Communications Note - Michelle has been having some trouble with her email. Please use the davisfamilytol@gmail.com email address to contact her. If you've sent anything in the last couple of weeks, you may wish to resend.

We had a relatively short 4 hour drive Friday morning from Memphis to Nashville, where we'll spend 4 nights in what I hope will prove to be a relaxing stay. Thank God for air conditioning, it's really hot here. I think I'm getting soft in the low humidity of Montana.

We don't have a lot planned here, which will be nice for the holiday weekend. We'll go and see the sights, the girls will do some swimming and probably some shopping, and I need to catch up a bit on some work. We also are planning to go to a restaurant called the Aquarium which is supposed to be lots of fun.

Saturday Update:

Today was Girl's Day. They spent their day at the mall, specifically a place called Club Libby Lu, an all girls store that specializes in doing "make overs" for tween girls. As you can see by the pics, the girls did the full deal, and Faith chose to get made up like Sharpey from High School Musical. And, yes, she walked around the mall for the rest of the day and went to dinner dressed up that way, wig and all. She looked so cool! Kenzie didn't go as "wild" but did get the get up done with hair, nails, etc.

That evening, we went to the Aquarium restaurant, which features a 250,000 gallon aquarium in the middle of the restaurant, complete with a guitar-nosed shark, sting rays, and all array of fish and eels. It was a fun time, and a nice relaxing day!

Sunday Update:

What a great day!

We took a literal leap of faith today and attended church at Spruce Street Baptist church in downtown Nashville. This is a predominately black church, so much so that including our family, there were 6 white people there. Added to that experience was that visitors all stand up and introduce themselves. We stood out a bit, but what a great experience! Michelle asked me last night what my favorite thing was in the trip so far, and this was definitely it. The choir was awesome, both the adult and children's choir, and the preaching was outstanding. What a spirit-filled church! We had a blast, and everyone was super nice. If you ever find yourself in Nashville on Sunday, head downtown and attend here, well worth the trip.

We spent some time at a "customer appreciation" lunch today the campground with some free bbq and some bands. The first band was a great trio whom we spoke to afterward. As it turns out, they are a group of former gospel singers (very successful) that were led to move into the country music scene. They were awesome, and we had a great talk about their Christian walk and how God has been moving them in their lives.

We simply had a great day today, and we're looking forward to seeing the Grand Ole Opry and downtown Nashville tomorrow.

Monday Update:

Today started with an early morning visit to the Pancake Pantry, a famous downtown eatery that has 20 different kinds of pancakes. We got there just about 8:15am, having read that you need to be there before then or stand in line. This was pretty accurate, as by 8:30, the line was around the building. We didn't have to wait long, and the stories are true, the pancakes (especially the sweet potato ones) were awesome!

After breakfast, we took a little tour of downtown via the suburban. We had planned on doing the citywalk tour on foot, but after seeing so many shady homeless characters that were pretty aggressive, we decided to remain in the safety of the car. Thanks to some good navigating by Michelle, we were able to see the area fully, including the Country Music Hall of Fame and Music Row, home to a bunch of country and Christian recording studios and record companies.

In the afternoon, we went over to the Grand Ole Opry for a backstage tour and a look around the museum, which was interesting, and we even got to stand and sing on stage there. Lots of history to be seen here, and although it didn't mean much to the girls yet (other than the mention of Taylor Swift,) Michelle and I could relate to most of it.

That was about the essence of Nashville. We aren't big party people, and there are hundreds of "honky-tonks" to be enjoyed as well, but that's not really our bag.

Happy Labor Day!

Travel Note - we're keeping the folks in New Orleans in prayer today, and we're also keeping a close eye on Tropical Storm Hanna. She's due to be a Category 1 Hurricane and hitting the Coast of Georgia by Friday, just about the time we arrive in Gainesville, which could be affected. We're praying that things go smoothly, and we stay safe, plus our trip continues on unaffected.

Faith's blog:
Today we went to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. Who’s your favorite country star? Josh Turner, Taylor Swift, Brittney Spears? You name it. We got to stand and sing on the stage they would’ve stood on. And I think it’s better that I not share what I sang. We also went to a place called Libby Lu’s. I got a wig like Sharpay. I’m sure all you boys would love it.

