Family Mellmann

The gang is all here and our adventure party is now complete!   Our two working men flew in late Friday night and Saturday afternoon and vacation has officially started for them. We have an agenda, but there is absolutely nothing on it!   Maybe a motorcycle ride, maybe a day on the porch rocking, maybe some motorcycle tinkering. Ahhh, life on vacation.

We have enjoyed a couple of days of unwinding, visiting with Grandma and Grandpa,  and relaxing here in Livingston. I have managed to wash all the stinky camping laundry  and emptied the ice chest,  we have dried out and aired out tents and sleeping bags, and have taken in a few sites along the way.   We even got the motorcycles out to rinse off the road dust.  Today Patrick and I got our bikes out and checked out some local roads and enjoyed some fresh air and big bugs. 

We made it all the way to Livingston Montana.  And check out the welcome we received!

Last night we camped at Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota.  We unloaded the bikes and took an afternoon ride through the park and decided we had to go back for a sunset cruise. As we wrapped up our cruise and sunset pictures we came around a corner to find a small heard of bison on the road...OUR road, the only road back to camp.  We let some time pass by turning around and riding some more (I know, what a sacrifice) hoping they'd clear the road by the time we came back around. They didn't, but we returned with reinforcements in the form of a car.  We tailed this car through the herds and enjoyed observing the bison from a bit of a distance.  One guy (bison guy) ran along with us for a short time.  That's Patrick tailing the car as he paces a bison. It was such an awesome sunset ride!

Thanks to my bladder, I was able to take some North Dakota sunrise this morning.

Patrick makes breakfast in the morning.  After a storm last night we woke to a beautiful sunrise and sunny morning.

When the rain came last night we retreated to the relatively dry pavilion to relax until bedtime.

We're making great progress on our journey west. Last night Patrick found a remote campground that had good commentary and reviews.  After driving on dirt roads that finally got so small that we weren't willing to venture further with a 17 foot trailer loaded with motorcycles, we were afraid we would get in somewhere we couldn't drive out.  (It's an old mantra I taught my kids when they were learning to venture out, "never drive in where you can't back out".  It applies to climbing up something and then having to find a way back down, and it applies to driving a trailer down questionable dirt roads.) We turned back and looked for another place to camp.  Plan B was great; plenty of space for the trailer, a lovely space for the tents, picnic table, fire pit, toilets, and even an electrical pole. We set up camp then Patrick unloaded his bike to go shopping for firewood and eggs.  We roasted hotdogs for dinner but before we could settle in for an evening aroun

We made a good start this morning; showers, a hot breakfast, break camp, and on the road before 8:00. It looks like we'll be seeing some Upper Peninsula today.

We drove about 475 miles today and saw a lot of luscious green Canadian countryside. Patrick found us a little campground in North Bay Ontario where we have settled for the night.

Happy Father’s Day ...to the dads in my family. You teach us about the important things in life like music, laughter, and relaxing. And you remind us that you’re never too old for a good video game!

Graduation was pretty ceremonial, even clinical.  The boys were supposed to be serious and measured in their movements and facial expressions, and I think there was a general sense of "I just want to be done with all of this".  After all, most of them already have big plans lined up.  Two of the boys will be leaving for basic and technical training with their respective branches of the military, and Patrick has a road trip to help prepare for, not to mention getting things ready for the fall start of flight training.  But for a few minutes after the ceremony one of the photographer moms was able to get them to let loose just a little and capture a fun picture that really shows their excitement for having finished one race in preparation for the next. Congratulations Trinity Grads!

Graduation.  From the march to the diploma to the photo ops with friends and family, it was a pleasant evening with nice weather.  So many people came to watch the boys graduate and then stuck around to celebrate with them.  Patrick and his oldest friend (from preschool days), Ross.  Patrick and his best bud, Calvin. (above) Patrick and Sarah, friend and ballroom partner  First day of first grade and last day of high school (above) Now that we have celebrated and honored, partied and photographed, it's time to relax and recuperate.  Then it's time to plan our next adventure!

Today we celebrated graduation with about 150 friends of Trinity Baptist School and the church body that supports it.  In addition to the friends of TBS, family and personal friends of each graduate were also invited.  We met at a beachfront park with a beautiful view and a nice breeze. Each of the boys received a cake in their honor celebrating them and their future plans. Patrick - commercial pilot James - Air National Guard Ian (represented by his sister while he played in a lacrosse game) - Marines Alex - programmer Despite the forecast, which called for rain this evening, we had beautiful weather for our evening.  And as the event wrapped up and we began packing to go home we were rewarded with a lovely sunset.  Not a bad way to end a perfectly enjoyable day.