And the thing is done....

The thing is done..that is what the narrator said at the end of the film about the building of the St. Louis Arch today. How fitting that is on the return of a cross country trip. After a 5 hour drive home, we crossed back into familiar Big Orange territory. We could finally put up the maps, and the truck pretty much drove itself home.
To summarize today's events, we visited the Arch. That was all good. Sharon and I had been there many, many years ago. Everyone declined the ride up in the tram, so we didn't stay long. It is an impressive site. Of course, we got lost and of course, we ended up in the ghetto. We had a brief view of the "for thine eye's only" hotel. Also, questions arose about "Fantasyland". I'm not sure, but it looked like the girl who slid down the margarita at Vegas walking down the street.

After the drive and the reflections of our trip, we pulled into our driveway and we were home again. The fat, lazy dog cried..honestly, he cried...and he wiggled a lot. The wiggling is unusual for him. He looked older than when we left. Perhaps our absence has made him age....I'd like to think so.

The bird went thru his entire repoitoire of words and whistles as if he had a command performance. He was very happy to see us. After all of the obligatory pets and rubs we were able to start unpacking.

And then some good friends pulled up to welcome us back home. What a great feeling to have good friends welcome you home after a long sojourn. We made some great acquaintenances on the road. There is nothing, however, to compare to the people that know you. They know your first and last name. They know your dog's name. They know what your bird's nips mean. We briefly shared some stories about the Vegas parking lot fiasco, some campgrounds we visited and plans for the future. After a month of adventure and unknown, it was nice to be where people know your name....and the fat, lazy dog cried yet again.

As the night grew short and they drove down our driveway, the wife and I stood in the drive waving goodbye and we heard something unusual. We stood momentarily and savoured the sounds of the crickets, OUR crickets. Those are sounds that people pay a lot of money for to hear on a soundmachine. And that harmony is not everywhere. They are not in the captivating canyons of Palo Duro. They are not on the shores of the Pacific. They are not in the mountains of Yellowstone or Yosemite.
But, the crickets harmonize perfectly here in my very own driveway. It's not a tourist attraction to sell tickets to, there are no lines and no magnets to collect, but to us, tonite.. they chirp in the muggy nite air, after a rain. They sing of the free admission to a nite's rest in your very own bed in a home that smells like you.
We have taken 100's, maybe thousands of pictures on this outwest trip. Some are very striking, I laid them out as I wanted them. They are pictures of my family that will be passed on long after our lives.
Tomorrow, I will begin sifting thru the files to find which ones to print. .But tonite, here at our home, this is probably the most meaningful of them all:


To summarize the experience is not easy. I can tell you this: despite what we hear on media and read about, the world is still good. It is beautiful, endearing and made up of so many great souls; some are not like us at all, but each sould brings a gift. I encourage you to go find them and see their gifts and share yours with them. You only get one chance to do it. Don't wait till you have the money or the time, or you'll never do it.
For the record, we drove 6,500 miles. Camped 24 nites in 13 states. We paid $1,667.00 for diesel.
Thank you for following our family during this awesome time of our life. We have had some great messages left in the guestbook and by email. Thanks for taking the time out of your day to see how our day was. It meant a lot to know that we had friends, and some aquaintenances we didn't know, sign our guestbook and participate in the trip.
Now..it's your turn. Have the faith, step out....and meet the world outside of yours. See the brave men that formed your life today. See the rawness of the United States that still exists and know it's beauty. See the brave women that gave their life at Oklahoma City bombing to save others. See YOUR world....

And the narrator closed the blog with the simple, but meaningful statment:

And the thing is done.

God's love,

Mark, Sharon, Katie and Anthony

**This will be my last entry in this blog.
Mark

Beginning our final approach......

