Well it is day 13 of the Tour de Brown and we are going strong! (As is no shave till North Carolina... for me, not Tarin) :)
The day after leaving Indiana we had a really fun drive on some back roads through Indiana and Ohio. We took the back roads because while going through Illinois on our way to Chicago there were several toll roads on interstate 90. The first one was only like .60 cents but then they kept going up and a few bucks on toll roads for us is money we could be spending on good stuff like food! :) It turns out after a couple of days of traveling on these highways off the interstate, it is much more of an enjoyable drive! We have seen so many beautiful homes, barns, yards and more. I would definitely suggest that to anyone traveling if they have the time, because the interstate is so boring anyways! Tarin was having a very hard time though. There have been many many many antique stores along the way!
Anyways, we ended up staying at a campground right on the edge of Ohio and Pennsylvania on the night of the 17th. It was an interesting campground with most of the population being residents of the rv/campground. The day of driving from Indiana to here was a long one, but it was nice because this location left us only 2.5 hours from Niagara Falls!
So on either Sunday or Monday (it's getting really hard to keep track of days) we drove up to the city of Niagara Falls which was not very pretty, we were in the hood all the way up to the site of the falls. But then we walked in to the park of Niagara Falls and wow, it is really amazing. We took a tour on the Maid of the Mist which was a boat that took us down under the falls. We got to see all of the falls and luckily they gave us a pancho, because you get soaked! The mist is more like a rain in some spots. Along with Yellowstone and Mount Rushmore this was one of my favorite things so far on the trip.
We were done seeing Niagara around 2PM and we started driving towards a small town of Red Creek, NY. It is up in Northern NY right on Lake Ontario. And our campsite was literally about 100 ft from the water. When we got there it was beautiful, the water was so calm and the sun was setting. Earlier in the trip we had seen Lakes Michigan and Erie and they were both like the ocean basically with waves crashing and whitecaps out on the water. So the calmness surprised us. This turned out to be the calm before the mini-storm.
We knew there was a 30% chance of rain in the area and even though we were hoping it wouldn't rain, we threw together a rainproof cover over our tent so we didn't have an incident like we did in the Tetons. It did rain. And the contraption we made DID work! We were happy and found out that the calmness of Lake Ontario must have been a rare occasion, because it was very windy during the night and the next morning as were were packing up.
Onto another long drive across New York and down over to the Boston area (avoiding any tolls i might add). New York is beautiful! It must be the best time to drive because all of the leaves are changing colors and it is quite the sight! Here we stayed at a nice state park about 15 min south of Boston. This park was deep in the woods and covered about 3500 acres. With only about 2 other campers in the park it was a little creepy at times, but we survived. Yesterday we went into downtown Boston and went on the Freedom Trail. It was very cool! We got to see a bunch of places that played a big part in the forming of our Constitution and country! Things such as Paul Revere's house, the balcony where the Declaration of Independence was first read to the people, Bunker Hill, and much more. Not to mention present day downtown Boston which is just mixed in among all the history. It was a lot of walking, but a lot of fun. We stayed at the same campground last night and besides the large amount of daddy long leg spiders that we found over our two night stay, it turned out to be a nice campground.
Right now we're at an Apple store, Tarin's phone has been acting up, so while she's getting that figured out, I'm blogging. We're going to drive down through New York City today!
The Lord has been taking very good care of us and we know he will the rest of the way (only about 700 some miles more!!).
Keep praying for us though! Love you all!
T&T
September 21, 2010
September 17, 2010
Leaving Porter, Indiana!
Hello!
We do apologize for our failure to keep up on the blog! It has been a great 5 or 6 days since we last blogged though. Since then We have seen the rest of Yellowstone, MT RUSHMORE which was amazing, and traveled across the rest of South Dakota, Minnesota, and Illinois.
