How about 32 states and 2 countries in 55 days covering 11,000 miles!

We had been planning this trip around the States for about 5 years.  The decision to make it during the summer of 1999 was that Don would be graduating from High School, which would make CJ as old as possible to experience all the great sights around the USA and Canada.

The summer of 1999 also coincided with the 9th tri-annual Longeuay – Jacquemain family reunion held in Windsor and Detroit.  This year the D’Arcys (and Soukups) also decided to hold their first family reunion in Rhode Island.  Now add in that college for Don was starting the last week of August.  This made the planning and routing of the trip extremely complex.

We were hoping to get the two reunions timed just right so that we could just drive from one to the other while making a counter clockwise route around the USA.  Not a chance!  In order to make both reunions, this required that we cut across to Windsor from Philadelphia, and loop around back to New York via the Rhode Island reunion.  This wasn't the only zigzag we would end up doing!

We have a 32 foot class A RV (the ones that look like a box).  We decided to get the smallest class C RV (looks like a van with a bedroom attached) that could sleep 6 with lots of windows (a 23 footer).  The biggest factor in getting a smaller RV was that Terry and Don didn't like driving the 32 footer due to the last half of it getting through the intersections a day behind the first half. 

When all was said and done, the 23 footer was packed to the rafters, with only enough clothes and food for about 3 days. There wasn't a spare cubbyhole to be found.  It was short enough to fit into most parking slots.  Fully loaded, the RV was a bit rear end heavy and you could notice the front end slightly raised.

We had planned to drive an average of 200 miles with 1 or 2 attractions per day.  We tried to keep each day to a maximum of 10 hours for both driving and attraction time.  We knew this would change, but we had no idea how much.

Even though we had planned out every attraction and RV Park to stop at, we changed our itinerary almost every day.  From what we were going to see, to where we were going would stay, let alone how long each thing would take. 

Planning was our pal, but spontaneity was our driver.

We held our annual 4th of July party, recuperated for a day afterwards, and then hit the road for the adventure of a lifetime.

Our first day was going to be a leisurely drive to see Aunt Maria Jacquemain and her daughter cousin Sandy, then onto the California – Arizona border to spend the night.  Our first deviation from our plans was within hours.

We had a great get together with Aunt Maria Jacquemain and Cousin Sandy.  We didn't realize that it had been quite a long time since we had seen them.  We all went out to lunch together and chit chatted for a few hours. They were both doing great.  Cousin Sandy was going to expand her house and have her mom move in from her mobile home.

They told us about the Joshua Tree National Monument and Park, which was not on our itinerary, so here was our first deviation, only a couple of hours out of our way.

We mostly drove through the Park since it was pretty hot out.  We stopped at a couple of the landmarks and just enjoyed the scenery.  Since this was the beginning of the week, the roads were almost as desolate as the desert.

Terry and I decided that we weren't going to tell the kids what “humidity” was and just let them experience it when we got to the East Coast.  We didn't have to wait that long.  After coming out of the desert, we hit the heat and humidity at the border.

By the late hot humid afternoon, we reached our first camp site; the Riviera RV park right on the Colorado River.  We got a great site overlooking the river.  We both swam in the river as well as their pool to cool off in the heat.  At the river, the current was extremely strong.  So strong that I could have been pulled into it and not be able to fight my way towards shore.  Since we were in a calm jetty that lead to the river, we could swim up to the current, feel its tremendous force, and swim back to safety.  The river looked calm on top, but was treacherous below.  I wanted to show the kids how easy it could be to get into trouble with a river that ran faster than it looked.

Since we were leaving early the next morning, we drove across the Colorado River to get a picture of the kids under the Arizona State welcome sign.  This started a new tradition of taking a picture of the kids under each state welcome sign every time we entered a new state.

As evening fell, we dined to natures light show, as the first of many thunderstorms roared off in the distance.  The lightning danced atop the mountains like a fireworks show.

We had planned a pretty full day with two large and time consuming attractions.  I decided to get up at the crack of dawn and put on some miles before the kids woke up.  It was also the first test to see if they could sleep on the road.

The early morning brought in a beautiful sunrise to illuminate the road to Arizona.  The kids slept like logs while we increased our speed (70 MPH), just to keep up with traffic.  It turns out that Arizona has one of the highest speed limits (75 MPH), and most semi-rigs were whizzing by me even faster than I was going.

One by one, Terry and the kids slowly awoke, never realizing that I had put on a couple of hours of driving.  The early birds got to see the sunrise.  The late birds only saw the desert and had to wait to see the sunrise after we developed the pictures.  By leaving early, we got to our first attraction (The Wildlife Zoo) 30 minutes before they opened.

The Wildlife Zoo was the best open-air zoo we had ever been to.  They had hundreds of different wild life, from the smallest American mouse to the largest African elephant.  Some were so close you could even pet them even though you're not suppose to.  You could even feed the giraffes.   And then there was the petting zoo.  We knew if we spent too much time here, we wouldn't have much time for the second attraction.  What we will always remember the most about the Wildlife Zoo is the Black Panther exhibit.

As you walk up to the Black Panther exhibit, it looks like two large cages separated by a two story walk through atrium connecting the two for shade.  As we neared the exhibit, we couldn't find the Black Panthers.  Suddenly Don looked up to see the Black Panthers right above his head, with their saliva dripping on him.  It wasn't an atrium for shade; it was an overhead walkway between the two cages.  And when I say right above his head, they're only 3 feet from his head.  You could even see some faint spots on one of the Black Panthers.  Now this was getting up close and personal with the wildlife.

Time for the next deviation from our schedule.  Since it was hot and humid, we decided to check into our campground.  We pulled into the Green Acres RV park and it looked more like the God Awful RV park.  The pool was drained and totally trashed from the previous nights storm.  This was an extremely old mobile home park that rented out unused spaces to RVs, and it looked it.   Finding another RV park with a clean pool ended up taking 30 minutes of calling. We ended up at the Michigan RV park only a few miles away.

We were finally able to jump into a pool and cool off before heading out for to next attraction in downtown Phoenix.

The next attraction was the Arizona Science Center.  The tour book suggested 3 hours, which is what we budgeted for this attraction, and we were on schedule.  We could have stayed another 3 hours easily.  This is a hands-on three-story science center.  After an hour on just half of the first floor, I had to rush everyone along so we could at least see everything on each floor.  But of course, there was not enough time to play with everything, just a sampling.  Everything there was great.  We hope to go back and spend an entire day playing with all the science projects and seeing the shows.

We went back to camp to jump into the pool and cool off again before they closed it down for our next unique experience – an Arizona Monsoon.

An Arizona Monsoon is when the wind whips up around 50 to 70 MPH out on the desert floor and creates a wall of dust that sand blasts the town.  By the time we saw the Monsoon on the horizon and started getting out of the pool, it hit us within 2 minutes.  We barely had time to walk 100 feet to the RV.  We watched the palm trees dance back and forth to the gusting winds.  The tin awnings of a couple of the mobile homes started to peal off under the whipping winds.  It died down about 30 minutes later, followed by a downpour of rain, complete with thunder and lightning, to muddy things up.  It was quite a surprise to end the day.

This was also when Clinton was visiting Phoenix.  We blamed him for the Monsoon and named it the Monica Monsoon (but we got the “b” job).

Back across the Arizona desert we headed.  The storms were only during the night and the roads were dry and clear.  Next stop, Tombstone, Arizona.

The cemetery is the first attraction into town and in retrospect was probably the highlight, as well as free.  Plenty of funny headstones like “Here lies Ike, hanged by mistake, he was right, we was wrong, now he’s gone!”.  And so were we onto the O.K. Corral to see where it all happened.

The town was chock full of hombres ready to rob the city slickers blind.  You could be taken for a ride for both a stagecoach as well as your pocket book.  Yes sir, it was definitely one of those tourist traps ghost towns nick named “Have money, do drop in.”  We did pay to go into the actual O.K. Corral and listen to the tale of the old Wild West shootout.

After our fill of getting bush whacked, we headed south for the border.  But first the next attraction, the Bisbee Queens Mine Tour.

This was a quaint tour into a copper mine that made you feel like you were one of the miners.  And our tour guide was one of the original miners.

They first dressed us in “slickers”.  They were like heavy yellow rain coats.  They outfitted us with hard hats with lights that connected to large battery packs that had to be worn around your waist.  We looked like the original miners, or at least the 6 stooges.  We boarded an original mine train to go down 1500 feet into the mine.  The mine train sat everyone in single file, with a maximum headroom of 5 feet to fit down the mine shaft.

Our guide was Juan, who we affectionately named the Juan and only Juan (one and only one)!  He had worked the mine for 30 years and could expertly show us the mining rigs and how to mine for copper, silver, turquoise and other gems.  It was a great authentic way to discover the old west.

We were going to head from the Queens mine another 150 miles straight to our campground for the night, but we were getting so used to deviating, that we couldn't pass up the next opportunity.

When we got near the town of Douglas (New Mexico), we realized it was only 10 miles from Mexico.  When I do a tour, I show everyone the not so good as well as the good, to balance out the experience.  I decided to take the kids across the border to the little town of Agua Prieta.  I wanted the kids to experience that life is not so good for others, so they can appreciate what they have.

I had expected to have the RV searched on the way back to the USA, but definitely not going into Mexico.  The Mexican guards sealed off our entry and made us wait 20 minutes before coming in.  They went through every closet, cupboard and drawer before letting us cross.  After 5 minutes of seeing how depressed the area was, it was a general consensus that everyone had seen enough and was ready to leave.  Upon re-entering the States, not even one question as we whizzed by the border crossing.

Onto our campground in Lordsburg, New Mexico.  And as usual, we were bedded down before the thunderstorm hit.  This was probably the best lightning show we were to see.  We got several large lightning hits recorded on video to playback in slow motion.  Another long exciting day had ended.

Today was only one tour, the Gila (pronounced Hila) Cliff Dwellings.

It was an all day drive to get there and back.  The drive was beautiful, winding through various mountain ranges back to an area that time forgot.  It was a 4 hour drive each way, and different routes, to the Cliff Dwellings.

Since this was in such a remote area, we were surprised at how many other cars and people had driven so far.  The campground was almost filled up as well as the parking area of the entrance to the Cliff Dwellings.

What makes the tour such an experience, is that the trail takes you along the river and up the trail into the Cliff Dwellings, just as if you were one of the Mongolian tribe that lived there 500 years ago.  As we walked through the various “rooms” you could see why they picked this enchanted area for it’s view, water supply, and food.  There were even pictographs that were probably their children’s form of graffiti.

No one knows why they left the caves after only a few decades.  I know we didn't want to leave.  On the way out, we met up with a Gila monster (lizard), water snakes (seen from the bridge), and deer resting along the river banks.  Some other visitors showed us where there were even more pictographs.

Then the long drive back to modern civilization. We’d only recommend the Gila Cliff dwellings to anyone who loves a very long drive through the mountains.  We’re glad we saw it, but probably won’t do that trip again.

We stayed in Los Cruces, New Mexico.  And again, the first RV we were to stay at, had closed their pool down.  Onto the next RV park with a cool refreshing pool to dive into.  Little did we know, this would not be our final destination.

On a whim, we looked up in the directory for some old friends Jerry used to work with; Art and Debbie Husson.  We hadn’t seen them in 15 years, so it was a pleasant surprise not only to find their phone number, but find them at home.

We up rooted ourselves again and ended up staying at their ranch on the outskirts of Los Cruces, reminiscing the good old days, and catching up on the last 15 years.

We had originally planned to drive about 50 miles and see an old war plane museum near El Paso on our way to Carlsbad Caverns.  Art had told the kids that he could take us shooting and that made their decision.

Off we went into the desert for plinking (the term for shooting bottles and cans).  The kids did quite well considering the recoil of a 9mm handgun and a 357 Magnum handgun.  Art’s other artillery included a 22mm handgun and rifle.  And Art almost got a coyote when we first arrived.

It was getting close to high noon at our make shift shootout range, which meant we needed to hit the road.  Onto Carlsbad Caverns.

This was another long drive one way (5 hours).  We stayed at Whites City, named after Jim White that discovered Carlsbad Caverns.  We were about to discover how Jim White made his discovery.

Every evening, near dusk, is the bat show.  If you arrive early, you see hundreds of swallows returning to the cave entrance.  Once the swallows are settled into their mud cages on the ceiling at the cave entrance, the bats start.

The bats swarm out in thousands. They start from about 2 miles back in an area that visitors are not allowed (for obvious reasons).  They fill the skies by the hundreds at a time, creating a vortex of darkness, spinning out of the cave.  When Jim White first saw this darkness from a distance, he thought it was a fire and went to investigate.  The rest is history.  The bats fly off for food and come back before dawn.  We decided to do the same.

Carlsbad Caverns has several tours available, from the self guided easy walking tours, to the up close and personal, crawl through the caves on your hands and feet tours.  And being a Sunday, the guided tours were selling out fast.  We booked one guided tour and one self guided tour.  Between these two tours, we would see 95% of the cave.  We decided to do the guided tour first and take our time on the self guided tour later.

The guided Kings Tour started with an elevator ride down to the bottom.  The tours most notable stop was the Big Room.  It was the size of 14 football fields.  This was a good teaching tour for the kids.  They learned about stalactites and stalagmites as well as other forms of cave formations that Mother Nature created for us.  This was a 3 hour tour and about 2 miles.

During the guided tour, our tour guide Greta would show us how Jim White and others had viewed the cavern.  She lit one candle and slowly turned off the cavern lights.  And for the auditory part of the tour, she blew out the candle and we listened to the slow dripping sounds of Mother Nature creating more formations.

