New Mexico

Ok so we are actually home but we thought you might want to see how it ended. We spent one of the last days at Carlsbad caverns. We had a great time being 750ft below ground.

We spent a night in Roswell and went to the UFO museum. Unfortunately we did not get beamed up and had to drive the rest of the way home. My new motto is "Embrace your inner crazy!"

It is wonderful to be home! The girls are in the Missoula Children's Theater production of Princess and the Pea. So life is busy as ever but we have wonderful memories of our Great American Road Trip.

On the Road Again

We left Florida on Monday July 6th. We made it across the pan handle of Florida. The next day was all about the food.

Day 2 -We drove through Alabama and stopped for lunch at The Shed in Mississippi. We had seen this place on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. The food was great BBQ and tons of it. The we drove on to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. We went for cajun food and beignets. A quote from Emily, "The Beignets were awesome!"

Day 3- We made it to San Antonio, TX just as the Alamo closed. We did enjoy the boat ride at Riverwalk.

The Cruise and back on the road

We left from Port Canaveral with all of my family but one nephew who is currently serving in the military. We cruised on Royal Caribbean Monarch of the Seas to Coco Cay and Nassau in the Bahamas. It was a little stormy our first day but none of us minded the waves. Kurt, the girls, and I went snorkeling with stingrays in Nassau. We went kayaking with my dad and nephew, Bobby on Coco Cay. We also went snorkeling with my niece, Jessica until I got bit on the leg by a fish. The girls had a great time in the kids program on the ship. Sara gained a pen pal from Ohio named Isaiah.

We spent the 4th at my Terry's house. Now we are packing to get back on the road. We should be in the panhandle tonight.

Enjoying Florida

We arrived in FL the night of June 12th. We have been enjoying the hospitality of Jack & Carol Doherty (Jackie's Parents). They are wonderful. The days are hot and humid we combat this by going to the pool at least once a day. Jackie and I have been walking down to the beach and back in the morning. Sara and Emily have joined us on a few of these walks. The ocean is only 1 mile from Jack & Carol's house. Jackie's sister Terry lives only 15 minutes away and we have spent time over at there house also. While here we have celebrated my birthday June 14th (39) and Jackie's birthday June 23 (25 and holding). We are relaxing and anticipating our cruise. Monday June 29 we set sail and head to the Bahamas. After 4 nights and 5 days on the cruise we will start our journey home. In the pictures of this post you see Sara, Emily, contrail of the lunar rocket we watched from the driveway, the host's name plate a palm tree and my uniform foot ware. I will have Jackie edit the spelling errors when she gets a chance.

Made it!

We are in Florida. Hoping to see a shuttle launch tomorrow. Will do a proper post then.

Another great day

Post from Kurt... It was a beautiful day all around. After watching the sun rise we got on the road. Stopped for breakfast at a place that had the motto "No grits no glory." none of us had glory. Next we stopped at a lighthouse and climbed to the top 280 or so steps. It was great fun. Then we drove on NC 12 going south. This road reminded me of the 2 lane highways back home. I started waving to everyone (not many waved back). My boy scout came out and I did my good turn by helping a couple from New Jersey get their car out of the sand on the side of the road. We spent most of the day in line to get on ferries then riding the ferries to finally end up at Quality Inn 3100 Arendell Street Morehead City NC 28557.

Dolphins at Daybreak

We don't usually post in the morning but we had such a nice start to our day. We woke up in time to watch the sunrise on the beach in North Carolina. The hotel was right on the beach so we didn't have to go far. The girls loved playing in the surf as the sun came up. We got a bonus when a school of dolphin decided to swim past about 75 ft. off the shore. I am not sure who squealed "Dolphins!" louder the girls or me.

We made it to NC

We made two stops along the way today. We stopped in Norfolk, VA to visit Nauticus, a naval museum and science center. We found out the mermaid is the symbol of Virginia. The girls loved the different painted mermaids. We enjoyed trying to steer the simulated ships and shoot down attacking airplanes at Nauticus. We walked on the USS Wisconsin. It was fun to hear about the history of the ship from the retired Navy volunteers.

Next we head for Virginia Beach. It was very crowded but the beach was nice. We decided not to stay too long as we wanted to get to NC. We stopped for dinner in a town called Kill Devil Hills. The seafood buffet was excellent. We got a room in town right on the beach. We went down to the beach tonight and want to get up to see the sunrise so I will say goodnight. Hope to be in Florida in a couple of days.

Losing track of days

We did not have a wifi connection Tuesday so we didn't post. We checked out of the hotel and walked up to the National Zoo. We wanted to get on the road so we just picked a few things to see: the octopus, elephants, gorillas, and pandas.

The weather was stormy as we headed for Virginia. We got to Colonial Williamsburg just in time for dinner and to meet a few of the "residents". The girls couldn't resist the urge to dance when the fiddle began. The other diners seemed to enjoy the impromptu performance.

Day in D.C. Part 5-Washington Monument

After a quick trip back up to the Reagan for dinner ( I told you the food was good), we went back to the Washington Monument. We rode the elevator up to the top and took pictures out each window.

We took the metro back home and everyone is exhausted and have very sore feet. The girls want to go to the Zoo tomorrow before we leave D.C. I told them we will have to see if I can walk tomorrow. Right now it doesn't look promising.

Day in D.C. Part 4-Museum of American History

After leaving the Museum of Natural History, we head for the Smithsonian Castle and then the Museum of American History. We had to go see some of the things we had seen in the movie Night at the Museum 2 . We saw the ruby slippers, Oscar the Grouch, and the puffy shirt from Seinfeld.

We also liked the exhibit on all the wars the U.S. has been involved in- I think it was called The Path to Freedom. The girls burst into song in the Star Spangled Banner Exhibit. I think we need to work on the tune but it choked several people up. I didn't know the original still existed. It was very interesting to see but we couldn't take any pictures of it.

Day in D.C. Part 3-Museum of Natural History

So much to see at the Smithsonian. We started at the Museum of Natural History. We like the Insect Room, and Ocean Hall but Emily said her favorite was the Gem Room and the Hope Diamond. I feel sorry for the boy who decides to marry her. The people around us got a kick out of the unison "Oooh!" from both girls when they saw the Hope Diamond.

We also spent a lot of time in the Forensic lab with the real bones. We decided we will have to start CSI: Bluebell when we get home.

Day in D.C. Part 2

Next we went to the Vietnam Memorial. We took a picture of a name of someone Rush knew when he was in Vietnam.

We then walked to the north side of the White House. By this time we were all hot and thirsty so we walked to The Reagan building. The food is good and not too expensive but you have to go through a security check before going to the food court.

Next stop The Museum of Natural History.

Day in D.C. Part 1

We did so much today and took so many pictures we decided to break it into smaller posts. We started by taking the metro to the Smithsonian stop. We walked to the Washington Monument to get tickets to ride the elevator. We got tickets for 8 p.m.

Then we went to the WWII memorial. The pictures around the memorial depict the US entering WWII till the war was declared over. There were several water features also.

We walked along the reflecting pool to the Lincoln Memorial. The girls were impressed by the size.