San Antonio and Houston Space Center

We woke up Sunday morning and washed some clothes.  We decided to go into San Antonio late morning so we could eat lunch there and tour some and be home for dinner.  We took the city bus into town and began our walk on the River Front. It was so peaceful. They have a huge river walk.  They have restaurants on both sides and a riverboat tour that takes you up and down the river.  We stopped at a restaurant called The County Line BBQ.  It was fantaboulous.  David and Bett got the sampler and had ribs, sausage, beef brisket, pork and chicken..  They were stuffed.  I had the half rack of ribs and all was delicious.  Of course the girls only ate fries and bread, but they enjoyed it.. We left there and walk some more and headed to the Alamo.   We walked through the park on the side of the Alamo.  It was beautiful.. The lush trees and ferns were so pleasant.  After that we walked through the Alamo itself.  It is a lot smaller than we were expecting.  We could not believe that it was such an important battle but yet it was so small.  After the Alamo, the girls and I went through the Guinness's Record Exhibit.  It was real neat we saw lots of interesting things.  We found out the most transplants to be done is 12 so for those of you who are worried I have 9 more to go to tie the record.  Don’t worry I pray I am not going to have anymore.  After we finished there the girls and I road the 3D Ride that is beside the Record exhibit.  It was fun as well and the girls got laser guns to shoot at different things in the ride.  When we finished there we went to the famous LULU’s Bakery and Cafe.  It was featured on Man V/S Food.  They have a 3 lb cinnamon roll.  We were all so excited. Lauren Elizabeth wanted one to herself but we talked her into sharing and if we ate all of the first one we could order another one.  Well we did not even put a dent into the one we ordered.  IT was huge.  It was almost as tall as a Ketchup bottle.  And as big around as a dinner plate.  We only ate a small amount of it. You could hardly tell we had touched it.  Man was it good.  After we left there we sent David and the girls back to the camper because they were hot and tired.  Mama and I went to the Farmers Market,  (we had asked directions and information about this place several times)  When we arrived it was closed....NOBODY told us this!!!! So we took the yellow line to the blue line to the 42....to get back to the campground..And WE MADE IT!!!!  We were so glad to get back to the campground. 

We woke up this morning and got on the road about 10.  We have about a 5-6 hour drive today to Houston. While on the was we decided to change our plan and go ahead and take a tour of the Johnson Space Center on Monday afternoon.  We checked in and headed on to the space center.  We had a wonderful time,  We took a trolley tour of the space center. We saw many aircraft and read about lots of people who had helped mold the space program.  It is a great program.  While we were there we saw some Texas Longhorn Cattle.  One was worth 500,000 dollars.   I tried to get its picture but it would not cooperate.  We got back to the camper about 6 PM and ate dinner.  We had Chicken Stew and the girls had nuggets from none other than CHick Fil A.  They went for a quick swim and we are now settling down for the night.  The girls are playing chess, Bett and David have gone to bed and I am finishing up the blog.  We will will be home soon and this trip will be nothing but a memory.  If you ever get the chance to do this please take you kids, grand kids or just you got across country.  I has been a wonderful experience for us all. We have learned to work together to get ready to pull out of campgrounds and when to retreat into our own world but all in all we have had a fantastic time.  

We are planning on heading to Galveston tomorrow.  We are not sure what we are going to do there or what else we will be doing so I will let you know in tomorrows blog.

We miss you all and hope you are enjoying our blog.

Love,

Bett, David, Lauren Elizabeth, Ann Wells and Mary Kathrine

Carlsbad Caverns

Well Friday night was amazing...We visited Carlsbad Caverns to watch the Bat Flight program they have there.  This is when you go sit out side and watch for the bats to leave the cave.  Usually they have about 200,000 bats leave every night but due to the hot weather and no rain the numbers are down quit a bit.  Now they have a couple thousand.  This was fine for us because we had hiked the cavern earlier that day and new where they were coming from.  It was so neat to watch the bats begin to leave and more and more come out.  It looks like a small black tornado, so I can only imagine what 200,000 bats would look like.  After we finished watching the bats we came on back to the rv.  We knew we needed to get to bed early because we were leaving early this morning.

We woke up this morning and were on the road at 5 AM.. We have learned to travel early because of the heat.  We had a 9 hour drive in front of us so we needed to get started.  We took turns driving between Bett, David and I we all drove about 2 hours.  We made it to San Antonio.  On the way we saw some new things,  first we began to see clouds again.  It has been so hot there have been none.  While driving down the road we saw things like slow animals that had been hit by cars, buffalo, a road runner(bird), flames from gas wells, coyote and lots of dead deer that were only skin and bones...They had dried up.  

