Looking Back in Review

Two years later ... we apologize for leaving you hanging ... we did make it home on day 50. We just uploaded the last several posts from our trip mainly due to the fact that the video is ready to release.

You can check out the video on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/LeyEK61TVkc

         


Here are some of the highlights from the trip:

Sarah's Top 3 Favorite Places
1) Zion National Park & The Grand Canyon

2) Yosemite National Park
3) Niagara Falls

Jacob's Top 3 Favorite Places

1) Glacier National Park
2) Zion National Park
3) Badlands National Park

John's Top 3 Favorite Places

1) Central Park in New York City
2) Canada
3) Yellowstone National Park

I think we all agree that our favorite memory was spending the afternoon playing on the snow covered hills at Crater Lake National Park. A close second would be the time we spent driving around in Canada looking for the Thousand Islands National Park, during which we took 4 trips on the same ferry, and still never found it... Or the time we almost ran out of gas in the middle of South Dakota at 2 o'clock in the morning. And then there's the time we almost hit a moose in Maine at 3 o'clock in the morning. Or the feeling we had after finally getting back to the top of the Grand Canyon after hiking down.

All in all we had an AMAZING trip and would do it again in a heartbeat. There are no words to truly express the impact this road trip had on each of us - from the things we saw, to the time spent together, and the people we visited, to the feats we accomplished, and the new perspective gained. Believe it or not, we managed to stick to our schedule and hit all of our stops, we even stayed under budget. We did undershoot our mileage by a little though, we ending up driving 12,042.6 miles.

Thanks to all of you who followed along with us during our trip via the blog.

Here's the link for the main video: https://youtu.be/LeyEK61TVkc

And here's the link for the longer iPhone version (which actually features us in it): 

http://youtu.be/w6zIeMqRNkk

Texas!!!!!

We crossed the state line back into Texas on day 49. And boy could we tell we were back! We stopped at the welcome center to eat lunch and sitting there at the picnic table it was HOT! :)

The boys and I had spent the past couple of days trying to decide where we could spend one more night in order to complete our 50 days because come on, saying you went on a 49 day roadtrip just isn't as cool as saying you went on a 50 day roadtrip. :) We decided to stop and visit our friends the Jackson's in the Houston area. Their family had recently moved and we hadn't been to visit yet. They have a really nice house outside the city with a little bit of property. They had graciously prepared dinner for all of us when we got there. Mr. Jackson had also gotten some fireworks for everyone to pop that night. (the next day was July 4th) We had a fun time catching up and spending time with their precious family and we greatly appreciate them letting us stay with them so we could make it to day 50.

We left the Jackson's house around 10 o'clock in the morning headed for HOME. It was July 4th and traffic was AWFUL! I've never seen it that bad, it was pretty much at a complete standstill. What should have taken us around 3 hours ended up taking close to 6! We were all so thankful when we actually made it home, but also a little sad that our adventure was over.

-Sarah

The Beach

The morning after the Revive Conference our group packed up our things into the 2 cars, and along with 3 more friends (who we were taking to the airport later that day), we headed out to Little Talbot Island State Park to spend the rest of the day at the beach! We ate lunch (hurray for sandwiches), played in the water - attempted to body surf some of the waves, built sand castles, and took some fun pictures. Then it was time for several of us to take our 3 friends to the airport for their flights back home, meanwhile the rest of us just relaxed on the beach under our canopy.

We don't go to the beach very often so it's always nice to go out and get toasted in the sun while enjoying the vast expanse of water stretching out to the horizon, only occasionally broken by the sails of a boat cruising along. Next time though, I vote we try surfing… or at least bring a skimboard with us.

The next day we drove to Tallahassee, FL to see my dad's uncle. We spent the night with him. While we were there we shared some of our photos and stories from our trip thus far and I showed him how to use his new GoPro camera. In the morning we said our goodbyes and headed to another beach at Gulf Shores in Alabama.

As we got closer to the beach we ran into some traffic and then somebody ran into us. Like literally rear-ended us. Thankfully nobody was hurt and it wasn't very serious, mostly just scratched the bumper. Soon our vehicle was rolling back down the road for the beach. Upon walking out onto the sand we were all startled. This sand squeaked! I couldn't tell at first whether there was some giant animal (or a bunch of tiny ones) underneath the sand that was yelping with every step, or if I had gone crazy. Fortunately it was neither (although I'm still not 100% sure about my animal theory...), just some crazy phenomenon I cannot explain. We attempted to play volleyball, but it was pretty hot so we didn't last very long. This beach wasn't really ideal for swimming, the shore sloped sharply to the water and then it was really shallow for a long way out. We did manage to catch a flounder fish (at least I think that's what it was) in a sandcastle bucket, and boy is flounder a funny creature.

