I did not drop off the face of the earth...but almost!

To my fellow blog-buddies. I apologize for leaving absolutely no explanation for my extended blogging hiatus. While some of you might have believed that we were devoured by bears on our camping trip, I can assure you...we are alive and well. And I will address the bear issue in a later post. I am not sure I am emotionally ready to put that experience into words. (yes..I am being slightly dramatic..as per usual).

So, what have we been doing these past few or 4 weeks, you ask?
We have been indubitably sucking the marrow out of these last days of summer. Some of us have been sucking a bit harder then others...I'm not going to mention any names....D-man. He has been set on squeezing in as many adventures as time (and his wife) will permit!

This could possibly be because he is mourning the fact that, for the first time, three of our children will be in school! Two of them will be in school all day. Yes..we have decided to send C-boy to 4th grade and J-boy will be in 1st grade so the change will be palpable around here. And our little mini excursions. Well, let's just say those will come to a screeching halt. No more yanking kids out of school for a week long Arizona adventure. No more 4 day weekend camping trips. As far as D-man is concerned, life as we once knew it is over! At least for this year!

As far as I am concerned...I'm busy planning all of the things that I will be doing now that I am no longer homeschooling. The sky is the limit!

Oh wait, I momentarily forgot that I have a 20 month old son who has no ability to entertain himself thanks to his 3 older siblings!


In the past 4 weeks, after 2 full weeks of camping and a few lake days thrown in for good measure, one would think that the family from the Peanut Gallery was "adventured out".  However, this past week, inspite of being inflicted with an obnoxious head cold, I agreed to take the New Horizon out for one last Hoorah! Remember this? D-man thought a "little" trip to Glacier Nat'l Park would be the icing on the "summer" cake. And...being that it is only "four and a half" hours away, it would just be a two day, lickity split trip.

Seven...yes SEVEN hours later, we arrived at Glacier Nat'l Park.
Apparently Map Quest's estimation was off a bit. (that and possibly D-man's power of positive thinking)
Map Quest...you are no friend of mine. 



Take a good close look at this picture. It is difficult to get a perspective but it just so happens to be taken from the R.V's side window.

Helllooooo down there........


Today's installment of pictures will be documenting our journey to the sun, so to speak, on the Going To The Sun Road. I affectionately named it "Death trap" road. Another strong contender was "Make a wrong move and your dead" road. And finally, "What the heck were we thinking" road!  I'm sure the park will be thankful for my contribution and glowing recommendation of this gorgeous and yet terrifying trip.

Let's all sing together now....
I'm on top of the world looking down on creation
And the only explanation I can find......
Have I mentioned I love Karen Carpenter.

Every so often there are little "bump-outs" on the road.  I'm sure these are built for people who want to snap a few photos.  And for those "cautious" drivers, who don't want to go mock one with their hair on fire.  We pulled over on these regularly to let the cars that were "riding our hiney" move on past.

You can imagine, that in the motor-home, moving along this road creates an indubitably precarious situation.

There are vehicle size limits on this road.  Much to D-man's excitement we "just barely" met those requirements!





In spite of the danger, I was even able to snap some photos of the surrounding beauty. My pictures turned out less then desirable because there was a smokey haze that hung throughout the mountains.  But..you get what you can in these situations.



As you can see, when you are young, you don't have a care in the world.  You are unable to grasp the gravity of the situation...the fact that with one wrong turn, or blown out tire you could plummet to your death.
And so you hang your leg out the window and suck on a tootsie pop.





We finally made our destination.  Can't say this was ever one of my goals, but who doesn't want to stand on the Continental Divide?







And inspite of the haze...I must admit, the view was spectacular.

However, all the joy and jubilation of standing on the Continental Divide, quickly disappeared as we made our way back down the "Death Trap" Going to the Sun Road.

I know...it is difficult to believe that this is INDEED a two lane highway!



Thankfully they built that very sturdy looking rock wall should some poor motorist lose control of his vehicle.



Well... with the exception of this part of the road.  I think you'd be pretty much out of luck here!

Now...I would love to invite you to stay tuned for more "Sucking the marrow out of the last days of Summer" adventures in which I will discuss many different topics.  I'm not going to divulge too much information, but some of the topics are as follows:

A bear, his thirst,  and our Capri sun.
The one where a hoary marmot indubitably makes a nest in my hair...or something like that.
And the hike where I almost cut my head off and left it in the woods. 
And if that doesn't keep you coming back...I don't know what will!!


P.S...
Just in case you didn't know what a hoary marmot looks like.
Your welcome!

picture by tomyris 95 on flickr


For more really cool uses of the word "indubitably" go check out Word Up Yo!!