This post will probably be a bit long, since I would like to record our cross country journey in few details, so the children can read it later on and remember the fun times. I'm grateful that we had a great trip. The children, including Charlton, did amazingly well. They actually watched only one movie the whole week. The rest of the time, they drew,colored, played games, and had fun with each other. I had Gillian sit by Charlton, so she could take care of him, and we were pleased with the help she gave us. The boys played so well together, and we heard them laugh with each other countless times through out the trip. Gillian and Elijah listened to "1776" on tape, and she would later ask questions about the things she heard. I would sleep on occasion, but mostly would talk on the phone catching up with friends.
We started our journey on Monday morning of January 11, 2010. We left early because we wanted to reach Nashville, Tennessee before nightfall. We made the decision to follow the southern route to California, which would include Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, and then California. We followed I-81, same route we used to take down to Georgia, but this time we continued through Tennessee. We did stop in Sevierville, TN to see the Smoky Mountain Knife Works, a museum and knife shop. Elijah had wanted to always see it, and so we stop for him. The children really thought it was cool to see so many knifes, swords, and guns all in one place. After that, we continued our journey till we arrived in Nashville. It was starting to get dark, but we were able to drive through downtown, and got to hear live music from all the restaurant we were passing. Elijah showed us the Ryman Auditorium, Grand Ol Opry, and while there the children saw the Rain Forest Cafe across the street, so we went and ate dinner as well. That ended our first day, with us enjoying the really nice hotel room Elijah had reserved for us. Here are some pictures of the first day:
We continued the second day through Tennessee, into and across Arkansas, and over to the Arkansas/Oklahoma border. We stopped in Fort Smith, Arkansas. We have planned our trip in a way that we can have one long day and one short alternating. Today was a short one and we enjoyed the rest. Not much to note on today's journey with the exception that we crossed the Mississippi river and that was a pretty view. I also thought that Arkansas was very clean with very little to no littering. Although there wasn't much to see in terms of historical buildings or museum, I have to admit this part of the country has its own beauty with its vast fields and open skies. Here are some pictures:
January 13th, 2010. We covered a lot of ground today. Elijah and I wanted to visit Roswell, New Mexico, and because it was a bit out of our way, we started early. We passed Arkansas quickly, continued on with Oklahoma, passing Oklahoma City on the way, entered the Texas panhandle, which we were pretty excited to see, and then at Amarillo, we headed toward New Mexico and made our way straight for Roswell. Texas was a pretty country and different from Tennessee and Arkansas. It had more of Spanish flair, and the country side offered vast plains with lots of cattle wondering around. We planned to visit Roswell in the morning, since we were all tired from the long day. Here are some the pictures we took at the UFO Museum:
January 14, 2010. We slept in and had a leisurely breakfast, after which we all headed toward Roswell UFO Museum. The children were very excited to learn about this special story and had many questions. The museum was really interesting in that it tried to show convincing evidence of alien existence throughout the history of mankind. We looked through few stores with alien stuff, and the children, especially Jefferson, really wanted to buy various things. We bought some postcards for our friends and family. After that, we headed straight for Arizona. We stopped in Flagstaff, Arizona, where the hotel room was awaiting for us. The voyage from New Mexico to Arizona offered heavenly landscape. Here are some pictures of this beautiful and vast country:
January 15, 2010. During this whole week, we have encountered great weather. Today was no exception. The sky was very blue and the climate offered us the chance to wear no coats. From our hotel in Flagstaff, we headed straight to the marvelous Grand Canyon. It was truly spectacular, and although there was snow in the ground, we truly enjoyed being outdoors. The children really loved the view, but they especially enjoyed playing in the snow. It could be the last snow that they might see for a while, so we allowed them to play for a while, before heading toward Nevada. We got a chance to view the amazing Hoover Dam. Next to it, they were building another gigantic bridge with the purpose of having the big transportation vehicles such trucks and trailers not use the Hoover Dam as much. It seemed like it was going to be a beautiful sight to see when it's over. Then, as we approached Las Vegas, Gillian exclaimed "Wow! Look at those lights!" to which we responded that indeed it was called the city of lights. She thought for a moment, and then added with appreciation "This trip has been amazing. We have been to the city of music (Nashville), to the city of aliens (Roswell), to the city of rocks (Grand Canyon), and now to the city of lights. I can't wait to explore this one." I had to laugh at that last comment, because I knew we weren't going to explore certain parts of this city. Here are some fun pictures I took during this day's journey:
January 16, 2010. We arrived the night before at our friends' home. We hadn't seen each other in 9 years, so it was a lot of fun to visit with them and meet their children. We didn't get to go to sleep till past midnight, but it was O.K. since we slept in. Saturday was going to be our rest time, before heading on to California on Sunday and getting into our new home on Monday. Aaron and Janet were great and we were grateful we had the chance to spend those two days with them. On Saturday, Elijah took the kids to Red Rock Canyon, an amazing rock formation close to our friends' home, and I stayed home doing A LOT OF laundry. In the evening, we drove through downtown Las Vegas, so the children could see the fun buildings and the many lights. The conversation about gambling did come up, and after we explained it, Gillian decided she needed to go out and do some missionary work. We decided to head back and get some sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.
January17, 2010. We left Nevada behind, and entered California with glee. The journey through California was a bit longer than I expected, but we made it finally to Danville around 7:00, where our friends Gary and Alice had prepared a nice dinner of Chinese dumplings. This day's trip was interesting in two different fronts. First, we were welcomed by a lot of rain. Ironically having had sunshine the whole trip, and now that we were in the sunshine state, we were experiencing foul weather for the first time during our journey. Secondly, I wasn't enjoying the scenery much. With the exception of Joshua trees, which were beautiful, I thought it dull. Elijah had his theories on my attitude. First, I had seen a lot of this kind of scenery throughout the trip, but secondly, and most importantly, entering California was making it real for me the fact that I have truly left Virginia. What do you think, is he right?
January 18, 2010. Home at last! We arrived at our home around noon. Our truck was expected to arrive between 12:00 and 4:00. It arrived around 3:00. By four, we had a lot of brethren from our ward here come and help unload. The work was finished in couple of hours, and the real fun is awaiting Melita. We love our house, and the neighborhood, and of course look forward to see it made into a home soon. Very soon if Melita has anything to do with it. We were grateful to have arrived safely and especially to have had such a great trip. We thank the Lord for all of our blessings. Our total mileage since leaving Virginia ended up being around 3,343 miles. Long live America with its beauty and freedoms that it has to offer.
