Day 7

I can't believe we are on Day 7. We weren't quite sure what to expect on this trip, I'm so glad we did it and more importantly, did it without a set schedule... well, except for the games. We've been able to see, experience, and appreciate so many new and exciting things, beautiful and varied scenery, and such nice people.

Today began with the second game of the tournament. While it's being called 'pool play', which usually means it determines your positioning for elimination play, in this tournament it actually means 'exhibition' games. While they won yesterday, today's game wasn't quite as successful. Since it doesn't count, it's okay but still, it's always nice to win.

After the game, there was some free time (so I worked) and the girls swam. I had made arrangements for the team to experience something they never had ~ a trip to a ranch. We visited the Terry Bison Ranch, a 27,500 acre ranch with bison, camels, horses, etc. It spans both Wyoming and Colorado and has a train ride that takes you out to see the animals. Seeing a bison (buffalo) is amazing. What enormous creatures! The train stopped in one location for quite a while and really let us get a good look at these animals. On the other side of the train, 4 camels came up and the kids were able to feed and pet them. Even the teenagers, who are of course 'too cool', got into it and enjoyed it.

After the train ride, we went up to the ranch for dinner ~ beef or buffalo burgers. We tried the buffalo burgers and I have to say, they were really good. Very low fat and very flavorful. Being a weakling when it comes to trying new things, I'm really pushing myself to experience all that I can. The team, siblings and parents all had a great time and it made me happy to have arranged it.

Tomorrow will, hopefully, be a very long day at the fields. We know we have two games tomorrow and are hoping to have three. If so, that would put us at the fields from about 8:00 a.m. to about 9:00 p.m. with breaks between the games. Hopefully enough time to go check out the Capital Building and Governors Mansion. There is also a botanical garden here that I am really anxious to go and check out. If so, I'll have some beautiful pictures to post.

Day 6

The first day of the softball tournament games began today. Alex's team played a team from Livermore, Ca. We were a bit worried about today because we were playing with the minimum number of players due to three players arriving tonight. Well, the girls played awesome! They won 7-1 and Alex caught the entire game... actually, Alex will be catching every game in this tournament. It was about 93 degrees today which made it a bit tougher.

This morning they had practice and Brenna's friend came to the hotel and played with her in the pool. It is a really beautiful pool, huge! Brenna has learned to do flips into the pool so she's pretty proud of herself.

The entire team then headed into downtown Cheyenne. It's near impossible to walk in with 20 people and hope to get seated. Let's just say, the evening didn't go as smoothly as we would have liked and leave it at that.

Now I'm running between the room and the lone washing machine here, cleaning Dan and Alex's uniforms for tomorrow. I should mention that Dan is assistant coaching this tournament. I'll have to ask Alex how she feels about it but it appears she's happy he's in there.

Tomorrow will be a fun day. There is a game at 11:00 a.m., we'll return to the hotel to swim, etc. and then we are all heading out to Terry Bison Ranch for a train ride out to the Bison herd and then back to the ranch for dinner. We're looking forward to it! Especially after tonight's dinner fiasco...

Good night!

Day 5

Today is the official beginning of the Western National Softball Tournament 2008. Alex and Dan had to head out for practice this morning ~ we are at 6000' which is a change for most of the teams at the tournament. No sense in Brenna and I being punished so she and I spent a lovely morning at the hotel, enjoying a really nice breakfast, took an exploratory walk and spent some time at the pool where Brenna made some new friends from Denver.

This afternoon was the Opening Ceremony and an opportunity for the girls to meet players from other states. They do an informal pin exchange, which involves each girl from each team having a bag of pins from their team or city and trading with girls from other teams. It seemed to start slow and then really took off. It was so nice to see the girls laughing and talking with these new friends, who they hope to clobber on the field tomorrow! They then all lined up and paraded onto the field into a wagon wheel shape (I had to make a western reference!). Two teams were then introduced and would come down the first and third base lines to meet at homeplate. There they exchanged gifts with the other team.

Our team was able to exchange gifts with the team from Cheyenne and received really, really neat Western-styled frames that had a thoughtful card inside the frame welcoming them to Cheyenne and the tournament. Really well done and an awesome memory for our team to take home with them.

This was followed by skills games, similar to what occurs at MLB All-Star games. Homerun derby, speed, and fielding drill. Alex was asked to participate in the homerun and fielding challenges and did well. The hitting was tough with a strong wind blowing towards homeplate. She hit well but not quite a homerun. Oh well! Most of the girls ahead of her struggled greatly with the effects of the wind and failed to connect but she hit everything that came her way.

Long story short, they did well but didn't win. Then a band from Denver performed ~ Boogie Machine. HUGE afros, 70's garb, disco music.... a lot of the girls got into it and had fun dancing with their friends, new and old. Our team made a nice connection with the Cheyenne team and were extended an invitation from the host team to get together and see Cheyenne with them. We'll try to make it happen!

