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