CREATION MUSEUM, Petersburg, KY (just outside of Cincinnati)
We met our dear and crazy camping friends, Kim and Michaela Johnson, and their 2 fun kids, Josh and Juliana, at this phenomenal museum as we celebrated Michaela's birthday. Kind of fun to study creation as we celebrated the creation of our sweet friend. (http://www.creationmuseum.org/) Highly recommend the museum. Very well done.
FAMILY CAMP, Hillsboro, IN
Family Camp is a definite highlight of our year where we connect with families from all over the country who are like-minded - that is families who love God and are passionate about teaching their kids about Him and raising a generation who love Him and desire to glorify Him in all they do. Families come from all over the US (Houston, Denver, upstate New York, Florida...) and we are all involved in the Growing Families International Parenting Ministry founded by Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo. (They're in the picture above with our family.) We always come away so inspired and equipped to man the trenches of parenting our 5 little blessings - several of whom are quite strong-willed! (But thankfully very cute.) We had fun playing on the paddleboats, canoes, zip line, climbing wall, blob... so much to do. We've made some great friends that all of us look forward to seeing every year. Above is a pic of the Everson Family kids. They are a FUN family with precious kids. (Their parents, Kurt and Jill, are pretty cool, too!)
PRUSSNER FARM, Reddick, IL
Rich's grandparents lived on a small dairy farm in Reddick, IL where Rich spent many summers helping out on the farm. He had a great time showing the kids around the farm and telling many stories from summers past. Rich's Aunt Ruth (who grew up on the farm) and Uncle Pete met us at our campsite at Kankakee River State Park that warm, buggy evening for dinner and our nightly tradition of a campfire and s'mores!
MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY, Chicago, IL
Can you believe Rich was brave enough to navigate a 30 foot RV through downtown Chicago? He is amazing! I loved this museum as a kid. We took many field trips there and it was one of my favorites. The kids loved it, too, especially Caleb and it was a special treat to have Uncle Matt, Aunt Suz and cousin Nicholas join us, as well.
MOSQUITOES AS BIG AS BIRDS, Northern Illinois
Apparently, northern Illinois has had a very wet summer and the mosquitoes look like small birds with large hypodermic needles for noses. Bug spray was useless. Can you see the mosquito in the above picture? And the softer and sweeter the skin - the bigger the target for these monster bloodsuckers. Poor, sweet little Rebekah looked like a pin cushion.
ILLINOIS RAILWAY MUSEUM, Union, IL
Train heaven! If you love trains, you need to check out this museum. You can climb on trains to your heart's content. Cousin Nicholas met us there along with Uncle Matt and Aunt Suz. (http://www.irm.org/.)
AUGUSTANA COLLEGE, Rock Island, IL
Rich showed the kids around his alma mater and how he played a few years of basketball there before a knee injury permanently sidelined him. (I'm not sure the knee injury was the whole reason he quit the team. I think a certain lovely young lady distracted him. Hmmm...) We were puzzled why college students these days look like kids. Back when we were in college, (just a couple of years ago) we certainly looked older than these whippersnappers trotting to classes. It was neat to see Rich's retired jersey hanging from the rafters. (Okay, maybe that was just an illusion.)
LINK FAMILY, Burlington, IA
An hour down the Mississippi brought us to the home of Joey and Carla Link and their sweet daughter, Amy, in Burlington, Iowa. They introduced our kids to 'walking tacos' which was a huge hit. Joey and Carla have put together all of the Moms Notes which are fantastic parenting resources. (http://www.momsnotes.com/) Where would we be without them and their incredible wisdom? We also stopped in to see a very fun couple - Joe and Lori Moore (Lori is the National Ministry Coordinator for GFI) The picture above is Caleb trying on their son's football pads.
