Today we got the best news for our trip.  Sumner will be ok at the higher elevations (altitudes).  He had to take a special test last week and we got the results today.  Thank you Lord for watching over him.

Read over the old blogs last night and already we have made some adjustments to our schedule.  The kids love Adventures in Odyssey (a radio program for kids) and the headquarters for the show is in Colorado Springs, CO.  So the kids want to go there instead of TX.

THEN I was reading an article in Birder's World about John Thompson and his 1830 trip west from Independence, MO to the Columbia river in Washington.  For much of the way it parallels the Lewis & Clark trip.  ANYWAY, as I read about his route I knew that we had to add 3 of his areas to our trip.  The first stop we'll add is Craters of the Moon National Monument & Reserve in Idaho.  That will be on our way out of Yellowstone towards Salt Lake City, UT.  We'll hike & camp there & hopefully explore some lava tunnels/caves.  The second stop we'll make is the Pawnee National Grasslands in northeast Colorado.  Finally we'll stop at the Crescent Lake NAtional Wildlife Refuge in Nebraska on the way home.

What's another 6-8 hours of driving when you can stop and see some of the greatest birding, environments, and nature preserves in our country?!?!

So tomorrow I look forward to some hard cleaning- fast & furious.  PACKING the van.  YEAH!!! A Chiropractor's adjustment and massage to get tuned up for the trip & a final buying trip to get the last of the gear.  I hope to survive the preparation.