So far…

We have:

Gotten unloaded and somewhat unpacked.

Gotten our phone and internet!

Attended a park day with our homeschool group and met some new folks.

Gotten our library cards.

Attended a gunmakers’ fair.

Started Greek. (Well, one of us anyway.)

Signed up for a Tae Kwon Do class. (Well, the youngest two of us, anyway).

Done a lot of walking and biking around our pretty new neighborhood. (Sorry, no photos yet.)

Received cake and cookies from 2 sweet old neighbor ladies (and took them lemon cakes in return). The kids declared the chocolate chip cookies to be the best ever.

Found most of the essential kitchen equipment.

Installed some shelving in the laundry room to hold items that won’t fit in the kitchen.

Seen fireflies and cardinals.

Enjoyed a mole-free yard.

Watched bunnies frolicking in the yard.

Heard cicadas.

Grossed each other out with cicada shells.

Determined to divest ourselves of at least 1/4 of our books before we move again.

Met our newest neighbor last night… a skunk who slunk under our back porch and has not been seen since…

Found Costco.

Met some other new students and families at a lunch at WTS. (Lots of babies.)
Been called “Sir” by a Greek classmate. (Well, one of us, anyway.)

Lounged in our hammock.

Listened to about 3/4 of the audio book The Fellowship of the Ring.

We have not:

Fully unpacked.

Found the grocery store with bulk bins. (Such a thing may not exist here. Really. I got that “you have two heads” look when I asked the homeschool moms about them. I may be calling someone to go to Winco to get us some cloves soon.)

Figured out where to store the Costco-sized toilet paper.

Figured out where to fit the last bookcase.

Found the right church.

Been to Trader Joe’s.

Been out for a cheesesteak.

Been to the shore.

Hung any pictures.

Learned to like heat and humidity.

Gotten a dog. (James is being patient.)

We’re here

All’s well, but we won’t have internet access at home until August 1st. By then, we hope we can get some stuff put away so we can move around without hurting ourselves.

Family Reunion

Today we arrived in Pennsylvania! We all cheered excitedly as we entered our new state. But we did not head to the southeast corner, where our new home is waiting for us. We stopped first in the northwest corner, in the small town of Kane. There we saw my aunt (my mom’s only sister), who I last saw on our wedding day in 1995, and two cousins – last seen in about 1981 or ‘2.

Kane is a pretty little town in the Alleghany National Forest. Though I had not been there for years, and probably never approached from the south (I80 out of Akron), I really felt like I was going home. After all, Kane is only about 2.5 hours from Buffalo, which is where I was born. The forested, hilly region is so beautiful.

We enjoyed a backyard bbq – a great change from the restaurant and fast food we’ve been having – and the company of my cousins and their spouses (whom I had never met). I’m happy to say that I felt just as comfortable with them as I did last time I saw them, all those years ago. These were my “closest” cousins – the ones I played with most as a kid, and missed most when we moved to California back when I was 10 years old.

We didn’t do any sightseeing, just hung out with family and played with the dogs. Tomorrow we’ll meet for a quick breakfast and then it’s on to Oreland. We’ll be back in Kane again before our 4 years in PA is up.

Internet access may be spotty for the next couple of days.   We’re having some delays getting it set up at the new house!

In the swim

Today was a big swimming day.  We swam right after breakfast.  Then we headed out of Dayton and on to Akron.  Found the Chick-Fil-A for lunch!  We’ve been waiting for that.  Got to our hotel and the kids… swam.   Now we’re back from dinner and we’re headed down to the pool one more time before bed.

James was pretty upset about missing the Air Force Museum.  But he is in good spirits now and certainly enjoyed the shorter driving day.  Tomorrow we head for Kane, PA for a small family reunion!   We’re looking forward to another shortish driving day, some good fun and then, on Sunday, the final drive to our new home!

Rethinking some plans

Another long day today – 425 miles, from Davenport IA to Dayton OH.  Google maps says it should take 6 hours, 47 minutes, but with stops for gas, leg-stretching, etc., it took us nearly 11 hours.  The kids are feeling it and it’s getting harder for them to behave.  We took the 3rd seat out of the suburban for the trip so we can’t separate them!  Anyone remember “Mmmommm… he’s looking at me!!!”

The drive to Kane, PA – an essential trip to see my aunt and a couple of long-lost cousins – is about 6 1/2 hours.  So rather than trying to do that at once on Saturday, we’re going to skip the Air Force Museum on Friday, have a leisurely morning (including a swim), and drive to Akron.   Then we’ll have time for a swim there (ooh, in damp suits, lovely) and a more leisurely drive the rest of the way to Kane on  Saturday morning.

