February 20, 2011 3:59 p.m.


We are now in the throes of music competition season.  Yesterday we had one strings audition for both children, and they did just fine, having both secured the “Superior” ratings they needed to proceed to the state level.


Then yesterday evening, I was advised that we needed to quickly throw together an application for a concerto competition for Chips in late March.  As part of the competition, I had to write a short biography for Chips (in case he wins, for the state newsletter) and include a photo.  To get a feel for how to do this, I checked out prior newsletters to read what was written in the bio’s of other student winners of the recent past. 


At first, I found this task daunting and intimidating, and it brought to the surface all of the insecurities of a homeschool mom.  But now that it is finished, I feel pretty good about it.  What do you think?  Does this sound like a cool kid or not?


[Chips], age 11, has been a violin student of S______ G_____ for nearly five years. He first began to study violin at the age of 3. He has been homeschooled since preschool and is now doing sixth grade level work. [Chips] is no stranger to music competitions. In 2008 [Chips] was Elementary Solo winner for FMTA District __. In 2009 he took first place in O___ Music Club Elementary Solo Scholarship competition; In 2010 he was FFMC State Winner for Medium I Solo. In addition, [Chips] participated as violinist in an all boys’ piano trio with S____ Music Institute (M_____) that was FFMC State piano trio winner three years in a row (2008 – 2010).

When [Chips] was four, he and his family moved out to several acres in the country, where he and his sister developed a love of nature. He and his family have camped extensively throughout Florida, the Southeastern U.S., and Blue Ridge Parkway. His camping experiences culminated last autumn in a cross-country trip across America, touring 13 different states and 7 National Parks. [Chips] is also active in his church, participating in its choristers group. He enjoys relaxing by reading mystery novels, swimming, bicycling, playing piano, and repairing his friends’ digital watches.

October 20, 2010 9:15 p.m.

Day 23 was Sept. 26

The final day!
We woke up in White Springs, Florida.
The temperature was 71 degrees.
Elevation ~100 ft.
odometer31,008.

Forgot to mention that yesterday we drove into our home state and chose a campsite at the lovely state park campground of Stephen Foster Folk Cultural Center, which is definitely a 10 campground.  We have camped here before, so we knew it was good.  Also, I forgot to post these pictures from yesterday afternoon when we arrived.  This park is on the shores of the Suwannee River.

Okay, for some reason the Blogger server is not accepting my photos from this park.  Sorry, I don't know how to resolve this.  These were the final photos from the trip, too.

Well, on this, the final wake up morning of our cross country trip, we woke up in our home state.  It rained heavily through the night, and everything was wet outside so we just disconnected our power and stuffed all our wet items (towels, scooters, cords, etc.) into plastic bags and hit the road as early as possible.  I was immediately thankful that we had not had much rain on this trip.  It was as if Florida was saying "Welcome back home, now back to reality!"  

We were so eager to get home, so it was still dark when we pulled out of our campsite.  We actually stopped for breakfast at McDonalds for convenience.  We never do this, and one visit reminded me why I prefer our own food.  Also, we traveled through 13 states on this trip and this bathroom was one of the worst - no excuse for this.

Which leads to another discover, as I state in this...

.... MAXIM:   The average truck stop restroom is much better than the average McDonald's bathroom.


So there.  Just in case you were wondering.

Here is the last entry I have in my travel journal:


As I write, we are near the entrance to I-4.  I can even see the sign for Orlando.  So incredibly close to home after so many days.  We will stop for pizza and groceries, then head home.  And it is only 10:48 a.m.!

And yes, return home we did, around 2 o'clock in the afternoon.  Our odometer reading upon pulling to our house was 31,221.  That meant we had traveled 6,127 miles.

6,127 miles!  And the worst damage we suffered from this entire trip was a skinned knee (Sweet Girl's) and a rock chip in the windshield.  The Lord was truly gracious to us in granting us such a smooth and trouble-free vacation and we are thankful to him!

