August 11, 2001

Today we woke up and drove to Shenandoah National Park. We went for a hike where Jamie spotted a toad. It was tough to see because it blended in with the leaves and the logs. Then we grabbed lunch and went for another hike. We got drenched form the rain. When we got to the waterfall I found out there were four black bears there. We took some photos and left because we were between a baby bear and a mother bear.

Then we drove to my Uncle Greg’s house. We saw a ground hog and some deer on the way there. When we got to my Uncle’s house I saw my Aunt Abbee and my baby cousin Luke. Then we changed and went out to dinner with Greg. After dinner the manager gave Jamie and me high fives because we ate our entire steaks (they were very big). Greg went home and we dropped Gene off at his care. Then Jamie, my Dad and I drove to the hotel for our last night on the road trip. Today was a superb day.

August 10, 2001

Today we woke up and Jamie and I got donuts. My Dad went to the Ryman Auditorium while we got dressed. Then we drove to Blacksburg, Virginia. On the drive we wrote yesterday’s journal and played Game Boy. We ate lunch at a Subway. When we got to Blacksburg, we went for a swim and ate dinner. We also played a video game, which I won. It was a neat day.

August 9, 2001

Today we woke up and went to the Country Music Hall of Fame. We things on Elvis, Carol Perkins, Johnny Cash, the Carter Family, Patsy Cline, George Jones and Hank Williams. We also heard a lot of cool songs such as Folsom Prison Blues and other songs. We saw a pedal steel guitar demonstration and a Buzz Cason performance. We heard a Hawaiian and Country music at the pedal steel demonstrations. Buzz Cason also played cool songs. We saw a Cadillac with pistols on the doors.

Then we grabbed some lunch. The roof was collapsing though and we felt drops of water. Then we went for a swim.

Afterwards, we went to a concert next to the Cumberland River. My favorite artist was Robert Earl Keen. My favorite song was “The Road Goes On Forever and the Party Never Ends.” Then we grabbed a late dinner and some bumper stickers. It was an awesome day.

August 8, 2001

Today we went to the Civil Rights Museum. It is placed in the Lorraine Motel. They showed protests, court cases, famous leaders and where Dr. Martin Luther King, jr. was shot. It was a good museum because it had a lot of hands on information.

Then we went to the Gibson Guitar factory tour. It was fun to watch a guitar get made. Finally, we went to the Sun Recording Studios. We saw instruments that Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis and Carl Perkins played. We got to hear awesome music. It was neat to go there. Then we drove to Nashville. When we got here we ate and went back to the hotel. It was a very cool day.

August 7, 2001

Today we woke up early and swam. Then we drove to Graceland. We saw the whole house of Elvis Presley, except the private part of the house. We saw Elvis’ suits, records, awards, video clips, cars planes and two really funky rooms. One of the funky rooms was the Jungle Room where Elvis had a custom-built waterfall, animal skin chairs and furniture. The second funky room was the racquet ball court which had awards, costumes and videos. One of the more famous costumes there was the American Cape. We looked at planes and cars of Elvis’s. Then we went to the Rock and Soul Museum. We saw everything form Elvis to B.B. King. We saw many cool displays and a lot of old juke boxes with songs in them. It was an awesome day.

August 6, 2001

Today we woke up and went to the continental breakfast. Then we drove to Memphis. On the way we stopped at Little Rock. We ate at the Flying Saucer Brew Pub. It was cool because they had a Wall of Fame. You had to pay $14.00 to get a t-shirt and a card. Then you had to drink 200 beers to get into the hall of fame and you got to have a party. Then we went to the old State House. It was cool because we saw a lot model of the Oval Office and I learned a lot about the Civil War by watching  a movie and reading letters.

After lunch, we rode to Memphis. We crossed over the Mississippi to reach Memphis. We got a hotel and went for a swim. After the swim we ate at the Blues City Café. It was a fabulous day.

August 5, 2001

Today we woke up and drove. We stopped at the Helium Monument. It was four time capsules attached together. Then we drove to the largest cross in the western world. They also had life size Stations of the Cross. Then we drove to the “Historic Route 66 Museum.” We saw a lot of parts of the old Route 66 and a map of where it went. Then we drove to Van Buren, Arkansas. We went for a swim and then had dinner at Big Jakes. IT was a terrific day.