Passengers, we are beginning our final approach into West Tennessee.
We will be changing our flight plan and taking an alternate landing strip due to the pilot's desire to get in one more state, that state being Illinois rather than overniting two nites in Missouri.
As we begin our final approach back into the balmy 95 degree weather, we would like to thank each of you for your patronage and patience during this flight. We are aware that we had bad head winds to endure, there was a slight delay at one stop due to pilot error of leaving his credit card at the pump, there was another delay due to tire malfunctions and we did have the cracked windshield that made the pilot nervous. There were also times that the passengers became violent and pointed a peanut butter laden butter knife at the other and called each other stupid and wouldn't stop touching each other and staring at the other one. The passengers even bordered on terroristic activity by singing "I know a song that get's on everybody's nerves" over and over and over. It was noted that the passengers did apologize and they appeared to enjoy the flight thereafter.
But despite these times of turbulance, the pilot has seen the massive smiles on the faces of his passengers. He has watched his passengers learn how to setup and takedown the craft without much assistance. He has laughed as much at his passengers as with his passengers. He has watched his passengers endure extremely long flights without much complaint as they watched the onboard movie and ate the complimentary gummy worms, beef jerky and cookies.
This was the pilot's and crew's longest flight, overniting in 13 states in 24 nites. He has stared in awe, with his passengers at many things that God has placed on this earth. The pilot and his crew have played in the cool waters of the Pacific ocean, sat in the bottom of a canyon at nite as the stars illuminated the canyon walls, ridden the hills and valley's of Yellowstone park in a 1936 bus, stopped for a buffalo to cross the road, stood in awe at the reminders of a city bombing, stared at the granite walls of Yosemite, unable to take it all in. One passenger panned for gold. They watched a girl slide into a very large beverage, they drove on historic route 66. They camped under an orange tree. The pilot has met so many new pilots and navigators on overnite stops and values thier acquaintenances.
The pilot would like to thank his navigator for her excellent navigational intuition. There were times when the pilot would be unsure of direction of vehicle or of choice, but the navigator would searach her maps and itenerary then, give sound advice to help guide the craft into the correct lane for the passengers and crew. Also, when the passengers weren't looking the navigator would hold the pilot's hand; we realized that might have broken company policy for fraterization in the craft. Also, the navigator has done an excelllent job of multi-tasking as she has also kept the linnen stocked and the pantry full. None of the passengers or the pilot has had to go hungry on this flight.
The pilot has enjoyed having his crew along during this time of rest without thought to mowing his yard or having to endure the rigors of daily life. During extremely long flights and not many mountains or clouds to distract him, the pilot has gained insight into his life and even made future plans.
All in all, the pilot is very happy with this flight and the elements it has brought to his and the passenger's lives. If he were asked to make this long flight again, the pilot would resoundingly agree to do it all again and not change a thing.
So, we ask that you please stow your bottled water and your gummy worms, I see your belts are already fastened, so just relax and enjoy the views of the Mid South area as we begin our final approach. You'll notice out of your right window you will see the Pyramid in Memphis, Tennessee. You'll notice out of your left window you'll see the state's capital, Music City and the beautiful city of Nashville, Tennessee. Straight ahead, the pilot can see the quaint city in Tennessee where his family resides. The industrial and commercial growth is very evident at th area along I40 and Pringles Park. He even can recognize the hot dog stand outside of Lowes that he enjoys getting a hot dog with his son on Saturdays. Also, he sees the park where he takes his children and enjoys riding his bike with his daughter.He sees his church...he see's his family and friends, he sees his home that he shares with his navigator of 23 years....
We do have one more overnight somewhere in the corner of Illinois as we'll begin our final approach back into our very blessed lives with our friends and family.
We thank you for flying with http://www.usandthekids.com/,
The pilot...

For the fires in South Lake Tahoe.......

We, as a family, want to take a moment to express our sadness and prayers for those in South Lake Tahoe where the fires are burning. That was a beautiful place and we were privelaged to spend the nite there one week ago. We hope that everyone remains safe, especially our hosts that we befriended Bob and Cathy.

Mark, Sharon, Katie and Anthony.....

Crazy Horse Monument

This shot puts it sheer size in perspective. When it is finished, it will (according to them) be the tallest monument in the world. I caught this shot as I waited in line to pay for the souveniers. The Indian pottery in the window nicely framed out the monument in the distance.
I was bending down to take a picture of the model and noticed that if I moved around...I could align the model with the actual monument in the background.
Katie...hard at work...see the sweat busting out?? AND her hair looks good!!

