Final pictures posted~

Scroll down to the bottom and click on the link to view our final pictures. Thanks for tracking with us through this amazing journey!

Full circle~

For anyone who is still following our blog, I just wanted to share that we've arrived back in Fredericksburg, finally. Our official mileage for the trip was 12,208. We're both grateful for all that we were able to see and everyone we were able to spend time with. We are also very thankful for our protection as we traveled and not having any major problems with the car. Bastian plans to fly back to Germany on Monday afternoon, and if all goes well, I plan to go and visit him in November sometime; we will also travel to Bosnia together to visit my friends there. Thanks for tracking with us through our amazing journey!

Wyoming and beyond~

It has been a long time since we last made an entry to the blog-sorry about that! Our pace has been so rapid that it has made it difficult to keep up with this. From Wyoming we traveled on to the Black Hills of South Dakota and to Mt. Rushmore. It was wonderful to see that place, and we both considered it a necessary part of our North American discovery trip. The following day we drove on eastward and then northward into Minnesota. We spent the night in St. Cloud, MN the night before my friend David's wedding, and in the morning we drove on up to Brainerd to see everyone and enjoy the wedding; it was a wonderful celebration of Aani and David's wedding! It was truly one of the most lovely weddings I have ever attended. The reception went till midnight, and we headed then out to Emily, Minnesota to the Carlton household where we stayed for the following week; our time there was excellent in every way. We had relaxing days and fun-filled nights with the friends there; we were able to shoot Aaron's guns, ride on Uncle Steve's boat all over Ruth Lake, have a couple of game nights, and much more. It's always wonderful to see the guys up there, and it's difficult to leave as well. We left there and headed over through Wisconsin, and then into Michigan where we camped for the night in the national forest way up north. The next morning we continued onward and into Canada, arriving in Waterloo in the evening. We picked up my sister Deb and her friend Allison on Sunday, and so began our amazing visit there. The Munce family, all six children, their significant others, and my dad's widow, Joanne, showed us a wonderful time through the 12 days that we stay there; our friend Max Carney opened his home to us, so we enjoyed restful reprieves and good nights of sleep throughout the time there. We traveled north to North Bay, Ontario on the weekend, a five hour drive up, and visited our dear friends Jeremy and Tanya Lott and their four sons. Finally on Wednesday evening we drove Allie and Deb back to the airport, then returned to Waterloo for one more night; yesterday we left Canada, visiting the Niagara Falls on the way to Syracuse, New York, where we are currently. We plan to leave this morning and drive over into Vermont, New Hampshire, perhaps Maine, and into Boston. Finally we will travel down to Breaks Park on the border of Kentucky and Virginia to join my dear friends, Kevin and Pari Paluszak, for a few days before finally returning to Virginia. What an amazing trip this has been; it is nearly impossible to describe how wonderful it has been to have seen all that we have, met and spent time with all the wonderful people we have, and to have had safety and health throughout. I've just posted some pictures to go along with this blog-scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the link if you want to check them out~enjoy!

New Pictures!

New pictures have been posted, so click on the link at the bottom and check them out...

Washington State-British Columbia-Alberta-Montana-Wyoming

We have been moving at such a fast pace since we left California that we hardly have any time to keep up with our blog-sorry about that. We are also seldom able to connect with the internet since most of our days are spent right now in National Parks. Our time at Oak Harbor, Washington was amazing but too brief. We left Monday morning and headed up into British Columbia, Canada; we slept in a cheap motel in Kamloops, BC and then headed onward towards Banff in Alberta; as we neared the place we realized that the weather would probably make camping a very miserable experience so we opted for another night in a hotel; believe it or not there was snow falling from 5000 feet and up in that area, so you can imagine how chilly it was. We finally arrived in Banff, and it was as beautiful as I had imagined it would be. We were a little afraid of being in rural campgrounds in bear country, but we managed just fine. After the amazing time in Banff we headed south across the border into Montana. Bastian was able to renew his tourist visa as we reentered the USA, which was a relief; otherwise he would have had to return to Germany on July 23rd, cutting our roadtrip significantly short. We enjoyed camping in Glacier national park for two nights and then we went to visit my great aunt, Hazel at her home in Great Falls, MT; I hadn't seen her for more than 30 years, so it was a special reunion. We enjoyed every minute of our brief visit and were spoiled rotten by them. On Sunday we drove south and camped at a little campground just outside of the north gate to Yellowstone, waking the next morning to head into the park. We spent the day seeing the sights and looking for camping; alas, there wasn't a single campground with an available spot, so we headed outside the camp for a place in a nearby national forest; this morning we woke up early and got into the park in time to find a nice spot here in Grand Teton, just on the lake with the very Grand Tetons looming in the distance beyond the lake. Again, sorry for such a delayed and rushed blog entry. We won't be able to upload pictures until we leave the park and sleep in a hotel again, so please check back on Friday or Saturday...