August 4, 2001

Today we woke up and swam, our last swim with Jackson. After the swim we said goodbye to Paul and Jackson and hello to my Uncle Gene. I was sad that Jackson and Paul were leaving because they were good companions. But I was happy that Gene was here. I had mixed emotions.

We drove most of the day so we could reach Amarillo. Right outside of Amarillo we stopped at the Cadillac Ranch. It was built in 1974 during the gasoline shortage. The sculpture contains ten cars planted in the ground. I think it meant just get rid of cars.

Then we went to a hotel and swam. It was a sad, yet happy day (Paul and Jackson leaving; Gene arriving).

August 3, 2001

Today we woke up and had one last view of the Grand Canyon. Then we head for the Meteor Crater. The Crater was formed 50,000 years ago when a meteor hit the Earth. It was one mile wide and 550 feet deep. The explosion took about seven seconds to form the giant crater. The meteor was made 92 percent of iron, seven percent nickel of one percent trace elements. Then we went to the Petrified Forest. It was a giant forest of wood that was turned into rock after laying beneath an ocean floor. There was a lot of quartz material in the wood. We also saw ancient Indian petraglyphs. There were a lot of carvings that made stories. Then we headed to Albuquerque. It was a cool day.

August 2, 2001

Today we woke up and drove to a bus top. We took a bus to the “Abyss,” which was a 3,000 foot straight drop down into the Canyon. We started hiking along a narrow rim path. I feel and didn’t cut myself for once. We kept walking and my Dad saw a lizard! Jamie and I proceeded to both see similar ones. We also saw a raven mating or grooming ritual (we don’t know for sure). We hiked to “Pima Point” and too a shuttle bus back to the car. When we got back to the lodge we worked out. Then we went to a good overlook to watch the sunset. It was spectacular.

August 1, 2001

Today we woke up and drove to the Grand Canyon. We got there about noon and drove long the rim. We got out and walked to about three scenic overviews. The Grand Canyon looked like a rainbow smothered on the giant canyon walls. It was a spectacular sight.

Then we had lunch at the cafeteria and checked into the lodge. Then we went for a hike, We hiked about a mile into the Canyon. We didn’t go a mile down into the canyon, but the trail went more then a mile and went down 1,300 feet.) The path twisted and turned the whole way. We came back with ease and got in the car. Then we worked out and went to the Ranger Show. It was a superb day.

July 28-29, 2001

Today we drove form San Simeon all the way to Anaheim. We drove for a couple of hours and then hit LA traffic. Right then I fell asleep and woke up only at the hotel.

Well, that night we went into Disneyland. We went on a lot of rides, but I'll only tell about the best ones. We went on Space Mountain, which was an in the dark coaster. It was awesome. We also went on Star Tours, which took us on an attack aimed at the Death Star. Then we took a ride all over a mountain in a bobsled, which was really cool. And we went to Splash Mountain. They had a lot of robotic animals, which were cool. Next we went to a haunted house, which had a lot of holographic ghosts. Afterwards we went on an Indiana Jones Ride. We went on a jeep ride which took us through a dangerous ancient ruins. It was a neat day.

The next day we woke up and went to California Adventure, which is the new Disney park. We went on California Soaring, which was a virtual reality plane ride over California. Next we went to a river raft ride which got us really wet. Then we went to a virtual reality movie about bugs. We got stung by bees and shot by termites. After we went to Malibu Boomer, which shot us up in the air, brought us down, shot us up, etc. Then we got lunch at the House of Blues. Next we went back in and went on California Screamin'. It was a roller coaster which was fast, smooth and did flips. Afterwards, we went back to Disneyland and went on all my favorite rides again. It was a wonderful day.

July 23, 2001

Today we woke up and split the Niles family. Our family went through a Redwood forest to San Francisco. We mainly drove. At one point, a red tailed hawk landed on a rock a few feet from us.  When we got to San Fran. We had dinner at a Chinese Restaurant. It was an okay day.

July 22, 2001

Today we woke up and prepared ourselves for a driving day. We drove all the way down the Oregon Coast, making stops here and there. We drove through seven different clouds! We drove to the Redwood National Forest and went for a hike. We saw a lot of trees that were bigger than the Statue of Liberty. After that se saw some female Elk and a young buck. We landed in Eureka for the night. It was a great day.

July 21, 2001

Today we woke up (always a good sign) and went to a market. We looked around and got breakfast. Jackson, Maddy, Jamie and I played with some flower sticks. We bought four pairs of sticks and two juggling sticks.