KATIE: Hey ya’ll! {I miss hearing people say that.} Yellowstone was great, but it still doesn’t compare to Yosemite. It could have been a little better if the remains of burnt trees weren’t scattered everywhere that you look. They looked like a bunch of sewing pins. Anyways, I think my favorite part was the Midway Geyser Basin. It’ like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It looks like you could dip a plain white T-shirt into it and it would come out Tie-Die. What made it even more thrilling was the wind and steam almost blowing me into the bacterial mats, but it was fun. The funniest part was the Elk ordeal. That guy needed to get a life. He reminded me of Napoleon Dynamite with an attitude problem. Oh yeah, this was also the first time I had seen a bear in the wild before. It scared me when he walked onto the ledge beside the camper like he was planning an aerial attack or something, but he was cute, in a way.
Next big thing we went to was Mt. Rushmore. It was smaller than I thought it would be. It was very detailed, down to the allusion of Teddy’s glasses. We went back at night and saw the “light show”, or should I say movie with a big light. It was still good though. After we went to Rushmore, we went to Crazy Horse Memorial. I couldn’t really tell exactly how big it was because we never drove up too close to it. I could tell it was pretty “honkin’”. Other than that that almost wraps up my sight-seeing, except for the Gateway Arch. I hope I’m not forced to go up in it. I don’t mind the heights. It’s just that I heard that you have to ride in a scrunched up elevator to get there and I’m claustrophobic.
I’m yawning myself to sleep so I have to go. I’ll see everybody when I get back.
SHARON: It’s so much fun to read what the kids say in our blog. I’m always surprised by what they say and amazed at some of their insights. It makes a mom proud.
Well, we are definitely on our last leg of our tour. That last sentence sounds like it came from someone who’s been on vacation too long. This is Sunday night and we should be home Wednesday. Somehow the awesomeness of the sights we are seeing seems to be winding down also. Not that Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse aren’t awesome, but somehow man’s handiwork can never compare to that of God’s handiwork as in the Pacific Ocean, Yosemite, Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon or the Rocky Mountains. The thing I enjoyed most about the Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse Memorials were the stories behind them.
As Katie mentioned, the St. Louis Arch is our last planned sight-seeing stop. I’m with her about not entering the arch, but not for the same reason. I can handle the claustrophobic elevators, it’s the height I can’t take anymore. Mark and I went up there before we had children many years ago before my height fright developed.
Although we are still having a good trip and everyone is still getting along amazingly well, I have to say, I think we are all looking forward to seeing Jackson, friends, family and mostly home, again. These trips are great but they also make you appreciate “home sweet home”.
Thanks to all of our friends and family for your help, encouragement, comments on our website, and prayers. I don’t think our adventure would have gone nearly so well without all these. If you like travel, my fondest wish for you is that you can one day do what we are doing and see this amazing country of ours. We don’t realize how blessed we are in this country to have such a diverse land. God has put astounding wonders right here in the U.S. for us to enjoy and take care of. All of the different people you can meet is a huge part of the fun also. If you ever get the chance to see some of this country, just go for it. You’ll not regret it. See you soon, Sharon.

Mark: They explained it well. Thing I don't get is this: WHY AIN'T NOBODY HELPING THIS FAMILY???

I'll just say this: this was started by a man from Boston with Polish decent, in the 1940's. After seeing Mount Rushmore, the Indian chief then asked him to build it in honor of all the Indian heritage.

The builder worked all on his own, until he married, had 10 children, and they helped until his death. Now those children are working on it full time. There was no mention of any other groups/tribes working on it.

I asked a young Indian lady who I paid for the souveniers about it.

My question to her: Is anyone else helping this family build this???

Her answer: "no"

My question: "can anyone help them?"

Her answer: "I dunno"

My question: "Do any of the tribes help this family?"

