Sea Lions and Sand Dunes

Yesterday was so much fun!! We drove a llooooonnnggg time, but we got to see sea lions.  They were sooo cute.  they are the fattest laziest creatures but there was so many everywhere, it was so fun to watch.  The weird thing was seeing the animals and knowing that we weren't at a zoo.  These little (well big) guys have the whole coast to stay at and they choose to come back to the same place over and over again!  

Then we went to Spinreel.  We, all six of us (even my scardy-cat father), got in an ATV and took on the sand dunes.  We had a blast.  It was crazy bumpy, and my Dad was so scared.  He wouldn't go down any of the steep hills because he was "protecting his family"  we were yelling and screaming and having a grand old time!!

Then we stopped at this beautiful beach.  It was so windy and sunny and gorgeous!!!!  We took bunches of pictures and me and shel found a sand dollar.   The entire coast was so pretty.  We drove up the entire thing on the way to Cali.  What a spectacular road.  

So now its the morning and we are at an RV park (i really shouldn't call it a park, more like a parking lot!).  We can see the beach from our RV and it is soooo pretty to wake up and see the waves.  Today the plan is drive.  Drive and drive and drive.  We are seeing the Red wood forest today so i will fill you all in later.

Shelby got a really good shot!

Just a clarification real quick:

a FAQ:

Is it more fun than you thought it would be?

My A:

Yes it is more fun than i thought, but its a lot longer than i realized.  A lot longer!!

I Felt like Lewis and Clark!!

Finally i got to see the beautiful pacific coast!!! Wow was it pretty. We first saw it in La Push beach 30 minutes west of Forks! Forks was great, it was so much fun to see Twilight come alive, i could almost see the characters walking around! We drove down the Oregon coast all today and it is so pretty. We also went to an ice cream store, which served delicious creamy ice cream in a bunch of flavors. It also doubled as a Cheese Factory. We got to see the actual production room of the cheese cutting/packaging!!! It was cool.
Well, it is my birthday today!!! Yay. We went to Fort Clatsop which was one of Lewis and Clark's forts on the pacific. It was pretty cool. We walked down to the fort and it was freezing. Then we went to a beach and walked along the tide pools. We were "rock hopping" and all of a sudden i here my dad screaming, i look back and the water from the tide is rushing up. So i start screaming and i jump on the highest land possible (which wasn't all that high), and then my mom, who wasn't really paying attention, started screaming and i look over and she's wading through the water holding up her pants. It was pretty funny.
SOooo while we were all screaming a guy came up and was like " you probably should come back and see the tide pools a little later." So he started telling my mom all about the tide animals. Now here's the thing. My mom decided before we left that when i turned 16 we would find some cute surferguy on the beach. Well, we were not about to find a cute surfer guy because it was freezing and there was not a soul on the beach... except.... for the guy with rubber boots who was "Mr. Tide Pools" So mom got a picture of me with him... for my birthday!
Well more on HOBY:

Gosh, i could go on and on about how much i learned and expierenced. The weekend was amazing/ We had several panels in which 4 professionals would sit before us, introduce themselves a little, and then open the floor for us all to ask questions. The panels consisted of media, education, business, and some other. We also did a service project for a hospital and my group wrote a book in Dr. Suess style!! We did skits, lunch with a pro, finding our "true colors" (i am an orange), and so much more. I loved it and i will be going back!!! Anyway, if you want to see pictures, check out the HOBY picture website:

http://www.shutterfly.com/pro/HOBYmissouri/2008Seminar

How's my PMA???

HOBY was one of the most amazing and intense weekends of my life. I learned a ton, lost my voice, and met some great people. "There is not a word yet for old friends that you have just met" I mean the people i met on the weekend were automatically my best friends. It feels as if i've known them forever. I will never forget what an amazing weekend HOBY was. I will be going back next year, and the year after that, and the year after that. The weekend consisted of lots of cheers, little sleep, good food, nice people, and tons of PMA (positive mental attitude). I wish i could write everything that happened on the retreat, but there really isn't enough time. I am soooo tired, so very exhausted, that i am going to have to cut this very short. I will probably write more on this later, and tell you all about my First Class Flight Experience, but for now its off to the land of Zzzzz's.

Welcome to Washington...

Well, we drove through Idaho and made it to Washington! We went to Snoqualmie Falls, and they were huge!! We took a 1/2 mile hike down to the bottom of the falls. It was long, but really pretty, the trees were crazy big. Now we have a couple more hours till night, and nothing to do!! Well, i leave tomorrow at 11 so i won't post for the next ... 4 days. Alright, not much more to say, so bye!

Casper the Friendly Horse

Today was another long day.  Two big travel days in a row wooo hoo!!!  Yesterday we drove and drove and drove, and when we reached our campsite, (without showers or electricity) we made a fire and roasted marshmallows (along with rice krispies and oatmeal creme pies.)  Dad and chris were too worried about the bears to really enjoy it though.  

