Wednesday, July 15

Driving. That's all today was. A whole lot of driving. We actually didn't do 470 miles, but instead did 480-so miles instead. The scenery, though, was fabulous. We have now breached the vast expanse of land that is the Great Plains. However, given its current state, it was more plain-like in the Kevin Costner's "Dances with Wolves" - era Great Plains, like in the movie. But enough of that. We are in Iowa, just across the border from Omaha, Nebraska. We have a beautiful campsite alongside a lake, with a cornfield just to the east of us. Poplars are the most numerous tree, but the occasional willow droops down to grace the park.

Tomorrow, we will drive 400 miles to the city of Interior, South Dakota, which lies in the Badlands. It is close in proximity to Mount Rushmore, so expect to hear from us soon on that subject. Aside from completely different scenery than the Great Plains, tomorrow will be quite similar today: with miles to go before we sleep. By the way, Mrs. Fitzpatrick, you asked me how I got the chinese characters on the blog post; the answer lies in Google Translate. I understand that you are adopting a Chinese girl, and Google Translate could be an extremely helpful tool for you. All you have to do is search up "Google translate" on Google, and click on the first search result that is not highlighted in a peach color, and then use the tool to your heart's content. Now, as Koreans say, 안녕히 가세요. Or, in English, goodbye.

Tuesday, July 14

Sorry for my extremely negative attitude yesterday. It really wasn't that bad yesterday. Anyway, today was definitely great. I mean, didn't you know? Obama, the Great Messiah, President of the United States, was throwing the first pitch at the All Stars game at Busch Stadium in St. Louis - today! Isn't that exciting? Not really, when you look at the spending plan he announced in Michigan just a few hours before. Anyway, forget politics. We got to see the Gateway Arch!

We got up for a leisurely breakfast, and proceeded to leave at about 9:30. We got to St. Louis about 30 minutes later, where we took a few wrong turns, but eventually got parked and could visit the Arch at leisure. We took a couple pictures, and then went down into the underground complex, where we bought tickets for a 45-minute movie about Lewis and Clark's expedition out west, and the tram ride to the top. The movie really was spectacular. We watched it on an IMAX style screen, and the footage of the West was simply astonishing to me. The top of the Arch, however, was a completely different story.

The land stretched out east and west as far as the eye could see. It really is that flat out west. Anyway, it was astounding, although the fact that the "land" was mostly concrete, steel, and asphalt. That's how big St. Louis is. Regardless, it still inspired. We followed up the Arch with a lunch at Tigin's Irish pub. Hunger and a lust for heights now sated, we proceed to leave the big city for camp. Once back, Philip, Dad, and I hung around while Mom shopped for groceries. Dinner was good - we had tacos. After dinner, life slowed down a bit as Philip went to bed, and I started on today's post. So, that's a wrap for today! Tomorrow, we drive 470 miles, to Iowa, where we'll be staying for one night as a simple stopping point before we hit South Dakota on the next day. As they say in Chinese, 再見. Or, in English, goodbye.

Monday, July 13

Hi, guys! It's Spencer again, reporting from the heartland of America; thaaat's right, folks - we're in St. Louis!!! Tomorrow, we'll be visiting the Gateway Arch! However, before we visit that section of the trip, we must go over today's events - as incredibly boring as they are. It really is no big story. We got up around 6:00, stretched, and packed up after a minute breakfast. Yawn. Even the road was boring. Especially the road. We started driving, and we didn't stop until lunch, which was about four hours from the start. After lunch, we had about one hour until we reached our campsite. It really is a great campsite. It's got great showers, and streets so clean you could eat off them. In short, in was even more boring than today. Great, but boring. I really am sorry for my pessimistic attitude, but I was simply telling the truth from my own point of view. As they say in Russian, До свидания. Or, in English, goodbye.

Sunday, July 12

Hello again, everybody! We visited Mammoth Cave today, which was a simply stunning natural creation. We got up quite early, around 6:15, and had breakfast. Around 7:30, we left the campground, driving a short way to the Visitor Center of Mammoth Cave National Park. We inquired about tickets, and decided that the New Entrance Tour would be the best choice. It was affordable, fun, and showed the astonishing immensity of the caverns while keeping in a short, easy tour. Many pictures were taken, several "oohs" were "ahhed," and so on and so forth.

