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!

"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!

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!

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!!!

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!!!