It was good to unload the van, to get all the laundry done, to work on organizing the house, and to catch up on emails.  It was also good to sleep in our home bed, as opposed to our camper bed (although they feel nearly the same).  The only shock I wasn't prepared for was the next morning when Self-Reliant Man had to get up and go to work.  We had spent 23 days together in a row, and I missed him when he went back to work!  But don't worry - I got over it.  Hee hee hee!

Thanks for keeping up on our travelogue.

And now, we resume our normally scheduled blog programming.....

October 20, 2010  8:49 p.m.

Day 22 was Sept. 25

We woke up near Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Temperature was 71 degrees.

Publish Post

odometer at 30,624
elevation ~1000 ft.

From my travel journal:

It has been hot.  In fact, I think the eastern part of the U.S> has been having an early autumn heatwave.  Since Missouri, the temps have been topping out in the low 90s.  Makes me miss the cool, dry west.  Nonetheless, taking this trip in September enabled us to cheat Florida out of nearly one month of heat and humidity.  From here on, it will only get better.  The heat will begin to break around the mid-point of October.


As for rain, we were extremely blessed on this trip.  The only rain we encountered outside of Florida was a shower after dark driving out of Yellowstone one evening and a very short thunderstorm while we were in a gift shop in Estes Park.  The rest of the days were sunny.

Again, from our travel journal en route through Georgia:

Chips is excited now because apparently there is a football game in Atlanta involving the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.  We just saw a vehicle pass us with GT flags flying.  Northwestern Georgia, where we are right now, is also where we see the most kudzu.

October 20, 2010 7:57 a.m.

Day 21 was September 24, 2010


We woke up in Marion, Illinois.
Temperature was 75 degrees.  It is starting to feel like Florida, now.
Odometer reading 30,275.  (we broke through the 30,000 mark yesterday).
Altitude ~400 ft.

On this day, by 10:30 in the morning, we had already been in three states - Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee.  We are really making time, now.  The minute we drove over the Ohio River into Kentucky, we had officially re-entered "the South", and I could immediately hear it in people's accents at our first rest stop.  Amazing what a simple river can do, even today.  The weather continued to be hot today, topping out at 92 degrees, just like yesterday had been.  Today we would reach Chattanooga, and I would feel like we are near home.  Never expected Chattanooga to feel like near home before, but on this trip it is a matter of perspective.

As we drove toward Chattanooga, I took time to recap fun facts from this trip.  Here we go:


FAVORITE REST AREAS: Missouri and Tennessee.


LEAST FAVORITE REST AREAS: Kansas (sorry).  Had to compete too much with the flies.


FAVORITE KOA KAMPGROUND: Rapid City KOA, by far the best we have ever seen, and we have seen many KOAs.


FAVORITE INDEPENDENT CAMPGROUND:  High Plains Camping, Oakley, Kansas and Lazy Days Campground, Montgomery City, Missouri.


FAVORITE SCENIC DRIVE:  the Beartooth Highway, undisputably the most memorable scenery ever!


BIGGEST SURPRISE: Badlands National Park, better than we expected.  Also Big Thompson Canyon on US 34 in Colorado.


BIGGEST ANNOYANCE:  drivers in Yellowstone - good grief!



FAVORITE WAL-MART: The Supercenter in Colby, Kansas.  So quiet in the middle of the day.  I so wish ours at home was like this one.



FAVORITE RESTAURANT: The Shores in Lakeshore Lodge, Estes Park, Colorado



WORST RUSH HOUR:  Denver, but Chattanooga is turning out to be pretty bad, too, right now.



MOST FUN STATE TO DRIVE THROUGH: Wyoming.



WORST ROAD CONSTRUCTION: Togwotee Pass, outside of Dubois, Wyoming on US 287 - miles of highway torn up.



COLDEST NIGHTS: 31 degrees in West Yellowstone, Montana.



FAVORITE ANIMAL SIGHTING: Moose family in Moose Junction, Grand Teton National Park.


BEST DISPLAY OF NIGHT STARS: campground at Devils Tower, could see the most stars, shooting stars, and passing satellites with the unaided eye.


BIGGEST OPEN SPACES: It is hard to say, but I think it might be Central Wyoming.  For miles and miles we didn't see so much as a single power pole.