Once there we’ll visit the ruins of the Kinzua Bridge, which will not make up for the Air Force Museum but might help.

No, James doesn’t know about the change in plans yet.  If you feel a disturbance in the force about 8 am EDT on Friday, you’ll know we told him.

A shorter, better day

Today was a very good day – more fun, less road, and swimming!

We started out in Council Bluffs, IA, right across the Missouri River from Omaha. We found a nice park to walk around – part of a Con-Agra campus, but we had some good views of the river and some exercise. Then we drove to the Western Historic Trails Center which had great displays and information about the Oregon and Mormon trails! It was a good start to the day.

Then a 6-hour drive to Davenport IA. Iowa is much prettier than I’d expected. There is corn growing everywhere!  I guess we knew that before, but seeing it everywhere was amazing. The highlights of the drive were:  beginning the audio book of The Fellowship of the Ring, and having a Maid-Rite sandwich (Iowa specialty) for lunch.  It’s just like a hamburger, only the meat is not in a patty.  In fact, it’s called “a loose-meat sandwich” which does not sound very appetizing.  But it was good.

Once at the hotel, everyone got in the pool, then out for dinner, than back in the pool.  The kids should sleep well tonight.

Tomorrow we leave for Dayton, OH, where we will stay 2 nights. Cris and James are looking forward to the Air Force Museum. Eleanor and Margaret are not sure what to do yet, but we’ll find something good. On Saturday we will drive to Kane, PA to see Margaret’s aunt and cousins, then Sunday we’ll camp out in our new house, as our furniture will arrive sometime between 7 am and noon!

Chewin’ up the miles

It’s pretty easy to do when you can drive 75! We went through Nebraska today, stopping for the night just over the border in Iowa.

The long days are starting to take a toll on the kids. We found that though today’s drive was shorter than yesterday’s, the day didn’t go much better – since we slept in a bit. The historic town we were turned out to be, uh, nothing really, so there wasn’t much fun today.

So though we had planned to go to Rock Island IL to the Blackhawk Historic Site tomorrow (staying in Davenport, IA, just over the river), we decided to do some fun things here before hitting the road. There is a Lewis and Clark site, and a park on the Missouri River, right here in town.
And maybe tomorrow night we’ll make it to the hotel before the pool closes! Only one opportunity to swim so far…

651.2 Miles

That’s how far we drove today – from Twin Falls, ID to Cheyenne, WY, with a little diversion to look at the Great Salt Lake (which wasn’t all that great). Stopped at a brand new Taco Del Mar (specializing in fish tacos) wherein we were treated to a long dissertation on why it’s difficult to actually produce a fish taco quickly in Utah. We ordered something else. A discussion of good business management followed in the car afterwards.

We also stopped at Bear River State Park and saw some big ol’ bison (and some little bisonettes) and a few elk. Tomorrow we have only a 500 mile day, which will seem like nothing to us now! We’ll be driving through the rest of Wyoming and all of Nebraska, with a plan to stop at Sidney to check out some history – and the big Cabela’s store…

Wyoming is a beautiful state. We regret that we didn’t have time to get off I-80 and explore. Maybe on the return trip?
Forgot a couple of notes of thanks yesterday: for gifts and loans of audio books (the only thing that kept the kids going today) and kidsitting!

Off to seminary

We’re finally off. The u-pack, u-load move was a little… harder than we expected. Planned to leave on Thursday, got out Saturday night. Made it a whole 98 miles – to The Dalles – our first night! But here we are on Sunday night in Twin Falls, ID. It was a long day but everyone is in good spirits and happy to be on our adventure at last.

Leaving the house was tough for everyone. Tears all around. But as we headed east we kept turning around to look at one of the most vivid sunsets anyone of us had ever seen. (The driver kept eyes front.) The reds, oranges and greens were incredible. And by the time we got to the Char Burger in Cascade Locks for a restroom and coffee stop (too late for the great steak sandwich, though), everyone was happy and excited.

We are so thankful to all who have helped us – with packing, loading, cleaning, doing yard work, bringing us food, and of course praying for us. We would not have made it without you! It is very humbling to have people willing to do some of our work for us, and to see us (not to mention our house and yard) at less than our best.

Tomorrow, Wyoming. Planned for Cheyenne, but tonight that looks awfully far away… Oh, and anyone else who might be moving east… when you are planning your travel, don’t forget about those pesky time zones!