Day 39... Got up early which has been the trend for this stretch. It has also been easy to get up on time because dad wakes us up around 5:45 which is generous because he usually jumps out of his tent between 4:45 and 5:00. I made breakfast, we had oatmeal and bananas tea and coffee a la annie and went back to yellowstone to finish the drive. Saw more thermal features but the sulpher smell was a little harder to stomach this early in the morning. We saw another buffalo, beautiful waterfalls and the yellow stones for which the park was named for. Then it was back on the road for a 7Hr drive through amazing mountains which were the big horn mts. (Which was the range that the battle of little big horn was fought at) the drive was as beautiful as being in the park making it easier to put the hours of driving in. We made it to mt rushmore area around 11pm, set up camp and mom called and told us about a meteor shower best viewed in the north central usa... Right where we are, Thanks mom! We were right on time for the peak and stayed up for a few hours to watch the beautiful light show. Then to bed to get up early once again :-)

Day 38... Woke up early had free waffle breakfast in the lobby of our wonderful hotel. Any hotel that has running hot water and a shower has become wonderful. Amazing how your perspective changes after 5 weeks of camping! We drove 8 hours to yellowstone and set up camp. i made a wonderful lunch wraps with rice beans, corn and tuna. It was great but we ended up being a lunch buffet for some aggressive mosquitoes i ended up finishing mine in the car. we were in the park by 5 saw old faithful, which erupts every 90 mins or so and we hit it with 10 mins to go, we saw sulpher vents, mud pot, elk and a buffalo, bald eagles and ospres after sunset we drove back to camp and set up a camp fire and just relaxed so we could get up early and see some more of the park. It is amazing to see and be reminded how active and hot it is just inches under our feet. All dad can say is wow this is so cool i love this stuff. This stuff is so unbelievable it almost feels like im looking at the moon or some sci fi movie. Can't wait for tomorrow

Day 37... Got up early to see rainier. We packed up camp and drove through the park taking selected short hikes at points of interest the mountain is a 14 thousand foot glacier that is covered in ice and snow... dad loved it and kept saying " ive never seen mountains like that before " we took a 5 mile hike with amazing views of rainier around noon and took in as much of that fragrent mountain air as we could. We had lunch at a restaurant on the river super yummie. Then we had a long drive to cour d alean, idaho. There was only one hotel room left in the town with two beds. But it was nice because we could get a shower and good nights sleep. We decided to do the old early to bed early to rise and get a move on in the am because we loose an hour between here and yellowstone.

Day 36... This morning was more sluggish than most. 2 days of drinking staying ur late and loud wonderful music takes a lot out of you . We Drove to bremerton washington to get some quick showers at pauls which was so wonderful and amazing. Them we beat feet to seattle to pick up dad. Our timing was wonderful as we pulled up and i jumped out found him he was getting his bag. I took the boys down town to have dinner at a pan african place that lori and i had gone to last year. Then we walked around pikes market, saw the puget sound and got gelatto then began our drive up to rainer. We ended up setting up camp in the dark but i guess if he learns in the dark it will be easy for him to do it with some light. It got cold quick but we stuck it out as long as we could to play cards but then it got to be too much we turned in and zipped ur into our sleeping bags. Thank god for mummy bags! Up early tomorrow to show dad the biggest mountain he's ever seen.

Day 35... Woke up to hot sun coming into my tent and other people moving around in the lot. We started the day w/ bloody marys and mamosas and took a walk around the Lot looking for someone selling breakfast food i had eaten before but matt and holly got pancakes. We did our best all day to stay out of the sun by making a shelter with the rainfly of the tents and a tarp. We played corn hole and ate and listened to music all day. Great day to recover and relax. At last nights i ran into a friend from college who had moved to northern california, it was a great surprise! The show was amazing the best Phish show i had seen this far purer fun and a great night. We all hung out at the venue a bit longer tonight to avoid the crazy crowd we fought through last night to get back to camp. We went down to shakedown to get some food but because we were late we got shut out so we ate a bit back at camp crackers and veggies tonight before bed.. Better for me but i like grease from time to time. Tomorrow we leave for seattle to get dad i can't wait!

Day 34 we drove to george, washington today to camp along the colombia river and catch 2 Phish shows at the gorge. This weekend still have our caravan of 10 and its wonderful to meet such great people and have an amazing week long adventure w/ them. Im also preping dad for his trip to seattle and to come home with us. we booked camp sites along our route excited for him to come out! We set up camp and pre gamed a bit before the show to avoid the 9 dollar (pbr) beers inside. the show was great we had a blast! This show and tomorrow nights show is at the gorge a natural venue totally open air with an amazing view of the river and hills around it . The music started at sunset and they played for about 3 hours. Steve and i got food from the lot after the show:-) jerry rolls, they are gigantic veggie eggrolls. With a head full of music and a belly of grease i climbed into my tent with dreams of doing it all over again tomorrow night.

Day 33... drove to massoula montana through a crazy mountain storm. The main part of it was off in the distance however we were close enough to get crazy winds and a good amount of rain the lightning was over the mountains and it was beautiful. We dropped off sara at the airport it was so small we dropped her right at the terminal and she was through to the plane in 10mins or so. We got a tip from matts friend about the kettle house brewery so we went for a visit and tasting at their newest pour room. We decided that we would make this our stopping point for the night and drive to the gorge tomorrow. We got some info from the bartenders about things to do and see and a cheap place to stay. We spent the night in the Bel aire hotel which was clean but by no means a hilton! I didn't have to clean the bathroom so i was happy. Steve matt and i walked around the town and went to their thursday night river fest to hear music and eat some food. Then once the fair ended around 9 we bar hopped until our other 7 stopped into town and we all had some drinks and played pool together. Went back to the hotel got a good nights sleep with plans to hit the road early.