The guided tour was more beautiful than the self guided tour, but it was not as adventurous.  We rented the CD players that would describe each part of the tour.  The self guided tour started at the cave entrance, where we had watched the bats emerge from the night before.  We would walk down 3 miles just like Jim White and all the others had years before us.  Since it was self paced and with headsets to listen to where we were at, everyone had a chance to explore the charm of the caverns.

We were pretty well exhausted after our 8 hours of exploring.  A dip into the pool and spa at the hotel jump started us for the next 5 hours worth of driving to get back on schedule.  This night’s stay was in Sonora, Texas, halfway from the caverns to San Antonio and The Alamo.

Today was a three tour day four hours away in San Antonio, so another early start while everyone else slept on the road.

The first stop was the San Antonio Market Place.  The tour book write up made it sound like an old-fashioned farmers market.  We had planned on stocking up on fresh produce.  It ended up being another tourist trap of low to medium caliber shops (e.g., T-shirts, pottery, etc.).

The next stop was more exciting; The Alamo.  While parking was extremely limited, the attraction wasn't.  The original church still stands (renovated for parts that were destroyed), along with replicated buildings where the last fight took place.  All the exhibits were well maintained and educational.  There were clothing of the era, actual weapons, mock-up of the battle, and even original letters before and after the battle describing what had happened.  This included all the names and states (and sometimes countries) of the men who gave their lives.  It was another great attraction.

We will not forget The Alamo (tour)!

The next stop was to be a Buffalo preserve called Buffalo Roam.  We guess they roamed away because we could not find it, and none of the locals had ever heard of it.  Oh well, onto the next campground.

We stayed at the River Shade RV Park located on the Guadeloupe River in Sequin, Texas.  This was the best campground we stayed at (even beat out Disneyworld).  If you’ve ever been to the Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland, you’d think you found it at the River Shade RV park.

Imagine a lazy river about the width of a football.  Now add in enough trees to shade the entire campground.  Hence the name Shady River!  A diving dock made it feel like being Huck Finn and Betsy Thatcher with no cares in the world.  And very few insects or humidity. 

We did have time to swim across the river, dive off the dock, fish, and hunt down fireflies.  The kids performed synchronized dock diving.  As the sun slowly set over the shady river, the kids captured fireflies to light up their evening fun.  Ah, what a life!  We could have stayed here the entire trip.

Today was a fairly short drive (3 hours) to the Houston Space Center, where we had planned to explore for 5 hours.  Along the way we did a drive by of the Houston Astrodome for our sports fanatics.

The Houston Space Center (also known as the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center) had tons of tours and things to see that could have kept us busy for days.  Our planned 5 hour expedition turned into 9 hours before they closed for the evening.

We ended up taking 3 tours, a couple of IMAX shows (one in 3-D), and toured the main complex.  The IMAX show named Destiny in Space (narrated by Leonard Nimoy) is a definite must see.  We could have easily spent another day just in the main complex.  The complex included lots of hands-on and body-on exhibits such as Landing the Shuttle simulator, reduced gravity simulator, along with other astronaut and space teaching exhibits.

We also found out that the next Shuttle launch was due on the same day we were to be at the Kennedy Space Center!  This really got us pumped up for that adventure.  We would highly recommend to anyone to visit the Houston Space Center (but plan on two days to see it all, not one).

This was supposed to be a 4 hour driving day with one tour.  But by now, not only have we changed everything we do and see, we also started losing track of time.

This was a quite pleasant unexpected experience.  Somewhere around now on the trip, we were getting used to driving a few hours, touring, driving some more, and what ended up happening was that we didn't know what day it was.  And more importantly, we didn't care what day it was. 

So today was an easy drive to the Louisiana State University (LSU) Rural Life Museum in Baton Rouge.  The Rural Life Museum was part of the campus, but on an adjoining parcel, surrounded by trees and vegetation, creating the sensation of being isolated on a plantation back in the early 1800’s.  The lands around the plantation had evolved into an agricultural experimentation center.

The Rural Life Museum contained authentic artifacts from a plantation during that era, including actual buildings, slave dwellings and a cemetery.  Since it was hot and humid out, the kids got to REALLY feel like it was to be slave on a plantation.  We saw the minuscule quarters (maybe a 10 foot by 10 foot room for an entire family), where they went to school, and prayed.

The kids were getting a bit bored with the rural life, so down the dusty road we headed.  We were originally going to stay at a KOA 2 hours from New Orleans, but decided to continue traveling on to were we would stay near New Orleans.  And again, thank goodness for cool pools in the sultry south! 

We thought we were in Disneyland as we entered New Orleans.  Looked just like their streets, complete with narrow streets, sidewalk bands and cafés.  I keep telling the kids to watch out for things they would never expect to see.  Our first pit stop was no exception.  The sign on the Gents room said “Big and Little Boys Room”.  Sure enough, inside, there were two different sized commodes.    The ladies room was the same.  A good laugh and we were on our way.

As we started walking down various streets to see the culture up close and personal, CJ spotted a “Handsome Cab”.  Ya’ll know what that is; a horse and buggy complete with frills around the edges.  Couldn’t pass up this experience. 

Our driver Charles accent made the tour a true southern pleasure.  CJ sat up front and was able to take the rains of good ‘ol Rock and Roll, a donkey not a horse.  (We’re glad the Seinfeld crew didn't feed him Beano!)  The carriage creaked down the rickety narrow streets as Charles pointed out the locals and the famous sights.  While our personal trip around the French Quarters was a bit pricey, the experience was well worth it, especially getting a load off our feet.

By the time Charles dropped us back by the waterfront, some of the sidewalk jazz bands were playing.  We walked around Jackson Square and watched the street artists create life out of canvas.  The French Market was swarming with tourists.  Since our feet were getting a good working out, we decided to take the Riverfront Trolley to the Aquarium of the America’s down the road.

If you’ve never been to any of the Aquarium of the America’s around the States (which we hadn’t), you gotta go!  It’s not so much the quantity of aquatic life; it’s the settings and water tanks that are the amazing part.  You could walk through tunnels of one exhibit, while popping your self inside of the next exhibit.  They had just received two new members – teenage, playful otters.  We got there just as it was feeding time.  With the viewing tank both above and below the water line, you could easily watch them dive and swim in both oceans (air and sea).

The most memorable exhibit would probably be the shark tank.  Imagine you are standing on the bottom of the ocean, in your 40 foot long glass cage, letting the sharks watch you!  Dozens of different types and sizes of sharks pass by you every minute, keeping an eye on any stragglers.

The only thing that could top off the New Orleans experience was a Cajun dinner.  We asked the locals and ended up at a small chain in the south called Copelands.  Great Creole Catfish and Cajun Codfish!  We tried to get the kids to try the different specialties around the States.  They would always order cheeseburgers.  So again we tried talking them into sampling the southern cuisine.  Their answer: they were sampling all the different cheeseburgers around the States.

We were going to do something different today that I should have expected, but didn't.  This was to be our first day to cross 4 states in the same day.  We started in Louisiana, and went through Mississippi and Alabama, before bedding down for the night in Florida.

And while in Alabama, our first battleship – of course, the USS Alabama.  This was a hands on tour.  Everyone cruised the decks, playing with all the weapons we could find.  The kids even crawled into the huge gun turrets and looked out the boreholes (gun shaft).  Up and down the gangplanks we raced as if we were back in Pearl Harbor.

There was also an excellent Planes of Fame next door, but no Trains of Terror.  They even had a great plane simulator ride that the kids tried out.

Since we were staying at a State campground (Ft. Pickens) we decided to do lunch while our clothes made a run through the local Laundromat.  This was in the tour trap city of Pensacola Beach.  We even had time to stop for some bait.

Ft. Pickens is located on the west end of the peninsula near Pensacola Beach.  This was to be our first taste of the Gulf of Mexico, and was it a great one.  The water was calm and near spa temperature.   We stayed in until we looked like prunes floating on the water.  We were also able to watch a horrendous thunderstorm off in the distance.  Another great campground.

We enjoyed the campground so much, we decided to stay the entire morning (until we got kicked out).  First we explored the fort.  These were bunkers that were built to protect the fort from invaders from the south.  Then we found the fishing pier on the inlet side of the peninsula.

CJ and Jerry swam in the inlet while the boys did some fishing.  Don caught a crab.  Kevin caught a beer can with a crab inside and a blowfish.  We all watched some of the local fishermen fish by hand using nets.

Since the weather was hot, we all decided to go swimming in the Gulf one more time before leaving.  The beach sand was an interesting white crystalline substance, not like the sand at our West Coast beaches.  It almost creaked when you walked on it.  Quite unique.  We could have stayed on the Gulf coast all day, but there were more adventures awaiting us.

We had originally planned to stay at the Spirit of Suwannee Music Park but decided to put some on more miles to get closer to Disneyworld.  We did sing that famous tune when we crossed the Suwannee River though!  We ended up at the “In and Out” RV park in a small town called Ocala.  Not much to say about Ocala, other than it’s less than 2 hours from Disneyworld.

Of course the kids were excited to go to Disneyworld.  Based on the pamphlets and video Disneyworld sent us, we had planned to see Epcot and one of their water parks, but we couldn't decide which water park.  Just outside of Orlando, Disneyworld has a welcome booth that shows all the parks and sells the tickets.  We decided to do Typhoon Lagoon that day and Epcot the next day.  And in true Disney style we couldn't get any discounts off their standard prices.  We’ve been Disneyland Passport holders for 12 years and still couldn't get any discounts for Disneyworld!  That brings a new meaning to the term “mouse trap” The mouse trapped us!

 We checked into the Disney RV park called Ft. Wilderness.  It holds over 500 RVs.  It’s so big, they have shuttles running to get you from one side to the other.  Ft. Wilderness had nature trails, canoes, paddle boats, horse back riding, free shows at night, and enough things to do that could keep you busy in just the RV park let alone going to any other Disney attraction. 

 Disneyworld does have a great transportation system.  From any shuttle at any resort or the RV park, you are whisked away to the main transportation center.  From here you can take various buses or monorails to any attraction (and for free!). Next stop - Typhoon Lagoon!

 We were hoping that since it was a Sunday, there wouldn't be too large a crowd at Typhoon Lagoon.  We were right.  The longest line was never over 30 minutes, with most lines about 15 minutes long.

 The snorkeling reef was our first dive into the waters.  The reef included a leopard shark as well as dozens of other different sea life – all petable.  Unfortunately you couldn't stay and cruise the reef, you had to swim one way at a slow pace.  We went through this attraction a couple of times to check everything out.  Then onto the water slides, wave pool and other aquatic attractions.

 Every 30 minutes “Miss Tilly” would announce her presence.  In true Disney fun and spirit “Miss Tilly” was an old tugboat perched high atop the waterside mountain, that would shoot water up through her steam stack about 30 feet in the air above the stack.  All of this to the sounds of her steam stack tooting.

 It was a great day, no humidity and warm.  Near the end of the day, we found a “Garbage Pail” for the kids.  The Garbage Pail was a sand pail and shovel, but not filled with sand.  It had vanilla and chocolate ice creams, bits of wafflecone, sprinkles, strawberry, caramel and hot fudge sauces, marshmallows, nuts, whipped cream and of course a cherry to top it off.  And all for only $8!

 We thought that when we got back (after 9:00 PM) we’d explore Ft. Wilderness.  We were pretty tired after all the swimming and water sliding.  The outdoor theater was behind our site, so we fell asleep to the sounds of a Disney movie.

 Ecpot is more for adults than kids.  The venues were samplings of different countries and resources, such as water, electricity, etc.

 Each venue would have some small ride and at least one movie.  The water venue (The Living Seas) even had a large aquarium where we watched dolphins playing and manatees eating (50 heads of lettuce per day).  Each culture displayed it’s own uniqueness.  The Chinese venue had a lady playing an unusual thing that resembled a harps-a-cord, and sounded beautiful.

 By midday, we decided to let the kids run around on their own.  They wanted to wait in line for The Test Track.  It was an experimental vehicle that performed various tests; Braking Test, Cornering Test, and their most impressive part – Acceleration Test.  Here’s where the cars pulled probably ½ g force and got them up to 65 MPH in 30 seconds.  The kids found a singles line and went on this ride 6 times.

 As an extra attraction, the Lords of the Flatbush were performing.  This is an Irish dancing and singing tour group that just happened to be playing while we were there.  They performed for almost an hour with about one costume change every 10 minutes.  While most of the group was changing costumes, and catching their breaths, a solo or duet would sign or play violins to Irish tunes.  It was amazing to see them go through such a workout.

 What was also amazing is that Disneyworld served alcohol.  We did make several trips back to the Mexican venue for their margaritas.

 We stayed a total of 11 hours and just about saw everything including their grand finale fireworks show.  This show even topped what is seen in Disneyland.  It was a combined fireworks, water and holographic show (with lasers).  Even though this was performed in the middle of the lake, so there were millions of places to view, it was still crowded.  And it was a nice long show, about 45 minutes.  That was a great way to end the day, but it didn't end there.

 We all got up at midnight to watch for the Shuttle take off.  We weren't the only ones up that late in the RV park.  Luckily others watching knew where to look and had a radio tuned to the launch.  And as we all know, that evenings launch was scrubbed due to a faulty sensor (6 seconds prior to launch).  Luckily for us, that gave us the opportunity to do 2 amazing things over the next 2 days.

 We had planned the entire day to enjoy the Kennedy Space Center and drive an hour or two to the next RV park.  Once they scrubbed the take off, we decided to wait and watch again.