We arrived in San Antonio mid afternoon. We went straight to Cavendar's  a Texas boot store.  Lauren Elizabeth got her a pair of turquoise ones, Ann Wells got her some chocolate ones with colors embroidered on them and I got a brown pair.  We love them.  Ann Wells has already worn hers.  LE and I are waiting to wear ours when we get home.  

We checked into the Campground.  We all fell in love with it imediatly.  We are right beside the pool and the playground so we can watch the girls out of the camper windows.  Most of all there are trees and grass.  The grass is still alive I might add. The girls went swimming right off the bat while Bett, David and I straightened up.  Then they came in and we all ate supper. We had hamburgers tonight and LE had a PP&J.  After we finished the girls and I went to the pool.  It felt wonderful.  

We are all now setteling in for the night.  We are going to go into San Antonio tomorrow and find LULU's home of the 3lb cinnamon roll.  Lauren Elizabeth heard about this on Man v/s Food.  We will be going to the River front and Alamo as well.  I will check in with you guys tomorrow.  Have a great day and stay cool..

-- 

Carlsbad Caverns

Well so far today has been much better.  We all woke up early 7 o’clockish and got ready to head to the caverns about 15 miles away.  It was already hot.  We arrived and checked in with our Ranger and waited for our instructions.  After telling is the safety rules she handed us our lanterns and we were headed down the elevator shaft into the canyon.  This was 754 feet down and it only took us about a minute to get to the bottom.  We gathered around a round desk and lit our candles and were headed into the left hand tunnel.  While in the tunnel we learned that this tunnel was made from sulfuric acid not water.  The construction of the tunnel happened when water from an old ocean area came in contact with petroleum and created sulfuric acid.  This took place about 200 million years ago.  The structures that were formed are beautiful.  You see stalactites, stalagmites, columns, things called drapes and some even look like bacon.  There are water pools that are completely clear and almost don’t look like their is water in them at all.  We walked in about a half a mile and turned around.  We did what was called a black out, this is when we sat in a circle and blew out the candles and sat in the dark.  We then had one candle lit and experienced what it was like when the cavern was first discovered.  After leaving the cavern we shopped in the gift shop and then spoke to the ranger about coming back to see the Bat Flight tonight.  Because of the recent forest fires the bat population has been down but hopefully by the end of the summer the numbers will be back up.  The forest fires at Carlsbad cannon consumed 35,000 acres.  It is truly a sad sight.  We will be going back tonight to see the bats take flight so I will check back in and tell you about that later.  Have a great afternoon.  

Two day trip from LA to Carlsbad, New Mexico

Well I have one word to say and that is HOT!!!!!!  We left LA about 8:30 and headed to Tucson for the night.  Well the temperature quickly hit 113 degrees.  Prissy the RV did not like the hot weather.  We did our best to give her little breaks but she was just toooo hot.  When she would get real hot the generator world turn off and we would have no air.  We opened the windows but the breeze and I use that term loosely was not very refreshing.  After about 6 hours into our 9 hour drive we started to wet towels and wrap them around our heads.  We looked hysterical.  David was driving with a green towel wrapped around his head.  Bett had a cold water bottle as a neck brace.  Ann Wells and Lauren Elizabeth had towels dipped in ice water on their stomachs and I had ice on my legs and a ice pack on my head.  


We finally made it to Tucson and spent the night.  We unpacked and the girls and I went for a walk on a path in the desert.  While walking we got some beautiful pictures of the sun setting. Ann Wells came up and said she had a cactus sticker in her shoe.  I went to pull it out and it got stuck on one of my fingers.  The more I tried to get it off the worse it got.  It was like the tar baby.  Finally I gave up and came back to the rv to get help.  I got all of them out but one and David had to pull it out with the needle nose pliers.  It was in there good.  So needless to say Ann Wells and I don’t want to see another cactus ever.  


