Finally Home!

     After six weeks on the road, we are finally back home and trying to get back into our normal routines.  We arrived on Monday evening around 5:00 and spent the next couple of hours unloading the RV.  There is still more work to do, but the rest can be done a little at a time. 
   
     It rained hard off and on during our seven hour drive from Luray, VA, but by God's grace we didn't have any trouble.  The closer we got to NC, the more eager we all were to see home.  We made as few stops as possible so we could get there quickly. 
    
     Last night, Michael was putting away some of his things and he said he felt like a stranger in his own home.  He could hardly remember where to put everything.  It did seem a little strange at first.  I was just glad to have a little room to spread out.  Jeremiah didn't waste any time getting outside to play with Cheyenne (our Boxer) and Michaela loved on her baby, Gracie (our Dachshund). 

     It will take us a few days to get settled back in.  The boys are in desperate need of a haircut, the flower bed is being over taken by weeds, there is a mountain of mail to go through, the pile of dirty laundry is growing, and the Jeep needs a bath (inside and out)!  Oh, well.....all good things must come to an end.  Time to get back to work.
    

We are so thankful for the wonderful opportunity that God gave us with this trip.  We do not take for granted His Blessings!  This trip was a once in a lifetime experience for all of us and the memories will be with us forever.  We appreciate all of the prayers for our safety while we were traveling. 

Our God answers prayer!

Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park

 

     We spent the last two days of our trip at a fun campground called Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park located in Luray, VA.  We planned to stop here on the way home to visit Luray Caverns.  We never actually made it to the caverns though because the kids were having so much fun on the campground that they didn't want to leave.  The RV site fee includes all of the activities on the park, and there are a lot!

 

 

     Michaela and Jeremiah had a blast on the water slide. There was only a few people on it so they got to go over and over without any wait.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     There was a wonderful water splash play area there.  It was new to the park and had just opened in May.  Jeremiah had fun waiting for the buckets of water to pour on his head.  

                  

                         

 

     Isaiah decided to play basketball instead of getting in the water.  He was glad to be around some other kids his age for a little while.  

 

 

     Boo-Boo was teasing Isaiah at Candy Bar BINGO.  It was a fun game for the kids and Jeremiah won the jackpot......7 candy bars!  We all benefited from that win!

 

     Jeremiah bounced to his heart's delight on the huge Jumping Pillows.  They are like giant trampolines or bounce houses.  It was definitely a favorite of the kids on the park.  Hmmm....wonder how much it would cost to have one of these installed in my backyard???

     The park also had laser tag in the woods.  All 4 of the kids (counting Michael, of course) had a great time there.  They got to play for an entire hour.  I think they would have stayed half of the day if the park had allowed it. 

     Michael, Isaiah, and I played a round of mini golf while Michaela and Jeremiah were playing at the jumping pillows.  It was a neat and challenging course.  Michael put up a good effort......but I still one (by one point)!

 

     They only had a little time in the paddle boats before it started raining, but it was fun anyway.

 Goodbye Yogi Bear and Luray, VA.  Maybe we'll come back and see you another time.

Next stop......HOME!

 

Heading Home....

     Well, we are almost at the end of our trip.  It's been a wonderful experience and we've all enjoyed it, but it's time to go home.  We've missed our church and all of our friends and family.  I'm sure it will take some time to get back into the swing of things after over 6 weeks on the road.  Michael says he could get used to this lifestyle.  I thinks he's enjoyed not having a schedule to keep. 

     We left New Hampshire on Friday morning with plans to drive to Scranton, Pennsylvania before stopping for the night.  It should have taken us a little over 6 hours, but we never made it nearly that far.  The RV had started giving us a little trouble on the way into New Hampshire from Canada.  It was seeming to lose a little power going up any kind of incline, but we just thought it might be from the weight of the Jeep and the water tanks on the RV.  We had unhooked the Jeep and emptied our fresh water tank before driving the last hour and a half into the campground and it seemed to do better.  None of us thought anything else about it after we arrived, but when we pulled out on Friday morning, the problem was worse.  We couldn't go up any kind of incline without slowing down to about 20 mph.  So we pulled off the road and started trying to find someone who could look at the RV and tell us what was wrong.  We quickly found out that was easier said than done in the wilderness of New Hampshire.  We finally found a Freightliner who could look at it for us.  They were about 50 miles away over lots of rolling hills and some steep grades so it took us over 2 hours to get there at the speed we were able to make in the RV.  It was definitely a test of patience for both Michael and me.....him driving the handicapped RV and me following behind in the Jeep smelling the diesel fumes.  We drove almost the whole way with our flashers on in hopes that no one would run over us. 

     At Freightliner, they checked out the RV and said all we needed was a new fuel filter.  Thank the Lord for that.  It was an easy fix and they had us back on the road within an hour or so.  We did our best to make up the time, but we still didn't make it too far that evening.  By 6:30, we were all ready for dinner and to have some time out of the car.  Isaiah spotted a sign for a Cracker Barrel in Holyoke, Massachusetts and was practically drooling so we decided to stop there.  We tried to locate a campground for the night but there was nothing to be found within any reasonable drive from us.  We told the Cracker Barrel manager about our dilemma and she said we could stay there overnight.  They were really nice to us and said we could come in and use their restrooms if we needed to. 
    
