Day 6

Today we woke up 9:00. This would of been fine except for the fact the continental breakfast ended at 9:30. So we, as fast as we could, packed up the car and then went to breakfast. For breakfast I ended up scarfing down some yogurt and Lucky Charms. Then we hit the road (not literally though, because that would really hurt.)

We drove for about and hour before stopping at a rest stop, where we all went to the restroom and looked at the license plates. There was one from Tennessee, Texas, Florida even one from Oregon. We then, unwillingly, got back into the car. We drove for about eight and a half hours. We watched two movies, played a short game of crazy eights. ate and spilled a lot of gold fish, and drew many pictures.

We then, finally stopped at Ogden, Utah...again! This time we spent the night at the Best Western. We first ate at the restaurant near the restaurant, where I got some one of a kind French toast. We then all went swimming in the jelly-bean shaped pool. We didn't swim for long. When we got back to the room we watched Return of the mummy 2 until we fell asleep.

Day 5

Today I woke up at the crack of dawn. I really wanted to get back to sleep but it was really hard with the light pouring through the window. So I excepted my mom's invitation to an early breakfast. The breakfast at the Quality Inn was delicious there were so many items to choose from. I ended up having a waffle, some yogurt and coco-puffs. Mom talked to the worker at the hotel and found out that at one time the hotel was considered the Ritz of Colorado with movie stars staying at the hotel. The hotel did have five hot tubs, a pool table room, a huge swimming pool and great beds and pillows. It was possibly the best hotel we stayed in yet.

We then packed up the car and headed towards Buckskin Joe's. It is a life size model of the Old West. There were horse-drawn carriages, a sheriff's office, a saloon, a school, a dentist, a doctor, a bank, a mine, gunfights, and a donkey (which mom thought was real until she petted the animal and it moved.) It even had a train ride with a view of the Royal Gorge suspension bridge.

We stayed at Buckskin Joe's for about four hours. We then drove to the suspension bridge. The first thing we did was take a tram across the canyon. It was very windy and kind of shaky but very beautiful. My brother swayed back and forth between gluing his face to the window and hiding his face in mom's shirt.

We finally got off the tram and walked toward the suspension bridge. We first stopped to get a chocolate-chip milkshake. Then we headed across the bridge. The bridge wasn't as scary as had imagined, it was very wide and had railings on each side of it. The bridge had quite a view! When we got off the bridge mom said there was a incline train that she wanted to ride. For all of you who don't know what an incline train is--it is a train that goes down into the gorge. The line for the train was amazingly long by the end of it all of our feet were aching. Although the train was very fun and offered a great view, when we got to the bottom I felt it wasn't worth the wait.

After we were done at the park we drove to the Leadville, CO which took about 2 hours, along the way we stopped at a Safeway and got our on-the-road-dinner. We found a nice hotel in Leadville and I finally took a shower and relaxed after a fun and exhausting day.

Fat Stanley

You might of noticed a very fat, furry companion accompanying us on our trip. And, you might of thought to yourself "what the...". Well the reason we're carry around a very fat cat along with us is because, my mom had a brilliant idea. What if we brought along this cat as if he were like flat Stanley, she said., bring him every where we go. So that's what we did. But of course the cat couldn't stay flat Stanly, so we dubbed it fat Stanly to fit his character better.

Day 4

Today we woke up late. We were in no rush so we took our time packing up the car. After we had finally finished packing we drove to a French bakery. There we had delicious chocolate eclaires and a cheese and bread platter. Completely French and completely exquisite.

After our stomaches were full we got back in the car and drove to the Garden of the Gods. We first went to the visitor's center were we got to feel a real bear's pelt and watch a movie on how the Garden of the God's was formed. We then took a hike. It was only 90 degrees outside but it was so humid that we drank an entire water bottle after walking only a 1/2 mile.

I know if our dad was along on this trip, he would make us tell him the three things we learned. So here they are:

A school teacher at the local university was so awed by the Garden of the God's she wrote a poem that was later made into the song, "America the Beautiful."

Plate tectonics, earthquakes, and erosion were all a part in making the Garden of the Gods.

The final thing that I learned was that magpies make circular nests and they place their eggs in the middle.

So, Dad, even though you aren't here we still learned some things.

We then went to the Cave of the Winds to take a lantern tour, but we were not able to take the tour until two hours later. So we decided to go out for lunch. There I had a chicken pot pie which was very good. We then drove back to the Cave of Winds and took the tour. It was amazing. I had never been in a cave before so it was a new and exciting experience.

After the tour we drove about an hour until we arrived in Canon City were we found the Quality Inn. And when they say Quality Inn they mean it. We first at the local restaurant and then of course we went swimming. After we swam for about an hour we went the room and relaxed until bed time.

Day 3

Today we woke up(of course) and had a very small breakfast. We then packed up and went to find a tire shop. We did, and while it was getting fixed we walked around down town. We went to a festival and also got my very first poached eggs. I don't think they should even count them as eggs, but they were very good.

Then we went to get the car and drove to Seven Falls. It was very pretty until it started to rain. We were, unfortunately, on top of the mountain when it began to to rain. So we had to hike down to the bottom and to the car in a thunderstorm. As you could imagine it wasn't the best experience but honestly it was kind of exciting.

We then found a nice hotel and went downtown to find something to eat in an area of Colorado Springs called Old Colorado City. We had Italian pizza and Ice cream.