From Southern California to Northwest Washington state

The two weeks in California were amazing. We began the time by staying a night with Randy Roy and his family; I had not seen Randy and his wife since we were in our teens, so it was amazing to catch up. They have a great family and home, and we're super grateful for their amazing hospitality. We drove north to Exeter after leaving their place and spent six days in that area; most of our time was spent in the Otis home, which is situated on Rocky Hill. We spent quite a bit of time catching up with my sister Lynda as well, which was incredible. While at the Otis' home we also went to the Sequoia National Park and saw the giant trees. John and Rhoda Otis showered us with kindness through their unsurpassed hospitality; we miss them so much! We drove north then to Robin and Stephen King's home, but first we met them in the lovely Yosemite Park; what a beautiful place that is! We arrived at the King's late in the evening and enjoyed a restful night of sleep; the following days spent in their home were rich in fellowship, fun, and relaxation; Bastian rode their horse, Spencer, swam in their ponds, and a good time was had by all. Our last night was spent in the home of Roy and Anne Ingram; we enjoyed getting to know them better, and our only regret was that we had so short a time to spend together. Our last night spent in California was in the Mt. Shasta area; we drove around the entire mountain, looking for just the right place to camp, and eventually we found a place at around 7000 feet; there was still snow on the ground, imagine that! Our camping spot was not in a campground, so we were quite vulnerable to the wildlife in the area; during the night an animal approached our site and gave us quite a scare; in the end we concluded that it was likely a deer, but we'll never know for sure. The following day we entered into Oregon and headed out to the coast to find a place to camp for the night; as we arrived we were disappointed to find that fog had enshrouded the entire coastline. We found a small gravel road in the national forest there and headed up; we managed to climb to an elevation far above the fog and camped once again in the wild for the night. All that night we could hear the Pacific surf smashing against the base of the mountain far below. The next morning we headed still farther north through Portland, OR and into Washington state; we got a good look at Mt. St. Helen's and then headed for a campground near Mt. Rainier. What a lovely mountain that is, wow! The cascades are an amazing mountain range. Yesterday we headed up interstate 5 and crossed onto Widby Island where we are currently spending the weekend with my old friends, Andrew and Emily Keresey and their beautiful five children. On Monday morning we plan to head to points further north into Canada; we're going to spend a night near Vancouver and then head towards Banf National Park in Alberta. We will be posting more pictures soon, but if you haven't had a chance, check out our newest ones on the link below.

New Pictures!

Sorry we have not had time to update the blog in awhile-we've been staying in friends homes here in California, and there has not been much time for internet activities. Anyway, today we are visiting at the home of Roy and Anne Ingram, having a great time. We'll do a proper entry either tonight or tomorrow, but in the meanwhile, check out the link at the bottom for a lot of new pictures~

Petrified Forest-Grand Canyon (North and South Rim)-Zion National Park, Utah-Las Vegas, NV-Death Valley, CA

We've arrived safely in Southern California after having traveled many miles through New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and now California. The car has done amazingly well, and we're grateful for that. The southwest has amazed us with its vast expanse of deserts and incredible canyons, cliffs, sand dunes, and odd rock formations. Again and again we have been amazed as we rounded a bend in the road and found ourselves looking at an entirely different scene than just a few miles before; also, there were times when we'd be baking on the valley floor of a desert and suddenly ascend up into a lush mountain meadow complete with Alpine climate and aspen trees. Yesterday morning we awoke to 30 degrees, and later in the day it was about 100; talk about extreme! What an amazing part of our nation the great southwest is! Noteworthy happenings: We passed through Flagstaff, Arizona just a few hours prior to the beginning of the disastrous fire that has burnt many thousands of acres in the past few days since it began (see posted picture); we were blessed to have seen a male elk with a great rack of antlers in Arizona; as we were leaving the Grand Canyon we came upon a rare sighting of a herd of wild Buffalo! Las Vegas left us with many stirring thoughts and feelings; after having been out in the beauty of natural creation, it was quite a contrast and culture shock for us, to say the least. What a propped up, superficial, greedy city without a firm foundation that is. We left Las Vegas this morning and headed over through Death Valley; the temperature was a very stifling 117, the hottest either of us have ever experienced. Tonight we're sleeping in Victorville, California before heading into Los Angles in the morning and having a look around. We'll join Randy Roy and his family tomorrow night for a visit before heading north into Visalia/Exeter to stay a few days with the Otis family; while there we will spend time with my sister Lynda and a handful of others; we greatly look forward to spending time with these people and being in their homes.