Then we drove down to Reedsport for the night. On the way there we drove up a mountain for a scenic view. After a quick hike there, we went down to some sea lion caves. We saw 50 -70 sea lions. They were always barking at us like dogs. After the deafening sea lions chants, we went to some dunes for sunset. Me and Jamie wrestled at the dunes. Next, we walked to the beach and got knee-high in freezing Pacific Ocean water. It was a wonderful day.

July 20, 2001

Today we woke up and got breakfast. After that we drove out to the Collins Sanctuary. We went for a hike there. We saw 10 slugs. They all had black dots on them. We also saw four snails. The snails looked like seashells. The sanctuary was like a rainforest. It had a lot of ferns and undergrowth.

Then we drove into town. We went to Powell’s Bookstore. I had read the Narnia books, so I was getting something new to read. I got a book about ancient Greek stories. It’s a good book so far.

Next we went to Pioneer Square to see a sand sculpture contest. It was cool seeing all the sculptures. We walked around a bit, then we went to a bar/restaurant and had some drinks and a slice of pizza.

Our family and I went back to the hotel and swam. Only Jamie and I swam though. Afterwards, we went town to the harbor to eat. It was a super day.

July 19, 2001

Today we woke up and went for a swim. Then we went out to the Pike Street Market for breakfast. We got sausages and I had a hot Italian sausage. It was like a giant bomb of spice that didn’t blow up in your mouth until 20 seconds after it was launched.

We went back to the hotel and everybody drove to the locks. Then we drove to Mount Saint Helens. Most people think the volcano poured out lava. It was like an atom bomb. First it created a landslide from the top. It rushed across the land at 150 mph. The explosion left after the landslide and went 350 mph. Near the volcano trees were ripped up with the wind. Further on they were knocked down and still further on the trees burned to a crisp. Fifty-seven people died in the blast.

After leaving the mountain, we drove to Portland. At the hotel we went for a swim. Then we went to eat. We met some friends of Paul and Ann’s. It was an awesome day.

July 18, 2001

Today we went to the Pike street Market for breakfast, then Jamie, My Mom, my Dad and I went for a bike ride. We rode to some government locks. We saw a lot of fish swimming up a fish ladder. We also saw a harbor sea waiting for some fish babies to eat. Another thing was that we saw some boats use the locks.

We rode back to the Seattle Center where we went to the Music Experience. E saw a lot of things on Jimi Hendrix and music history. But we got to play our own instruments so it was fun. After that we returned the bikes and went back to the hotel, We changed and then went out to eat. Only Paul came with us because Maddy, Jackson want to stay home with Ann. It was a great day.

July 17, 2001

Today we woke up and went to the doctor. I went to the doctor because my foot hurt. After the long 50 minute wait were called in. I didn’t fracture or break it, I just used it a lot so the muscles were stretched. I got an Ace bandage wrap and we were off. We met Paul, Ann, Jackson, Maddy and Jamie at Pike’s Market. After that, Jamie, my dad, my Mom and I went to a Mariner’s game. The Mariners won 6 to 1. The best part was whenever Ichiro hit a single, the crowd acted like it was the game winning grand slam in the World Series. It was a terrific game. Then we swam in the hotel pool while my Mom and Dad went for a run. We ate dinner at McCormick and Schmick’s. We also went to a brew pub that made its own beer. It was a neat day.

July 16, 2001

Today we made a mad drive to Seattle from Idaho Falls. We drove 11 hours straight to get to the 800 miles away City known as Seattle. We averaged 73 miles per hour. My Dad got pulled over at one point for doing 83 miles per hour. Luckily we didn’t get a ticket. We slowed down after that.

We just missed my Mom’s plan at 9:20, but we got to Anne and Maddy’s plane. We picked up a rental car to drive. My Dad, Jamie and I drove in our car while Jackson, Maddy, Ann, Paul and my Mom drove in the rental car. It was a crazy day because of all the driving.

July 15, 2001

Today we were going to leave Idaho Falls, there was only one problem: the car broke down. My Dad went to get a rent-a-car while Jamie, Jackson and I went for a swim. When my Dad came back with the rental car, we drove to Craters of the Moon National Monument. It was really cool because there was tons of volcanic eruptions. When we got back to Idaho Falls we went to the movies. Paul and my dad went to see A.I., while Jamie, Jackson and I saw Cats and Dogs. Then we went to a Subway for dinner. It was a surprising day.

