The Long Awaited Summer Trip finally begins!

                                                         The Grand Canyon


                          Can you see the people on the upper left of the picture, and how small they look?



We finally did it!  After more than a few false starts, ( in the original plan we were going to leave the first week in June), my husband's work was complete, and everything else came together last Friday. This will be our home away from home until August.

Sorry about how blurry this is.  This is the comforter I bought at Costco to replace the cheap-looking shiny gold one that came in the RV.  Sorry no before pics.  I always forget to take a picture of things before I change them, but I love to see everyone else's before and after shots, so I'm trying to remember to get out the camera.

Our kitchen , which gets a lot of use.

View from the front with all of the slide-outs pulled in so we can drive.  The dinette is still folded down for a bed, so they can enjoy resting during the long drive ahead.



I'll probably post pictures once or twice a week for family and friends who want to know where we are and what we're doing during the next 6 weeks.  So far, we've made a quick visit to the Grand Canyon for just one day, the Cadillac Monument near Amarillo, and the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ monument on Hwy. 40, www.crossministries.net.

I could have spent a lot more time at the Grand Canyon, but that will be another trip.  We knew this would be short, so we savored every moment.

 These are our family members that are able to make this trip with us. For those of you who don't already know, I did not sneak in a pregnancy this year.  The baby is a sweet little boy who may become a permanent family member, and already fits right in with our family.  We love taking care of him.




 

Words can't express the amazing beauty of the Grand Canyon.

I wanted to sit here for hours.  In my heart I was singing the song, " I love Your Presence", but the kids already let me know, "absolutely no breaking out in song, Mom!"

Trying to keep the little darling in the shade.

We just celebrated our 30th anniversary, and we're still best friends.  It wasn't always a walk in the park, but God is good, and I love every day with my sweet husband.

 My little boy is growing up.   Did I say I could have looked at the Canyon all day?

The kids having a little fun.







on to Cadillac Ranch, located off of hwy 40, just West of Amarillo.

Does this look like fun?

Where are  the paint cans? 

We even talked Dad into getting his hands on a paint can!  Wish you were here, Jeffrey?  We did think of you.

This enormous cross is around 25 miles East of Amarillo, Texas.  Apparently we took a lot of video, but only this one picture.  We'll take some pics from the video at a later date, and add them to this post.  The stations of the Cross were depicted with lifelike statues, as well as The Last Supper.  It was very touching.  There was a gift shop, and a waterfall area, as well.

That's it for Week 1, part 1.  Hope you're all having a blessed week!

I'm linking up with Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays.
http://www.savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/

Washington, D.C. area

We love visiting the D.C. area.  There is a wonderful RV Park called Cherry Hill Park, in College Park, Maryland.  http://www.cherryhillpark.com/index.cfm  It's close to D.C., and easy to take a bus to the metro system.  The metro made it so easy to get around.  We were able to see everything we wanted to see, even with all of our children.  

A few of the sights we have enjoyed-

The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

 Airmen statues.
our daughter has always liked statues.  She used to talk to them , and she would always want to spend a few minutes with each one she would see.  

The World War II Memorial.

 We were able to look up my Dad's older brother,  who had served under Patton in WWII.  He had served his 4 years, and could have come home, but he wanted to stay with his men.  They were so sure that the war was almost over.  He stayed, and was killed in France.  My cousin visited his grave when she lived in France.  What great sacrifice so many men and their families have given for our Country. 

 The Washington Monument

National Archives

 It was unbelievable.  We loved being able to show our children the important documents of the U.S.A.



There is an interesting gift shop here.  I bought

and have since bought and read Ladies of Liberty, the Women Who Shaped Our Nation, also by Cokie Roberts.  I found them both to be quite interesting, full of many personal anecdotes she uncovered.  I enjoyed reading from letters written by Mothers, sisters, and wives of our founding Fathers.

Our kids had fun watching money as it was printed.

 The National Gallery of Art, and a Monet, of course. 

 Old Glory, Georgetown's All-American Bar-b-que, on M st.


We took the metro, then had a nice little walk to this great bar-b-que restaurant in Georgetown.

What a beautiful evening in Historic Georgetown.

 

One of the many pictures our son took of himself in front of the monuments in D.C.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum,
Words cannot convey the depth of darkness we felt while viewing this Memorial, and yet, we also felt hope.  Hope when we saw how many people , in other Countries, tried to help save as many people as they could. The main exhibit is recommended for ages 11 and up.   Remember the Children: Daniel's Story, helped bring this horrible tragedy to a level our children could understand. This exhibit does not need tickets.
Get there early to get tickets for the main museum.  The first time we tried to get tickets, in 2000, they were unavailable.

 The White House, on our Summer 2000 Trip.
 Oh, I almost forgot.  We asked a local woman, who worked at the Archives gift Shop, where the locals eat lunch, and she told us about the food court in the Ronald Reagan Building.  Good food for a family.

We may be headed there again this Summer, we haven't decided yet.  If you have a favorite place to visit in DC please share.  Thank you for visiting.