The Creepy Cave

Hi its Sydney...we have now been home for a month and a week or so and we really want to finish the blog from the BFT!

So, to catch you all up, we left Atlanta and drove across 4 states..Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas to our next stop, the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico.  We left Atlanta at 5 in the morning and our AC was not working and it was 85 degrees.  It took us 2 days to get there.  We drove to Jackson, Mississippi and stopped at another car place to see about getting our car fixed and whatever they did, it worked because we had AC for the rest of the trip!!!  This car place had candy and donuts in their little office place so McKenna and I were so excited!

We stayed our first night in Texas where we ate BBQ for dinner and that was about all we did there.  We saw lots of dead armadillos on the side of the freeway and it was really hot there!  On our way into Carlsbad, we stopped at a place to get Ice Cream and when we walked in, there were so many flies flying around.  We really wanted ice cream but this ice cream was the worst thing I had ever tasted...it tasted like chalk.  We nicknamed this place "Flies & Pies". 

We stayed at the Carlsbad KOA and they had a swimming pool!  My favorite!  We took our time getting up in the morning and after a quick dip in the pool,  we headed to the caverns. 

We checked in and we got a brochure that told us all about the caverns.  My sister and I got our junior ranger stuff and started filling it out as much as we could.  We then took a trail to the entrance of the caverns.  The entrance looked like a big black hole and it was little scary at first.   The ranger told us to go to the bathroom before we entered the cave because there are no bathrooms until the end.  She told us that people go poop down there because they have to go so bad.  Yuck!

My sister got a little scared so I walked up ahead with my dad while she was back with my mom.  We saw all of this stuff that looked like snow but it was stalactites and stalagmites.  And it was cold in the caves.  BRRRR!

You couldn't touch them because the dirt on our hands would ruin them.  There was one part that they called    "Fairy land" or something like that...it was pretty neat and there were sparkles all around. 

We saw lots of black holes where you couldn't see the bottom.  When we got to the end, there were bathrooms and stores at the end...how did they build them down there?  We then took the elevator back up to the main floor, the worker lady asked how many fossils we could see on the wall going up.  My dad guessed 100 but the right answer was...I forgot but my dad was wrong.

We had some time before the bat flight program started.  There are a bunch, maybe a million or so, bats that live in the caves and at a certain time at night, they all fly out.  So, we waited and waited and maybe only 100 flew out.  Not that great...my mom was talking to this guy in the parking lot by our car that said he thought it was lame and he had seen when it was little and it was way better.  oh well.

Here I am waiting with my junior ranger badge on!  My sister and me passed the test and we got this badge and a certificate. 

From Carlsbad, we drove to Sedona, Arizon where we spent 4 days seeing Sedona and the Grand Canyon.  My Grammy Lynn joined us on this part of the trip for 9 days.  We have lots of fun stories with her too. 

Even though I am home, I want to do shout outs to Rachel, Hadassah, Kait, Jess, and Dottie!

Bye!

Sydney

BFT in Summary...

It's Aaron

I am writing this summary before we have finished all our posts. So for all the die hards, expect to see several more blogs over the next few days, even though we are home.

You have all been a blessing. We can't wait to see you. To our dear friends and family who put us up across the land... you're the best. Thanks for your warmth and support. We consider ourselves very lucky to have the relationship that we do have with each of you. And lastly, let me add, that this is a beautiful country. Try to get out and see it. The people are great (in both red and blue states) and it is shocking to discover how much you really don't know about what is under you nose. God is VERY good, even when life doesn't follow the stright line we sometime like it to. This trip was less of a reminder of that fact than it was a confirmation of the depth of that truth. Seeing HIS creation in both the noise and the quiet is awesome!!! I am blessed.

In summary...

People


• Best Wife = Karie (a fantastic adventure with a fantastic person. I love you!)
• Best Karie moment = wildlife viewing in Custer State park, w the entire park to ourselves.

• Best Aaron moment = watching Karie laugh a LOT!

• Best Sydney moment = climbing to the top of Mt Mansfield in Vermont.

• Best McKenna moment = riding on the moped with Dad.

• Favorite unexpected joy = getting over 5000 blog hits and thousands of comments from all of our friends. There were times when Karie and I simply couldn't wait to hear from you all.  It kept our momentum going! Thanks.

