Finally Home

    Claire said it best, "The best part of every trip is coming home."
    We got up early and packed up the camper for one of the last times. We took the dogs to the dog park and they were forced to walk on a leash to and from the camper for one of the last times.
    Then we embarked on our long ride home. We had ridden many hours in the past month. We had seen many things in the last month, but no amount of time had been quite as long as the hour before home.
    Claire drove some and of course it was a stressful experience, but when we clicked on our local radio station and drove into our local town, it was almost as if we had never left. The moments in the car ticked by. We passed through our local town.
    We drove past the post office and started on the windy road to home. Finally we arrived. Home.
    Of all the wonderful things I saw on that trip the sweetest was our white house with all its malfunctions and flaws just waiting for us.
    I will always hold the month we shared in that cramped trailer dear to my heart, but I have to say this is one of my favorite posts to write.
    The arrival home was bitter sweet. During our absence a duck had fallen ill, some kittens were missing and the raspberries were ripening and some rotting and falling from the bushes and our beloved cat Buddy was no where around.
    However, Buddy made a surprise appearance later in the day and Joan did manage to find one of the lost kittens. The chickens were well fed and taken care of and the lawn was even mowed. In the evening, our little three year old neighbor and her mother and father came to the garage.
    Gabby was very enthusiastic and she climbed on the flat trailer. She picked some raspberries and did "flips" (somersaults, but she called them flips) in the grass.
    Claire had brought her back a souvenir from the Creation Museum. A plush cow. I asked her if it was a girl or a boy and she told me a boy, so I asked her it's name.
    "Gabby!" She had declared. She told her mother and her mother suggested calling it Gabe. The name was just fine in Gabby's book and so I suppose that is what it is being called.
    The day ended in a quiet sort of way and I retired to my room where I read 1 book for history and of course counted the hours for the reading program. Then I went to sleep.

Until Next Time,
    Katherine Rose

A Full Day

    The Creation Museum in Kentucky took up most of our day. We arrived and put the dogs in the camper before heading in. We walked through the Museum first.
    I enjoyed walking through the garden of Eden.
    After having seen most of the spectacular museum we watched two movies. The first was a planetarium show about space and the Universe. The next was called Men in White, a comedy featuring two angels. Claire remembered the show from our last visit years ago.
    The museum was wonderful, but I was so busy taking it all in that I didn't spend much time taking pictures.
    As we were preparing to leave, a peacock came strolling into the parking lot. Mom, Claire and Jane had seen it in the gardens before, but I thought it was rather beautiful and very out of place. I took a picture.

    We left and drove for awhile before we stopped at a campground early. The weather was less than favorable and was the first of such that we have had for this entire trip. Cousin Bill and Ms. Gladys came to visit and we went out for dinner with them at Texas Road House.
     I just had a salad, but the dinner rolls were delicious! I loved whatever spread they came with. It was cinnamon-y tasting.
    Then we went back to Cousin Bill's house. As we drove, we witnessed yet another gorgeous sunset.

    It was fun to see Cousin Bill, Ms. Gladys and even the dogs Honey Bun and Heddy after a month.
    As we went to bed, I was aware somewhere in the back off my mind, it was the last night in the camper and Claire reminded us all before she went to sleep.
    I tried not to think about it for fear I wouldn't be able to sleep because of the anticipation and excitement it would bring. I had no trouble finding sleep and the day ended quietly.

Until Next Time,
    Katherine Rose

To the East

    The Time zone finally switched back to normal, except I wasn't prepared for that and the morning was a little tough .
    Then we drove and drove and drove.
    I can sum up our day with one word and that word is "long". We started decently early and got loaded up and into the car with the ambitions of making it to the Ark Encounter.
    We left Missouri. We drove through Illinois, Indiana and finally came to Kentucky.
    We located the campsite Mom had picked out for us and it was pleasantly placed in the middle of nowhere since it was a state park, but it was very nice.
    Then came the excitement of our day. When most people are winding downing, tucking in, closing up, we pulled out of the campground headed for the Ark Encounter.
    Apparently, it closed at 12:00 am and we arrived at 10:30 pm. We had three floors of the newly opened ark to visit and we had 1 and a half hours to do so. The empty shuttle bus drove us over to the ark. It was empty because no one else was crazy enough to try that.
    We got in and raced up the ramps to the first floor. The ark is 10 stories tall and three floors. We thought we were going in conquering ten floors so we started a little fast, but somewhere someone informed us that it was only three floors so we slowed down and took our time on the way back down.
    Two interesting things:
    1. We had just missed my Mother's Cousin Bill. Cousin Bill had been there the day before us.
    2. A man told us that it was the seventh day that it had been open and earlier there had been a rainbow (possibly rainbows) over the ark.