Kenzie's blog:
We went to the Grand Ole Opry House. We got to stand on the stage that many country singers have stood on. We also drove around music row. That is where a lot of recording studios are. My favorite part was Club Libby Lu. It is like a beauty salon. See yah!

Photos:

Nashville

Video:

Well, here we are in Elvis' home town, and I already feel cooler...well, sort of, it's stinkin' hot here!

Today was just a travel day mainly. We got here around 3pm, and we're at a campground South of Memphis right on the Mississippi. It was fun seeing the tugboats push their barges around, and it's a nice area. We also found a bunch of frogs (Faith's favorite) and I brought one into the camper to see. These things must get huge eating the millions of mosquitoes around here.

Thursday Update:

Today was a fun and busy day...we started with the morning and into the afternoon at Graceland, then off to Neely's for some good barbecue, and then off to the National Civil Rights Museum to finish up the day.

Graceland is interesting, whether you're an Elvis fan or not. It's pretty commercialized, but I wouldn't expect any different. We got lucky and missed Elvis-week by a week, so the place was basically empty. The tour was fun and interesting, and it was apparent that, as my hot wife said, "all men are just kids in grown up bodies..." Elvis definitely had the toys.

The NCRM was really interesting, although somewhat overwhelming. There were probably hundreds of pages worth of text to be read on the tour, so you can spend more than the 2.5 hours we did there. My knowledge of black history isn't what it should be, and I was intrigued at all that was presented and learned a lot. I think the girls did as well, but must say they were a bit overwhelmed at all the information.

Neely's, btw, is a great place for barbecue. Authentic and down home, it was recommended by our tour bus driver at Graceland, and we weren't disappointed. The prices were reasonable and the servings huge. Faith even stepped out of her usually small food box to order some Texas Sausage instead of chicken nuggets, which was cool, and she loved it. Michelle and I could barely finish 1/2 of a 2 person serving of wet ribs. Good stuff...I'm hungry all over again.

Photos:

A note about the photos: they don't allow video or flash inside Graceland, so some of the photos are a little sketchy. The National Civil Rights Museum doesn't allow any video or photos at all, so we were reduced to just the outside.

Faith's blog:
Today we went to the home of Elvis Presley. It was really fun. The King of Rock and Roll was once convinced to sing to a Bassett Hound. “You Ain’t Nothing But A Hound Dog.” We also went to the Civil Rights Museum. That was about Martin Luther King Jr.

Kenzie's blog:
This stop was fun. We got to go into Graceland. That is Elvis’ home. It is really big and really pretty!
We also went to the National Civil Rights Museum. We got to see the exact spot where Martin Luther King Jr. was shot. It was in a hotel. It was sad.

Memphis

Video:

We have decided to take a more Southernly route back home and have changed our plans a bit. We are now going to head through South Dakota and through the black hills. This will make our 3rd trip through the area, and we love seeing Mt. Rushmore and Rapid City. We'll split the trip up and stop over in Chamberlain for a night.

Here is an updated schedule. I decided to trim it to just the pending/current stops so it's a smaller image and easier to read.

After an awesome visit in Tulsa with the Lewis family, we were all set to head out to Branson, MO this morning. That was slightly derailed by a couple of different significant rashes that Kenzie has, and a very long visit to yet another Urgent Care. I've told her she's getting too expensive, so we'll be trading her in soon. ;->

I've also been pretty sick myself with a lovey summer cold which has moved throughout my head and has made a nice home in my throat the last couple of days. I'm hoping a couple of good nights' of sleep will help my body fight it.

Needless to say, after the visit to urgent care and then a diversion to hobby lobby (don't get me started. ;->) we were a little late getting out of Tulsa. We made it to Branson and our really nice campground, and we decided to just settle in.


Tuesday Update:

Today we visited the Titanic Museum, and played dinosaur mini golf. Then we just made our way around town and took a few pictures of the attractions. Branson is a pretty nice little town, although since school has started now, it's pretty deserted, and lots of stuff is closed up. Made for a nice quiet visit though.