• # of laughs in the car = countless

• # of times Aaron was yelled at while wearing his “McStud” shirt = 1 (it was a really loud yell)

• # of mechanics required to fix an Air Conditioning problem = 7 guys from 6 states.

• # of old guys with Blue Blockers driving “souped up” motorized wheel chairs with 6 foot hazard flags hanging off the back = 5 (no joke)

• Favorite rude person = Blue haired ice cream clerk from Jerome, AZ (I ask where to find espresso and she answers with “Have a nice day”, repeated it twice!!)

• Favorite personality = Dotty

• Favorite dialect = Humma Humma Wre-anch (spoken by drive-thru lady at Wendy’s in Jackson, MS)

• Favorite family game = Farkle

• The name of Karie and Aaron’s next child born in the state of Virginia = Chickory Fickens (it just sounds right).

• Favorite shower singer – 13 yr old black kid singing opera (it was hard to get off the John he was so good)

• Best dramatic performance while using the urinal = 80 year old in Kingman AZ resting his head against the bathroom wall, with his pants around his ankles and his tighty whities pulled down just below his buns… oh, don’t forget the tube sox just below the knees.

• Best non-sequitur = lady climbing the rocks at Acadia in her flip flops with gauze wrapped around her legs and bandages all over her face.

• Favorite name mispronounced by Sydney = Uodo (German guy we met in Sedona). Sydney called him Oodles.

• Best soulmates not yet aware of one another = loud drunk midnight laugher from Savannah, GA and loud early morning bacon talker from Custer, SD.

• # of Aaron and Karie “heated discussions” = 2 at most. We had a fantastic time together.



Places

• # of lands visited=3 (US, Canada, and our Happy Place - usually once per week)

• # of church services attended = 6

• # of states visited = 33

• # of miles driven = 10.8K miles

• # of Walmart visits = 5

• # of National and State Parks Visited = 9

• Favorite Park = Custer State Park, SD

• Favorite City = Kennebunkport, ME

• Favorite Church Name = United Church of Johnson (Johnson, VT)

• # of Hikes = 5

• Favorite restaurant = Huckapoos - Tybee Island, GA

• Best breakfast = “Dinner Bell” in Van, TX

• Best place for a cocktail = Sedona, AZ at sunset over the red rocks.

• Best ribs = “Bodacious BBQ” in Kilgore, TX

• Worse restaurant = Dairy Freeze in Eunice, NM (renamed “Pies and Flies”)

• Best stars at night = Carlsbad, NM

• Best swimming hole = Oak Creek in Sedona, NM

• # of times the question “how big is your town?” has been answered by “weez a triple A school” or “weez a quad A school” = 2 (Kilgore and Van - which is every town we stopped at in TX)

Other

• # of days on the road = 54

• # loads of laundry = 15 (5 different locations)

• # of ice creams eaten = 40

• # of songs memorized = 1 (Never Say Never by Justin Beiber)

• # of times listening to song “Dynomite” = too many, lost track.

• Hottest temp = 112

• Lowest temp = 33

• # of hornet bites = 3

• # of fish caught = 23 (Blue Gill and Bass- most by McKenna)

• longest drive in 1 day = 15 hrs

• # of nights in a hotel = 7

• # of times setting up/taking down pop-up camper = 38

• # of beetle bites =2

• # of bugs requiring ear extraction by trained professional = 1

• # of times burying your unmentionables in the woods = 1

• # of flat tires = 1

• # of mosquito bites on our family’s face = 57

• # of times swimming in natural bodies of water = 10

• # of times swimming in a pool (at almost every RV park) = 12

• # consecutive days without deodorant ( I think we all smell naturally good) = 26

• # of wrong turns = 4

• # of “how much longer” = 10 (this is a real number- kids were great)

• # of blogs left to complete = 5

Funny #2 (of 4)

Funny/Irony #2 - Look out!

After leaving Vermont, we head out for Maine and Acadia National Park. Maine is also beautiful, and a little more rugged, with more pine trees as we cut through the upper third of the state heading to our campground in Bar Harbor. As has been blogged already, we stay about 2 days (3 nts). On day 1, we decide to hit the beach/rocky coastline sights, have pop-overs at Jordan Pond, and then head into Bar Harbor to watch the USA women’s soccer final. On day 2, we do a little more beach exploring, go to the top of Cadillac Mountain, and then head off for a hike on the carriage trails (built by Rockefeller in the 30’s) on what is called the quite side of the island.



