4 Wheels 4 Girls

After leaving the campground on July 28, we went to Craters Of The Moon National Monument. When we got there we went to go on a tour [ranger-led hike]. We got everything ready for the walk. When we got there me and Daddy went to the restrooms. We had to keep going back to [the RV] get stuff. After that we started our hike.

We all liked her [the ranger] from the start. She taught us about the explorers. We were in the back so we did not hear that much of what she was saying. We learned about a’a and pahoehoe [both are types of lava formations]. It [pahoehoe] looks like pooh to me but it also looks like rope. A’a is sharp and when you walk on it hurts so you say a’a . We saw a lot of [lava tube] caves on the way. We looked for bats, at least I did.

Inside a lava tube cave

Daddy says lava tube caves are formed when lava is flowing along the ground like a river and the sides cool off and harden like a straw around the lava. The tube gets longer and longer, and after the lava is done flowing, a long cave is left.

When we got to the cave we got out our flashlights and started walking though the cave. It was not cold as I thought it would be. We saw small birds darting here and there. We heard pigeons cowing. It was so so dark in one part. After that the tour ended. We went by ourself [through the rest of the cave]. It was so cool because we came into a cave that had passages on either side. The ceiling was really sharp and I bumped my head into it. It hurt so badly. After that we got out and started following the cairns [along the trail]. We saw a ton of blue in the rocks. It was so pretty. After that we reached the RV and went to the visitor center to get our badges!!

Walking on the moon (actually pahoehoe).

After a long drive we came to a stop and rested for the night. On July 26th, when I woke up the first thing I saw was a STATUE OF A AWESOME HORSE AND RIDER!!!!!!!!! Cool! Daddy asked do you want a picture? Sure. Why not. I was so happy because we were going to go horseback riding soon, in Yellowstone!!! After that we hopped in the RV and started our long drive though the desert.

Statue at the rodeo arena in Burlington, OR

On July 24 we drove to Olympic National Park. After what seemed like forever we stopped at the visitor center to pick up our junior ranger packet. We all got ready to go on a hike. When we got out of the RV and Ana said LOOK DEER!!!! Where we all said? On the grass!! Oh we see them! Cool! After that I looked at the snow and saw something moving! What is that? Then it ran a bit and then I realized it was a deer. Of course deer. Then I said there’s 2 deer!!!

The deer at Olympic were a little too friendly

Then Daddy came and told us we needed to find Mommy. Greta spotted her walking tord us. After that we went on our way. We started on a trail for about 3 minutes until we came to a stop. There was a huge pile of snow in our way. So we turned around and headed back. So we went on a different trail. This time it went though snow but the trail still went on so we went in the snow. It was so so hot out. We rested for a while and walked on. We went and walked on the trail in the sun until we got to the top. We looked and saw the mountains. They were pretty with all the snow on top.

On Hurricane Ridge

After that Daddy hurried us down the trail. We had to hurry because we had to go to a ranger talk. When we got there it had already stated. He talked about the animals that lived only there in the park. I only remember the olympic park. Me Greta and Daddy went up and pulled things out of the box. Greta pulled out a marmot, I pulled out a picture of a Peter bell flower or something like that and when Daddy went up there was nothing left and the ranger said “and there’s us here to0.” After that he gave us a pop quiz on the park and then it was over. I thought it was a really good talk. After that we went to junior up, says Daddy. After that we went on our way.

Atop the Olympic Mountains

July 23, after walking around Seattle for what seemed like forever, we started looking for restaurants to have dinner. Daddy looked on his phone and found a Thai place and an Indian place. Some of us wanted Thai and some wanted Indian. We checked out the Indian first and when we got in there it smelled delicious. We decided to have dinner there. We ordered butter chicken and mutter paneer and a special paneer. We talked about how pointy our noses are and stuff like that until our food finally came. When I put a piece of butter chicken in my mouth I knew we had made a good decision. I said, this is to die for! It tasted spicy, flavorful, and delicious. I told our parents that I wanted to fly back to Seattle on my birthday and go to that restaurant and have butter chicken.

After eating the best Indian food, we headed back to the ferry.

