Day Seven: The final leg of the journey

 Day Seven

We woke up and drove across the border. We are back in the USA!!!!!!! Praise God!
We can understand the road signs again.  No more will we have to convert km to miles so we know if we have enough fuel to make it to the next station. 

Another reason we have to praise our Heavenly Father is for bringing such  wonderful men into our lives. He has blessed us with awesome role models and fathers. 

Dad, Maurice, we are so thankful for your love and support through every life decision and move we have made. In fact, we hope you are enjoying this trip as you are hauling our Excursion to Alaska for us. We appreciate it so much, and are glad you volunteered to do it! We love you. Thank you for teaching Gavin how to be such an amazing Dad, and how he should treat a woman. We are where we are today because of the sense of adventure and desire to better ourselves you have instilled in all your kids. Thanks for giving your family roots so they could spread their wings and fly.

Dad, Kelly, we love you so much. Thanks for teaching me what a father's love feels like, and how to stand strong on my own two feet. You are my hero Dad for giving so much to all of us six kids, and now for sharing life and laughter with your 14 grandkids! You are special, and missed. Know that you are always loved, forever cherished, and never forgotten. 

Gavin we are so blessed to have such an amazing man in our lives. You are the reason I am who I am today. I am blessed to be your wife and the mother of your children. You give our children stability in family, hope for the future, power to believe in their dreams, a passion for living life not just getting by, and a love so great they will never be able to deny that you strive daily to make them feel important and special. Thanks for choosing me time and time again, and thank you for actively participating in rearing our children through the love of Jesus Christ. 



Okay enough sappy talk and back to the blog, but I hope you all take a moment today to tell your dad how special he is to you.  

  We crossed into the Alaskan time zone at 6:00 a.m. This puts us 3 hours behind the Midwest and 4 hours behind the East Coast. The girls were singing/ chanting "We are in Alaska!"  After about ten minutes we required they stop singing; seven days in a truck can get on your nerves a bit! 

We passed through familiar territory and were feeling absolutely elated to be this close to home. We were trying to make the most out of the horrendous frost heaves. Gavin and I feel like we have whiplash; however, the kids love the big bumps and constant jostling. They made tents with their blankets and this is the quietest they have been since the start of the trip. 

Olivia is resting on my legs and this helps alleviate a little of the thwapping her body is taking. She has done so well. However, she HATES the kennel. When we try to put her in she pulls back on the leash, and tries to run the opposite direction. Then once I get her to a point I can lift her to the back of the truck she goes limp and dead weights it. It is hard for me to lift her when she is like jelly. 

We knew we were really close when we passed the Matanuska Glacier. Our excitement to see our home and get out of the truck was building and nostalgic feelings were growing the closer we got. 

After lunch at one of our old time favorites, The Noisy Goose, we headed to our house. We parked the trailer in the neighbors yard. These neighbors are the sweetest couple, and were so excited to know we were coming back. They treat our kids like their own grandkids and used to spoil Otis rotten. They hugged us all, and told Olivia she would be spoiled too. It is so nice getting back to our old neighborhood,  even though most of our military friends have since moved away. 

Nonetheless, we are finally home. Our long road has led us back to the place we love and missed. I was wrong, the journey is not over; it has just begun! I will keep you all updated so please keep in touch. We love and miss you all. God speed. 

Thank you Lord for a trip of great memories made with those we love, and for protected travels. We are not worthy of your goodness, but we praise you for blessing us endlessly. 


P.S. Pictures of last few days will be posted tomorrow ! 
Peace n Prayers
The Alaskan Gardner Clan
Gavin, Allie,  
Nehemiah, Evelyn, &  Lilyan 

Day 6 Pictures will follow with stronger connection

Day Six

We awoke feeling awesome, revived, and refreshed. That was the best sleep we have all gotten since the trip began. We got up and headed out in the clear morning sunshine with the hopes of finding coffee somewhere close enough to keep up the chipper moods. 

