Me and The Dude (TMOART:12)

I think this might be the last official post from TMOART:12. As promised earlier, here are the pictures that were taken of me and The Dude together on the trip.

On the drive east, at a rest area somewhere in Missouri (I think)

On the Nittany Lion shrine

On top of Wopsie (Wopsononock Mountain) outside of Altoona, PA

Inside the top of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. Ignore the look on his face - he was dealing with a bit of vertigo.

We joked around before (and during) the trip that if we could survive a cross-country trek with 5 kids and still like each other at the end, that we might have something special going on here.

The verdict is in - we still like each other! We didn't drive each other nuts, we didn't have any arguments, and we didn't annoy the crap out of each other. He seemed to pass "the test" with my friends and family, and even after spending a solid 2 weeks together we still enjoy each other's company. The strange thing (to me, at least) is that I think that we're even closer than we were before we left - and we're even starting to make plans for TMOART:13.

I think he's a keeper.



To The Dude: Thank you - for being you, for putting up with me, for making this trip with us, and for loving me and the kids the way that you do. Without a doubt, you are one of the best things to have ever happened to me, and I am so incredibly thankful to have you in my life. I love you!

Camping (TMOART:12)

So while we were on TMOART:12, we ended up camping at two different locations. We spent 3 nights at Prince Gallitzin State Park in Patton, PA and then one night at Gifford Pinchot State Park in Lewisberry, PA. Both of the campgrounds were gorgeous - but we didn't do much other than sleep at both. The Dude took the kids swimming at Pinchot while I started setting up the tent (yes, you read that right) and they had a ball - I, on the other hand, enjoyed the peace and quiet for a little bit and got to visit with a childhood friend who got there while I was tent-wrestling.

Anyway, here are a bunch of pictures from both campgrounds:

The world's most perfect s'more - complete with dark chocolate

Sleepy girls

Preparing for breakfast

Fire! So easy a caveman can do it....

....just to heat up a couple of pop tarts.

Not as remote as it looks. We were right next door to a camper and across the street from the bathrooms.

A constant visitor - we don't have chipmunks in Kansas. Boo.

The stay at Prince Gallitzin was great. We were there for 3 nights. We got there much later than planned the first night, thanks to a missed exit on the good ol' Pennsylvania Turnpike, and we had to set the tent up in the dark. We finally laid down for the night, and were entertained annoyed by a couple of rowdy raccoons that were running amok around our tent and getting into our neighbor's stuff. They were squeaking and squawking and running around like maniacs for hours - we could actually hear them breathing and sniffing around the bottom of our tent at times. Then they disappeared just in time for the massive thunderstorm to roll in - so we were laying there, watching the lightning strike all around us, with horrible wind and a torrential downpour. At that point, I was pretty sure that we were all going to die - and all I could do was lay there on the air mattress and wait for lightning to strike a tree nearby to end our adventure. But, the storm only lasted an hour or two, and then stopped in time for us to sleep for maybe 2 hours before we had to get up again.

Our last night of camping was at Pinchot:

Jared helped The Dude to get firewood.

Pre-tent

Hard to believe that the huge tent fits in that tiny bag...

Someone got a little dirty...

Sunset over the lake

Hanging out in the tent

Sunrise through the tent

There were turtles EVERYWHERE in the morning.

For the first time camping with all of the kids, they really did great. They had a lot of fun and didn't argue and bicker too terribly much. They got bored at times and wanted to go run around, but we didn't have a lot of time so they didn't get to do too much other than hang out with us, but they seemed to enjoy it. They didn't even complain too much about having to sleep on the ground (ok, they had sleeping bags, so they weren't on the ground, but you know what I mean) and they all said that they would like to do it again. We're talking about camping again next year when we do TMOART:13 so we'll see what happens when that time comes!

Family Reunion (TMOART:12)

I figured that I'd actually put up a few pictures from the reunion. It was held at DelGrosso's Amusement Park in Tipton, PA. The park itself was nice - they had quite a few rides (but no big rollercoaster - boo) and a water park so we spent most of our time riding rides and getting wet because it was a hot day.

We got a prize!

My brother won (or lost?) a game and had to wear a "pair of bloomers"!

Cousins. Yep, I've always been short.

At least I was cute at one point in my life.

Emily coming down the slide on the left

Sarah on the right

The Dude - who skimmed across the water so far that he almost hit the other side of the pool!

Alex and me coming down the black slide

One of the best. pictures. ever.

All in all it was a fun day. We didn't get to visit with relatives as much as we should have but it would have been impossible to keep the kids in one place long enough to do that. But we got to at least say hi and get some pictures and do a little bit of visiting. After we got done there, we went back to my parents' house and that's when I ended up on the roof with my brother. Plans for next year's reunion are already being made - but I think we might rent a vehicle to go back the next time!

Playing on the roof (TMOART:12)

After the family reunion, we stopped back at my parents' house for a bit. We had only intended to stay for a short time so that we could get back to the campground for the kids to swim before bedtime, but that plan didn't work. When we got there, I found one of my brothers on the roof of the house.

ON. THE. ROOF.

OK, so he was cleaning the gutters and wasn't just up there playing around, but still....it looked like fun so I joined him for a bit. Heights have never bothered me, so I didn't even think about it while I was doing it. We cleaned out the gutters on the house, and then climbed up on the garage roof to do the same thing.

While I was up there, I missed the wildlife on the porch.

But I did get to see this beautiful little specimen who came to visit the day before the reunion.

Sadly, we didn't get to see any bears while we were there. We had The Dude all worried about getting eaten by a bear while we were camping, but we didn't see a single one on this trip. *sigh* Really about the only other wildlife that we dealt with was a couple of really rowdy raccoons the first night that we were camping. They were running amok around our tent for a couple of hours, squawking and getting into stuff at our neighbor's campsite - but of course we had left the camera in the van and didn't get any shots of them.

There's always next year.

Flight 93 National Memorial (TMOART:12)

One of our stops on vacation was at the Flight 93 National Memorial outside of Shenksville, PA. We hadn't planned on stopping there initially, but we realized how close we were after we missed an exit on the turnpike and saw signs for it. So on our way back west, we took the side trip to go see it.

It is in a gorgeous setting, and the memorial itself is simple and beautiful. I'm not exactly sure when it was built, but there were signs indicating that they are still working on it, and are looking to expand it a bit more. Trees are being planted around the area as well.

There was a place where visitors could leave notes.

And there were places along the wall where mementos could be left.

40 slabs of marble, each engraved with the name of a victim.

It's hard to see it, but after her name it says "and unborn child".

The boulder marks the location of the crash site.

The boulder as seen through the gate at the end of the wall.

The wall follows the plane's final flight path - the crash site is beyond the wooden gate. The site itself is closed to the public - only family members of the victims are allowed to go out there.

Wildflowers growing behind the wall

I am so glad that we got the chance to stop here. We see so much on the news about the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, but just not a whole lot about Flight 93. I learned quite a bit about it that I didn't know before, and although the kids didn't totally understand it, they will always remember being there.

Seeing the signs of renewal and reforestation on the landscape along with the symbols of hope left by visitors just reaffirmed in my mind that no matter how horrible a situation appears, something good can come out of it. It might not happen overnight, but it will eventually happen - if we are patient.

Daniel and The Dude - checking everything out together. Probably one of my favorite pictures from the entire trip.