After the HOT ride yesterday we decided to get up very early and leave at 5 AM.  That was the best decision we could have made.  Prissy was so happy she drove us to Carlsbad with no trouble at all.  She was so happy, she just hummed us right along.  Today on our way to Carlsbad we saw a beautiful sunrise.  It is true what they say there is noting like the sun set or sun rise in the desert.  While on the road we also saw some beautiful new mountains.  The dirt was a different consistency that we had seen. Closer to New Mexico we saw the Salt Flats.  This is a flat area made of sand and a high amount of salt.  It was white as snow.  We also saw the after math of some forest fires and even caught a glimpse of one on the side of the mountain.  It is truly sad how much devastation the fires have done.  Right now there is a concern about rain because if it rains it could cause land slides because there is nothing holding the dirt in place.  They are unsure how the ecosystems will be effected at this time but are planning on letting Mother Nature take her course and rebuild.


I am trying to learn how to add some pictures on here but no luck so far. Hope you are all doing well. Be home in 8 days.

Disneyland and LA

Ok, It has been another busy few days, We left Vegas on Monday morning and headed towards LA. On the way Jeff decided we would surprise the girls and take them to Disneyland. When we arrived in the area of Ontario, California, the place Jeff was flying out of, we went on to the airport and rented a car. It was a Yellow, VW Bug.  Lauren Elizabeth was excited but Ann Wells was not happy at all. After leaving the airport we started heading to Disney when we found out that there was a Chick-Fil-A right there so of course we had to stop so LE could get some chicken.  She was so excited.  It was the first Chick-fil-a she had had since we left Greenwood. Jeff and I took the girls to Disney while Bett and David went to the campground and set everything up.  

Disney was so much fun. We are all glad we can say we have been there. It is smaller than the one in Florida but just as much fun. We only had about 5 hours there so we did not get to ride everything we wanted but we did get to ride a few things. Fortunately, they have most of the same rides as in Florida. The girls had a great time. It was so nice spending time with Jeff and the girls and doing something with just us. We have missed Jeff so much.  After we left Disney, Jeff took us back to the campground and he was off to the airport to head back to the wood.  Someone has to work. The girls were so tired but Tuesday is a busy day so we all had to hit the sheets and get a good night sleep.

Tuesday morning we were all up and ready to leave by 9:15 PT. The tour consisted of 11 of us. We were the only ones from the US, the others were from Holland and Germany. The people from Holland were so nice and sweet. They were 2 young couples in their early 30 touring the West coast. We had a fun time getting to know them and they had fun talking with Bett. She told them all about our little town of Greenwood and about her farm. It was fun.  While on our tour, which was to be only 6 ½ hours, we visited tons of places in LA.  We started out at 2 beaches.  The first was Venice Beach (Muscle Beach.) We took off our shoes and put our feet in the Pacific Ocean.  It smelled just like the Atlantic to me.  We were all a little shocked at the language that was painted on the walls and  said in that area.  After we left Venice Beach, we headed to Santa Monica Pier. This is where Route 66 ends.   While there Lauren Elizabeth and I road a roller-coaster and were late back to the tour. They almost left us.  Thank goodness David, Bett and Ann Wells were there to make them wait.  The pier was a neat site to see.  Then we headed towards UCLA. We only saw a portion of the Campus but it was a beautiful place.  Rodeo Drive was fun to ride down.  We did not stop to shop since we had already bought our trinkets.  While riding around we passed many famous homes.  Some include Al Pa chino, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, Ron Howard, Playboy mansion, Leonardo DiCaprio, Christina Agularia, Doris Day, Frank Sinatra’s house, Lucile Ball, Ronald Reagan's home, Bing Crosby’s, Michael Jackson’s home where he died, and the LA home of Elvis. We also saw 2 houses that Nicholas Cage had lost last year in a Bankruptcy case. We stopped at the Hollywood walk of fame on Hollywood Blvd and LE saw some of her favorite people’s stars.  We ate lunch at the famous Farmers Market on West 3^rd street. While traveling around we stopped and took pictures of the Hollywood Sign and the Griffith Observatory.  While here, we got caught up in a swarm of bees that were swarming.  Fortunately no one got stung. The Disney Concert hall, there David asked a question about the stainless steel outer covering and the tour guide got so excited because someone knew about that.  Walt Disney’s wife gave money for this Concert Hall to be built but died 2 years before it’s completion.  CBS studios and the old RKO studies were seen as well.  We saw the Kodak Theatre where the Academy Awards and American Idol are held.  We visited the Paramount Studio Arches (entrance way).  We saw where the red carpet area is for awards shows.  The Tar pit was neat.  I did not know anything about it.  It is a pit of tar from millions of years ago, where they have found many, many fossils.  I found that to truly be amazing that it was still there after all these years.  We saw where Bobby Kennedy was shot and where Janis Joplin died.  We saw the Hollywood Bowl summer home of the LA Philharmonic.  We road by the Staples Center where Michael Jackson’s funeral was held.    We saw the restaurant where Sharon Tate and her friends ate the night they were murdered by Charles Manson and his followers.