 On the way to the Kennedy Space Center we saw our first waterspout.  While it was difficult to judge distance, it was definitely near the Shuttle launch pad.  We’d estimated it was 1 mile away, with the launch pad 6 miles away. 

 While at the Kennedy Space Center we found out that you can buy tickets to get onto the complex and watch the take off from the closest point open to the public, only 5 miles from the launch platform.  Unfortunately, they had closed ticket sales and were going to sell off the last 140 tickets the next morning when they re-opened.  This brought a new definition to the term “camping out”!

 So off on the tour though the complex we went.  This is when we were able to experience the first amazing event.  One part of the tour takes you to a lookout tower only 1 mile from the launch pad. Since the launch was scrubbed we were now able to see a fully operational Shuttle on its launch pad prepped for take off.  With the telescopes and Camcorder zoom, we could see even see the Shuttle technicians walking around from that close distance.

 The other great stop on the tour was the International Space Station Center.  They were assembling various parts of the station.  It was very entertaining as well as educational.

 The Kennedy Space Center is almost entirely different from the Johnson Space Center.  Lots of different attractions and hands on exhibits to play with.  They both had IMAX theaters and we watched another up close and personal 3-D movie (L5 – a space station story). 

We were even able to see some future astronauts practicing various tasks around the outside of a shuttle in a weightlessness environment in full space suits.  This was the 200’ by 800’ pool that was used to simulate weightlessness.   Just too cool of a pool!

The kids enjoyed Space Dots – ice cream frozen into small balls about the size of pencil lead.  Very cool and tasty.

 Since we wanted to get up early the next morning to get in line for the tickets, we found the Manatee RV state campground just a few miles from the Kennedy Space Center entrance.  This would put us about 5 miles from the ticket booth.  So we started our countdown to camping out at the ticket booth.

 T-Day! (Ticket Day).  Up at sunrise to be sure we’re there about two hours before the ticket booth opens up.  We had no idea we could even get this close.  We aren’t excited, right?

 We had found out that they sell 3500 tickets ($10 each) for the special public viewing on the complex.  This equates to filling up every tour bus they operate.  And only 140 tickets left.  All the other tickets were sold the previous day prior to the space center closing at 9:00 at night.

 Getting in 2 hours before opening was right when they opened the gates to the complex.  So you’d expect we’d be first in line?  BEEP!  Try 10th in line.  We didn't think the folks ahead of us would be buying in bulk quantity, so it was a matter of waiting and getting our tickets for tonight’s launch.  Now what to do while waiting for that exciting moment?

 Since we were now committed to staying, we called our friends that we were supposed to be meeting in Georgia, and let them know that the Shuttle Take Off would prevent our getting together.  We were also going to go the Okefenokee Swamp and some alligator farm on the way.  As it turned out, there were plenty of crocks to see along the road to the space center.  For the last couple of miles on this road, the drainage area was pretty filled up with water, and you could see medium sized alligators floating in the water.  So we got part of our daily tour in.

 We decided to check out Cocoa Beach, only about 20 miles south of the RV park.  This would be our first dive into the Atlantic Ocean, and the experience of the increased salt content.  Everyone was amazed at how buoyant they were in the Atlantic.  The waves were smaller than West Coast waves, and some were ride-able.  The water was much warmer though!  Even with sunscreen, we all got burnt a bit.  Back to the cooler RV park pool and some rest before the evening’s launch.

 This was the launch of the first Shuttle with a woman commander.  It was the Shuttle Columbia, which we had seen make it’s very first landing at Edwards Air Force Base.  We saw it land, now we’d see it take off!

 The information with the launch viewing tickets had specific times on when to arrive, leave, etc.  And those times were an understatement.  They wanted everyone there an hour BEFORE the first bus showed up.  And once they parked, that was still 3 hours before launch time.  Everyone ended up entertaining each other to pass the time.  And all 3500 people showed up!

 It was well organized.  The buses make this procession through the center of the complex where all the employees work.  They finally make their way out onto a “causeway”.  This is a build up of earth about 100 feet wide, where the top is the road, and the sides have a gentle slope down to the water inlet.  They mark off an area about ½ mile long so that the buses park behind each other in pairs.  Plenty of great viewing for everyone.

 While we’re counting down the last few hours, we even got a small alligator show in the water in front of us.  The kids lit up his green eyes with their spotlights.  We came well prepared; lights, camera, blankets, food, and water – the works.  Looked like we camped out like this every night.

 We also got quite a lightning storm.  And unfortunately, the lightning storm kept getting closer and closer.  The spokeswoman was even getting nervous.  She finally made the last call over the speakers that she was leaving for the safety of the buses and for everyone to follow.  We were holding out to the final no-go.  They extended the take off twice for an extra 30 minutes.  One lightning strike about 8 miles off the launch pad scrubbed the take off with about 6 minutes to go.   Their window of safety was a lightning strike no closer than 20 miles.  By this time, we had also passed their trajectory window vector.

 Hilary was also there (but over in the VIP area on the other side of the water).  We blamed the scrub on her and laughed on the way back in the buses.

 Back to the ticket counter the next morning for the third, and final, launch attempt.  The reason the third launch attempt would be the final attempt was that they had to re-configure the launch pad for a different rocket that was due to take off that Saturday.  The “tram” that moves the Shuttle from it’s hanger to the launch pad travels at less than 1/2 mile per hour, making the journey about 10 hours one way.

 We would be travel much faster than that to get tickets for the last attempt!

By now we were pro’s at knowing when to arrive for tickets, where to park, etc.  There was a good-sized line even that early in the morning, but definitely not 3500 people in line.

Today we decided to catch up on errands while waiting for midnight to arrive.  Hair cuts, supplies, and well-needed sleep were the highlights of the day’s activity.  To get back on schedule, we would need to drive 500 miles right after the take off around 2:00 AM in the wee hours of the morning.

While we are relaxing we could see a huge thunderstorm to the east over Orlando.  This is only 30 miles as the Shuttle flies from the launch pad.  While watching TV, we found out that the streets in Orlando were getting flooded and they set a new record of lightning strikes – 4500 in one hour.  Our hopes of seeing the Shuttle take off were starting to diminish.

As the lightning crept closer, we even got kicked out of the swimming pool for safety reasons.  And this was only in the afternoon, with 10 hours to go before launch time.  We waited nervously and after dinner departed for the space complex.

We were more than prepared for the long waiting time periods between buses and take off.  And we noticed a lot of the same folks in line that we had seen or talked with the previous night.  It was a festive party atmosphere while waiting.  The thunderstorm was staying off to the east over Orlando.

Out on the causeway we could see the thunderstorm slowly approaching.  Everyone was praying (and blowing) to keep the thunderstorm away.

We were down to the 5 minutes to go mark.  Everyone’s eyes were diverted from the Shuttle and thunderstorm for some flying fish about 50 feet in front of us.  Then, to our amazement, a dolphin flew out of the water and skimmed across the top of the water for about 50 feet.  We shined the light back to where this all happened and here was Mr. Gator’s eye’s all lit up.  An exciting prelude to the launch.

Finally we were under the 1-minute mark.  Everyone on the causeway yelled out the last 10-second countdown, hoping that it wouldn't be stopped like it did the first night at 6 seconds to go.

And then it happened.  The most glorious sight to behold.  As the engines burst out their fierce flames, the water cloud engulfed the Shuttle.  (They pump the pad with tons of water so that nothing melts, and the result is a water cloud from the steam created when the two collide).  Even with the water cloud shielding the Shuttle from view, the flames lit up the heavens. 

A few seconds later the Shuttle slowly pierced the water cloud cover and started it’s ascent.  Now what I expected was a trajectory that was slightly angled, say about 60 degrees to the horizon.  With the earth’s rotation rate and the speed of the Shuttle, it actually looked like a parallel path across the earth’s horizon.  This was quite surprising.

We could see the boosters separate by eye easily.  We watched until the Shuttle was 60 miles away.  At that distance it looked like the brightest shooting start you’ve seen, only heading away from Mother Earth.  With the 300 times digital zoom on our camcorder, I was able to see and record looking up the tail pipe into the main engine thrusters.  It was a unique shade of purple from that distance.

This was indeed the high light to our trip.  We talked about it all the way back to the RV.  Then the 500 miles to cousin Mark Carroll’s house.

Even the long drive to cousin Mark Carroll’s house had it’s own adventure.

While everyone else was asleep about 3 hours into the 12-hour drive, I came too close to hitting a deer on the freeway.  We were still in Florida and in a flatlands area.  The last thing I expected to see would be a deer.  Previously I had been teaching Don about how to navigate obstacles on the freeway.  I did go over what animals to hit and not to hit if there was no escape route away from the obstacle.  Anything larger than a wolf should be considered a slam on the brakes scenario.

I’m coming around a slightly curving bend, with one car passing me, and a semi-truck behind me.  As I complete the curve, my headlights light up a full grown 600 pound buck standing right next to my lane ready to take the suicide step.  If someone would have been in the passenger seat, and stuck their hand out the window, they would have been able to slap this deer silly.  I had no escape route.

I kept saying to myself “Don’t move.  Don’t move.  Don’t move.”  Felt like I said it a hundred times.  He must have heard me.  The buck was a deer (dear) to me and held his ground.  I’m glad I didn't get to see what 600 pounds at 60 would have done to the RV, let alone the chain reaction with the other cars around me.

And this was to be another 4-state day; Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.  It was not to be the last 4-state day though.

That afternoon we reached cousin Mark Carroll’s house.  He lives in a big beautiful house that backs up to a rural woodsy area.  Vickie took all the kids down to their Association pool.  This gave us time to shower and relax. 

Mark took Jerry and Terry on a tour of his neighborhood.  The Carroll’s decided to grill (what we call BBQ) which is exactly what the doctor ordered for our long trip to North Carolina.  Afterwards the kids played while the parents dipped into the spa.

Since we were having so much fun with our cousins, we decided to stay a bit longer.  With the temperature in the three digit range, the kids went swimming while the parents talked and got ready for the next adventure.  We were all sorry to leave, but the road was calling.

Today would be a long lovely drive through the Blue Ridge Mountain range.  It was mostly rolling hills, not too mountainous.  A very pleasant drive.  And being at a higher elevation, it was also a cooler ride.

As with almost all the highways and byways we had been traveling on, there were lots of greenery and trees separating the towns.  And unfortunately, there were also lots of construction work.  Just about every state had some type of construction, from simple re-paving to major rip-up-the-entire-freeway work.  The Blue Ridge Highway was no exception as we lost about 2 hours in backup traffic.

We finally got to the Natural Bridge KOA about 3 miles from the attraction.  We pulled in late in the evening so the Natural Bridge tour we scheduled for this day would have to wait ‘til the next day.  This campground was about 1 mile from the highway up a rolling hillside.  Quiet and peaceful.

Only 5 more shopping months ‘til Xmas!  Just kidding!

When we looked around the tourist trap at the Natural Bridge we decided it wasn't very much gain for $8 a head.  This would also put us back on schedule for DC.  So off we went to our next adventure!

While on the road to DC, we decided to take a country road away from the highway construction we had been driving through.  We came around one slightly curving road and found a 600 pound buck that did NOT stay still.  No remains of the car or semi that he met his maker with, but it was a cold realization to all drivers of the future possibilities as we headed into more rural areas.

After that we crossed the Potomac River at Harpers Ferry.  This would have been a real nice place to stop and picnic, but we wanted to see our friends.

Our friends the Fitzpatricks live about 30 miles northwest of DC in a semi rural area in the town of Frederick.  Their house is almost the last house on the street and sits on ¼ of an acre.  It backs up to a farm and rural hillside.

Arriving back on schedule gave us time to relax, chitchat, and un-wind before our touring of DC started the next day.  This included the kids riding “Rumbles” – the Fitzpatricks riding lawnmower (remember ¼ acre of grass to mow).  The relaxation would be shattered by evening.

No day seemed to go by without some excitement.  As we started enjoying our BBQ chicken and ribs, the heavens decided to give us a good watering and light show.  And the heavens opened up like a torrential downpour.

Don had gone outside to look when three humongous lightning bolts cracked the sky above him.  It was something he’ll never forget. 

Because we were all eating inside, they had put their Beagle “Kelly” outside in the back acreage.  Even though their property was fenced, Kelly had managed to find hiding holes and escape routes through the fences.  When the lightning was hitting over head, Kelly was nowhere to be found.

Everyone thought Kelly had gotten scared and ran off into the rural hillside, which was filled with coyotes and wolves.  The entire neighborhood went on a Kelly Watch to try and find her before the coyotes did.  Everyone spend hours combing the area with no avail.

We had pretty much given up by 11:00 PM and were ready to call it a night.  Don heard some noise from the back yard.  Sure enough, here was Kelly, not even wet.  Evidently she had found refuge somewhere in the yard and refused to come out when all hell broke loose.

We planned two entire days to tour the DC area.  Along with the usual pre-planning back in June was a call to our Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez.  She was supposed to get us VIP tickets for the White House tour, Capitol tour, and other tours.  When we arrived at her office, they had forgotten our request.

Her interns felt bad about forgetting so they decided to give us a personal tour of the Capitol (right across the way from her office).  This ended up being more than what we wanted.

They took us in as if we worked there.  We toured just about every room, nook and cranny they could find.  It ended up being a comprehensive 3-hour tour.  The architecture was beautiful.  They were still doing some restorations so some areas were curtained off.  Since it was a workday, we even stayed and listened to a couple of Senators debating a proposed amendment. The kids got pretty bored listening to the wind bags, but Terry and I found it quite amusing as they played to the audience (us) with quips like “Do you think these fine folks would…” or “My esteemed colleague…” (when you know what they really want to say about each other).