At this point it is worth reiterating that some of the greatest highlights from the BFT have come from seeing a wide array of wildlife. As such, I have had to repeat my warning to Karie about trailering a large vehicle and how easy it is to flip the vehicle if high speed swerving is attempted for wildlife’s sake. “Unless, it’s another car coming at you head on, just do your best to slow down but stay aimed straight ahead at any target in your path,” I said.



So, coming into Maine, we hoped to spot moose and bear. However, shortly after stopping by the Acadia visitor center, we are informed that very little wildlife exists on Mt Desert Island. Bummer we say. I guess we will just appreciate the vegetation. So while driving to the trail head, we are noticing that there are a lot more ponds and marshes than we saw on other parts of the island. As Karie is reading the map and giving me directions, I am staring out at the scenery going by. “Hey look”, I yell to fam. “What Dad?” reply Syd and McKenna. “Over to the right is a huge beaver dam. Doesn’t it look like where the Beavers in Narnia lived,” I exclaim. “Oh… cool Dad, there’s hardly any wildlife here, that may be the last we see.” Karie looks up from her map at about this point, asking whether we missed our turn. I look down briefly from the driver’s seat to look at the map.



“Aaron, look out!” I pull my head up in time to see a rather large mammal crossing the road, about 20 feet in front of me. I think I spot a flat tail and rather large front teeth. No time to stop “Thump, thump” I hear and feel, as our car (unable to stop) hums forward over natures speed bump. Karie and I both look at each other, with a sick feeling in our stomach. “They sure seem to move faster in the Narnia movies,” I think to myself, never having hit an animal before. Not a good day to be a beaver. We don’t look back as we head up the road, praying that the quiet side of the island has a more critters than the park rangers lead us to believe.

The Funnies... (1 of 4)

Hey this is Aaron, we are in the homeward stretch. I am looking forward to catching up with our friends. We miss our Duvall and Woodinville communities enormously.

This post will be followed by three other short stories  (mostly not mentioned in previous blogs) that have made us laugh for the last three weeks.

I previously wrote a draft of these stories only to have it deleted by Google just prior to submission - which sent me into a rage spiral that required a cooling off period (about 4 days). Hopefully the second shot at it makes the telling better. I wrote this as we crossed from Atlanta to Carlsbad, NM - currently in Arnold, CA.  I have got a lot of drafts that I haven't sent out for fear of blogipation (a lot like constipation.)

For those keeping score on our well documented AC woes, we went through  7 mechanics between Grand Haven, MI and Jackson, MS, all who have earned the right to be named publically - they are sort of like members of your family that you know well but wish would NOT be able to make it to the next family reunion. In order of appearance: Mr Wiz & Cooter (Wis Dells), Floyd (Grand Haven, MI), Mike (Hardwick,VT), Tony (Bayonne, NJ),  Joe (Galax, VA), and Piak (Jackson, MS). As of this writing, my AC is still working so I would like to send a virtual hug to Piak in Jackson. He went the extra mile and had a heart of gold.

The below is one of 4 stories have been immensely important in our healing process as we have struggled to radiate God’s love to the auto industry. Given their unique significance to our “family healing” they deserve their own special story titles/post.

I should also add that I am having to edit myself quite a bit to bring you the following posts. For any of you that know me, my humor tends to run towards the dry and edgy side, so if you want the unedited version, ask me when I get back. It's all the more funny if you can get Karie's version including some of the parts she won't let me share publically (I came really close).


Anyhow, to set this post up, I will remind you that we spent 9 days in Vermont and Maine. We were near Stowe in Vermont, world famous for its skiing and Acadia national park in Maine, the most visited in the U.S. park system. Both states were absolutely beautiful, with very few bugs (VERY important to the Cato clan), lots of water, small/old towns, fantastic weather, and rolling hills to rugged/rocky alpine feel (think Winthrop-ish for the Washington folks). Vermont was admittedly a bit slower pace for us , with more time to lolly gag, whereas in Maine, we moved a bit faster in order to cover the park.


