On the road again

We are back on the road to Alaska. I don't have much to report except that we are making about 500 miles a day. We stayed outside of Kearney, Nebraska last night and missed the tornado action by just a few miles. We traveled right by Ogalala, Nebraska where I used to live. I tried to convince Brad to detour and see Boot Hill and the ruts made by the passing wagon trains from long ago, but he stayed steady to the interstate. He has home on his mind and a home that does not move!
Tonight we are in Casper, Wyoming. We are surviving the daily drives by torturing the boys with school work and daily required silent times. Ha! We look to be back around the 2nd or 3rd of August! Till the next internet ready park.....

Back to Missouri

Back to Missouri we go. We stopped in Ashville, NC first. Cool artsy town. Definitely bigger than I thought. Unfortunately when we went to see the Biltmore Mansion, it was closed. We will hit it next year. We had to stop in Metropolis, Illinois on the way back this time. We have been there before when we helped move Jessie to Georgia. Ellis had not yet been, but had seen pictures of the big boys there when they were little. Ellis was in awe, and a bit inspired to be his own superman! He raced around the streets looking for bad guys and anyone up to no good. He was a hoot!



We returned, took a day off to rest and NOT drive. The next day my cousin Heather and her kids were in town visiting so we met them and her brother (my cousin) and his family and my Uncle Chuck at the park for a cook-out. The kids, all 11 of them, had a blast! The age range was 9, 9, 7, 6, 6, 4, 3, 3, 1, 1, 10 months. It was fun! It was so good to see Chuckie and Heather. I have so many memories of playing with them on the farm from my childhood. I am so glad the kids have the opportunity to share in the fun and create many good memories of their own.

Ellis continues his biology training. Out at my Granny's house ( the kids call her G.G.), Ellis comes running up the walk way with his newest treasure. A tiny toad. That kid will pick up just about any living creature! Luckily for the toad, he was not allowed to investigate it in the same way he did the fish, so he was released back to the wild alive. At least he was alive when he left Ellis' hand. Unfortunately, Ellis felt the need to launch him back to the woods. HA!

This morning was farm work. Papa helps a friend out with his sweet corn each year. We went this morning to do our share of the picking. Guess what Ellis found in between the rows? Yes, more toads. He chased those things everywhere! We put our farm help to work and made a good dent to bring home. Hopefully, I will be able to bring some back to Alaska. We'll see. All the kids have talked about today is that they want to live on a farm. I agree.

We are winding up our visits and plans and look to head back on the road Friday or Saturday. Brad was making our map today and we are starting to pack things up. It has certainly been a fantastic summer full of wonderful experiences! I'm sure we will have more surprises on the way back to Alaska. I can't wait!

North Carolina Here We Come

We started our trek to North Carolina last Tuesday. Along the way through Kentucky we stopped at Buffalo Trace Distillery. The make superb whiskey, or so states Brad. It was very cool. The building everyone is standing in front of is very old and inside the windows are the barrels containing whiskey that is currently aging. You could smell it in the air. It did smell yummy.


We finally got into Clayton late Wednesday night. Friday we all went to Raleigh and walked downtown to the Capital. Here we are in front of three Presidents that all came from NC. Do you know who they are?

The downtown area is also full of museums. All museums in Raleigh are free! Here the boys are in front of one of the crop exhibits outside one of the museums. Do you know what this is? They harvest the leaves from the bottom up as the leaves turn yellow. Needless to say, I find it a shame that this plant is still utilized widely. Did you guess tobacco? You were right. We also saw peanuts, corn, and soybeans.

Here we are in the Natural History Museum. Celie liked looking up and seeing the flying dinosaurs.

We packed up the trailer and headed to the coast for a couple of days at the beach. We had a blast! The water was perfect. We were not too hot or too cool. Avery spent alot of time exploring how the water comes in and goes out. He, Ellis, Jessie, and Jason also had great fun finding sand crabs along the shore and having races with them!

Isaak was our swimmer of the day. You could barely get the boy out of the water. He was searching for the "perfect wave". He did get a few good ones. Unfortunately, he and Brad both suffered a few jellyfish stings (very small ones) and spent the ride back to camp in a bit of pain. But if you ask him, he will tell you that he just wanted to swim, no matter what. When it stormed the following morning and we had to reschedule our plans and not go back to the beach, Isaak was very disappointed.

Celie was so cute. She played in the sand and loved standing along the edge and letting the waves hit her legs. She just giggled and stomped the waves.

