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

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The Grand Canyon