Boat Trip, Grand Canyon, And Hair Dye With Erin

So, this is the part where Ethan, my brother, is getting his hair dyed purple. Here is his picture.

Pretting cool, huh? Not as cool as the humongous Grand Canyon! The Grand Canyon is one of the biggest canyons in the world. With deadly drops, sickening heights, and donkey rides down it in the summer (darn, we missed that) the Grand Canyon really is quite grand. We thoroughly enjoyed our hike, and we liked eating lunch with the birds. :)

Last but not least, we went on a boat trip for 90 minutes. The tour was of Lake Powell and Antelope Canyon. We had headphones and a speaker to listen to him talking about the landscapes. It was very narrow, and very fun!

I can communicate with friends and family through email and FaceTime as well as phone number. So please feel free to contact me if your have one of those. That's it for this blog! Hope you enjoyed!

Day Out With Jake, Vegas, And Zion Animal Feeding With Erin

Hi everybody and welcome to blogging with Erin.


We went to a magic show where we saw Mac King in Vegas. We also met  Jenn Willmes, one of my mom's friends, so that was awesome. We also went to a fountain show, which rocked.  I got a picture with Pikachu.

 After Vegas, we went to St. George, where we bought a new trailer. We decided me and Ethan should get our own space because we are going to do this longer than we thought. We also went to a place to feed animals, where I tried to feed a llama but they didn't want the carrot, so I gave it to a donkey. We also went on some awesome sand dunes on a buggy.

 After Zion National Park, we went to Fillmore. Fillmore was the original capitol of Utah. We went on a hike with our cousin Jake to see some amazing hot springs. Some of the water was bubbling up from the ground.

And that's where we are now, so this is the end of this blog. Stay tuned for more blogging with Erin.

San Fransisco and Back To Modesto... Blog With Erin

So the last blog was about the Travis Air Force Base and how awesome it is. I mean I guess I didn't really talk about Muir Woods a whole lot. We went on a hike and took some awesome photos. Here is one of them: I mean, that's me in a tree. Wow!

 Anyway, we went to San Fransisco from the Air Force Base.
We saw sea lions, who were just hilarious, spread out all over the docks with one loner, tanning in the sun. We assigned them names and had silly conversations with them for an hour.

One of the cool things was a mechanical museum, coin operated. So we saw puppet shows, execution, and magic pianos. All of it was mechanical!

We also ate there and went on a free tour of the bread-making factory. Now, Boudin is famous for sourdough bread in San Fransisco, so we got free samples, and saw their automated machines cut and make and roll the bread into animals, such as bready bears.

San Fransisco really is an awesome place... we are lucky that we got to go!

I was pretty cold as you can see...

After we left the Air Force Base, we went back to Modesto. We tried to sell they RV there, for we had a couple customers... sort of...! It was fun because we got to celebrate Ethan's Birthday with them. We made cheesecake for him. We made cupcakes, bought donuts, and we had a blast!

Well that's it for this blog, guys, so stay tuned for more blogs with Erin!

California Trip With Erin

We went to Modesto, California to visit my grandparents, Bill and Joy. They have a Boston Terrier named George and are really fun. One night we went to get a new Boston Terrier puppy. It was a long drive, but worth it. Her name is Linda. Here she is:

Is she cute or what? Anyway, we went to 2 festivals. First was the Monterey Jazz Festival, where we saw Davina and the Vagabonds and I got a picture with them. Oh, and Davina got a new puppy named Toots who was also a Boston Terrier!

We also went to a Greek Festival where we mostly just ate and watched dancers, but still cool. 

After that we left their house and moved to the Travis Air Force Base.

Next, we went to a candy factory for Ethan's birthday. It was called the Jelly Belly Factory. We got a free tour, which was awesome. After that, we went to a castle winery which my mom and dad liked more than me and Ethan.

We went to Muir Woods as well. ( a different day)  We went in a short walk in the woods.

Well, has been a fun blog so stay tuned for more blogs with Erin.

White Water Rafting, Crater Lake, and Wildlife Safari With Erin!

We went rafting on the McKenzie River with our guide, Kevin. Now, it was a very cold day for rafting, and I was sitting up front for most of it. I got soaked, but I was glad for the wet suit, booties, and jackets.

 We visited the 9th deepest lake in the the world. It took it 400,000 years to form, and it blew up in 2 days. It was formed by a volcano erupting, and it collapsed. It created a giant bowl. That bowl filled with rainwater and melted snow. That is why it is one of the cleanest lakes in the world.

