Wyoming, Idaho, Washington

The first leg of our six week journey...

Minnesota ⇒ Jackson Hole, Wyoming ⇒ Craters of the Moon National Park, Idaho ⇒ Sun Valley, Idaho ⇒ Spokane, Washington 

Jackson Hole - I'm pretty sure that Jackson Hole will always be one of our favorite ski places. Great terrain park, variety of hills, and very family friendly. We only skied two days, but wish we could have stayed longer!

Erik was having so much fun on the terrain park that he decided to try a backflip! He used to do them all the time, no problem, but it has been years and years since he's even tried one, so this was a surprise to us all, especially when he landed on his head! Haha! He's determined to land a backflip before the year is over, but I keep reminding him just how old he is and not to get his hopes up!

While we were at Jackson, Erik was lucky enough to be able to go on the legendary Corbets Couloir.  It's one of the top ten ski runs in the world that all skiers try to hit at least once in their lifetime. Next time, the kids have high hopes of trying it. After reading this and this article, I may have to pass. :)

Craters of the Moon National Park - We had NO idea that this place existed until we started noticing the crazy landscapes as we drove through Idaho in the early morning hours. Then, we came upon the visitor center, which was actually a very nicely done museum!  We learned all about the Craters of the Moon and even took our roadschool classroom for a ride to look for the different kinds of lava formations that we had learned about at the museum. What a great, educational morning!

Sun Valley - Definitely our favorite lodge of all the ski resorts we've been to!  Right from the start, Sun Valley welcomed us in, and right away we realized just how fun this place was!  There was enough variety to keep us all loving it and just enough challenge to keep any of us from getting bored.  We entered a family fun race, which was very icy, but so so fun to compete against each other.  Torsten hit a big milestone at Sun Valley when he and Skogen got on the chairlift alone and took a run by themselves! Up until this point, Torsten has always had to have an adult help him, or be there to help him, if needed.

Spokane - On our way to Whistler, we were blessed to be able to stop and see friends from residency on the way! They welcomed us to Spokane with lunch, lots of playtime, and dinner!  It was so great to talk homeschool, emergency medicine, and catch up a bit on each other's lives.  We also stopped just outside of Spokane to meet up for coffee with a medical missionary friend who works in Guatmala. It's always fun to talk missionary work, too!

Despite a little car trouble with our tow car, everything has gone so well! It's nice to only really have a destination and not really have a schedule. Mountain passes close, powder days come unexpectedly, and it's good to just be able to be flexible.  Now we're headed to Canada and excited for the adventure that awaits us there.