Mt Rushmore was awesome. We got to Hill City, SD around 5PM and set up camp at Crooked Creek Resort. It was a very nice RV and Campground site. After going to the grocery store and cooking up some really good sloppy joes... (I, Todd made them) we made a fire and had some smores. Some neighboring campers told us about a lighting ceremony that started at 8 every night up at Rushmore. We were about 15 minutes away and decided to hurry up there to try to catch it. We got there at about 8:07 but still caught a majority of the 45 minute production. It was really fun to hear about each of the four presidents up there (Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln) and how they helped form this wonderful country. Then they lighted up the huge monument as the whole crowd sand the star spangled banner together. It kind of gave us chills! We loved it. Then they honored all the veterans who were in attendance and those who have died fighting for our country. The next day we went up there again to see the whole thing. We really enjoyed it.
The drive across South Dakota wasn't all that exciting, but after a 10+ hour drive we got to Minnesota around 1AM. We stayed in Minnesota with some good friends for a couple days and were very thankful for that. A nice bed to sleep in and good food with some great friends. Shout out to the Heenans and the Fullens for their hospitality :) We went with them to the Mall of America which was rediculously huge. We also went to a cool zoo and ate some really good food. It was so fun to hang out with them and see them. Minnesota was beautiful too!
Then we took off early yesterday morning for Chicago. We got to the windy city around 3 PM. Tarin was very excited about the Magnificent Mile which if you don't know is a mile long full of stores such as, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Neiman Marcus, Coach, ANTHROPOLOGIE and the list goes on. They did have a Nike store though :). We took off kind of early to try to get to our campground which was about a half hour away. Traffic was horrible, and thats where plans kind of changed. Well, that's where I kind of changed our plans. You see, I can't stand big cities. SF, Chicago, etc. they are all really cool and I would have loved to go back today and see stuff like the Navy Pier, but I can't stand all the traffic and people! I made a deal with Tarin that if we went out to a nice place to eat if we could just get on our way today and not go back into the city. She was fine with that and that's how we ended up in Porter, IN. :) I know I probably sound like a party pooper and I feel bad because Tarin loves those places, but I just can't stand it! Anyways we're off today and on to some really cool things!!!!!
Love you guys,
T&T
We do apologize for our failure to keep up on the blog! It has been a great 5 or 6 days since we last blogged though. Since then We have seen the rest of Yellowstone, MT RUSHMORE which was amazing, and traveled across the rest of South Dakota, Minnesota, and Illinois.
Mt Rushmore was awesome. We got to Hill City, SD around 5PM and set up camp at Crooked Creek Resort. It was a very nice RV and Campground site. After going to the grocery store and cooking up some really good sloppy joes... (I, Todd made them) we made a fire and had some smores. Some neighboring campers told us about a lighting ceremony that started at 8 every night up at Rushmore. We were about 15 minutes away and decided to hurry up there to try to catch it. We got there at about 8:07 but still caught a majority of the 45 minute production. It was really fun to hear about each of the four presidents up there (Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln) and how they helped form this wonderful country. Then they lighted up the huge monument as the whole crowd sand the star spangled banner together. It kind of gave us chills! We loved it. Then they honored all the veterans who were in attendance and those who have died fighting for our country. The next day we went up there again to see the whole thing. We really enjoyed it.
The drive across South Dakota wasn't all that exciting, but after a 10+ hour drive we got to Minnesota around 1AM. We stayed in Minnesota with some good friends for a couple days and were very thankful for that. A nice bed to sleep in and good food with some great friends. Shout out to the Heenans and the Fullens for their hospitality :) We went with them to the Mall of America which was rediculously huge. We also went to a cool zoo and ate some really good food. It was so fun to hang out with them and see them. Minnesota was beautiful too!