Riding the ferry back to Bainbridge Island

[Editor’s note: Our last ferry along the Alaska Marine Highway was on a large boat, the Columbia, and we were aboard for two full days and two nights. We boarded at about 5:AM on the morning of July 20, and were told there was not enough room on the crowded ferry for our bikes to be mounted on the back of the RV. We had to pull them down and cram them inside the RV before driving onto the boat. The girls walked onto the ferry ahead of us and found a quiet place on the floor to go back to sleep. By the time we made it aboard and hauled all our food and bedding up from the car deck, we were exhausted and frustrated, and we had no idea where the girls were. Thankfully, a very nice crewmember directed us to the girls and gave us a complementary breakfast in the ship’s dining room.]

On July 20th we woke up on the ferry. I went to go find our parents and found Daddy doing a puzzle and Mommy working. Of course! Daddy asked me were was Ana?!?! We went and looked for her. We found her in the play room. After that we followed Daddy downstairs and then we came to the restront to have breakfast. Thank’s we said over and over again. Your the best Daddy in the world!!! A waiter took us to our table. We could look right out the window and see the water. Then the waiter came back and asked us what we wanted. Ana got scrambled eggs and bacon and hash browns and toast. Stella got 3 peces of french toast and Daddy got a spicy breakfast burrito and I got 3 pancakes with bacon. Yummy!!!

We waited for what seemed like forever until, It’s here!!! The food is here. Then when I looked down the pancakes they were HUGE!!!! THEY WERE SO BIG!!!!! I realized that I would not be able to eat a whole pancake. My first bite was so good and the whole thing was so good. I ate a whole pancake and a half. After that Daddy went down to get Mommy. We waited forever until she finally came. Mommy orderd the spceil meal. We waited for a long time until it came. We braided Mommys hair until she was finished and we left. Thanks soooo much for breakfast!!!!!

Looking out from the ferry on a foggy, rainy day.

We are we going? We all asked. to go see a glacier. No! They’re so boring and we have seen a ton. We had to go out. It was really cold. We went and we tried to see some salmon. We saw two of them. They were bright red. After that we went to see the glacier. When we got there was saw iceburgs and we went in the freezing cold water. We went to get a piece of ice. After that we went to go see a waterfall. We got sprayed by mist. Ana made me a mud pie. We played for a little while and then we left.

After that we went to the Tongass National Forest Visitor Center. We got our packet and we rellized that we would have to mail them. After that we watched an experiment on a glacier. It was cool to see the goo that they used to for the snow slide down. After that we went inside the visitor center and looked around. We saw mountain goats [using telescopes]. We saw 7 of them. They were way up on the mountain. After that we went to go see a fish hatchery.

When are we going to get here? In a few minutes. After that we finally arived. When we got out and started to look for the fish. Then I said IN THE WATER!!!! Every one came running. When you looked down you saw only fish. It was amazing. We saw a man fishing. He caught a fish and then cut it up for the eagles.

After that we went to go look for the fish ladder. We saw it and we ran all the way. When we looked in it was the same. There were fish everywhere. We watched them jump in the air. We saw a fish land on the wall but he fell back in the water. Good. After that we went to look at the fish. Then Stella yelled. What? we all asked. The fish it splashed me. We laughed. When we went to the top of the ladder was full like always. They all went up to the top of the ladder and they died there. After that we left. We saw an eagle that was on top of a building and then we were gone.

There were a ton of salmon in the fish ladder!

After waking up we went and boarded our fairy. We had to go up and be on a different deck than our RV. Our parents said it was not safe [to be down on the car deck]. We brought our stuff up and took our seats. We waited for the fairy to start moving and it finally started. Then Greta said something really funny. She said “when are we going to start moving?” We all started laughing.

Goodbye Haines!

After that we went and explored. There are a ton of rooms I not going to say them all. We wandered off and got lost. We looked inside the gift shop and then we left. We went back to the deck that we were all sitting at. We made sandwitchs for lunch. The cheese was moldy but it tasted fine. I know you might think I’m crazy and that’s fine. After lunch Daddy and Mommy said that we had to go to the ranger talk. We all went except for Mommy. The ranger was really nice. She taught us about tide pools and the animals that live inside them. After she was done talking she gave me and Ana and Stella each a packet to color. We worked and asked her questions.