    Here are some of the neat things we encountered in the museum.

   This particular sign was one of Claire's favorite it basically explains that since we are all descended from Noah, his sons couldn't have been much different since they were all brothers. The differences in races, eyes and hair all had to come from the wives. I would say this is an interesting point of view.
   

Looking down through the ark.

The ark.

Model of the ark.

An Exhibit in the ark.

An Animal Exhibit in the ark.

    The whole thing was an amazing experience and we made it through in ample enough time. We had to wait on the bus for the stragglers.
    We made it back to the campground, took a quick shower and rolled into bed.

Until Next Time,
    Katherine Rose

In the Car

    Dad informed us that we were two-thirds away from home. We had a lot of ground to cover and so we started driving. In the morning, we replaced the camper tires for the second time on this trip and Mom and Herbie went for a run.
    We left Colorado at some time in the day, after a bit of my history lessons that I'm sure no one is fond of, and if it weren't for Mom and Dad, would have to be done silently. Kansas welcomed us and I passed Claire my IPod to take a picture of the welcome sign for me.
    She tapped that button long before the sign appeared and as it came close to being in view, she began vigorously hammering on it. Well, when the sign passed right in the cameras line of sight she began tapping just above the camera button and missed the shot. She moved her thumb back down after it passed and took me a few more scenic pictures of Kansas.
    Don't worry though. We went to the visitors center, which was very nice and they had a welcome sign outside. I took a picture of. Here it is.

    Inside, of course they had the had the advertisement, "Get the Heck Out of Dodge", that fun quote that some of us may know, but they crossed "out of" and replaced it with "into".
It read, "Get the heck out of into Dodge city". They also had a Wizard of Oz display on the wall. It was like a little photo shoot and I took a picture with them as did Claire and Mom.
    My favorite character from the wizard of Oz has always been Scarecrow. However, I'm not quite sure why.
    Here is a picture.

    Claire drove for a little bit after that and later I was reminded of a time Claire was driving earlier on this trip. It went a little like this:

   Dad had Claire pull the car over away from the gas station (keep in mind the trailer is attached throughout this whole story) and she stayed in the front seat with the hopes of driving. Dad walked up pulled open the door and asked. "Are you driving?"
    Claire said, "Yes." confidently.  Dad made his way around the car towards the backseat.
    Mom leapt out of the car and exclaimed, "No way! I'm not sitting in the front."
    Dad ended up in the front seat with Claire.
    Claire began driving onto the highway and drove for a considerable amount of time with no problem and then we got behind a mac truck.
    Claire asked if she should pass and Dad said, "No." Then the truck turned on it's hazards and slowed down. Claire asked again if she should pass, this time Dad complied.
    She sped up slightly and then swung out into the other lane very suddenly. I didn't scream: not then anyway. Then she veered back into the other lane and nearly slammed into the mac truck and definitely cut him off. I still reframed from screaming.
    Then she swerved straight towards a cliff with no guardrail. Mom and I leaned into the middle seat and held onto each other for dear life. Mom screamed and she doesn't usually scream and we were both laughing out of pure fear and this time I did scream.
    Dad reached over and took the wheel. That was also rather scary.
    We got ourselves back on the straight highway and Dad looked over at Claire and said, "Don't take this the wrong way, but pull off on the next exit."
    We pulled off the exit and Dad told Claire to stop, right in the middle of the road and he climbed out of the passenger side and got back into the drivers seat.
    Later on, Dad said, "See, I didn't think we would survive to this rest area that's why I made her pull off."
    Then we came up behind the same truck on the highway. The truck accelerated clearly trying to stay ahead of us. Dad sat in the front seat making jokes about what he may be saying. Then as soon as we passed him he let off the gas and fell way behind us.
    Mom laughed and said, "He is slowing down."
    Dad said, "Yeah because he's not stupid. He wants to keep his job...and his life."
    However, it was a learning experience and for her first time passing ever I would say she did pretty well considering she was passing a mac truck and pulling a trailer and nobody died or was injured.
    The whole time Herbie lay on his back sprawled across two seats, sound asleep.

