I'm gonna make you an offer you can't refuse....

My moms side of the family are great historians.  They have tracked our families history for generations.  It's been really neat to follow my roots.  My dads side....well, the closest I've gotten to the history of my dads side is a book called Louisiana Power and Light.  It's not exactly a flattering rendition of my history.  Monroe, Louisiana is where the Fontana family settled after immigrating from Sicily, and since we were close, I thought, what the heck, lets go see what there is to see.

Being good Sicilians, they were all Catholic, and Catholics keep GOOOOOD records!  I got a hold of the perish in Monroe, and I hit the jackpot!  I found birth records, baptisms, deaths, marriages...  It may not seem all THAT exciting, but for me?  Well, I'm a huge nerd, and LOVE research, so this was a big deal for me.  Plus, I was able to peek into the lives of my ancestors, and start in depth ancestry documentation.  I hope to one day obtain a dual citizenship to Italy.  Look for Dominic and Lena Fontana (my great grand parents), and Mary Fontana (my dad's mom).  Pretty neat stuff!

From Monroe, we headed for home.  We were able to surprise Gordon a day early!  Travel is fantastic, but it was good to be back home.

Where did I leave off?

I think this is probably the 08213972389th time I've started this specific post.  I've thought a hundred times why I procrastinate my blogging of trips for SOOOOOOooooooOOOOoooo long, and I've come to the conclusion that if I don't blog it, it doesn't have to be over.  I look so forward to a new adventure, I don't want to have space in between.

Well, I've now been on another adventure, and can safely finish off the road trip story. Where did I leave off?  We'd just left Niagara Falls, right?
Ok.

From Niagara Falls, we headed West.  We drove all the way through New York the top left corner of Pennsylvania, into Bowling Green, Ohio.  Our favorite sign? "Moose Crossing".  Every time I hear the word "Moose", I think of the comedian Brian Regan.  You have to listen to this guy.  Hillarious.  Boxen of Moosen.....HAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, sorry, back to the story....Now, I have a lot of cousins.  A LOT of cousins.  Like, cousins out the wazoo.  My absolutely favorite cousin blessed our family by joining when I was about 9.  Debbie married my cousin on my moms side, Thad.  When she got married, she had a row of roses over her bustle.  She called it her "Rose-Butt Dress".  I know.  Amazing.  She's the most gracious Christian (but not one of the loony right winged Christians), loving mother, and kind friend.  She offered us her home on our way to my parents, and we were glad to have a home cooked meal, a shower inside a house, and air conditioning!  Debbie is the kind of person who holds her morals and standards, but in such a way that it is neither offensive or exclusive.  She is a fantastic listener, a speaker of kind words, and just the kind of person you want to be around.  Imagine Mary Poppins, American style.  We got to talk to daddy at home (the picture below), catch up with family, and slept REALLY.....Really.....really well...zzzzzzzzzz.

We woke up in the morning, said our goodbyes, and drove off for Detroit.  Detriot wasn't one of the places I was super excited about visiting.  I'd had a few things in mind like, the Henry Ford museum, not getting shot, etc....but we decided to improvise instead.  Not getting shot remained at the top of my list. 

Cannolis are NEVER a bad choice.  Ok, I take that back.  Cannolis CAN be a bad choice, but when they're good, they're GOoooooOOOooood.  Supino Pizziaria was a recommendation from my BFF, indirectly, through Diners, Drive-In's and Dives.  IF there is a DDD place, she wants to try it, and I can't think of a time her food choice has sucked.  We downed our supper amazing pizza, and went in for the sugar and cheese filled fried dough.  You know the kind of cannoli that's crunchy on the outside and still super gooey on the inside with big 'ole chunks of chocolate that make your insides smile?  They were THAT kind of cannoli.  My pants were already tight driving into Detroit, and driving out, I unbuttoned.  

You know what I love about living in Texas?  The wide open spaces and beautiful skies where you can see for miles and miles.  I think I love that because it reminds me of home.  Home is a tiny town in Illinois where politicians and poets have walked, but few have heard of.  Galesburg, Illinois.  

Are you coming to the tree?

No WiFi for days and life both ends and begins.  We are having a blast!  Today (the dan blogging about, not the actual day), we drove to Sweetwater Creek State Park near Atlanta. You may or may not recognize some of the ruins, as this is where the Hunger Games was filmed. In a different line of fandoms, also some of the walking dead!  It was supposed to a mile hike down to the Old Mill, which was burned by the Union Army.

