DRIVING FOR 27 HOURS IS THE PITS!

Last night we drove through the night...we were in the car a total of 27 hours....WOW, it really was no fun! But, you will be glad to know we made it to Dallas! We are staying here tonight, then HOME SWEET HOME TOMORROW! Boy am I READY! I miss my BED....and all the people I love! It has been quite the experience....and the trip home has truly been the HARDEST! And, BOY OH BOY IS IT HOT DOWN HERE! I will miss that cool and dry weather we just left! Back to running in the 100 degree weather I guess!....Anyways...we are almost home! Can't wait to see yall!

The Hathorns and the Trests have made it out WEST!

Well friends, we have made it to Washington!! We have been on the road for going on 15 days and we have finally made it way up here! We will start heading home tomorrow! (YUCKO!) To catch you guys up to speed, we left Utah and headed towards Idaho! We camped in Idaho one night in a place called Glenn's Ferry...it was a BEAUTIFUL camp site on the snake river! From there, we made our way up into Oregon. Oregon was nice and COLD...but the scenery definitely made up for the cool air! IT WAS GORGEOUS! We stopped the first night in a place called The Dalles. It was right on the Columbia river and right on the INTERSTATE! VERY LOUD! On our way in we stopped in a town called Pendelton and went to a Farmer's Market! IT WAS SO NEAT! We made our way the next day up to an awesome waterfall....the 2nd tallest in U.S. I believe....It was Multnomah Falls right outside of Portland! It was a very steep hike but absolutely worth it! From there we drove on through Portland and on into A place called Mazanita, OR. Our campsite was about a 1/4 of a mile from the beach and the AMAZING Pacific Ocean! IT WAS SUCH A SIGHT! We left there and the next day we headed out towards Forks, WA...yes all of you Twilight fans will recognize that name! Dawn and I were so excited about this stop...boy was it a let down. It was a bit on the trashy side! The campsite was in the Olympic National Forest and it truly was the most LUSCIOUS scenery thus far! Moss carpeted everything, and gigantic ferns were everywhere we looked! This site was also right on a river that was so pretty and would have been a great swimming opportunity if it weren't so cool up here! Today we drove on into the coolest town by far...Port Townsend, WA...WOW what a NEAT PLACE! It is a port city that was PERFECT! We had THE best clam chowder EVER, and we had some really amazing seafood! We then took a ferry across the Puget Sound and drove down into Bellingham, WA and that's where we sit as I type! IN A HOTEL ROOM!!!!!!!! We are so tired, so exhausted, so ...... you name it.....We will begin our LONG journey home tomrrow! Hopefully we will be home in about 5 days or so! What a journey!!!!!! WE HAVE MADE IT WEST!!!!!!

Click on the picture to make it bigger

"Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels....."

What a journey thus far! We have seen more in 8 days than some have in a lifetime! Really, it has been so many adjectives wrapped into one big feeling! Scary, tiresome, exhausting, Exciting, CRAZY (that would be Scott and Micheal climbing Angel's Landing), FUN, enjoyable, AMAZING...and the list could go on! We left Zion today (by far my favorite place!). We headed out towards Salt Lake. As we drove I turned my Ipod on to Jackson Browne's "Running on Empty"....this is definitely my theme song as of right now! "Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels. Looking back at the years gone by like so many summer fields......I don't know where I'm running now, I'm just running on. Running on, running on empty! Running on, running blind! Running on, running into the sun, but I'm running behind!"....very fitting for me at the moment! I am SOOOOOO tired! Eight days with sub-normal rest for me is no good! But, HOTEL room tonight...A BATH TUB!!!!! Tomorrow we should be refueled and ready to go! Our next stop is OREGON! Can't wait to see the Pacific Northwest....What an opportunity....I keep losing sight and reminding myself that this is such an opportunity of a lifetime! Praise God for this amazing journey! I have to stop at every turn and thank our AWESOME God for his creations! Please keep praying for us! We love you all!

Zion National Park!

