The Trip to Minnesota and Other Random Stuff

I guess I never officially posted this, but Josh graduated from ISU and got a urology job at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota!
Some movers came and packed up our place in Idaho the last couple days of September and we left for Minnesota on Friday, September 30th.

To save on hotels we decided to camp on our way to Minnesota and turn it into a little family vacation. We had a great time, even though camping with kids is a lot of work! This is all backwards but here's our last night of camping:

They had a playground:






the Badlands:

Pretty or not, here we are after several days of camping! Notice the cool formations behind us...
Badlands is worth the stop. The views were amazing.

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We went on a couple hikes...
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As we drove into the Badlands, we decided to take the free campground several miles into the middle of nowhere with no water, rather than the paid campground close by. As we made the drive, Josh kept saying how we just had to see a buffalo. He's always wanted to see one, and I didn't think I'd ever seen one, either. Well, sure enough right on the side of the road we saw one! We stopped, took pictures, and got all excited. Then we saw another, then another. Then we got to the campground and realized they were everywhere, just walking through the campground! There was no fence or anything! They just roamed around the few tents that were there and I even had to wait for one to move so I could get to the bathroom because he was standing right in front of it for several minutes. It was crazy! I was actually really scared for the first while cause I was worried they'd charge our tent or something. I noticed some other campers chose to camp in their car, and maybe that's why. So here's Josh with his buffalo:
Yes, this buffalo is really as close as he looks and there were times when they were even closer.





Here's us at Mt Rushmore:
We realized after leaving that we don't think Michael ever looked up at the mountain. Even if he had, I don't know if he would have been impressed. I love kids!








Michael took this pic of Josh, pretty good, huh?:
Michael and Josh sleeping in the tent:











For some reason Josh and I thought we should have a big tent so it would fit our family later. We got a 9-man tent, and after setting it up we laughed at ourselves, realizing that this is way too big. But, we had plenty of room for our queen sized air mattress, all of our camping chairs, the pack n play, suitcases, and we still could have fit another queen-sized mattress. I don't think we'll ever need to upgrade! These pics are from the first night. We stayed in Custer, South Dakota, I think. The campground was called Beaver Creek? Just for notes for us the future--It was like $20/night but included internet, showers, bathrooms, a playground, and even a pool, even though we didn't get to use it cause it was Sunday.


The campground was called Beaver Creek? Just for notes for us the future--It was like $20/night but included internet, showers, bathrooms, a playground, and even a pool, even though we didn't get to use it cause it was Sunday.




in the car on the 26 hour drive. It took us 4 days, 3 nights. Thanks to Kristi, we survived :) Kristi made Michael a box of crafts and activities for him to do on the way. That helped A LOT. I'll have to take some pictures of those.




Here are some pics of my best friends in Idaho--Desiree and Eileen. Wow, I'm going to miss them! Here's Des making us breakfast the morning before we left. Both pregnant with little boys! I miss you guys! There are so many more friends, too, that I don't know how I'll live without. So thankful we went to ISU and I got to meet so many great people.
More friends at a bbq before we left: This is Phil, and notice how funny me and Nicki look in the background!
yes, and we'll even miss this one.... :)Michael's best friends in Idaho, Holly and Lucy:

Michael hanging out with the neighborhood kids at Hope Arms:
They had a hard time sharing their toys, so I was sure to send him out with cool stuff :)




Michael gardening with grandma Allred before we went back to Idaho:
Mom loves her garden, and her grandkids :)
More pics of graduation in August:

Hanging out with Jake and Lexi in the mountains in September:

Things are going great here in Minnesota, we really like it so far, but it's not winter yet :) I'll post some pics of us here and let you know later if we really like it!