mostly unpacked!

i have a huge bag full of free stuff from all the rest stops to go thru and figure out what to get rid of and what to keep. i'm kidding myself, get rid of after looking thru them again. they make good reading on the road tho. once in awhile you find a treasure to visit.

it's so darn quiet here on the street during the day. the kids are all still in the house and don't come out until it's cooler. we are starting on the 'honey we need to do this' list now. it's hard to go back to your former life after a trip like ours. for one thing, on the road it seems cheaper. well, at home that feeling is blown out of the water! carole is slowly figuring out the costs of the trip now, gas was not as expensive as i thought it would, a little over $1,000. considering the cost of gas right now, we consider that a pretty low price to pay for over 8,000 miles.

well, gotta get busy, more later......

it was inevitable!

ok, trip is past tense now. after a night in vegas in a motel 6, we headed home. anyway, carole unpacked the car and we lost the living room again, just like before we left! it's looking better, the car is back being shiny and clean again, no bugs!!!!!
i will put pictures in flickr tomorrow for sure, and start on filling in the blog with more detailed info. by the way, the bead i made at corning glass museum was waiting for me and it's gorgeous! i will take a picture of it to show.
would we love to do this trip again????? you bet, different time of the year, different route and pack much less! will we, maybe but not for a couple years. we came home relaxed, a few pounds lighter! we had such a great time, met so many wonderful people, saw so many incredible places.
more to come.......

aaarrrrggggghhhhh!

ok, couldn't get on in the room so i came to the lobby. only way i could get on was thru internet explorer then aol which doesn't give me full access to everything i normally get. as far as downloading pics to flickr? not tonight for sure.
we are in page, az. we will get up early tomorrow morning and head to north rim grand canyon for a quick trip then onto zion nat. park and spend the night in springdale, just west of the park entrance.
we came thru monument valley today, absolutely gorgeous. had a navajo taco at gouldings trading post, yum! when it comes into view it brings back memories of most of the cowboy movies you've seen. john wayne is still king here.
if we talked to you earlier tonight, sorry but both our phones needed recharging bad. for some reason we forget that we can charge while we drive. we have gotten very laid back on this trip so imagine it will take us awhile to readjust once we get home.
right now i'm looking out the window towards the dam, clouds, very gorgeous sky, rock is so red. wish you could all see this.
not sure about internet access tomorrow night, we'll see.....

104 today, time to get out of dodge!

tomorrow we leave this incredible part of the world much humbled and awestruck! we head south of here, will drive on the highway that goes through monument valley on the way to page, az.

today we drove out to dead horse state park overlook, and on to 'island in the sky' lookout of canyonlands nat. park. you do drive into the nat. park so we did make it. you are way up high looking down on the immense scenery below. this is the area where thelma and louise drove off the edge, no we didn't do that.

we would love to come back here later in the year, after it cools off which would probably put that around march???

i'm going to try to insert more than one picture here, not always easy i've learned..... ok, there are 3 more pics i wanted to include here but it doesn't want to do that. right now a shower sounds better than fighting this. i will update flickr tomorrow night, too tired right now...

goofed

all right, i didn't get pictures posted tonight on flickr, will do it tomorrow. if you find mistakes in what i write, you can figure out what we meant!

another day in paradise!

don't ask me why but i love this crazy town and carole gave me 3 days here. it's very hot so it works out great. we've also run into a problem with the weekend here. a third day puts us in to page, az where they had a room then to north rim grand canyon where there wasn't. when we leave grand canyon we go thru zion nat. park and spend the night at springdale. we stayed at this place last year when we went to kanosh in june.
this morning we got up early, well for us anyway. we had breakfast, carole went to the bank then we headed a few miles north to arches nat. park.
arches is an incredible experience to say the least. carole was very quiet, lost in her thoughts just like i was. pictures are coming but not tonight.
i think, no i'm sure i downloaded the camera memory cards onto a dvd this time. i've put the dvd in and taken it out so many times just to make sure. it was easy with the last version of windows. for some reason they are all mixed up in sequence but we will get them separated after we get home.
i keep saying we are going to canyon lands, we aren't, we're going to dead horse point nat. monument where we can look down on part of canyonlands. we will do the morning thing again. there is a loop drive off 128 that we heard about being worth the trip so we might do that. yes, carole now has bonine, it helps!

we are in moab, ut for 2 nights. got laundry done too! it's hot here but gorgeous around here. we left colorado on I-70 and took the 128 highway to moab.

