This time last year my Mom told me about a Giest Family Reunion in the Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming. I said we'd for sure go! Then as we got closer to 2020 it dawned on me how much was really going to be involved for me to do this type of trip with the kids. I wasn't sure if I'd need to bring bedding, camp stove, all our food, bikes and so on and so on. Camping is one thing with our trailer, but we weren't bringing our trailer on an over 2,000 mile journey. One of my other concerns was money. We were bound and determined to buy a truck this year. It had been on our list of things to do for the last 2 years...this was the year. The cabin in the mountains was going to cost about a $1,000 for 3 nights. Yikes!!! I freaked out and talked with my Mom and said I didn't think it would work out.
A couple days later I got a text from my Mom that said she needed to talk to me. She had called my Aunt Linda and she wasn't happy we weren't going to come so she offered to cover the cost of the cabin. Of course that wasn't what I was wanting I was more concerned with everything else. Of course I called her up and thanked her profusely and she basically told me to stop worrying. She said that the cabins all had beds and bedding, family would be worrying about food, they had a diner we could eat at too. She said basically bring the stuff you need for your kids and we'll be good. Okay!!!
Fast forward to July and it wasn't until last minute that we made up our minds on whether Michael was going to come with us or not. Turns out a bunch of really important things were happening at work and at church at the same time we were going to be gone so it just worked out for him to stay home. I had already taken the kids back to Wyoming in 2017 by myself so I wasn't the least bit worried about that.
The morning of July 8th we were packed and ready to go!
Leading up to the trip I had been praying for it during our nightly Bible/Prayer time with the kids. I was praying that they would give me grace since there is only 1 of me and 4 of them. I prayed that they would be good helpers and patient with each other. Right before we got in the van we held hands and prayed again for safe travels. I'll tell you all those prayers were answered! My kids were awesome the whole trip...one minor incident the night before we left to come home, but nothing bad. They were patient with me and each other and the best of all they were so helpful! Yay for having older kids!!!
For safety I downloaded the Life360 app and so did Michael and my Mom. That way they could always see where I was. I also would text them every time we stopped somewhere.
Since we'd done this trip before I tried to stick with what we knew. Moses Lake is a great spot for a lunch break. Last time around I had found this fun park that's right down the road from a MCD's.
We went through the drive thru and then headed for the park to eat and play. I didn't order any fries or drinks in an effort to save money. I brought a box of Sun Chips...you might have seen in the back of the van in the first picture. I also brewed almost 2 gallons of ice tea and had it in a big Thermos for the kids to refill their water bottles. Speaking of water bottles I bought myself a new on and then got all the kids new ones for the trip as well. They are Rubbermaid...nothing fancy, but they were great for the trip!
My sweet girl!
The first time we did this trip we spent a few nights in Spokane for Logan's Baptism this time we drove all the way to Missoula Montana that first day!
We stayed at the C'mon Inn. If you've never stayed at one you should...they are so cool!
This was my first time staying at a hotel by myself with the kids. They did so great helping me bring everything in the room. They were SO excited to swim!
I wasn't sure what would all be open. I knew different states are handling things differently, but since basically everything in Washington is closed I just assume that everything will be closed in other places. It was a nice surprise to be able to use the pool and the hot tub and be in public places without a mask!
The kids had the pool to themselves for quite awhile. The only rules they had was there couldn't be more that 41 people in the pool at a time....or now that I think about it maybe they meant 41 people in the pool room. Who knows....no matter what that would have been a ton of people in this space and I doubt the kids would have wanted to go if it was that crowded!
For the hot tub the rule was one family per hot tub. Thankfully they had 4 hot tubs.
See the area behind the kids. That's the entrances into the rooms. Everyone at the C'mon Inn has there own little patio with a patio table and chairs! There is a normal entrance into the rooms from the hallway on the other side as well. It's just so cute and homey!
There is a Cracker Barrel right next door to the hotel so I ordered dinner online and then Jack and I went over to pick it up. We ate our dinner on the patio.
It was so yummy! I love their trout...mmmmm!!!
The kids stayed in their swim clothes because they wanted to go back in the pool after dinner.
There was this funny little wadding pool next to the main pool that Zeke just loved!
Look at how shallow!
One funny thing is the day before we left we watched a Mark Rober YouTube video...if you haven't ever watched one of his videos you should. He does the craziest stuff....pool full of Jello anyone...and he explains the science behind it. The kids love him! Anyway we watched a video on how he determined how much pee was in a pool. My main takeaway was when chlorine is added to a pool there isn't any smell at all. The smell is actually another chemical that starts with a 'T' that is created when someone pees in the pool. So that iconic "chlorine" smell we all associate with swimming pools is actually the result of people peeing in the pool. Not a good thing to watch the night before you might be going into a pool room to have your kids swim. Although...the C'mon Inn's pool area...didn't smell! Yay C'mon Inn!!!!
Another cool thing about C'mon Inn is the huge atrium area in the middle of the hotel. It's over 3 stories tall and had two huge rock waterfalls. You can also see that the patios for the upper floors were balconies. It was such a fun place and didn't cost anymore than staying at the Best Western. It's going to definitely be our hotel of choice from now on!
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