Another notable place to visit inside the Capitol is an old meeting room that is named The Hall of Whispers.  The acoustics have a unique echoing effect that John Quincy Adams would use without anyone noticing.  During that era, the senators would debate in this room.  John Quincy Adams discovered that his rival senators would whisper their plans in a precise spot that echoed across the floor (about 40 feet away) to his desk.  He would pretend he was asleep and listen in on their conversations.  The kids had fun trying this out.

Next was Jerry’s famous driving tour around The Mall.  This was to orient everyone to the sights to see, such as the White House, Washington Monument, etc.   Actually, it took several trips around The Mall to find a parking spot for the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum was a bit of a step down for the kids.  They have been used to hands on museums and not original artifact type of museums.  They did get a good appreciation of the size and originality of the items on display.

By now all twelve feet were getting pretty sore so we decided to call it a day and take a relaxing drive back to the Fitzpatrick RV Center (everyone in the neighborhood thought it was one after we arrived) along the George Washington Parkway.

The George Washington Parkway is a beautiful drive along the Potomac River.  You can see almost all the buildings from the drive.

Did I mention the crowds in DC?  Well if not, today’s activities will spell it out.

We got up early just to get into DC to get tickets for the regular White House tour.  Even though we were only 10 minutes after the window opened they were sold out.

Next we thought we’d try the FBI tour. A couple of blocks from where we parked was the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery.  The parking was easier this far from The Mall, so we tried the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery first.  BEEP!  Not open yet.  So we walked over to the FBI tour.  Well they were closed down for some reason.  Something about Monica I’m sure!

At least trekking around these side streets was interesting.  We stumbled upon an empty lot that was converted into a street art gallery.  There were about 2 dozen extremely different art works.  One “piece” was a bunch of car crankshafts welded together to form a 10 foot tall sculpture of a man titled Man’s Inhumanity to Man!  Quite interesting.

With some time to kill before the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery opened we walked a couple of more blocks to the Ford Theater where President Lincoln was assassinated.  The park ranger gave a great 15-minute presentation on the events that led up to and after the assassination.  Her dissertation made you feel like you were back in time re-living the events.  And of course, we ventured across the street to the room where President Lincoln passed away.

Our time for the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery was passing away.  This was an interesting museum.  Along with various portraits of the presidents, were other notable Americans and other artwork such as busts (no Monica joke here)!

The next stop was going to be the Renwick Gallery.  This was a hidden gem that our friends (the Fitzpatricks) told us about.  It is part of the Smithsonian Museums, but little heard of.  It is located to the south of the White House.  As we tried playing park and go seek (another spot), we found out that the police were starting to block off the area.  We discovered that the Russian Prime Minister was due to arrive shortly.

Inside the Renwick Gallery was the most spectacular artwork we had ever seen.  It’s called The Ghost Clock.  It’s up on the second floor directly above the museum entrance.  Most tourists would walk up to it, think it’s an unfinished piece of work and walk away.  When you look at it, you think you see an unfinished mahogany grandfather clock with a white sheet draped over it.  It’s actually all one solid piece of mahogany with the carved sheet bleached white.

We slowly and carefully inspected this piece for over 10 minutes trying to tell the difference.  The only way to get past the optical illusion was to look up the sheet pleats and see solid wood.  Absolutely amazing.

In the room next to The Ghost Clock was the funniest piece of artwork, titled Game Fish.  From a distance it looked like a swordfish posted by the lucky fisherman.  Upon closer examination, it was made up entirely of game pieces.  There were dominos, Pokey, golf balls, charms, every type of game piece you could imagine, and even a set of fake teeth for the mouth.  Hilarious!

We tried to leave via the front door, but that was blocked by the police.  The Russian Prime Minister was due in minutes.  We were escorted out through the basement.  As we came out we saw the Presidential Helicopter bringing the Russian Prime Minister in.

The next stop on the tour was going to be the Washington Monument.  Again with the parking around The Mall almost non-existent, Jerry dropped the troops off in front so they could go in.  BEEP!  Remember those long lines to get tickets that were given out within 10 minutes?  They must have gone over to this attraction after that one.  The tickets for the next elevator were 3 hours away.

After some more tour-bus style driving, we finally found the one monument that was overlooked – the Jefferson Memorial.  Quiet and serene along the Potomac River.  But more importantly, no crowds at all.  Plenty of parking.

Next stop (hopefully), the Pentagon.  Well here, the guard tried to give Jerry a ticket.  We stopped to find where the public parking was and he was pretty irate that we had 6 passengers with only 5 seat belts.  Needless to say, he didn't tell us where the parking was.  By this point, we had as much of DC that we wanted and headed back to the Fitzpatricks for a block party.

By pure coincidence, the neighborhood was holding their annual block party that night.  It was a potluck and festival.  One of the neighbors was a thespian and put on a short play for the group.  Jerry got to play Sir Lancelot (with a clothesbasket over his head as a helmet) while Joe Fitzpatrick played the King.  Half of the kids played various servants and animals.  It was pretty amusing, especially for the kids watching Joe and Jerry.

Today would be Philly Cheese Steaks and some mileage towards Windsor.  So this isn’t too confusing, after Philadelphia we were going to head northwest 600 miles to Windsor for the Longeuay Reunion.  We would eventually make it back to New York City 3 weeks later after the Soukup Reunion in Rhode Island.  New York City is only 100 miles from Philadelphia but this was the only way to make both reunions.  Confused yet?

The first big stop was finding parking!  Lots of one way streets with very narrow side streets.  Most parking is underground.  As luck would have it, Jerry pulled into a Furniture store to ask directions to a parking lot.  The security guard was nice enough to let us park in the corner – and for free!  This was only a couple of blocks from the US Mint and the Liberty Bell.

At the US Mint they were making pennies, lots of pennies, but not from heaven.  The tour is a 400 foot walkway of windows up on the second floor that overlooks the presses below.  Just about all machines were running.  Everyone was able to see all the action, from the pressing of the blanks to bagging of the metal bucks.  They could output a million coins in 30 minutes.

Jerry decided to send the rest of the group to the Liberty Bell tour while he found some famous Philly Cheese Steaks for lunch.  Jerry found a hole in the wall local joint with some great food.  He also took a different route back and found another street art gallery like the one in DC.  You never know what you’ll find by taking different routes.

Everyone had gone through the Liberty Bell tour as Jerry arrived back with the grub.  We sat and ate while watching the various “handsome cabs” cruise the area for tourists.  One lady driver was lying back in her handsome cabs while trolling for tourists getting a sun tan.

Next was the Please Touch Museum on the way out of town.  Another surprise and change of plans.  The Please Touch Museum is really for kids under 10.  Luckily the Franklin Science Institute was next door.  This was another great hands on science center.  And again, the kids were having so much fun on the three stories of science exhibits, we stayed until they kicked us out at 5:00.

The drive out through Pennsylvania was lush and wonderful.  We passed dozens of churches with steeples high enough to admire the architecture above the greenery.  We put on 100 of the 600 miles to Windsor and called it a night.

Jerry got up early and started the long trek while everyone else slept.  We had our backup plan of driving halfway and taking two days to get to Windsor.  Our luck with dodging severe weather was still with us.  The roads were in pretty good shape and the scenery was serene.  It wasn't that long of a day with three drivers to make the long journey.  The kids played dozens of hands of Euchre.

There are two ways to cross the States into Canada; the Tunnel and the Ambassador Bridge.  Since it was still daylight, the bridge would give a quick glimpse of the area and sights for everyone.

At the border you never know what will happen.  Jerry had been explaining to everyone that sometimes they just ask your name and where you're going.  Sometimes they talk to you for 10 minutes.  And sometimes they go through your car (like what happened in Mexico).  This time we were the lucky ones as they let us through once we told them we were there for a family reunion.  I wonder if the Border Guard was related?

When you're in Windsor, there’s one thing you must treat your taste buds to – Tunnel BBQ (named after where they are located) or TBQ for short.  We called before getting to Aunt Frans to ask her to order a ton of ribs for that night.  We definitely deserved it after the longest drive we had made so far.  TBQ has their own special sauce that is indescribable.  OK, I’ll try and describe it.  Kinda spicy but not hot.  They slow roast the ribs in the sauce and their special seasoning.  Whenever we go back to Windsor, TBQ is our first stop.

The conversion rate was at the highest anyone could ever remember: $1.50 Canadian for every American $1.  With that much conversion, we could order all the TBQ our stomachs could handle.

Since we arrived in Windsor a day early and the reunion didn't start until Saturday, we decided to tour the Greenfield Village in Detroit.  There are several tours available, both inside and outside.  Since it was a hot humid Detroit day, we decided on the inside tour of the Ford Museum.

The Ford Museum was filled with cars, trains, planes, and innoventions throughout history.  There were even several presidential vehicles including the limo that JFK died in.  There was an open area above the JFK limo that could be used to house JFK Jr’s airplane.  Just kidding!

The kids participated in a program call Innoventions as well as an Assembly line.  Both programs were assembly line types of learning activities.  The only line the kids were interested in was the food line!  They also enjoyed the bicycle built for ten and the original Wienermobile.

On the way back we did the Tunnel!  We were able to go through the tunnel because cousin Shelly and Butch loaned us their van for the week.  The RV wasn't allowed in the tunnel because of the propane.  The tunnel usually gets a lot of traffic, so we must have hit it just right.  Everyone was able to see the dividing line with flags from both countries when we passed the underground border marker.

Back at Frans we had Canadian pizza.  A bit different tasting from the States but great.  It also comes square not round.

This was the unofficial start of the reunion.  This was cousin Brad and Tara Bujak’s wedding day.  As in the customary Canadian tradition, just about everyone had helped with something in the wedding.

Aunt Fran made the wedding cake like her mother before her.  Other aunts or cousins made food, table decorations, balloons; video taped the wedding, etc.  And don’t forget that second refrigerator full of beer! 

The wedding was held at the church near the old Longeuay homestead (Jerry’s grandfather) near the river.  The old Longeuay homestead is now a parking lot, so there’s nothing to see there.

They were married in the same church that many of the uncles and aunts were married.  The marriage ceremony started out as your standard Catholic wedding, but ended up with a bang.  Just as Bradley and Tara were named husband and wife, a huge KABOOM rattled through the church, as a thunderstorm swept in on Windsor.  By the time everyone started to leave the church, it was raining cats and dogs and anything else that could pour out.  Within 10 minutes the streets had flooded up to the curbs.

All those fine folks dressed up and only one umbrella.  Jerry started shuttling the drivers to their cars.  The drivers would drive up onto the sidewalk to rescue the wedding party from washing away.  And of course, as soon as the last person left, the torrential downpour stopped.  Onto the wedding reception!

The storm left a beautiful day for the reception.  Everyone enjoyed the homemade entrees and deserts.  We all dined, drank, and danced the day away into the evening. 

Sunday started the official reunion, with the Hayride Potluck at Sue and Earl’s farm.  A light summer’s breeze kept everyone cool while playing volleyball, exploring Sue and Earl’s new house, chit chatting, and of course riding the hayride. 

This year, Sue and Earl contacted a local business for the hayride.  It was a small quaint red trailer (with hay of course) pulled by a Shetland pony.  The trailer didn't hold too many people, so Earl decided to bring out the farm-sized hayride. 

Now we’re talking a trailer that was about 40 feet long, piled high with hay, pulled by his massive tractor.  That just about shut down the smaller hayride.  It’s like comparing a VW to a Cadillac.  Everyone jumped off the smaller hayride and bailed over to the massive hayride.

CJ’s godfather “Little” Joe Jacquemain and his brother Chris came over on their Harley’s.  And they were dressed the part with the leathers but no chains.  Little Joe became the next attraction riding some of the kids around on his Harley.

We were now half way through our vacation!

Monday was the Pool Party at Brian and Carol’s.  They live next to a school, so there was plenty of room for football, car parking, etc.  With all the relatives from Detroit coming over, even their very large backyard got filled up quickly.  Lots of story telling and a few brewskies (eh?).

By now the kids were getting to know their first cousins (once removed) just as Jerry got to know his first cousins at weddings back in the ‘60s and later in the mid ‘70s when the first family reunion started.  It was interesting to see the next generation quickly get to know each other and become friends.  It’ll be more interesting to see how their friendships develop over the next couple of decades.

Back in those early days Jerry and Brian would pal around whenever Jerry was in Windsor or Brian was in California.  They both still remember the “sombrero days” – a trip south of the border when they were in their early teens, and they still have the photos of them wearing sombreros.

Tuesday was supposed to be a relaxation day, especially after Sunday and Monday’s parties.  On the day’s off, everyone fends for themselves, or go to smaller parties, or whatever.  Great minds must think alike because the group on the south side of town wanted to go out for Chinese buffet as well as the group on the north side of town.  We found this out when we ran into cousin Greg going into the buffet on the south side.  He didn't know which buffet the group on the north side was going to and ran into us.  It would have been really funny if there was only one Chinese buffet and we all ran into each other.

With the conversion rate so high we did some shopping at the local mall and the worlds largest hockey store.  As it turns out, this is the store that Don does all of his buying via email.  It is only a couple of blocks from Frans house.  We were driving to the mall and Don looked over and was shocked that he saw his email store right there in Windsor.

Wednesday was the BBQ at Fran and Bob’s.  Since this was the middle of the week, the size of the group diminished a bit (only down to 60), but we still had a lot of the Detroit side show up. 

