Whirlwind

We have spent 7 days in Ouray, camping first at the KOA for 2 nights and then at the Amphitheater campground. We have hiked in waterfalls, spent a lot of time at the hot springs, played in a lot of mud, had ice cream shakes every day at 'Mouse's' (well some of us just had apple cider), walked in the rain and devised some creative ways to cook dinner in the rain. Speaking of rain, we have had TONS of it. I was counting today and I realized that out of 6 nights of camping we were only able to have 2 campfires because of rain. We ended up eating out 2 nights also which wasn't in the budget but what can you do when it's pouring rain and you have already used up every creative idea? 

When we were leaving the KOA I talked to my mom and she reminded me that my birthday was the next day. I was immediately excited. What could I arrange? Dinner out? A shower? Antiquing? Anyone who knows me, knows that I like to take advantage of my birthday (something I learned from my Dad) so the wheels were spinning. When I woke up though I  knew that the cold I had been carrying around had taken a new direction. I felt horrible, I tried to deal with it but after a couple of hours of doing a bad job of faking it, I spent the rest of the day sleeping in the car. Everyone went to Telluride (I slept in the car), rode the gondola (I slept in the car), had a BBQ at a park (I slept in the car) and eventually drove back to our campsite in the pouring rain (I slept in the car). Luckily I think that rest was exactly what I needed, I have been getting better the past 2 days, although I still sound like I have a frog in my throat.

 Today we packed up a wet camp and drove to Gerard's parents house. It is so fun to see the giant house that he built and get to stay here for a couple of days. I have already taken a nap and a shower and I am getting ready to start our 2 garbage bags full of dirty laundry.  Also, although it is raining, we have been able to make dinner inside and are going to eat it without fear of being struck by lightning! Bliss.

2 nights in Ouray

After 2 long days of driving through nothing but corn, we made it to Ouray, CO. The drive in was amazing.  The huge red mountains seem to loom up out of nowhere and the colors of the trees create a view that is unlike any other.  We can see now why they call it the "Switzerland of America."
Although we had been trying to get reservations for months, everything was booked.  So we decided to try our luck with the walk in reservations. Everything still ended up being full so we ended up at the KAO in Ouray.  What a shock... However, it doesn't feel like a typical KAO and I have been enjoying having showers, still we are moving up to the Amphitheater this morning.
We spent our first day here at the hot springs pool. The kids loved all of the shallow wading areas and that they never got cold! Gerard had made a row boat the day before we came (of course) and in the afternoon we went to the reservoir and tested it out. The kids splashed around in the lake and I drove the 30 miles to the nearest large market to stock up.
Last night a big thunder shower rolled in. At first I loved the sound of the rain on our tent and how cozy we all were. After a couple of thunder claps that shook the ground though, and lightning lit up the whole tent, I began to question if we were safe or if we should be grabbing our oblivious, snoring kids and running to the safety of the car. About that time we began to notice that we were getting wet in the brand new weather proof tent that we bought for this trip. Turns out that Matt had forgotten to stake down the rain fly so the rain was plastering it to the side of the tent and soaking through. Matt somehow located the hammer, stakes and a head lamp and managed to fix the problem. We still woke up with a wet floor this morning and things are in the process of drying out. sigh.  :)

Omaha

We sadly left Minnesota yesterday and started driving back to Colorado. We made it to Omaha, NE and it took us about 2 seconds to decide to upgrade our KOA tent spot to a cabin with air conditioning. We got here around 8:30 pm, went swimming and then hid out in our cabin the rest of the night trying to escape the  89% humidity. Do you want to know when I am not at my best? When it's 3:40 am and I am cleaning throw up out of my daughters sleeping bag. Yup. Fun night.

Walnut Grove, Tornados and finally getting there.

We woke up feeling very refreshed after sleeping in a king bed in an air conditioned room. After showering and packing up we headed towards Walnut Grove. There was an air of anticipation as we knew that by the end of the day we would finally be at our destination. Walnut Grove was not far and we were there in no time. I am sorry to say that although I had been looking forward to Walnut Grove I wasn't super impressed. They did have a replica of the dugout house that the Ingalls lived in but besides that, it was mostly about pioneer life in general. From there we walked to the festival that was in the park and stumbled  upon a garage sale where I bought a really pretty Gardenia vase and a rusty antique looking candle holder, all for $1. The festival was also a little bit of a disappointment. We watched the Laura and Nellie look alike contest for a little while and then wandered off to the playground. We needed lunch and all we could find were hot dogs for the kids and egg rolls for the adults. Very un-Laura.

When we got back on the road we started the final haul to Gull Lake in Minnesota. After driving for about 2 hours we stopped at a gas station for a little snack and a break. At that point, Kathleen told us that Jeff had called and that we might experience some weather on in our last 2 hours. Tammy and I jokingly asked her if we needed to prepare for a tornado? She laughingly assured us that although the weather was a little rough there weren't any tornados. A few minutes later we were in driving through a little town commenting on how amazing the sky looked. The clouds were black and orange and lightning was flashing, everything started getting really calm and we suddenly heard a siren starting. We kept driving and in a minute we were in the middle of a HUGE storm. It was extremely hard to see and there was thunder and lightning every 2 seconds. We watched as a tree branch fall,  hit a telephone wire and sparks flew everywhere. At that point all of the radio stations were on full storm coverage, we were listening and watching our map and realizing that we were extremely close to the tornado. At that point Kathleen called, and said "we need to hurry, you HAVE to keep up with me, we HAVE to get there quickly" Matt was uncomfortable because we couldn't see and we were hydroplaning a little here and there. There was a while there when it was really touch and go and we weren't sure if we were going to have to pull over and knock on some stranger's door with 7 kids, asking for shelter or if we might end up  taking cover in a road side ditch. We somehow managed to cross the storm's path and then stay ahead of it by about 5-10 minutes. I have never felt such a huge sigh of relief then when we pulled into the driveway.

Jeff's parents house is amazing, it is right on the lake and the view is beautiful! The McCarters are in one 'wing' and the Sieck's, Johnson's and us are in another. Jeff's parents, Papa Keith and Grandma Nene, are the sweetest most hospitable people I have ever met. They have embraced all of us, and have been so great with all of the kids. They don't seem to mind that there are 11 kids tearing up their house and 8 adults cooking, playing and parenting.

The kids have all loved playing in the lake, fishing, catching frogs, going to the water slides, riding bikes in the huge driveway, and playing in the basement. Everyone has gotten along wonderfully and it is so fun to watch these kids grow up together. I have been struck with memories of all of us camping last year and it feels like time is flying by. Part of me wants to freeze time and part of me is so excited to see what happens next.