We were snapping pictures of the gorgeous mountains all morning. We stopped for fuel and took pictures of the kids next to a life size moose statue. They are huge, and I would be scared to make one feel threatened!

I read aloud a 390 page James Patterson novel Gavin was reading as the radio has no stations. Yes, zero stations on both AM and FM. The numbers just keep going around and around. I love driving without music, so it does not bother me. However, my little family seem to NEED it, so reading aloud helps them have that auditory stimulation. Granted I turned a Patterson novel into a G rated version so the kids could listen too. 

We rolled into Whitehorse at lunch time, and were meeting a guy interested in buying our four-wheeler. So, we unloaded it from the trailer, repacked the trailer, and waited for him to look at it. We had already dropped our price, but he then offered us less than what we even owe; therefore, we decided it was time to unload and reload the trailer again. Sigh, this is getting old. However, the guy changed his mind, came back, and bought it. This means less weight to haul. Woo hoo! 

We drove through part of the unforgiving, battering and body beating frost heaves of the Alaskan highway. We seriously spent the day slowing to an almost stop so we could get through the huge up and down holes of the road. We rolled into Beaver Creek and realized it was time to stop after a grueling 14 hours. 

We were hurting, tired, and ready to go a little crazy with all the noise in the cab. We met a really nice couple who travel all over now that they have retired. They were really neat folks, and watched Olivia so she could be out of the kennel while we ate dinner. They also gave oranges to the kids to eat for breakfast. 

We had a quick dinner, then took showers, and crawled into bed. I am having trouble getting the kids to sleep because the complete daylight at 10:30 pm has thrown them a little off.  They best get used to it, as we are headed to the land of the midnight sun. 

I feel lost without the Internet capabilities so I can send these blogs out to let everyone know we are okay. However, by this time tomorrow we will be in Anchorage, God willing. Then I will send out the final leg of the journey. I have had so much fun writing it that I will be keeping a blog of our lives in AK. Not a day by day journal, but the big events in our lives so our families can take part in the experiences. I am saddened you all cannot be here in person, but technology will help us get through it!  

Good night and know we are thinking of you, love and miss you all. God speed!

Peace N Prayers

Day Five

On the road after a hearty breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express at 6:00 a.m. Gavin was rearing to go, the kids were a bit whiny, and I was groggy because I stayed up until 1:00 a.m. doing laundry. I had to keep getting up and adding loonies ( Canadian dollars) to the dryer because it was not drying. The last time I was up was 3:00 a.m. When the alarm went off at 5 a.m. I wanted to cry like a little girl. Instead I got everyone around and repacked the bags with clean clothing.

It was cold when we began this morning, and the dreary rain was still coming down. The wet roads on 10% grades were not fun. Gavin looked calm, but I was tense. I felt like it was the worst roller coaster ride I've ever been on. Not being able to see because you are in the clouds, going down a steep grade on a very curvy road is a bit scary. However, hauling a heavy trailer only added to my trepidation. Nevertheless, Gavin is a very good driver and he handled all the issues like a pro.

I fell asleep shortly after getting into the truck, and was awakened because the people in my dream were talking funny. In reality, Gavin was listening to French radio. He really seemed to enjoy it, even though he couldn't understand a single word. However, the weirdest thing happened from his new found interest in foreign music; he suddenly developed a fake French accent. It was hilarious, though when we went into the store I was a bit worried some French speaking Canadian would be offended and want to cause physical pain. Then again they are not very big individuals as we have discussed before so maybe we would have faired all right. Lol! The accent disappeared as they day went on, but has been replaced with, "Eh."

We stopped for fuel and changed clothes. We all dressed in warm clothing due to the last few days of cold conditions and temperatures in the low 50's. However, the further NW we traveled the warmer it became. It was up to 74 degrees F/ 24 degrees C. So, we changed into shorts and t-shirts.