Funny #1  - Dotty…


Being around Vermont-ers is a bit like watching all the bar scenes from Goodwill Hunting... lots of crass downhome charm or Berkely-esk laid back. Every conversation I had was like it came from the boys at "car talk" except loaded with expletives or genuine interest. The countryside itself is rolling, full of rivers, lots of grass, hundred year old villages and farmhouses, and no real traffic or major centers of activity. We loved it.

As you know, we came into Vermont with no AC. We hoped to remedy that, but no luck. As the local mechanic in the town of Hardwick (pop 3000) said after having our car for a day, " I only work on AC in Vermont about once every 5 years. I dont have the paaahts for your caaahr.

I break the news to Karie, as the temperature in the shop reads 87. “Oh well, lets go get groceries” I say. So we head into the largest city in the area, Morrisiville  (pop 7000) not far from the campground we are staying at. We spend about 40 minutes doing our shopping and proceed to checkout. Our checkout line is right in front of the only entry/exit to the store. Looking up I overhear the store manager (age 30, librarian glasses, blond hair, blue button up tightly tucked/stuffed into some not so hip unfaded levi’s along with several layers of skin) yell “come on Dotty, get out of the way! I called your cab about 5 minutes ago. People are trying to get by”.

My eyes focus on the target of the managers concern.  Standing at about 5 foot 2, approx age of 80, is Dotty. Slightly behind and to her right, I drink in the details, noting she is sporting a handsome salt and pepper goatee, a full set of molars (nothing more), uncombed but short white hair, a full length flowered mu-mu (or smock/hospital robe – not clear on the differences), and the always fashionable white leather Reebok tennis shoe with two inch soles. “Come on Dotty, move out of the way”, I hear again. Shuffling forward, Dotty covers 6 inches in about 10 seconds, allowing her to close the gap that separates her from blocking most of the entrance so that she is now able to block it all. Customers trying to exit are stacked several deep but seem reluctant to address their obstacle directly.  Keeping her eyes on the prize, Dotty is fixed on her prey. Ignoring the pile up behind and without dropping her eyes, she stares off at something that lurks just 50 feet ahead of her in the waiting parking lot. Finally responding to the manager, she says “I have heard that before and I ain’t believing you anymore.” At this point the manager notices me taking the whole thing in with a big smile on my face (you couldn’t have written this small town script any better). “She does this at least three times a week. She takes the bus to the grocery store, starts pleading with the customers to take her home due to a wide range of maladies, and if unsuccessful in the store, she moves into the parking lot where she begins to cry (real tears in her eyes). On an Oscar performance day, she feigns a heart attack. Don’t pay any attention to her.” At the end of the explanation, I notice Dotty has left the building. Karie and I get to the car, load up the groceries and begin to drive out of the parking lot. And then, as if out of nowhere, she appears. Dotty is just standing in the middle of the parking lane, tears in her eyes, daring us to drive past. Hurry I say, I don’t think I will be able to resist her if she starts in with the heart attack.  We scoot around her, avoiding all eye contact.

We drove past the grocery store several other times that week. Same old Dotty, same old tears. We miss her already. We see Dotty’s sisters or Dotty’s future husband around every corner. “Oh Dotty” we sigh. Good times.