Faith's blog:
Today we went to Branson, Missouri. We saw the Titanic Museum. We got to be a person that was on the Titanic. They gave us passports that gave our names. I was Amy Stanely who stayed alive. We also played mini golf. It was fun. We saw a huge moth. It was cool.

Kenzie's blog:
Yesterday we went to the Titanic Museum. The building was shaped as 1/3 of the Titanic but it was only half scale and it was HUGE! That was cool!

Then we played mini golf at a place called Dinosaur Island. There’s a fake volcano that two of the holes were in. My dad found a giant moth. It was awesome!



Photos:

Branson

Video:

We headed up for a short trip to Tulsa to stay with Paula Lewis, Michelle's college buddy, and also to see my friend's the Koeninger's as well. Another low-event stay should be nice for us in preparation of a couple of busy weeks and travels to come.

Saturday was partially a short travel day from OKC, and then we more or less just hung out with Paula and John at their house. What a blast the girls had. John has an Xbox 360 with Rock Band, and the girls have already decided that they need it for Christmas. They probably played that game for 7 hours on Saturday (note to parents, prolonged exposure to xbox 360 may affect your child's brain. ;->) Kenzie is actually quite proficient on the drums, and Faith did great on the vocals. I gave the guitar a whirl, and could hold my own on medium difficulty, but decided overall that the real guitar is easier.

Sunday we enjoyed church with Jason and Shannon Koeninger, old friends from way back, then went and had lunch and spent some nice time at their home. I played Jason 20 times or so at pool and learned why you don't play a guy in pool that owns his own table. He kicked my butt every time. The ladies visited and looked through scrapbooks, and the kids played a bit.

That night we went out to dinner and then played a bit more Rock Band (we'll need a week to catch up on sleep).

We didn't really do any sightseeing in Tulsa, but really just hung out with our friends. We said this morning that it has been one of our favorite stops.

Thanks John for cooking breakfast for us!

Photos:

A note about the photos. Thanks to my cold and just overall tiredness, Michelle and I were a little out of it Sunday and we totally forgot to take any pictures at the Koeninger's house. Sorry about that guys!

Tulsa

After a short drive from Elk City, we're here in Oklahoma City with my parents, and it's a nice place, beautiful home, and of course, Grandma is cooking up a storm of awesome food!

The main thing we wanted to see in OKC was the OKC Bombing Memorial. We spent more than 3 hours there, and the museum was incredible. I highly recommend it for a visit if you get to the heartland. The bombing was the 2nd largest terrorist attack on American soil (1st until 9/11), and showed both tragedy and triumph of the human spirit. I believe it changed OKC forever and also showed just how great and compassionate okies can be. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take any pictures of the museum inside, but we did take some outside as you can see in the album. You can visit the website here.

We had a wonderful visit with my folks, and other than Peanut peeing all over Deanna, I think they enjoyed having us. ;-> She just learned not to pick him up after you lock him in the crate, guess I forgot to mention that. The girls did knitting, played in the hot tub, watched Disney Channel, and enjoyed sleeping inside for a few nights. Of course, as I mentioned before, we were well fed, and enjoyed both home cooking and eating about town.

We also made the trip up to Stillwater to grab a bite at Eskimo Joes. The food is pretty good, but really, it's not about the food anyway. We spent lunch visiting with Beth, our niece, which was nice, and then picked up a few souvenirs in the give shop.

Faith decided she wanted to see the houses I had lived in, so we drove around the town looking at them. Not too exciting there, but it was fun seeing how Stillwater has changed.

Friday afternoon we met Matt and Julie Hollrah and kids (Sadie and Simon) at the bookstore for a visit, then headed over to PF Changs for dinner. My brother Dan and nephew Kyle came, as well as Dan's GF too. We had a nice dinner and then visited afterward.

We really had a good time in OKC, and were glad to be able to visit so many family and friends.

Faith's blog:
Today we went to the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. It was really sad. It was the biggest/most amount of deaths since 9-11. Today 9-11 is the most people who died from an attack. The bombing was really big.

Kenzie's blog:
We stayed with our grandparents. They are nice. We got to go to the O.K.C. Bombing Memorial. It was really sad. I liked going to Eskimo Joes. They have really good cheese fries.