Her answer: "I dunno, that'll be $52.50 please"

hmmmmm

Maybe there is more to this than was visible. I sure hope so.....

Regardless, it's worth seeing, if nothing more than the sheer size of it all. It's HUGE.....

Oh, that'll be $25.00 to park please. :)

Sidenote that this KOA that we are staying at in Sioux Falls, South Dakota has the most blazing interent speed of anything I have ever used. I mean, it's faster than our cable at home, DSL, or the T1 at work. It's amazing. It's just like turning a page in a book. No time at all to sip coffee... haha

Mount Rushmore....

Slowly but surely the compass on the mirror has turned southeast leading us towards home. Yesterday, out of the blue, we're driving, just following the road, having a good day and I note the sun on the right side of the truck. We haven't driven south for any reason in quite awhile and it was odd. As the compass pointed west, we had thoughts of adventure and the unknown and seeing places we've never seen.
As the compass points us towards home, I have to admit, there was a sort of lift in spirits.

Back to a normal life. Back to work. Back to people we know. Back to hear the bird say "haaay baby bird" when we all wake up in the morning. Back to the fat lazy dog that greets us as we drive up then he slips back into his coma. Back to our world.

We will miss this roadie life though. Never knowing where/who/what will happen in the day. Getting up, packing up. Having the kids ask "where are we tonite?" "what are we gonna see today?" We are camped at Rafter J in Hills City South Dakota. Nice campground, very nice actually. To be honest, my only beef is NO SIGNS..None. I mean even Bob's campground has signs splattered all over the interstate. That, combined with getting directions from Jessica Simpson at the front desk, led us around in circles for a second. But, after we got here, it is a very very nice place to spend the nite.

Yesterday, we stopped for gas at Gillette, Wyoming. I got out to see what pump would be best to align ourself with because it was so crowded.

This young lady, in very very tight black t-shirt and blonde hair, dye #13, came JIGGLING across the parking lot waavvving at ME! Honest, my first thought was: I'm being picked up by a truckstop cutie..hey! ALRIGHT.. I must still have it, middle-aged bald man..it's nice to still be apprecia.....

"HONEY, I noticed as you passed us that you've left the steps down on your camper" she said.

Well, that put my life right back into the perspective I thought that it was. I thanked her, wiped the mile wide grin off of my face, and eased around to raise the steps back up...and take the keys out of the door.

Now, to this hour, nobody in our camper admits to leaving the steps down. But, I do admit to leaving the keys in the door, but I wasn't the last one out the door. That is a good set of key's that'll travel 100 miles in the door at 65 mph.

But for one still moment, it was good to feel like you still have it. Isn't it incredible how unashamedly shallow that we men can be?

It was great to finallly get onto some straight road! These rolling hills of South Dakota are easy to drive on. Not too steep to not use cruise control, not too flat to be boring. It was a nice drive: serenaded by XM Patsy Cline, clear blue 102 degree skies, wife reading a book, kids vegged in the back seat, me blinking lights to let trucks and campers know they can get in, hauling our ice cream, lasagna, all of our clothes, new t shirts and souveniers, our potty, our small potted gardenia named Shirley Jane that we took from home, our present life secured in the camper attached to our rear bumer. Nobody is sick, everybody slept, the tank is full, no headwinds, have reservations at a campground, all was good with the world. All of our family at home is well. Our lives are surely blessed..

Then, reality struck and Katie was jarred out of this deep sleep by Anthony for no apparant reason, exept his boredom, and the ensuing throw-down put my life back into perspective just like the truck-stop cutie situation did. She was in no mood for play. That's teenager harrassment, DON'T DO IT.. She had stayed up late talking at the campground with a girl she met named Brooke. She was her age and they had a lot in common. They text now as the girl is back on the road to Alaska with her family.

We visited Mount Rushmore yesterday and went back at nite for the services.Very humbling indeed to see such grandour for 4 important men that formed our country. I thought it important to note the time gap between Teddy Roosevelt and the others. Which made me ponder the thought:

If we were to either add a face or start a new one,

WHO WOULD WE THINK IMPORTANT ENOUGH THAT IMMORTALIZE THEM BY CARVING THEIR FACE INTO A MOUNTAIN???