Beautiful, isn't it? Thats real water. I mean, wow! This thing erupted about 7,700 years ago. I am amazed at what we have found there. We listened to a ranger talk, watched videos, and read way too many notes to write. You'd be asleep by the end of it, although it was fascinating.

We went to a Wildlife Safari the next day.  Now, we saw tigers, cheetahs, elephants, giraffes, lions, a rhino, bison, deer, flamingos, and more!

We saw snakes, alligators, birds, monkeys, and extravagant creatures. Some were creepy, and some were cute.  

Overall it was an incredible sight to see these three places in such a short time, but that's the end of the blog so I hope you enjoyed it and stay tuned for more blogging with Erin!

Lewis, Clark, And Long Beach Essay With Erin

We are in Long Beach and that's important because of Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery.  In May 1804, President Thomas Jefferson sent some of his army with Captain Meriwether Lewis and his close friend, Lieutenant William Clark. Their crazy journey lasted from May 1804 to September 1806. Their goals were to study the area's plants, animals, and geography, and to trade with with local Native American tribes.  They started in St. Louis and followed the Missouri River to Fort Mandan in North Dakota. Their main goal was to find the quickest waterways to the Pacific Ocean for trade. They made canoes out of trees and found Sacagawea. The first tribe they found was the Oto Tribe.

Their interpreter was married to Sacagawea, who had a baby on the way! They helped the process with rattlesnake poison. Her brother ended up being chief of a tribe the party came upon, so they
trades horses.

Finally, they came to the mouth of the Columbia River, where it stormed for 11 days! After the storm, they came to Long Beach and saw the Pacific Ocean! Yay! Their mission was successful! They headed back on the southern side of the Columbia River.

They got back to St. Louis in September of 1806 with only one man dead. He died early in the journey of appendicitis.

We played at the beach and in the water. We saw the sunset and it was fun. We were soaked! There was an arcade, ice cream, and biking paths. Plus more! Not to mention glorious ocean overlooks. We hiked, biked, played, and ate ice cream there. It really is cool.

                           But that is the end of the blog so I hope you enjoyed!

Beach Days With Erin

 We went to 2 beaches at 2 different campgrounds. At the first one, we went on an 11 mile hike to a lighthouse. We didn't realize how long it would take. See, we thought it would be 45 minutes there and 45 minutes back. So we packed a load of food, including lunch. We stopped a load more than we needed to, but we finally made it. It was a historic place, and it showed some of the furniture of what the owner of the lighthouse used and some pages about the lighthouse. I learned that was a tiny build the made that big light work. It was hard and gruesome on the way back.

The next place we went to had a long beach where, on the first day, we flew our gorgeous rainbow kite fly. Well, it took a few tries, but we did it. Then today we saw crabs and anemone when it was low tide. We found a cool island that was 30 to 40 feet tall and we got to find a whole park on it!

Well this was a short blog but I will do more so stay tuned for more!

Mountains And Hikes With Erin

We went to two volcanoes in the Cascade Mt. Range: Mt. Rainer & Mt. St. Helens. On Mt. Rainer, it

was a 2 & a half hour long hike without water. We ended up drinking out of a glacial ice stream! It was fresh and cold. We didn't know it would be this long of a hike.

On the way up, we saw something that my dad called a monkey. It turned out to be a marmot! It was perched on a rock. We saw many more marmots on the side of the path or on rocks. At this point, I was exhausted and dehydrated, and there was no stream at the top. So we made it to the top and turned around. The next day, we got in the RV and drove to Mt. St. Helens. Now, this volcano blew its top and side off on Sunday, May 18, 1980.

Here is a picture of Mt. St. Helens right now:

So, we go there and we stare at the massive volcano towering before us. We go inside and watch 2 films about how the entire north face fell and how 57 people died during the 2 eruptions that took place. The day before it erupted, when it looked safe, police and security and such let people past the red zone and into their homes and businesses. Then they would escort them out. The next day, at 8:32 a.m., the excitement began. The volcano's top slid of at a speed of 150 miles per hour at incoming forests, cities, and animals past the red zone. Now, Harry Truman was one of those 57 people who died. But he died being stubborn. He said that the mountain was his home, and that since he had been there 50 years, he was like part of the mountain. Harry lived at Spirit Lake, a lake at the base of Mt. St. Helens. Before the eruption, there was geologist named David Johnston who had set up a camp about six miles away from the mountain. He was there to monitor the growing bulge on the side of the mountain. It was growing at a rate of about 5 feet a day!

Eventually, after the explosion, a massive ash cloud left dead trees standing, and the ash surrounded the world. It covered up the sun and made it pitch black everywhere.