    Yesterday was the first time Claire has driven with the trailer since that particular incident and she did a wonderful job, considering. She didn't fall asleep though, however much I may have bored her with my history.
    I did a little silent reading and other pass times along those lines for a while. We stopped at Steak 'N Shake and I got...you guessed it...a BLT no mayo. I conducted one last history lesson as the sky darkened and our day slowly rolled to a close.
    We drove through Kansas City, Kansas.

    In case anyone out there is wondering, what happened to all the corn? Don't worry. It's here in Kansas too.

    At some point just after that, we passed into Missouri. We are slowly making our way East. Our official traveling song for these last few days has been East Bound and Down by Jerry Reed and Dick Feller. We arrived at a campsite and gee, did it feel great to take a shower.
    Claire and I talked for awhile and then went to sleep.

Until Next Time,
    Katherine Rose

A Few Stops Along the Way

    We left the camper park early in an attempt to hurry off. The race to get back officially started, but Dad and Mom decided we weren't going to rush and so we stopped off at that National park again, Mesa Verde, this time in the day time.
    We didn't buy tickets for a tour, but we drove around the park for a little while and in the day light everything seemed a lot different. There was a lot of fire damage.
    We Drove along the road until we saw the houses built into rock. This is my favorite one that we saw.

    It was neat to see how a village like that survived. We left and drove for awhile. I read some more history to the whole family -aloud, which Claire and Jane certainly did not appreciate.
    Then we came to the Great Sand Dunes.
    From far away, this is the beautiful view we had out our window.

    As we got closer the sand seemed to grow and the mountain in the background was no longer even visible.

    We marched out to those sand dunes and nearly got eaten alive by bugs, but by the time we made it to first dune the wind was whipping and carrying all the bugs away. We didn't have a problem with them until we started walking back.

    When we realized we could have the dogs on the sand dunes, Mom and Claire ran back to get the two more fit dogs (that means not Rosie). The wind and sand blew in Sparky's face and pushed his ears back so he looked like a courageous warrior, until I carried him, but when I put him down again he resumed his position.

    As we left I took a picture of the sign for you guys.

    I liked the fact that it looked like it was made out of sand. I thought that was very creative and a great way to make a sign for Great Sand Dunes.

    We drove on and I read on and everyone learned a little bit more, against some peoples will. :)

    Along the way, we stopped to take the dogs out and walk them around. To the left of our car was a gorgeous view. Across the highway the sun was setting behind a mountain, creating a halo of gold for the mountain.

    One thing I can say about Colorado, their sunsets are beautiful. We drove on late into the night and I did a little silent reading. I think Mom was sick and tired of my history, but she told me I had read enough for today. She was probably right anyway.

    We passed through a city and all the tiny lights in the dark were just so pretty I couldn't resist taking a picture.

    The day ended in a similar manner, with the whole family exhausted. Claire and I talked a bit about soccer after we tucked in, because I was and am really excited about the high school season. I am starting in as a freshman without a whole lot of soccer experience, but last year when Claire played they barely had enough for a team, so my chances of being on the field some are looking a little better.

    Then we closed our eyes and went to sleep.

Until Next Time,

    Katherine Rose

Four Corners

    Yesterday, was a day made up mainly of driving and I'm pretty sure today will serve the same sort of purpose. We had a destination in mind though, four corners U.S.A.
    We were driving on a long stretch of road as I read some history aloud to my family, all of whom, listened whether or not they actually wanted too.
    I filled in another hour of reading and we hit four corners. The day was hot and we moved the dogs to the camper where they would wait while we were gone momentarily.
    There were walls on all four sides of the monument and built into the wall were vendors. Most sold jewelry and pottery, some sold plaques with pictures of four corners and such.
    We hopped into the line that stood in front of the four corners the limit was three photos per person. I took an empty picture of the four corners of Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico tips touching right in that very spot.
   