Photos:

Texas_Oklahoma

Video:

Not much to report here, a long travel day, and time with family. We had a great but short visit with my Grandmother (88 years old) in Shamrock, TX, then arrived in Elk City, OK to spend the night and visit with my sister. It's so good to see everyone, and I'm sure we'll enjoy the visit.

One thing of note is that on the way here, we stopped off in Groom, TX to see the world's largest cross. It was created by a guy locally, and it includes a 190' metal cross, a replica of the tomb, Calvary, the stations of the cross, and an anti-abortion display with Jesus and an unborn child. Pretty powerful overall and awe-inspiring, especially considering who built it and where it is.


You can learn more here: http://www.crossministries.net/.

Off to OKC tomorrow for a few days with my parents.

Video of the Cross:

We are now in Santa Fe, NM with family, where we'll be for the next couple of days.

After a disappointing start (the anticipated pancake breakfast at the campground was canceled,) we had a nice quick 5 hour drive from Cortez, which seemed much shorter than we anticipated.

We're here visiting today, enjoying some more down time, and catching up on video uploads and blog entries, plus some emails here and there. I'm also working on updating our reservations for all the changes the boss said she wanted.

Monday Update:

We had planned on visiting a living history type museum, but as sometimes happens, the museum was closed on Monday. No worries, we made other plans and went and visited downtown Santa Fe.

We visited several churches, the heavily Spanish influenced community is largely Catholic, and the Catholic churches have played a major role throughout this city's history.

Included in the churches we visited was one that included the "Miracle Staircase" a staircase that is self-supporting, a true carpentry and engineering marvel. Many believe that St. Joseph (Jesus' Earthly father) answered a specific prayer and came in the flesh to build the staircase hundreds of years ago. It was amazing.

We had a wonderfully relaxing lunch, and also visited the local town square. Overall, we got a great overview of Santa Fe, despite the change in plans, and enjoyed a great day.

Michelle's Aunt Sandy and Uncle Laurie spoiled all of us terribly, and we really enjoyed our time at their home. Beware though...Laurie yields a mad tree saw...and did a little trimming to the trees to accommodate our trailer. We had an awesome time!

Faith's blog:
Today was fun. First we had a treasure hunt, then we saw the oldest church. We also got to go on the Old Santa Fe Trail. Well, we actually walked to the end of it. It was all cool. The treasure hunt was at my great aunt and uncle’s house. We each found 7 things. It was a great day.

Kenzie's blog:
Here we got to see the oldest church and some really cool shops. I have never seen adobe houses! We had fun with our great aunt Sandy and great uncle Laurie. They put together a treasure hunt for us. That was fun. They are really nice!

Photos:

Santa Fe

Video:

Sorry for the posting delay, we were in a bit of a networking blackout in the canyons of Mesa Verde National Park.

After what seemed like the longest drive day of the trip from Williams, AZ to Mesa Verde (just outside Cortez, CO,) we found ourselves in a nice quiet campground and ready to explore the ancient ruins of the Cliff Dwelling people of the 12th and 13th centuries.

Previously referred to as the Anasasi people, now the Ancestral Puebloans, these ancient people built some startlingly amazing structures in the hills of this arid and harsh landscape. We were amazed to see what they had done, all by hand carry and carve of stone. I was reminded of how much whining I did while working on the pond, carrying a few rocks from the trailer to the pond...these folks not only carried thousands of tons of rock, but also manually shaped each one before placing it in the walls.

It was a great time, and we really enjoyed seeing the history of this interesting people.

Faith's blog:
Mesa Verde was fun. We got to see all the original sights. Did you know in Espanol Mesa Verde means green table in English? It is called green table because they planted crops on the mesa. Mesa = table Verde = green

Kenzie's blog:
This is my favorite stop. It means “green table” because there are lots of plants and trees on the mesas (tables) they live under. There are over a dozen villages and temples. We only go to go in the Cliff Palace. It’s the biggest village. There a living room things called Kivas. This was really cool.

Photos:

Mesa Verde

Video:



On a program note...Michelle decided that I had not allowed enough time in some of our destinations, so we have added a week to the trip. I will be posting a new trip schedule as soon as I have one updated.