July 14, 2001

Today, we drove to the Mammoth Hot spring. Although they were mostly terraces, they were fun. There was a hot spring which is slowly turning into a terrace. After that we went to the west gate to leave. On the way there we saw Elk and a coyote. We also heard the cry of a Bald Eagle, but did not see it. After leaving Yellowstone we drove to Idaho Falls. It was a fun day.

July 13, 2001

Today we woke up and got breakfast at the cafeteria (again). Then we drove out t Yellowstone Lake. About half way through our hike we saw a yellow bellied marmot. It was like a groundhog with yellowish brown fur. After that hike we went to Old Faithful. We got there just as it was exploding. It looked like they had a smoke machine and 20 fire hoses in the hole! We saw hundreds of geysers, my favorite being Morning Glory Pool. It is being threatened by people throwing garbage into it. At the middle of the hole there is a tube where garbage is blocking it. It is making the temperature drop dramatically.

There was one geyser that scared Jamie and Jackson half to death. They were standing there when all of a sudden it erupted, give them quite a shock. On the way back to the ledge we saw female elk and a moose. We then went to a Ranger Talk about the geology of Yellowstone. Late at night, we went star gazing again. It was fabulous!

July 12, 2001

Today we woke up and got some breakfast, then we drove out to a new trail. It started like an open meadow. After a bit of hiking we turned around and saw a bison near the start of the trail. We hiked up to the top of a hill and in the distance saw 200-300 bison.

After that the trail went into a forest. About half a mile later we reached a lake. The lake had a strong sulfur smell. We knew that it was a thermal lake. After a little more hiking in the woods we reached a thermal wasteland. It had mud pots and sulfur fumaroles. One mud pot created a mud bubble and then exploded! The sulfur fumaroles gave off a horrible smell, which smelled like a gigantic amount of horse dung. After a bit more of hiking we reached a large barren circle that was surrounded by trees. (For those of you that have read The Hobbit, it looked a lot like the wolf and goblin meeting place.)

Next we hiked to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. It was like someone had frozen a sunset on the walls. It was so beautiful that words can’t describe it. We saw a large black raptor and then proceeded to Artist Point. We saw the Lower Falls there and proceeded to hike to the Upper Falls. Right after that we saw a mule deer. It was 5 feet away from us! After that we went back to the car.

We went back to the cabin and went for a run. After that we got out Junior Ranger Badges, then sat down for some ice cream. Next, we went out to the Mud Volcano again and saw the thermal features. On the way back we saw elk, bison and a grizzly bear. The grizzly had just killed and elk and was eating it. We then drove to the Canyon Lodge and got dinner. Afterwards we went and saw a slideshow on the fires of 1988. Then we went out to look at the stars. It was a wonderful day!

July 11, 2001

Today we were awoken early by my Dad. He woke us because we were going for a six mile hike. On the long way up we did different things to keep us entertained. We successfully spotted some animals that included a golden mantle ground squirrel, a raven and a red tailed hawk. We also gave each other different names. Paul and my Dad are the Philosopher Kings. We also gave the titles Ranger Jackson, Scout Jamie and Patrick the One Man Swat Team. When we finally reached the 10,000 foot peak we were tired. It took us about 2 hours and 30 minutes to ascend 1,400 feet. The trail started at an elevation of over 8,600 feet. It was 6 miles both ways. It took us half the time to get down. After we got in the car at the bottom of the mountain, we drove to some thermal features. We saw and smelled some features, which really smelled like sulfur. Next, we went to a Mud Volcano that was an assortment of thermal features. We saw two large bubbling ponds. I was ahead of the group heading to the next feature with my head down when my Dad yelled to me to stop. I stopped and looked up; I was less than 20 yards away from about 200 bison. We walked back to the parking lot, very calmly trying not to scare the bison. A few bison came down along a fence of the parking lot. The only thing separating me and the bison was a wood fence. After that, we moved on and saw different kinds of thermal pits. We decided to drive back to the cabin. On the way there we saw a grizzly bear attack some bison. We saw a herd of bison cross a river and we saw an elk. It was a terrific day.