Then we got up and took a 2 hour trail ride!!!  Shelby has been pumped to ride horses the entire trip, and this morning, in the freezing cold Montana weather, we saddled up and rode.  My horse's name was Casper.  Christopher rode Montana (he found that ironic), SHelby rode Russia, Jess rode Midnight, Mom rode Rambo (yes, he was a fighter) and Dad rode (a little timidly at first) Colby.  It was beautiful, but very, very cold.

 When we got off the horses, we found we couldn't walk correctly.  Then we tried to run.  Not a good idea.  Then we drove the rest of the day.  I slept... and worked on my essay for school... and read... and ate... and slept again... and finished my essay.  It was a very eventful and productive day!  Now we are in some creepy little RV site we found (we were going to stay at a Walmart) and we have the doors and windows locked (mom suggested we sleep with knives)  I'll let you know soon if we survive!

Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming, and now Montana!

I have to type fast, because i don't have much time.  I hacked on to Arby's Internet.  So we have a travel day today.  A very long travel day.  We're in Montana right now, but i guess i should fill you in on everything we did in Wyoming!! Well we saw Yellowstone.  Very cool.  Everyone says Yellowstone is beautiful, but i just think its weird.  All the hot springs and geyser's make it look like a deserted wasteland!! 

 What is really beautiful is the Grand Tetons.  Absolutely the most amazing place i have ever been to.  They are so beautiful.  

Hmm... what else have we done... Oh yeah!! Last night we went to the Cody Rodeo!!  It was amazing.  It was my first rodeo, and it was really fun.  Mom wasn't to thrilled that the were "hurting the poor little animals"  but everyone else enjoyed it. Lots of extremely cute cowboys. (only in Wyoming can a man pull of the jeans, boots, and cowboy hat routine!!)

  While in Cody yesterday we went to the Buffalo Bill Museum.  I thought it was great, but Dad and Jess were bored.  I also met my dream car.  It was the most beautiful car i have ever seen!  I am in love with it!!!!  Its a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air, turquoise with black interior!  I Love it!!!!!!  We could have payed 20$ for a raffle ticket but dad rained on my parade and said i don't have any chance of winning....  Leave it to him to be Mr. positive.

My Dad is brave about the mountains, just not the Burrows!!

We drove up a mountain.  Yes in our RV... it was crazy!!!  We had to keep going in these tunnles, and every time they kept getting smaller... and smaller.. and smaller until we just couldn't fit.  So we had to turn around and drive all the way back down.  The thing is, it took us 2 hours to get that far, and it was already getting dark.  So we drove as far as we could and pulled over and ate.  Hotdogs over the gas stove!!  Then on our way back, the wildlife was amazing!!! We saw a huge herd of buffaloe!!!! There were tons of babies, it was sooo cute!  

Then we saw two burrows.  we had been warned that burrows are verrryy friendly.  We opened the windows and they started walking toward us.  mom and Dad started freaking out, dad especially, yelling and screaming for us to close the windows. Then dad got so scared he just stepped on the gas and we sped away.  It was very funny, and we got it all on tape.  

I think my Dad had the scare of his life. That day we attempted to see Mount Rushmore.  No success there.  Why?  Well... it was so foggy we couldn't even see the mountain!!! We had to come back yesterday and see it.  It was breathtaking how HUGE that thing is.  I mean one eye is like 11 feet!! Thats crazy!! 

After Mount Rushmore we had another long day of traveling.  We drove through Big Horn mountains, and they are absolutely gorgeous!  As we kept climbing, the whole family was on the look out for Moose.  We spotted 4!!!  It was so cool.  We were driving through clouds and we were so high up that Jessica's ears started popping! 

On the way down we stopped at a little town, with a population of 10 people!! Not kidding, thats what the sign said!  I just can't imagine living in that small of a town.  Well 1 month and 3 or 4 days left of the trip, and already it feels as if we've been on the road for a year!!  It's going to be one long trip....

Two other thing we did, that i forgot to mention were Wall Drug and Devil's Tower.

Wall drug is a big tourist trap, lots of little stores.  Really really fun!  We each got and 1/8 lb of fudge, and and extra 2 for free.  It was soooo yummy!! Devil's tower was amazing!  There is a story that a man wanted to prove he was a good parachuter by jumping out of a plane and landing on the top of devils tower!!  He did it, and then he was stuck up there for 6 days waiting ofr someone to rescue him!!

Well, goodbye.  I have a feeling i wont be writing for a few days.  We are staying in Yellowstone, and i doubt they have internet!

Just an update on the weather:  Its been freezing, raining, sleeting, and every thing else.  Its may and there was snow!!!!!

Bad Lands are not so bad...