Aaron

Cemetaries, Mopeds, The Pink House & The Curse of the Whiz Dells Strikes Again

S A V A N N A H

From Virginia, we continue to head south to our next stop - the BEAUTIFUL Savannah, GA.  Aaron had been there a number of times and swoons when he refers to the moss hanging from the trees, the parks, the old homes...and he was so RIGHT!!  But before we got to experience the charm of the city, we needed to get settled into our RV park right outside of town.  As we drove into Savannah, it was POURING down rain and I mean dumping with the largest black cloud hovering overhead.  We had not set up our home away from home yet in the rain so this was going to be interesting.  We pull up to what the internet describes as an southern oasis like no other to what could have just as easily been a drive in movie theater off the local highway with the current RV population being 2.  Activities available at this RV park included one - if you like lawn mowing.  Aaron scratches his head and is thinking thru all of the other options that he had researched prior to the kick off of the trip and deduced that Savannah is not a RV dwellers destination of choice like us...the Griswolds.  So, while sitting in the car waiting for the rain to stop, Priceline here we come.  And, yeah, why not put a bid in at a 3 star hotel right in the historic district for $75?  Bingo, Bango, Bongo, we wait for our results and...the DeSoto Hilton (with rooftop pool) it is!  Now, to park the beast...what to do?  According to McKenna, it took us at least an hour to find a parallel parking spot for the beast and the tahoe which equals about 33 feet...ha!  We finally found one that was not on an hourly meter and the street sweepers weren't scheduled for the next 36 hours so we seemed to be in good shape.   We grab our 8 bags and drag them 8 blocks to our hotel in the 98 degree heat and 98% humidity.  By this time, it is past dinner time so we grab thai to go and went back to chill in the air conditioned hotel room to watch "America's Got Talent" and we agreed with the judges, Professor Splash deserved to go on to the next round.  Our first night of sleep was routinely interrupted by the drunk loud talker/fast talker/laugher until about 2 am and I am not talking about Karie.  :)

Day 2 - Our first stop was the birthplace of Juliet Gordon Low - the originator of Girl Scouts.  From there, we walked to little garden squares and cemetaries that were covered with the most beautiful trees and grounds...on our way to the pier where we watched how Salt Water Taffy was made, browsed through some antique stores, and window shopped.  By this time, it was HOT so we headed back to the hotel for some pool time.

Earlier in the day, we had walked by a Moped rental place and after some sweet talking, Aaron went to pick up our little hog which we rented for the evening and the following morning until 10am.  Aaron and McKenna walked down the street to pick her up and then took her for a spin around the city.  To quote McKenna, "It was awesome and I loved going around corners. My dad was a good driver and now, I would like to have one for my birthday."  From Aaron, "She was a bute...top speed was 39 MPH and I called her my hog for two days straight."  From Sydney "I loved it and had to hold onto daddy so I wouldn't fall off."  Then they came back, we set the kids set up with dinner and a movie and we hopped on the hog and went to Vick's for apps and cocktails.  People kept staring at us while we drove along the main drag at the Pier and we were not sure if it was our big helmets or the fact that we were only going 39 MPH, but we got a lot of laughs and waves.  We headed to Forsyth Park for a little tour and then on to the Pink House for a night cap and to listen to Liberace's apprentice play the piano.  When he ackowledged guests, he shot his finger guns at them and would yell "thanks for coming!" 

From Karie - "Please do not call CPS on us for leaving our girls at the hotel.  They actually did GREAT and they called us about every two minutes just to clarify who was in charge, couldn't get Netflix to work, clarify again who is in charge...and upon our return, McKenna showed us how she had kept a log of all of the things that Sydney did wrong.  What a babysitter!"

And the loud talker/laugher was at it  again until about 3 am. 

Day 3 - The girls were dying to get on the hog one more time before we had to return her so Aaron took Sydney to get breakfast near Forsyth Park.  McKenna was next up and they grabbed breakfast and returned the precious hog back to the the rental place.  Tybee Island was next - on the Atlantic Ocean, beach community, time to play on the beach time!  We found the greatest shack/restaurant that was so good and so cheap we ate there twice.  Holla at Huck-a-poo's!    We met a lady in Savannah who surfs Tybee a lot and she told us to be careful at the main beaches because it is jellyfish mating season so they are very close to shore and they can sting something fierce.  She told us of anotherbeach and so we decided to head there and it was awesome - not too crowded, lots of beach to play in, a nice couple that let us watch them crab, and kite surfers.  We were also told that we might see a dolphin or two but Flipper never showed. 

Huc-a-poo's

We had to say goodbye to Savannah on day 4 and we were off to the ATL to visit friends.  When we walked back to our car/trailer , we had a ticket on the trailer because we broke the "no RV's in Savannah" rule.  Ooops.  There were no signs!