FAVORITE HIGHWAY SIGN:   Outside Denver:

Today is October 20, 2010 7:36 a.m.

Day 20 was Sept. 23, 2010

We woke up in Kansas City, Missouri.
The temperature was 72 degrees.
Odometer reading 29,910
Elevation  a mere 935 feet.

My apologies to any readers who have grown sick of hearing about our trip.  We are truly on the home stretch run, now.  I barely have had any time to blog; well, I could blog, but then other things in my life would go neglected, and the Holy Spirit has been convicting me lately not to let those other things go neglected.  And so, now you understand, and hopefully will forgive my slowness to complete the trip journal.  Indeed, I have plenty of other things going on that I could be blogging about as well.

So, we left the Worlds of Fun RV Park (what we came to call "Wally World", as the World was closed for the season) and headed south and east toward Illinois.  Little did we know that the entire eastern part of the country was experiencing a heat wave, but from this day on, every day would end up in the 90s during the afternoon.

I have to say we did enjoy exploring this RV park even though there weren't many visitors there.  We checked out the other RVs and the vacation cabin area, and played a bit of air hockey.  Did a load of laundry, too.  I do enjoy the RV lifestyle; every stop is different.  No, we don't have an actual RV, but Self-Reliant Man has equipped our passenger van so that we can sleep comfortably inside, among other real RVs in RV parks, and we didn't have to go into debt to do this.  Besides, it is the fact of these van modifications that has enabled us to make this trip at all.  It has made going cross country affordable.  RV parks run much cheaper than hotels; their prices per night vary from $20 to $45, and we can pack and eat our own food as much as we want.  We have been living out of a cooler and food storage box, and doing laundry every five days.  We have also visited all four seasons on this trip.  Temperatures ranged from 31 degrees to the mid 90s, so we packed everything from shorts to winter coats.

The drive on this day was uneventful, just crossing Missouri, for the most part, and in mid-afternoon we arrived at the Marion Campground and RV Park in Marion, Illinois.  It was a nice, newer campground, and the owner lady was very nice to us, giving us a big break on the price and providing candy, coffee, and water bottles for free.  Her name was Julie and she said she was originally from Wyoming.  She had a small dog that she was training very carefully to be well socialized around people, and our children always love to interact with other people's dogs.  Anyway, Julie made us feel very welcome at this clean, well-situated campground, and we enjoyed playing in the playground and playing cards out on the picnic table until after dark.  I must add, though, that this was one evening where my body realized how tired it really was, and Breezy Point Mom had to take a rare break from it all and doze on the futon.  ZZZZ..

Hanging out at Marion Campground, Marion, Illinois.

Best friends hanging out together on the monkey bars.

As an aside, I must mention that Chips and Sweet Girl played on a lot of outdoor play equipment on this trip, including several monkey bars.  When they returned to their violin teacher, she reported that both of them had "grown" into a larger violin size.  Do you suppose there is any connection?

October 16, 2010  7:26 a.m.

Day 19 was Sept. 22

We woke up in Oakley, Kansas.
The temperature was 65 degrees.
The odometer was at 29,535. 
Our altitude was 3,050 feet.

Did I mention this great campground in Oakley?  It is called High Plains Camping and it was pretty nice, very good for campers like us who have limited space in our campers.  We definitely give it a 10.  It had a pool, playground, and mini golf.  It also had a big barn, open 24 hours, that served as a recreation room where we could sit and play board games, cards, or puzzles.  The bath house and laundry room were extremely well kept.  The laundry room was a good place to rest and play cards or watch TV.  They even had a public PC for use by the campers, and I had not had internet access since we left home; so I did get online here to catch up a little bit before the swivel chair I was sitting in accidentally tripped the wall mounted GFCI that was providing power to the computer and shut it down.  Since the tower was locked in a cabinet, and since the campground owner was out of town, I was unable to read or respond to any bloggy comments.  :(  .  I had to call the campground office and leave a message to tell them about my mistake.