We ran into a construction zone and had to wait with a road construction flagger. She was very nice, and extremely talkative. In five minutes we learned that the water trucks come by and cool the flaggers down, her sister was the flagger on the other side, she had never been married, just got engaged two weeks ago, her fiancé has been married and divorced twice, and she was dripping with sweat. The Canadians know no strangers. They are very friendly, and I thought Evelyn would fit in well in Canada.

We were able to see lots of wildlife today. We saw our first moose of the trip, a wolf, deer, elk, Dahl sheep, wild horses, mountain goats, a herd of buffalo and 8 black bears.

Lilyan kept begging to see more wildlife. After we stopped for a picture of a bear and her cub Lilyan was excited. We asked if she thought it was scary and she surprised us with her answer. She laughed and said,"No when I get a Barbie gun I will kill it and eat it. " Wow, she is definitely Alaskan... And maybe the next Sarah Palin lol! The older two were more fascinated with how big the bison dung piles were. Yeah they are kids.

The views are breathtaking and the scenery just seems painted it is so pretty. It is hard to describe the rocky mountain terrain, that smells like the pine trees everywhere. The little creeks or lakes pop up on both sides of the highway and makes us feel so blessed to just be a part of such an amazing work of the Lord.

There are very seldom any signs of

man off the highway, and the stops are very spaced out. We stopped at Muncho Lake to get fuel. Then we wandered down the trail to the lake, and decided a gorgeous place such as this had to be remembered. So, this is the place we decided to renew our vows. The kids snapped pictures, and the dog was running in and out of the water biting at her reflection. Standing in the beautiful surroundings with our kids by our sides only reaffirmed the love we have for one another, but also the love Christ has for us. Because of His love we are lucky to have found the one we are willing to marry again and again! We now have three countries! Canada, Jamaica and the U.S.A.

Our truck was acclimated to the Alaskan way of travel today. We are now on the Alaskan highway, and we were hit with rocks as another vehicle went by. Now, the truck has a large rock chip in the windshield. This is normal up here because the road crews use gravel and dirt instead of salt to help with winter driving conditions. This is in part so the wildlife do not continually cause delays because they are too busy licking the salt. The roads are also made differently here. They spread a layer of tar down and then rocks. Then drivers finish the rest by driving over the rock and tar until it is fairly smooth. So, rock chips are a part of life here.

We have switched time zones again and gained another hour. This helps add to the time we can travel, but our bodies are letting us know when we need to stop. Today has been a long 15 hours of traveling, and we are ready for bed. We have yet to eat dinner, just munched on snacks and the children are asking about dinner. These long pushes between towns can be very taxing.

We had hoped to stay in Watson Lake, but there was only one smoking room available. The owner of the little hotel let me go smell the room first. It smelled like a diner filled with chain smokers suffering from COPD. We passed on the room, and decided the next town was 3 hours away, and we would try our luck there. However, we did grab burgers and took some pictures of the Sign Post. It was rather unique.

As we settled ourselves in for what would be a VERY long night we passed a little group of cabins in the middle of nowhere. It was called the Northern Beaver Post. They had one cabin left, and it was $210 a night. We had already been driving for 15 hours by this point and needed sleep so we bit the bullet and took it.

After baths the kids fell asleep within minutes. There was no Internet so I could not post this blog. So sorry to our followers, but hopefully we will find service tomorrow.

Good night and God Blezzzzzzzzzzz

DAY FOUR Rain, Rain Go Away

Here are some extra pictures of the last few days! We took zero pics today as it was pouring and cold.

Great one of Mt. Rushmore

Kids playing at the park

Little Cowgirl

In a tree... climbing is natural for these three

The kids posing with Minnesota Maps

Evelyn being wild and crazy on her horse.

Nehemiah ...taming his bronco

Family shot

Our renewal of vows in Minnesota

Day Four

The morning began at 5:00 a.m. with a quick stop for breakfast burritos and coffee from McDonalds. Then we set off for a very long day of driving.