We arrived in Atlanta with no sweat, literally and figuratively.  Our friends, Cameron, Jen, Iris, and Ava had dinner and drinks waiting for us !  The girls were so excited to swim and see their friends so we all headed to the community pool for some swimming and dive practicing after din-din!  The following day we headed to Lake Lanier for a day of sun, water slides, swimming, and fun.  A question came to me (Karie) as we were there - what do you do when you see someone with a huge long snot-cicle in a pool and you watch him wipe it off of his nose/face region and then put his hand in the water.  Do you walk the other direction hopefully to another part of the pool?  Do you get out all together for a few until the chlorine takes care of it?  Just typing about it is making me kinda gag...I  thinks about wierd things like this...what did I do you ask?  Well, I got out of the water because I was gagging...and it took me about 15 minutes to go back in...my gag reflexes were firing on all cylinders I guess.

We all loved the slides, the company, and to catch up with good friends.  We were royally taken care of.  We went to church that night and we got a little lost on our way until we say what was equivalent to the Tacoma Dome in the distance.  The sanctuary could seat 10,000 but this evening there were about approx. 1000.  The worship choir was 30 color coordinated in black and gray people that were pretty amazing.  One gal in particular rocked the house.  Interesting experience overall but probably not our cup of tea.  We have been sampling all kinds of churches and this definitely added a different experience to the mix for all of us.

From ATL, we looked ahead to our longest stretch of driving yet - to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico.  About 21 hours. 

Love, us

P.S.  Oh yeah, the curse of the Whiz Dells...well, we hopped in our car to head to Lake Lanier and realized that satan's breath was back!  We got our of the car and noticed a pool of green freon on the driveway.  The steam coming out of Karie's ears and the expletives running thru her head were not something to witness again hopefully.  What to do? 

Sweet Home Virginia

Hi - its McKenna.    I am going to blog about our time in Virginia with my great aunt and uncle.  This was the view from their back porch.

Pretty, huh?  That is my dad in the corner getting ready to do the thing that I loved the most about my time in Virginia...FISHING! 

Before I go into that, when we first got there, it was late and Great Uncle Rick gave me some grape juice and a grilled cheese sandwich and it tasted really good.  It had American cheese on it which my mom does not like at all but I thought it tasted great!

When we woke up in the morning, I woke up to two new faces - Great Aunt Donna and her son, Brian.  He taught me how to fish.  But before that, I found that they had a treadmill so I hopped on and set it to 1.9 and it would make me & Sydney fall off the back if we just stood there.  I called it "the candy machine".  It was really fun and I also did some running to get me ready for soccer.

Back to fishing, Brian got our fishing poles set up and all he said was "Hold this and click the button and when you are ready to release it, just let go."  Now, there was a white bobber with a red stripe that floats on the water.  When you see it go under the water, you know that a fish has taken your bait which was a night crawler or worm.  Here is a picture...

In this pond, there were blue gill, big & small mouth bass, snapping turtles, and lots of bugs.  And there were a million crickets jumping thru the grass.  After about 10 seconds, I caught my first fish - a blue gill.  Then my mom told me to hold it up so she could take a piucture and here it is!

At this point, I had not touched the bait or the fish with my own hands.  Daddy helped me take it off the hook and then put the fish's lips on my back and then my cheek - GROSS!  My dad helped me put bait on again and I kept fishing and I caught 14 fish!  My family said I was the best fisher girl EVER!  But then my dad said that if I wanted to keep fishing, I had to learn how to put the worm on the hook and take the fish off the hook.  And I did  - the fish was less gross than the worms.  I also named some of the fish that I caught like Mr. Seaweed, doing-doing, Jo-Jo, Nemo, Slimy.   Here I am with Slimy!  The top of the fish was spiky so you had to hold it a certain way. 

Later that day, my third cousins came over and I played with the youngest, Josie a lot and we fished together.  Then, my dad, mom, sister, Josie and me decided to walk to the other side of the lake to see if we could catch a bigger fish and that is where the real trouble started.  We came around the corner and dad was leading the pack and he yelled "Youchers" and grabbed his ankle and said that he got bit by something and it hurt very bad.  Then my mom yelled OOOH! and she got bit.  And then my sister started to cry very loud and she got bit too and saw the bug fly off her leg.  It was kinda like the 3 bears - my dad bitten really hard, my mom got bitten and it didn't hurt at all, and my sister got bitten and it hurt and it didn't hurt all at the same time.  Me and Josie started running for our lives because we didn't want to get stung.  We turned around and noticed a bunch of yellow jackets flying out of a hole near the bottom of a tree.  That is what got them!!  We changed our fishing plans and came back to safe territory.  My dad's ankle swelled up really bad and it hurt him for about a week before a huge bruise showed up.  My mom and sister were fine after a day or so.

