When I last wrote, we were down one trailer tire and leaving the Badlands. One week later, when we left Denver on Wednesday, we had 4 brand new 12-ply tires. Yes, this is the second instance of #whyweneedken within one week.
First, a brief overview of what we did- after witnessing a glorious sunset at Pinnacles Overlook, the kids were dying to go back the next morning to see the view again. So we changed our plans a bit- we went to Wall Drug in the morning for breakfast to take advantage of their 5 cent coffee, then headed back to Pinnacles to climb around. This is the place where you will fear for your child's life as they run around on slippery, gravely rocks, mere inches from the edge. After almost having a heart attack 7 times, it was time to leave and head to Hot Springs, SD to see The Mammoth Site- and active dig site that's the largest concentration of mammoths in the world. Honestly, fossils don't interest me so it was a bit boring, and Gryffin was clearly more interested in jumping into the dig site than listening to our tour guide. He also ran into one of the displays, tripped and hit his ear on the side of a platform. FYI: Ears bleed a lot.
The only other thing to note during our stay in Hot Springs is that apparently Ophelia is pretty darn good at mini golf.
So it was on Thursday morning last week that we left South Dakota to travel south to Colorado for my brother's wedding. With Ken faithfully following up the rear, we entered the vast and glorious state of Wyoming. You might be tempted to think I'm being sarcastic here. Trust me, I am not. Have you driven through Wyoming? It's BEAUTIFUL. Yes, I am using all caps to show that I am shouting this at you.
Around lunch time we stopped in Lusk, WY for gas and it was here that Ken dutifully showed us that the other passenger tire on the trailer had a blister on it. "But wait!" you protest. "Didn't you just tell me in your last blog post that blisters were rare?" Why yes I did. Thank you for being a thorough reader. It seems blisters happen by hitting something on the road, such as a pothole, and since both blisters were on the same side, they are most likely the result of the same incident. Needless to say, the town of Lusk might have been tiny (pop. 1599), but there was a tire shop literally across the street from the gas station. They had a new tire on the trailer in 30 minutes and we were on our way.
It is here in Denver that we took a break from our roadschooling adventure to spend some time with family for my brother and sister-in-law's wedding. I was honored to be asked to be a groomswoman by my brother and we spent 6 days in a whirlwind of magical wedding awesomeness. My sister-in-law's family came from all over the globe and we bonded over manis and pedis, karaoke, Trinidadian curry, Jamaican jerk chicken, and rum punch. The wedding itself was perfection. My kids stayed up way too late but we were rewarded by seeing a herd of elk gather around the building before we left at 11pm. I took no pictures at the actual wedding as I was too busy having an amazing time. I think Ophelia summed it up well when she declared: "This is the best night of my life!"
After the wedding, it was down to business. After two tires threatening to blow, and with Ken retreating back to Wisconsin (because I guess he has a job and a life, ugh), leaving no one to report anything fishy going on behind us, we decided to bite the bullet and buy 4 brand new 12-ply tires. Our trailer came with 8-ply. Most cars have 4-ply. 12-ply tires were recommended to us by the guy who changed our tire in Lusk. Anything bigger is basically for a semi. So on Tuesday morning, we had all 4 tires replaced in Denver. There should be no more blisters.
It was sad to leave Denver and all of our family on Wednesday morning, but we were excited to get on with our trip. Jared goes "back" to work on Monday and we still have a few stops to get in before then. Coming soon: Arches National Park and Moab Valley Adventures!
#whyweneedken tally: 2
First, a brief overview of what we did- after witnessing a glorious sunset at Pinnacles Overlook, the kids were dying to go back the next morning to see the view again. So we changed our plans a bit- we went to Wall Drug in the morning for breakfast to take advantage of their 5 cent coffee, then headed back to Pinnacles to climb around. This is the place where you will fear for your child's life as they run around on slippery, gravely rocks, mere inches from the edge. After almost having a heart attack 7 times, it was time to leave and head to Hot Springs, SD to see The Mammoth Site- and active dig site that's the largest concentration of mammoths in the world. Honestly, fossils don't interest me so it was a bit boring, and Gryffin was clearly more interested in jumping into the dig site than listening to our tour guide. He also ran into one of the displays, tripped and hit his ear on the side of a platform. FYI: Ears bleed a lot.
The campsite host at the campground we stayed at in Hot Springs, SD
The only other thing to note during our stay in Hot Springs is that apparently Ophelia is pretty darn good at mini golf.
So it was on Thursday morning last week that we left South Dakota to travel south to Colorado for my brother's wedding. With Ken faithfully following up the rear, we entered the vast and glorious state of Wyoming. You might be tempted to think I'm being sarcastic here. Trust me, I am not. Have you driven through Wyoming? It's BEAUTIFUL. Yes, I am using all caps to show that I am shouting this at you.
Around lunch time we stopped in Lusk, WY for gas and it was here that Ken dutifully showed us that the other passenger tire on the trailer had a blister on it. "But wait!" you protest. "Didn't you just tell me in your last blog post that blisters were rare?" Why yes I did. Thank you for being a thorough reader. It seems blisters happen by hitting something on the road, such as a pothole, and since both blisters were on the same side, they are most likely the result of the same incident. Needless to say, the town of Lusk might have been tiny (pop. 1599), but there was a tire shop literally across the street from the gas station. They had a new tire on the trailer in 30 minutes and we were on our way.
It is here in Denver that we took a break from our roadschooling adventure to spend some time with family for my brother and sister-in-law's wedding. I was honored to be asked to be a groomswoman by my brother and we spent 6 days in a whirlwind of magical wedding awesomeness. My sister-in-law's family came from all over the globe and we bonded over manis and pedis, karaoke, Trinidadian curry, Jamaican jerk chicken, and rum punch. The wedding itself was perfection. My kids stayed up way too late but we were rewarded by seeing a herd of elk gather around the building before we left at 11pm. I took no pictures at the actual wedding as I was too busy having an amazing time. I think Ophelia summed it up well when she declared: "This is the best night of my life!"
The Wedding
After the wedding, it was down to business. After two tires threatening to blow, and with Ken retreating back to Wisconsin (because I guess he has a job and a life, ugh), leaving no one to report anything fishy going on behind us, we decided to bite the bullet and buy 4 brand new 12-ply tires. Our trailer came with 8-ply. Most cars have 4-ply. 12-ply tires were recommended to us by the guy who changed our tire in Lusk. Anything bigger is basically for a semi. So on Tuesday morning, we had all 4 tires replaced in Denver. There should be no more blisters.
It was sad to leave Denver and all of our family on Wednesday morning, but we were excited to get on with our trip. Jared goes "back" to work on Monday and we still have a few stops to get in before then. Coming soon: Arches National Park and Moab Valley Adventures!
#whyweneedken tally: 2
Comments
Post a Comment