Posting from the Road

OK...just to clarify...there were many crickets outside the hotel (almost every hotel in town--if you can believe that)...but out room was not over run. We all ran inside and went right to bed as Minnie quietly repeated to herself, "Imagine a clean non-cricket place".

Hey. Every traveler needs their stories--cricket-itis is certainly one of ours:)
We woke early and got on the road.

We are just 1 hour away from Albequerque...having exited Oklahoma, driven through Texas and now cruising through New Mexico. This is the loooong more desert-like stretch of the ride. The scenery is the same with cattle and horses every now and then. We've driven for miles without seeing much civilization. It is wide open out here.

1700 Miles into this trip and we are all still having fun together, singing, laughing, looking out the windows and looking forward to our arrival tomorrow.

That is it for now. We'll post some pictures later.

Enjoy your day!
The Mom

the 7 plagues?

i'm really sick today. because i have cricket-itis. there are crickets in our hotel room and there are crickets in the bathroom and there are crickets in the bed and there are crickets outside and there are crickets in TWINKLE'S HAIR!

it's pretty gross. so, i think we want to get out of this hotel pretty bad. i'm not feeling well. because i have cricket-itis. see you later!

minnie


p.s. here are some pictures

The Chronicles of Chip

Umm. Well. I haven't really posted yet. So, this will be the first time.

Hi, my name's Chip. I'm really not supposed to post today.

The car ride today was most unexpectedly short! You may not have known, but I love car rides. Especially since our dog, One Cent, was sitting right next to me. She barely moved at all. Of course, she was most clingy to Twinkle (it always is Twinkle). It must be some distinct relationship.

The scenery was like Alagasia. That's from Eragon. It's a really good book. If you haven't read the book, let me tell you about Alagasia. It is a beautiful country. It's green, woody, hilly, chilly, willy, warm, rocky.


Well, that's it.

Sorry. I don't really like blogs. They're not my favorite activity. They take up so much time. What's the point of all that? You can write for twenty minutes and only come up with one right word. This, well, took me 12 minutes.

End of book one.

Chip

Deep Country

Greetings from Nashville.. we made it this far on the first day. the GPS says 631.7 miles (to be precise). first time for me. absolutely beautiful drive, nice looking country side; i've been to alot of great places in this country but haven't seen much of the 'interior' U.S.

Surprised about that? don't be; most of us immigrants have naturally migrated toward the Coasts.. so far, everyone has been really swell. i think the stunning wife and kids and interesting looking dog have disarmed everyone we meet...

tomorrow, we're thinking of the same routine: wake really early, drive a good chunk, get in a hotel early to let the kids run wild, then early to bed etc.. we'll ease the intensity once we hit day 3 and saunter into town (that's the plan anyway)..

speaking of hotels, allow me to plug one we found along our journey today. it's called Drury Inn and Suites (or Hotels) . frankly, based on this one visit, it's the absolutely BEST VALUE i've experienced in hotel.. as an unpaid endorsement, let me outline the ways:

1) pets allowed - NO CHARGE (we called no less than 3-5 hotels and almost all have an upcharge - some in the $100s!)
2) breakfast buffet - NO CHARGE - not 'continental', but real cooked eggs etc.. (for a family of six, that's about a $50 breakfast - at least the way we eat - yes, yes, Susan, i know you eat for less
3) SUITE - two rooms (really, two rooms), 2 Queens, living room, fridge, ceramic tile etc. this means that we don't have to get 2 separate rooms (by 'fire code') saving us the bill for another room.
4) Indoor/Outdoor pool - you know, the ones that that kids (and dads) like to swim with a wall separator?
5) free WIFI/Internet access
6) Free local and long distance calls ! (LD is for an hour)
7) finally, the rooms are as nice as any name brand - yes, even as nice as Marriott
8) drum roll please, finally, the price - all of the above for $107 tonight (AAA rate)..

i was thinking it would cost $250 plus a night.. how cool is that!!!

ok... enough rambling.. i think the meds are kicking in... we appreciate everyone's prayers for our travels. i think Mom and T have been fighting a sickness since they got home from the youth retreat so i would ask that you lift them up for healing and good health. we have been talking about how much we bask in the richness of our life back home and miss you all.

only grace,
dad

On the road......

almost....