My sister caught some fish too!

We also took a drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway and went to a place called Mayberry Mill which had a lot of old buildings and stuff from back in history.  We also went to a farmers market and there was a cute cat there and I ate a yummy nectarine.

Sometimes, I get sick of my mom always taking my picture.

Shout outs to Great Aunt Donna, Great Uncle Rick, all of the people who are reading this blog, Grammy Lynn, and Dawber.

Love, McKenna

Manhattan & Me

We are now in Sedona, Arizona and have so much to catch you up on.  We have stopped in 5 locations since NYC so we are going to try and knock out two postings tonight.  And then maybe one a day for a couple days since we will be in Sedona for a few days.

N E W    Y O R K     C I T Y

As some of you may or may not know, NYC is one of my all time favorite places to visit.  Not that I have been to a lot of places but a fair amount I would say and it stands out for sure.  For me, it is the alive-ness, the knowledge that stuff is happening here, there is so much history, and culture, and I just feel alive as soon as I step foot in the place.  I have done so much there in my 5 or so trips to the city - seen the Versace exhibit at MOMA, Les Miz, David Letterman,  listened to music at a brazilian jazz club, seen a play with Saaaandra from the tv show "227" (do you remember that show?), watched the US Open tennis tournament, saw McCauley Culkin and Isabella Rossilini, and the list goes on.  I just LOVE this place.

Well, this trip was one to remember.  We were driving south from Kennebunkport and stopped about an hour outside of the city to gas up and this nice guy at the gas station asked us where we were going and proceeded to tell us there are some freeways into the city that DO NOT allow campers and guess what?  Our directions were taking us on one of those freeways so we had to change our route.  At this point, it about 102 degrees and no a/c and we are wanting to get there as fast as we can so we gave the guy a high five and knuckles and we were on our way with our fresh directions.  To say we were hot was an understatement.  As a mother of two small children and having experience with dehydration and heat stroke, I was a little nervous and the girls were HOT- pink cheeks, sweaty brows, backs that are wringing wet...so I became a clanging gong..."keep drinking water my loves"  - If I said that once, I said 100 times.  And I am a sweaty person by nature (thanks dad for those genes) so I am wringing wet before we even got started with the day.  We bought bandanas (for reasons I am not clear) at Wal-Mart in Cody, WY and it was the best $2 I ever spent...those suckers were my saving grace for looking somewhat presentable and that was a stretch!  We had to basically drive thru Yonkers and over the George Washington bridge at about 5 miles an hour for about 2 hours to get to our destination.  There were guys walking down the freeway with grocery carts full of cold water bottles and selling them for a buck a piece.  It was crazy!!!  And we are pulling a camper ...Clark Griswold has nothin' on us.

We had made reservations prior to our departure, at two places - 1) Liberty Harbor RV park (Jersey City, NJ) where the plan was to stay a night and then park the RV & Car, and take the ferry over to Manhattan and 2) stay in a hotel for 2 nights.  Our much documented air conditioning problems changed this plan.   We had found an auto repair shop in Bayonne, New Jersey which is about a 5 mile drive from the RV park so we planned to drop the car off and enjoy the city while it was being fixed.  Sounds great so far, right??  We FINALLY pull into the RV park and notice that about 3 RV's (two are from Washington) are pulling out. Aaron starts talking to one of the guys and he says that there are rolling brown outs through out the city and that the RV park is blowing circuits left and right and so they are asking people to not run their air conditioning while using their RV's/trailers so they were all leaving and heading north so a cooler spot.  We scratch our heads and wonder...what are we going to do ?  It is now 111.  We jump online and get a hotel room for the night - I am thrilled to say the least...I want a shower so bad...