After was had breakfast in that neat barn, and drove off down I-70, I have to say that I enjoyed the scenery of this part of the trip, too.  I loved seeing the flat high plains in this area of Kansas.  I had heard folks jokingly say that you could stand at one end of Kansas and see clear across to the other end, and I know what they mean but found it not to be the case.  As we drove east, we started to see more and more trees (gradually) and by the time we got close to Topeka, the land was already beginning to resemble the eastern United States and I sadly realized that there would be no more new and refreshing scenery on this trip.

We skipped lunch and had a hearty Italian dinner in Topeka before heading to our RV Park at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, Missouri.

We liked spotting these water pumping windmills.

A closer shot taken on the fly.

A wind farm.  I expected to see more of these but there were only one or two we saw in Kansas.

The 24 hour truck repair place was an item of interest at our next "camp" spot.

Sweet Girl is selling pumpkins, hay, and corn stalks.  Any takers?

Wow!  Air hockey! Great way to spend the allowance.

In regular everyday life, we don't believe in overstimulating the children with entertainment.  Likewise on vacation, we try our best not to do so.  So that finding an air hockey table can still be a big deal.

October  16, 2010  7:03 a.m.

Day 18 was September 21.

We woke up in Estes Park, Colorado.
Temperature was 40 degrees.

We got on the road around 7:40 a.m., which was good because we knew we would be losing an hour for driving back into the Central Time Zone.  We also encountered the morning rush hour in the Denver area.  Doesn't matter where the city is, it seems -- there is always morning rush hour.  Today's half hour traffic delay was thanks to rubbernecking around a broken trailer by the side of the road.  Gee -- I'd much rather prefer a thirty minute delay due to an elk herd sighting, as would have been the case in Yellowstone.  Did I tell you about the road construction delays in Yellowstone?

This was a day that I had a rare opportunity to meet a bloggy friend, one of my best bloggy friends.  This friend is the writer of Prairie Family Chronicles.  I looked back through the archives and discovered that we have been reading each other's blogs for nearly two years now!  We have a lot in common -- both Christian families, both homeschooling, both have at least one child who was adopted internationally, and both musical families with children who study violin (and now, piano, too).  So when I realized that our trip route would take us past their small Kansas town, we corresponded by email about getting together on this date.  It all depended, of course, on how well we could stay on schedule.

Well, on this afternoon, we arrived in their town just before 3 p.m. and I called my friend and found that, yes, they were still anticipating our arrival, and that we could get together for some afternoon fun at a local park.  It was a great visit, our children became fast friends, and they will hopefully stay in touch for years to come.  This family has five children who are as sweet and charming in real life as they appear on paper  in binary code   in the cyber world.  Their mom and I could have sat and chatted the evening away; we were kindred spirits.

Our neighbor is trying to sell their home, and in the past I have dropped hints that it would be great if they could be our neighbors (we do hope that a family like theirs eventually does move into the house next door) but now I see that this dream is an impossibility for they live in a town that is very nice.  There is a part of me that would long for a town like this one for various reasons.  It is small enough to be very uncrowded, yet large enough to have most of what you need and want.  Taking your children to activities and events in town means five minutes of driving at most (this would be a big one for me).  I know there might be drawbacks to a town like theirs, but on this day, it was looking pretty good to me!  So here's to your Kansas town, Lois, and I fully understand why you all would never want to move here (even if it means being our neighbor - hee hee hee).

This was a memorable afternoon, and I am so happy that we have connected in person with this lovely family.  We got to meet everybody, even the dad, and the time went by swiftly.  Glad to have a sister in Christ in Kansas!

Afterwards, we drove on to the next campground which turned out to be a winner, but I will write about it for day 19.

Saw plenty of these (oil) at various places in this trip.  Many more than we would have expected.

Rest and snack stop in east Colorado.  Penni, this is where we were when we called you for your birthday.

Our good friends in Kansas. (one is missing - had to leave for Cub Scouts)

Sunset on the high prairie.

Taken from the campground at dusk.

Our campsite on the high prairie (so named, I suppose, because its altitude is over 3000 feet).

October 12, 2010  10:58 p.m.