Then we took off early yesterday morning for Chicago. We got to the windy city around 3 PM. Tarin was very excited about the Magnificent Mile which if you don't know is a mile long full of stores such as, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Neiman Marcus, Coach, ANTHROPOLOGIE and the list goes on. They did have a Nike store though :). We took off kind of early to try to get to our campground which was about a half hour away. Traffic was horrible, and thats where plans kind of changed. Well, that's where I kind of changed our plans. You see, I can't stand big cities. SF, Chicago, etc. they are all really cool and I would have loved to go back today and see stuff like the Navy Pier, but I can't stand all the traffic and people! I made a deal with Tarin that if we went out to a nice place to eat if we could just get on our way today and not go back into the city. She was fine with that and that's how we ended up in Porter, IN. :) I know I probably sound like a party pooper and I feel bad because Tarin loves those places, but I just can't stand it! Anyways we're off today and on to some really cool things!!!!!
Love you guys,
T&T
September 11, 2010
Days 2 and 3 recap
Hellooooooo!!
Wow it's been a crazy past couple days! Our last post was the morning we were leaving Salt Lake and since then we have really been blessed to see how AMAZING God's creation is. The hours of driving have been sooo fun because of the beauty that we've been able to see. The weather has made the trip fun and interesting but has also thrown us off a bit.
Thursdays drive through Utah and Wyoming was awesome. It would rain off and on, and was overcast almost the entire time. We hit a really rough patch of hail that was really cool, but kind of scary! During the hail storm one of the funniest things happened. There was a cattle drive in the middle of the highway in Wyoming!!! It was so funny, traffic stayed still while these cowboys were moving their cattle. They have the right away in Wyoming. We have a really cool video of it! :)
Anyways, we finally pulled into the Grand Teton National Park and stayed at a campground on Jenny Lake. Even though the whole time it was raining and we didn't get to see the Tetons, it was still a beautiful scene.
Rain, rain, rain..... it was only a small drizzle while we set up camp and cooked dinner, but just as we were finishing up it started to get heavier and heavier. So at about 6:45 we decided to just take a dvd player and some cards and get in the tent early. Soon after we noticed that very small puddles were forming around the base of the tent and the air mattress we were on was getting wet. After contemplating what we should do we decided to abandon the tent and since it was raining and we had already paid our camping fee we'd leave it up. After driving around a bit we pulled back into our campsite and decided that the front of the truck was going to have to do. It was a long night! And it rained..... ALL NIGHT.
In the morning we packed up the tent and since it was soaked just threw it in trash bags, wondering how we were going to get it dry in time for the next night. As we left the campground we were able to see part of the Tetons through the clouds, not to mention some great rainbows! So the drive began up through Yellowstone not knowing where we'd call home the next night.
Yellowstone was amazing!!!! As we started climbing, fresh snow was everywhere. It made for some good pictures and breathtaking views. Through the day we drove around and found out that every place was booked inside the park! (The tent was not going to be dry so we were looking for lodging). We ended up meandering throughout the park and towards the west entrance to try to find a place to stay just outside the park. As we went through Yellowstone, we saw a lot of bison, some elk, and a grizzly bear with her 3 cubs. We were literally 10 feet away from some huge bison! (We have a cool video of that too!)
As we got out of Yellowstone into West Yellowstone, Montana, we found out that all 20 or so of the hotels there were also all booked. Hmmmm. What to do!? Thank goodness for the GPS. I figured that someplace 10 miles or more outside of West Yellowstone had to have vacancy, so I found a hotel about 12 miles west and we started that way. On the way we saw a KOA camp and decided to stop because they had several cabins on their property. One happened to be available and it turned out to be perfect! It was a cool little cabin with heaters inside. It had a full size bed and bunk beds as well. We used the bunkbeds to spread out our tent and turned up the heaters!
We're getting ready to leave now and see the rest of Yellowstone! We have a dry tent and the skies are blue and the sun in shining!! The Lord has taken care of us and looking back on it, it was a pretty funny night in the Tetons!
Love you guys and we're trying hard to get some pics up!!! The internet is being very stubborn!
T&T
Wow it's been a crazy past couple days! Our last post was the morning we were leaving Salt Lake and since then we have really been blessed to see how AMAZING God's creation is. The hours of driving have been sooo fun because of the beauty that we've been able to see. The weather has made the trip fun and interesting but has also thrown us off a bit.
