Day 3

Today was mostly a driving day. We did have a chance to drive through a crazy mountain pass and see the Little Bighorn battle site. Due to conserving money and sleeping past 7am we did not make it up to the Billings Temple.

Tonight we've decided to stop in Alzada, Montana. We'll get on the road early tomorrow morning, pick up our concert tickets in Rapid City, SD. We'll then hang out around that area seeing different caves and Mount Rushmore.

There are no pictures or shout outs for today, but I'll be sure to put up pictures tomorrow.

Funny Sign of the Day:
Dirty Annie's Restaurant and General Store - We had lunch there. Neat little store and pretty decent food.

A Friendly Competition

If you would like to take part in a little competition, read below...

The person to most accurately guess total mileage, gas expense, and/or food expense will get a creative gift that Zed and I come up with (we're open to suggestions).

Rules:
Submissions must be in by July 20th.
You may use what is said in the blog to help you out.
Closest person to actual numbers wins, under or over does not matter.

Guidance:
We're driving a Dodge Ram 3500 diesel. Avg mpg 15
We're pulling a 40 Alpha Gold camper. Avg mpg 8
Total weight of truck and camper and stuff is 25,600lbs.
Trip includes from the Air Force Academy to Columbus, Mississippi.
3 separate competitions, you can choose which to partake in.
E-mail submissions to samzed2937@gmail.com

Good luck and have fun!

Day 2

Today was all about Yellowstone. We saw as much of the park as possible and I think we only missed one road. There were ton of buffalo out and about. The day was riddled with fun facts from Zed about things he remembered from the last time he was here or explaining to me how the area was created. All in all it was a great time and it's one more thing I can check off my bucket list. Unfortunately the camera died as Old Faithful went off so there are no pictures of that, but we did see it.

My favorite part of the day was either searching for animals throughout the drive or the Mammoth Springs. Zed enjoyed the long windy road of 296.

Tomorrow we're off to the Billings LDS Temple and probably end up camping somewhere near Rapid City, SD.

Shout outs for Today:
Tirzah Prince (cadet) for getting a hold of me and getting Tommy's camera back that he lost at graduation.

Funny Sign of the Day:
Illinois vanity license plate "WarLord"

Day 1

Yesterday was a driving day. We ended up stopping in Casper, WY in a pull off.

This was supposed to be posted yesterday, but the internet is spotty here so it never went up. Sorry for the delay, a post from today is soon to come.

Today we explored Fort Casper, found Bessemer's Bend, drove by Prospect Hill, climbed Independence Rock, survived Devil's Gate, and experienced Martin's Cove. 

Fort Casper was created mostly due to Indian attacks. It was a neat little fort that Zed explored a little more than I did. At Bessemer's Bend, pioneers would cross the river in order to continue on their journey to a better life. We realized that the picture at the spot is staged and the pioneers are crossing the wrong way.

  

Prospect Hill was a thing we could see in the distance once we were atop Independence Rock. In the rock we were able to see inscriptions pioneers had left over 100 years ago. We spent the majority of our day at Martin's Cove. There we ran into people who were serving a couple's mission. One couple we met the wife was a Force Support Officer and the husband was a Pilot. They were in for 30 years and it was nice for Zed and I to see. We also got the opportunity to pull a handcart about 5 miles along the same path that the Martin Handcart Company had. It was a neat experience. 

Well, I'm off. We're sleeping in Cody, Wyoming for the next 2-3 nights. Yellowstone is tomorrow and the Billings Temple the next day.

Shout outs for today:

Pop Pop Fiddler - thank you for mailing us the concert tickets I left in my car

Funny road sign of the day:

Little PoPo Agie River

On the road!!

So yesterday, Zed and I had great plans to get the camper weighed and start on our way north before the Memorial Day traffic picked back up. We got a phone call from Zed's Aunt and Uncle that their car was shot and they were about 100 miles away. We dropped the camper off at the Academy and went west to rescue them. After an uneventful rescue, it was too late to get on the road so here we sit, still in Colorado and Zed realizing last minute things that still need to be fixed. Hopefully we'll get on the road today.

First stop...Martin's Cove in Alcova, WY

They have an app for blogging, hopefully that will help me get posts up on time.

Time to Breathe

Graduation went well. I was able to shake hands with the President and Zed got a fist bump. Supposedly we also both made newspapers, podcasts, and news. We didn't get any pictures together, but we have both successfully been promoted as 2nd LTs.

The wedding went well. Instead of saying "cheese" during pictures we now say "garmin". There always has to be one thing to go wrong right? Like father of the bride getting lost in Denver and arriving about 40min late. Doesn't matter, he made it in time it turns out.

My roomate's wedding went well and the camper is just about packed up. We're about to take off for Yellowstone so I'll be sure to post when I get internet. I'm realizing more it may be smart to write what I want to post and when I find internet type it all up as fast as I can.

Grad & Wedding Week

Today began the craziness of graduation and final wedding planning.

Today, Monday - Awards ceremonies. Zed and I's squads got no awards so we just stood in a parade.

Tomorrow, Tuesday - Graduation parade, department open houses, and commissioning ceremony. We're also getting both families together and going out for dinner.

Wednesday - Graduation, Thunderbird air show, and outprocessing. We'll also go up to Castle Rock and make sure everything is ready to go for the reception.

Thursday - Sealing and reception!

9 days and a wake up

Zed and I are quickly coming closer to graduation and  the wedding. Once those things happen the blog will pick up.

I recently went through the temple for the first time and it was an amazing experience. I was surrounded by many friends and was so happy I had prepared as much as I did. People asked if I was confused by anything, but it felt like things, though still a lot unknown, lined up more.

We're currently planning our 60 day vacation. It is riddled with LDS Church sites, world's largest ball of twine, gravity hill, concerts, and receptions. We're starting to get excited. As Zed is planning our trip, all of it he'll be driving, I'm surrounded by dumdums, ribbon, and other center piece making supplies. Wedding planning is tough work, but has been made much easier now that finals are completed.

Posts will begin to pick up as 4 major life changing events happen next week...promotion, graduation, marriage,  and moving.