My Johnson family was scheduled to have a family reunion this year. We only get together every 3 or so years because there are so many of us and we are all in different parts of the country. Paige had told everyone she wasn't going to make it because to get her family to the States from Guam (where she is currently living with the Air Force) would have cost $30,000. But then she decided, very last minute, to fly Space Available on a military flight and try to make it for the reunion. I got a phone call on July 17th saying they made it from Guam to Hawaii and they were going to buy tickets to get from Hawaii to Portland. What an adventure for their family. It was all very last minute but I was so very happy Paige and her family could be there for the reunion. I picked them up from the airport very late at night on July 18th, we played in Hillsboro for one day and then we started our drive to Wyoming on July 20th. Those kids did so fantastic with all the traveling and jet lag they were dealing with. I was super proud of them all!
Cecil and Graham were the kings of the monkey head!
Ali had so much fun going up and down the slide
Doing their best "tree pose" on a forest walk
Townsend helped the boys learn how to fold an origami paper crane
Emerson had cleaned out some book shelves in his room and the boys loved picking out a new book to take along on the road trip
We stayed the night in Coeur d'Alene Idaho with a friend of Paige's and then we were off driving the next day. We made a fun stop in Missoula Montana for a carousel ride
And then another pit stop in Bozeman Montana for an ice cream. It was an 11 hour drive to get to Gillette Wyoming by 1:00 AM!
I brought each of the little cousin boys a lego set from a collection that Townsend was getting rid of. They had so much fun playing together.
Crazy cousins hanging out of DeNae's car on the way home from the pool!
I brought Paige to surprise mom and dad and then we all had lunch together. They were so happy that Paige had made it to the States for the reunion
A lovely sunset walk in Gillette Wyoming
Hyrum flew to Gillette for the weekend to be at the reunion. It was so nice that he made time to come hang out with my crazy family
The first day of the reunion we met up at Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park. It was great to relax and catch up and the kids all had a fun time swimming in the lake
Poor little worn out, jet lagged Alistair:)
A few of us decided to walk the mile perimeter around the lake. It was a really beautiful walk
Hyrum and Cecil climbing the rocks
Standing on the dam at the end of the lake
Hyrum enjoying a swim on the smooth lake
My mom and dad with some of their grand kids
Uncle Del brought his dog Rico all the way from Arizona. He was a real hit with the kids wanting to give him lots of love but I'm not sure Rico was used to so much attention from little people:)
Kristen and Mike Porter had rented an Airbnb with a great yard we could gather in for dinners...
The next day we went to the Crazy Horse monument. I think you can see the outline of his hand much better than the last time I was here a few years ago. It's definitely slow going but will be super cool when it's done
There is a very well done museum where you can learn a lot about the Native American's who lived in the Black Hills of South Dakota
Then we loaded up in Hill City for a steam train ride!
The train only takes you about 10 miles but it's about an hour trip because it is so slow. It was really nice to see the landscape and learn a bit of history from the train conductor.
We got off in the city of Keystone. We had a few hours to enjoy getting a bite to eat and wandering around the small town before we headed back on the train
The only group picture we managed to get during the weekend:) It looks like a lot of people but I think we were missing about 25 people with Eryn's whole family missing plus a ton of grandkids that couldn't make it due to college, missions or work!
These boys were real troopers as I imagine they were completely jet lagged and exhausted.
We saw a silly 15 minute comedy show staring these two very strange cowboys while we were in Keystone
Time to load up for the ride back!
What a perfect activity for our family. Mom and Dad aren't super mobile anymore so it was great that this was just hanging out on a cool train ride while chatting and having fun together.
A beautiful sunset that evening
The next morning a few of us (most people didn't want to wake up at 5 AM for a hike!) went for a hike in Custer State Park to Black Elk Peak. It is the highest point in US between the Atlantic Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It was a bit steep in places but was really a fabulous hike!
My brother...what can you do?
We got to see the sun rise over the spires of the rocks
Lovely photo of me sweating while hiking up a mountain:)
...we made it!! There was a great CCC built fire lookout tower at the top and apparently you can see 5 states from up there but I didn't know how to tell what I was looking at...still pretty cool
Very cool CCC built tower
The hike down was fine but it was getting pretty hot (I'm really glad we left at 5 AM!) Del and his son Eric had to leave straight for the airport but it was really cool they made time to join us for the hike before they left
That afternoon we played games in the hotel breakfast room while the kids took advantage of the hotel swimming pool:)
That evening we went for a loop drive around Custer State Park to see some bison and other wildlife
I loved seeing all the moms and babies:)
We saw some very tame wild donkeys that let you come right up and pet them. The kids all loved this!
Paige captured this photo: Just a bunch of asses hanging out in a field 😜
The next day Kristen and Mike left for home and the rest of us drove back to Gillette. It was a very quick family reunion but amazing that all of my siblings (except Eryn) were able to make it! I feel very lucky to be a part of such a wonderful family!
I borrowed one of DeNae's 32 bikes and went for a quick ride in Gillette
Graham was having trouble balancing on the pogo stick so Paige was like, "I'll show you how it's done." and then much laughter ensued because she was falling all over the place!!
Cute cousins with their Grandma
An ice cream stop is always perfect on a hot day!
We went to a rodeo. It was fun for about 30 minutes then the kids got really bored...
...so I took them to a playground:)
We attempted a walk around Devil's Tower. I say "attempted" because we got about 1/2 mile into our walk and a park ranger came by telling everyone we had to evacuate due to a fire that was close by. Oh well, a 2 hour drive for a 1/2 mile walk...kind of crazy!
You can see the billowing smoke from the fire in the background
These cousins having a great time on the ride home listening to music and dancing in the back seat!
One last family photo before Paige (and her family) and I drove back West. The plan was to drop the DeShetler's off is Seattle where they could take a Space Available flight all the way home to Guam.
Cousins time to say goodbye. It really was fabulous seeing everyone. And DeNae and Stan are so generous to let us all stay with them in their beautiful home. I love visiting Gillette because not only do I get to see my parents I also have 3 sisters that live there so it's just the perfect place to stay for a bit to visit.
We stopped in Greycliff, about an hour West of of Billings Montana. I had read this tourist attraction had a "cheese cave" and I was very interested in investigating! It was the perfect stop for a bit of lunch and get some wiggles out before heading back on the road.
The boys loved playing in this "corn box"...like a sand box but with corn?
Lots of fun things for tourists to buy at Greycliff!
They even had a small petting zoo with goats and pigs (Graham's favorite animal!)
We stayed the night in Missoula Montana and then stopped at Fort Sherman playground near Coeur D'Alene Idaho for lunch and to get some wiggles out!
Giving their cheesiest grins for the photo!
We stayed just one night in Renton Washington before I drove them to the Seattle airport the next day. There were no seats available on the military flight to Guam so they bought tickets from Seattle to Hawaii in the hopes of catching a Space Available from Oahu. Luckily they were able to finally make it home to Guam after being on Oahu for 3 days! Those DeShetler's sure had a crazy summer adventure. I loved that I got to spend so much time with them!!