Now, we have to get the car to the shop which closes at 5 pm and it is about 4 pm.  It is 5 miles as the crow flies but it takes us 30 minutes to ge there and thankfully, TONY was waiting for us.  We pull out about 5 bags plus a small cooler with some food  that we are going to take into the city with us and leave the car with him, begging him to figure out what is wrong...Please TONY!  We are in Jersey City and need to get into Manhattan and it is now 5pm on a Friday night.  TONY says to us "Oh, just jump on the bus...it is easy and will take you right to Port Authority."  Thanks Tony so we cross the street and stand at the bus stop in 108 heat with 5 bags, 2 lethargic girls, and 2 adults that are trying to keep it together.  We hop on the bus after waiting there for about 20 minutes only to find that guess what...our bus is not air cond and you can't roll down the windows!  The bandana comes out again and thank the Lord for that piece of pink fabric.  The bus takes about 90 minutes to get to Port Authority in bumper to bumper traffic.  It is now about 6:45 and from Port Authority, we need to jump on the subway to get to our hotel in Chelsea.  It is crowded okay and I am hot and sweaty carrying a bunch of bags and trying to keep the girls spirits up.  And I got us on the wrong subway ok!!  Actually, we were on the right line just going in the wrong direction.  Oooops. So we hop off, have to walk a little ways, and then we are on our way, in the right direction towards Chelsea.  The subway takes about 30 minutes or so  - we are looking at 7:30 or so by the time we walk out from the subway onto the street and it is still H O T!  We have to walk about 5 blocks to our hotel and I am on the verge of tears and when I see the hotel from a distance, it was like a really ugly version of that scene in the movies when two lovebirds are running towards each other on the beach.  That was me with 3 bags and the hotel!! 

We get our stuff settled and it was one of the better night sleeps I have had on this trip.

The next morning, we get packed up and made it over to our originally planned for hotel and from there, we were OFF!  The girls were pretty adament about 4 places - Dylans Candy Bar, FAO Schwartz, American Girl Place, and the Museum of Natural History.  And as they have mentioned, we did all of those things.  But we did and saw some other things as well.

• Had dinner in Battery Park with Brian, Allison, Luna, and Rachel who just moved there and we know them from home.  It was so cool to see an apartment in the city and to hear how things are going with them and what living in the city feels like.  We had a yummy homecooked dinner and then took the girls over to a super fun park that had a long slide that if you pour water onto , you can fly down the sucker!

• Saw the 9/11 site and also the new construction that is going on there - it  still brings tears to my eyes to think about that day.  Our 2nd hotel looked down onto the construction site.  We also got to witness the moving of a girter that was found in the rubble days after the attack that was shaped in a cross and was being moved to the museum.  Rudy G was there and I overheard someone say that Michael Bloomberg was going to be there.  A priest blessed the cross before they moved it, said a prayer and talked about the history of the cross.  Lots of firefighters in attendance and press...it was extremely touching and very memorable for us all.

• Had dinner in Little Italy which was really good but kinda intimidating...we walk in and there are a couple of guys sitting in the corner speaking italian and giving us the once over and we are led to the back of the restaurant ...I felt like I was in an episode of the Soprano's. 
• Took the double decker bus tour around Manhattan and into Harlem a little bit. The history of the city, the cast iron buildings, the projects, it is all so neat in their own ways. 

• Went to the big flea market near times square which was a feast for the eyes.  The girls didn't seem too overwhlemed by it but I do know that Syd hung onto my dress the whole time and McK hung onto a strap of the backpack Aaron was wearing.   We stuck together like glue. 
• Walked thru Washington Square and saw some guys breakdancing for a big crowd that were not good if I must say so myself.  And the people watching were eating it up! 
• Saw two famous people, Martina Hingis (retired tennis player) and Rudy Giuliani.
• And finally, ate a hot dog from a street vendor.  oh yeah, baby!

We decided post-NYC that for kids, they would have just as much fun at a great water park for example then to see the sights in the city.  It is really fantastic if it is not 111, you are not on a budget, and can't go out at night and stay out. Regardless, we had a lot of fun and we ALL want to go back again.  Our poor little car did not get fixed in NJ - couldn't get the parts in and was going to cost us $600 so we decided that we would go to our next stop to see if we could get it cheaper there. 

From New York, we headed south to Galax, Virginia where Aaron's Uncle Rick and Aunt Donna live. 

NYC, we will meet again. 

Karie

P.S.  I have finished two more books, and have started the next one in the stack.  I finished "State of Wonder" (excellent) and "The Dogs of Babel" (not so excellent - a little wierd I must say) and I am starting "The Help" today hopefully.