128 is one of utah's scenic drive and scenic doesn't adequately describe it. it's like driving into grand canyon with the colorado river on the right side and the rock formations on the left. mom introduced me to the road in 2000 when she and i drove back from baltimore. i had forgotten that it is yet another winding road but even i got a little car sick and i was driving! we now have bonine for the rest of the trip if needed for carole. this is one of those roads that if you are in the area you need to take. it will take your breath away.

moab is still a crazy small town, full of local color and craziness. it's an all year area, river rafting, mountain biking, dirt biking, kayaking and canoeing. oh, i forgot, climbing, skydiving, hiking and who knows what else. they do get some snow in the winter and it does get cold. it's hippies that didn't know the movement died, bikers, and everyone who likes anything to do for a thrill outdoors.

this area is also canyonlands and arches national parks. we will go up to arches in the morning after breakfast and do canyonlands tomorrow night. probably need to reverse it but we'll see.

when we leave here we go through monument valley then onto north rim grand canyon. guess that means we will really be heading home after that. we still aren't sure which way we will come in but we'll let you know.

tomorrow i will put more pictures on the flickr site. it's frustrating taking pictures, when you see a great shot there isn't a pull-off and when there is one there isn't anything to see.

we saw 1 antelope today and got in the way of a prairie dog, yes, he lived but he changed his mind real fast and went the other way. would love to see more antelope, they are just beautiful.

we have left a little of mom in lots of places, memories old and new dictate where. it's a very emotional part of this trip. she made us promise to take this trip and feel her everywhere we go.

here are a few pictures, from both of us. old buildings are at leadville, co., highway pics are on I-70 coming downhill through one of the many gorges you pass. we don't like the 75mph speed limit anymore so we try to keep it at 65-70 and let everyone pass us.

we miss all of you and will see you soon....

God's country for sure!

somehow yesterdays entry got lost, sorry about that.
we spent the night in sterling, co and headed towards denver in the morning. an uneventful trip across denver was a pleasant surprise. we were only going as far as eagle or glenwood springs so had time to do a side trip to leadville. this is an old, but nicely kept up town in the lower rockies. fun time walking around town and having lunch. we heard about a train trip on tires and found it down the street. we did it, the guy knows a lot about the area and that made it very interesting. up and down and across most of the streets, lots of historical gossip! it's quite an infamous town with lots of big names.
i think this area (which is quite big) might be the general area that mom lived in as a young girl. i have more information than i did before so will start looking again after we get home, unpacked and rested.
we took a different road back to the interstate, wow! the rivers, the mountains are awesome. we would very much like to come back for a few days. need to soak up a lot of oxygen tho, it's over 10,000 ft.!
we head to moab, ut tomorrow. might stay a couple days and nights. need to do laundry and just kick back. plenty to do around there anyway, canyonlands, arches and town! carole has tried to get me to buy some souvenirs, i keep telling her we aren't out of moab yet!
mom has been left in some wonderful places, today by a beautiful stream, i could just see her working her way upstream with her fly rod. lots of memories come back in places like this.
still won't say when we'll be home, we'll be home when we get home. we are heading west so it might be a sign!

long but gorgeous day

we are in council bluffs, ia tonight and we cross over the missouri river into nebraska in the morning. nebraska is a state that seems neverending especially when you go east to west.

it was hot today and somewhat humid so we used the a/c most of the time. this countryside is just unbelievable. the rain stayed south east of us although we would've enjoyed some. it might've cleaned the car off. carole still wants to wash it, i still want to leave it till we get home. it's not really that dirty, well not that you can see.

we took a side trip to one of the amana communities, a place mom and i visited years ago. their style of building is quite interesting. typical midwest farm styles but they put trellises on the outsides of the houses and outbuildings for vines. i will try to find a web site that shows it.

