Jim celebrated his birthday, then we took off to see Five Finger Death Punch (including The Hu, Fire from the Gods and Megadeath) with Chayse before going to Indiana Dunes National Park. This is a weird setup, it’s really a State Park on the beach of Lake Michigan, with some small National Park designations around it. We got a couple good days in before the weather got cold and rainy – we completed the 3 Dune Challenge and were able to see the Houses of the Future that were moved after the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933. Then we headed to Mammoth Cave National Park in Ky, where Jim and Becky came to visit us. The Cave itself was a huge disappointment. We were unable to get tickets for ranger led tours and only went on the self led tour. We expected something along the lines of Carlsbad, but there are no formations, at all on the self led tour. It was a very short walk, with a World War II memorial and an informational board on how Salt Peter was mined there. No formations at all. Luckily, we salvaged the day by taking a chance on Kentucky Down Under where we were able to feed and pet kangaroos. We saw some Joeys poking out of their mom’s pouches, along with some wallabies, emus and a very friendly camel. Also, Jim got a deer and we’ve been enjoying homemade jerky and grilled venison. In his downtime, Jim finished the entertainment center and propane fireplace in the shed. Oh, and we bought an old bulldozer.

White Sands NP allows pets – so the cats were able to join Nickel and experience their first NP. They made quite a show of running around and playing in the sand. I caught a couple people taking pics of them – and Jim as he tried to get them to listen. We were able to go to the balloon launch, though, they didn’t actually launch. The blew up the balloons, then ‘hopped’ them over a dune, deflated them, and everyone went home. It was a bit disappointing, but still pretty cool, with gorgeous colors against the white sand. We were able to see the largest pistachio in the WORLD! Did a bit of riding (another first for the cats), then went to Carlsband Caverns to round out the trip. We were able to do one of the ranger guided tours (very worth it) and saw the bats exit the cave in the evening. The bats were incredible to see, definitely worth planning the trip for a time when the bats were there. Dalton was deployed and will be serving overseas for a little bit – our thoughts are with him.

We camped outside of Ouray and went riding the back mountain jeep trails. The San Juans are breathtaking – the scenery was amazing and we were able to explore more old mining ruins and several 12k+ foot peaks. It was incredible. We were able to explore Ouray, Silverton, and Telluride, then stopped at the Aztec National Ruins in the way out to New Mexico.

We headed out for a three week trip to see four National Parks, do some side-by-side riding, and see if we could survive that long in a truck camper with a dog and two cats. Spoiler alert: we made it, but all agreed that, though we’ll go back for more riding in Colorado, 3 weeks is too long in that amount of space. In Colorado, our fist stop was Trinity, then on to some boondocking on BLM land near the Great Sand Dunes National Park. Then we headed to Taylor Lake for some side-by-side riding up Tin Cup and Cumberland Pass (saw a moose and old mining ruins!), then on to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.

We took the puddle jumper to Sunburst Ranch for camping then floated the North Fork of the White River for 12 miles. Nickel tipped Jim… so that was fun 🙂 It was a beautiful, relaxing weekend. The next weekend was rainy so we stayed home, then we were down to our last weekend before our 3-week trip, so hung out here to prep. We did escape long enough to see some lawnmower races at the Baxter County Fair, but due to my lack of interaction with the outside world, missed the entire week of the fair except for the last couple hours. We started to prep the kittens for life with us, so they were introduced to harnesses and leashes as well as car rides. Britt and Dalton took a trip to the beach and we got lots of pics of the G-Kids, who are growing like noisy little weeds. Tilly took her first trip to the library and E loves her jumping jack.

Mom and Dad came to see us and we were able to participate in the Oakland 4th of July parade. Britt headed south to hang out with family, while Ash and family went to San Diego to see Alex’s family. Jim re-vamped the Puddle Jumper’s (truck camper) very uncomfortable kitchenette after our first weekend out. We floated the James River outside of Branson and Michelle came up to float with us! Then, Jim won the OAIA greater area’s very prestigious honor of “Rib King” for the 2022 year before we took a trip a couple hours south to the Wilderness Riding Buffalo Area to camp and ride the SxS around a bunch of trails and a bison herd. There were some incredible overlooks, we accidentally found ourselves navigating several black diamond courses, and saw a beautiful sunrise. Britt received the official patch of Senior Airman and the G-kids are growing up quickly. Mathilda finally tried finger painting and Enolah is happily trying new foods.

We got back in time to enjoy the dogwoods and redbuds blooming, it was beautiful. We were invited to the “Blessing of the Fleet”, where a priest blesses boats from the Pontiac marina at the beginning of boating season. We did some trash pick up, we bought a side by side that we didn’t like, sold it, and bought one we do like. We FINALLY got kayaks and also a truck camper (puddle jumper), for short trips so that we can pull the side by side with us. Oh – and we got two kittens, who will eventually become outdoor cats to save us from the mice hoard that is threatening to take over our property. Mom and Dad and Chayse came to visit, too! Britt was nominated to go before a review board and then was selected to be promoted 6 months early, she is now a Senior Airman. Tilly turned THREE and got to see her first in-theater movie, Lightyear!

We were able to go to Fever, a string quartet who played rock music from the 70s and 80’s. It was an amazing, small concert, in a beautiful venue. We were lucky that the Cards were in town, Waino was pitching, Yadi catching, and Puljos was hitting – it was a great game and we had awesome seats. We spent more time with the kids, got to hear about Britt and Dalton’s anniversary sky dive, then headed back. On the way we stayed at a Ga Harvest Host, Lane’s peaches and pecans, which was a huge farm with gorgeous trees and a very country feel. We got back in time to see the Dogwoods bloom and start some projects around the place.

This was a pretty chill couple of weeks. We moved from Markham Park to TY, so that we could help the kids move. Tilly stayed with us quite a bit and enjoyed looking for ‘guanas in the trees’ and playing in the lake. We were thrilled that Puljos came back to the Cards, went to an indoor mini golf place, to the beach a couple of times, and helped the kids get out of their apartment and into an AirBNB until their new place was ready. Moving was a bit stressful on the kids, with no good way to explain what’s happening.

Ash and the kids came to visit us for a week in Tampa. We had some chill time, went to Clearwater a bit and then went to Dinosaur World. Tilly loved it, with her favorites being the mammoths. We moved closer to Miami to stay in Markham park for a week and a half and were close enough to Jupiter to go to a Cards game. Tilly was amazing, we were able to stay for the whole game (Cards won 5-4) and a co-worker, Graig, was able to come out to meet us. After the game we met his wife and kids, and Tilly decided she likes soccer. Of course, I’m also including pics of the other g-kid and of Ash and Britt (since I received no pics of Chayse).