Team Schroer - Cold Chillin' (Literally)...

Team Schroer - Cold Chillin' today... we went to the Popo Agie River (runs through) - Sink Canyon and went hiking and played in the river! The hike up there was good - awesome views (breathtaking) the kids did awesome hiking up there (it was about 1 1/2 miles up to the top). On the way up we also did some awesome rock climbing (tough as it might have been - we did it). Once we got up to the top there were some awesome waterfalls and this one waterfall came into a small "sandy bottom pool" - we all wore our bathing suits and jumped in! The water was about 50 degrees at best! It felt like it was about 30 degrees!

Linda and I (mountain is huge in back of us)... just up the road some places where people "rock climb" and "boulder" on this rock face.

Check this picture out... this is another shot of the water going into the side of the mountain (right before it makes the turn)... the other shot is looking about 50 feet down at some HUGE bass or are those trout??? Giant pool of trout across the road and down about 1/4 mile where the water comes out the side of the mountain...

Went to Sink Canyon... pretty cool - river coming off the side of the mountain rolling down these huge bolders and turns into the side of the mountain and disappears!

Resting Point...

Day 2 In Lander...

I think everyone got a decent nights sleep last night... It will be good to take a couple of days without travel. Madison and Julia got to sleep with their cousins (no, not like they do in Alabama). Linda, Blakely and I slept in the basement on a futon. Got a good hot shower this morning and Linda (being the domestic housewife she is) made breakfast (bagels and smoothies!)...

Cheryl had to go to the hospital this morning to see a couple of patients and Chad went to Church and will be home in a little while...

It will be good to go and see the sights of Lander and surrounding areas today. We are going to "sink river" (I believe is the name) today. Will take some pictures and post (if Cheryl or Chad can teach us how)...

Just got back from riding the bike with Chad - good ride - didn't have my road bike so we took our mtn. bikes out for a road ride - good loop!

Went to the "city park" today - not the same as a city park in the ATL... much nicer! In fact no graffitte (spelled) or syringes you might have to warn you kids about not playing with or picking up (alright that is an exageration)! Anyway, sweet park area for the kids to run and play tag, play on the "jungle gym", small stream that runs through the park the kids could walk through. There is a rock climbing event in town right now so about 20 or so tents were set up in the park (free camping) for the event - again, a little different than ATL if they offered free camping the bums and homeless would take advantage (not sensitive I know).