There were a couple of surprises.  First Uncle Doug showed up.  He had been “lost” for decades and was back in the area.

Secondly, this was the first party that great uncle Hank Jacquemain surprised everyone.  Hank is 86 and the last of his generation, other than his sister in law Evelyn.  Hank really surprised everyone by showing up at the last minute.  Only one month ago, Hank was hospitalized with breathing problems.  No one expected Hank to make the journey.  Everyone had a great time reminiscing the old days.

Another round of brewskies and story telling.

Thursday was again supposed to be a relaxation day, but ended up becoming Little Joe (6’ 5”) and Margo’s first family party.  At Sue and Earl’s party, Little Joe’s brother Sammy over heard that we were going over for a small dinner (Joe is CJ’s godfather).  Sammy started spreading the word that Joe was having a party, and before he knew about it, 60 showed up!  This was more of the Detroit side of the family since it was held north of Detroit. 

Joe and Margo put on a great spread in his family’s original house that they are restoring.  They are making incredible progress in restoring the house that has so much life in it, as the stories you will re-live.

This was the first party that grand uncle Hank would see grand aunt Evelyn (Evelyn married Hank’s brother Bill).  It was real surprising to hear that as kids, they lived near each other.  Evelyn told a story about when Hank’s dad would drive them to school.  She would sometimes sit on Hank’s bony lap, never knowing that she would eventually marry his brother. 

Another interesting story grand aunt Evelyn told was that her mom would hold dances at their house (this house).  Her mom told the girls that they could only dance with the Jacquemain boys.  Very interesting!  Was it coincidence they met or were they arranged?

This get together was really great to meet all the Detroit cousins.  For those of you who don’t know, the Jacquemain side of the family is well known for their tremendous height (Little Joe at 6’ 5”).  You can pretty well spot a Jacquemain in the crowd easily just from their size.

Are we partied out yet?

Friday was the traditional Dinner Dance.  At the end of each reunion we always have a Dinner Dance.  It’s still normally a potluck, but by the end of the week, everyone was getting pot lucked out. 

Cousin Linda came up with the great idea of every family pitching in some money and ordering pizza – no work, no fuss, and something different.  Everyone loved the idea as the pizza company used all their employees to carry in 30 pizzas in grand procession.  Linda could definitely be the next reunion Queen, as our aunts have retired from this position.

The Dinner Dance has always used a DJ so all of our favorite oldies and moldies could be played.  We interrupted the dancing so that all the great grandchildren could present roses to great aunt Evelyn and great uncle Hank.  Everyone danced until we ran out of time at the hall (big thanks to cousin Wayne for getting the hall for us).

Our families do like to kick up their feet.  Even Aunt Fran learned the Macaramba from Little Pepe – 6’ 2” 18 year old football player with a beard that’d make him look 25 (he’d be my first cousin once removed).  And this hysterical dance is recorded for eternity along with all of our other video-memories.

And as a side note, as the family historian, Jerry has letters from other family members that noted that each family reunion that could be remembered, from the mid 1800’s to present, would be remembered as a fun loving, dancing and partying group.  Great DNA!

And just when you thought it was all over…

Saturday was an ending Potluck at Pauline and Ron’s house. 

Prior to the party was the cleaning and re-stocking of the RV for the rest of the trip.  This was an unfortunate reminder that the reunion was coming to an end.  We were having a great time and didn't want to leave.

Cousin Barbara from Stratford brought her scrapbook of family history and pictures.  This was a treat for everyone to see the Stratford group.  Not many of them were able to make the trip to Windsor. 

For those of you who may not understand, long distance traveling in Ontario is not quite like our RV trip.  A lot of the locals do not even own cars.  Aunt Pauline for example doesn’t even have a driver’s license.  This is due to the transportation system that has been in place for decades.  So a several hundred mile jaunt is a great journey for some.

The party at Pauline and Ron’s house was a great way to wind down a very long week’s worth of partying.

We left for Niagara Falls on our way to the D’Arcy/Soukup reunion in Rhode Island.  The only way out of Canada is the Queens Highway.  All of our Canadian cousins had been telling us how treacherous this highway was and we were about to find out.

Only 30 minutes down the Queens Highway we spotted a double tractor trailer facing us, in our lane, on it’s side.  This was a flat area, with no major sharp turns.  We found out later that a tornado had touched down, so maybe that was the cause.  After a 20 minute detour driving the farming side roads we were back on track to Niagara.

The American Falls were the most impressive we had ever seen them.  The last time was about 17 years ago and they were barely running or falling (ha).  They were almost as impressive as the Niagara Falls.

We decided to check into our campsite, do lunch, and then spend the day and night at the Falls.  It was a good call.  Remember how crowded DC was.  It looked like they all decided to go to Niagara when we did!

The sidewalks along the falls are about 10 feet wide.  There were so many tourists you couldn't even see the sidewalks.  From the Falls to the Maid of the Mist tour was about ¼ mile of solid tourists.  We wanted to take the kids on the Maid of the Mist tour first because we had a surprise tour waiting for them at 5:30.

The Maid of the Mist boats were filled to the gunnels with tourists.  There were four boats and hundreds of people on the walkway from the top of the lookout to the boat docks below.  We thought it would take hours, but it only took 20 minutes.  Everyone suited up in their souvenir poncho.

The Maid of the Mist held up to her name as we plowed into the mist.  The force and power of the Niagara Falls was quite apparent from the bottom.  It was so impressive that the kids put it as #2 on their list of greatest attractions (so far).  The Shuttle take off was by far #1.

Then we braved the crowds and walked to the top of Niagara so the kids could get the same view from the top down.  Since the sun was at the correct angle, we even got a great rainbow effect off the mist.  I told the kids we were going to do some driving along the river to see the countryside.  This ruse was for the upcoming surprise tour – the Whirlpool Jet Boat Tour.

About 10 miles north of Niagara is the northern section called Niagara on the Lake, because that is where the river meets the lake.  On the way there we noticed a lookout point named Whirlpool.  Just as we looked out over the edge, here comes a bright red Whirlpool Tour Boat.

It looks like a gigantic Jet Ski or Ski Doo.  There are four engines and it holds about 36 people, six rows of six tourists.  They were screaming across the water and did a typical Jet Ski 360 degree spin.  The kids were ecstatic and asked if they could go on that tour.  We avoided the question by saying we didn't know where they were located so how could we go on it.

Twenty minutes later we arrived at the Whirlpool Tour dock.  To say the least the kids were surprised.  They outfitted us with heavy yellow rain coats.  They said the raincoats weren't to keep the water off us, they were to keep the wind chill down.  That was an understatement.  We were the last 6 to get on board, so we were separated into pairs.  Terry and Jerry sat in the back, with each pair of kids on the seat ahead of each other.

From the dock to the whirlpool was about 10 miles.  It’s a 2 hour tour.  After they cleared the dock area, they cranked up the jet to 60 MPH!  To get everyone motivated, they started doing the 360’s on the river.  Halfway from the dock to the Whirlpool are the rapids.

They shoot the rapids just like river rafting except better.  They went to the Devils Drop rapid (level 6) first.  With the power of the four engines they were able to hold our position right in the middle of the rapid so we could feel the power of a level 6 rapid.  Then they raced forward, turned around, came back, and shot the rapid.

The entire nose of the Whirlpool Jet Boat went under the rapids.  When our driver popped the nose out of the rapid, it threw a tidal wave of river water back upon the entire boat.  There was so much water in the boat that it came up to our waists before being sucked out of the boat.  They did this a couple of times.  Everyone was yelling for more and having the time of their lives.

Then onto the Whirlpools.  Just as we watched another boat do 360’s in this area, so did we.  Again the driver took us right next to the Whirlpools to show us the force, but this time they would not take us in.  It turns out that these were too strong and they were fearful that it could even turn over our powerful Jet Boat.

And of course in the return trip we did some more shooting of the rapids and 360’s.  The tour company also videotaped our tour so we bought the tape.

If you're ever remotely close to the Niagara area, this is one tour you should take.  A little bit expensive (about $30 each).   For the kids, this was now the #1 attraction and something they will never forget.

There was still some time left for swimming and the kids doing a little kareokee singing back at the KOA before the day ended.

And in the tradition of blazing a path across the continent, today was a 500-mile day to get to Rhode Island in time for the D’Arcy/Soukup reunion.  And it was not a boring drive either.  It was also the second 4-state day (and a country): Canada, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.

We originally were going to cross back into the States from Niagara Falls, but decided to checkout the drive along the river down to Buffalo.  We cruised around Buffalo and checked out the sights.  About 10 miles outside of Buffalo we decided we’d better fuel up.

Along the trip Jerry would always tell the kids to talk to the locals about anything.  The locals have a wealth of knowledge and normally love to share it with new comers.  At the tollbooth on the exit, Jerry asked the attendant where there was a cheap gas station.  The attendant started laughing and first said not in this state (the price was $1.35 per gallon).  He then told us about an Indian reservation where it would be about a buck a gallon.

We headed north into the wilderness to find the Indian reservation (about 10 miles north).  The directions were sparse: turn left after the second blue house, etc.  Just as we were ready to give up and turn around, we saw the sign for the Tonawanda Indian Reservation.  No, Tonawanda doesn’t mean the chief’s wife Wanda weights a ton!

The sign for the Tonawanda Indian Reservation was spray painted over with “Seneca Nation”.  At the only gas station in the Tonawanda Indian Reservation Jerry asked what happened with the painted sign.  Our Indian gas station attendant told an interesting story.

Evidently last year, the New York governor wanted to increase their budget.  They tried taxing the Indian Reservation.  The locals (Indians) revolted.  There was even fist fighting with local police (which the Indians won) for a few weeks.  Then the tribe leader realized that the tollway was on reservation land.  The tribe blockaded the tollway.  In less than a week after the blockade, the governor rescinded his taxation. 

Shortly thereafter, the “Seneca Nation” was spray painted over the entry sign as a symbol of their independence on the white man.  Seneca Nation is their original name.  I told them they should put up a scoreboard: Indians 1, Governor 0!

We drove off into the sunrise!  The drive through the four states was beautiful.  Lots of rolling hills and trees.  Just after the dinner hour, we arrived at Uncle Ed and Aunt Eileen’s house on the pond.  We should explain “ponds”.

Rhode Island has more coastlines than any other state.  This is due in part to inlets or peninsulas.  These inlets or peninsulas prevent any type of wave motion to the ocean, hence the term “ponds”.  Ponds vary from the size of a football field to miles in diameter.

Uncle Ed and Aunt Eileen graciously made us a BBQ to feel right at home.  So did the mesquitos!  You couldn't walk 10 feet from your car to the house without getting bitten a dozen times.  There were so many, the mesquitos had to take turns!

After dinner Uncle Ed escorted us to the beach house we’d be staying at.  We’ll cover the Rhode Island roads tomorrow!

Now we know why they call it Rhode (road) Island.  It’s like circling around an island to get to the road you want!  On their highways, there are left turn lanes with no street to the left.  You actually U turn here and drive back to the road you want, which does NOT cross the freeway.  Now add in there is usually only one sign about 10 feet before the road and it makes driving a bit adventurous.  At least if you miss your road you can circle the “road island” again and again until you get it.

The beach house that the Soukups rented should have been called a pond house.  It was right on the pond.  No waves and very little tide difference.  It was aquatic.  All the kids started crabbing from the 20 foot dock that came with the pond house.  Guess what we had for dinner that night!

Today was a beach day with Terry’s twin John and his family.  And it was a perfect day for the beach, warm with a cool light breeze.  We went to the family’s old hangout; Scarborough Beach.  There was a side for RVs, so we were able to park within 10 feet of where we sunbathed.  The waves were small but everyone had fun just relaxing and building sandcastles.

After relaxing we decided to tour the quaint little fishing town of Galilee where the pond meets the sea.  We were hoping to see some of the larger fishing boats bringing in the “catch de jour” but it was too late. 

We did snack on some local shrimp.  We also bought the local catch to complement the crab fest were we going to enjoy that night.

And for dinner, we ended up with 24 people in this 5 bedroom, two level pond house.  At least there were 2 bathrooms.

Today was another beach run and Aunt Lucy’s party.  It was also the first rain we got on the East Coast, so that pretty much drowned out the beach party.

The kids still kept themselves busy playing Frisbee golf at a park near by.  This park was semi-private and associated with the locals where we were staying.  It used to be an old Air Force base.  There were some interesting write-ups about it.  You could still see the original landing runway.  Everything else had been removed and a playground, baseball diamond, and small swimming pool were built off the runway.

With the rains, we did some shopping and stocked up the RV for the return home leg of the trip.  While most of the stores were fairly far from each other, and far from where we were staying, the reverse is true for the family.  Other than getting around the “ponds” most of the family lived very close to each other, some just around the corner from each other.

That night was Aunt Lucy’s party.  Aunt Lucy is Terry’s mother’s 1st cousin.  The two were born one day apart and grew up as best friends.  Most of the Marasco side of the family showed up.  It was still slightly raining, so everyone was huddled closely under Lucy’s small porch.  It made for an intimate gathering.  All the kids were meeting their cousins for the first time and getting along great.  They were getting along so great, that some of the kids and cousins went to a local fair that evening.  All of Terry’s first cousins were very hospitable and kept telling us “our house is your house”.  We decided to take Tommy Marasco up on that offer the next day.

This was a typical hot humid East Coast day.  We originally were going to go to the fair with some cousins, but it was too humid for that.  We called Tommy Marasco in the morning and he invited us over to his place where you didn't even know it was humid.  He has a great beach home.  He’s on the same pond as Aunt Lucy, but his house is on a small hill overlooking the pond out to sea.  It was amazing to find the humidity difference between the beach house and Tommy’s house was so extreme – they're only 10 miles apart as the seagull flies.