We drove over to go see the Bad Lands today.  Wow.  I have never seen mountains that up close before.  They are absolutly gorgeous!!  We took about an hour hike, and between Jessica freaking out because of the hieghts and christopher complaining about how he wanted to be in the front, we had an amazing time.  We reached the dead-end of the trail and it was a huge drop-off cliff over looking the Bad Lands.  So pretty!! 

Then on our way back.... i was in the frotn leading us all when i almost stepped on a snake.  And not just any old gardner snake, a rattle snake.  I was sooo scared.  Thankfully nobody got bit! Then we stopped in every gift store and vistor center we could find, there is not much to do out here.  So now it's about 3pm and we've got the rest of today to hang out in the RV park.  It's freezing here, so we are all in jeans sweatshirts, hats and gloves, but hopefully mom and dad will let us go on this hour and 1/2 horse trail ride.  

First Two Crazy Days!!

It's been a full two days!  

We started off yesterday morning with my best friend trying to stow away.  We drove for hours and hours and hours and hours.... and hours.  We ate lunch at a place called Grinders in Kansas City.  Really cool place, great meatball grinders.  I took a picture of some 

graffiti on a bike ship wall, really cool. But we've seen cooler things. 

  We made it through Iowa and to South Dakota.

  This morning we went to St. Joe's Cathedral for mass.  It was a beautiful old church in Sioux Falls.   

The sermon was on the Eucharist and today was the priests 1 year anniversary of priesthood.  He gave a very... intense sermon.  Chris and Shelby leaned over and said, I'm scared!  He was very excited.  It was good.

We went to sioux falls after.  Wow are they pretty.  Small but really nice!!!  

Then  we drove to the Corn Palace.  It's been remade every year since 1892... out of corn!!  It was pretty cool.

After that we went to an old Indi

an Village.  Me and my Dad tried throwing these old indian spears for like 20 minutes, but we couldn't hit the fake deer.  We dug for "artifacts" and got a few arrow heads.  Then we drove to Bad Lands.  It was absolutely amazing.  We were driving through completely flat land for a long while, when all of a sudden mountains starting appearing..  it was crazy!!!  Its so cool up here.  Everything is so different! 

Now we're sitting in the Rv in a park watching tv.  It's almost time for bed, so i'm gunna sign off!!

HOW is HERE!

The HOW arrived this afternoon and wow is it a lot bigger in person!!! We started packing and that's when we figured out we had a lot more room then we expected. Believe me, it's no mansion, but it's pretty roomy.
Not very much left to say, I'll put pictures up later...

Only two more days...

I just posted the pictures, enjoy!

Scariest Realization ever...

We were in the car on our way to Walmart for some shopping for the trip when my mom asked me if i knew my friends email addresses. I looked at her funny and held up my cell-phone... no but i do have their numbers... i said! She looked at me and says we might not have service everywhere...

AHHHH! Oh my oh my oh my.... i totally forgot that most of the trip we'll be in THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE!!! Scary things lay in my future. So i will be almost completely cut off from any of the civilization that i will leave! Ah well, at least I'll look cute. We went to get some clothes for the trip and we spent at least 3 1/2 hours shopping!! We also hit the library i got 6 more books, and Jess got like 8 so all our books combined equals somewhere around 2 million. Mom says we have to store them all under the RV, not in the cabin with us, only a few at a time. I can't even imagine how crammed our RV will be, not including all the books we are bringing.

So our pool had been open for a couple days now, and it was finally sparkling clean this weekend and, what great luck, it was beautiful, sunny and 74 degrees!! I went sunbathing and then jumped in the 61 degree water, wow was it cold. That is one thing, out of the many, that I'll miss about being away from home.

Another frightening realization is that we'll be gone for 5 weeks... The longest I've been away from my home was for ... 18 days, but we were in Mexico and it was beautiful!! It's not like a regular vacation, or like summer camp... It's 5 WEEKS!!!

I am so very proud, because i am almost done packing!!! All my clothes are up stairs in a pile, now all i need is the necessary toiletries and others stuff. I even packed for the HOBY leadership conference! Oh yeah...
Sometime in the middle of the trip i am flying back home solo to attend a leadership conference. I was the recipient of this HOBY award and so when we reach Seattle in our big HOW i get on a plane, fly back home and spend a weekend with my friend on a retreat! That will really be a retreat, a great break from my inconsistent bed and small living quarters.

Book Spree

We just got back from borders!!! Do you think 2,431 pages will last me 5 weeks?? probably not, but we are heading to the library sometime soon!! I got six books, seven including the one i need to read for AP Lit next year. I got to use my fancy giftcard that i won in a school raffle, for $50 dollars!!! Geez, a lot of money to spend on dead trees. I am just glad i have something to do during all the long hours in the HOW.
Oh yeah, i got an AMAZING early 16th birthday present!! I've been complaining about my broken Sansa (my MP3 player) for a while now, and i was just on the verge of buying one on Ebay this weekend, but Mom and Dad surprised me tonight with a brand new 4GB Sansa! Yes! music and books... i'm set!!
I tried talking Dad into buying a portable TV and hooking a Nintendo up to it for the trip, but he wouldn't agree. ah well, i will stick with my music.
Only 5 more days of school left, actually only 2 then 3 half-days of finals!! Gosh this HOW is coming at me like a freight train...