July 10, 2001

Today we woke up and had a refreshing swim. After about 45 minutes we want back to the room and packed the car. We left the hotel and got some breakfast. After eating we decided to drive Chief Joseph’s Path. Chief  Joseph was a Nez Pierce Indian Chief. He’s famous because his people didn’t want to move onto a reservation, but didn’t want to fight either. They decided to make a run for Canada, but they couldn’t just go directly Canada because they would be overtaken by the cavalry. So they split up and went all over to confuse the cavalry. At first they succeeded, but 40 miles from the Candadian border they were me by a different cavalry and were put on reservations.

As I said, we decided to drive the path they took. We stopped to look at a sign that told us where to go. We looked at it we immediately noticed that bullets that gone through the sign. It wasn’t exactly comforting, but we moved on.

After a bit of driving, my Dad said he saw some bears across a creek. When we turned around to the spot where he saw them, the bears turned out to be cows. After a little more driving we stopped at a store so Paul could buy Annie a birthday present. We drove out of Cooke City and traveled into Yellowstone. As soon as we entered the park, we were greeted by a mule deer. Late on we saw a vole by a river. On the far side of the river, we saw some bison.

We drove off, looking for a good hiking path. Just as we were going out of sight a ranger called to us. He said that we shouldn’t go over the hill because there was a mother black bear resting near a tree. We got to see the black bear, but from a safe distance.

After some more driving, we went to a canyon. We saw two ospreys in a nest with a check! Then we went to our cabin and worked out. After an exhilarating run a mile and a half up, we went to have dinner. After dinner, we went to a ranger program where we learned about the Yellowstone River. It was a great day.

July 9, 2001

Today we mainly drove to Cody, Wyoming near Yellowstone. We didn’t really do that much so I just tell you what I’m thinking.

I’ve been reading the Narnia books, which are really good. I’ve read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; The Horse and His Boy; Prince Caspian and I’m in the process of reading The Silver Chair. They’re really interesting and I would recommend them to you. It’s been a boring sort of day because we mainly drove.

July 8, 2001

Today we saw and did many different things. First, we went to the Rushmore Caves. Some gold miners discovered the cave, but left it when they didn’t find gold there, so kids mainly explored the cave. There was a giant room where there were thousands of stalactites and stalagmites. Stalactites grow from the roof while their counterpart stalagmites grow from the ground. When they connect, they form columns. People used to get married in part of the cave called the wedding chapel, but they don’t anymore because tours never stop, although tours interrupting a wedding would be cool.

Afterwards we went to Custer State Park where we literally saw 950-1,000 buffalo. After more than half an hour of watching the buffalo herd, we went to see some more prairie dogs. After seeing all those majestic beasts we went to eat in the town of Custer. I highly offended Jackson by eating a buffalo burger.

After lunch we went to see the Crazy Horse Memorial. It is the biggest statue on earth. It’s even bigger than the tallest Egyptian pyramids! They use a lot of explosives, jackhammers and high power torches to carve it. It’s a family project and the original artist’s family continues to work on it even though he’s dead. It was a fabulous day.

July 7, 2001

Today we drove by where the buffalo and prairie dogs were. We almost didn’t see any buffalo; we saw some prairie dogs though. Afterwards we drove to Mount Rushmore. We climbed a path around it and watched a movie. In the movie, we saw how people could use TNT to blow up the rock to make the faces. When it was done, the people who made it revealed once head at a time. There were four heads; they were all presidents: Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln. On July 4^th, 1943 they first revealed Washington’s head. They revealed Jefferson’s next, Roosevelt after that and finally Lincoln. When Jefferson was revealed FDR gave a speech about the wonderful things Jefferson did. It was an informative day.

July 6, 2001

Today we hiked in the Badlands. My Dad had to go get the car looked at, so Jackson, Jamie, Paul and I started hiking. The cool thing about hiking in the Badlands is that you didn’t have to stay on the trails. After we had hiked a bit, Paul and I saw a rattlesnake, it didn’t attack us though. We hiked some more when my Dad me up with us. Paul went to meet him while Jackson, Jamie and I stayed where we were.

Once my Dad met us, we hiked some more and then went back to the visitors center. After a brief lunch, we drove out to look for buffalo and prairie dogs. We stopped at a prairie dog town and I got within four feet of one. After some more driving, we saw some very large herds of buffalo. We stayed in the car because we didn’t want them to maul us alive. That night we went back to the campsite and went to sleep. It was an awesome day!

