We've finally had time to work on our computer and have access to internet. We're stilling having a great time and sorry to see that we have less than one week before we're home. Las Vegas has been great but we'll be leaving in the morning to Bakersfield, CA. We hope you enjoy these pictures as much as we enjoyed the time.

Once again we were able to enjoy Amish country in Hesston, Kansas. Dick's Uncle Clayton, Aunt Inez and cousin Dwight were so great to show us the Kansas sites including Hesston, Hesston College, Yoder and Haven.

Guess we thought we could make it back without snow but Santa Fe, New Mexico fooled us. Down the road they even had to use the snow plows. By the time we were ready to leave, it was 55 degrees and sunny.

We were able to take in two of the four major museums in Santa Fe. We couldn't take pictures inside, but this is who greeted us at the entrance.

On our way to see Jennifer and her family, we stopped outside of Flagstaff to see the Meteor Crater. What a site to see. It is the size of twenty football fields and stadiums at the bottom.

We stopped at Hoover Dam to take some pictures and enjoy the warm weather. They are working on the entire area (since 2002) so the road will not be on the dam. It was to be completed by now but looks like several more years of work. It will be quite a site to see at that time because the bridges are so high. Janet was quite impressed that men were working on the new bridges hanging too high up for her liking.

As you can see we've been too busy to post on our blog. Internet access has also been a problem.

We're spending the night in Tulsa, Oklahoma on our way to Dick's aunt and uncle in Hesston, Kansas tomorrow. We're gone over 8,100 miles as of today. Gas is $1.85 across the street and diesel under $3.00 (makes truckers happy).

Here's a recap of what we've been up to:

After leaving the Blue Ridge Parkway, we arrived in Athens, Georgia to visit our friends Andy and Gayle Horne. After reviewing our AAA travel book we found that the Horne's made sure that we saw it all. Andy was even able to take time off to show us the town and the University of Georgia campus. We had a great visit and it was good for Janet to see where they lived since they've spent so much time at our house while they looked for a house in Coronado Shores (they now have a house three blocks from ours).

The next stop was in Palm Bay, Florida to visit Joni, David, Kaylynn and K.C. What a great visit we had there. The adults were able to spend a day together walking at Turkey Creek and seeing some of the sights while the kids were in school. Wednesday and Saturday we were able to watch the grandkids play baseball even though it rained on Saturday. Friday the kids didn't go to school so we went to Orlando to Wonderworks (a science attraction) and to the largest McDonalds for dinner. Larger means the play area is bigger, there's games to play if you buy tokens, a small gift shop and food other than the usual McDonalds (sandwiches, pasta, salads). On Sunday we had a Thanksgiving dinner after church. The minister (previously from Lincoln Citybefore he became a minister) was invited to join us for dinner. That morning, David and Joni joined the Palm Bay UCC church and the kids were baptized. It was so great to be there for these special events.

Monday night we spent in Pensacola Beach, Florida on the Gulf of Mexico where the sand was white and full of shells. We walked the beach, watched the sunset off the pier and ate dinner outside. Four hours later we returned to our hotel where Janet was wishing we were staying for a few more days.

Election day we spent with Sharon (Andy and Gayle Horne's daughter), her partner Heidi and daughter Eden (15 months) in Memphis, Tennessee. It was so exciting to watch the results with them and extra special to celebrate Obama's win. The next morning we all went on a tour of Memphis and had breakfast at the Arcade - the oldest restaurant in town. While Sharon went to work and Heidi took care of Eden, we went on the the Stax Museum (blue's music history) and Graceland (Elvis' house). After that we went downtown to the Peabody Hotel to see the ducks in the fountain, had a drink and then went on to have dinner at a bar-b-que restaurant (a must for Memphis). We were too early to hear music on Beale Street, which is like Bourbon Street in New Orleans. It didn't stop us from having a great walk in the area before turning to Sharon's.

We'll do pictures next time we have WiFi.

Today we had to watch out for deer. We thought they were going to come up to our car and visit!!!

Here we are in Colonial Williamsburg. There was too much to see so we'll just have to go again!!!

When you're in Amish country you need to make room for the horse and buggy. We were going to go on a ride, but decided to do a tour and see another presentation instead.

Here we are in Mystic, Connecticut. They were experiencing high tides while we were there.

Another week has gone by and we are still having a great time. Today we spent part of the day of the Blue Ridge Parkway that starts in Virigina. It rained most of the first 50 miles and then there were many miles of fog. Once the sun came out, it was beautiful. The leaves are incredible. We're spending the night in Roanke, Virginia before we head to Athens, Georgia to visit Andy and Gayle Horne for a few days. We'll start again in the morning on the Parkway and see how long we can stay on it before getting back on the interstate.

Janet has decided that we didn't spend enough time in Virginia Beach. There is so much to see and not enough time. We'll return again when we can spend at least a week. Colonial Williamsburg had a lot to see but we were too late for the main tour of the day. The Boardwalk in front of our condo at Virginia Beach was a wonderful place to walk on the Atlantic Ocean.

Amish country in Pennsylvania was nice. However, we were spoiled after being in Amish country in Indiana and also in Harrisonburg, Virginia. We also went to the Hershey Center in Hershey, PA to find out how Hershey candy is made. It sure was hard to decide on what to buy!!! So much chocolate and so many calories!!!

Wednesday night we spent with Dick's friends Jim and Jane Steele in Harrisonburg, VA. On the way to Jim and Jane's from Amish Country we went to the Gettysburg Visitor's Center and drove on Skyline Drive to see the Shenandoah Mountains. What an great place to see our history and see more beautiful fall leaves. After arriving at Jim and Jane's house, they took us to a wonderful local restaurant for dinner.

Last Sunday we were in Mystic, Connecticut visiting Dick's friend Alexis. She gave us a wonderful tour of the area and showed us several places where Mystic Pizza was filmed. After our tour we enjoyed a homemade lobster dinner. It was a great visit.

Hope you are all doing well. We'll report later.

This is the road to Mt. Washington. You are only allowed to go 20 MPH in low gear coming and going up the 8 mile road. There are no guard rails but room enough for two cars. It was a beautiful ride. Mt. Washington is famous for the worst weather in the world. They use the mountain top for weather reporting and weather conditions around the US.

We traveled as many back roads as we could. On our way to Portland, Maine we found this wonderful farm house for sale. Thought we'd put an offer on it soon! As you will notice the barn is connected to the house. This is very common is this part of the country since it is so cold in the winter.

This was taken at Mt. Battie looking down at Penobscot Bay. Later we had a drink outside at Camden Harbor.

This is how the trees grow at The Flume in New Hampshire. We walked up to the falls with rocks on both sides of us and a steep trail up. It was well worth the walk.

It's Sunday, October 19th and we're in Haverill, Mass. We spent yesterday exploring Boston - what a great experience. We walked the Freedom Trail plus many more blocks. We hurt from top to bottom today. After our long walk, we ate a late lunch at Cheers - a sight Janet had to experience. We'll be using our souvenir mugs for years to come. Since it wasn't too late, we headed down to Salem to see the "witches". What a mess!!! October is the most popular month and things had changed since Dick had been there last. After walking for several hours, we did one tour and then headed back to the hotel.

Since we're in lobster haven, Janet has eaten lobster almost every dinner/lunch once we arrived on the Atlantic Ocean side. The leaves here are just starting to turn. The Atlantic is not like our ocean.

One day on our travels we visited several lighthouse areas. It rained most of the day. The rain didn't stop us from seeing the sights or going to LL Bean to shop. Unfortunately, it was raining so hard and the shops are all over town, we only did LL Bean.

Prior to leaving the New Hampshire area, we went on several hikes and got a lot of pictures. We even traveled up Mt. Washington where Janet thinks Dick tried to end their trip. It was beautiful but a road that was not great for those that have a fear of heights (that would be Janet). When you get back to the bottom you even get a certificate that says you completed the tour.

Our trip has been a wonderful experience so far. Tonight we're having dinner with a friend of Dick's so we'll be in Mystic, Connecticut.

It's Sunday, October 12th and we're in North Conway, New Hampshire. We spent the day touring the city since the traffic in and out of town was bumper to bumper. For those of you not on the East Coast, Monday (Columbus Day) is a big holiday. Tomorrow we'll get out and explore the area and all its beautiful colors. We'll be here until Wednesday, so we have plenty of time to see the beautiful trees and countryside.

Thursday and Friday night we were in Niagara Falls on the Canadian side. What an experience!! You'll see by the pictures that it is a sight to see. On Friday night we got to enjoy the last weekend of fireworks over the falls. We were so close to the fireworks that we thought they we're right next to us.

Prior to Niagara Falls, we spent two nights with Dick's Uncle Don and Aunt Leta in Goshen, Indiana. We had such a great time. The first night, their daughter Donna and son-in-law Steve joined us for dinner. The next day (in the rain) we were off to see the countryside. It is quite the Amish country so as many of you know, there were plenty of quilts to see. They even go down the road behind Uncle Don's house in their horse and buggy. We drove through the campus where Dick went to school in the 50's. We were also able to take a tour of the new music/concert hall. What a change since Dick was there to go to school.

Last Sunday we stayed in Lincoln, Nebraska and had dinner with Gayle and Andy Horne's son and his family. They've owned a Great Harvest bakery since February, which keeps them very busy. We had a wonderful tour of the bakery, but they are closed Sunday and Monday so we were not able to sample their great breads - maybe next time.

All is going well. We've seen a lot of countryside, paid a lot of tolls and seen fields and fields of corn. No wonder in Nebraska the cheaper gas had corn in it. By the way, gas has been from $3.05 to $3.79. That's really helped us save some money to pay tolls!!!

Please note correction: Previous entry indicated Granddaughter as Sade - should be Sadie.

Enjoy the pictures!!!

Below are pictures Dick has taken with his new camera. The last picture is what Crazy Horse will look like when it is completed (maybe in someone's lifetime). The bison are from Yellowstone. I guess we were on "their" road.

Our Road Trip

We have been on the road since Monday the 29th of September and are having a great time.



Our first stop was in Spokane for the night where we visited with Dick's son Jack and his family. We took the grandkids (David and Michaela) to Wonderland for pizza. games and go cart riding. Annie and Michaela drove one go cart and Jack and David drove another. They had a great time. After dinner we went to their new house in Spokane to play Apples to Apples until it was time for the kids to go to bed so they could get up for school.



Tuesday prior to leaving for Missoula for two nights to visit friends of Dick's, we had breakfast with Ethel, Dick's 90 + year old cousin. We spent two nights at Ken and Carol Brett's house. The first night dinner was at Charlie and Shirley Tiernan's house where Ian and JoAnn Lange joined us as well. The next day we went with the Brett's to the college campus for Dick to check out where he worked for many years. After lunch at the Iron Horse, we went down to the river front to see the carousel, the new development on the river and the Monte Dolack art gallery since we own several of his posters.



Early Thursday we had breakfast in Missoula with Dick's daughter Jana, her husband Steven and granddaughter Sade at The Shack. It was so great of them to come our way since we weren't going by way of Big Fork this trip. After breakfast we set off for West Yellowstone Park where we spent the night. After arriving at our destination, we walked the town and had dinner. The drive through the park was great the next morning. The bison and elk didn't seem to mind that we were on their road and the fire damage from several years ago was very apparent.



Friday we arrived in Rapid City, SD after ten hours on the road. What beautiful country we saw. Today we went to Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse to see the stone sculptures. They aren't the same unless you've seen them in person. What great ideas the artists had. Maybe we'll get back some day to see Crazy Horse completed!!! After listening to the audio as we walked through the park, maybe politicians should have listened to previous presidents.



We're off to bed early after washing clothes since we have a long drive to Lincoln, Nebraska tomorrow.