......hmmm, where was I....Oh, yes, so we got to camp and scared some man thinking he was gong to have to lend me a shoulder. After about 15 minutes of searching, we find our cabin, the last one on the otherside of camp. The moms in this cabin where so nice, they weren't quite in bed yet even though it was 11:00pm. One took dd-6, covered in hives, and got her ready for bed, some man was waiting outside ready to carry in my plastic drawers, and when I carried in our bedding, another mom was there to make dd's bed. Within 15 we were set up. DD had the top bunk and me the lower. Just can't even imagine me climbing up there. First, I'm deathly afaid of hights, yes, a bunk bed is high. DD ended up sleeping with me, which meant I didn't get any sleep, she either tosses and turns or sleep so close to you, she is actually under you. The next morning one of other moms moved to another lower bunk so dd could have a lower bunk next to me. I was able to sleep the rest of the week.

We met so many people, made so many new friends. DD met alittle girl a year younger than her, they became inseparatable.It was so nice to be with people who not only homeschooled but had the same beliefs as you. Everyday we had Bible classes, bible bowls (they gave out ribbons to each child on award night, dd was jumping up and down like she won the gold metal), singing. The kids just played, it was secluded, so there really wasn't any worry about where they were every minute. It was really great.

We left Saturday morning to go to Arkansas (why is this pronounced r-can-saw instead of our-kansas? just wondering) to visit some friends that I grew up with in the church in the Northwet, as my friend says it. It was like old times, we talked about old friends from the church who weren't there anymore. It was a military town, so people were always moving in and out. It was just alot of fun but way too short. I went to church with them, which by the way, a few years back a group from the congregation that I worship at would go camp in that area and worship at the same congregation that my friends are now worshiping. Isn't that funny!!

From there on Monday we went and stopped at my in-laws to pick up a KITTEN!! He is so cute and so much fun. Will have to tell you the story on that one later. We didn't stay long because I needed to get back home, and we had visited  a few weeks earlier. So on Tuesday, we drove 12 hours to get home, hubby wasn't expecting us till the next morning, but I did worn him that I was going to try and make it in one day. He thought he would have tuesday night to clean up, whoops!!

I'm not going on anymore trips this year. We have been on the road since mid-july, minus a couple weeks. But when you've been gone that long, what's a couple weeks......

• Comments (2) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

.....and plan on being home from here on out. We had a great time, with a few interuptions.

So anyways, were getting ready to leave for our trip and I had to run into town for the second time to get my meds. Then my front breaks went out. So instead of leaving at 10am we didn't get out of town till almost 4pm. I am thankful this happened while in town. The first night we stopped around 9pm and had to go to 3 motels to find a room. But it did have a pool!!!

On saturday, we visited with my m-i-l , went to a menonite store, got an apron for dd, drove around the country side. We went to dinner at Red Rooster, then went next doors to a motel that gave train rides. It was like the little ones they drive in the parades with kids. So yes my dd who is 6 and I went riding around the parking lot in it. The fun part was watching me get in and out. We also went to antique store and found some bowls for my dishes, Currier and Ives.

Sunday we went to a small church that only has 25 people. I love finding small congregations, they just love having visitors, and are so friendly. I think sometimes larger congregations loose their friendliness for some reason. Because no one lives in town, they have services and bible class at 9am and again at 1pm, made it more convient for us so we were able to stay for both services.

Monday I started out for the camp, we got 2 hours away and dd started complaining of spots all over her. When I got out look she was covered in some kind of rash, great I'm going to a camp with 269 people. So we went to the hospital and waited for 4 hours to see a doctor. Appearently she is allergic to penicillian  and had the hives. Of course while we were waiting I had given her another dose of her medicine. So we get done with that and continue our journey, it is 6pm and I had planned on being there by 4pm. We get to the Osage Beach and I drive around in the dark for 2 1/2 hours trying to find this camp. I am crying. I am praying. I forgot the contact numbers at home, so I am also stupid. I finnally find a camp and block this man in his car with mine to find out if I was in the right place. YES, I'm here. And I start  doing the babbling cry while explaining to this poor man how I've been lost for 2 1/2 hours. Bet he won't be out alone after dark while at camp again. Later I find out that this happens every year, some poor mom and kids come in lost with the mom crying......

More later.....

• Comments (2) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Here are some places we saw, hope I have them all.