The car is loaded, the kids are sleeping (almost), 'fun bags' are packed and goodbyes have been said, and said, and said.

Going to Phoenix isn't so hard, but leaving takes time.

We expect to pull out Friday morning at 3AM.

Thank you for your prayers for our safe travels and health for the whole gang.

We will miss you all but are excited and full of faith for the next adventure.

Next post...from the road!!

~the mom

Looking to the last week.

Tomorrow is our last sunday at church.

Hard to believe we are officially in the week of 'lasts'.

And amazingly we are also on the' lasts' of our to-do list.

Amazing.

Really.

See many of you tomorrow!

~The Mom

One Cent and shipping day

This is One Cent, the dog:


"Woof! Woof woof woof woof! WOOFWOOFWOOFWOOF!"

(translation: "Yo! Don't listen to anyone who tells you I don't do anything except sleep BECAUSE THAT IS NOT TRUE!")

Today is the ship-off day. Seventeen boxes (the number grows every time I turn around) are off to the post office to be shipped to Phoenix. Whew! All our books and games are being put in the hands of complete strangers to be sorted, directed, shipped, sorted, put in trucks, sorted, and, finally, delivered. Double whew!

Fridays are great, aren't they? During the school year, Fridays mean late nights and late mornings. They also mean two whole days off of school. During the summer, Fridays are still special to me. They are very exciting. Friday. Say it in a detective-like voice. Friday. Sweet.


Twinkle

Cough..cough..sniff...sniff....

No, we all aren't crying about leaving....but we all do have some sort of gross virus going on. Some of us are quite congested and some of us are quite sneezy.

Please pray we would all be well soon.

Thanks,
The Mom (currently, 'Sneezy')

Yes, Children, School will happen in Arizona too....

Today is the day. My personal "drop date" for packing all of my school book boxes. I packed 13 (that's right--13) medium sized boxes of books for our year in Phoenix.


And yes, I will be ordering more from amazon later this week, but they will go right to our house in phoenix.

I am guessing bookcases will be one of our first purchases.

Somehow it will feel more like home if I am surrounded by my books.

So.

Yes.

School will happen in Phoenix, too.

~the Mom

The Suitcases have Descended

The suitcases are down from the attic. All five-hundred of them. There are actually, to be precise, fourteen suitcases.

Seems like a lot of suitcases? Let me remind you that there are six people and a dog, three of the people are girls who like to (ahem) pack a lot. We have to bring our clothes, our shoes, our toothbrushes and hairbrushes, our favorite books, some kitchen supplies, our cameras, our phones, our snacks, our GPS, our Ipod, our computers and all the wires that go with them, our dog, our dog's crate (folded down, of course), our dog's food, wallets, sunglasses, golf clubs, our few cds, a cd player or two, and, oh yeah, let's not forget OURSELVES! :)

So, you see? A few measly suitcases and a couple backpacks are pretty minimal for all that junk.

Hi, my "name" is Twinkle. Cute, huh? I picked it out myself. And I picked out this day to post. Everyone in the family picked a day except Dad. The schedule is below:

Monday: Chip
Tuesday: Minnie
Wednesday: Mom
Thursday: Mickey
Friday: Me, of course!

Okay, so I think I should explain the "PhoeNAMenal Days" name.

"Phoe" stands for Phoenix, the city in the state we are temporarily moving to.

The rest should be obvious. And my family and I really have PhoeNAMenal days!

Sorta confusing, I know. Sorry.


Twinkle

Intros and such

To our friends and family who desire to waste some more time reading ANOTHER blog from persons of minor import in the greater scheme of things.

For anyone who is confused, we are using pseudonyms to protect the guilty and related parties should be able to figure out the real characters:
Mom
Dad
"Twinkle"
"Chip"
"Minnie"
"Mickey"
and our dog, One Cent

This is our attempt to simplify the process of sharing our experience with those across country during this adventure.

2 weeks to go and.....

we have a new house. here is a pic of the front. you don't want to see the inside yet, because this could be a house for the 'Flip this House' episode.