The monotony of sitting in the cab of a pick up for four days has begun to erode away at everyone's nerves. Lilyan is constantly putting her feet over the side of her car seat to kick one of the older two because they are getting to close to her. In fact, I had one of those bite my cheek while I was scolding moments today. Lilyan kicked Evelyn in the head because, "You are getting in my bubble!!!" Sometimes it is difficult to get them in trouble when all you want to do is laugh about their precocious nature. The older two are finding subtle ways to annoy the other. "Mom he is looking at me again," and "She won't let me have my toys/game," were repeated statements all day long.

We drove through dreary rain and clouds all day. However, the rain was not a problem it was hitting rush hour in Calgary and getting lost in Edmonton.

We hit morning rush hour in Calgary, and were taking the road under construction too. The other drivers were courteous and besides the hour delay we got out of there relatively unscathed. Then the next big town was Edmonton.

We came into the city completely blindsided because the Rand McNally map really failed this city. It blew up only the inner roads and cut out the interstate. Therefore, we did not know we had missed the bypass until it was too late. Then it was like a nightmare on Elm street. Only the streets of Edmonton were trying to lure us to our doom. I am sure the pretty little side streets littered with flowers, trees, and quaint little shops were great to look at if you were not almost 40 ft long and 8.5 feet wide. Our truck and trailer were not made to skip along the teeny streets singing; " oh what a beautiful morning." Gavin was definitely not singing, but he was using colorful language. On the bright side, it was tense enough in the truck we had a reprieve from the kids fighting.

Once my expert navigation skills got us through the cluster ( yeah okay so I shouldn't quit my day job, but I did get us through the streets using the map) we had lost yet another precious hour of drive time. Plus, we had missed anywhere we could safely navigate for lunch, and we had run out of stocked goods this morning.

Nevertheless, we pressed on and we were able to get back on the road that leads to the Alaskan Highway. We stopped at the next town which consisted of an all in one gas- grocery- convenience store- and tire shop. We stocked up on sandwiches from a cooler and a drink for everyone. This was the most expensive meal we have purchased yet! A whopping $49.49, ouch! However, Gavin pointed out that we were headed for the 49th state, and being the weirdly superstitious person I am I took it as a good sign.

We drove for hours after eating our overly priced lunch, and stopped to fuel up in the next town. In this area you stop when you see fuel stations whether you need to or not because it may be awhile before you get to another.

The bathroom stalls are entertaining in the Canadian Provinces because in some stations you can read grafitti on the walls. Only it is not nasty like the things scrawled on stalls in the U.S. Instead threre are nice little anecdotes about being respectful to others or metaphors about life. Yes, it is still grafitti, but reading a cheery message when you are peeing is much nicer than reading about some crude child's version of love and a good time.

Gavin noticed, while fueling, that the hitch was sagging from all the fatigue and pressure. Therefore, it would be best to buy a new one pretty soon. We ended up finding a farm supply store a ways down the road and a nice but strange young gentleman helped Gavin get everything put together with the new hitch. The owner of the shop asked if we had enough room in our toolbox to take the young man with us. I take it his queer personality rubs some people the wrong way.

After completing the book I started earlier in the morning the kids and I crashed for awhile. I believe boredom set in early today and we made an observation that was not intended to be cruel or unkind. We realized we had yet to see an obese person in Canada. There were people walking, biking, jogging, and skateboarding in the townships. We started paying more attention and have spotted one overweight individual in the past two days while in Canada. There are fast food restaurants and such, but this does not seem to be adding to the girth of the Canadian people. Plus, when I went to Walmart I was under dressed in a sweatshirt and jeans. I felt like a slob. The faces of Walmart would not be too exciting here.