We had an early morning this morning, had to drop the p-dawg off at the kennel here, then get the train tickets, then off to the train.

We enjoyed a nice 2.25 hour train ride to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon today. It was a very old restored train, and it was an enjoyable ride up and back. The train had entertainers, masked "robbers", and all the things that go along with train travel.

We spent about 3.5 hours at the Canyon, walked around the rim bit, shot the video, and grabbed some lunch. At the end of the day, it's just a really HUGE hole in the ground, but we loved seeing it, and were in awe of the creation...cool stuff.

We'll be here for a couple of more days, enjoying some work time and just doing nothing time and pool time. We have some videos to catch up with as well, so look for those.

We'll head out Friday for Mesa Verde National Park, should be a fun time as well. I'll update this post when the video is done.

Faith's blog:
Today we went to the Grand Canyon. It was cool. We walked around it for just a minute. No one really knows how it was made. We saw the many different layers in the rocks. The Grand Canyon is historic. It was fun.

Kenzie's blog:
We got to see the Grand Canyon. It was HUGE! We took a walk around the rim. When we were walking back we did the video. We finally got it right. Everyone around us started clapping and cheering. This was fun, but I liked taking the train there the best. The entertainment was good and the free soda was great! But I got bored because it’s a 2 and a half hour ride. Oh well, it was fun anyway.

Video:

We finished up the trip to Calico by panning for gold, walking in a very wacky crooked house, touring old west shops and museums, and walking through an 120+ year old hand dug mine. The experience was cool, and we had a great time there at Calico Ghost Town.

We decided to take a little diversion on the way to Williams and took Old Route 66 outside of Kingman. There are lots of little shops to see, mostly gone and abandoned, but a great place was found as well that had a '57 Corvette, and lots of cool stuff inside.

We arrived in Williams, AZ late in the day around dinner time, and on the suggestion of TripAdvisor, visited Twisters diner. We had some great burgers, dogs, and milkshakes, all in a 50's type diner, highly recommend. We ended up setting up camp in the dark, but the campground is really nice here. We also saw a little wild west shoot out show outside the restaurant.

We leave early for the Grand Canyon. It's 2.25 hours each way on the train, so it should be an adventure. We're looking forward to it. The girls are also looking forward to tomorrow night when they can grab some pool time. We're hear until Friday, so Thursday will be work for me, and play time for the girls. More later...

Faith's blog:
Today we went to Calico Ghost Town. It was fun. We got to pan for gold. We found quite a bit. It is real gold but it wasn’t worth much. We also got to go in a mystery house. There were about 5 or 6 different tricks. They were all cool.

Kenzie's blog:
We had lots of fun here! My favorite part was panning for gold. I found quite a bit of it! We saw lots of old stores and buildings, including the church/school. The Calico Ghost Town was named after the Calico Mountains. This was one of my favorite stops.



Photos:

Route 66 and Grand Canyon

We're sitting hiding in the trailer, hiding from the 113 degree heat outside here at Calico Ghost Town, just outside of Barstow, CA in the desert. We drove a bunch of miles today from San Mateo, and as expected, got here just as the main stuff was closing. We'll hit the high points in the morning and pan for gold, etc. The town is open until dusk, so we'll go up and take a look when it cools down.

This is largely just an overnight stop en route to the Grand Canyon. We're looking forward to a few down days, and of course a cool train ride to the Canyon, and some swimming and catching up on work.

We went up and looked around. This place is pretty cool, and incredibly HOT!

Photos:

Calico Ghost Town

Video:

Today was mainly just a travel day. We had a long drive, so we got up early in the rain and headed down the PCH to San Fransisco. What an awesome drive! The scenery was beautiful, but unfortunately the gas prices are about $.50 higher per gallon that pretty much any where else.

We got to Michelle's Uncle's place and just kind of hung out. It was great after a very long week of travel and tours. We had a wonderful dinner provided by Roger, and called it a relatively early night.

We're pumped for a great day of sightseeing tomorrow in San Fransisco.