THE GREAT PLATTE RIVER ROAD ARCHWAY, Kearney, NE
One of our favorite things about adventuring in the RV is finding fun things you weren't expecting or planning. We stumbled upon this museum. It wasn't hard - it's a museum that spans I-80 in the middle of Nebraska. It was a welcome sight after staring at mile upon mile of corn and soybeans in Iowa and Nebraska. The museum (http://www.archway.org/) was very well done and interactive and chronicled westward travel in the US starting with the Oregon and California Trail, to the transcontinental railroad and finally the interstate system. (Did you know the interstate system was established in 1956 by Eisenhower?)
GRANDMA YOUNG, UNCLE KURT, AUNT JANICE, TONYA, TINA AND FAMILY, Denver, CO
We arrived at Rich's cousin Tina and her husband John's beautiful home for a fun mini-family reunion just outside of Denver, CO. Rich's brother and family flew in the same day and we were able to take the picture above which is Rich's 90 year old grandmother (Dick's mom) with all 11 of her great grandchildren! We then spent several days at Uncle Kurt and Aunt Janice's home and had a wonderful time visiting with them, Tina, John, Tyler, Courtney, Austin, Tonya, Darrin, Ashley and Brendan. Aunt Janice cooked up a storm for all of us and we enjoyed every morsel!
Above is a picture of the cousins (Rich and Matt, Tonya and Tina with Grandma) and also of Brendan (Tonya's son) and Rebekah at the Denver Zoo. (Which was not Caleb's favorite part of the trip. He ended up getting Strep throat and spent his time at the zoo laying in a wagon feeling icky. Thank you to John for taking us to an urgent care facility on a Sunday evening to get him treated. Thankfully, he bounced back quickly and within 24 hours was as good as new!)
Austin and Ellen/ Logan and Brendan
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK, CO
Amazing! It's so hard to pick just a few pictures to post. We did quite a bit of hiking and took over 100 pictures. We'd take a breathtaking picture then travel a bit further on the path and around a bend would be a vista even more incredible. With Anna in the snuggly pack on me, Rebekah in the backpack carrier on Rich, and Ellen, Caleb and Logan on foot, we made some amazing hikes. We were so proud of Logan - he made it the entire way! We made a big deal of taking him to a local hiking store before leaving town to fit him with some good hiking shoes. He was so proud of those - I don't think he wanted to be seen being carried wearing such cool big boy shoes. We hiked to Alberta Falls, around Bear Lake, up to Nymph Lake and then Dream Lake (elevation 10,000 feet) over a 2 day span. The weather was gorgeous - clear blue skies, low 70s during the day at 8000 ft, (probably 60s higher up) and dipping crisply into the 40s at night. We wish we could have stayed several weeks in the mountains. Very refreshing, relaxing and restful. Ahhh....
We saw and heard many elk during our stay in the Rockies. Apparently, it's their mating season and they were plentiful as they bugled to each other hoping to attract a mate. We had an elk and a coyote visit us at our campsite during our stay. Very friendly folks here!
Below is a picture of our Wilbur (the RV) at our campsite in the Rockies. That's Longs Peak in the background - highest peak in Rocky Mountain National Park at 14,259 feet. You'll notice snow at the top. Isn't that an amazing view to wake up to? And, of course, our nightly s'mores ritual. The kids are becoming experts at the fine art of marshmallow roasting. Can that count as an elective in school?
TRAIL RIDGE ROAD, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
Trail Ridge Road (http://www.rmnp.com/RMNP-Areas-TrailRidge.HTML) is the highest paved road in the United States, with 11 miles of it being above the treeline. The road is only open a few months of the year due to heavy snow, wind and cold. In fact, the temperature doesn't get above freezing for 8 months of the year. The windchill was a brisk 45 degrees when we stopped at the Alpine Visitors Center. Brrr! Our trusty GPS unit named NIMRAG (Garmin spelled backwards - yes, we name everything) registered a peak elevation of 12,205 feet. Majestic views at the rooftop of the Rockies. Highly recommend this drive.