This is no "Spur-of-the-Moment" Trip

This RV trip is not like:

"Oh honey i think we should take an RV around the county this summer"

"All right I'll grab the kids and the credit card and we'll leave tomorrow"

Geez..... It's insane the amount of work my parents have to put into this baby. I say my parents because i do not have to any work... i just simply pack my clothes in my bucket and get on the HOW a few days from now.

Our Packing project above takes up our entire hearth room. Dad just bought some biners for our Nalgene bottles (let me tell you, i was very excited)!!

When starting to pack simple questions come to mind:

What clothes will we wear?

What food will we eat?

But as the packing intensifies, well... so do the questions, and they don't stop "rolling in".

"where are we stopping, do we need lawn chairs, how are we going to get through mountain passes, why are we doing this, are we CRAZY?!?!?!!?"

It's all great...

So we got T-Shirts.... yes matching t-shirts for the whole family, yes Cousin Joanne there will be pictures, and lots of us matching.... wooo we are the biggest rednecks ever!

No Showers!?!?!?!

Dad brought home the list of all the RV parks we'll be staying in. Some of them are in parks, like Yellowstone, others are right up on the beach. I can't wait to feel like a redneck and sit with our hot pink brand new lawn chairs in front of the HOW!

The only bad news about the parks, it that some don't have showers.... oh boy!! Just imagine 6 people living for a week without showers. Now put those same 6 people in an RV... woo!

I found out that i will be in Dunes, Oregon for my 16th birthday.

It's going to be gorgeous!! Can't wait to see the pacific ocean... i don't think I've ever seen it before... Cool!!

Question of the Day

So, this isn't exactly the route we're taking, but it's pretty close.
We are covering a lot of ground here!!!! My major concern is gas... we will be the #1 cause for global warming this summer! Woo!

So today my history teacher asked us a Question of The Day. He does this often and requires us to answer 1 random question with no importance, or relevance to his class. Today the question was "You were in a plane crash, and you are stranded on a desert island. You have your Ipod with you, but you can only access 1 album of music... which would it be?" Of course my teacher knows about my RV trip and couldn't help adding a joke for my sake. So when he said "You were in a plane crash," he added, "or an RV crash." glancing slyly at me. So I've become the but of his jokes, but i don't mind, I'm actually excited about getting in the HOW and taking off into the unknown.

If you're wondering what my album was, it's Damien Rice's album 9. It's the only CD i listen to all the way through, enjoying every song and singing along.

Packing Problems....

Oh the joy of packing.... especially when you have a little 2' by 2' box to fit all your clothes in for 5 weeks....

That is the space my mother is allowing us to have. Let me just explain to you something. I have a walk in closet... a very large walk in closet... and i would really prefer not to wear the same clothes everyday. This is going to be very interesting. I am allowed to bring two jeans, two shorts and probably 3 shirts.... oh yippee!!

I probably sound like a brat so sorry in advance. It will get better i promise. I am super pumped for the trip... actually just pumped.. I'm getting to the super part though.

I just finished reading Stephanie Meyer's book Twilight again. And that may seem to have no relevance to the topic of this blog, but it is ligament. Stephanie Meyer placed her book's setting in the small town of Forks in Washington. She describes every detail in her book as it is in real life. So on the trip we are making a special detour up to Forks!!! That, as of right now, is the highlight of my trip!! I'm so excited to see La Push beach, Forks High school, and the beautiful green forests.

So back to studying for finals... almost done with school... just keep pushing!

T minus: 23 Days 2 hours 9 minutes

I decided to blog.. yes dad, i know you've told me to start a million times, but i finally have.

23 days till the big RV trip... mom's freaking out, dad's a bit nervous i'm just worried about finals. It really hasn't hit me that this trip is actually going  to happen, yet in just 3 weeks i'll be sleeping on a table top and relieving my self in the tiniest bathroom you'll ever see...  It's kind of scary.

I am excited, don't get me wrong, i know the scenery will be amazing, i love my family and i know we'll have a great time, yet living in the HOW* just is a bit... unnerving... 

So i will probably get on later, when i actually have more time to blog, and update you on how we're preparing and all that great suff, but right now i'm going to sleep in my amazing bed, and enjoy my stationary room as much as possible!!!

*HOW stand for Hell On Wheels... thats what us kids named our RV!!  Mom and Dad approve, so the name just stuck!!