Sunday Update:

We had a great fast and furious day of museums, and site seeing, and a whirlwind drive through the streets of San Francisco. I've decided Uncle Roger would make a great cabbie. ;->

We visited the Zeum first, which is a great interactive audio/visual museum. We did karaoke, make claymation, shot a commercial, and other interactive fun. We had a great time there. We then headed towards the Exploratorium, which is a huge interactive science museum, with more exhibits than you can handle. We actually ran out of time to finish, and my brain hurt from all of the stuff.

We stopped by and saw a the Golden Gate Bridge from afar, and were pleasantly surprised to see the fog lift briefly for a good view. From where we were, we also enjoyed a nice view of Alcatraz.

Back home for a great meal from Roger. We take off early for a long drive to Calico Ghost town en route to the Grand Canyon. We're all looking forward to a few days of R&R. Video will be a few days for Redwoods and San Fran, need some time to edit and post.

As a side bonus for this stop, we saw a bunch of the cars in the Gumball 3000, a world-wide road rally filled with some really cool cars. Lambos, rice rockets, and a few other interesting cars all passed us on the highway on the way to San Mateo.

Faith's blog:
We got to go to the Zeum, Exploratorium, and Golden Gate Bridge. I liked them all. At the Zeum we got to make our own video. It was really cool. It was called “The Shampoo Commercial.” I learned at the Exploratorium… Did you know that black sand has iron in it?

Kenzie's blog:
Last stop? San Francisco! We stayed with my great Uncle Roger. He was really nice! He took us to the Zeum and the Exploratorium. The Zeum has more of creative projects. The Exploratorium has lots of science projects. They were lots of fun. We also got to go over the Golden Gate Bridge. I didn’t realize that it’s red! I had a lot of fun.



Photos:

San Francisco

Video:

We had a great time yesterday at the Redwood National Forest, what an amazing place to see these 1000's of year old trees. We definitely saw the hand of God here...

On the way up, we stopped off to see a little beach off the 101 (PCH) where sea lions and seals come to sun and play (thanks to Candy M. for the recommendation), and it was cool to see the seals playing in the water.

We also saw some of the serious fires that are going on in Northern, CA, and you can see the smokey roads in some of the pictures.

We dropped the trailer at the campground and headed North to Trees of Mystery, a place that has a great selection of redwoods of all types, many of which have been featured in Ripley's Believe it or Not. We saw the largest Family Tree, some candelabra trees, and even took a high air tram ride to the top of the mountain for a birds eye view. As you can see in the photos, we got a good view of a huge Paul Bunyan and Ox out front.

We headed back towards the camper, and stopped off in a little diner (Palm Cafe) in Orick, CA and had a great time. The waiter was really nice, and we had some of the best food we've ever had. If you're ever in that area, a must stop.

The girls couldn't wait to hit the beach, and we found a great one right on the way and spent a couple of hours. You can see my new "office"...what a view.

Off to San Francisco tomorrow!

Faith's blog:
Yesterday we went and saw supposedly some of the oldest trees in the world. Most of them were very tall. One is in Ripley’s Believe It or Not. It was one you could walk through. We also got to drive through a giant tree. It was real cool.

Kenzie's blog:
We had lots of fun in the Redwood National Forest. The coolest part was the Trees of Mystery. It has some really cool and old trees, like the family tree which has trees growing out of it, and many more cool trees.

Photos:

Redwood National Forest

Today was a short 2 hour drive to Mt. Shasta, California to visit the area and spend time with friends.

Friday afternoon, the girls visited a fish hatchery, which had some cool trout, including a couple of orange ones, that looked like someone's Koi had been messing around in the tank, if you know what I mean. ;->

We spent Thursday around the Mt. Shasta area, hiking and visiting a great lake. This is a really beautiful area. We saw some absolutely huge Douglas Fir trees, and enjoyed a fun 4 mile hike. We also spent some time at a local lake here so the girls could swim a bit.

Faith's blog:
Mount Shasta was fun. We got to swim in the lake. It wasn’t very cold. It was called Lake Sisikyou. It was cool. Mount Shasta is a volcano. We got to see a puzzle plant.
They come apart and go back together. It doesn’t harm them. I would like one.