Even though the eruption destroyed the land, it helped rebuild a new one. Small creatures came out from underneath, protected from the blast, such as moles and pocket gophers. Frogs and salamanders came back to bare ponds. Elk and deer munched on flowers the popped up every day.

 Stay tuned for more blogs with Erin!

Sailing Adventure With Erin

After the cruise ship, we went sailing in the San Juan Islands with my grandma and Reese. I was part of the crew, and I had to help out on deck. We sailed to an island and saw orcas close to the boat. It was AWESOME! We went to shore on the dingy by rowing. Teamwork!  

We got to Shallow Bay (Which we called "Stinky Bay") and found 5 trails. We went to one and found gorgeous views of the sea! We saw crabs and had a stick/sword fight on the beach. My favorite part was sword fighting with Reese.

We also saw humpback whales and seals! We visited 2 resorts, and swam in a pool. We played volleyball in the pool and later bocce ball. We found a sculpture garden. With so much odd art it was unbelievable! Here I am being eaten by an alligator:

I think we're done sailing for today, so I'll see you later. But I have two shout-outs: Nancy Meyhoefer and Jenny Ames! Stay tuned for more blogs!

Alaskan Cruise With Erin

Alright, alright! New blog here, and this one's about a big boat. No, huge ship. No, big ol' Celebrity Solstice! Let me warn you: this is an extra-long special blog for our two weeks of adventure! So we'll skip the boring stuff and head to the cruise ship. Now, this ship was over 50 times the size of the RV! There were 15 floors, and over thousands of rooms. 1/10 of the boat was for staff, but whatever. There was a fun factory, a library, guest rooms, a buffet, a restaurant, an engine room, 2 pools, 4 big hammocks, hundreds of lounge chairs, and so much more! I found friends there, and I played a bit of Minecraft on the Xbox at the fun factory. I will not fail to mention the excellent service there. My grandma and Reese, my brother, were there with us. We saw humpback whales and the biggest glacier I will ever see in my life.



We stopped off at Ketchikan, Victoria, Skagway, and Juneau. We did some excursions there. We saw humpback whales bubble feeding, went on a nature walk through a national forest, went on a train ride through Skagway and went to Butchart Gardens in Victoria, British Columbia.

 My grandma bought us a souvenir.  Overall, it was a spectacular sight to see and I wish to have experiences just as great later. And with that, we are done with this blog.

Canoeing And Biking With Erin

So we had nothing to do today and thought a little canoe trip seemed like a good idea. So we rented a canoe and we rowed for an hour and a half. We saw an osprey nest, and we may have seen an osprey. We rowed to the bridge. Well, I say "we," but I mean my mom and dad. :D We were willing to dunk Ethan because of his nonstop whining.

 We went back to the dock and went biking. We biked about five miles. We biked up that same bridge we saw while canoeing.  There were bumps going up and down the bridge to help slow you down or speed up. It was really flat on that paved trail. After two hours of biking, we turned around. We went to get some ice cream to celebrate. The views of Idaho are incredible!

  It's another blog down so stay tuned for more blogging with Erin!

Touring The Wisconsin Capitol And Greenhouse With Erin

                                                        Touring the Wisconsin Capitol With Erin

     I went to the Wisconsin capitol with my Aunt Amy, Uncle Tom, Aunt Carol, Aunt Jean, Uncle Ed, Cousin Brenda, my mom, my dad, and Ethan. And me! We went to the Farmer’s Market and I tried on a safety vest and a police helmet. Eventually, it was almost time for the tour.

   If you haven’t heard about “Miss Forward”, she is the golden lady on the capitol. She’s called “Miss Forward” because her hand is pointing out to the U.S. capitol in Washington, D.C. The Wisconsin state animal is the badger, so she has a badger on her head. She is also called “Miss Forward” because “Forward” is the Wisconsin state motto.

   When we went in, it was ten minutes until it was time for the tour.  So Aunt Jean told me to lay on my back and look up. 

I did that and when you looked up, there was the mural about 200 feet up.  After that it was time for the tour. 

The first of three rooms we went to was the Supreme Court. Our tour guide told us that Wisconsin became a territory in 1836.

The first legislature met in the new Capitol in 1838.  They quickly discovered that the building was too small, so they tore it down and built a new, fancier one.  

                                                                 June 13: Greenhouse

   We knew someone who worked at Christenson Floral, a greenhouse/store near Chippewa Falls in Wisconsin.

He gave us a tour of the 6 greenhouses. We learned that the important parts of the flower are the Pistil &  Stamen.


Then we saw some rocks split in half called geos. They looked like crystals inside! It was incredible. I learned about geos in fourth grade. Our next destination had even more crystals!

That's it for this blog but stay tuned for more blogs!