    Of course four walls made a box and that's basically what surrounded us. Each wall was located in a state. I strolled through New Mexico, then through Arizona, then through Utah, Colorado and back into New Mexico.
    We left and headed into Colorado. We drove for a while until we found a casino with a campground and restaurant and hotel. We checked into the campground had dinner at the restaurant and went back to the campgrounds to swim.
    Sadly, the pool was closing up and we didn't get the chance to even fully get in. Luckily the woman told us we could swim at the hotel. We did that instead.
    The pool was warm, the hot tub was warmer, and the outside air was hot. The pool was inside however and we stayed for quite awhile swimming and talking.
    Then we went for a night time drive to a nearby National Park. The hills were darkened and only the glittering lights of the towns around us showed signs of inhabitants, besides the fleeting headlights of other vehicles in the night. The sun was setting behind the hills, so the mountains were black against the pink sunset.

    Perhaps, one of my favorite photos of the evening was the picture of a shadowed mountain silhouetted against the fading blue sky.

  
    The whole thing was truly beautiful we came back to the campgrounds completely wiped and planning on an early start in the morning. The showers were hot and felt nice to be under because, the dampness of pool water still clung to me, it was nice to wash it off.
    I walked back with Dad to the camper, the night air hung around us. We tucked in and I took the time to recall some of my events for you before closing my eyes and drifting off into the oblivion, better known as sleep.

Until Next Time,
    Katherine Rose

2 National Parks in One Day

    Our trip is coming to an end soon and yesterday we decided we wanted to see Bryce Canyon as well as Zion National Park.

    We left the camper and the dogs in the park with the air conditioner and set out for Bryce Canyon. I was eager to get a head start on the reading program. I read for most of the trip up.

    Bryce was beautiful, the rocks were pointy and stacked on top of each other. They were gorgeous.

    We went to the visitors center and we also managed to see some Prairie dogs on our drive. We stopped and I took a picture of one.

    We drove on and found some more views of the Canyon.

    I also saw this weird looking tree which was literally standing on it's roots.

    Then Claire drove us to Zion and I sat in the back and read my book. When we made it Zion it was so interesting seeing all the rocks towering over us, but before we could really make it into the heart of the park we had to cross through a dark tunnel over a mile long.

    The problem was, as we were waiting at the tunnel entrance, the Motorhome ahead of us was too tall for the height clearance and we had to wait until the other side of the tunnel was closed off so Motorhome could go through in the middle of both lanes.

    Jane, in the back seat, who had needed the use of the restroom a while before we entered the park was rather unhappy with the whole situation. However, I didn't really mind, because I was reading.

    I finally finished my book, just as we were arriving at the visitors center. Mom and Claire raced Jane to the restroom and Dad and I parked and strolled up to the visitors center. Inside. There wasn't a lot to see.

    We didn't stay long, before turning around and driving out. I took some shots of the rocks around us which were really cool, but we all agreed Bryce had been the highlight of the day.

    We arrived back at the park and swam until seven when the pool closed. Then we took our showers and had dinner. I stayed at the camper with Dad and did the dishes, while Claire, Jane and Mom went to the laundry mat.

    They got back late ready for sleep and we called it a night.

Until Next Time,

    Katherine Rose

The Grand Canyon

    We had a free breakfast at the campground and left for the Grand Canyon. We checked in at a campground and left the camper and dogs for the day.
    We made it to the Grand Canyon soon after that. We walked the Rim Trail and gazed at the Grand Canyon.

    Cut through the earth's surface, rock protruded from the bottom and shot up, the sheer amazement of such an intricate design could be enough to take your breathe away.

    However, the heat could do that for you. At nearly 100 degrees, we sweltered in the sun. The heat was so intense on the walk back along the pavement, it must have been vibrating through us.
    We made it back to the car and immediately cranked up the air conditioning as we drove we passed some elk and  Mom and I took a picture.

