Happy 8th Birthday Grace

Well, we were suppose to see some Kobus' in Delaware today but our plans had to change. We ended up driving right to Syracuse, NY. Grampa Kobus passed away 12:02 July 30th. Instead of seeing some Kobus' in Delaware we saw most of them in Syracuse. It was great to see the family even under the circumstances. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER! Thanks Grampa.

Touring Washington, DC

We had a great tour of DC, thanks Jenn! We saw tons of amazing sights and the kids had a blast. There was tons of walking but Grace and Justin made it.....Gary did too even though he had walked a lot the night before getting the night tour of DC.

Washington, DC

Well, we started off great this morning. We left camp by 8am, right on time, which doesn't happen too often. Grace, Justin, and Amy were very excited to get to DC and see Gary. We just had 509 miles to go! Poppa was in the zone and we were doing great, Lola (GPS) told us we would be there by 3:30 or so. About lunch time we stopped at an outlet and Poppa and Gramma went in and got some cigars while Amy, Justin, and Grace ate lunch. We then stopped for gas in North Carolina and Poppa comes back into the RV and asks Gramma to come outside so we knew something was up. Turns out that the front tire had a bubble and was set to blow out at any moment. Poppa got us to a rest stop and called his insurance and they told us they would have a guy out within an hour. It was more like an hour and a half but the changing of the tire was only suppose to take about 20 minutes. Well, that turned into about 6 1/2 hours total wait time in North Carolina. We ended up not getting into DC until almost midnight that night! At least we would have the next day with no driving as we were touring the city.

Charleston, South Carolina

We left the happiest place on Earth to head to Charleston, SC. We visited our old homesteads while we were there. We did some shopping at the Air Force Commissary (Cereal cheaper by $3 a box). Gary flew in to Washington, DC today but Jenn picked him up and will show him around a bit until we get there tomorrow. Of course Amy wants to leave by 4am tomorrow to get to DC at a decent time. Tomorrows drive would be the longest to date so far, 509 miles to get to DC.

Disney World

Sorry, you probably thought we were lost at Disney World. We had a great time and we're hoping to add a slide show of Disney World. Grace was treated like Royalty at the Magic Kingdom. They gave her a birthday button and a first visit button (Justin got one of those too) and they loved to sing to her there. She got free dessert at almost every meal. The longest wait time was about 20 minutes but otherwise we went on rides multiple times. Grace's favorite was Splash mountain. Grace went on Space Mountain for the first time and was a little scared, Gramma and Amy asked if she was OK and she said "NO" but right after she got off she wanted to do it again....and did! I think that was Amy, Gramma, and Justin's favorite ride. Poppa rode Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain and then took a nap :)

Orlando Florida.....DISNEY WORLD

We made it to Disney World for Grace's birthday. We rushed right out and went to Downtown Disney to eat dinner at the Rain Forest Cafe. The wait for inside was 2 hours long but decided to sit around back on the covered patio over the water and it was great, except for the runaway squirrel. This squirrel was climbing above us as we were waiting for our dinner....Justin has it on Video...I'm hoping to add it sometime. They brought dessert for Grace's birthday...The Chocolate Volcano! We walked around a bit and it's almost midnight here and we're getting ready for a day at the Magic Kingdom! Justin has had a run in with a mosquito and looks a bit like Frankenstein (I am hoping to add a picture but shh...don't tell him). The rest of us are pretty much insect bite free so Justin is great to have around! :)

Panama City Beach Florida

The drive here was really rainy and gloomy. Poor Poppa had to drive about 7 hours. We stopped at an outlet mall in Gulf Port Mississippi. Justin got some shorts and Grace got a necklace and Amy got some board shorts....gotta love the buy one get one free sale! We stayed at a beautiful RV Park today in Panama City Beach. The pool was closed when we came in due to lightning storms but by 8pm it was open and Justin and Grace went swimming. The pool was packed within 10 minutes. There was about 20 kids in the pool! We are heading off this morning about 9am. Justin is getting really good at hooking up and unhooking the RV...he can almost do it all by himself. We all have our own jobs on the trip and the kids actually LOVE to do them and don't complain. Well, we're off but I did hear something about a surprise for later today....

Baton Rouge Louisiana

We got up and did a little exercise this morning. Poppa went for a run and Grace, Justin, Gramma, and Amy went for a 30 minutes walk. We made it to Baton Rouge this evening. The drive in was miles and miles over bridges and we went over the Mississippi River, which we'll pass over again but up north. It looked pretty dirty to me and had what looked like Casino River boats on the water. The KOA is great with a good pool. Gramma, Amy, Justin, and Grace had races in the pool (which Amy was the ultimate winner!). We're planning out the schedule (for Gramma of course) for tomorrow and it sounds like we have a shorter drive day tomorrow but we don't have a reservation anywhere so it's all up in the air. Check back to see where we end up!