That lead to great conversation over very expensive tourist ice cream on the way back to the campground. My daughter, Norma Rae in the back seat, asked why it had to be a man? We talked about who had made what contributions to our life that would warrant such a thing.
Paris Hilton quickly got tossed out of the possibilities.

We are headed to Crazy horse today and overniting in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Hope all of you reading this are having a great Sunday and enjoying God's gifts in your life.

Mark

Driving from Montana to Wyoming.....

Anthony: Cooke city was a really neat place….and old. Like the stuff they used back then was really neat. Like the cash registers were neat because they have a lot of buttons. (he is SOOO my son. LOL) And then the lodge was great. I really liked the cabin because it had a kitchen in it. The rest was like a regular hotel room, but it was in a cabin.
I feel tired for two reasons: the first is I pushed 12 teenagers and two first graders on a merry go round tonite. And the other is that I’ve been sitting in the back seat for a long time. I’ve also aggrevated my sister in the back seat by touching her when I know it makes her mad.
On the merry go round thing, that was here at the KOA and not the lodge.
When I get home, I’m probably going to say “I missed you” to everything in my house. And then unpack.
When we arrive at the campsite, the first thing I do is put the chucks under the tires, then I sometimes I raise the camper up with the electric jack, and then put the stabilizer pads down and it’s not that simple. You have to use a crank on each and every one of them. And, sometimes I help Katie pull out the slide. And sometimes I help daddy hook up the electricity and sewage. Electricity alright..sewage not fun. Obviously you have to plug in the electricity in an outlet outside the camper. And the sewage is more complicated. And you have to put this cap on the sewer thingy when we unhook. Most of the time I unload the lawn chairs and reload them.
Life inside this camper is a little dirty, a little crowded but it’s good and the beds area a liiiitle bit uncomfortable. But besides the bad things like that, I like it because it’s better for quality time and not tv or video time. (OH MY HEART BEATS PROUDLY HERE says daddy, cause he said that himself)

Mark:Well, folks the troops are getting weary..I believe it is because, as I said earlier, that we don't sleep well in the higher climates. One day we'll be 7500 feet, then the next lower, then the next high again. So, overall we're not getting much rest lately. We notice the difference more when we lay down at nite, we just all sort of wake up out of breath at different times of the nite. It was really bad at Cooke City. Bunch of whiners!

Regardless of being out of breath sometimes, we have gone a long long way. The family has done fantastic. Good thing we all love each other, haha. Makes it easier to take the smells of each other after a hike and cooped up in 100 degree weather . LOL. We have made some memories that we'll have the rest of our lives.

Today was a nice drive over from Cooke City. Went thru MORE windy mountain roads. Up to 9000 feet. There were fewer trees at that height, the temp was 70 and just the terrain itself looked different. Not many people either. I can see why with all the winding roads, falling rocks, mudslides, no air. But, if you can live thru it, it is worth it.

This photo was taken in Granite Pass, WY. It was at 9000 feet. I held my breath and took the picture. haha. not really. There are miles and miles of these blue flowers, I believe are hyacinths.

Out of all of the states and places that we have been, Monatana and Wyoming are the "rawest". I mean, it's what you think of with a John Wayne movie. There are 1000's of miles with nothing but a two lane road, lots of dirt, no grass, some sad looking cattle and a few rivers. I know that sounds bleak, but it is beautiful...absolutley beautiful and untarnished by man's hands. Personally, once I got used to the hypoxia of the heights, I could stay out here awhile longer and leave my camera and this laptop at home, no cell either..ok, maybe some XM radio. haha. But when you spend a lil time out here, you realize how your life is covered by things and stuff.

Anyway, in no particular order, here are some pix of this great stretch of land between Sheridan Wyoming and Cooke City, Montana.

Welcome to Cooke City, Monatana.