we are going into utah but on the eastern side, so far so good.

are we tired of the trip yet??? no, it's still great. just know we are heading west......

on the road again

this is short tonight, sorry. we are altering our route, we will go to yellowstone and surrounding area another time. there are too many fires for one thing and we will stay away from them. we will be heading across nebraska and colorado into utah for moab area then monument valley and north rim grand canyon.

we had an awesome stay with jim mcconnell and his wonderful family. hated leaving the lake too. sure had fun.

we've reviewed all the pictures and we sure have had a great time and seen so much. it's not over yet by any means.

all of you who have called with that perennial question 'are we home yet' or are you coming home', no we aren't home and the other question is still going to be maybe, maybe not! of course we are coming home, do we know when or will we tell all of you? NO!

we are spending the night in moline, illinois. crossed and recrossed the mississipi river when we went to dinner! it will be the last time for this one, but there are a couple more big rivers between here and home.

we will go to the local jeep dealer in the morning for the car's 9,000 mile oil change!!!!

to be continued...

Thank you's, fireworks, fish and friendship and family

GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!!!!!

carole and i went out on the dock, it was my turn to fish today. legal that is! ok, official count is: carole 5 fish, i caught a total of 9. i admit i had more time than carole but we both enjoy each others excitement. we are happy to say, all the fish went back into the lake to be caught another day. most fun fishing we've both had in many years.
you had to be here, next lake over's fireworks were just out of view but at one of the homes here at crooked lake they put on a show that lasted over half an hour. we're talking big fireworks!
also, they have stars out here and are they ever beautiful. something we forget when we live in cities.
jim's wife's folks came in with 2 grandsons and a grandaughter this afternoon. we went out on the lake pulling the kids one at a time in a big inner tube thing. then we went out to the middle of the lake and went swimming. yep, i went in, had a great time too. yes carole took a picture.
we went back to the house, goofed off, ate dinner, and fished some more then went out on the boat at about 9:45pm to see fireworks. the lake was calm, no bugs out there. it was a perfect end to a perfect visit.
our undying gratitude to jim's mom jo ellen for opening up her home to us, it's been a joy. to jim and september and max and miranda thank you for talking time to share yourselves with us. we hope you will be able to come out our way and let us host you. it would be our pleasure.
we never knew much about indiana, just what we've seen in books and on tv. it is very beautiful here along with very nice people.
thank you all for the most memorable 4th of july week ever. you will be in our hearts forever!

fishies and more!

ok, more fish today and jim is thawing out some walleye for dinner! i won't tell you what else has been caught, carole would probably make me walk home. let's just say that some cousins have the same genes!

a little warmer and just a little more humidity today but still not bad at all. next lake over is having fireworks tonight and we will be out on the lake. today september's folks will be here so the house will be full of kids.

this has been such fun but we will be leaving tomorrow. looked at the weather once we get to south dakota and beyond and it looks pretty good. we've handled the heat and humidity we've had quite well so far. the air conditioner at home will probably look and feel very good when we get home tho.

till later.....

fiishie, fishie, fishie, fishie and another fish!

carole caught 5 blue gills tonight from the boat dock!!!! one of them was at least 8"! she let them all go tho, back to their homes. last night (around 9pm) the minnows were jumping out of the water trying to get away from the bass. typical fishing luck, that was last night. tomorrow we will go out on the lake, i'm going to jump in and enjoy it. jim found a bottle-nosed turtle, 2 more snapping turtles and a bull frog. there was a soft shell turtle too but i don't remember what kind it is. it was a fun night...

we will leave here sunday morning and start the hard stretch heading to south dakota. once we get to the rapid city area the rest of the trip will go faster than we want it to. this has been the most incredible trip in so many ways. it's been worth the wait.

thank you all for your continued prayers and good thoughts, carole and julie

sorry i didn't update yesterday

carole and i have been busy, we are here at the lake house on crooked lake. it belongs to my cousins mom and she has nicely lent it to us for our visit! it's gorgous here, peaceful and wonderful. they all come in around 6pm and leave around 11pm. we are doing our part by watching out for enemy subs and the loch ness monster. so far so good, everything is intact.