Kenzie's blog:
We were just in Mt. Shasta. Mt. Shasta is a volcano that hasn’t erupted in about 250 years. We saw a museum that gave us lots of info on the volcano. Like the first person to reach its top. After that we saw the fish hatchery which is where we fed the fish. The day after we arrived in Mt. Shasta we took a 4 mile hike. It was so beautiful. I had a lot of fun. Hopefully we go again!

Miles so Far:1350 Miles

Next stop, the Redwood National Forest and Trinidad, CA.

Photos:

Mt Shasta

Video - Short and Sweet

Just a quick note here, we stopped by Ashland, Oregon to see Michelle's Aunt Lyn. We had a lovely visit with Lyn, but I've decided Ashland hates me. We had lots of interesting things happen while we were there, most of which weren't great.

Even with that, we still had a good time. Off to Mt. Shasta.

Here are some photos, some great ones with Aunt Lyn...

Faith's blog entry:
In Ashland we got to go to a neat park. Me and Kenzie got soaked in the creek. We stayed with my great Aunt Lyn. We had a real fun time. I enjoyed it a lot.

Kenzie's blog entry:
We got to stay with our Great Aunt Lyn. She was sooooooo nice!!! We got to eat at the park. It was fun! I tried walking up the creek. I fell in a few times. I had sooo much fun! I can’t wait to visit her again!

Photos:

Ashland

Well, what a day...filled with lots of driving, quite a bit of frustration, especially with technology, and some interesting driving "lessons" for Michelle.

We made it to the Oregon coast and went by the Tillamook Cheese Factory (ie: Faith's dream location) for a tour and some cheese and ice cream. It's a fun trip around the factory, and educational.

Michelle had to drive the trailer today for a while, and unfortunately, through the city, and other than wanting to completely throw up, she did awesome! I was working through some work stuff until we got out of Verizon coverage for about an hour...all in all, I think I have less hair now, but we survived.

I'm still working on the video from Seattle. We'll be working on some voice over content for it so it makes more sense and is more educational.

More photos and videos to come. Sorry for the delay, with all the video and photos, it takes a bit of time to do each site. We're looking forward to some downtime in the coming days...

Faith's blog entry:
We stayed for one night. But we still got to see the cheese factory. It was really cool.

Kenzie's blog entry:
We just left Tillamook, OR. Seeing it’s cheese factory was cool! We watched them make, serperate and package the cheese. Then we got samples of some cheese and got ice cream. I liked the dioramas of how cheese started. It was fun.
Photos:

Tillamook

Video:

Days 2 and 3 were in Seattle, Washington. We spent a good deal of time at Ballard Locks, which is the gateway for boats and ships to go between the Puget Sound and Salmon Bay. There is up to a 26' elevation difference between the 2 bodies of water, so they use a system of water locks and gravity drains to move the boats up or down for entry between the two.

At the locks, there is also a set of "fish ladders" which allow the salmon to make their way more easily to their spawning grounds.

We also made our way to Pike Place Market, a huge market for fish, veggies, fruit, and all sorts of wares. There were a million people there it seemed, and very busy. There are live bands, lots of fun, and of course, the flying fish of the Pike Place Fish Market.

Also on the agenda was Pioneer Square, an area of town that was destroyed by fire at one point, and completely rebuilt. This area of town also includes a firefighter memorial, which was really cool.

To finish up the day, we spent some time at the Space Needle, built in 1962 for the World's Fair. We elected not to spend $64+ for the elevator ride up, but it's quite a site to see, especially considering it was largely ornamental.

Seattle is a neat town, and we enjoyed our time there.

We'll be updating the video here with some voice over information to add to the educational appeal. Check back for updates.

Faith's blog entry:
We got to see a lot. I liked the Space Needle the best. It was tall. . . taller than my mom (who is really tall.) We didn’t get to go in it though. But we got a souvenir. Thanks for reading.

Kenzie's blog entry:
We’re at Seattle, WA. We have a great campground that we’re staying in. It is so fun. We went and say the Pike Place Market, the space needle and the Ballard Locks. My favorite was the locks! It was so cool!!!! You can see the Salmon swimming when you go under ground. There are giant, lock-like things that block the water and even out for boaters to get across. It sounds confusing but you can watch our video to find out more. See yah!