Leaving Shakopee, Minnesota And Friends

      After a visit with my cousins (Spencer, Lincoln and Sloan) at the Willow River State Park, we went back to Minnesota for goodbyes.  We had a big party to say goodbye at Lions Park in Shakopee.
Then we had another gathering at Round Lake Park with even more friends.

 I will miss my all my friends, including the ones who weren't at the parties.  A few people who were at the party were Isabelle Castaneda,  Emily Eagen, Coral  Lindberg Collins, Paige Munoz, and  Navya Nambiar. A few who weren't at the parties were Abigail Wood, Nitiya Arun, Ming Wei, Ava Grover, and Ava Mine. I will miss their eager attitudes, and their broad smiles. I will also miss my 4th  grade  teacher, Mrs. Walker.

On the last day, we cleaned up the house and said goodbye to our cat, Ninja.  When we got on the road and broke down on the side of the road on the way to our grandma's house. So Grandma came and picked us up. We spent the next few days waiting for the RV to get fixed and hanging out with Grandma by the lake.

Well, that's about it for this blog. Stay tuned for more blogging with Erin.

       

Visiting Theodore Roosevelt National Park and Little Big Horn With Erin

Medora was founded in 1883 by the Marquis de Mores. He named the town after his wife, Medora. We happened to go to the Theadore National Park in Medora, where we saw a lot of prairie dogs. We also saw some wild horses, the Little Missouri River, and bison. We climbed and hiked some big hills, and waded in mud in the river.

We also went to a campground near Custer's Last Stand where we learned about the Battle of Little Bighorn.  My favorite part was learning about the Indian Tribes, the Dakota, the Nakota, and the Lakota. We went and stood on Last Stand Hill. The battles started when the American Government heard there was gold in the Sioux land, the Black Hills. When they tried to take it away, the Sioux said "No, this is our holy, sacred land where our ancestors our buried. You don't get this land!" We had signed a treaty before saying the Indians could have that land. So they went in on full charge to Sitting Bull's camp. Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse were the two major leaders of the Indians.

The U.S. Government had soon realized they were outnumbered, so Reno tried to retreat. But it was too late. About 280 of our troops died and 70-100 Indians.  The battle should never have happened, for they signed a treaty saying Indians could have that land. Then we tried to take it back! It's like, what the heck! They did it for greed, and for gold.

That's the end of this blog so stay tuned for more blogging with Erin!

Leaving Shakopee, Minnesota And Friends

      After a visit with my cousins (Spencer, Lincoln and Sloan) at the Willow River State Park, we went back to Minnesota for goodbyes.  We had a big party to say goodbye at Lions Park in Shakopee.
Then we had another gathering at Round Lake Park with even more friends.

 I will miss my all my friends, including the ones who weren't at the parties.  A few people who were at the party were Isabelle Castaneda,  Emily Eagen, Coral  Lindberg Collins, Paige Munoz, and  Navya Nambiar. A few who weren't at the parties were Abigail Wood, Nitiya Arun, Ming Wei, Ava Grover, and Ava Mine. I will miss their eager attitudes, and their broad smiles. I will also miss my 4th  grade  teacher, Mrs. Walker.

On the last day, we cleaned up the house and said goodbye to our cat, Ninja.  When we got on the road and broke down on the side of the road on the way to our grandma's house. So Grandma came and picked us up. We spent the next few days waiting for the RV to get fixed and hanging out with Grandma by the lake.

Well, that's about it for this blog. Stay tuned for more blogging with Erin.

       

Leaving Shakopee, Minnesota And Friends

      After a visit with my cousins (Spencer, Lincoln and Sloan) at the Willow River State Park, we went back to Minnesota for goodbyes.  We had a big party to say goodbye at Lions Park in Shakopee.
Then we had another gathering at Round Lake Park with even more friends.

 I will miss my all my friends, including the ones who weren't at the parties.  A few people who were at the party were Isabelle Castaneda,  Emily Eagen, Coral  Lindberg Collins, Paige Munoz, and  Navya Nambiar. A few who weren't at the parties were Abigail Wood, Nitiya Arun, Ming Wei, Ava Grover, and Ava Mine. I will miss their eager attitudes and their broad smiles. I will also miss my 4th  grade  teacher, Mrs. Walker.

On the last day, we cleaned up the house and said goodbye to our cat, Ninja.  When we got on the road and broke down on the side of the road on the way to our grandma's house. So Grandma came and picked us up. We spent the next few days waiting for the RV to get fixed and hanging out with Grandma by the lake.

Well, that's about it for this blog. Stay tuned for more blogging with Erin.