July 5, 2001

We’re driving to the Badlands today, so I’ll just tell you what I’m thinking. The Yankees are in first place so that put down the daily “Yankees suck” chants from Jackson and Jamie. It’s been really tight in the car. We saw a wild turkey on the side of the road. We stopped at the Corn Palace that had pictures made out of corn. It was really corny, just like this joke.

July 4, 2001

Today we did an assortment of different things. We left at the crack of 11:30 and wandered around Minneapolis. Then we drove to the Mall of America where we rode rides in the largest indoor amusement park in the country. Jackson, Jamie and I went on a ghost blaster, the log flume ride and a moveable chair ride.

Later we went to a sculpture park in which we saw real toads, birds and chipmunks. Then we went to a Fourth of July Festival. We saw a raptor show containing many cool birds. One was a Peregrine Falcon, which is the fastest animal on earth. When it’s flying, it can go 200 miles per hour and when it’s diving it can go 260 miles per hour. Afterwards, we saw a terrific fireworks show on the Mississippi. It was an exciting day.

July 3, 2001

Today Jackson, Paul, Jamie and I went to the Natural History Museum while my Dad went to the Art Institute. We saw Egyptian mummies, dinosaurs and butterflies, We saw 23 real mummies in the Egypt exhibit. We also saw the largest T-Rex bones in the world. Then we went to the Fermilab. Paul had been dying to go there. It is a lab where they soot atoms at other atoms until they get smaller particles. It was awesome to learn how they just keep shooting the particles until they find the smallest possible particle.

July 2, 2001

Today we went for a long bike ride. Jamie, Dad and I road up to Wrigley Field while Paul and Jackson road to the Museum of Science and Industry. As you can see from the pictures on the website, Jamie and I went into the dugout at Wrigley Field and we got to stand on the on-deck circle. Then Dad, Jamie and I road down and met Jackson and Paul at the Museum of Science and Industry. I liked the Internet exhibit. We got to solve mysteries and form faces with computers.

After riding back to the Navy Pier, we went to DisneyQuest, which is a virtual arcade. I liked the game called Alien Encounters because you got to shoot aliens. It was a stupendous day.

July 1, 2001

Today we did many fun things. First, we walked to a church. Only Jamie, my Dad and I did this because Paul and Jackson aren’t Catholic. When we got back from mass we walked down the street to the Taste of Chicago. The Taste is a whole park filled with food stands with things like sausages, pizza and chicken wings. There were a lot of exotic foods too. You bought tickets and then used the tickets to buy food.

June 27, 2001

Today we crossed the borderline of the U.S. and went into Canada. Be before we went there, I insisted that we visit the Anchor Bar in Buffalo. I wanted to go there because that’s where they created Buffalo Chicken Wings. I got to taste some of the Suicidal Hot Wings.

After lunch, we crossed the border. (We were lucky that they didn’t find our contraband – only joking.) Niagara Falls looked powerful. We went on the Maid of the Mist that drives into the mist of the Falls. We also saw a video about the Falls and Governor Pataki seemed to be smirking while talking to the camera. We also go so close to the Falls at one point we could touch them. At night, we saw them light up and they looked spectacular.

June 26, 2001

Today we went to Cooperstown. We got to our cabin, which had almost nothing it, but we did go for a swim. We also went to a Brewery which are parents seemed to like. The kids got to drink free root beer while the adults got to taste the beer. After that we went to the Hall of Fame. We saw a whole chart on the no-hitters that were pitched. We also saw the history of baseball and the way you used to bean someone to get them out. It was a really good first day.

June 24, 2001

            Hi this is Pat here. I wanted to write about what I'm most looking forward to and why. I'm really looking forward to Las Vegas. This is because we're staying at a hotel with a circus in it. The hotel is called Circus, Circus. Las Vegas is also a good place because our parents might want to take a shot at roulette while we hang around virtual reality arcades. This is probably going to be one of the best places.

The Grand Canyon also seems like it's going to be fun. We're camping out on the top of it. A fascinating thing that I find interesting is that a small river created a giant canyon which hundreds of thousands of people visit every year.

I'm also positive that Niagara Falls will be cool. We're taking a boat under a humongous waterfall! The waterfall has a very long distance between the top and the bottom. I think it's somewhere around 100 feet tall. The first person to go over, and live, went over in a barrel. We probably won't be plummeting 100 feet over a cliff to a river below in a barrel.

I think these will be the best things but soon enough we'll find out what are the best things.