Something else we noticed was that the rest stops have trash bins and recycle boxes. There are even recycle boxes in the hotel rooms we have stayed in. These people seem to live extremely healthy, respectful and clean lifestyles. Outside of the rioters in Vancouver, which we heard all about on the radio throughout the day.

We rolled into Grand Prairie at 7:30 and the kids were going bonkers. We decided it would be best to go to Walmart and restock the cooler, eat dinner, and then get a hotel. The kids we were ready, and to be honest our bodies are pretty sore. The trip meter reads 2093 miles and it is time for some rest after 600 miles today alone.

After a quick dinner of microwavable meals the kids were tucked in bed as we all were tired and ready for bed. We watched the news and Gavin and I decided it will be a long day tomorrow; therefore, it was time for bed.

We hope you all had a fabulous day. We pray the Lord continues to watch over us as we head closer to our destination.

Peace n Prayers

Day Three : The Day of Delays

This picture was taken in Montana yesterday, but I had to include it because it was so cute. We pulled into a gas station to use the restroom and fill up, and the girls started yelling and screaming about the cool PINK truck. So, I had them pose for a picture with it, and they were just tickled pink:)
Olivia passed out with her tongue between her teeth in the passenger front floor board. She loves this spot, and I am not so sure it is because I can pet her the whole time or if she has more things to chew up. She already chewed my charger to my iPhone in half, and ate the top part of the floor mat today...naughty little puppy!
We are married in Montana with the "Big Sky" as the backdrop!
Evelyn holding the flowers she picked for our " wedding in Montana." She picked these right when we got to Montana yesterday, so we took a picture to remember the flowers she wanted us to use when we actually said I do again.
The kids were gambling again....Read the blog


Day 3 : Wednesday, June 15, 2011

We awoke early, packed up and headed to a tire shop that opened at 7:30 am so they could check out our trailer brakes. While they worked on them we had a great breakfast at our trusty Cracker Barrel. Yes, we are creatures of habit. Plus, there are no Cracker Barrels in Alaska so we have to get it out of our systems. Weird thing is the hostess sat us at the exact same table we ate dinner at last night. Okay not that weird, but a little queer.

After our hearty breakfast, we went to pick up our trailer only to learn the major problem we were worried we had last night was not a problem at all. The loud grinding/squeaking noise was probably some rocks stuck up in the calipers or brakes. There were no brake issues, and no more squeaking. God is awesome, as I prayed it was something simple. The amazingly kind staff at TireRama did not even charge us for the time they took to remove all four tires and complete a brake inspection. We are ever thankful to them for the peace of mind and it was free to boot! If you ever get stranded in Billings call them; they are good guys and are very competent.

We got on the road again and took a couple different highways going north instead of the interstate, which goes way south before it turns back north. The views were absolutely gorgeous.I get why they call it Big Sky Country. It just seemed to take up everything, and the hills just seemed to melt right into the blue of the sky. The beauty is hard to put into words. The ranches are so well kept, and carefully maintained. You can tell in the Big Sky Country the word cowboy is a way of life not just an outfit.

The fields were heavily flooded and all the rivers were out of their banks. It was sad to see all the crops underwater. Iowa and Nebraska will be seeing this water later I suppose. We were even turned away from some restrooms in one area because they had been destroyed by flood damage.
The kids were beginning to get really wound up, and were despising one another's company. Therefore, we broke out their DSI games to let them zone out on their own for a little bit. However, I never thought the words, " No, he doesn't want to picnochat with you; so do not try to link up," would ever come out of my mouth, but I said it repeatedly today. We all need personal space, some inner monologue time, and the freedom to choose whether we feel like picnochatting or not.

The drive to the border of Canada was pretty uneventful. We found plenty of gorgeous scenery, but there was no where to stop for a good picturesque spot to get married. However, we decided it didn't really matter and tied the knot again at a gas station/ casino somewhere in Montana.

Then we gave the kids money to go gamble.... Okay we didn't, but posing them with a dollar in front of the Casino sign made us laugh. Nehemiah thought it was rather humorous, in fact.