• ICR Creation Museum, CA.- this is a small museum. It's kind of hard to find, but it has lots of information. You start out going through a series of 3 or 4 rooms that talk about creation day by day. Then a room on the fall of man. Next about Mt. St. Helens, and the Grand Canyon. Then it goes into Egypt, about the flood and ice age, and dating. I think it took us about 1 1/2 hours, and you can collect all kinds of literature (we probably got about 30 pamphlets). Cost: FREE
• Hoover Dam, NE.- Wow, this is huge, and we just saw it from the outside. Dd-6 had an ear infection, and it was 115 outside, so we didn't get to go inside for the tours. Plan on walking just to get to the inside from the parking, especially if you are driving an RV. We would love to go and visit again and see the inside tour. Cost: ?
• Grand Canyon, AZ.- Dh and dd-18 got to go to this. I stayed at the motel with dd-6 because her ears where bothering her from driving through the mountains. They brought back lots of pictures, dh tried to convince dd to go on helicopter ride, but she wasn't falling for that. Maybe in a few years dh and I will go back, I still havn't seen this sight. Cost: I believe it was $10
• Painted Desert, AZ- This is so beautiful. God just took a paint brush and .....WOW. They have a information shop, restuarant, and suvunier shop. This is also connected to the Petrified Wood Forest , but we didn't have time to drive through it all. There was an Inn that was quite popular when  Route 66 was still being used. Cost: lunch for 3 was $25, to get into park $10
• Will Rogers Museum, OK.-This was fun, mainly because my dh remembers coming with his grandpa many many years ago. Has displays of all his saddles, 3 theater areas showing his movies, how he died. He was an author, actor, into politics. In the basement there is a childrens area where they can dress up and put on play, a puppet area ( our favorite), a short movie of his life. We really enjoyed ourselves. I think we spent easily 2 hours, and could have spent more time. About 10-15 miles out you can camp at the family property. Cost: suggested donation for family $5.

Well, I think that was it. We also visited with lots of family, but thats another story.......

• Comments (4) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Were did we go?

• Wall Drug, SD- Have you ever seen those signs driving down the highway,  "Stop at Wall Drug", "Coffee 5c" , "Free water", ...... We love to stop here. They have great food, great places to shop, it's like being in a western with all the store fronts. Yes, they still have 5 cent coffee. There is a box next to the coffee pot that you just put your nickle in.
• Mount Rushmore, SD- Everytime we've drove to Washington, we have stopped here. We have pictures of the kids taken in front of the presidents, grab some suvineers, have some ice cream.
  The first year we saw rain, hail, and sunshine, all within the first 15 minutes. That was so fun.... The second time there was a man dressed as President Lincoln, boy was dd-6 (then 3) amaized. One of these times, I would like to go to the museum about the man who sculped these. We have never done that yet. Cost: I believe it was just parking, $8?
• Crazy Horse, SD- This was interesting. When you first come in you go into a movie theater and they introduce the artist and his family, how he was approached by one of the chiefs to make this monument, how he went about working on it. The man is now dead, but I believe 7 out of his 9 children are still involved. The face is completed, and now are working on the horse. The thing that impressed me most was, this is a project done by donation and sale of items. There is no government funds, they have been offered, but declined. The thought was, if the people want this, then the people will support it. You can see the equipment on the mountain that they are working with. And at the end you can take home a rock , FREE, that they brought down. Cost: no more than $25 per car load.
• Illehee State Park, Wa.- This where we stayed while visiting my family.  When I was a girl we use to come to this park all the time. I had my first Girl Scout camp at this park.  DD-6 and dh (he joined us after the first 2 weeks) walked down to the beach. He didn't realize how steep it was or how far from the camp it was. They drove the next time.
• Posey's, Wa. - Oh my goodness. This is a southern restuarant, with such great food. I took my sister there for a get away from the kids, a girls night out. We each ordered different items so that we could split it in half with each other. Then when dh got in town, we took my mom, dad, dd-18, dd-6, and niece-14. Food that I ate: catfish that litterally melted in your mouth, fried okra, fried green tomatoes, mac and cheese, melt in your mouth cornbread, hushpuppies, red beans and rice, to die for clam chowder, ham and beans soup.....it was awesome. It was as close to being down south as you could get in the pacific northwest.  And to top it off......Pecan Pie. Now this is not your ordinary Pecan Pie. Most are made with karo syrup. This woman grew up in a time when you made your own baby formula, which was made with karo syrup. She is the oldest of 9 children, and hated the smell of karo syrup. So she came up with her own recipe and made it with butter and brown sugar. This gives it a smoother taste. Cost for pie: $22 , worth every penny.

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

• Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

I decided to put together a vacation notebook/scrapbook for my dd-6. This would help get some US geography in (were going through 15 states) , some writing, just give her something to look forward to doing each evening. Unfortunately my printer is not working for some reason, so I'm going to have to go to the library and print some items off. It will be about 60 pages and will include.....

• calendar- she can mark each day off since we will be gone an extended amount of time
• outline map of u.s. with states- she can color in each state as we go through them
• map of each state with major highways- this way she can trace the route we went through the state, mark any places we stopped, and where we stayed the night.
• state information sheet- this is from www.crayola.com , it has a colorpage with the state bird, flag, flower, etc.
• sheet with top half blank and bottom half has lines- this is so she can draw or glue cut outs from brochue, or put a photo of what she saw or did that day. There will be enough for one a day. I found this at www.donnayoung.org 

I'm going to put it in a binder with page protectors, I might just continue it through the years as we travel.

• Comments (4) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link