Last but not least, we were getting back on the tour van and David realized he did not have his wallet.  He traced his steps back to a CVS at the Farmers Market.  We called and YES he had left his wallet there.  The nice people on the tour bus agreed to us driving back (20 Minutes) to the CVS and allowing David to retrieve his wallet.  This made our 6 1/2 hour tour, that had already run over, turn into a 9 hour tour.  We all had a wonderful time.  It was a long day but we all learned a lot about LA.  We know it is definitely a town we would all like to visit again one day.  

Hoover Dam AND Las Vegas

Ok it has been a few days since I have written.  I have had a migraine so the last time I wrote was before we went to the Hoover Dam.  The Hoover Dam is truly a architectural wonder.  We drove to the Dam from the campground.  This campground was like Cane Creek in Cross Hill.  The sites were paved and very little grass in sight.  The bath house and laundry room were accessible by key only.  We could not believe how nobody came out until dark and that was when they all went to Vegas.  

At the Hoover Dam we took a tour inside.  To be inside such a large structure was truly amazing.  We learned about how it was built.  We learned that the Dam is not attached to the mountain….it is wedged in and there for will move as the earth moves.  The view from inside the Dam was beautiful.  You could look up and see the curvature of the Dam…

While at the Dam we ate at the Dam Cafe.  We had great hamburgers and chicken tenders.   On Sunday Jeff and the girls went to Lake Mead.  That was the first day of my migraine.  They said the water was cold and the bottom was rocky but they looked like they had fun.

On Sunday night Bett, David, Jeff, Lauren Elizabeth and Ann Wells went into Vegas. They had a blast.  I did not go again because of a migraine….Lauren Elizabeth is going to tell you about Vegas….. 

HOLA! Daddy planned out what we were going to do in Vegas Sunday afternoon. After we ate supper, we went into Vegas. It was so cool because you could see the skyline from MILES away. We didn’t realize how close we were.

We got into Vegas and saw the Roller-coaster New York. It was HUGE! I really wanted to ride it but we couldn’t find parking. We actually parked at the Bellagio hotel. We went inside and found BEAUTIFUL hand-blown glass flowers and insane water works. Then, we went through the casino. I felt so weird in there because I technically wasn’t allowed in there. Daddy played one round of roulette and won $40 dollars! After that, we went outside to watch the BIG water show. Next, walked down the strip to Caesar's Palace. It was so big. We did not go inside here but we ate a little snack outside of it. Afterwards, we walked down to the Mirage. This place had a VOLCANO! It erupts every hour with fire and water. I thought it was awesome. I said that it was like the dragon at the beach times like 50,000. There were mini flamethrowers in the water. We then went to Treasure Island. I won’t go into detail about that. It was NOT a kid-friendly place. But Vegas was so pretty. Here’s a picture of the Eiffel Tower they had and then I’m done.

They arrived back at the camper about 1:00 Pacific Time.  Jeff got in the bad and said my parents were pooped….Ann Wells hollered “Good Night Vegas”.  

This morning we awoke and started our trip to L. A.  after this stop we are headed home...Right now we are driving through the Mojave dessert..  As far as you can see is dessert and cacti.  I will hopefully be able to blog tomorrow about LA.  

The girls are still getting along rather well.  They have had a few more spats since Jeff arrived but over all they are doing well.  Mama and I are still getting along thanks to me increasing my Celexa...lol. 

Mary Kathrine 

Grand Canyon and beyond.....June 15-17

Oh my gosh have we been some miles since I last posted.....


I am sorry we have not been in touch for a while we did not have Internet service and sporadic cell service at best.....


