The entire family went hiking today. Jenn and I have been doing a 2.5 mile loop on Elden Mt. since we arrived here in Flagstaff. The loop goes up a little more then 500 vertical feet and then circles back down the mountian. Sometimes we are joined by the girls or one girl or just Luke but, today everyone came on the hike! It’s not easy for the kids and I ended up carrying Sydney as we hiked the steepest part of the trail but, she only needed minor help and was able to complete the hike on her own after a small piggy back ride.
We also traversed a few large fallen trees which elevated us about 8-9 feet off the ground. The kids also love climbing on large rocks to view the world from above and to test their skills. It was a great experience for everyone.
After our hike today I started booking campsites for our trip around the mid-western states. We are planning to visit Utah, Colorado, South Dakota and Wyoming in the coming 2 months. We scheduled stops at exciting places such as the Lake Powell (Glen Canyon Damn/Horseshoe bend), Monument Valley, Glenwood Springs CO, Denver CO, Mt. Rushmore SD, Devil’s Tower WY, Yellowstone NP WY, Jackson Hole (Grand Tetons), Park City UT and Salt Lake City. We also plan to visit the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and possibly the Hoover Damn at Lake Meade if time permits. It’s a great big loop that will take us about 1800 miles and I’m in the midst of booking everything now. So, I’ll send you an update when I am done and let you know how it went and what if any changes I made. The bottom line is that we will be moving again very soon. ⛺
Luke's Journey Across The USA 
Give yourself several days for Yellowstone, a whole week at least would be ideal. When we went in 2017, I thought people were crazy when they said I should spend at least 4 days at the park, but now I wish I had spent a whole week or more. It was just such an incredible place for sightseeing and animal sighting. Please, please, please do your best to book as much time there/near there as possible. 🙂
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I booked a full week at Yellowstone! So excited to see that place.
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Hey Sean, How do I know you? I can’t place your name?
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I’m Mr. and Mrs. Clarkson’s nephew (my Aunt Donna is my mom’s younger sister). I stay at the white house the week before Labor Day every summer with my brother and his wife (Bill and Tricia Dougan) and usually my sister Marilyn as well. I can’t remember offhand if it was Luke or one of his cousins who was up there the week Irene hit Lake Pauline, but we were the renters that dreaded week too. I filmed the video you might have seen on YouTube at one point called “Lake Pauline meets Irene”.
As a hobby mostly, I have also authored a few books that take place in Ludlow, with some scenes set right there on your family’s property. 🙂 My books are in the bookshelves downstairs at the white house.
I think Tim may have shared the link to Luke’s blog on his Facebook originally, and I’ve followed along ever since. I’m actually editing a book written by a friend of mine right now, and it’s about a family of four traveling the Oregon Trail in an RV, so some of your posts here have helped educate me a bit on RV life as I’ve read through and cleaned up her book for her.
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Wow. Such a small world. We love the Clarkson. Thank you for sharing.
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