Day 17 was Sept. 20.

We woke up in Estes Park, Colorado.
Temperature was a relatively warm 64 degrees.
Altitude was 7,500 ft.

We heard that a wildfire had closed off the west entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park since the weekend.  Fortunately for us, we would only need the eastern entrances, and the weather was beautiful again in the morning.

 On the way through town toward the entrance to the National Park, we had to go slowly because several elk decided to cross the street in front of us.  Chips got up out of his seat to come up to the dashboard and take pictures with his camera.  We started to drive again, about 5-10 mph, when one last elk suddenly dashed across the road in front of us.  We hadn't expected this one, and had to slam on the brakes.  Well, Chips got a physics lesson then, as he got thrown into the dashboard.  No injury, but a partially crushed Stetson (his daddy's) and the realization of how important seat belts really are.

We took time during the morning to drive up the magnificent Trail Ridge Road -- the highest altitude paved road in the United States, topping out at over 12,100 ft. altitude.  We followed the road up past the highest summit, noticing the dramatic change in plant life, and arrived at the Alpine Visitor's Center around 9:00 a.m.  We were just saying how proud we were of ourselves for getting up there so early in the day, when we discovered that the visitors' center would not be open until 10:30.  We decided not to wait around for this, and to begin driving back down to another part of the park.  It was very windy up there, anyway.  You could hardly stand around.  Using the chemical toilets up in that windy place was a unique experience, but I will leave that .... at that.

Suffice it to say that we were well up above treeline, and that we got another chance to wear our winter coats here.

We did get a chance to take a nature walk trail near the summit anyway, and see the alpine tundra landscape.  This landscape is more typical of places like Yukon and Northwest Territories than of the United States.  We did take some good pictures in this area, too.  We never did feel any ill effects from the altitude; I suspect we weren't at the highest altitudes long enough to feel any different.  Also, this is a good place to drive a diesel vehicle - no vapor lock can occur in the engine.  It was a good thing our van is diesel, for we certainly have racked up the miles.

When we later arrived at lower elevations, we got to check out two other visitors' centers, see an interactive geology exhibit, and the children got another chance to work on Junior Ranger activities.  We found a lovely (windy) picnic spot for lunch, and later took another short hike at Moraine Park.  That's where I learned that Ponderosa Pine Tree bark smells like butterscotch!  At the Fall River Visitor Center, Chips and Sweet Girl each met separately with a park ranger and demonstrated that they completed the requirements for the Junior Ranger badge.  The ranger actually made an announcement to the other visitors there about our childrens' newest accomplishment.  What fun!  So now they have collected four Junior Ranger badges. The Junior Ranger program has been great in the weeks following Labor Day because there are few children in the National Parks now, and working on the badges has provided some nice one-on-one interaction with some very dedicated park rangers.  It is encouraging to see so many people who enjoy and care about children, and their job, too.

Again, we shopped and dined with view of Lake Estes.  This would be our last day of seeing the mountain sights before beginning our long drive back home.

Caution!  Courting elk crossing.   One thing on his mind, and it isn't the traffic.

Trail Ridge Road - alpine tundra.  Over 12,000 ft. altitude.

Sights along Trail Ridge Road.

Along Trail Ridge Road.

Near the summit on Trail Ridge Road.

You guessed it - Trail Ridge Road.

Do we have to hike here?  It is so windy!

Beautiful place to sit and rest.

I love this happy family picture.

Above..... and below the treeline.

Heading down to lower altitudes.  Aspen leaves changing color here.

At our picnic spot.

On Moraine Park nature trail.

Sweet Girl consults with a nice ranger to earn her Junior Ranger badge.

Got this shot of a magpie outside the Fall River Visitor Center.

October 12, 2010 10:22 p.m.

Day 16 was Sept. 19

We woke up in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
The temperature was 41 degrees.
The odometer, 29,054.

The drive into Colorado this day would be relatively short.  Within minutes after leaving the campground, we entered Colorado, and it was quickly evident that many more people live in this state than in Wyoming.  Within an hour, we got off the interstate to follow US-34 toward the mountain city of Estes Park.  The highway took us inside a very beautiful and impressive canyon, alongside the Big Thompson River.  This was a treat in itself.  It is great fun to receive unexpected visual treats, as this certainly was.