Ellis was also a discoverer. He took a bit of time to warm up to the waves so he spent alot of time making sand castles, playing with the sand crabs, and collecting shells. Once he discovered the fun of running into and out of the waves, he was unstoppable.

I have to say, the beach was certainly enjoyable. I loved seeing the kids enjoying the newness of the experience. Brad too, was like a kid playing in the water. What fun!

As I mentioned earlier, we woke Monday morning to storms. Thank goodness for the trailer! We scrapped the beach plans and went downtown Wilmington to see the USS North Carolina battleship in port. WOW! You know that are huge, but when you see one up close and tour the inside and out, it is gigantic! All the males in our group were like a bunch of school boys that had gone to heaven. They enjoyed learning and seeing how the soldiers lived and operated the massive ship. They were able to do some hands on moving of the exterior guns and turrets. Jessie, Celie and I enjoyed the history of the ship, but were not as moved by the "guns and shooting" aspect as the men. Unfortunately, shortly into the tour, my camera lost battery. Oh well. We came on back to Clayton to do laundry and rest. It had been a very busy weekend.!

We are looking to head out tomorrow, Tuesday to head back to Jeff City. I believe we will be going through Ashville, NC and spending some time there. I can't wait! It will be like my battleship tour!

Happy 4th of July!!!

Happy 4th! We spent the early afternoon downtown Jeff City. We visited all the booths and saw the carnival. They were having an old car show. Of course we spent most of our time there. It was a great day!

The boys were able to sit in this one. They really thought it was cool.

Hope you all had a great 4th as well!

Tea Time

Mom, Celie and I went to Versallies today to an English Tea House. We had the Queen’s high tea. What a lavash experience. They brew your own choice pot of tea, bring you courses of special tea type foods, and encourage you to relax and enjoy. It was so fun. I shall treat to a tea time when I get back. We also traveled though Mennonite country. What a simple life. Today was wash day. Clothes hung behind every house we passed. Not only do they simplify their lives, their homes and selves are a reflection of tidiness and pride. They also keep the greatest shops. We had so much fun. Finally a girl day, it was much needed.

On the River

First, excuse the pics at the bottom of my post. I don't know why they doubled and were laid over each other. But, you will get the point.

So, my last report was late due to the fact that I was unable to connect anywhere in the hills. Now that we are back in Jeff City for the 4th of July. I will make a double report. The Current River was spectacular. The weather was warm, the river was cool, and the wildlife was abundant. Even the crazy hillbilly wildlife. My favorite story from the river is Ellis and his exploration into the world of fish and wildlife biology.

My Granny’s sister Barb has a beautiful farm out in the hills. Granny, my mom, me, Ellis, Avery and Celie went to her farm one morning to see her “girls”. Her chickens. They are certainly a chatty group. She has one in particular that loves to ride around on Aunt Barb’s shoulder. Her name is Bitty. Ellis had the chance to hold her and she pooped on him. He just laughed. The chickens were a hoot. Ellis just watched, chased, listened to Aunt Barb and asked a TON of questions. That morning on her rounds around the farm she also found a baby rabbit. It was a brand new baby. His eyes were still shut. He was in the middle on the road, and still alive. Ellis held and cuddled that little baby. Again he questioned away. Celie carefully touched it and was amazed. Avery watched from a distance with both. The big garden was again a huge learning experience for Ellis.

Later that afternoon we went to the river. There was a man and his grandkids there with a minnow trap. He had trapped some and asked if the kids wanted to see them. He gave Ellis and Avery each a minnow to hold. Ellis spent the next 30 minutes investigating the inner and outer workings of his 5 inch minnow. Of course, this brave fish gave his life for the sake of childhood science. Ellis was hilarious! He found the fins, the gills (which we had a whole lesson about how fish breath), the eyes, the mouth, and where the fish poops. (Lots of animal poop this day) Once the fish expired, Ellis was able to use his fingers to move the eyes around and he discovered that if you squeeze the eyes together, the mouth will open and Ellis’ finger will fit in perfectly! HA! What a boy. The man’s grandson gave him another fish to play with. Well, he did not fair any better than his fellow fish. When it was time to leave for the day, Ellis did not want to leave his fish. He said, “ But I love them so!” But we decided that the river was their home and they needed to be at their home. We said goodbye to the fish and he gave them a good toss into the river. There is certainly never a shortage of learning opportunities on the river.