Sat, August 30

Hey, everyone!  Get out your USA map and follow us on our cross-country adventure!  Try to find on your map each one of the places we mention.  Some of them will be obvious while others will be more remote.  Also, try to guess where we'll be going the next day before we post.

After waiting all day, the kids were finally in the car ready to leave.

  

Amazingly, David was able to get everything to fit!

As we drove away, our neighbors the Montoyas waved good-bye.  They seemed as excited as we were!

Evidently, In-N-Out Burgers are only located in the western states, so we wanted to be sure to catch at least one meal at one of our favorite hamburger joints.  Dinner in Roseville, CA, was yummy!

One of Liz's favorite things to do on a road trip is to take pictures of state line signs.  Our first sign traveling into Nevada was snapped in the dark of night under an incredible sky bursting with stars and the Milky Way.  As city-dwellers, we are not used to actually seeing so many stars!  "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands."  Psalm 19:1  Imagine!  God has named each one of those stars.

Reno, NV, is a very bright place standing out in the midst of the desert.  The shining lights, the bustling nightlife, and the lure of instant riches reminded us of Vanity Fair from Pilgrim's Progress.  The children preferred to stay in the car as they viewed unsavory characters and blurry-eyed gamblers milling about the streets.   "Far better to watch from a distance than to walk into the "spider web," announced Joshua.   Of course, we had to get a picture of the Fitzgerald's casino.

In an effort to catch up on time lost, we drove well into the night, ending up in Elko, NV, at 3:00 a.m.  We just had to stop and sleep in a real bed!

Here's a map showing our progress for the day.

Our Trip

For the past couple years we've been trying to figure out how to get back to Indiana & Illinois to visit Liz's extended family.  We haven't been back there since 2002, six years ago!  The children were only 9, 7, and 4 at the time.  Since summer is Liz's busiest season for her seminars and the mail orders coming in through her web site, a summer vacation has been out of the question.  However, this year the desire to get back to the midwest has been heavily weighing on our hearts.  The Lord provided an opportunity for us by opening up interest for a Spell to Write and Read Seminar in the Chicago area.  As a result, Liz is teaming up with Lee Bradford, the Endorsed SWR Trainer from Ohio, to conduct a seminar in DeKalb, Illinois, on September 5 & 6 and in Corydon, Indiana, on September 12 & 13.  David was able to get two weeks off from his design job at Wham-O, and so we're heading out for a cross-country trip.   David will be with us for the first two weeks, and then Liz and the kids will return on their own.  It's going to be a true adventure!   

We're Off!

We're finally heading out and are on the road.  We left 10 hrs later than planned, but the car is loaded to the gills and our happy children are enjoying a movie in the backseat while we head for Reno, NV.  Our intention was to make it to Twin Falls, ID, by bed time.  We may end up driving through the night so we can get on our schedule.  Of course, catching up on sleep in Yellowstone is not our idea of fun.  Our prayer is that we can not only get on our schedule, but that we will stay healthy and awake to enjoy it.  

Stay tuned as we learn how to upload pictures.  We've already taken some fun ones for you, but we need to figure out how this blogging works first.