What we did on the way to the Alamo

San Antonio Texas

Well, we got to sleep in a bit today - we were suppose to run but unfortunately that didn't happen today but there is always tomorrow! We were suppose to visit the Alamo today but didn't factor in the time change (we are blaming Lola again). It was nice to get to the KOA and the kids got to go swimming, Amy did too! We had a great dinner and Gramma and Poppa took Justin and Grace swimming at night but got kicked out! (It closed at 9:30) So, just some fun facts for you all today.....the cheapest gas we've seen has been $3.79, unfortunately we didn't stop so the cheapest we've (and when I say we've I really mean Poppa - thanks Poppa) purchased is $4.09. We are averaging 6.3 miles per gallon but we've had to run the air constantly. We are still deciding on the PLAN (FYI, Gramma always needs a plan) for tomorrow so we will talk to you tomorrow. I am going to include some pictures of what we did today :)

Carlsbad Caverns

Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico

Well we made it through the thunder and lightening storm last night and actually woke up to dry ground, I guess that's what you get in the desert! The drive was pretty uneventful UNTIL Poppa decided that it was time for Amy to drive. He said that it was a straight shot and only about 24 miles. Well, Amy made it onto the freeway but had a little trouble staying in her lane and then panicked when about 10 big rigs went by her. Unfortunately, she had to pull over and let Poppa take over. She did in fact, beat last years driving distance of 250 ft and went about 500 yards. Unfortunately, she also needed to take a long nap afterwards with Grace and Justin because of the stress! :) We made it to Carlsbad Caverns today. We took an elevator down 750 feet into the earth to see the stalagmites and the stalactites. We saw what they call the Big Room which was a cave that was a 1/4 of a mile long. Justin, Gramma, and Poppa really enjoyed it and took a lot of time looking at everything much to Grace's dismay! Grace was not too excited about the caverns and so Amy and Grace were done quite a bit faster than the rest of them. Lola (our GPS) took us the scenic route to our campsite after the Caverns but we made it before dusk and got all set up. Poppa and Justin have there jobs down quickly already. Can't wait to find out where we're off to tomorrow.

Dinner at Six Gun City

Tombstone Arizona

Well, we almost left at 6am this morning. We had just a bit of a problem with the Even Brake (an extra brake on the tow vehicle) and had to stop to adjust that a couple of times. The drive itself was pretty uneventful, Poppa, of course, drove. Gramma rode shotgun most of the time but always shared the chair with the rest of us. She read a book to Grace while Justin read his new book "Football Hero" which he's already halfway done with! Amy did some work, lost to Grace at Crazy 8's 4 games to 2, and took a little nap with Justin and Grace! We made it to Tombstone in about 8 hours and unloaded the Jeep real quick to head over to the main street in Tombstone. We saw the Birdcage Theater with a lot of the original bullet holes still in the walls. We stopped in most of the shops searching for a Cowboy hat for Poppa, but apparently cowboys don't have as large of brain as Poppa does because he couldn't find one to fit! Then they had the reenactment of The OK Corral gunfight that was fun to watch - we might even add a video. We finished up the night with a nice quiet dinner at Six Gun City UNTIL thunder and lightening EXPLODED right behind us. Everyone in the restaurant jumped (really, they did, it wasn't just Amy jumping out of her chair). We made it back to the RV but no campfire or Smores for Gracie the Pooh tonight as it's howling out there, hope the Pickards can sleep without Daddy! Check back tomorrow to find out where we end up. Talk to you then.

Almost time..

Amy, Justin, and Grace are heading down to Poppa and Gramma's tomorrow after Amy gets off work to prepare for our trip. Amy still has to pack, no surprise that she's waited to the last minue, and everyone is excited. We will head out early am (just roll the kiddos out of bed) Saturday and drive for about 6-7 hours (a fairly short day for us). Gary and Uncle Jason will be there to see us off. We'll let you know what we see and add some pictures from the day.

RV Preparation Day

Today was the big day, cleaning the RV day! All attendees of the trip were present and we each had our own jobs to do. The Pickards arrived a little late, no surprise there, and Uncle Jason, Gramma, and Poppa were already hard at work. Gary and Justin jumped right in to help but Amy had to set up a sick Gracie Pooh in the house with a view of the action. We had storage bins to clean out, places to vacuum, and an RV to scrub. Gramma was busy cleaning the inside, which was really HOT until Poppa turned on the generator for her. Uncle Jason and Poppa worked on the awning making it look brand new. Gary and Justin did their fair share of scrubbing on the roof and the storage areas. Amy got off pretty easy with running some errands until the dreaded EZ up! Poppa let us know that it was Amy, Justin, Grace, and Gramma's job on the trip. We took it down, then up, then down and let me tell you, it WAS NOT EASY! Gramma thinks it will need to be REALLY hot and sunny before we put it up! The trip begins next Saturday 6am start time so stay tuned!