After we left the park, we landed here for the nite, in Cooke City....
First, I would like you too meet Rose; Rose is the 61st resident of an American treasure called Cooke City, Montana. This enchanting little place is the second stop that you come to after you leave the east exit of the Yellowstone National Park. Except for this wifi here, I would say that Cooke City has been, pleasantly, left behind.
Rose is the only daughter of Lee and Yoki. Now, when I first saw this man with this thing wrapped around his front, I really wasn’t sure what was going on. After all, I had just witnessed bear and elk and bison roaming around and I was tired. Anything could have been in that sack; his lunch, tools, but it turns out that it was his daughter Rose and she was sleeping calmly. Sleeping like a baby indeed while her loving daddy calmly worked the flowerbeds outside of the restaurant where her mother is a waitress. He works the flowerbeds of the Beartooth Café on Main Street. On main street, the only street,
We are staying in a small cabin at the Elk Horn Lodge. See more at http://www.elkhornlodgemt.com/ It is owned by Jason and Suzy. Two wonderful children Silas and Stella bring contentment to the lodge. There is nothing like a little girl, donned in bicycle helmet and carrying a box of chalk on her arm like a purse, to put things in perspective. Well, maybe the brief rainbow over the town did add some finishing touches to her ensemble. This family is the quintessential hosts. We had a small problem, that was quickly and happily corrected by Jason. A wonderful place to visit maybe, but as for me, I could easily spend a week or two in the Elk Horn Lodge. I hope that people passing thru would stop in for at least one night.
Jason tells me some interesting things about this area as we sit outside in the late evening sunlite. He says that in the summer, the days are much shorter, even to the point that it starts getting dark around 3 pm. Partly due to the sun setting behind the mountains and the town falling into the shade. He confirms my chicken theory and says that they do crow at 4 am; despite the confusing daylight times. He also says that the tourists come here in the winter to ride snow mobiles up the bank behind us. I think to myself “well how stupid is that?” Then… I remember, vividly, driving my 1981 Toyota four wheel drive up a bank that resembled that one. Heck, I remember driving into a snow bank and getting stalled. My buddy Larry pulled me out, then…I pulled back into the same spot just to get a picture.. And he pulled me back out again. So..I guess driving a snow mobile straight up a bank isn’t that odd after all.
We had a great supper at the Beartooth café. I had my first buffalo burger , she said it was Montana Buffalo. She laughed when I asked if the potato chips next to the burger were buffalo chips. Surely she had heard that one. Then we had a chocolate crepe. A chocolate crepe filled with moose tracks ice cream, then covered with caramel sauce and bananas. mmmmmm
It was pretty amazing for Tennessee people to be sitting here, eating buffalo burgers with snow in the background in JUNE!
The Cooke City Store is on the National Register of Historic Places. More can be seen at http://www.cookecitystore.com/
The screen doors slam shut behind you as you walk through the door. Instantly your senses take you back to many years ago to when the Yellowstone busses probably stopped by here. Next to my grandfather’s house was a store exactly like this one; same smell, sounds. Many of you would remember the sound of the slamming screen door, the creaky wooden floors, rounded glass counters with samples in front of what was in the bin. Open wooden bins of fresh fruit/and candy. A cash register that still works by hand crank and you manually count the change back. Items lined on the shelf just a few. I had to tell my kids about they may hear someone say “can you check in the back?” when they didn’t see what they want. These are the stores that made that phrase. They only had room for 4 or 5 of anything, so, often there would be an empty spot and the customer would ask the owner to “check in the back” for more. Today…it’s all open as in Wal Mart and there is no more “check in the back”.

The dogs….. Everybody out here has dogs. One met me at a place of business when I walked in, a beautiful Alaskan Malamute. Another was this dog. He was outside of the Hoosier Bar. He seemed pretty content while he waited outside and listened to the laughter and fun than came from the open windows.We are headed somewhere else today. haha, not sure where. We are a little groggy this am. The 7500 feet altitude, for us flat-landers, is harder to breathe in. We just don't sleep as well in it. Same was at Flagstaff, same elevation and we didn't sleep well there either.
See ya'll soon,
Mark and co...