Tommie also just got a new boat, a combination fishing and tubing boat.  Everyone was having a blast tubing around the pond.  As the hours drifted by, more relatives drifted in. 

Before anyone realized it, we had a 30 person party going.  Tommie had an appointment, but told us to keep on partying, which we did.  Terry’s mom Mary and Aunt Lucy brought over leftovers from Lucy’s party, which was enough to feed the crowd. 

When Tommie returned, he took us out for a tour of his pond.  We’d guess that we were about 5 miles from the ocean and the pond was longer than that, and about 2 miles at it’s widest point.  Some parts of the pond were only a few feet deep.  Lots of beautiful homes lining the pond.  We went past Galileo and then returned.

Another great impromptu family party.

Today was the main family reunion at a Goddard park.  This park was God Dard big!  It must have been 10 square miles large.  It was so large, there was even a beach area on both the ocean side as well as the pond side.  This was also the park that hosted a similar reunion back in 1962.  Everyone showed up for this party (well over 100). 

The weather started out ominous (slightly drizzling) but kept its real rain away.  Besides a lot of reminiscing, everyone played baseball, soccer, and of course, the traditional family food tasting.  There were even fajitas served!

Everyone brought pictures of days gone past.  Some of them were even taken in this park 37 years ago.  Terry had her photo of her two favorite cousins she played with.  The three of them had not been together in 20 years.  They took a newer version of the same old photo.

Kodak made a killing on the film business this day.  Besides all the individual or small group shots, everyone wanted a panoramic photo of the entire group.  One non-relative must have spent 15 minutes snapping pictures from a couple of dozen different cameras, while everyone crunched in together.

And as usual, all good parties must come to an end.  The same was with this reunion.  Time to pack up and see what else awaits down the road.

This was to be our third four state traveling day.  We had originally planned a leisurely drive down the coast to New York.  The detour started before we left the beach house.

From all the reminiscing the night before, nostalgia lead the car train to the original house that Terry’s mom Mary lived in.  This was more historic than that.  This was also the house that Terry’s grandfather built back in 1923.  And he also built a half a dozen other houses in the neighborhood as well.

No one could remember exactly how to get there.  No one had a detailed map.  And not everyone was in the driving procession.  So what are the odds that everyone would get there at the same time.  It’s amazing what hand fate will deal you.

After we get lost for an hour, we finally find the house.  No one else is around, so we figure we’re the last ones to see the house and everyone else left.  We talk to the new owners and find out some very interesting things about the house that Grandpa built.  The new owners wanted the house structurally inspected before they bought it.  The inspector gave them a glowing report.  He told them that it was built so well, they would never be able to find another house built that well anywhere in the state!

Just as we finished all of our picture taking, everyone else started showing up, one by one, about 5 minutes apart from each other.  Before you knew it, we had quite a commotion going on in front of this house in the middle of the neighborhood.

The new owners were extremely gracious.  They let us come in and see if the insides were the same as when Mary lived there.  Mary was able to tell them about some unique craftsmanship inside the house that they didn't know what they were intended for.  When the new owners (the third owners) found out we were from Orange County he told us that the reason the past owner sold was that he moved to Anaheim, as the new assistant coach of the Mighty Ducks.

Since this crowd of two dozen was making such a commotion talking and taking pictures, everyone in the neighborhood started coming out to see what was happening.  Soon other stories from neighbors that knew Terry’s grandfather sprang out.  You felt like you had gone back in time and were revisiting with her family.

We decided to all have a final farewell lunch at a local pub in downtown Providence.  Unfortunately the Trinity Brewhouse pub didn't do lunch and was closed.  A tearful goodbye and everyone was off in their respective directions.

Our day was getting gobbled up so we drove straight to our next stop, Terry’s godparents – Len and Claire Morreale. 

On the way, we stopped in Scarsdale where Terry lived for a short time.  Terry thought the driveway was much longer for when they had to shovel snow when she lived there.  The kids were able to see the Hartsdale train Terry’s dad would take to CBS in New York City every day, as well as the pond where Terry would ice skate. 

On to the Morreale’s.  They are a very traditional Italian family.  When it comes to dinner, we mean a traditional seven course meal.  We had to warn the kids not to get filled up on the anti-pasto and pasta.  Each course was a meal in itself with the traditional chit chatting amongst everyone.  After a great meal and great time together, we had to continue on to our RV park for the night.  Or should we say the RV parking lot for the night!

The New Yorker RV park was the most expensive RV park we were to stay at ($56 per night – in comparison Disneyworld was only $40). And more expensive doesn’t mean better.  It was basically a parking lot converted to an RV park.  No trees, all asphalt, and poorly maintained.  It was also the ONLY RV park within 100 miles of New York City.  Contrary to the name, it was in New Jersey. But it was within 2 miles of New York City, so that was worth staying there.

We originally planned to tour New York City over a 2 day period.  We had tentative plans of what to do each day, but ended up throwing those plans out the window.

We heard that the only way to get inside the Statute of Liberty all the way up to the crown was to be on the first boat and get tickets.  You can get to the Lady by either New York City or New Jersey.  We thought the New Jersey side would not be crowded and we were right.  Where we missed was that the New York City ferry was the first boat to arrive and get the tickets.

Remember all those crowds following us from DC to Niagara Falls.  Well they caught up to us at the Statute of Liberty.  Even being the second boat to arrive, it still took us an hour to climb halfway up the old Lady.  The poor folks who did get the tickets had up to a 3 hour wait.  Not too mention how hot and humid it was inside her skirts.  We did get to see her right foot.  That’s a trivia question and little known fact.  She is actually in a forward stepping motion and her foot is only visible from the middle deck observation floor.

Her full name is “The Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World”.  The artist formed the statue to have his wife’s body and his mother’s face.  Thank goodness it wasn't the other way around!  Onto the Big Apple.

Since it was a Sunday, Jerry was thinking about taking the RV into the city so we could make faster time going from attraction to attraction.  Since parking looked ominous, we changed those plans as well.  That was an excellent call.  Instead we took the half circle tour, which included parking on the Jersey side.

New York City operates a ferry to get you back and forth from New Jersey (only 2 miles from the RV park) as well as half and full circle tours around Manhattan Island.  That also includes free shuttle service to downtown Manhattan.  A better bargain that the other company.

The half circle tour was 3 hours and delightful.  The day was starting to clear up and warm with no humidity.  The tour started near the middle of the island on the west side and went counter clockwise around Manhattan up the east side to the United Nations building.   And of course, another jaunt past the Lady and Ellis Island.

We took the free shuttle service right to the doorsteps of the World Trade Center.  The kids were amazed looking up the 107 plus stories straight up.  They were even more impressed when we went up to the observation station on top.  There wasn't any wind, so we couldn't show them the swaying motion at the top.  From our vantage point, we realized that leaving the RV in New Jersey was the best thing, nothing but cars bumper to bumper on every street we could see.

It was getting late and we really wanted to try out some authentic New York Pizza.  We decided to try out the subway for our next venture to Times Square.  Remember how Jerry has been prompting the kids to talk to locals to find out things.  Time for a backfire!

In the basement of the World Trade Center we didn't know whether to take the N train or the J train to get back to mid-town.  We saw a guy dressed like a security guard and asked directions.  Big mistake! 

After 5 minutes we were into the discussion of where the best pizzeria in New York City was located. After 10 minutes he was showing us pictures of places around the city he had taken. After 15 minutes it was his life story.  After 20 minutes (and dozens of polite good byes) we finally just walked away.  He was still talking as we went down the stairs to the subway!

Down at the subway station, they couldn't break a $20 bill.  That meant Jerry had to go upstairs past our new found friend (or should we say he found us).  Sure enough, there he was talking non stop to a couple of lost ladies.  It took Jerry another 10 minutes to find a place that was both open and that would give change.  On the way back, guess who still had the girls engaged in a one way discussion!

It was now dark out and time for Jerry’s Wildlife Adventure Tours.   Some of you know that Jerry always shows the good and not so good parts of the human race to give a well balanced education to the kids.  The subway and the rest of the evening was no exception.

We expected some rift-raft to join us on the subway and sure enough one local had enough tattoos for the entire neighborhood.  There was beautiful mosaic tile work at each of the stations (e.g., street names, waterfall, etc.).  CJ wanted to take a picture of the next station. 

You would have thought the tattooed man was attacking us as everyone heard our screams as CJ stepped outside the subway to take a picture.  What we knew and CJ didn't know was that the doors shut real fast and she could very easily been stranded.  Luckily she jumped back in as the doors slammed shut.

It was really dark as we emerged into Times Square.  Everything was lit up just like it looks on either movies or New Years.  Our next stop was Grand Central Station, which was only five blocks away.  We decided to walk and check out the local life.  Every street in New York had something awaiting us.

About 2 blocks into our trek, we noticed some enchanting painted sheets hanging on a deserted building.  These were regular bed sheets that were spray painted with various designs – New York street art!  One of the sheets had a Tasmanian Devil design.  Since Michael’s favorite character is the Taz, Terry decided to take a picture of Michael in front of the street art. 

Jerry was turned around looking at the sites when he overheard the commotion with the picture taking.  Don was lunging at a short, thin, black man that was grabbing at Terry.  Don was about to pound him, thinking he was trying to steal Terry’s camera.  As it turned out, the black man was the artist that painted the sheets.  He didn't want this artwork captured on film.  He was also a deaf mute, so he was putting his hand in front of the camera.  Since he was moving so quickly, Don thought he was trying to steal the camera, hence his involvement.  Luckily we knew enough sign language to understand him and apologize.

It didn't end there.  Two blocks later we were walking in 2 rows, 3 across.  Jerry, Terry and CJ in the lead, with Kevin, Michael, and Don near the buildings in the rear.  As we passed a huge black bum, about the size of a line backer, he got out of his cardboard seat and started to follow us.  He came towards Don and started talking to the group. 

First he said “Hey it looks like a football team.  Hut – Hut – Hut - Hike”.  At this point Don was getting a bit annoyed.  Jerry looked back and figured out that he was harmless and told the group to just keep walking and he’d retreat.  He kept talking, which included “Hey it looks like a family reunion.  Can I join your family?  I look just like one of you”.  By the end of the block, our newly found cousin went back to his area walking and talking.

We finally made it to Grand Central Station.  No New York Pizzeria in site, so it was the Hot Dog sidewalk vendor outside the station for dinner.  Not to down scale a traditional New York Pizzeria, the sidewalk vendor was as traditional a stand up dinner on the streets as a pizzeria would be a sit down dinner.

Grand Central Station was recently remodeled and it was spectacular (Grand).  Marble everywhere.  The main corridor ceilings were adorned with various star constellations and sculptures.  There was even a merry-go-round with seats created like musical celebrities (e.g., Lennon, Elvis, Madonna, etc.).

We took the kids into the train yard to show them the real meaning of the term “Central” Station.  Trains on the north of the terminal going north and trains on the south of the terminal going south.  Even this late at night, there was plenty of commuters boarding and unboarding.

For our last sampling of New York City, it only seemed logical to take a cab drive through the streets back to the wharf.  Unfortunately they have a limit of four per cab.  But there’s always the bus!

The bus dropped us off right next to the New York City Mounted Police station with all the Equestrian hoopla present.  Even the outside of the stalls were painted up in typical New York graffiti style.

We finally crossed the river and were back into our RV parking lot before 1:00 AM.  This was definitely the longest day we spent site seeing (18 hours).

Before departing our RV parking lot, we were able to see a very rare mode of transportation and touring – a “Rotel”.  A Rotel is short (and backwards) for Hotel on the Road.  Image the front half looks exactly like a Greyhound bus (and painted bright red).  The second half is the sleeping quarters with windows on the driver’s side and a crank out section on the passenger side.  Each sleeping compartment is about 3 feet square.  This Rotel holds 24 tourists, the bus driver and the tour guide.  They are brought over from Europe by boat and tour the States.  This group was from France.  Wish we had one!

Since we saw most of the things we wanted to see in our siege on New York City yesterday, we decided to check out Sleepy Hollow.  When we originally drove to Terry’s godparents, we noticed the exit to Sleepy Hollow.  This wasn't too far out of our way.

And not to leave New York City without an impression, we decided to drive across the George Washington Bridge and tour up through upper Manhattan Island to Sleepy Hollow.  Since the RV was considered a hazardous vehicle (the propane tank) we were able to drive on the top of the bridge for a better view of lower Manhattan.  This drive did include the standard New York way of driving and Bronx cheers!

Sleepy Hollow is the home of Washington Irving.  We decided on three sites to see; Philipsburg Manor, Union Church of the Pocantico Hills, and Washington Irving’s home on the Hudson River.

Philipsburg Manor is a working 18th century farm complete with gristmill, barn, stone manor house and animals.  This was a great hands on attraction.  CJ even got to start the water wheel that eventually ground some corn into meal.  The crankshaft for the water wheel to 2 ton stone grinding wheel was a 10 foot long 2 foot diameter piece of white oak.  Everything was original and cared for by the estate.  The kids thought it would be fun to have lived back in that time, until they found out that the kids back then did most of the manual labor.

The Union Church of the Pocantico Hills is where the Rockefellers worshipped.  This is a historic site were the original stained glass windows were created by artists Marc Hagall and Henri Matisse (these are some of the artists that Terry teaches about) exclusively for the Rockefellers.