We weren't able explore the ruins for safety reasons, the whole thing was fenced off.

Lunch was not magic mushrooms.   Pretty,  but not yummy.

The creek behind the ruins was peaceful, there was plentiful shade, and a cool breeze.

The kids worked diligently on their Jr. Ranger books for State and National Park badges.  The hike back in was slow and tiresome.  By the time we reached the Confederate memorial, we were too tired to hike to the top!   We drove by the relief in the side and waved.   

Atlanta was beautiful.   We drove to South Carolina for dinner, then headed to.......

The Route

So planning is a HUGE part of trips like this.  Just kidding.  Having a general idea of a plan and being ridiculously flexible is the MOST IMPORTANT THING I can tell you about doing a trip like this.
Gannon wants so badly to go to the Pentagon, that we actually booked that in advance.  Yes, I'm taking Gannon to the Pentagon.  I'll post a link for the GoFundMe for my bail money later.  We HAVE to be at the Pentagon on July 14th at 1400.  That's our only MUST.  So here we go....We leave Sunday at 3:00 PM.

Leg 1:  Leave Cibolo and go to Baton Rouge, LA.  Putz around the old capitol for a bit, see some of the history of LA.  Drive to P'Cola, FL!  We'll probably go across to Gulf Breeze and spend some time on the boardwalk, trying to not be eaten by sharks or contract flesh eating bacteria.  Next stop, Noccalula Falls in Gadsden, AL.  This, according to my friend Tammi, is a MUST SEE.  From there, we go to Lithia Springs State Park out side of Atlanta to see confederate ruins where Hunger Games was filmed, and see my awesome cousins Lenny and Sue!  North to Charlotte where there is an abundance of historical stuff to see and do.  We have to fit West Virginia in there somewhere, so Monongahela State Park is where leg one ends.

From West Virginia, things get CRAZY.  We spend a few days in DC, up to Gettysburg, over to Philly, PA, to New York City.  We could easily spend over a week in each place, but we're hitting the highlights.  From NYC, we're going to Plymouth Plantation, MA, then over to Boston to walk the Freedom Trail.  We won't have hit all the states without a stopover in Maine, so lobster dinner, here we come!  This is the end of leg 2 and the northern most point in our adventure.

From Kittery, we have a looooong drive to Niagra Falls State Park!  We were originally hoping to go up to Ontario, but opted to stick to our goal of 50 states before "international" travel.  From Niagra Falls, we head to Cleveland area for fun with Debbie, Thad, and the kids.  VERY excited about that time together.  Up to Detroit for the auto museum, then down down down to Mammoth Cave, KY.  I LOVED Mammoth Caves as a kid.  Back up to Indianapolis for the Children's Museum, then to see mom and dad in Galesburg.  From the 'Burg, we'll take an Amtrak up to Chicago and spend a day in the Windy City.  End Leg 3.

Leg 4 is where total whimsy comes in!  I want to go the Shreveport, LA on the way home to find out information on my great grandparents from Sicily.  Other than that, we can go to St. Louis, Kansas, Oklahoma, Dallas....wherever the wind takes us! (Hopefully the wind and not a tornado...).

So there you have it!  T-3 days and counting!  Now I have to disconnect from the computer so I can start packing.  Ugh.

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Carlsbad and home

Our final destination was a rough start.  We had driven to Gallup, New Mexico, and I just couldn't go any more.  We parked in a McDonalds parking lot and slept in our seats.  We woke up late, and the car wouldn't start.  The jump started I had just in case the car wouldn't start, wouldn't start.  The O'Riley's Auto Parts in Gallup didn't open till 9 on a Sunday.  At 9:30 I got a jump.  We headed towards Carlsbad.  About halfway between Gallup and Albuquerque, I got a speeding ticket.  That one was my bad. Once we got off I-40, I let Alia drive for a little bit.  I apparently dozed off and startled up to her running a red light in Roswell.  I took back over driving.  Everyone was tired.  We weren't sure we were going to make it to Carlsbad for the bat flight.  

We just made it, running up the hill to the amphitheater to watch hundreds and hundred of bats coming from the caves.  They came in what seemed like herds.  A hundred or so at a time.  I have NO pictures of this, as phones and cameras aren't allowed AT ALL, and I'm a fairly compliant person.  We watched for over an hour as herd after herd left the cave.  The kids sat silent, just watching.  When an hour was over, Gannon had questions.  Walking back to the car, our path was crossed by a mamma and 6 baby raccoon's.  The experience was very surreal.  

