Seeing a total eclipse

In August of 2017, there was a total eclipse of the sun that crossed the United States. We went to Missouri  to see it. 

On the morning of the eclipse, we checked the weather and it was going to be cloudy, so we had to drive 2 hours to find clear skies.   We all wore special glasses to see it or we would be blind. When the moon blocked the sun it turned dark outside and cold as well  and some of the house lights outside turned on and the sun looked like a black hole.   We saw Venus during the day.

We also saw a stealth bomber fly in front of the partially eclipsed sun which was awsome to see.

It was worth it to drive 2 hours to see the eclipse.

Another country!

After my grandma's house we went to Devil's Tower. We went for  two hikes near Devil's Tower. Devil's Tower was a left over volcano that eroded away around it. We watched Close Encounters which is a movie about aliens landing at Devil's Tower.

Single cloud over Devil's Tower

After Devil's Tower we went to Yellowstone. We meet up with some friends. We saw geysers. The biggest one was Old Faithful which reaches up to 185 feet in the air it was very stinky. We also saw lots of animals too like mama bear and a baby bear, buffalo, elk, and big horn sheep.

Yellowstone hot spring with colored bacteria

After Yellowstone, we then went to Canada.  We had two stops in Canada, Cranbrook and Banff.

Cranbrook: biking, hike along stream with waterfall, train ride into a mine
In Cranbrook, a couple of the days I went on a bike ride and it was fun and long and hot, too, but we made it and after the bike ride we went to Dairy Queen for lunch and ice cream. One day we went to see a water fall up close. It was a short hike. It was very scenic and the water was cold because it came from glaciers. Another day in Cranbrook, we went on a train ride to an old mine and it was very cool because it was underground. After the mine we saw the power plant for the mine and it was amazing because the machinery was so big.

Gondola over Banff

After Cranbrook, we went to Banff.   One day we went on a long hike to a waterfall that was about 3 miles in each direction.  The first part was flat and easy, but the second part was hilly and rocky. It a warm day and after the hike we had ice cream bars and our feet were in pain.  But the waterfall was beautiful.  The water was so clear we refilled our water bottles.  Another in Banff I went on a gondola to the top of a mountain to eat and the food was good. The also had a museum, and was fun to learn about the area and the mountain.  On our last full day we went to hike on a mountain which was cold and we saw a glacier. After that we went for ice cream (we do that a lot).

Bow Lake Falls north of Banff