Thursdays drive through Utah and Wyoming was awesome. It would rain off and on, and was overcast almost the entire time. We hit a really rough patch of hail that was really cool, but kind of scary! During the hail storm one of the funniest things happened. There was a cattle drive in the middle of the highway in Wyoming!!! It was so funny, traffic stayed still while these cowboys were moving their cattle. They have the right away in Wyoming. We have a really cool video of it! :)
Anyways, we finally pulled into the Grand Teton National Park and stayed at a campground on Jenny Lake. Even though the whole time it was raining and we didn't get to see the Tetons, it was still a beautiful scene.
Rain, rain, rain..... it was only a small drizzle while we set up camp and cooked dinner, but just as we were finishing up it started to get heavier and heavier. So at about 6:45 we decided to just take a dvd player and some cards and get in the tent early. Soon after we noticed that very small puddles were forming around the base of the tent and the air mattress we were on was getting wet. After contemplating what we should do we decided to abandon the tent and since it was raining and we had already paid our camping fee we'd leave it up. After driving around a bit we pulled back into our campsite and decided that the front of the truck was going to have to do. It was a long night! And it rained..... ALL NIGHT.
In the morning we packed up the tent and since it was soaked just threw it in trash bags, wondering how we were going to get it dry in time for the next night. As we left the campground we were able to see part of the Tetons through the clouds, not to mention some great rainbows! So the drive began up through Yellowstone not knowing where we'd call home the next night.
Yellowstone was amazing!!!! As we started climbing, fresh snow was everywhere. It made for some good pictures and breathtaking views. Through the day we drove around and found out that every place was booked inside the park! (The tent was not going to be dry so we were looking for lodging). We ended up meandering throughout the park and towards the west entrance to try to find a place to stay just outside the park. As we went through Yellowstone, we saw a lot of bison, some elk, and a grizzly bear with her 3 cubs. We were literally 10 feet away from some huge bison! (We have a cool video of that too!)
As we got out of Yellowstone into West Yellowstone, Montana, we found out that all 20 or so of the hotels there were also all booked. Hmmmm. What to do!? Thank goodness for the GPS. I figured that someplace 10 miles or more outside of West Yellowstone had to have vacancy, so I found a hotel about 12 miles west and we started that way. On the way we saw a KOA camp and decided to stop because they had several cabins on their property. One happened to be available and it turned out to be perfect! It was a cool little cabin with heaters inside. It had a full size bed and bunk beds as well. We used the bunkbeds to spread out our tent and turned up the heaters!
We're getting ready to leave now and see the rest of Yellowstone! We have a dry tent and the skies are blue and the sun in shining!! The Lord has taken care of us and looking back on it, it was a pretty funny night in the Tetons!
Love you guys and we're trying hard to get some pics up!!! The internet is being very stubborn!
T&T
September 9, 2010
Departing salt lake
Last night was interesting. We didn't pull in until about 8:20 so we had to use a flashlight and lanterns to set up camp and fix dinner but it wasn't bad at all. We woke up this morning to gusty winds and raindrops. We were able to fix breakfast and take down everything just before it began to pour! Right now tarin is showering and I'm out in the truck enjoying the lightning and thunder show! Not a huge fan of this KOA but it was alright. It had wi fi and that's why we came here but it's not working too well. I have one picture up. I'll try to add another 1 or 2. Keep praying for us. Supposed to storm pretty good today I think :) love y'all ;)
T&T
T&T
September 8, 2010
And we're off!
4 hours of sleep....... Got on the road a little later than we wanted but that's the beauty of road-tripping, there's NO rush :) gorgeous sunrise. Can't wait to see all the Lords goodness in His creation :) love to all
"From the rising of the sun to it's setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised!" psalm 113
"From the rising of the sun to it's setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised!" psalm 113
September 7, 2010
Let the trip begin!!
Well, packing for a cross country trip can take it out of you! We're departing at 6AM tomorrow morning! We love you all and hope we can stay updated on this blog so we don't disappoint! :)
T&T
T&T
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