We left Mesa Verde on June 15 and headed for the Grand Canyon.  The views we saw headed to the Canyon had some of the most gorgeous colors I have ever seen.  The lush greens in southern Colorado were beyond description.  We arrived at the Grand Canyon and settled in and got ready for our tour on the 16th..  Before we went to bed the girls saw mule deer walking through the campground.  Ann Wells quietly snuck up on them and took many pictures.  We woke up early on Thursday morning and checked in for our tour of the Grand Canyon.  We had a great tour guide he was very knowledgeable on the geology and the animals in the Grand Canyon area.  We learned how the Grand Canyon was formed and what animals live in the area.  In the Grand Canyon you can find Elk, California Condors, bobcats, mountain lions, mule deer and big horned sheep among others.  The tour was called the Dessert View Tour and it lasted for 4 hours.  We stopped at 3 different viewing points and went to the Watch Tower.  The Watch Tower was designed by Mary Colter one of the first significant female architect.   We had some great views.  While we were at the Watch Tower we had a very classy expensive lunch.....We had 2 chicken sandwiches, 1 hamburger, 1 order of fries, 3 bananas(2 of which were rotten) 2 waters, 1 tea and 1 Gatorade...totaling 40 plus dollars.   How is that for classy and expensive...And they wern’t real good either.   After we returned home we all crashed.  The altitude is really taxing on us older ones...


We are all now ready for dinner and waiting for Jeff to arrive.  Jeff left Greenville about 5:15 EST.  He was to arrive in Flagstaff, AZ about 10:30 PT...His flight was late leaving Greenville therefor he missed his connecting flights everywhere else.  When he arrived in Phoenix he had to rent a car and drive about 3 hours to the campground.  He arrived in the Grand Canyon at 4:30 AM...When it was time to leave this morning Jeff got in the car with me and we followed Mama and Daddy in Prissy. Prissy has done very well on this trip she does get a little tired but God gets up where we are going and allows her to rest.  We are so thankful for the safe trip she has provided for us.. We arrived at the Boulder City RV Park this afternoon and settled in. We were so thankful to have spotless showers to shower in and a beautiful view to boot.  Jeff and the girls went swimming while Bett fixed supper.  Tonight we are having Roast, Creamed Corn, potatoes  and Lima beans for dinner.  Tomorrow we will have our tour of Hoover Dam and we are having lunch at the Dam Cafe...The girls are so excited about getting to say Dam...  lol  Have a great night and I will post tomorrow about our tour.

June 13 and 14...Oaklahoma City and Mesa Verde

Well it has been a few days since I wrote on the blog so we need to catch up.....We left Santa Fe about 8AM.. We thought the views we had seen were beautiful the day before but boy were we blown away today.  We did not stop at any stops for touring but the view out of Prissy’s(RV) windows were out of this world.  We saw snow capped mountains not a sight we see in South Carolina on a regular basis.  We passed a mountain called Camel Rock.  It truly looked like a camel head.  We drove through Los Alamo's where they worked on the Atomic Bomb.  Between these places there was NOTHING.......However the vast mountains we grand.  We drove over the Rio Grande River and talked about how it would be fun to raft down it, if we ever got the chance.  We witnessed a falcon grab a bird out of mid air..  None of the ladies on this trip have ever seen this.  The town of Durango was like stepping back in time, men had on cowboy hats and boots and the street looked like a main street on Andy Griffith.  After leaving Durango we headed to Cortez this was about 50 minutes away.  We passed out Campground on the way to pick up the rental car.  We did get a little turned around looking for the extremely busy Cortez Airport...(NOT)  After we picked up the car we headed back to the campground where we all relaxed.  Ann Wells and I walked down to where there were some horses and learned the story of Whiskers.  He was from a horse rescue on the land of Mesa Verde.  After we visited with Whiskers we headed back for dinner.  Tonight we had Tacos or Taco Salads..They were delish.....After dinner we turned in early because we needed to get up early for our 8AM tour.  We had to leave at 7:30.  


We headed across the street for a 15 mile drive up the mountain (8571’ above sea level) to the check in point.  Well 15 miles is an understatement.  It may only be 15 miles but they wind around back and forth the entire way.  You also have to be careful to not get altitude sickness.  Mamma was beginning to feel this right before we arrived at the bus.  The bus driver was a very good driver she got us around curves that Prissy could have not made.  She took us to our first stop the Pit House it dates back to AD 600.  This is an example of early living for the Pueblo Indians.  After we left there we headed to several Kiva.  These are circular homes that were dug into the ground where Pueblo Indians lived.  The last stop we made was Cliff Palace.  We were able to look down on it and see its magnificent view.  Ann Wells, Bett and David went on the actual tour of this site.  In order to get there you had to go down many many steps and walk down many steep hills and to get back up you had to climb 3 ladders and walk up tons of steps.  The three of them enjoyed it immensely. Lauren Elizabeth and I stayed up top.  After we left there we headed back to the hotel to pick up our car.  On the ride there we saw some wild horses, mule dear and the charred remains of a forest fire.  Today has been a most pleasant day temperature wise and not a cloud in the sky.