       

Touring Crystal Cave Near Hudson, Wisconsin With Erin

                                                             June 14: Crystal Cave

    We went to the longest cave in Wisconsin.  It was found by two boys, William and George Vanesse. They were brave, for they grabbed a lantern and traveled deep into the water-filled cave. Of course, when I was there, there were lights everywhere. But they only had one measly little lantern!

The first thing we saw was a crystal in the wall. He told us the dripping liquid on the ceiling was calcium carbonite. He (our tour guide) told us a legend about this odd pillar in the cave, and if you walked around it once, you'd get good luck for two days. If you walked around it twice, you'd get bad luck for four days.  But I don't think a fever is good luck. :-)  I had a fever because I got a bug bite. We had to go to Urgent Care and I'm still on antibiotics!

   My favorite part was the end with some cool, ancient animal fossils! I mean, isn't that just awesome?! There was a curly shell-like fossil and a long, jellyfish-like fossil, along with two more.

  Well, thanks for reading and stay tuned for more blogs with Erin!
And about the shout-outs, I'm still working on figuring so thanks for being patient! Remember, sign up on the main page of my blog in the upper right hand corner.  Just put your email address in to subscribe.

Greenhouse in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin With Erin

                                                                 June 13: Greenhouse

   We knew someone who worked at Christenson Floral, a greenhouse/store near Chippewa Falls in Wisconsin.  His name is Sean Christenson, and he is the husband of my dad's niece, Angie.

He gave us a tour of the six sections of the greenhouse. We learned that the important parts of the flower are the Pistil &  Stamen.   The Stamen is the male part of the plant and the Pistil is the female part of a plant. Without both of them, there would be no seed. Without the seed, there is no plant.

     Genevieve and Abram,  Sean and Angie's kids, were also with us. Abram was pretty much telling the whole tour even though he was younger than me. Gen kept distracting me with flowers and leaves.

Then we saw some rocks split in half called geos. They looked like crystals inside! It was incredible. I learned about geos in fourth grade! We saw a rock cutter that was pretty big.

Before I end this blog, I'll be starting shout-outs when I finally the posts and comments you've been leaving. Well, thanks for reading and stay tuned for my next blog! Make sure to enter your email address on the front page of the blog in the upper right hand corner to subscribe.

Wisconsin Dairy Farm Experience with Erin

    So... if you haven't seen my last blog, please do so.  Today, picture a fair-sized house in Rice Lake, Wisconsin. Now, we go in a pickup truck to a dairy farm. My aunt & uncle know someone there named Asher. He was very nice and he gave us a tour of the massive cow complex! Whoa!

   Before Asher had come, we saw 2 little calves and many goats. It was sorta like a petting zoo! They licked your hands and toes, and tried to bite you! The next area was cow confusion!

    First, he opened up a big garage that reeked of manure. And what a sight! There was a row of over 3,000 cows, he told us! Asher told us to stay away from them, because most of them were scared
of us. After that, we got back in the pickup to a new area.

    The next area was a big circle where cows would walk into stalls and the staff would disinfect, clean, and make sure the cow was healthy by squirting a bit of milk out. Then they would actually be milked. After they were done, the cows would joyfully run and turn out of the stall back to their own stall. Asher brought us into the middle of the large circle and let us see the pipes where the milk would flow.    

   There were some big tanks filled with milk that would cool the milk. Then the milk would flow into a truck, which could hold 50,000 gallons of milk! Cool!

   Now, the last area is the funniest! We drove to this place where, in this lake thing, Asher said there were 23,000,000 gallons (23 million gallons) of manure in there! 23 million!

Well, that was a fun factory to go to, and now this blog is over. Thank you for reading this, and stay tuned for more blogs with Erin!

RV Living Starts

Welcome to the start of RV living with Erin Blaskowski! We've moved 35 yards from our house.

We have just finished school, me and my brother, Ethan.

Ethan finished 5th grade, and I finished 4th Grade. I'm 10 years old.

Here are some things I like about the RV so far:
1. I sleep on the couch, which is actually a pull-out bed
2. There's a lot of storage under my parents' bed
3. We found a way to set up the Wii and the GameCube
4.We have some fans and a big window in the front of the RV
5. We don't have to get up at 6:15 a.m. for school

Here are some things I dislike about the RV:
1. I will miss my friends =(
2. My poor dad is working nonstop, dealing with the many issues of the RV, such as 5 springs popping off my couch-bed
3. Ethan wakes up earlier than me and wakes me up because he's right next to me
4. It's a very tight space
5. I have to get rid of a lot of toys



That's pretty much the end of this summary, so stay tuned for the next exciting RV/Sailing Adventure!