We noticed a small pizzeria in town and couldn't leave New York without sampling a traditional New York pizza.  And the locals were as traditional as the pizza.  Jerry noticed someone starting to come in with a bicycle.  Remember this is a small shop.  Just as Jerry was ready to say something, he noticed the dark blue uniform – Officer Mike coming in for his regular lunch.  We did get to over hear the locals in their thick New York accent chit chatting away on local events.  This small pizzeria also sold a 28” diameter Monster Party Pizza – the biggest pizza we had ever seen.

Washington Irving’s home on the Hudson River had a very quaint tour to it also.  Our guide was dressed to the hilt in Sleepy-ish Hollow type of garb.  The house and gardens were beautiful and we could definitely appreciate why he chose the location.  Quite and serene for writing, until they put a railroad right through his property on the riverfront.

That left us with a leisurely drive over the Tappenzee Bridge (again) and a few hours drive where we decided to stop for the night at Willow Lake Campground in New Columbia, Pennsylvania.  The lake wasn't near the campground, but it was in a beautiful countryside in the middle of Pennsylvania.

The Willow Lake Campground was also impressive.  Beautiful and serene with pool, playground, volleyball, ping pong, game room, etc.  They also had ceramic classes twice a week.
Since we had put more miles on that originally planned, we decided to check out the locals and an underground cavern (Penn’s Cave).

This was the center of Pennsylvania, home of the Omish folks.  We decided to drive through the country roads to Penn’s Cave.  And sure enough, we had several sightings.

Jerry was describing the Omish traditions (no electricity) so it was easy to spot the Omish houses.  There was also the education about how they still used horse drawn carriages for transportation, complete with battery powered lights so others didn't run into them.  Right after the education we came over a hill to see an Omish farmer, complete with wide brim hat, full beard and shoeless, driving his horse drawn carriage down the road.  We even noticed an Omish family in their yard splitting firewood for the evenings night light.

Penn’s Cave is the only underground cavern that you can only tour by boat in the States.  While the formations weren't as impressive as Carlsbad Caverns, the lighting and country twang delivered by our tour guide made it a memorable tour.  Ask the kids how to say “Pennsylvania Pot Hole” and you’ll know.

Later we stopped for lunch outside of Kent State University.  We gave the kids the education on what had happened there, but did not go into the campus.

Today was originally just to put more miles onto our next stop of Chicago.  Our travels also included our only accident on the trip.  It was minor and no one was hurt.  The plastic cover of the air conditioner on top of the RV broke off and flew into two semi-rigs, scratching their paint up.  The drivers had their nerves frayed a bit as they thought it was a lawn chair that would crash through their windows and hurt them.  It just shattered.  We did have a very interesting chat with the drivers and the Highway Patrol.

Somewhere outside of Chicago we found the Wizard of Oz museum.  Unfortunately they were closed, but we could at least look in the windows.  We blew into the windy city early in the morning (pun intended).  Today’s excursions were only going to be the Martin D’Arcy Museum on the Loyola campus and a BBQ at a cousin’s house.

Since the Sears Tower was now the highest skyscraper in the States, we decided to include that on our drive towards Loyola.  Just a few miles before the Tower, we passed a Mac Donald’s that was the overpass itself.  Brings a new meaning to the phrase “drive through”!

We toured downtown looking for a parking spot and ended up only six blocks away.  It was a fairly cloudy day and they wanted $13 per head to go up to the top, so we decided to walk around the downtown area instead.  What we found on just about every corner were ceramic bulls with various paintings and writings all over them – no bull (Chicago Bulls – get it).  Every bull was different.  Some on street corners some in the middle of plazas.  Quite interesting.

Next stop was the Martin D’Arcy Museum on the Loyola campus.  Terry’s mom’s maiden name is D’Arcy so we had to see who had a museum named after them.  Jerry also went to Loyola in Los Angeles and had been to this fraternity of the Chicago campus decades ago.  The museum was inside the school library.  Since it was the summer, the museum was not open to the public, but due to the nature of the last name and Jerry being an alumni, we had a special viewing pre-arranged just for us.

Since we were early, we decided to wash clothes and have lunch.  As it turns out, the Irish pub we decided to eat at was also the hang out of the same fraternity that Jerry was in.  We ate and played darts like the locals.  Another great local pub and clientele.

The Martin D’Arcy Museum was named after a priest from England.  He had made such an impression while on his teaching sabbatical at Loyola; they created the museum uniquely in his honor.  The artifacts were religious and from the 1400s to the 1800s.  Several of Father D’Arcy’s own artifacts were also on display.  The most amazing discovery was a portrait of the Madonna with her son done around 1400.  Even around 600 years old, the blue dress that adorned her was the most vivid blue that could be imagined, let alone painted.  We asked and it was not touched up.  There were wood sculptures, ivory, and even a mechanical clock elephant.  The entire museum was just remarkable.

Afterwards we walked around the campus, just in case any of our kids ended up there.  It’s right on the lake, and like all the Loyola campuses, beautiful and very intimate.  A great place for higher education.

Onto Cousin Tom Longeway’s house in the “burbs”. Tom is a distant cousin.  Jerry had arranged this small get together months ago.  Due to our forgetting which day or week it was, Jerry forgot to call ahead and confirm the get together.  We parked at Tom’s house out in the burbs.  After waiting a couple of hours, we started to leave as his wife Jackie pulled up.  We don’t know who was more surprised.  We ended up going out for dinner and having a great time with our cousins.

Originally we were going through the Fields of Dreams (Iowa cornfields) on our way to Mt. Rushmore, but decided to try a different state instead (Wisconsin).  As usual, our detour led us to unique and interesting places.

After several hours of driving, we came upon a series of freeway signs that were too inviting to ignore.  This was to be the biggest tourist trap we would fall into – the mother of every attraction you could think of.  This is home to the famous Wisconsin Dells (which we had never heard of until then), along the Wisconsin River and Lake Delton (hence the name Wisconsin Dells).

The most unusual freeway sign was for the Dell Ducks.  This is an old Army WWII amphibious vehicle that toured through both land and water into the famous Wisconsin Dells.  It’s pretty hard to describe what these “car boats” look like, but if you’ve every seen any of the movies with an amphibious Navy invasion (e.g., Normandy), these would kinda look like those boats.  They hold two rows of two, six rows deep, about three feet off the ground, with a propeller stuck out the back.

Now before going on this wild trip, we must regress and give you an appreciation of how trappie of a tourist trap this “city” is.  First off, driving through town, it is about 5 miles of solid attractions and gift shops.  The signage would rival Las Vegas.  And they fight for your business like you were in Tia Juana.

When we first arrived at the outskirts of town we bought tickets to the Wisconsin Ducks.  This ticket booth did not give any discounts (a first on our trip – other than Disney World).  When we arrived at what we thought was the Wisconsin Ducks tour, we found out we were at the Dell Ducks; a different company with the exact same amphibious boats and tour. 

The agent at the Dell Ducks took Jerry aside and explained the difference between the two companies.  They even knew that Jerry had paid full price.  They offered a 30% discount if we returned the tickets and came back and bought their tour.  For 30% (about $25) we drove back the 5 miles to the ticket booth.

The tour was everything we thought it would be.  Speeding through the marsh jungle of the rugged backlands, bobbing up and down over the terrain like the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland (almost exactly like it).  Then at ramming speed, the driver floored it down a steep hill, slamming into the lake, and eventually shifting from four wheel drive to propeller.

Our tour guide drove (steered?) our vessel to the Dells.  The Dells are unique rock formations in the river.  They look like dozens of layers of rocks cut by the river creating round-ish 30 to 40 foot tall cylinders.  Some of these formations were hollow and used by the ancient Indians for homes and diners.  These particular formations are found only in 3 parts of the world.

This Duck tour even had a petting zoo.  The zookeeper was more than courteous by taking out one of the three 10 week old raccoons and letting the kids play with him.  It was hilarious to watch the antics of all three.  The zookeeper also gave all the kids the fallen feathers from the male and female peacocks.  Another five start attraction.

The kids had their sites set on the 21 Go-Cart attraction down the street from the Dell Ducks (the Poseidon Adventure).  This was definitely an adult playground attraction.  Some of the go carts went up four stories of track, some through waterfalls, and others even going through a 60 foot tall Trojan Wooden Horse (beware).  We rode the Trojan Wooden Horse and Medusa’s Madness, where we were going fast enough to become air born in our speedy carts.

After touring the town, we finally knew who put the wiz in Wisconsin!  It was a great unexpected detour.  We finally decided to stop for the night in Albert Lea, Minnesota.

When we woke up we saw another Rotel.  This time with a German tour group.  CJ asked if they had been to New York.  They were on their way there (which is where we saw our first Rotel).  It turns out there are 17 of these red Rotels touring around the States, stopping at the exact same locations.

This leg of the trip was to put us 400 miles closer to Mt. Rushmore.  The planned stops included the Soukup Balloon Museum and Mitchell Corn Palace.  We made another couple of unexpected stops; Sioux Falls and the USS South Dakota.

After seeing Niagara, Sioux Falls were a bit of a let down, but nice anyway.  Since we were in the middle of town, we followed the signs to the USS South Dakota.  We don’t remember any Navy presence so far inland, so we wondered.  Our wondering ended real fast when we found out the USS South Dakota was a half size mock destroyer playground next to another museum.  We could have missed that attraction and never missed it.

Terry’s maiden name is Soukup, so we couldn't pass up the Soukup Balloon Museum when we found it in our AAA tour guide.  While we were more the science museum types, it was very interesting. 

Jacques Soukup kinda looks like Terry’s brother Bob.  He was at his summer home in Sleepy Hollow (little did we know) so we didn't get to meet him.  The tour was cheap ($3 each) and it was an educational museum.  The kids even got to have their pictures taken inside a real Balloon Basket.

Next door to the Soukup Balloon Museum is the Corn Palace.  It is as hokey as it sounds.  It is used for basketball games and small conventions.  The entire outside is decorated with murals made completely out of corn.  Each year they change the murals.  It was a-maze-ing!  Sorry, couldn't pass up that pun.

We stayed at the nearby Riverside KOA with one ice cold pool for the kids and a hot steamy spa for the adults.

One of our last long drives (350 miles) would get us to Mt. Rushmore by evening as originally planned, so Jerry again got up early to put some miles on so we could be there during daylight.

Along Route 90 we saw several Sunflower fields.  From a distance they looked like bright orange fields.  It was only until we got closer that we realized we must be in the Sunflower belt of America.  It was so cute to see millions of Sunflowers standing straight up focusing on the sun.

Originally we were going to drive through the Badlands on our way to Wall Drug.  They wanted $10 just to drive through.  BEEP.  On our way out we found a 10 foot high Prairie Dog at the entrance of Prairie Dog Town.  The kids had a great time feeding them (unsalted peanuts).  Very domesticated of course, as Don was able to feed one by hand.  Since we could see the Badlands from the highway, which was good enough for us.  On to Wall Drug.

So is anyone asking, “Where the hell is Wall Drug?”  In the middle of South Dakota.  This was originally a drug store with free ice water to any weary traveler on the road.  When Jerry first stopped at Wall Drug back in 1975 it was still just one store, but very large.  It has grown by leaps and bounds.  It is now 10 stores with 3 restaurants.  Quite the tourist trap now.  Some of the free shows includes a full size animated T-Rex that roars and spits every 10 minutes.  CJ was able to have her picture taken on top of a 10 foot “Jackalope” (have you ever seen a Jackalope?).

After our free ice cold drink (out of the original well) we headed back down the dusty trail to Mt. Rushmore.  The east entrance is through Rapid City.  It’s solid plains up to this point.  When you're looking at the mountains, you start to wonder how the drive will be up to the top.

When Jerry visited Mt. Rushmore back in 1975, it was a nice stop with a small Ranger Station next to the viewing area.  This national landmark had gone through an incredible transformation.  There was enough parking for all the tourists we found in DC and Niagara Falls combined.  They built a huge cafeteria style restaurant and gift shop.  After walking past that point (still not to the viewing area where Jerry had parked in 1975), you stroll through the Walkway of States.

This walkway was solid marble with square 12 foot pedestals on each side of the walkway.  Each pedestal contained four State flags with a write up on each state.  Once you're past this walkway, about 100 feet long, you entered the top observation point (where Jerry had parked in 1975).  There was also an amphitheater dropping off after the observation area. They did an outstanding job in redecorating this national monument.  We had the kids pose as the famous outline on the mountain. 

The Mt. Rushmore KOA was just as spectacular as Mt. Rushmore.  The kids called it the King of KOAs.  Only 5 miles west, it had a water slide, 3 pools, 2 Jacuzzis (one indoor), 1 sauna, miniature golf, horseback riding and even shuttles for the nightly viewing of Mt. Rushmore.

And again, to show you how small the world really is, while Jerry was enjoying the spa and chatting with other tourists, he talked with one gal who works for the same company as Terry but up in northern California.

We did go back for the night viewing of Mt. Rushmore.  This was not as impressive as it could have been.  We thought it would be lit up with different colors.  It was only lit with regular lights.  It had also rained, so there were some very unusual streaks going down the faces of some of the presidents.  Can you name all four?  And in order?  (Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln)

On the way out we stopped at the Crazy Horse monument.  We’ll wait a few more decades to see it grow. 

Most of the trip back were long traveling days.  Today was right up there with a 450 mile trek to Yellowstone Park.  By this time, we were getting used to putting a few hundred miles on the road and seeing an attraction or two, so the longer miles weren't that bad at all.

And the more amazing part was that we were really getting into the RVing mode.  We realized that we could travel a few hundred miles every day and see something forever.  We could have easily have kept going at the end of this trip, other than no money or time to do this forever.  But this was how great the trip had felt, even after 48 days.