Now that we are home the girls have gone to play pool and burn some energy.  We will be leaving about 8 to head to the Grand Canyon...We are all so excited to see this natural wonder because what we have already see has been spectacular.


Hope you are all doing well and staying cool, we miss you had can’t wait to share our trip with you more.


Mary Kathrine, Lauren Elizabeth, Ann Wells, Bett and David

Santa Fe, New Mexico June 12, 2011

Today we went into Old Santa Fe.  We took the local public transportation.  It is so nice when towns have safe transportation.  We have really had wonderful experiences with it.   Every time we have ridden on a bus or trolley we have meet the neatest locals.  They have shared with us tips about were to eat and where to shop.  What areas to stay away from and today we met some people who have been to some of the camp grounds we will be visiting.  We were assured that they were nice places.  


We got up this morning and Mama and I did laundry.  I took the girls to a nice heated pool...this time it was truly heated.  The three of us swam for about an hour.  While we were gone mama and daddy cleaned up the camper.  It smelled so good when we walked in.  After we had lunch(left overs,  Hash, BBQ chicken sandwich, baked onions and brown rice) we all got ready to head into “town”.  We hopped on the bus and headed North into the Old Town.  It is truly amazing at the architecture in this area.  I love the rounded houses.  Once off the bus we walked around the Plaza and shopped in many local merchants tables.  There was so much locally made stuff it was hard to decide.  While walking around there were locals playing all types of music.  We heard violinist, guitarist, flutiest, and a mariachi band.  We visited a beautiful Catholic Church.  The windows were gorgeous as were the other ornate features.  We were planning on eating true mexican but all the restaurants are closed from 3 until 5:30 on Sundays and we needed to eat early(5:00) so we could get back to the campground.  We tried about 4 places and finally settled on a pizza place that had sandwiches and pizza stuff.   Mama and daddy ordered a Calzone and I got a Ham Sub...LE and AW ate Garlic Bread Sticks but did not like them very much.  The adults were not crazy about their meals either.  After we finished we stopped and bought a few more souvenirs and then headed for the bus I was leaving at 5:30 and we were just in time.  We were the last ones on the bus.  After arriving back we all sitting around relaxing and out of our window was the most beautiful parrot.  Ann Wells tried to get his picture but he and his owner were already gone when she got out side.  The we received the terrific news that CAROLINA had WON the baseball game and were headed BACK to OMAHA......WHooo Hoooo GO COCKS!


We are having a wonderful time.  The girls had still being perfect.  So are mama and I.  And of course Daddy is the best.  We will be rising in the morning to head to Mesa Verde National Park where we will be for 2 nights.  We have a tour set up for Tuesday.


I hope all of you are doing well and enjoying you summer we sure are.  


Some funny things that happened today, 
-Bett was scared by a toy rattlesnake egg toy 
-Every time MK opens her pet fish on her phone David things someone is getting sick
-Lauren Elizabeth was entertained ALL day by a plastic cup, she finally threw it away after the bus  ride home.
-Bett said that pictures had been unloaded from the camera not uploaded from the camera.
-David......he just laughed at us all.

Friday and Saturday

Today was a long ride.  We drove from Memphis to Oklahoma City.  It took us about 7 hours.  Fortunately the roads were not as we had expected.  We had heard that they were terrible but evidently they have been working on them for sometime.  We arrived at the Rockwell RV park about 6.  The girls and I took about a 30 minute swim in what was to be a heated pool.  Well if it was heated it must have been heated for polar bears.  The water was freezing.  After we ate supper, grilled BBQ chicken, brown rice and green beans it was about time for us to start winding down.  Again the girls have been great today.  We would all be doing better if Bett would pick up after herself… I thought she was brought up better that this.  

    Bett and I sat in the front seats and watched a storm develop to our North, it was really a strange sight.  Finally we closed the curtain and all turned in for the night.  About 2 hours later a storm began near us.  It rained for about an hour,  The lightening and thunder was terrible.  It was a hard rain but we were thankful that our home away from home was getting a little shower.  The windows were much cleaner this morning. 

