Oh, give me home...

Seriously though, you could give me a home and a hundred acres of land in Wyoming and I wouldn't take it. Who actually lives in that state? Apparently not many people, they have the lowest population in the nation. The city of Milwaukee has more people in it than the entire state of Wyoming.

Having said that, in spite of all the wind and freezing cold weather, we really had a good time. My brother and sister in law have been planning this trip for about 2 years now. Some of my family and a bunch of my sister-in-law's family met up in Wyoming for a little bit of handcarting. We didn't handcart the whole time, there were about 20 kids there, and we probably would have died. We camped at one place and then just went out on little mini-treks 2 days. It was our first time camping for more than one night with kids, so I wasn't sure we would make it, but we did.

We started out at Martin's cove. Mike and I were the first people there, and so while we were waiting for everyone else we decided to take advantage of the wind and fly Carter's kite. It was great, all we had to do it hold the kite up and it was immediately ripped out of our hands and just kept going higher. Unfortunately, this was it's first and last flight here. We lost a crucial piece to the kite as we were putting it away. So sad. Bubbles were another favorite pastime. We didn't even have to blow them. Just dip the wand and hold it up. Samantha was entertained for hours.

The next day we trekked into Martin's Cove. It wasn't too bad pushing the handcarts because we had 7 of us taking turns. Carter rode the whole time and Samantha rode in the backpack. I absolutely cannot imagine doing that across the country though. I got just a small taste of what those pioneers went through and have a lot of respect for them. It was sad to see the places where so many people died and especially to hear of people who had to leave loved ones buried along the trail where they knew that the coyotes would eat them. I can't imagine.

The next day we switched campsites. We went about 45 minutes away to 6th crossing. If we had been trekking the whole thing, we would have started at Martin's Cove and this is where we would have ended up. It's where they crossed the Sweetwater river for the 6th time, hence the name. We had a day off to just hang out. It's a good thing that we did, because the next day was pretty rough.

It started out freezing cold. It snowed on us while we were making breakfast. I didn't even take the kids out of the tent it was so cold. We all met and decided to trek that day anyways. Daniel and Holly had put a lot of work into planning it and if the pioneers could do it so could we, right? So we bundled the kids and headed out. It did warm up, but the wind was vicious. Carter hid under a quilt in the handcart the whole time and cried when it would blow off. Samantha wouldn't keep her head inside the cover on her backpack, so she was miserable. We all got some serious windburn. It was a lot more realistic, though. Trekking at Martin's Cove was on a gravel path, not too bad. There was a trail, it was the actual one they used in a lot of places, but we had to go over sagebrush and through water at one point (mostly just a little marsh). At one point they "drafted" all of our men into the army and the women had to pull all the carts up the hill. Luckily for me, 5 of the 7 adults with me were women. Suckers. Alright, we helped everyone else, but we still had it pretty easy considering the wind was blowing about 100mph. I wasn't much help - I had Samantha on my back and the carrier was like a sail. I couldn't walk straight and kept running into my sister. I am pretty sure I looked drunk.

When we finished our hike for the day is when the real fun began. When we first arrived at the campsite the cute old missionaries suggested that we lower our tents when we left for the day because the winds can be brutal. Mike and I are thinking "we have the best tent in the world, nothing can take this puppy down". Wrong. It turns out that it is all about the tent pegs, which in our case were not great. We came back to the campsite to find our tent halfway to the river. That's right. The wind picked it up with the pack n' play and all of our stuff inside and blew it across the campsite. The only thing stopping it was a picnic bench which had torn through the front door. We managed to get it set back up for the night, but all the poles are bent, a zipper on the rainfly is ripped, and there is the hole torn in the door. Needless to say, I kind of want to puke when I think of all the money that we spent on the dang thing. I am hoping that Kelty will take care of at least some if it, but who knows. Quite possibly it will be me patching it up with my lackluster seamstress skills. It could have been worse, though. About half of the other tents were either blown away completely or completely demolished. They went to a hotel for the last night. I was a little jealous when I thought about the hot showers they were taking, but glad that I still have a tent.

This is getting long, and I think I hit the highlights, so here are the pictures, enjoy!

My favorite sister Amber. Thought she was too good for my sunblock. Sucker.

Camping is no excuse to not look your best. Can a girl really have too many accessories?Me and my pops. A true outdoorsman. My brother and a friend were throwing hatchets at a stump one night. My dad went over and tossed it once right in the center where it stuck. Go dad!My sisters. They belong to a Provo-based gang. Hence the bandannas. Watch yourself. Samantha just keeping hydrated. It's hard work riding around all day!Mike and Amber puuuuling the handcart (imagine Carter straining as he says that).My crackhead brother found a rattle snake. They tell you before you leave that if you find a rattle snake, just tell the missionaries and someone will come take care of it. Right. My crazy brother picked it up for all to see and feel if so desired. I just want to know what goes through your mind when you do this for the first time (I know this isn't his first time). What could possibly make you think that is a good idea??? This is the father of the 3 cutest girls of all time. They currently have a pet snake and have had a pet black widow at one point - by their own choice. Carter got to shoot a BB gun. Thanks. As if his affinity for turning everything into a gun wasn't annoying enough. He LOVED it. Still riding the BB gun high. Mike and I on the Oregon/Mormon Pioneer/Pony Express trail. Did I mention it was windy?Our kids never would have made it as pioneers. Pansies. My mom made Samantha a bonnet. She wasn't a huge fan, but it was super cute and very utilitarian. Yes, that is snow. And yes, we are crazy. This was one of the views as we were leaving. There actually is a lot of beautiful land.

Sorry it's so long. Stay tuned for South Dakota!