Summer Adventures

It seemed like the summer flew by since we had so many vacations planned! I'm just now getting around to sorting through all my pictures.  There are so many I could choose from each trip, but here are just the highlights from all our trips this summer.

We visited a total of 11 states during our travels this year! Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota, Missouri, and Illinois.

Louisville State Park, NE

We bought a new pop up trailer last spring to make camping easier for our family.  We took it to a state park close to home to try it out for the first time.  We played at the sandy beach and went to the archery range.

Columbia, MO

Our next trip was to Columbia, MO where we camped in our pop up at Finger Lakes State Park. Our main purpose for going on this trip was for me to attend a harp conference there.  I attended the workshops while Justin took the kids to explore Rock Bridge State Park and we attended harp concerts together in the evening.  On our way home, we stopped to see Far West, MO.

This was a gorgeous harp, but the $35,000 price tag was a little much!

This harp was my favorite. Molly liked the little red lap harp.

 

Lexie and Molly playing at Rock Bridge State Park.

Far West, MO

Ponca State Park, NE

Next was our annual campout with several of our friends at Ponca State Park. We do this every year, and quickly found how uncomfortable camping in humidity can be in Nebraska summers.  It was awesome this year to have a trailer with air conditioning! We went to the archery range a few times, went swimming at the new aquatic center, visited the National Music Museum in Vermillion, SD, and had a lot of fun chatting around the campfire each night.

 Salt Lake City, UT

We made a quick trip in late June to Utah for my grandma's funeral.  It was a very short trip and a very long drive, but we were glad we could be there to remember my grandma and be with my family.

Tolman Family Reunion
Breckenridge and Vail, CO

We had a family reunion with Justin's family in Colorado this year.  We explored Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, and Vail.

The tube run in Vail, which was surprisingly terrifying!

Annie loved all the gondola rides!

Lexie was awesome on the ropes course!

Split Rock Creek State Park, MN 

Next we met my brother's family for a camping trip in Minnesota.  We stayed at a state park with an awesome lake and had a great time paddle-boarding and kayaking.  We also went to Pipestone National Monument which was neat.

 Local Hikes

We are lucky to live close to several nice state parks, so Justin and I spent a lot of time this summer exploring and hiking in some different parks.  We went to Platte River State Park, Schramm State Park, and Mahoney State Park to hike for date nights.

Platte River State Park

Oldroyd Family Reunion
Yellowstone National Park

We met up with all the Oldroyds in Island Park, ID near Yellowstone. Since the drive there was so long for us, we made several fun stops along the way.  On our way out, we stopped at several Nebraska sites including Smith Falls State Park and Fort Robinson. In Wyoming, we stopped at Independence Rock, Martin's Cove, and the Sixth Crossing of the Sweetwater.

At the reunion, we spent two full days at Yellowstone National Park and then went to other sites nearby including Earthquake and Hebgen Lakes, Big Spring, and Mesa Falls.

On our drive back home we stopped in the Tetons, saw the Guernsey Wagon Wheel Ruts, made a quick stop in Fort Laramie, visited Scotts Bluff National Monument, Carhenge, and Bessey National Forest in Nebraska. 

Smith Falls State Park, NE

Martin's Cove, WY

Scotts Bluff National Monument

Carhenge, NE

Nauvoo, IL

For one last camping trip of the season, we decided to go to Nauvoo in October. We took a four day weekend and camped close to Historic Nauvoo at Nauvoo State Park. Each of us were able to attend the temple. We spent time hiking in the state park and drove to Carthage as well.

Historic Nauvoo

Nauvoo Temple