After going to Mammoth Cave, we stopped at Big Mike's Rock Shop, apparently the biggest rock shop in Kentucky. We bought a few rough rocks to tumble back at home, and left for camp shortly after. Staying at camp for lunch held no surprises; we got back, fixed a few sandwiches, and hung around for a few hours before driving to Bowling Green, where we bought a few essentials for the camper and the cameras. Finally, our last stop in Bowling Green was Rafferty's, a great restaurant with great food (and sugary martinis, one of which made Dad pucker quite a bit, much to the laughter of us all).

Following our jaunt in Bowling Green, we made it back to camp in one piece. I got the flag down from the camper and stored it away, getting back inside shortly afterwards. And, as it happened, not a moment too soon. About ten minutes later, all hell broke loose, in the form of a monstrous thunderhead. Soon enough, lightning was cracking all around, and thunder was booming loudly. One or two trees broke down, but no damage occurred to our camper (thank God).

That concludes the day's events. However, there's one thing I wish to mention before signing off. I'm finding it extremely difficult and frustrating to upload pictures from our cameras to Picasa, a site which has a link on our blog. Ergo, I'll instead email the pictures to you all while I figure out Picasa in the meantime. As they say in German, auf Weidersehen, und gute nacht. For those who don't know German very well, it means "goodbye, and good night."

Saturday, July 11

Well, I'm back. That's right, it's Spencer and company reporting from Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park campground, at Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. Today, we drove an exhaustingly long 8 hours and 55 minutes, from Pulaski, VA to Cave City, KY, and we managed to achieve a fairly suitable spot in the camp after much wear and tear. We set up reasonably quickly, cooked up some spaghetti, and dried our sleeping bags in "Yogi Bear's Laundry Room." Throwing pretense and facades to the four winds, it was a difficult morning, while the afternoon was bearable. We woke up around 6:30, and left camp by 7:20. Afterwards, we dealt with rainshowers, intense fog, and sleepiness in the back seat (as if that was a problem). Following a wake-up call of donuts, chocolate milk, and coffee, purchased at a West Virginia truck stop, we all woke up and dug in eagerly.

Philip has requested that I share something with you all. Shortly after he received the gift of a brand-new Nikon digital camera, he announced himself the official photographer of the trip. Therefore, once we post a link to Picasa Web Albums on the blog, we can share as many photos with you guys as we like. Signing off after a 425-mile drive, this is Spencer Paige. Adieu.

The boys start the trip!

Yesterday, Sunday, we took the boys to Powhatan Boy Scout Camp, where they will stay for the week. They won't come back home until after our trip. The camp is located in SW Virginia, so Mark and I will leave on Friday with the camper, drive up to a campground near Powhatan, pick up the boys Sat. morning and be on our way.

Philip cracked a good joke right as this picture was taken yesterday. Not seen in the picture, my brother-in-law found Philip's cap from the French Broad River in his car, and pulled it out. Philip remarked, "Oh, there's a French Broad in Uncle Ken's car!"

We had a big family party here this weekend, because it was my 5-0 birthday on Saturday!!! I'm still alive and kicking. Hence, the Uncle Sam hat...

We have a lot of work to do this week to get ready. However, with no peanut butter sandwiches to make or squabbles to settle, it all should go smoothly.

Thursday, July 2

Hello again, everyone! This is Spencer, announcing that everything is done (preparation-wise), except for stocking the camper with food and other supplies, a task which is currently underway. Philip and I just finished cleaning, waxing, and detailing the truck today. By the way, I've put up a new gadget at the bottom of this page which shows you our schedule for the whole summer. It may be rough, but this is my first time at administrating a blog, so . . . I'll see what I can do to clean it up a bit. In the meantime, stay tuned to the blog so you can catch all the details once the trip starts. Goodbye, everybody. The family says hello!