If it's possible to sunburn sunburn, I did it today. Thankfully I didn't stay bright red forever, 'cause after a few uncomfortable nights' sleep it healed up enough to where I forgot about it. So kids, take my advice and listen to your mom when she tells you to put on some sunblock lotion.

As the day drew to a close we packed up our lawn chairs, and with windblown hair and sandy toes we drove to a nearby hotel to spend the night.

Next stop: TEXAS!

-John


texas texas texas texas

Revive 2014

Revive is a conference organized by HRN (Hebrew Roots Network). We had attended the previous year in Dallas, and this was definitely one of the major highlights of our trip! It was a great weekend full of worship, teaching, old friends and new ones, late nights, and lots of fun!!

One of the main themes of this year's conference were the weightier matters of scripture. Such as, extending love to those around us. Caring for the homeless, needy, widows and orphans. Taking the focus off of gaining more head knowledge and actually walking out our faith, so our lives might be a living testimony of Him. On the last night of the conference a small group of young adults got together and ended up forming a ministry - you can read more about that here.

"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." Psalm 133:1

Next Stop: The Beach, FL

-Sarah

Here are a few photos from Revive 2014:

Family Reunion!

We parked in our grandparent's driveway and were reunited with our family who had arrived earlier that day and brought our good friend Caleb with them. It was really nice to get to see everyone after so long. Once we had relaxed for a while we went out and unloaded our suitcases from the car, then pretty much just settled in and went to bed.

Tuesday morning came and we had cereal with fresh peaches for breakfast. We kinda lounged around for the rest of the morning, I think Jacob downloaded some memory cards to the computer, and we sorted laundry for washing. Then most of us children went outside and washed Sarah's car. We got a bucket of soapy water and scrubbed, and scrubbed some more, sprayed on more soap and scrubbed it again… (Let me tell you, driving 10,000+ miles collects quite a few bugs on your bumper.) Then it was time for a lunch of sandwiches, potato chips and our Grandma's sweet tea. After lunch our cousin Catherine came over to go hiking with us on a trail not too far from our grandparent's house. So Grandpa, Sarah, Caleb, Jacob, Catherine, Rebekah, Deborah, Joseph and I split into two vehicles, drove to the trailhead, and began our hike. The trail was made from hard packed earth and didn't have much of an elevation change, although it did have 3 nice sturdy wooden bridges that spanned a currently dry creek bed. Since it was pretty hot and muggy in the woods we didn't walk too far, I think it ended up being about 2.2 miles total if I remember correctly. Later that night after dinner we watched some American Ninja Warrior before going to bed. 

We woke up and got breakfast, and then gathered some clubs to hit golf balls down to the "green" around the flag at the end of his yard, although Grandpa was the only one who got really close. He's really good. Shortly thereafter Grandpa enlisted Jacob, Caleb and I's help to cut down a tree limb that was growing over the house. We got out the ladders, a pole-saw, a chainsaw, rope, and a cable before Jacob and I climbed to the roof. We used one ladder to get to the roof and pulled the other one up so Jacob could stand on it and use the pole-saw to cut a section of the limb off, which we had looped the rope over and dropped down to Grandpa so as we cut it he could pull the limb out of the way where it wouldn't hit the roof as it broke free from the tree. Now to get the bulk of the limb we moved a ladder so Jacob could climb the tree to sit on the branch and cut it with the chainsaw. We looped the cable around the end of the branch while Grandpa brought his Mini Van over and we tied the other end of the cable to the hitch so we could apply more tension than just pulling by hand. So we had Sarah in the Mini Van, ready to drive forward as the branch was breaking, Grandpa on the ground pulling on the cable/directing everything, Jacob in the tree with the chainsaw cutting the limb, and Caleb and I on the roof to try and catch/keep the branch from hitting the roof (which I had no idea how we were going to accomplish this), but fortunately the branch missed the house and crashed the the ground without causing any harm. We then cut all the smaller branches off the main trunk and piled them up before hooking a chain to his riding lawn mower and dragging them to the brush pile back in the woods, and we pushed the main limb off to the side to be cut into firewood later. And now it was time to go cool off and have lunch. 

Later that evening Catherine and her parents (our Uncle Pete & Aunt Mary) came over to have a barbecue dinner of hamburgers and hotdogs to celebrate our Grandpa's 80th Birthday, which was the following day. 