    We were all up before 8am Central time and were on the road by 8:15.  So far our trip today has been beautiful.  Oklahoma is a beautiful state.  We could look out the window and see for miles.  Some things we have seen on this ride today…..first and most importantly we saw the HUGH Cadillac Ranch….The girls had spray paint and painted their names on the cars.  It was a funny sight because it was only 10 old Cadillac cars with their noses stuck in the ground..  we also saw wild catus, 100’s of white windmills, many dead slow animals, and smoke from some fires in Texas. We also saw the tilted water tower, The 2nd largest cross in the Western Hemisphere and the Big Texan Steak House.  We did not stop to eat.. After we crossed the border into Texas things began to pick up.  The wind was terrible.  At one point it was so bad the RV was pushed off the road and we felt like we were going to overturn.  The view out the window was an absolutely wonder.  When you looked out the window you could see as far as the eye could see.  We stopped at a rest area that had a Tornado Shelter.  I felt like the rest areas needed to be closer if they needed storm shelters.  They also had signs to stay away from the rock and small bushes because there may be Rattlesnakes.  Not a good thing……  While driving down I40 we saw several sand devils (sand tornados)  I was able to get some pictures because I know Jeff won’t believe me…  The mountains that we began to see are so interesting.  They don’t look like mountains in SC they are more dirt looking than rock.  There is little grass in the fields and very small shrubs for animals to find shelter under.  Finally we made it into New Mexico.  About 2 hours later we finally arrived in Santa Fe. Our campground is nice and has a pool so the girls will have a little something to do when we get back from touring and to blow off a little energy.. We are all trying to adjust to being 2 hours behind Greenwood.  We are going to bed early and getting up early according to Home time.  Again the girls are being wonderful.  We started looking at Cowboy boots so that we will know what we want when we arrive in Houston on our ride home.  

I hope you are still enjoying our trip we sure are.  Please if you ever have the opportunity to take this journey please do it is fabulous..

Mary Kathrine, Bett, David, Lauren Elizabeth and Ann Wells

Tour of Memphis

       Boy was it HOT today in Memphis.  We started off a little slow this morning, we let the girls sleep a little later.  Mama and I did some laundry.  After we ate lunch we took a shuttle from the Heart Break Hotel into downtown Memphis. Once in Memphis we saw Sun Studio and hopped on the trolley for our ride around town.  We took the River View route.  I was not real impressed with this town...I thought it was kind of dirty. Our first “stop” was The Peabody Hotel to see the penguins oh sorry they are ducks.  I am determined they are going to start having penguins….They posed for pictures and swam in their fountain.  IT was so neat to see ducks inside a hotel and not in Lake Greenwood or Chinquapin Pond.  The Peabody is a beautiful hotel with a huge fresh flower arrangement in the center of the fountain where the duck swim.  We stayed here for a while again to cool off.   Back on the trolley we meet a nice man from Michigan who had relocated to Memphis.  While we were riding around he shared many tips about Memphis with us.  He showed us where the recent flood waters came and told us about how Mud Island was completely under water except for the flags.  He also told us about how the pyramid had not been used in about 5 years and was slated to be bought by Bass Pro Fishing but after 2 payments of 35,000.00 It fell through. 

Our tour of the Civil Rights Museum was absolutely wonderful.  We all saw so much that we were unaware of. These things made us sad, mad, angry and happy that we all have a better life.  We also went into the hotel where Martin Luther King Jr was shot.  Across the street we toured the building where the shooter James Earl Ray shot Martin Luther King JR.  After we finished up this air conditioned tour we headed by trolley to Beale Street.  We had hoped to be here after the sun went down but it was WAYYYYY to hot.  After our dinner last night at Marlow’s we decide to have Hard Rock Cafe( girls pick)  It was fun.  Mama, Daddy, Ann Wells and I split the sampler and Lauren Elizabeth got guess what…...CHICKEN TENDERS…..surprise surprise.  After dinner we walked Beale street and visited many little shops.  Some were good and some not so good.  It amazed me that some of the places on Beale were not child friendly at all.  They were selling things that I have never seen..We got out of those shops rather fast.  Once place sold Voodoo dolls.   I have NEVER soon those in a store.  Bett and David sat at BB Kings bar and had a refreshing adult beverage while the girls and I walked around.  It was wonderful.  We hopped on the Hotel Shuttle on the corner of 2^nd and Beale and were swept away in a comfortable cool bus.  Our driver was such a kind lady.  She was a wealth of knowledge.  She also told us about the flood waters and took us through a beautiful neighborhood.  The houses were over a million each..  Our driver overhead heard us talking about being so tired so she delivered us to our door.  It was so nice of her because we may have collapsed if we had had to walk another step.  I would recommend Nashville and Memphis to others to visit even though Memphis was dirty.

