Days 4 and 5

Day 4 – Thursday, August 27

Today we spent at Brad and Kelli Drenth's house near Denver, CO. She has been my good friend since I was in 2^nd grade. We took the kids to a couple of parks to burn off energy and play with Tegan and Riley, their kids. We all enjoyed the break from traveling, even if only for a day. We were treated to a fantastic dinner of tacozanga (taco lasagna), homemade pico de gallo and chips. We thoroughly enjoyed seeing each other again and the kids played so well together even though they hardly remembered each other. Tegan cuddled in bed with me for a few minutes Friday morning and said, “I'm really gonna miss you guys 'cuz I really like you.” It's always hard to say goodbye. Sniff-sniff

Day 5 – Friday, August 28

After a great nights sleep and a sad goodbye we left Denver and headed north to I-80. I was excited to drive through the mountains thinking that it would be like driving to Estes Park, CO. Well, in my opinion, the “Rocky Mountains” do not exist in Wyoming. It was rather boring and flat with rolling, rocky HILLS. We saw lots of permanent, wooden snow fences all over plus some more cattle and sheep. Around 5:30 we stopped in Evanston, WY for McDonalds and gas. The playland had little, built-in saddles for chairs by the kids tables! They were soooo cute! They also had a 'hot & spicy McChicken sandwich' on the value menu instead of the regular chicken sandwich we have in Michigan. I tried it and almost couldn't eat it, that baby was HOT!

Soon after dinner, we crossed the border into Utah. Honestly, I've never had a desire to visit Utah but it's really beautiful. We drove through actual mountains finally. The were very rocky with huge areas of gray or red rock. Mostly they were shrub/grass covered with some areas of evergreen trees. We never got above the treeline so I guess we'll have to visit the Rockies again someday for my snow covered mountain top craving. We saw a few interesting signs that you don't see in Michigan. Of course you see many 'falling rock' signs but one that made us chuckle was 'Chains required when lights are flashing'. Obviously that's a winter sign!

Salt Lake City is gorgeous. It's surrounded by mountains. I had no idea. We saw the Great Salt Lake, looks like any other big lake. Then, just past the lake, we saw miles and miles of flat land that was covered in salt. Looks like they flood the area and then wait for the water to evaporate so they can harvest the salt. Not sure if that's how it works but that was our guess. We saw a Morton Salt plant surrounded by giant piles of pure white salt. Pretty cool! We just passed through the Great Salt Lake Desert but it's too dark to tell if it's all sand or all white with salt. We can tell it's light in color and I really want to get out and touch it but it's after 9pm and we are almost to our hotel in Wendover, UT. Hopefully in the morning we can figure it out, either on-line or in person.

Thank you so much for all the prayers and facebook comments of encouragement. We can feel the prayers and know that that's why this trip is going so well. Today we saw many trees growing out of the rock on the mountainsides. I was reminded of the foolish man who built his house on the sand and the wise man who built his house on the rock. We've been learning to trust God completely and be anchored in Him. No matter what comes our way, I pray that we are strongly rooted in our Creator and Sustainer so we can weather storms when they come our way. Hotel in view, goodnight all!

Go west.... day 2 continued and part of day 3

(con't) It was about 8:00pm when we arrived at Badlands National Park. Since we were on the very edge of the time zone the sun was just about to set. The Badlands are incredible! You drive through surrounded by towers of rock and deep crevices all with layers of different colors of rock. We hopped out for some pictures and let the kids climb a bit amidst the "Beware of rattlesnakes" signs. Being there at sunset was especially beautiful since there were amazing shadows on the rock and gorgeous 'sky-blue-pink' clouds. We left in the dark and heading up to Wall, SD to our hotel.

Day 3 - Wednesday, August 26

What an awesome, mighty and creative God we serve. We are truly seeing God's handiwork in creation while we drive across the country. From the landscape to the wildlife to the flowers all creation sings praise to our God! Today has been packed so far. We started out at the famous Wall Drug Store. It's a complete tourist trap with tons of little shops. Mom O, you would LOVE this place! We didn't want to spend too much time so we just shopped a bit and took some pictures. We saw the giant T-Rex in the back 'attempt to feed'. Nathaniel and Josh were terrified! Next we drove an hour-ish to Rapid City where we stopped at this little Dinosaur Park. It had a few rather pathetic, painted, cement, dinosaurs but an amazing 100 mile view. Next we drove through Bear County USA. It was pricey so we debated rather we should or not but we got our money's worth. We saw a large variety of animals but the highlight was definitely the black bears. We rounded a curve and saw 20-30 bears walking around, splashing in a small pond and walking right beside the cars. It was fun (and slightly frightening) to see so many bears up close. Next stop was Mount Rushmore just a little further south. It was inspiring to see such large replications of past presidents after walking through The Avenue of Flags. We hiked the Presidential Trail that gets a bit closer to the monument. There were a lot of steps so we were pretty hot when we finished. We stopped at a concession stand for ice cream cones. Caleb chose a cup instead of a cone and he asked the gal at the counter if he could have a spoon please. She told the gal at the register to 'give the boy a free pop' because he's the first child she heard say please today. She said she would shake our hand if she could (she had gloves on) because we are doing a great job. We were all so happy, especially Caleb with his free root beer. After Mount Rushmore we headed south through a scenic Black Mountains drive. The scenery was awesome, tight turns and tunnels. As we drove through one short tunnel we could see through an opening in the trees straight to Mount Rushmore far in the distance. That was a nice surprise! We didn't pay to do the Custer State Park Wildlife Loop because of time constraints. I think that's where the buffalo roam. So we missed fields of buffalo but did see a couple resting beside the road. After our scenic drive we started heading south towards Denver where we are spending the night with good friends. We're due to get there at 10:35pm. I'm glad we are taking a break from travelling tomorrow. It's been going great but we're all pretty sleep deprived. Today was another fantastic day of sunny, blue skies with poofy clouds. The kids did great again with just a few minor squabbles. The sunset in Wyoming tonight was breathtaking! Goodnight all.