     We settled in for bed around 9:30 and got a decent night's sleep.......except for when the dump truck came in the middle of the night to empty the dumpsters right near us and nearly scared Michael to death.  LOL!

     We got back on the road this morning around 7:30 and our goal is to make it to Luray, Virginia tonight.  We should be there around dinner time.  We'll stay for a couple of days to visit Luray Caverns and then we'll drive the final stretch home.  We should be home by Tuesday.   Just in time to get ready for Michaela's birthday on Saturday and Father's Day on Sunday.  We appreciate all of the prayers for safe travel.  We've been very blessed on this trip!

Oh....I almost forgot.....the Jeep is bringing home a souvenir.  Yes, that's right....it seems to want to hang on to a little bit of skunk we ran over about two weeks ago!  The funny thing is, we didn't even hit the skunk.  It was in the middle of the road and Michael made sure the wheels of the RV straddled it.  I guess the mud flap on the back of the RV hit it and made it spray on the Jeep.  We've washed it and it still smells like skunk!!!  Michael said the smell was going to scare off the other wildlife when we were driving around through the woods.  We can't find a tub full of tomato juice that is big enough for the Jeep.  I wonder if I'll ever get that "new car smell" back!  Ha, ha, ha, ha.....

Vermont tours

     On Thursday we spent the day touring several places in Vermont.  We had planned to go to these places in the RV on our way south but since they were not far from the campground in New Hampshire, we changed our mind and drove the Jeep instead.  It was much easier to navigate the small communities in the Jeep and we were able to stop at more places.  We left the campground around 9:00 in the morning and got back about 9:00 that night.  It was a long full day.   Shortly after leaving the campground, Michaela spotted this mother deer and her fawn on the side of the road.  We turned around to take a picture and managed to get this shot just before they bolted.  The poor little fawn could hardly keep up with the mother.  It was so cute hopping through the brush to the edge of the woods.  

 

 

     Our first stop of the day was at Cabot Cheese in Cabot, VT.  This business sits in the middle of hundreds of acres of farmland.  The roads leading into the factory are small and in need of repair.  It's hard to believe that so many milk and delivery trucks use these roads day after day.  The factory is still located at it's original location.  It has just been expanded over the years to keep up with the demand for the delicious cheese.  The tour was really nice and very informative and the samples were generous.  There were so many flavors to try.  It was a hard choice, but we ended up selecting three of them:  Hot Habanero, Garlic & Herb, and Private Stock Sharp Cheddar.  

 

 

      Our second stop was at Rock of Ages Granite Quarry in Barre, VT.  It claims to be the world's largest granite quarry.  One of the employees drove led us up to the top of the quarry to a place where we could watch the workers.  The quarry was so much bigger than any of us expected even though we had already seen pictures of it.  It's hard to get a good idea of its size unless you are looking at it in person.  The views of the mountains from the site are amazing also.  Our guide told us all about the history of the mine.  It has been in operation since the late 1800s and it was named Rock of Ages (after the hymn) in 1925.  The quarry is 600 feet deep and they say there is enough granite there to keep them in business for many more generations.  The granite they mine here is mostly used for monuments.  They are largest supplier of tombstones in the country. 

 

 

 

     We walked through the factory where they work the granite after it has been mined.  You could see the different stages it goes through to get to the finished product.  We all found it very interesting.  

     We made a quick stop at a Maple Farm not too far from the granite quarry.  They had a "theater" with a video about our maple syrup is made.  You can see from the pictures below that they need just a little updating....

We didn't stay long at all, but did take a minute to sample the different syrups they make.  We bought one called Medium Amber.  It has a distinct maple flavor but isn't super sweet.  They said it was their best seller. 

 

 

 

      On to the sweetest stop of the day....Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream!  What a fun stop.  I'm sure this place is packed in the summer.  They had a big facility and a nice playground outside.  Unfortunately it started raining while we were on the tour so we didn't get to see any of the outside displays or go to the playground.  And, yes, of course we had to get some ice cream.  Jeremiah and Michael had Chunky Monkey, I had Late Night Snack, and Isaiah and Michaela had a new caramel flavor they were testing.  The ice cream was very, very good, but we all agreed that we preferred the Cow's ice cream we ate in Prince Edward Island over the Ben & Jerry's. 

 

  

 

 

     The last tour of the day was at Cold Hollow Cider Mill.  They weren't making the cider when we arrived, but we watched a video of the process and sampled the fresh cider.  They also make cider donuts there and we bought a dozen to take back to the RV.  They smelled so good that we couldn't resist!

 

 

 

 

     After we left the cider mill, we followed the GPS to two different restaurants that weren't there!  We did stumble upon a farmer's market though and stopped to look around.  It was a small outdoor market in a city park.  There was mostly food and plants and a couple of local artisans.  We bought a hand turned bowl made out of butternut wood.  The artist said the wood came from his parents' farm in Vermont.  Isaiah was pretty impressed with his work. 

     We finally found something to eat at a small local restaurant popular with the locals and then drove the hour and a half back to the campground.  We were all pretty tired from the day.