Now, we were kind of disappointed today that we missed the earthquake! The funny thing is that I was working and talking to Rich in Texas when the earthquake occurred. While Rich was talking to me, he was also talking to Luke in our office in Laguna Hills who told him that an earthquake had just occurred, which Rich shared with me. Just seemed funny to me that even in Cheyenne, I knew about the earthquake almost as quickly as if I had been in the office! And knowing that the earthquake was just 5 miles from my dad, I was able to quickly get on the phone and check on him (things off shelves and walls but he's ok, thankfully!)

So, we figure that since we missed the earthquake at home, we at least deserve a really great lightning storm, don't you?

Day 4

Another fun day. We got the chance to explore Cheyenne today and learn so much more about the history of both this city, state and the Wild West. Before starting on our Walking Tour of Cheyenne (again, my favorite price ~ free!), we had breakfast at the Luxury Liner, a great restaurant constructed in a diner train car. Had a really yummy breakfast and fueled our systems for walking many blocks, something that California kids are just not used to doing.

We started at the Depot Station/Visitors Center which provides you with a great booklet detailing the tour map and providing detailed descriptions of each location. We saw buildings from the 1800's and learned much about how life was when Cheyenne was founded. At one point we met a policeman on horseback who made a point of coming to us so that Brenna could see the horse (Morgan) up close. Along the way we found a really fabulous western museum and spent some time exploring it. After a few hours of walking and seeing museums, the kids had their fill of history and just wanted the pool. So, we plan on going back to complete our tour, including the Capital Building and Governors Mansion (who, by the way, we saw at the rodeo yesterday).

Quite a few of the girl's from Alex's team finally arrived so she's out running around with them, being teenagers. Early practice tomorrow at 8:00 a.m., check-in for the tournament and then Opening Ceremonies. It should be fun but now the work begins...

Day 3

Sunrise in Wyoming.... again, amazing! I woke up early and sat outside the cabin on the porch swing and was given a beautiful purple and pink sunrise.

We headed out from Laramie to Cheyenne, our primary destination. The short trip provided such a range of scenery again. Stretches of plains where the horizon goes on and on then rocky mountains (and the real Rocky Mountains off in the distance) with lush forests. We got to Cheyenne and headed to Cheyenne Frontier Days, a HUGE deal in Wyoming. It is the world's largest rodeo and Western festival. We got there in time for the 'Beyond the Chutes' tour, a free (!!) 45-minute tour that took us into the stockyard area where we got to see the animals up close. We learned about all the rodeo events and even got to walk through the arena and have our pictures taken in a 'chute' (where the horses, bucking broncos, etc. get released for the events). We got a special commemorative pin and badges. It was a really neat experience at a great price! ha ha

There were lots of booths and attractions, giving us a chance to learn more about our Western heritage (and eat the most incredible hot, roasted, candied cinnamon almonds ~ yummm!) Turns out that today was the championship round of the rodeo and we were told that there probably wouldn't be any tickets left. Not discouraged, we went and checked it out and did get tickets for the rodeo.

We all thought is was an amazing experience, something totally new for all of us. We loved every minute of it and cheered along loudly, especially for the occasional California cowboy!

Lightning and a bit of rain started so we headed to the hotel to check-in. It's a really nice place and if you're ever in Wyoming, I highly recommend Little America hotel.

They had a big barbecue tonight to celebrate the last day of Frontier Days so we we knew we couldn't pass up this opportunity. It was so good! Loads of food and self serve so Brenna was having a ball trying everything.

It was the perfect end to a really great day.

Day 2

Saturday began Day 2 for our adventure. We woke up early in Green River, Utah, had a quick breakfast and hit the road again. We thought about exploring Arches National Park but decided it would add about 4 hours to our journey so we by-passed that and headed for Colorado and Dinosaur National Park.

We're trying to stop at all of the "Welcome to NAME YOUR STATE" signs at each state border, sometimes with success, others.. not so much! But the Welcome to Colorado sign was huge and easy to spot before speeding past it. While we were standing there taking pictures, a car pulled over and a man came running towards us. Odd, we thought. Maybe he's a police officer and we shouldn't have pulled over on the side of the road? Nope, he ran up saying "I have to take a picture of all four of you. I came from Indiana just to take your picture." And the suspicious part of the Southern Californian in us thought "he's gonna steal our camera!". No, he was just a really nice man and it's been so nice to be around such friendly people... not that our friends at home aren't all friendly! By the way, the sign for Wyoming was stolen ( ___ Welcomes You) so we'll try on the way out!

So now we're in Colorado. We continued on, heading for Dinosaur National Monument. We hit a fork in the road. Hmmm, Right or left? Left. Proceed on, see a sign 'Dinosaur National Monument - 22 miles'. Yikes, a little farther than we thought but we've come this far. Wait! Another sign... 'Welcome to Utah'. UTAH??? Didn't we leave there a few hours ago? Oh well. Get to the Visitors Center and find out that the main museum is closed. Bummer! So we turn around, get back to that fork in the road and proceed straight. We find that 1/2 mile from there is an awesome Museum and video on... Dinosaur National Monument!! Ahhh!