Well, we made it to Zion today (Utah). It was a lot different than we expected here. Still much like Arizona but MUCH WARMER!!! We were thrilled to be able to wear shorts without freezing! We arrived here around 2:30ish and set up camp quickly (we're getting to be pros at this!) The most awesome thing is there is a river running right through our camp...so after setting everything up, we got on our suits and headed down there. It is BEAUTIFUL!!! Everyone cooled off and the girls absolutely LOVED it!!! I cleaned my feet with a rock because they were SO dirty!! It was a natural pedicure! haha...
Michael and Scott are planning a hike to Angels Landing(5 miles with a three foot wide path that drops 1200 feet on bot sides) in the morning, so please pray for them! (pretty steep hike!) then we will all go for some shorter hkes tomorrow afternoon! Like Steph said...we are looking forward to spending a night in a hotel on Wednesday night! It will be great to get in a bath tub!!! We will post pictures soon!
We are missing everyone terribly! Thanks for the prayers and posting comments--it keeps us going!!! Love you all!

We spent our last night at the Grand Canyon! We will be heading out today towards Utah! We are going to Zion National Park...We are excited for sure! Yesterday was a bit rocky for Nat and me.....EXHAUSTED is one word to describe our problem! She had a meltdown, then I did too! We all slept wonderfully last night, so I am hoping things will be better today! We are staying 2 nights at Zion, and then we have decided to get a hotel room for a night!! (we need a bit of a break from the tent!) Anne is handling things sooooooo well! She just trucks right along. We hiked the rim of the Canyon yesterday and it was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! I am about to put my running shoes on and run the trail this morning...I have to have bragging rights! Hopefully we will have internet where we are going next! If not, we will catch up as soon as we can! WE LOVE YOU ALL.....please continue to pray for us ALL!!!

A few pics of the GRAND CANYON.....

So...we just spent our first night at the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Can I say COLD night??? The high today is 64 degrees and we're looking at another cold night here tonight. We are all taking it easy today...michael's catching up on homework, Scott is taking a hike, Steph, the girls, and I are doing laundry and trying to keep these girls from tearing down the gift shop right now! ha! We are SO GLAD not to have to pack up and leave today!
I walked down to the rim this morning around 6 am to watch the sun rise...AMAZING! It really is a beautiful place, and this time around I'm actually enjoying the desert so much more! We leave tomorrow heading north to Zion National Park in Utah, then Pacific Northwest HERE WE COME!!!! Thanks for all your prayers! They are still much needed! We love ya'll!!!!!

We made it to the Grand Canyon!!!!!!

Ok folks, we pulled in today to the Grand Canyon and it is AMAZING! We are camping at the North Rim and we are literally a couple hundred yards away from the ridge itself! SCARY AND AMAZING ALL AT THE SAME TIME! We are tired...but this campsite is SOOOO neat! As I walked to the edge today I was in COMPLETE AWE! I felt like I was looking at a picture! We enjoyed a warm meal prepared by Chef Scott tonight...It was Jambalya (not sure on the spelling, but it was GREAT!)...By the way it is SOOOOOOOOOOOOO cold here! I really packed for Hot weather and it is soooo cold! The low tonight is about 38 degrees! WOW! We are gonna freeze! This whole experience is very adeventurous, stressful, amazing, fun, exciting, SCARY, exhausting, AMAZING, and CRAZY! And, the 2 year olds are handling it best of all! We praise God for safe travels! We thank God for HIS amazing WONDERS!!!! We praise God for allowing us the safe travel thus far! We also hope and pray that along the way we can be a RAY of sunshine, a bit of hope, a glimpse of HIS love everyday, to each other and all others!!!!! Pray for us! We love you all!

"I was standing on the corner of Winslow, Arizona...."

The Caverns were awesome yesterday. It really did feel like we were on another planet, Mars maybe. Or, it felt like we were at Disney World waiting to get on an awesome ride at Epcot! (for those who have been to Disney you can understand what I mean! Very surreal! We HIKED, and I MEAN HIKED down deep into the depths of the Earth only to be amazed at every turn! IT WAS AWESOMEEEEEE!!!! It definitely is a must see for those who have never seen it!