No stops this time other than lunch and an A&W root beer float (can’t pass those up).  As we approached Rapid City, the eastern gateway to Yellowstone, all of the driving was flat plains.  We could see the mountain range ahead and wondered how much slow mountain driving was ahead.  Practically none!  This route was mostly through the valleys of the mountains and fast.  Other than the potholes and road construction we flew into the park

We arrived in Yellowstone and went straight to check into our campsite at Bay Bridge Campground (on the Bay).  While checking in, Jerry asked the Ranger if they had spotted any Buffalo.  The Ranger chuckled and said to walk around the check in booth.  Here’s Buff about 10 feet away scratching his huge neck up a small pine tree with all his might, almost bending the 6” diameter pine tree.  The kids were thrilled to see a wild Buffalo up close and personal.  This was a great campground.  It was built on the hillside just west of the lake, so there were lots of sites with great views of the lake.

Since there wasn't much light left, we checked out the marina and found a trail to a Natural Bridge.  It was a 1 mile easy hike back into the forest.  Quiet and beautiful.  While taking pictures of the kids on top of the 100 foot Natural Bridge we spotted a Badger in the rocks.  He was nice enough to pose for pictures as well as other “wild” animals along the forest trail (squirrels, birds, etc.).

That night was our first and only real campfire meal.  We had brought a small BBQ since we thought we would be doing a lot of campground dinners on the road.  We never used the BBQ on the entire trip.  At least we were able to have one real campground meal complete with marshmallows and “samores” that night.  If you don’t know, a “samore” is a chocolate graham cracker sandwich with roasted marshmallows.  We call them “samores” since you always want “some more” (Can I have some more?).

The road around Yellowstone is basically a figure 8.  We hadn’t really planned which way to go since we were at the center of the park.  We did make reservations for tonight at the other end of the park near the west entrance.  We decided to do the figure 8 clockwise around the north and then back to the south were Old Faithful is located.

Prior to driving around, we decided to try some lake fishing and rented a boat for one hour.  We motored out to an island about 1 mile into the center of the lake and trolled around the island.  The only catch of the day was a very pleasant boat ride.  So pleasant that we stayed out an extra hour just to enjoy speeding around the lake (giving each kid a chance at cruising around in the boat) and just enjoying the perfect morning.

As we drove out, even our campground Buffalo was there to bid us farewell.  The next wildlife adventure was just around the corner to meet us – a grizzly bear!  This young male had come down to the field next to the lake to feed on the bulbs of a white wild flower.  He was about 200 feet away so there was no danger.  The real dangers were the tourists slamming on their brakes to stop and see the excitement.  He was also pretty occupied digging up the bulbs and enjoying them.

Next stop, the Mud Ponds.  Since the Earth’s mantle is so close to the surface in Yellowstone, this creates mud ponds that are boiling, steaming and sulfuric (stinky).  We didn't stand down wind and only stayed for a few minutes for that reason.  Each attraction is usually only 5 miles down the road or closer.

Then we started to discover the worst wildlife in the park – wild drivers.  As we came over a small hill, we almost slammed into a series of cars stopped in the middle of the road.  There was a small buffalo herd just to the left of the road, with no where to park.  We would find out, this was the norm in the park – beware of drivers seeing wildlife.

The park Rangers always warn tourists not to mess with the Buffalo.  They say a Buffalo’s tail only points straight up for one of two reasons; (1) he’s going to go to the bathroom or (2) he’s going to charge someone.  And sure enough, one of these tourists had to try and get close enough to photograph Buff’s toenails.  Sure enough we saw the tail go up, Buff start to charge, and the tourist running for his wife.

As we drove towards the Yellowstone Falls, we saw hundreds of Buffalo’s.  When Jerry visited the park in 1975, he only saw one Buffalo.  This was now the most prolific critter in the park.

The Yellowstone Falls were beautiful, but after Niagara, a little bit of a let down.  There were lightly flowing falls, heavily flowing falls, and all beautiful in their own right.  We continued north to the Roosevelt Lodge (named after Teddy of course) near the top right of the figure 8.   The lodge hosted an authentic wagon train ride across the northern plains of Yellowstone.  Unfortunately they were booked for the day (make reservations if you go there, it’s a very popular tour).  They did tell us where we could take the kids swimming (there’s only 2 places in the park where they allow swimming and the lake is not one of them).

Off to the 45th Parallel for swimming.  We actually ended up in Montana, the most western north boundary of the park.  It’s a beautiful area with the river, but too shallow to swim in.  The kids tried their hand at fishing and did some floating down the river.  It was so restful that we decided to have our lunch picnic on the river.  After lunch we talked with another tourist who told us how to get to the Hot Springs that feed the river, only ¼ mile from where we were.

Sure enough, ¼ mile back along the river was a hot spring feeding the river.  There were about 100 tourists enjoying the waters, and had taken all the good mixing pools.  The problem with the hot springs is that it starts at about 250 degrees and you have to find a mixing pool along the river where the river water mixes it down to about 110 degrees or you’ll get burned.

Now add in the fact that at this point, the river is flowing very fast, so fast that when Jerry tried to make a mixing pool out of 1 foot diameter boulders, the rushing rapids would roll the boulders away.  If you stepped in the wrong part of the river you would burn your feet and legs.  Any other part was extremely cold.  This separation was about 6 inches.  It was very tricky walking around in the fast rapids.

We finally found a spot that was bearable.  While our backs were getting a great hot spa workout, our chests were lukewarm.  This is also where we took the picture that you’ll see in our Christmas card.  We relaxed for about an hour before continuing our journey around the park.

Our spotting of wildlife continued around the park.  More Buffalo, deer, elk, hawks, but no moose.  We even watched a female elk and her children crossing the road.

We decided to check into the Madison Campground and then take a direct route to Old Faithful for an evening view of her abilities.  When we arrived we were able to see something that hasn’t happened in 2 years.  Another large geyser (no not the big old tourist) named Gigantus had erupted that morning for the first time in 2 years.  While we were there, she erupted again.  We were hoping to get a shot of Old Faithful erupting with the moon in the background, but the by the time she went, the clouds obscured the moon.  It was still a great show for the first timers (Terry and the kids).

We were originally going to head straight out to some friends who lived near Twin Falls, Idaho, but decided to see some more of the parks color pools and a daylight eruption of Old Faithful.

Coming right out of the campground was another traffic jam.  This one was more unique since the leader of the pack was a 5 point Elk that had moss hanging off his antlers.  Pretty funny to look at.

On the way to Old Faithful we stopped at Fire Hole, another hot spa, but down in the canyon.  This was unique in that a waterfall fed the hot spa mixing the water.  The drive back to Old Faithful gave us a chance to see the other geysers and hot springs and plan out which ones we would stop at on the way out.

We arrived at Old Faithful just seconds after its eruption.  This gave us time to shower and check out the gift shop and Lodge.  There are only 2 facilities in the entire park with showers; back at Bay Bridge and the Old Faithful Lodge.  And we needed showers after a couple of days without!

Everything seems to happen for a reason, which is why we missed the earlier eruption.  While waiting for the next eruption we witnessed something that probably doesn’t happen for over centuries.  Both Gigantus and Old Faithful erupted at the same time.  To say the least, the crowd went hysterical when Gigantus started up, followed by Old Faithful.  We just happen to be sitting on the side (east) where we could easily see both, and could video and photo both together going off.  While Old Faithful was more powerful and higher, Gigantus was longer (about a 10 to 15 minute eruption).  This was spectacular and impressive to see both major eruptions at the exact same time.  Definitely a once in a lifetime event.

 From the brochures we decided to hike back about ¼ mile to the most colorful hot pool, Morning Glory.  Since this hike was away from the easier accessed hot pools and geysers, we were able to stand right on top of some other hot pools.  We even saw the antlers of some Moose that met his maker in one of the hot pools.  And we were in for another once in a lifetime experience.

 Right across from Morning Glory we noticed several Rangers standing around a small 8 foot diameter hot pool with cameras and other special recording equipment (Geyser Watchers).  The hot pool looked pretty average to us.  As we talked with the Rangers, we found out that in all recorded history, this used to be a mud hole up until 4 days ago when it became active.  In those 4 days, it transformed from a dead blacken mud hole into a bubbling multi-colored hot spring.  The Rangers were recording its activity and seeing what else was “cooking” in the area.

 And even the drive out of the park was memorable.  We came around a corner and the traffic was almost dead stopped.  By this time we turned to each other and chuckled about tourists.  As we came around the curve, expecting to see everyone pulled off the side, it was Buff leading the procession and holding back traffic.  A real show (traffic) stopper!

 As usual, we could have stayed longer at this attraction just like all the places we’ve been to, but we did have other places to see and friends to visit.  That night we spent the evening with an old friend of Jerry’s that he grew up with in El Monte (Steve Kliegl and family).  The kids had fun not only playing on their 30 foot trampoline, but sleeping on it overnight.

 This was our longest drive ever, 650 miles, from Idaho to Jerry’s brother Mike in Vacaville.  We originally had left an extra day in the trip if we didn't want to make this trek.  We decided that an early departure and three drivers could handle the drive.  And we were right.

 What should have been a long and uneventful 12 hour drive was anything but that.

 This actually started in Yellowstone where the gas prices were $1.50 per gallon.  For a tourist trap, that didn't sound too high.  We had enough gas to make it to Idaho, where we expected the prices to drop.  BEEP, but thanks for playing the game anyway.  How about $1.60 per gallon?

 We only put in enough gas to get us to Nevada, where with no State sales tax, the gas prices had to be lower, right?  BEEP.  Now it’s $1.70 per gallon.  The map showed two more towns past the Nevada border.  BEEP.  They were one horse towns, no gas stations.  Now we’re into our 5 gallon Jerry Jug (pun intended) and extreme measures (coasting) to make it the 35 to 40 miles to the next big town (not enough gas to turn around either).

 As we are coming down the last mountain range, we can see the next town off in the distance in the valley.  And then the fumes ran out.  Only 5 miles short.  The good part was that there was a nice family right behind us that not only took Jerry down to the gas station and brought him back, but followed us back to the gas station just to be sure everything was fine.  And they refused any type of appreciation we offered them.  Not enough fine folks like them on this planet.

 Tanked up and ready to go.  As the gas prices kept increasing as we drove westerly, so did the temperature.  For the Nevada desert, we expected it to be hot.  When we finally crossed into California, not only did the gas prices continue to go up ($1.80) but so did the temperature (107).  It was cooler in the Nevada desert than in Sacramento by 5 degrees!

 Luckily brother Mike has a pool.  Instant pool party ensued.  Followed by one of Rhonda’s famous spaghetti feasts.  And to keep with the camping tradition, all four adults slept outside under the stars.  Actually it was just too hot to sleep inside.

 The day before several fires had started in Yosemite and Butte counties.  While these were over 100 miles from Vacaville, the winds were strong enough to blow the smoke all the way to Mikes.

 We had planned to go to the Sacramento State Fair today.  As we were driving towards Sacramento, the smoke got so thick that we could feel the effects in our lungs.  Another quick change of plans.

 We gave ourselves a lung break and went indoors for bowling instead.  We kept the indoor routine going with some shopping and relaxing around Vacaville.  And of course, with the temperatures still well over 100, the pool party continued into the evening.

 That evening we treated ourselves to a full spread of BBQ ribs on the grill with all the fixen’s.  Since the smoke had spread all the way to Vacaville (and beyond) we slept inside.

 We awoke to a much clearer day than before and decided to give the State Fair another try.  The State Fair grounds also has a water park named Water World.  It was our type of world for the hottest day ever on the trip (109).

 We played in the various aquatic venues such as Great White, Mako, and Hammerhead water tube slides and floated around the water park in their lazy lagoon ride.

 After lunch the kids wanted to stay in the water park, so the adults decided to check out the State Fair.  One of the kids in the neighborhood had his artwork on display in one of the pavilions.

 It was a typical State Fair without livestock.  Various pavilions with local talent from the lower grades up to high school.  Lots of vendors selling their wares.  And of course, the wine pavilion.  We spent a few extra minutes checking out their wine selection.  They also had some great misters so we could stay cool.

 We jumped back into Water World for a final cool off before the hot drive home.  On the way out, the kids couldn't resist the go-cart rides.

 That was the last evening so the kids had their pizza party at home while the adults went out for steak and seafood. 

 We did spend the last night outside under the stars.

 This was the long trek home.  The day we had been dreading.  All good things must come to an end, and so was our adventure.  And we finally had a fairly mundane day for once.  The only unusual note was lunch.

 For those of you who have never driven down Highway 5 from the San Francisco area to Los Angeles, not only can you have a great meal half way, you get to see what you eat.  This was our last surprise for the kids.

 About 50 miles north of Kettleman City is the Harris Cattle Ranch.  You can’t miss this ranch – about 1000 head of cattle with just one goal in life.  You named it, dinner.  So as we’re driving past the Cattle Ranch Jerry tells the kids to remember the name of the biggest cow ranch they’ve ever seen.

 As we walk into the Harris Steak House in Kettleman City, sit down to order, the kids start with their latest sampling of hamburgers.  Jerry asks them what is the name of the restaurant.  Then he asks them what is the name of the biggest cow ranch they’ve ever seen.  Enjoy your lunch!

 The rest of the drive home was uneventful.  We spent Day 55 relaxing and getting ready to rejoin the normal life.

 The trip was everything we had imagined and more. Over 50 rolls of film and 300 minutes of video taping to remember it by.