Estes Park was a beautiful town with 360 degree mountain views and gorgeous weather.  The Estes Park KOA was in a terrific location, within walking distance of Lake Estes and the downtown area.  Despite the fact that the campsites were the smallest we have ever been in, the location was wonderful.  Since we could walk everywhere, we decided to spend the afternoon just exploring Estes Park, itself.  We walked on the path around Lake Estes, enjoying the views, playing in the water, eating ice cream, and spotting elk on the golf course!  That's right.  Early fall is elk courting season, and the bulls gather a harem around them during this time.  There was one such bull elk and his entire harem spending the afternoon on the city golf course.  There were also many young elk.  We stopped and watched them from a point on the path just across the stream from the golf course.  Several people joined in and watched the elk, too.  At one point, however, a young elk wandered toward the stream in front of us, and the bull elk found the proximity to human beings to be disconcerting.  So, he came close to us, mid-stream, and bugled a warning.  We took off just then; we weren't going to take any chances.

On the approach to the Rocky Mountain area.

Surprising Big Thompson River canyon.

Such a lovely climb into the mountains this way.

Self-Reliant Man by Lake Estes.

Cantilever fishing deck over Lake Estes.

Checking out those elk.  On the golf course!

The Man-in-Charge.

Courting season - a time of R and R.

Some of the ladies.

Several of the herd watching the golfers.

Chips at Lake Estes.

Dinner overlooking the lake.

October 12, 2010   9:55 p.m.

Day 15 was Sept. 18

Woke up in Dubois, Wyoming.
Temperature 38 degrees.

Drove on to Cheyenne, Wyoming this day.  It is remarkable how vacant the state of Wyoming is.  We saw all variations of scenery, including red cliffs that looked like they belonged in the Southwest.  Then there were rolling, sagebrush covered hills that were essentially treeless -- land that appeared to be used for nothing.  Every time, on this trip, that we have seen land like this, the map indicated that it was a Native American Reservation.  My initial reaction to this was that truly, the United States had reserved some of the worst land for these people.  Sad.

I did a fair amount of driving, myself, diagonally across Wyoming, and the lack of traffic was amazing, and enjoyable.  There were several miles in which we did not see a vehicle in front of us, or behind us, either going our direction, or the opposite one.  In addition, in many places, there were no visible roads besides the one we were on.  It often felt so solitary, like we were the only people in the world.  Quite a different feeling for us.

Eventually, we arrived in a town called Rawlins, where we found a P*zza Hut and had lunch.  Across the street was a diner that reminded me of my good buddy, Penni.  It was called Penny's Diner, and although they got the name spelled differently, I still thought it was worth taking a picture of this cute diner.

We eventually reached I-80 and drove on through Laramie on the way to Cheyenne.  It was a little ways west of Cheyenne that we caught sight of a wind farm or two.  Now, on occasion, we would see along the way a tractor trailer hauling a single blade for a future wind turbine.  The size and weight of these blades is far greater than I would have guessed, their length being about 50 meters.  Each wind turbine, I have read, generally produces less than 1.5 megawatts (i.e. its maximum output being 1.5 MW), which is but a small fraction of most gas or steam turbines.  I can't help wondering what the payback period must be for one of these things; longer than anybody wants you to know.

We eventually arrived in Cheyenne, and it is like the Orlando of Wyoming, even though its population is a tiny 55,000 people.  Yet, it seems to have everything.  The KOA Kampground here was pretty good, and the drive into Colorado tomorrow will be relatively short.

No question about it.  We are out West!

This scenery was a stunning surprise.

Miles and miles of open space.  Miles and miles.

"Where seldom is heard a discouraging word". . . . . of course, because nobody is out here!

Cute Penny's Diner - Rawlings, Wyoming

A wind farm west of Cheyenne.

Just arrived at our campsite - Cheyenne KOA.

Balancing at the play park.

Is the sun always setting out here?