jim and i have had fun talking about growing up years, so many similarities, including the eastern sierra. i had the missing link name to connect some family for him. it's just awesome.

last night we had come in from the nightly boat ride and the bass were jumping right off the dock so it was fishing time. their daughter miranda is a joy, loves to fish. this morning carole went to walmart and bought us some fishing gear and a 1 day license for today for her and i will get one later for me for tomorrow.

i'm posting some pictures, enjoy......

wow wow wow!

ok, on the flckr thing, i've played with the privacy issue and i hope i've gotten it right. if not, hang in, it will get corrected soon. i'm getting lessons via email from a special friend in canada.
yesterday we went to the corning museum of glass, in corning, ny. mom and i went there in the 80's and it's been rebuilt and it's truly awesome. right now there is a large gallery of contemporary glass artists. it's hard to fathom what can be done with glass. they have several 'hands on' classes for a really low price. i did the lampwork bead class! the bead will beat us home by a couple of weeks tho. last time i saw it it was just showing some color. when you are done with it and it's cooled off a thousand degrees or something you put the mandrel with the bead on it in a bucket of vermiculite to cool off. since we couldn't go back today they will mail it to us. carole doesn't even know what it looks like, it will be a surprise. we will share it of course. we want to go back, maybe fly and visit jean for another week or so and the 3 of us drive to corning. the whole area is worth a return trip.
today, we took a back road carole found on the map, hwy. 417, just out of corning and ended up on I-90 heading to ohio. what a joy this road was, farm after farm, amish carriages and wagons sharing the road too. sorry, we didn't take pictures, sometimes you just have to store them in your minds. the route was just a glorious by-way getting us from one place to another.
we are at the most wonderful best-western in the whole world. we are overnighting in mentor, ohio. we wish we could clone this for the rest of the nights on the trip!
tomorrow we have an approximate 5 hour or less drive to columbia city, in. we meet my new cousin and his family. i think, if i'm correct we share a grandmother on my dad's side. i have a hard time keeping this family thing straight.
we miss you all and we are having a wonderful time. this is truly the trip of a lifetime for us.
love to all!

oh what a beautiful day!

we left jeans at 11am, ate an early lunch and got back on the road. the trip to johnson city, ny was incredible. we had blue skies, puffy white clouds, cool and low humidity! a couple stretches of toll roads but it's not bad considering how well maintained and clean they are.

the trip up here goes through the most beautiful mountain and farm areas imaginable. it's also green up here, we can only imagine what it must look like in the fall.

we are having a wonderful time, it's a great trip and we are so glad we are doing it. a few frustrations but they have a way of working out.

tomorrow we will go to the corning museum of glass in corning, ny. i've been there, actually took mom back in the 80's. it will be fun taking carole there this time. i'm sure it's changed since then. we decided that we'd forgo niagra falls. it's amazing how fast time flies when you get on the road. we probably average 300 miles a day but it goes fast.

we've posted pictures on www.flickr.com/photos/cnjfrogs for your amusement! if you can't open it let us know and we'll send detailed directions.

the car is awesome, the satellite radio is awesome but the best is the navigation system! it's extremely accurate. i like to argue with her (it's a female voice) but she's always right. well, once she was wrong but the nice cop in saugus, ma told me i couldn't turn left on this one street as they'd just brought in a backhoe for some work. i told him i was using a nav. system, and we had a good laugh. he gave me detailed directions to get back on track which i promptly forgot. got just out of sight from him and let the system catch up with me and we were heading the right way once again. if you like to travel, hate to get lost (even in town) you need to check into getting yourself one. we're sure you will all hear more about it from us.

ok, i'm going to post a couple pics here, for more go to flickr. the one of carole and her critter has been labeled " Lobsta at Glosta'!, the scenery shot is at great smokey mountain national park, we loved it so much that we knew mom would too. there is a shot of jean, our friend in stonehan, ma and some pics of caroles grandkids and a great grandson, corbin. he's a cutie and we are glad we don't have to chase after him.

love to you all, carole and julie, the intrepid travelers