We saw the most incredible and varied scenery in all these states. Some so barren and harsh yet beautiful and shortly afterwards, a thick forest filled with the most lovely wildflowers. We all have such an appreciation for the beauty of our country.

We went though Steamboat Springs (wow!) and pushed on to Laramie, Wyoming. We got there a few hours later than we had planned but that's the nice part of this trip ~ the freedom to stop and checkout things that catch our interest. Anyway, we finally got to Laramie and found the KOA we were staying at that night.

Hmmm, what can I say about the KOA in Laramie? Weird location. Between two mobile home parks, one that was called The Estates and the other one, well... let's just say that Britney Spears in her WT days might have lived there! (Dad, I know you won't understand what that means. I'll explain when we get home!) But we had a nice little cabin and we were only there for about 13 hours so it's all good. We had an awesome dinner at a restaurant called Latitude. Great steakhouse and brewery. Glad to get back to the cabin and sleep.

Day 1

Wow. We are SO tired but had such a fabulous day. We actually left pretty close to 'on time' for us ~ aimed for 4:00 and left at 4:30 a.m. We have been in California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah already. Pretty good for one day's driving. Alex got to see Vegas but from the freeway. We just wanted to keep moving. It's also where we found the cheapest gas so far... $3.99, practically free!

Dan took us off the Mapquest path and what treasures we saw. Utah has such spectacular scenery, completely awe-inspiring! This is a picture of the girls in Utah.

One of the downsides of driving with Dan off the Mapquest path is ending up on roads that when we got to the end, had a blockade and the back of signs saying 'Road Closed"....Oops! And of course, it was pouring rain, thunder and lightning. But we still had fun! Rough road though....

We've landed in Green River, Utah for food, a quick swim and sleep! We're heading out early tomorrow to Laramie, Wyoming and checking out what that city has to offer.

Brenna wants to let everyone know that from our hotel room we can see a lightning storm. She also saw lots of animals. Oh! We went to a cheese factory! Kind of expected a tour but just had samples. We're trying to find the wackiest things we can. You know, the largest ball of twine, etc.

Sorry this is short... I'm beat and the bed is calling my name...

Lots of love,
Morag & Family

The Day Before...

Now the pressure is ON! We're "planning" on leaving between 4:00 and 5:00 a.m. Friday morning to begin our journey to Wyoming and as our girls will attest, leaving on time for trips has not been an easy endeavor for us in the past. We still have so much to do... laundry, packing, getting the player gift for the exchange, etc.

And now poor Brenna has a wee toothache so we're squeezing in a dentist visit before we head out. Hopefully it's just a new tooth coming in but I wanted to be safe rather than dealing with a problem on the road.

We got a small camper shell for Dan's truck in anticipation that we'd be going on this trip. It will be interesting and I am anticipating that it will make things easier when we camp.

This is the "loosest" trip we've ever been on. I have booked a hotel in Cheyenne where the team is staying (and I'm not sure I booked enough days!) Other than that, we are just going to go and stay where things look interesting.

Alex is excited about us going through Las Vegas Friday morning ~ I'm not sure what she is expecting but Vegas on a July mid-morning is not very impressive. Just HOT! From Vegas we'll head towards Utah and I think Dan will want to take us to Zion National Park. I'm looking forward to that and anticipate us stopping somewhere in Utah for Friday night.

This week is Frontier Days in Cheyenne so that is why we are pushing to get there as soon as possible. I've mentioned this trip to a few people and several have been to this event and proclaimed it to be really fun, a 'must do'! So, if we're lucky we'll get there and get tickets to the Rodeo. Again, just taking things as they come and enjoying each and every experience!

So, I'll do my best to update this daily and post pictures. I'd love it if you added comments so we can hear from you!

The Adventure BEFORE the Adventure

Thanks to the talent of our lovely eldest daughter, Alex, the Rich Family is heading to the Wild West, otherwise known as Cheyenne, Wyoming, for the 2008 Western National Fastpitch Softball Championship. We thought we'd document our adventure for those who might be interested.

Alex's team will be representing the Mission Viejo Girls Softball league in the 16-and-Under division (that's her, second row, third from the left). She's been back behind the plate catching and will get to catch all the games at the tournament. I feel sorry for anyone trying to cross homeplate...

This will be the first time Dan and I (and the girls of course!) have been to this part of the country so we're looking forward to it. Our plans include lots of camping, enjoying afternoon thunderstorms, rodeos, bbq, bison, cowboys, etc. After spending some time in Cheyenne, we're planning to head to Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons. If we're lucky, we'll squeeze in some river rafting.

And if we're really lucky, Brian and Liz McAuley will be joining us on this trip. Wyoming won't know what hit them!

So now we're in the adventure of trying to get the camper ready, pack, make sure Brenna has lots to keep her entertained, phew! I'm exhausted just typing about it.

So follow along as I attempt to update this daily once the trip starts and keep us in your prayers are we spend wayyyy too many hours in a vehicle!