We made it to Winslow, Arizona!! BOY HAVE WE BEEN DOING SOME SERIOUS DRIVING! I think this is exactly what a truck driver must feel like on a daily basis!!! We are about 4 hours away from the Grand Canyon!! WOOHOOOO...Dawn and I will be really glad when we don't have to pack up and head out on a daily basis! It has been a long trek thus far...but who better to spend it with than AMAZING friends!! I will try to sum this up in very few words so here goes:

Carlsbad=Hell on Earth

Riding in a car=eehhh...sux but we have made it FUN!

2 sweet little priss pots=VERY GOOD TRAVELERS!!

Camping=MUCH FUN!

Seeing the stars underneath this amazing sky tonight=PRICELESS!!!

Sleeping in a tent with a 2 year old=uhhhh......yucko!

SEEING THESE AWESOME SIGHTS=A chance in a lifetime! Thank you GOD for your creations!

The Brown Mug Cafe, Winslow,AZ=The most disgusting food on planet Earth! (I MEAN REALLY POOR CHOICE ON OUR PART TONIGHT!)

The Desert=This must really be what HELL is like...but a bit nippier than Hell!!

Community showers=NOT SO BAD! Seriously, if ya get hard up for a bath you will wash in a sink like we did this morning!

Blogging on a very BRIGHT computer while being attacked by bugs (there is one up my pants as we speak)=EXTREME LOVE FOR ALL OF YOU GUYS!!

So here are a few pics from Carlsbad! More pics to come later!

OK....so this is seriously my first time to sleep in a TENT!

Well you guys, we made it to our first destination!!! Carlsbad, New Mexico! We had WONDERFUL Mexican food this afternoon, and checked in to our NOT-SO-POSH camping site...and I was even excited to see it after 2 days of driving about 8 or so hours per day! The camp/RV park looks like something out of a scary movie, but comforting in a way...if that makes any sense??? It does have WIFI and an indoor pool strangely enough! After checking in to our camp site, we headed out to Carlsbad Caverns to watch the flight of the bats. This is when all of the bats staying in the cavern come out at dusk to find a tasty meal. WOW, what a site it was! They literally swarmed out by the hundred thousands! Natty had a meltdown due to lack of sleep, and Anne was such the trooper! After watching the bat flight, we headed "home" to the tent for the night! We played on the tire swings (ABSOLUTELY A BLAST FOR THE BIG KIDS!). Then showers and off to the tent, which is where we sit at this moment. After jokingly referring to assumed lack of internet access, I just so happened to hit a WIFI network! WOOOHOOO! By the way, THIS IS MY FIRST OVERNIGHT STAY IN A TENT!!!! And, I am completely loving this adventure thus far! My patience is abundant, and my excitement is running high! We did get some great pics today, and I will try to upload them tomorrow hopefully! Tomorrow we are off to the caverns, down deep in the earth! We are thrilled! Anne and Natty have been AMAZING through the travels, so pray that they continue to cope with all the traveling and business of the days!!! WE MISS YOU ALL!!!

Day 1.. I'll hopefully be able to update this every few days... depending on the internet and time...

michael

On the Road....Our Travels Have Begun!

Well everyone, we are off! We pulled out of Laurel at about 7:30a.m. and we have been chugging along steadily!!! Lunch was nice! We stopped at a rest area for a picnic. The toilets left a lot to be desired for sure...guess we will definitely need to get used to yucky potties!! Nothing extremely eventful thus far, aside from our off road potty experience with the little ones...they peed and pooped on the side of the road! We should be pulling into Dallas around 5p.m. this afternoon. We will be staying with my brother Jim and his wife Erin!! (Last night of T.V./beds for a while!!!) More posts and pics to come! PRAY FOR US!!!

The Hathorn's and Trest's are Travelin' West!

So...this is where you can keep up with us over the next few weeks to see our trip progress. We leave early in the morning and are spending the day packing and getting the last minute stuff done. Please pray for us as we begin our journey. We are so excited!!!