 
    Dad looked up coyote sounds and played it out the window. The elk looked up, but she didn't really seem to care a whole lot. We drove out of the Grand Canyon not to long after that and headed back to the campground to hook up the camper and pick up the dogs.

    The Grand Canyon was visible for a lot of our ride out. We stopped at a gorgeous tower. The inside was filled with designs. A stairway twisted through the tower.

    From different places you could get gorgeous looks at the Grand Canyon.

    We drove away and continued for a long time with some beautiful scenic views just outside our window.

    We reached Utah and stopped for the night at a campground there.

Until Next Time,

    Katherine Rose

In the Desert

    California continued on and the state turned lonely. The roads began to stretch for miles in front of us and out to each side we saw desert. Joshua trees filled some of the fields and it was certainly a desolate place.
   

    We saw a hill covered in windmills. Mom said they looked like gnats.

    We drove on and then we found a sign for Borax. Yes, the clothes whitener. My mother was thrilled. She was more excited than when we arrived at the sequoias the day before. We pulled in and went to the visitor center.
    We saw one of the original wagons from the twenty mule team.

    We went into the visitors center and watched an educational film, walked around and we also received free samples of Borax rocks.

This was in display in the center and was not the free sample we received :)

    We looked out the window in the back at the Borax pit (I guess you could call it).

    The stop was quick and we were on our way again, back into the empty desert. The buildings were there, but few in numbers. We jumped off the highway onto route 66, because of the Disney Pixar movie Cars.
    We were driving along and Mom noticed a sign that said rough road ahead next nine miles and we learned the hard way that when those people say rough road, they aren't kidding.

    We got back on the highway as soon as possible without turning around. :) That road was in pretty bad shape and it was sort of sad, but without a use for it there was no need to maintain it and I guess some of it sort of began to fall apart.
    Also, around this time of day sometime of day we crossed into Arizona.

    We drove for the rest of the day and arrived at a campground that appeared to be modeled after the cars movie and seemed to be honoring the historic route 66.
    They had a sort of display from the Disney Pixar movie Cars.

    We stayed there and swam in the pool for a while, before calling it a night.

Until Next Time,

    Katherine Rose

Sequoia National Park

    We woke and we were off towards the Sequoia National Park. We arrived around noon.

    Our 4th grader pass saved the day again. Because Jane is coming out of 4th grade, we get into all the National Parks for free. So this year was a good year to take the trip.

    After we drove a little way into the park, we left the trailer in a parking lot so we wouldn't have to lug it along all the windy roads.

    At first you could be a little skeptical. There weren't any big trees. I was convinced there were Sequoias in this park. After all if there weren't why would it have such a deceiving name, but Mom and Dad had been there before and I had already seen pictures of those big trees and I was just waiting to see them.

    It took a little while before the first Sequoia came into view. The giants soon began dotting the forest. We arrived at a visitors center and learned about the Sequoias.

    They had some great size comparisons for General Sherman, like how tall General Sherman is compared to the titanic.

    We took a picture of one of the Sequoias outside the visitors center.

    When we did arrive at General Sherman, the parking lot was packed. We went to the next one up, found a spot in the shade and headed down a short trail to General Sherman. I took some pictures and some panoramic shots in order to try to capture the massiveness of the tree.

    We waited around a bit for the ranger talk we thought was supposed to be there and when it was rather evident that we may have the wrong spot. We took a short trail and got to see a piece of a tremendous trunk.

    We took the trail back up to the car and drove a long while until we reached General Grant. We hiked another short trail which led through the trunk of a tree, that part was fun to walk through and it was also colder than outside.

    We reached General Grant and I took some pictures.

  

    Then we finished the trail, climbed back in the car and began driving again. We stopped at a food truck near a grocery store and Mom went to the grocery store while Dad went to the food truck.

    Satisfied, we started our drive back to the camper. We drove some more until we made it to a campground. Jane and I went swimming and Claire came along to supervise though she wasn't wearing her swim suit, so she didn't swim.

    We went back had dinner and then called it a night.

Until Next Time,
    Katherine Rose