P.S. It's really dark in Wyoming at night!

Go west..... days 1 and 2

California Road Trip August 09

Day 1 - Monday, August 24

We wanted to leave at 5:00am but didn't get packed up on time. We couldn't take any of our bikes because it was too much weight for the van, that made me cry. We finally left our house at 10:22am. About a mile from home Josh asked how long it would take to get to California, we said "all week." He had a shocked look on him face and he was speechless. At 10:24 we were in front of the Hudsonville McDonald's when Caleb said, "look how far we are already!" It was a beautiful, sunny day in the 70's. The drive through Michigan and Indiana was pretty uneventful. Of course the kids loved crossing the border out of Michigan.

We took 94 to 90 (toll road) near Gary, IN and stayed on 90 to Rockford, IL and up to the Wisconsin border. The boys were amazed with the Chicago skyline. We pointed out the Sears Tower and John Hancock buildings. As we neared O'Hare airport there were a ton of planes landing and taking off. The boys were constantly spotting them. At one point Caleb let out a yell when a low flying plane scared him. Josh became irritated at this point because he is packed into the back seat of the van with the seat beside him full of stuff. Since he can only see out of one side of the van he claimed it and said that no one else may look out HIS side. He'll put up his hand and sternly say "no peeking!" We ate the yummy sandwiches that grandma VJ packed for us between Chicago and Rockford, IL. We were starving and daddy didn't want to stop driving. It was about 2:00 MI time. About an hour later we stopped at an oasis for gas, the rest of our lunch and a bathroom break. The boys thought it was cool to stand in the oasis, over top of the road and watch the traffic pass below.

Wisconsin was pretty uneventful. The boys watched some Superman videos while mom took a much needed nap. Even daddy took a couple of micronaps. The last hour of Wisconsin and first part of Minnesota were beautiful. We went through some hilly, rocky, tree covered areas that made for interesting scenery. We crossed the Mississippi River as we crossed into Minnesota. We stopped at a rest stop for some pictures. The boys had fun rolling down a small hill on the bank of the river. After driving in Minnesota for a while we were all getting sick of it. We'd been on the road for almost 10 hours and didn't want to drive to our goal of Albert Lea, MN. We called to book a room at a Comfort Suites in Rochester. It was a new hotel with free wi-fi, and the tiniest pool I've ever seen in a hotel. The boys were obviously stir crazy since they 'thought' they could run down the halls and jump on the bed. They were wrong! We swam a bit then ordered Godfather's pizza. We highly recommend their taco pizza, it's amazing! Daddy and the boys finally hit the sack at 10:30 while mom spent a little time on the computer.

Day 2 - Tuesday, August 25

We had a wonderful stay at Comfort Suites. Everyone slept till 7:30 (very impressive that the boys slept that long since that's 8:30 MI time). The hotel breakfast was fantastic and even had bacon and these cheesy, sausage things. The weather was cloudy and cooler, great for travelling. The boys and I walked around a small pond while daddy loaded pictures on Facebook. Nathaniel cried a bit when a Canadian Goose 'chased' him. I even pulled a couple of giant weeds out of the hotel landscaping (gardener at heart). We left the hotel at about 10:00, it was just starting to sprinkle. Later than I thought we would but that's ok. At about 10:30 we drove through a big wind farm. The boys LOVED it! They kept pointing and looking and exclaiming. At 11:15 it was pouring rain when a nut came loose where our wiper attaches to our van. Of course it was the driver side, the wiper flipped back up against the mirror. Dan drove for a couple of miles looking out my side of the windshield until he was able to pull over until a bridge. Oh, and this was in a construction zone so traffic was going in both directions. Thankfully, he packed a tool kit so he fixed it in just a couple of minutes and we were off again. As we pulled away Caleb said, "goodbye old, faithful bridge that kept us dry."

By 1:00 the sun had come out, we stopped for lunch about 1:30 at a rest area. Later "Here I am" is on the radio reminding us of what we are doing. We crossed the border into South Dakota the first time at 2:40. My picture of the sign was blurry and since I was showing Dan the picture he missed the tourist info rest area. So we turned around and looped back for a redo. I was happy! He rolled his eyes at me. :-) Still 1 hour to the corn palace. This day is going way too fast, it'll be another late night. We arrived at the corn palace at 4:00. It's really an entertainment auditorium with a really cool looking outside and a lot of corn murals inside. There were photos on the wall of the corn palace dating back to the late 1800's. They have to replace the corn every year so all the pictures were a little different. There was also a tourist trap gift shop and concession stand inside. The outside was the best part. We got gas before getting back on the highway. The boys jumped out for a quick snack and had fun stomping on crickets in the parking lot. We were on the road again by 4:30. The east side of South Dakota is very flat, similar to Iowa. Then, out of nowhere, there is a big hill that you go down before crossing the Missouri River. After that it's pretty hilly with almost no trees or signs of life. There are giant fields of corn, hay and bright yellow sunflowers. There are a lot of pastures too. There are giant fields covered in round bales, they even bale the grass along the sides of the highway. Day 2 to be continued.........