After dinner I flew my Quadcopter, then we hooked up Sarah's laptop to their TV and showed everybody some of the pictures and videos from our trip thus far. 

Thursday we woke up, and… yep you guessed it, we ate breakfast. =)

Since this was our last day here in North Carolina we had decided earlier that we would go hike at Crowders Mountain State Park. This time we all fit into the Mini Van since Deborah and Catherine were not with us. After the 30-or-so minute drive we parked at the information center and decided to try the Pinnacle trail, a 1.7 mile (one-way) strenuous path following the orange trail markers, that peaked at the King's Pinnacle (1,705 feet, the highest point in Gaston County). This was mostly a dirt trail, with some large rocks that had to be climbed around and was very steep for the last five tenths of a mile. I think we all voted that they really need to add a few more benches to rest at… The trail ended in a cliff that dropped rather abruptly for 30-40ft before it sloped downward and became covered with trees. It was a really nice overlook since it was the highest place around, and you could see for quite a distance. I am really proud of Grandpa, he made it all the way to King's Pinnacle and back on his 80th Birthday! For our return we took the alternate route of the Turnback Trail, which still took us about the same distance, but was less steep and a wider nicer trail. After we'd cooled off some in the AC of the information center and refilled our water bottles, Grandpa drove us to Tony's, an ice cream place that he use to take Grandma to when they were dating, and got us each an ice cream cone.

Now it kind of a tradition for us when we're at our Grandparents to go out for dinner one night at one of the nearby fish camp restaurants, and this time was no exception. We chose to go to Twin Tops this time, and had a really nice dinner (although I think most of my family got chicken strips).

Back at the house we packed up everything we could in preparation of an early start on our drive to Florida the next morning, and then hit the hay. 

We really missed seeing our cousin Kristen (who was at music camp for the week), but other than that we all had fun spending time with our family in NC, and hope to come back soon. Love ya'll!

-John

Next stop: Revive Conference in Jacksonville, FL

Here are a few more photos from our hike: 

Stalactites or Stalagmites?

From Washington DC we headed towards Shenandoah National Park in Northern Virginia. We took a slight detour to cross into West Virginia, then turned right around and were back on our way. After setting up camp the boys went long boarding while I fixed dinner. We didn't do too much other than camp at Shenandoah. Once packed up the next morning we left and saw some amazing views from a couple scenic overlooks while driving along the park road. 

Our next stop was a few miles down the road. The Luray Caverns and Wishing Well. After waiting a short while in line we went down the stairs to begin the tour. Several years ago our family had toured the Carlsbad Caverns while on vacation in New Mexico. This was somewhat similar. There were lots of stalactites and stalagmites in all sizes, short and long, thin and thick. We tried to stay towards the back of the tour group, so Jacob could get pictures without other people in them. :-) We saw a small lake down there that due to the reflections of the stalactites on the surface made the water look 6-8 ft deep, but it was actually only 8-15 inches! There was also a wishing well that collects approximately $30,000 each year. That money is donated to various charities in the local area. The cavern was quite spectacular and we enjoyed the tour. 

Then it was over the hill and through the woods to Grandma's (& Grandpa's) house we went! On the way we hit 10,000 miles. We were greatly disappointed when the trip odometer reset to 0.0 after hitting 9,999.9m.

Next Stop: Grandma and Grandpa's, NC

-Sarah


P.S. - Stalagmites hang from the ceiling and stalactites rise up from the ground ... or actually it might be the other way around ... it's been two years since we've were there ... 

Here's a few more photos from the Caverns: 

Our Nation's Capital

Jacob and John along with two of our other siblings had accompanied my dad on a business trip to Washington DC this past January. So this stop was mainly for my benefit. As we entered the city we were able to see the Washington monument. I was driving so the boys were trying to figure out the best place to park in order for us to see the most things during our time here. We soon found a place to park. Street parking is free on Sunday, therefore we didn't have to pay for parking. Yay! 

                                

We walked by the White House first. The back was fenced off so we couldn't get to it very well, but we were able to see the front. I didn't know the rear is what is usually seen in pictures of the White House, not the front. Then we walked by the base of the Washington Monument on our way over to the World War II Memorial. Afterwards we headed to the museums. We went to two of the many museums there - National Air and Space Museum, and National Museum of Natural History. They were both really neat. 

Since spending time in San Francisco, New York, and DC I have come to the conclusion that I don't like the city. I can do without all the hustle and bustle, people everywhere, traffic, and miles of nothing but tall buildings. I much prefer the country :)

Next stop: Shenandoah Nat'l Park, VA

-Sarah

Here are a few more pictures from Washington DC: