proof positive of the miracle of 08

yes, I don't like outside. yes, I think nature is waaay too loud. but, the weather is gorgeous, and I love my fam.
so, this weekend- lake murray- tents- smelly camp fires- a luggable loo (that is not something I ever thought I would see up close & personal) - 3 adorable girls & 2 best teenagers (teenagers who as seen in photo I'm not having to share a tent with. hurray!)- a husband who loves to be & cook outside- my stister :)- a kick butt air mattress- an extension cord- decent cell signal and pretzels.
fingers crossed i'll avoid all snakes & ticks.

who knew?

part of the lake could be considered the beach? it's no seaside.....but fun to play at nevertheless.

well hello!

well okay. so i was very bad and didn't post that much. sorry. but the trip was amazing. i don't even know what else to say! i loved it and i had an amazing time with my family, i feel like we got closer and i don't mean closer by we were stuck in a hotel and a car together for a week and a half. we had fun and i look forward to more trips together. heres a few pics! :]











okay so first we have the empire state building, next is just some graffiti, and last, is well, you know. there ya go!

the trip home

We finally made it home. That was truly the best trip of my life. I had more fun and enjoyed being around the kids and Michelle more than at any other time in my life.

We survived the trip home. We left Tuesday morning after a really long day on Monday. Monday night was the Naval Observatory which Michelle had setup over two months ago. That tour lasted until nearly 2230. We then proceeded to Korean War Memorial and Lincoln Memorial and finally got to the hotel at about midnight.

Needless to say, we didn't get up at the crack of dawn to leave. We started the day off with me leaving my coffee on top of the van and it spilling all over the top of it. So a carwash was in order and that should have been an indication of the fact that there was no way we were going to make it to Nashville, TN.

Michelle had planned a nice little side trip to Green Bank, W Va. Located there is the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. We got to see a radio telescope that was "the largest movable object on earth". The dish covers 2 1/2 acres, weighs over 17 million pounds, and "hears" a signal 10 billion times more faint than your car radio's reception. Wow! It was amazing. It was so much more than what I was expecting. I thought it would be two guys in a wooden shack with a big scope. Well, that was the opposite of what it was. They had a nice new visitor center and the new scope was only 8 years old. I think even Michelle and the kids enjoyed that side trip. JC didn't really like the mountains (the drive) but he survived with out blowing his groceries. The NRAO is surrounded by mountains (by design) so not only did we drive over them to get in, we had to drive over them to get out. We drove over several 3600 ft passes and the view was amazing.

Michelle will be starting a new blog called "the View from the Passenger side" due in large part to the fact that she was quite camera happy on the way home. She took a some blurry pictures, but at least she got a lot of them! :)

We left the other side of Knoxville, TN at about 0800 CDT and pulled into the drive way at 2359 CDT. We stopped along the way in Memphis for some of Jim Neely's Interstate BBQ. It was different, but outstanding. We also stopped for some ice cream on the west side of Conway, AR and liked that town so much we drove back east for about 10 miles and then turned around to drive through Conway for the third time! It was ummmm, good. Yeah, it was good.

So it's really good to be home. I was never so happy to be in my own bed. I almost walked in and tried to check in and then looked for a number outside my bedroom. There is no rest for the weary though, Michelle starts work on Monday and I started a little bit today. Monday is schedule pass out. Tuesday is crew camp. Thursday is actual report day. I guess I'm ready though. I'll be ready to get to it by the 13th.

ok so

we didn't make it to nashville last night. we had to stop on the east side of knoxville instead. my little side trip was a little out of control :) we went to the nat'l radio astronomy observatory in green belt, wva. it was for jody- obviously- highlight of the vacay for him. the trip there was ALL for me though. it was completely through the alleghany and shenandoah mts. at one point we we had "climbed' 3800 ft. too bad I roll with a bunch of weak stomached goofs. we saw some really gorgeous farms, stunning vistas and practically untouched 2 to 6 building towns (we stood out among the strictly local traffic). plus it was windows down weather.
right now i'm watching early-ish morning in the smokies. sadly i'll be back to the plains of ok tonight.

today is the last day

or next to last day of our vacation- or at least according to my calculations. yes, we are heading home, but there's lots of cool stuff between here and there. we are going home a little differently. we'll be driving thru west va & kentucky to get to nashville late tonight then home tomorrow night following our regular travel path.

happy birthday to me with my favorite girl

sitting at the metro station waiting on the guys who we sent back to the hotel to get the car.

to this guy(?)

the national gallery of art is amazing! just name an artist and i'll bet we saw something by him or her. plus, we saw afghani treasures (bc era), the only da vinci in the western hemisphere and had great gelatto.

to pollock

from renoir

does anyone remember the code....

to get into the president's reading room and retrieve the book of secrets?

the mothership.....

addendum to previous mom/dad post

i just found out the fudruckers.....it was actually IN chinatown. whatever!

for those needing a laugh......

i just had to share the differences in a mom-led day and a dad one. it makes me laugh when i think about it.
dad day:
mom in conference by 8:30 a.m.
dad & kids leave for metro by 9:30
get to air and space by 10. take metro again for lunch at 1. decide on fudruckers because not sure about what else is possible.
mom has received multiple texts from all 3 by now-- son set off alarm in metro station because daughter having card problems, all yelled at for jaywalking at pentagon, china town or not for lunch, daughter tattling on dad for getting them lost with map and using google earth on phone, etc....
wander around mall without seeing a lot not sure what their destination is (really! no monuments or buildings were explored). decide not to go to natural history b/c too many people. (duh) end up at nat'l aquarium. see it's $5 and text mom for advice. mom checks reviews-- not so great-- all decide to come back to hotel. complaints of being tired and hot win.
but, did stop by spy museum gift shop on way to hotel. back by 3:30.
mom convinces them they didn't spend enough time at air and space. they drive back in and decide to watch 3d imax movie and go into gift shop.
mom gives up and asks them to pick up supper on way back- gives address to peruvian chicken place. they drive over the george washington bridge 3 times before coming to pick up mom to navigate to restaurant.
mom day:
change hotels -from arlington to alexandria- with brunch stop at chipotle.
on way to holocaust museum shortly after 12. leisurely explored even with too many people in there. (our timed tickets were for 1:30- we stayed until almost 4.)
give them each a water bottle and beef jerky.
then, went to arlington nat'l cemetery. hiked 100 miles uphill both ways to watch changing of the guard at tomb of the unknown soldier. cannot say enough about the sweating.
gave them each a water bottle, oatmeal cream pie and orders not to mention food, supper, hunger, restaurant, etc. we would feed them before bed.
went to archives to view the constitution, dec of independence and bill of rights. also, saw magna carta. bonus!
hints of hunger talk and exhaustion quickly shut down.
then, drove by WWII monument where no one wanted to explore. but, took time to walk and honor at the Vietnam memorial.
headed for indonesian restaurant which was sadly closed but ended at decent thai place.
conclusion:
well....that's for you all to decide :)

I have been so lazy...

I have been lacking in posts as of late. Sorry about that. It seems that there is so much to see here I just cannot fit it all into the short time we have, so when we get back to the hotel, all I want to do is go to sleep.

Since being here so far I have seen/or been to: Jefferson Memorial, Washington Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Arlington Nat'l Cemetery/Tomb of Unknown Soldier, Capitol Building, White House, National Archives, Pentagon, Nat'l Air and Space Museum, and the National Holocaust Museum.

I have experienced public transportation here and have been able to compare it to public transit in NYC. The major difference here is this: the pace is slower, the cars are cleaner and carpeted, and overall it seems a little nicer. I suppose that is due mostly to the fact that NYC carries a larger volume of people and NYC does it quickly. We waited longer on trains here than we did in NYC.

None of these places made an impact on me the way the Holocaust museum did. I stood in a rail car that was used to transport over a hundred people for days at a time. Bear in mind this car was smaller than any hotel room in which we have stayed. I saw a pile of shoes that belonged to real people who were killed just because they were Jewish. I heard about Martin Luther and the hate that he directed toward the Jews just because they didn't want to join his reformation. I suppose he felt the same way about Catholics, too. This is the guy who founded the Protestant movement? Why are people willing to throw out Jesus' teachings about love just because someone sees things a bit differently? Okay, this isn't a theology blog. Enough about that. Suffice to say the Holocaust Museum was an enlightening experience.

These are some pictures I have taken over the last few days from various places around our nation's capital. These are just a few. Go to facebook to see my albums.

another good foodie choice

keeping with our no fast food vow (experiment when possible!), we enjoyed fab peruvian chicken tonight. only 3 items on the menu at el pollo rico: chicken, fries and slaw. it's served with a great chopped jalapeno sauce and an amazing creamy mayo based sauce. add some inca colas and we ate like the rest of the crowd-- there was a bit of a language gap, but well worth it!

dc days

so, we've been in dc for 2 nights now. compared to other days on our trip, this time has been lazy. when we got in thursday night, we ordered in, did a lot of laundry and sent jc to the treadmill. that boy has too much energy at night. later, drove around in dc and saw the "big sites" after dark. beautiful! our route took us thru old towne alexandria (staying in alex.). such a pretty place. jc and jody have decided they could live here.
yesterday we slept in; needed to recover from nyc and phila. we moved to the doubletree in arlington for my conference. our truly exciting afternoon consisted of kids eating the restaurant alone and swimming in 14th floor pool, me attending thrilling sessions and jody finding sams to rotate/balance tires (crappy nj interstate w/potholes!) and *suprise* van washing. the highlight was jody & I found a great pakastani restaurant for supper. we loved it!
today is again filled with exciting sessions for me. but, the kids & jody are spending the day at air & space museum. i'm not sure how they will make it without me. i have gotten texts already. they got "in trouble" for jay walking at the pentagon. then, jess had problems scanning her metro card and jc set off the alarm trying to help her. i hope i don't have to bail them out of jail.

small side trip

we drove into this town because we wanted a picture of the kids at bsu. this was just a nice bonus. sadly, we couldn't locate the univ bookstore for bowie junk, but this was our 1st time to see a naz church in a little old white house.
btw- at this moment, we are crossing the bridge into dc.

how appropriate

that we would be in ben's city during an electrical storm. if only I had my kite, key and mouse friend......

where the single most important moment of american history occurred

july 2 not the 4th

park bench sittin

this pretty park is behind independence hall.

jc sweating historically

as long as we sit still, it's ok--just don't move....it's not even really hot though; it's the insane humidity.

right now in phila

about to take our tour of independence hall.

moving on

so once again we are loaded up and moving on. this time it's a short drive. since we only have this one afternoon evening in Philadelphia, no detours or side trips *sigh* so it really will only take us about 2 hours. hope we don't miss anything we should have seen on a byway :)
we are just going to hit the high points today, but at least it will be a taste. it's supposed to rain all day so i'm concerned about our time exploring ben f's life at least independence hall and liberty bell are inside.
jc has done well on his food tour of '08. he has had his ny hotdog (sadly not from gray papaya), pizza, and a deli experience, with the added bonus of a chinese meal in chinatown, street chinese sweetcakes, an italian ice, a street vendor pretzel, and a falafel (from which he abstained) also from the street. he has plans for philly and dc food too. this trip has taught us 2 things about him. he's destined to be a soldier because he travels on his stomach & it's a good thing (or sad from his perspective) people don't sell food on the street all over okc.

A busy day in NYC

While we are not the earliest of starters, we do seem to cram a lot of stuff into one day. We started the day off with some heavy duty line standing waiting for the ferry to get out to the Statue of Liberty. We delved into the subway first thing in the morning, just to get to this point. That was an adventure as there is every type of person ever made riding with you. We saw many nationalities, who were also on their way to Battery Park.

She is one beautiful lady. The last time I saw her was during fleet week here in '88, and she has had a facelift since then. She looks great and I hope these pictures do her justice.




















We decided not go get off the ferry at the Statue, but continued on to Ellis Island. This place was almost creepy to walk through. I couldn't help thinking just who might've walked through there. They talked some about the medical inspections that immigrants were required to go through and I kept thinking just who did we turn away from our beloved shores? Maybe someone who could have done great things had they been given the opportunities afforded only in America back then. I kept staring at the tiles thinking about the stories that walked those tiles. I am getting goosebumps thinking about it again. I cannot imagine what it must have been like to have to stand in those lines hoping that the officials would allow me to stay. I guess the line for the ferry was appropriate after all.

































Sitting in Battery Park after being completely drained by Liberty and Ellis Island, we contemplated calling it a day. After much urging, weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, we pushed on toward Chinatown via the subway. The $7.25 all-you-can ride pass is definitely the best way to get around the city. (As a sidenote, OKC, you need to get it together and figure out some public transportation. I would gladly give up one of my cars if you would get something in addition to the buses we already have.)

We got to Chinatown just in time to have lunch, at oh about 4 pm. Since we waited so long to have lunch, we ended up eating supper. The Hebrew National hotdog we had on the ferry passed for lunch. We decided that Chinatown has everything you could ever want and more. Rolexx watches (yes that actually is spelled with two x's, at least the ones sold in Chinatown are), exotic vegetables, various and sundry seafoods, and even 15 for $1 sweet breads of which JC took full advantage. It was not unlike Seoul when I spent time there. The only difference I saw was the distinct lack of blood sausage for sale from the street vendors and too much english writing on the signs.


























We thoroughly enjoyed Chinatown, but decided it was time to head back for peace and quiet in New Jersey. We stopped for ice cream on the way home after stopping by one of our favorite new places, Passaic, New Jersey. This town is the scene of a movie we recently saw, starring Mos Def and Jack Black, entitled "Be Kind Rewind". We drove all over town looking for the actual spot the movie was supposed to have taken place, but settled for seeing a town with neighborhood stores and restaurants that looked like a place we would spend some time (in daylight).

It seems our trip is almost over when it really has just begun. We still have Philadelphia to look forward to tomorrow and DC in the days immediately after cheese steak. Look out founding fathers, congress, and military leaders: the Bowie's are about to your town!

Leaving tomorrow. Sadly.

Today was pretty amazing. And long. We went to Ellis Island and Chinatown. We're all very tired. I'm glad we're leaving. But I'm sad we're leaving New York. Good bye my dear!

The Big Apple

The Gray Line in New York is actually a pretty good way to see the sights. We did two tours today and even though we should have done them in reverse order, they were a great way to get around town and see everything. It's difficult to get pictures unless you sit in the outboard seat, but I was able to get some really good ones. I don't have time right now to post all of my pictures on here, but I will put everything I have taken so far into an album in facebook. Sorry I haven't gotten them on there yet.

We are going to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island tomorrow morning, but here is my favorite pic of the day. I think Michelle and Jess were about "sight see-d out"!

We finally made it to NYC

Here we are passing into the Garbage State, oops I meant the Garden State.














Then we decided to go on into the Big Apple...

right this very second

Whatever!

jeff- not trying to hate, but what's up with your state? we cross the line and immediately start bouncing all over the road- potholes on an interstate? give me a break. then, a small state sign in the MIDDLE of the interstate. we had to make our own state sign pic for the kids which leads to the most heinous case of neglect...no state welcome center! where are we? are we still in america?

excited travelers

a brand new day

after a superb stay at a mariott suites in carlisle, pa --which
included a great breakfast. you know jc & waffles-- we are driving
down i-81 thru pa for nyc. based upon a family vote, we are foregoing
lancaster amish area. I was the only one really interested :) the
decision was made to drive straight to our hotel in nj and then go
into the city tonight. we'll be staying about 20 mins out off the city
near the giants stadium. everyone is having fun but ready for a short
drive day.

It's me!!

Hello all! :] This as you should already know is Jessica the 16 year old daughter and the oldest of the two children, also the favorite and the sane one. :] So far so good, the trip has been fun and we aren’t even there yet! Our parents have made us take a picture at every state line. So that was annoying when we’re trying to sleep, which was most of the time. We had fun at the Hershey place today; I got dark chocolate Reese’s which are two of my favorite sweet things. Yesterday was long and not as thrilling. Tomorrow we’re off to NYC! We’ll see what adventure New York holds for us! Here's a few pics from the past two days. The first one was at the arch, it's our myspace pic. The second one was from today, one of our many state sign pictures.

Day 2 and three more states

This morning we left Indianapolis bright and early at (cough-cough) 9:30. We made some good mileage. Finished off Indiana and made it through Ohio (boring!), West Virginia (very short), and about half-way across Pennsylvania. We got to Harrisburg/Carlisle early in the evening and decided to run over to Hershey and see WHERE THEY MAKE THE CHOCOLATE! Woo-hoo! (Now I understand Open Season, the movie).













We are now in the nicest hotel yet with free wi-fi. Again, with the Woo-hoo! We plan to sleep in tomorrow morning and get going when we get around to it. We will be in Philly in the a.m. (maybe early afternoon) and then on into NYC tomorrow evening.

So far, I must say I have had a great time with my family. Not that we don't get tired of being around each other...also we occasionally have to send the kids running around a rest stop to work off some of their youthful energy! We are having a great time together, though and I am excited about the rest of the trip!

the first day (yesterday) and an experiment in text blogging

our first trip day- friday- was looooong. we left okc had a fun stop in st
louis -and various rest areas & gas stations- before ending the night
in indy.
since this is the first day of wireless, i was just now able to get the code to post online from my phone. hurray. now i can update whenever-- just no pics :(
looking forward to more fun on the road!

The longest freakin' day of my life!

Wow. Today was a really long travel day. We drove 750 miles in about 13 hours. During that time, we stopped in downtown St. Louis and stretched our legs a bit. Just to prove that we were really there...













Now we need to focus on making this really "not all about the destination". It feels like we are trying hard to get somewhere instead of checking out where we are.

kids everywhere

we have had a great time traveling in kansas and louisiana with jessa and jc- as always. we also had the joy of being with samma, abs and livvy lou during these trips. my parents have the 5 most gorgeous grandchildren in the world.

Our first Little Side Trip

Was just off of Highway 14 in Louisiana. We were on the way home to Mom and Dad's from Avery Island. Michelle began to read about a fabulous little bridge that was old and very historic. In fact, it was listed on the top 10 "most endangered" historic places in La. It had been closed to traffic some years ago and some folks began to fight to keep it from being torn down. It was touted as being the most photographed, most written about, most painted bridge scene in the state. We thought we should just go over and see it in case it was torn down if the fight was lost.

As we got nearer, I began to smell creosote (the petroleum by-product used to preserve new wood, such as the type used to build bridges). When we arrived, we realized that within the last year the bridge had been rebuilt/refurbished. We didn't see the oldest bridge in La.; we saw what I like to call the newest, old bridge in La.

We've also been to

Louisiana. Again we were there to see family but we did go to Avery Island, birthplace of Tabasco. We saw alligators, flowers, weird people, and a 900 year old Buhdda.