Hope you are enjoying our trip.  We would love to hear back from you through email with suggestions as to things we may see.  

We are headed to Oklahoma City tomorrow morning….We will spend the night there and head onto Santa Fe Saturday morning.  Please keep praying for our safe travels.  

Mary Kathrine, Bett, David, Lauren Elizabeth and Ann Wells

Memphis!

Hey guys,
     LE here! I slept from the time we left Nashville this morning to the time we got to Memphis. Once we got here, Ann Wells said she wanted to go to the park. I told her we could go but we had to swim some cause it was hot. Once we got back from swimming, Momma, AW, and I went to Graceland. That place is SMALLLLL with lots of land. It’s very.........interesting. Well, my favorite part of the day today was the pink limo ride.

Happy Trails,

Lauren Elizabeth

Graceland and Marlowe’s

Travel today was very smooth, however the roads on I40 are terrible.  We left Nashville about 8:00 Central Time and arrived in Memphis at 12.  We made a pit stop at a Walmart and picked up a few items that we needed and then headed to the campground.  We are literally right across the street from Graceland.  Once we settled in the girls went for a quick swim and when they got back Lauren Elizabeth, Ann Wells and I went to tour Graceland.  It was great.  Both girls loved it.  They thought it would be bigger but were amazed at what was inside the house.  My favorite place was the meditation garden.  After we got back from the tour we went to eat dinner at Marlowe’s BBQ and Ribs.   We were picked up by a pink limousine.  This placed was featured on Diners Drive-Ins and Dives.  It was so much fun.  This is one of several places featured on the Food Network that we will be dining,  As I type this both girls are out taking pictures of their Gnomes they brought on the trip.  They have had fun photographing them traveling across the US.

I hope you are enjoying our trip.  Sorry there have not been many funny happenings as of yet but I am sure as we all get tired and tired of each other things will get more comical.

We hope Taylor (the Housesitter)  is loving the pool life and being the mom of 2 rotten dogs.  Thanks Taylor for taking care of everything at the Henderson House.....

Love to you all,
MK, LE, AW, BJ and David

Tour of Nashville and Blue Bird Cafe

June 7, 2011

Today was great.  We took a tour of downtown Nashville.  We saw so many wonderful things.  We went down the street with all the recording studios.  LE was in heaven.  We took a tour of the Ryman Auditorium and Lauren Elizabeth got up on stage and we took her picture.  After we went there we went to the Country Music Hall of Fame.  Oh my gracious!!! it was so interesting to see all the stars displays.  On our tour we saw the Parthenon, had drinks at Tootsie(Bar).  This was a wonderful day.

I know many of you are interested in the happenings with the children and adults as well so here are some side notes about the past 2 days.

Mary Kathrine thinks there are penguins at The Peabody hotel in Memphis,

The girls have been playing putt putt after it closes with a golf ball they found and a stick

I know this is not what everyone has been expecting but so far this is IT!!!!  No side splitting laughs (YET)

Monday, June 6, 2011

Good Morning,

Yesterday was an interesting day.  We started out planning on leaving at 7:30.  We arrived at Bett and David’s house and finished loading up the camper with the rest of the Constant house.  We truly look like we are moving across country.  After giving everyone hugs and kisses( Ann Carol, Sammy and Jeff) we loaded up and all settled in and what do you know the battery was dead.  After about 15 minutes or so David found jumper cables and we were off.  Needless to say we brought them with us.  Fortunately once we were one the road we had no problems.  We stopped for about 30 minutes and had a sandwich and gave David a little break from driving.  Bett took over the drivers seat after lunch.  Our first stop was The Hermitage ( Andrew Jackson’s Home)... It was beautiful.   We watched a 20 minute fill and both girls did not move.  It was very educational.
     Well today we are off to downtown Nashville.  It is the CMA Festival this week so you know Lauren Elizabeth is happy. Lots planned for today so check in tonight or tomorrow to see what has happened on our wonderful adventure across America.

Headed out Monday morning at 7 am..

I am going ahead and writing this on Sunday morning, because I am not sure how tomorrow morning will go.  We are all excited about this wonderful opportunity to see the United Stated.  We will be going through 15 to 18 states and we will be taking you along with us through this blog.  Our first stop will be Nashville, TN.  If you are there and want to holla at us here is my cell.....351-5897(864).  Hope you enjoy our trip.