Then we came back to the pool and swam for 1 and a 1/2 hours. After we all turned into raisins we went back to the hotel and watched ghost shows until we all fell asleep.

Day 2

Today we woke up and had the best breakfast I ever had at a hotel before. You'd think this was a start to a great day but it was defiantly not. We then packed up the car and began our nine hour car ride. On the way we stopped at the town of Oakley. It was a small town with the Fick Fossil Museum. It was a small museum, with not much there, but it was still quite interesting. There was also a park there, but we didn't stay there long. There was two reasons for this. Reason one is because the park was made of all metal, and reason two is because it was 104 degrees outside.

We then drove until we reached the city of Genoa, Kansas. I don't think you could even call it a city though. There was absolutely nothing there, I didn't see anyone throughout the entire town. We had to stop because my mom had to use the bathroom. We stopped there at a convenience store with a sign that said open. We opened the door to see nothing but junk, cobwebs and lots of dust. There was no one inside, and no one was brave enough to go into the store. So we decided to just go to a different town, with people in it.

Hours later we finally made it to Colorado Springs. We got to our hotel, Travelodge. Then, since we hadn't eaten anything since breakfast we went in search for a restaurant that a man had told us was good. We drove around for a long time not finding it, then suddenly in an alleyway our tire popped. So now we had a flat tire in the middle of town. So we called up AAA an put on a spare. Then we drove to a Mexican restaurant ate and ate and ate. The we went back to the hotel and slept and slept and slept. The perfect ending to the worst day.

Oregon Trail Day 1...heading home

Today the first thought in my head when I woke up was I'm going home. Half of me was wanting to stay in Iowa and the other half missed Oregon. But I guess it wasn't really my choice whether I wanted to go home or not.

Soon after I awoke I went down stairs alone-because Chloe was still asleep. I had my first ever Long-John donut, now I can see why it's my grandmas favorite. We then packed up the car-ugh! It was easily my least favorite part of the day, but someone's gotta do it. Then we ran a few errands- getting ice for the cooler, getting ink and of course getting REESE'S Peanut Butter Cups. Then we went to my other grandpas house to say good-bye.

After that, we went back to Grandma's and Grandpa's house. We said good-bye to everyone, which basically was a bunch of hugs and "thank you for having us" or "see you later." Finally we got into the car. As I looked back to see my family standing there, all waving, it hit me. I wasn't going to see them for a long, long time. The thought gave me goose bumps, don't ask me why. But I guess I'll have to get over it.

We drove for a long time until I couldn't take any more. I hadn't eaten since eight o'clock. It was now three. So to avoid a tantrum from me my mom stopped in the desolate town of Eagle, Nebraska, which was basically a bank, a grocery store, and a little restaurant called the Lounge. I had a burger and fries, but I guess it doesn't really matter what I ate, as long as it was food, right?

We also stopped int the very ancient town of Marysville. We didn't stay long, but we did take some pictures.

We then drove a longer period of time all the way to Manhattan, Kansas. On the way I played Disney Princesses, don't make fun, it was a cool game.

We then went to The Best Western hotel. We right away went swimming because it was about a hundred degrees. After swimming, or in my brother's case floating in the water, we watched t.v, ate sandwiches, sushi, and cheese and went to bed.

Day 5

Sorry that I haven't written for a long time. I have been busy since I've arrived in Iowa.

Today we woke up around 8 AM. We didn't have breakfast straight away because we were all very anxious to get to Iowa. We stopped on the way to get donuts at "Day Light Donuts." They were delicious. Mom says they were the best donuts she's ever had. ( But I think I like Voodoo donuts more.)

We then went to another Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in Kearny, NE. It was like you were actually walking along the Oregon trail, very interesting and fun. After we were finished "walking to Oregon" we started our drive to Carroll, Iowa. Along the way we had our first ever Mankin pen war. What's a pen war you may ask? Well maybe this paragraph I wrote about it will help you figure it out.

The Pen War
By Morgan Mankin
Based on a true story

"Chloe, Stop!" I cried. But Chloe paid no attention to my words, and lunged, pen and hand at my forehead. I let out an angry growl and snatched the pen back. I put the pen to her throat as if it were a sword and I was in some Roman Times movie. Then seeing the threat in Chloe's eyes I, quick as a hiccup, drew a line of black ink across Chloe's cheek. Chloe put her hand to her cheek and looked at me with piercing blue eyes, that should have been red. Before I knew it I had a pen mark on my leg and foot. Then without saying a word we knew that we were even and the pen war was over.

After watching Surfs Up for a couple of minutes we saw our Grandma and Grandpa's farm. We were all excited to see our family and got out of the car as quickly as we could. There was a lot of hugging and talking. About five minutes later my cousin asked if my sister and I wanted to go to the Twilight movie, Eclipse, with her and her friend, whom she hadn't seen for four entire years. All I could say was Eclipse was weird. I don't want to give anything away but near the end of the movie some vampire just suddenly walked out of this lake, it reminded us of a very lame zombie movie (ha, ha).We drove home and had pizza.

Our parents soon left to go out for dinner and we had the house to ourselves. We caught fireflies and swung on the rickety swing set outside of Grammas house. After putting the fireflies into a Coke bottle we watched "The Nightmare Before Christmas." Our parents came home and we were off to bed after a very long day of driving and finally completing our trip to Iowa.