Explanatory Text for Video - We had some technical issues preventing us from doing the voice over for this video, so here is some text to explain what you're seeing.

Ballard Locks:

The Ballard Locks were built to keep the fresh water from Lake Washington from mixing with the salt water of the ocean, and to move the boats from the higher water level of the lake to the lower water level of Puget Sound.

The way they work is that boats coming in from Salmon Bay line up in the lock. Then they shut the gates on the ends of the lock and seal it shut. The water is then drained until it is the same water level as Puget Sound. Once they are the same, the gate to Puget Sound is opened and the boats are released.

Everything is done in reverse for boats that are coming from Puget Sound and entering Salmon Bay.

Fish Ladders

Another part of the Ballard Locks is the fish ladders. Most fish ladders are entirely in salt water but the Ballard Locks are in salt water and fresh water. The ladders are steps that the Salmon swim up to get to the place they were born and lay their eggs. They usually die after laying their eggs. The ladders attract the fish and keep them from going into the locks were they would probably get killed by boats or birds.



Photos:

Seattle

Video:

I'm switching over to using GodTube for the large videos since some servers block Youtube. Smaller videos will just be embedded here.

Well, relatively uneventful day, largely just travel. Another 360 miles or so, and a really nice drive through huge wheat fields and corn fields (it's like Kansas and Iowa.) Then, you hit the mountains, and a beautiful drive with mountain lakes, great passes, and all around enjoyable scenery.

We're happy to report Faith is feeling better. She's still running a mild fever, but way better than last night. Kenzie had a bit of a headache today, but not sure if that's the same illness, or car sickness or dad-sickness or what.

Mom and Dad are doing well, and we're all still settling into the routine, figuring out pre-destination (not THAT pre-destination) research schedules, school work, and all of that. Michelle has done a great job, although home-schooling full time doesn't appear to be in the future for our family. ;-> The girls are filling out an information sheet for each destination and using the web and their textbooks to gather data, plus normal schoolwork, videos, and the blog/journal. Lots going on.

We're heading into Seattle tomorrow for the big sightseeing day. Peanut gets to come with us since all of the places are outside and/or dog friendly...he'll love that. He escaped to a neighboring campsite for a little barbecue, so he's enjoying Seattle so far.

Take care, and thanks for your continued prayers!

Photos:

Home and Coeur D'Alene

Well, we made it 560 miles to Coeur D'Alene, Idaho. Despite a slow start and getting out a little late, we got here around dinner time, and had a fairly uneventful day. Michelle and I need to do some better food and snack planning, which she's doing right now, just to help the day flow a bit better.

This is really just a place to overnight on the way to Seattle. We are leaving in the morning sometime to head there, and have probably 5-6 hours again, but we'll be there for a couple of days.

Now, the bad news...it seems Faith caught a stomach flu bug that's been going around, and thank God it didn't show up until we were back in the camper and she was in bed. She's sleeping now, but had a bad headache and threw up once. We're hoping it's the 24 hour kind, and are praying for healing overnight so we can travel easily tomorrow. We'd appreciate prayers that the rest of us stay healthy.

The girls will be posting their journals as blog entries, depending on on-road internet, and Faith's status.

Thanks for checking in, see you soon!


Kenzie's blog entry:
Today we visited Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho. And let me tell you, it was a loooooong drive. (Even longer than my mini dachshunds back!) Just joking! Actually, heading to Coeur d’ Alene from home (Belgrade, Montana) is traveling 560 miles in about 6 hours. But, don’t forget, we made about 4 pitstops. Anyway, we passed by some beautiful scenery! Hills, mountains, rivers and my favorite, Lake Coeur d’ Alene. It’s a beautiful lake that’s 30 miles long and only 1-3 miles wide. We got to stay right on the coast. We only stayed for one night but I have to give the road trip credit. We saw a collapsed mine with a statue by it of a miner. I found out that in 1972 a fire started and it filled with smoke and gases in the mine. All the miners tried to get out but only 82 survived. On my first day I learned a lot and I hope tomorrow will be the same.