Field Trip 09 (that is what Hunter called it)

Part I

The day after school was out we packed up and hit the road! We were on the road for 15 days and loved every minute of it!! Rich and I had a basic plan written out about a week before we left. No stress, just took it one day at a time and everything went well. We spent some nights at a camp ground, hotel, or one night in the car (not so fun). After this trip we are pushing 200K miles on our Yukon. She did great though, no troubles on the road.
We made our way through 18 states and lived to tell about it! :)
Day One:
drove from Mesa to Texas where we camped out.

Day two:
We were just outside of Oklahoma. Woke up and drove a few hours to Lindsay, OK our first stop to visit my Aunt Sue and family. The kids had a great time here. They each had a long lost cousin their age they got to hang out with and get to know. The kids didn't want to leave. OK, is where we encountered our run in with the law too. Rich and I both got pulled over that day. Luckily we got away with warnings! :)

Hunter, Chyna, Shelby, Richard, Sierrah, Hailey

Day Three:
Drove through Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri.
We stopped in Liberty, MI to see some church history. We toured the Liberty Jail.

Day Four:
St Louis to see the Arch! So, so cool! I have to admit I was a little afraid to ride the circular pod up to the top but I am glad I did it.



Rich and the kids in the pod on the ride up. We pretended to be riding the escape pod in Star Wars.
When we left the arch we drove through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, W. Virginia, and entered Pennsylvania.
Day Five:
Arrived at Gettysburg, PA. Dad was the real excited for this stop. They had a great visitor center and show.

We were there for a few hours then drove to Maryland and into Washington D.C. We had a few hours of day light so we took in a few sights in D.C. We went to the Jefferson Memorial and the White House that day.


Day Six:
Headed out for our busiest day yet! Toured D.C. on foot. Man, our feet were aching by the end of the day. What we saw:
Holocaust Museum * Printing and Engraving * Washington Monument * National Archives * Lincoln Memorial * Natural History Smithsoneon * Air and Space Smithsonion
The kids were GREAT, they were troopers. We covered SO much.
The best $20 we spent that day was on the taxi drive from the Air and Space Smiths. to our car back by the Jefferson Memorial (the only free parking around)!!! There is NO way possible we could have walked all the way back to our car.


our tailgating party after our day touring D.C.

in front of the Washington Monument

This is one million dollars in ten dollar bills!
That night we traveled through some of Delaware and entered New Jersey. We stayed the night in New Jersey.
Day Seven:
Got on a ferry to take us to Ellis Island and The Statue of Liberty.


Dad and kids in Central Park, The Plaza Hotel in the background. It was misting rain and overcast. Central Park is so beautiful, not what I had expected.

The kids undergroud getting ready for their first subway ride! Glad our dad got the hang of the subway system! We got on and off places all afternoon. We took the subway to see where the new world trade center is being built.

Jacobson's on Broadway at Time Square.


We ended the night with some YUMMY pizza! Couldn't go to NY and not have pizza! Another highlight for the kids was going in a Toys R Us, it was three stories and had a HUGE ferris wheel inside.
We didn't have as much time as we wanted in NY. We MUST go back someday!!
More to come...