The Animals We Saw In Alaska

Wood Bison

Black Bear

Moose

Beaver

Black Bear with Cub

Geese

Red Squirrel

Moose and Calf

Ptarmigan

Pinca

Dall Sheep

Bull Moose

Marmot

Wild Horse

Deer

.

Slug

Chipmonk

Pretty Bird

Brown Bear (Grizzly) with cub

Humpback Whiles

Sea Otters

Star Fish

Porcupine

Bat

Sea Lions

More Whales

Herd of Wood Bison

Cedar Point

The last stop of our trip was at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky OH. This park is known as the roller coaster capital of the world, with some of the top thrill rides available anywhere.

While the lines for the top rides were more than an hour at times, we had a fun day riding something other than the RV!

Some of our favorite rides include:

Magnum XL-200 - It's the coaster by which all others are measured. Magnum broke records when it opened in 1989. This is a true coaster legend.

Mantis - Real coaster thrills, loops and speed - all while standing up! Mantis is one of the tallest and fastest stand-up coasters in the world.

Raptor - You can't help but notice Raptor, standing guard near the Main Entrance. This was the first ride of the day.

Top Thrill Dragster - Top Thrill Dragster is one of the tallest and fastest coasters in the world. Race 420 feet into the sky at speeds of 120 mph on the world's first "Strata Coaster." Patrick and Keegan waited to experience this impressive ride


Millennium Force - The park's 310-foot-tall steel screamer, Millennium Force, was the coaster that we all enjoyed together – even Michelle.

The park is not all coasters. We also enjoyed getting wet on Thunder Canyon and the Snake River Falls. Good thing it was a nice hot sunny day.

The other thing the kids enjoyed was sending their mother to the “Guess your age” booth and walking away with boatloads of prizes when no one was even close.

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

We pulled in to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore just in time to see sunset over Lake Superior. The boys went swimming in the warm lake water.

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Porter Point is not RV friendly, with a very narrow parking lot difficult to get in and out of and a gate that closes at dusk.

Madison, WI

Passing through Wisconsin, we made a quick stop at the home of Margaret Bowman, a friend of Michelle’s from high school.

Back to Minnesota

We made an unscheduled stop to meet the newest member of the family, Addison Elise Hubert, the beautiful daughter of Matt and Kelly.

We went to their home near the twin cities for a BBQ before a quick stop at Steve and Sue Clark’s in Cannon Falls and ending the night in Rochester at the Hanlys.

The next morning after breakfast at Pannekoeken Restaurant, we hit the road one more time.

Badlands National Park

We spend a night camping at Badlands National Park, a beautiful background for a restful stop.

We had dinner at the lodge and ran into some people we knew from church in Simsbury. I would not recommend the restaurant at all.

That night we attended a ranger talk on star gazing that was very interesting. It was a beautiful night and we sat out under the stars and watched a meteor shower into the wee hours. Keegan and Sara slept outside on the roof of the RV.

The next day, the temperatures dropped into the 50’s from a high of 115 the day before we arrived. It seems like cool wet weather has just been following us all summer.

We enjoyed a short hike on the Notch trail where the kids spend more time off trail climbing the rock structures than on the trail.

After that we hit the road and made it to Chamberland, SD to a campground on the Missouri River for the night before heading into Minnesota.

South Dakota

We reenter the USA on Montana and drove through Wyoming to get to Custer, South Dakota, another family favorite from our 2005 adventure.

We stopped at the Crazy Horse Monument and visited the native America museum.

We did a drive by of Mt Rushmore, but did not want to fit the crowds enough to stop.

The most interesting thing about South Dakota was “2010 Sturgis Bike Week” were thousands of motorcycles from around the country converge on this small town and enjoy a week of music and merriment. Everywhere you turned there were groups of bikers and places to buy biker clothing. The roads and highways were also crammed with bikers riding alone and in groups of up to 30 or 40 riders.

Radium hot Spring

Another Canadian stop just south of Banff was another soaking at the Radium Hot Springs.

This hot springs was very relaxing after a long day of hiking, but the real hit for Patrick and Keegan was the diving board in the “cool pool” where they treated the other visitors to a flip and spinning show.

Banff

On our way home back through Canada we made a stop at Lake Louise in Banff. This was one of our favorite stops in 2005.

The last time here Michelle and the kids hiked up to the teahouse and back while Bill worked on his computer in the hotel lobby. This trip everyone made it all the way up the 6 Glacier trail for some breathtaking views and we heard some glacier ice breaking off and causing avalanches.

The boys kept climbing after the trail ended and had some outstanding views.

Our Last Night in Alaska

Our last night in Alaska was spent in Anchorage. During the day we walked around an open air market along with many of the Simsbury crew. The Rice kids left with in the Vallen RV and Michelle and Bill visited the Alaskan Heritage Center.

We also saw a moose and her two calfs just outside the center.

At night the adults had a nice dinner while the kids eat at the RV.

The next morning we said good bye to the Vallen family and hit the road. After 8,773 miles on the road we started back home.