Taking School on the Road

This is the only picture I took of the day - but it tells the story of our day! Melia learned one of the big pros of homeschooling as we took school on the road. 

Michael is still ill, but we needed to run some errands in Anchorage and so Melia and I went in. I told her we could use my phone as a hotspot if needed. 

 She knocked it out of the park. She schooled while we waited, we broke for socializing, and she schooled while we waited a bit more. She finished it all and made great grades on the daily work! 

Our highlight was meeting up with the foster family where Melia's sisters are living. It was fun for the the three girls to connect. They exchanged Valentine's gifts. I enjoyed visiting with Christine. We enjoyed a Subway lunch.

Melia and I spent a couple of more hours in Anchorage and on the way home... 

Knowing Michael was ill and neither of us wanted to cook we stopped at a local restaurant for a salad for me and wings for Melia. We topped the evening off with a trip through the car wash. We thought we'd find Stacia at home, but she was still at school. It turns out we had forgotten Sibling Game night. 

Next week we will remember....

Register Rock

The view was still great this morning! 

We drove around to the spot where travelers on the Oregon/California Trail used to camp. We were looking for Registration Rock.  

Trains would camp in this meadow beside a salmon stream, cook dinner and then carve their names in the rocks around the area.

This is the moment when we discovered Salmon jumping up the creek....I took photos and videos, but I don't think you can see them. I'll check later. It's hard to edit on windy roads. 

We loved the above story of J.J. Hansen. 

Indian head - carved when he was 7 and camped here; he visited years later in 1902. 

Trying to spot the preacher's and Indian's heads

I don't see the preacher's head....

Michael went exploring the area. We knew there had to be wagon ruts....I suspect much was destroyed when the interstate was built.....

Though they aren't walked bare.....these appear to be wagon ruts. 

This was a great morning drive. We were fascinated with the  history of the spot....and it's ideal for a picnic. It's not far from the Interstate and worth your stop if you are driving be.

Massacre Rocks State Park/ Hiking the OR Trail, #WYFF

For photos of the camping sites see this post. There are tent sites, pull through sites and back in sites. All RV sites were full hook ups. It cost us $32 (camping fee, park entrance fee and taxes).  The park is right near a rest area and is outside of American Falls, ID.  Here is the Official ID website for the park. We saw several sites where we would fit with a 38 Foot Class A and a toad. 

Decumanus at the English language Wikipedia [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons

This is a fascinating park. It's named for these big formations on the banks of the Snake River in Idaho.  We discovered three names for the boulders - Massacre Rocks, Devil's Gate and Gate of Death. The area was widened for the freeway to go through.  At the time of the Oregon Trail - one wagon could go through this pass at a time.  This is the site of  massacres by the Shoshoni in 1851 and 1862.

Wagon trains stopped in the area and camped for the night. It's fairly easy to find wagon ruts still left from those times. Many carved their names and dates on Register Rock as they camped in the area. 

We began our explorations at the Visitor Center. There are some stories from the area, a couple of displays and diaries to look at. They also have a small bookstore. 

We left the Visitor Center armed with new information, maps and directions from the friendly clerk.  We headed out to hike along the Oregon/California trail. It was beautiful and brought history alive. 

Stacia, Nolan, Alex & Michael at the Snake River

 

 At this point I was told, "You take photos of the flowers, we're going to find the Oregon Trail." 

 These are some of many wagon ruts left from the migration west. 

Confirmation we found the right trail....

Allowing people to hike the ruts, does keep them well-defined.

We were happy to complete the hike and find Nimo waiting for us. 

Stacia really wanted to swim in the river. She asked at the Visitor Center and was told, "The water is 48* degree. Each year we lose people who jump in and die within minutes due to hypothermia."

She replied, "So that means no?" 😯

The lady relented and told her it WOULD be o.k. to hike the trail to the dock and dip her toes into the Snake River. That is just what we did on our way back from the Oregon/California trail.

COLD WATER

Look how red his feet are! 

 We hadn't remembered our water bottles, and two of us hiked in Crocs with no socks....but we had fun and made memories. 

We headed back to our campsite for dinner. We saved Register Rock for tomorrow morning. 

Michael spent time editing a paper for Krista on Women in Leadership. I need to read that paper.  I went for an evening  walk with Yuuki. The  kids enjoyed their screens. 😯

Uchi seen from down the bank.

Eventually, I would down around the river. Yuuki chased a couple of ducks and thought it was great fun. There were hundreds of swallows flying around.....

They were flying back to holes in the side of this bluff

 Michael was done with the paper when I got back to Uchi. He and the kids came down to watch the fish jump and swallows fly.

  #WYFF are weekly snapshots of where we are - and I know it's NOT Friday, but since we're usually not having fun on Friday, I'm going to start using a bit of creative license. I can't imagine anything better that this day. 

Weather Adventures, Japanese and Travel

We added a twist to our travel routine today.  We attempted the boys' Japanese Class, instead of cancelling for the week.

The boys were good sports. They aren't used to photos and videos while taking lessons. 

Michael timed it so that we took care of a bit of business and weren't moving for much of the time they were online with their teachers. This is good as Nolan got motion sick in the bit of time we were driving and he was trying to watch the screen and dialogue. We had hoped to find a grocery store before it was time for lessons - but we didn't.  When we woke up this morning in Rock Springs it felt like snow to us. We used the lesson time  to prepare for stormy conditions.

Filled up our propane tank

Washed Windows

Topped off the diesel tank

Checked tire pressure before the passes

The windshield view was ever-changing today as we made our way across the state of Wyoming and into Colorado.  Here are a few glimpses of the #ViewFromMyWindshield.

Always sobering to see the underside of a semi

 We called this snog - snow and fog. 

Been a long time since we drove in a white out

First time to drive Uchi in a snow storm

Clearing up 

  Then it was BEAUTIFUL! 

 Kudos to Petro Truck Stops for Truckers Chapels

It was a long and slow day of travel. We decided not to push on to Earl and Mary's tonight. We are at a state campground off I-25 and will finish the trip tomorrow.