We left Carlsbad after the bat flight to surprise Gordon a day early.  We drove to Ft. Stockton, Texas, slept, and loaded back up for our drive to Cibolo, Texas!

Grand Canyon Day

We drove from Lake Havasu City to Flagstaff in a day.  We were exhausted, thought the van was broken, took the day talking to mechanics and Gordon trying to figure out what was wrong, found out nothing was actually wrong, and spent the night in a hotel because we could.  

We woke up early and headed to the Grand Canyon.  There is so much I could say about this place, but I won't  There are infinite adjectives to describe the beauty, awe, depth, majesty and grand-ness of this the Grand Canyon.  I'll caption my photos and tell you to GO THERE.  Some time in your life, visit this place.  None of the pictures have filters.

The map of the Canyon in the visitors center where we got the kids Jr. Ranger packets

South Rim

Annika Says Hi!

Gannon and Siri get their Jr. Ranger Badges

I hiked the Grand Canyon today.  What did YOU do?

Sunset at Desert View

Alia and I.

Panoramic.

London Bridge is Falling Down

Leaving California

When you do things as a parent, you have expectations.  If you say you don't, you are probably not a parent.  I had expectations of my kids reactions to different things, hoping they would marvel at the amazing works of God like I do.  One of the wonders of Western Arizona (maybe the only wonder of Western Arizona) is the London Bridge.




I had expectations that my kids would marvel and awe at the great London Bridge which was falling down.  They could touch it, stand under it, learn about it....

They were underwhelmed.  I was disappointed that they were underwhelmed.  It was 116*F.  We touched the bridge, got In-n-Out for the last time, and drove to Flagstaff.  The burgers were FANTASTIC :)

NorCal and Oregon - Over Half Way Done!

August was upon us.  We left Utah and began our trek across the most boring state in the Union, Nevada.  Seriously.  The kids watched hours of movies in between 2 gas stops.  The only neat part was the very Western section which includes the Great Salt Flats.  Salt for miles.  We were able to stop the van, pull to the side, hop out and grab hands full of salt!  We walked around for half an hour, got back in the car, and watched X-Men:First Class again, and again, and again..............................

Our drive into California took us through Lassen Volcanic National Park.  It is one of the most serene places I have visited.  As we came off Rout 395 from Reno and rounded into Susanville, radio reports gave me the impression we may be in for delays and detours due to a wildfire in the park.  While we weren't delayed or re-routed, we were able to capture the pillar of smoke coming from deep in the forest, blending with the clouds.  The shadow it cast with the smell of burning lumber and brush was heavy, but seemed very far away.

We stayed with my husbands parents in Redding, and were able to meet up with old, wonderful friends.  Ken and Linda (Gordon's parents), Laurie and Joe (Alia's grandparents) with cousins, aunts and uncles, plus the bonus of Eric, Diane, and Erica Rapport met us at Manzanita Lake for a day of hiking, picnicking  

And a little bit of R&R for this Jolly Camper

A beautiful sunset wished us fair well as we headed to Redding, CA for a few days of friends and family.

 We spent about three days getting FAT.  We ate In-n-Out Burger, we had a potluck with dear old friends, we had Grandmas cooking, and we rested.  

 We rested till the 4th of August.  

Then we had captives.

We dragged (very willingly dragged) Ken and Linda (ok, maybe they dragged us.  Very willingly dragged us) to the southern Oregon coast line.  We spent the night in a charming little cabin by the ocean.  The sea air, seagulls and freshly picked blackberries met us in the morning.  Siri and Alia had gone exploring and fed us their bounty of juicy, coastal berries.  Delish!  

Brookings, OR Harris Beach was a cloudy, cool day to climb rocks, find shells, and play in the sand.  Annika hadn't seen the Pacific ocean before, and was in awe of its size.  She ran from the waves with a smile and a giggle.

 Alia was King of the Hill as Grandma Linda helped Annika navigate walking in sand.

A few hours south found us in the land of the Giants.  Paul Bunyan and his faithful Ox, Babe welcomed us to the home of the redwoods.  We recently visited Italy, and when we were sharing pictures of places to visit in the US, he very eloquently said "That is a MOUNTAIN, not a TREE!"

We said goodbye to the redwoods, the cool ocean air, and our traveling companions and headed to SoCal.