After finishing our booklets we went back to the deack that we were all on. We looked out the window. We saw a ton of trees and the water of course. We ate and saw a whale BREACH 4 TIMES!!! It was awesome.

Riding the ferry to Juneau

We waited and waited and me and Ana got so bored that we went to the baby room. We would be wolves and try to nook each other on the floor. After that I looked up and said we have to go. Why?, Ana asked the sign. Oh we have to have a parent with us. We went back and played and waited for it was time to get off. Finally we got off. We were in Juneau!

After ariving at our campground we went down to play at the beach. It was really fun. We played with Ava and Brooke on the beach. After playing with them for along time we went up to go to the RV. Our parents stopped us and said we were going to go help kill crabs for dinner. That is the opposite of what I wanted to do. We went to go help. When we got there we saw a ton of crabs. I mean A TON OF CRABS!!! I think the person that caught the crabs said there were 40 crabs!!!!!

Cleaning the crab, removing the lungs and guts

Then the killing started. Joyce the owner of the RV park would Uhhhhh I don’t want to say it. It’s sad. Ok well she would take the crab in both her hands and would knock off its shell and that would kill it. Ouch! Then Daddy would take the dead crab and crack it in half. Then it was me and Stella’s job to take off the lungs. It was so sad. We did that over and over until we finshed.

Putting the cleaned crabs into buckets to take back to the campground for cooking

After that we left to go get ready for dinner at the pot lock. We made salad with the vinegar that Gretchen gave us. When we got there they would call us to come and get our food. We each got a whole crab. Joyce showed us how to get the meat out of the crab. The crab was good but when you put a ton of it in you mouth it was really bland. After that we all went back for desert. I got cake and I fed Daddy his while he was getting all the meat out of the crab. After a really nice dinner we went down to the beach.

Washing the crabs after cooking them

After coming from Wrangell-St. Elias we hit the road. We had dinner which I do not remember we went and got in bed. It was really bumpy and hot and just uhhh. I fell asleep in a dream when I realized we were stopped. I jumped up and went to see what was going on. Shhhhhhh!!!! Why there are 2 moose. Where I said. Daddy pointed in the water. Wow! One had it’s head in the water. It would look up and stare at us for a second. The it went back to do it’s thing. The other moose was in the grass. It was making it’s way closer to the water when Mommy said There’s another moose coming. And sure a nuff there was another moose. Wow three moose in one day. You mean 5 moose. WHAT!!! Why didn’t you tell us. They ran across the road so fast you would not be here in time. Oh well. Then Mommy said UP AHEAD TWO MOOSE!!!! We all looked up and then I realized theres a baby. Mommy drove up slowly and they were out of there. That’s why I can’t do a post about the 4th cutest baby moose in the world. It was gone so fast. After that we went and climbed into bed.

Can you see all three moose in this picture?

After driving for forever we came to a stop. We all jumped up and asked where are we. We’re at a National Park. We all groaned. Then Daddy said get ready and when you’re done getting ready you get a cookie. Yummy. We’re all eating our cookies when we remembered that we had to do a junior ranger packet. Uhhhhhhh!!! Daddy said if we finshed our packet before the visitor center closed we get a piece of salt water taffy. That was good because we most of the time finish before that.

Seeing Mt. Drum up ahead as we approach the national park

We were all ready when Daddy gave the packets to us. Me Greta and Stella all worked together. Ana had a different age group. I read the park newspaper but that was no help. Then me and Daddy started working together. We had to do a ton of things in different biuldings.

We learned that Wrangell-St. Elias is the biggest national park in the U.S. It is bigger than the country of Switzerland, and the mountains in it are taller. We learned there is one glacier in the park which is bigger than the state of Rhode Island.

Me and Daddy finished first and then every one else did. We went and turned in our packets and left.

This fish wheel catches salmon as they swim up a river

We all got a piece of taffy and headed back to the RV. Mommy told us to stop because she saw a fishing wheel. It was really cool. The water would make the wheel spin and the fish would come into the baskets and then some one would come and take the fish out and put it with the other fish. After that we all ran to he RV. The park was pretty cool.