Don't forget to check out the newly posted pictures through the link below~

Carlsbad, NM to Mexico to Pinetop, AZ

The caverns were incredible, as were the White Sands. Yesterday was an amazing day as we were blown away by the beauty of New Mexico-thanks Amy and Steven for recommending those two places to us! (if you haven't seen the posted pictures yet of these places, check the link below)

This morning we got up and drove south from Las Cruces, crossing the border on foot into Mexico via El Paso; needless to say there were not very many other tourists there, so we received a lot of attention as we walked through the streets of the city. We spent about three hours in Mexico, and then we headed back to the car and northward. We decided to make a push for Pinetop, Arizona, driving through very rural roads rather than the main highway; it was breathtaking the entire way! I have fallen in love with this part of Arizona; it reminds me so much of the Alps in Switzerland.

We'll be camping for the next four nights; we'll be in Ponderosa, AZ tomorrow night, on the south rim of the Grand Canyon the following night; the night after that we'll stay on the north rim; finally, on the fourth night we'll camp in Zion National Park in Utah and then southward for a night in a hotel in Las Vegas; we may not have internet for a few days, so check back sometime later for updates. Don't forget to check out the new pictures on the link below~

Cleburne, TX to Carlsbad, NM

The remainder of the time in Texas was delightful in every way. Jeff and Deb showered us with care and love from the start to the finish of our visit. We met many wonderful people, and we enjoyed the time we were able to spend together with them. Jeff and Travis took us over to Dallas for the day on Monday, and we had a look around at the city, especially things having to do with JFK; it was very informative and enriching. In the evening Deb and Jeff prepared a wonderful BBQ and invited a handful of very special people to join us.

We departed Cleburne by 10 in the morning, and we arrived last night at around 4:30 here in Carlsbad. The drive across was incredible in the sense that the terrain changed dramatically as we progressed west, but otherwise the journey was uneventful. Today (Wednesday) we're headed over to have a look at the Carlsbad Caverns and the White Sands area; we plan to sleep the night in Las Cruces.

PS...check out the awesome photos that Bastian just posted-amazing places and people!

Here in Texas

We've had good times here in hot Texas. Every day is the same as far as the weather goes; it's hot, humid, and windy. Where the weather lacks, the hospitality excels in every way; Deb doesn't let a plate stay empty long before she insists on something else to enjoy. We've had a great time with family; Jeff and Deb are grandparents now, and we've gotten to spend time with both grandson and granddaughter. Bastian and Deb have enjoyed many a wild ride on the four-wheeler, throwing stones as they tear like lightening through the driveway around here. Last night Bastian and I took a drive over to the famous Stockyards in Ft. Worth; it's definitely a different culture, wow. Today we're planning the next phase of the journey, tomorrow we'll spend in Dallas with Jeff, Deb, and perhaps Travis and Sarah, and on Tuesday morning we'll bid this hot place adieu. Onward, ever onward!

First Leg: Charlottesville, VA - Cleburne, TX

Us two well rested buddies started out on Wednesday morning, June 6, from the Myers residence in Charlottesville. Wishing well to our host, Ham, we quickly hit the road towards our quarters for the night in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee right next to Loretta Lynn's birthplace. After ten hours of driving through blinding thunderstorms and navigating between thousands of reckless driving 18-wheelers, our half-way-to-Texas place to stay finally appeared through the curtain of rain. We got settled, grouched about the antiquated WiFi connection- one shed his discontentment relaxing on the king size bed, one jumped in the pool for a quick swim, after having a funny chat with the barely english speaking mexican portier. The next day we headed out early for another ten hours drive through the "Natural State" of Arkansas and its quite primitive and "natural-left" highways, having lunch at the equally primitive Wendy's Burgers. In the afternoon, daylight vanished from one second to the other, building up a tense feeling of soon being crushed under the black, heavy clouds, which looked very close to forming a tornado coil. By the time it opened up, we were able to see part of the damage the storm caused, driving by three car accidents in 15 minutes. Later we found out about the severe flash flooding, which happened during the same time in that area, unfortunately taking at least 20 peoples lives.

The incredible heat of Texas was welcoming us soon after, spotting huge ranches along the way and noticing the increase of super-heavy duty pickup trucks as well as the feeling of sheer vastness of the "Lone Star" state. The freshly overhauled Volvo soon showed the first symptoms of the stresses and strains by losing air in one of the back tires, but we eventually made it to the "promised territory" of the Roy's, a welcoming little oasis in Cleburne.