CONTINENTAL DIVIDE, Colorado
We all had to get out and straddle the Continental Divide as we continued along Trail Ridge Road. No, we didn't pour a bottle of water out on the line. Thought about it, but we were too thirsty.
GARDEN OF THE GODS, Colorado Springs, CO
Amazing red rock formations here at Garden of the Gods. The formations have names such as Kissing Camels, Balanced Rock, etc. But we had more fun as a family as we drove through the park renaming everything. Lizard Lips, Rocket Launcher, Praying Hands... Sometime you'll have to ask us how we almost made Balanced Rock become Knocked Over Rock. When a sign says, 'No RVs', it's wise to read the sign and obey.
BALDAUFF HOME, Colorado Springs, CO
We figure Wilbur is approximately 200 square feet of living space. That's quite cozy for 7 people for 3 1/2 weeks. So it was with much appreciation that we were able to move into my cousin Lynda's house for a couple of nights where they gave us the run of their entire finished walkout basement that had an incredible view of Pikes Peak out the back window and where they fed us like royalty! (Regis took an amazing picture of our family on their back deck with Pikes Peak looming over us, but for some reason I keep getting an error message when I try to upload it. You're going to have to trust me on this one.)
Lynda, her husband, Regis and their children, Melissa and Joe showed us around the US Olympic Training Center, the Manitou Springs Indian Cliff Dwellings, and took us to the Flying W Ranch for a chuckwagon supper. We had a blast with them and even got to tour another urgent care facility with them thanks to Rebekah and another bout with Strep. Thankfully, we were able to get her treated quickly. Were the rest of us yet uninfected sitting targets in the crosshairs? We were getting a bit paranoid.
THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, Kansas
Wow, there is a whole lot of prairie and wind and beef cattle and wind and more wind in eastern Colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma. It was a long day and a half of driving through this vast expanse of land. We found a Little Campground on the Prairie where we settled in for the night and enjoyed the stars as Rich and Ellen serenaded us.
ANDERSSON HOME, Little Rock, AR
Continuing on through more prairie (as Ellen lay in the bed of the RV with a high fever and sore throat. Gee, wonder what she could have? No urgent care this time. Gave her a swig of Rebekah's amoxicillin and called ahead to Dr. Bug, my sister Jeanine, who had another prescription waiting for us when we arrived at her house later that day. Thank you Jeanine!) We had a wonderfully relaxing day at Jeanine and Thomas' gorgeous house playing ping pong and croquet. When Jeanine tires of being a hand surgeon she could have quite a successful career as an interior designer. We were again treated like royalty with a big comfy bed and food fit for a king! Jeanine cooked up a storm for us and even had a birthday party for Caleb where he received 2 electric light sabres. Can you say happy little boy? Life is good when you're turning 7.
LASTINGER HOME, Atlanta, GA
Had a beautiful drive through Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama on the way to our dear friend's home in Atlanta. Chris and Lisa recently adopted their 2nd child and we were all eager to meet little Hannah and see her big sister, Abbie, again. Their girls are precious! And yes, once again we were fed like royalty. For some reason people like to cook for us which is really nice because we really like to eat.
MAYFIELD DAIRY, Braselton, GA
Although we wanted to be home later today we were certainly in no rush to end this glorious adventure of ours. We were looking for anything to do to delay our getting home. The Mayfield Dairy just outside of Atlanta was a perfect diversion. We toured the facility, learned how Mayfield milk was packaged and sampled their delicious ice cream. Yes, that was lunch. Isn't vacation great kids?
RIVERBANKS ZOO, Columbia, SC
Another diversion so close to home. Can you tell we really weren't ready to end our vacation?
HOME SWEET HOME, Mt. Pleasant, SC
But the fun had to come to an end sometime. Around 8:00pm we pulled into the driveway thus officially ending the adventure. We made some amazing memories in our 24 days through 16 states over 4400 miles. Can you guess what Rich and I discussed during the last few hours of our drive home? Where to next and how soon can we leave? Stay tuned...
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