We then made our way to the border and sat in line for awhile. Once we made it to the customs officer we handed over our passports and documentation. He then went through the necessary questioning.

Do we have $10,000 or more on board? ( Yeah that would be great!)

Are the children ours? (We had their birth certificates ready in our very organized binder filled with important documents needed to cross the border.)

Do we have any drugs, tobacco, or alcohol? (No, we don't do drugs, smoke, and alcohol is a rarity.)

Do we have any firearms, knives or other weapons? (Yes, we proudly exercise our 2nd amendment rights and have a hunting rifle and handgun. However, our handgun is locked like we read it needed to be.)

They then asked us to pull over and come inside. Gulp! Uh oh!

Well, as it turns out our very well-organized binder of necessary documents was missing an ATT (Authorization to Transport). We did not know you have to have an ATT permit from the gun control officer in every province if you have a handgun. For those of you unfamiliar with the geography of Canada, we would need clearance from three provinces. These forms would have to be filled out, mailed to each province, processed and mailed back.

The other options they listed were; go back to the U.S. and sell it, ship it from a gun dealer in the states, or surrender it. We were taken aback at the predicament in which we found ourselves. All the careful planning and months of preparation, and now we ran into a problem.

The ATT was out because it would take forever. We could not sell it because we would have to find a buyer fast, and selling a gun to just anyone on the street is highly frowned upon by law enforcement, border patrol, and mothers. As for shipping it, the border control guy said we would have to go back to Shelby, MT to find a dealer. This was a few hours back the way we had come, and due to the fact it was already 5:45 p.m. most dealers would be closed. Therefore, we would lose out on the whopping 7 miles to the gallon we are getting in fuel mileage, plus we would have to get a hotel. The cost of the gun was close to the charges we would incur with this option. So, sadly Gavin and I decided it was best to turn our gun into the border patrol. The gun was a gift I had given him in Alaska after we had Lilyan...I got another baby girl and naturally, he got a gun...lol. He walked it in, head hung low, and I yelled out the window to let them know it was going in the blog.

A couple minutes later Gavin came back to the truck... with the gun. Maybe they had heard of my blog and it's massive following! Lol! In reality, there was a border patrol cop who knew a dealer who lived 15 minutes away, and would ship our gun for us. Woohoo God always has a few tricks up His sleeve.

So, we went through the U. S. customs and were given this dealers phone number by the U.S. officer. We called the number, and waited at a rest stop, next to the border for him to arrive. While we waited we had a yummy and nutritious dinner of turkey and red bell pepper wraps, caesar salad, and strawberries. We learned when traveling, while Gavin was still in the military, that a poor diet on the road makes the trip so much longer and more painful than it has to be.

After twenty minutes the dealer showed up and was very respectful and kind. $70 later, a signed receipt to ship our weapon to a dealer of our choice in Anchorage, and we were ready to go sit back in line at the Canadian border. Once we reached the attendant we were then allowed passage without any issues. However, we did decide today will be nicknamed the "Day of Delays."

We drove a few more hours until we found a fuel station and a hotel. We truly only cared if the room was clean, and did not smell. We found the Holiday Inn had vacancies and an area where we could park and plug in the freezer full of meat we have in the trailer.

The girls and Gavin went to the water park/ pool, and Nehemiah and I stayed in the hotel room. I could not handle any more noise. A pepsi and hot bath sounded so much better than other people's children screaming and splashing me in the face. Nehemiah made some poor choices once we got in the room so he had to face some harsh discipline. He did not get to go the water slides, instead he took a bath and went to bed. I do not know whose heart hurt worse, mine or his. However, sometimes lessons are learned the hard way; parenting is tough.

After lots of giggling about the pool, stories of getting stuck in a slide, spilling an entire bucket of ice, baths and teeth brushing the girls were tucked in next to their brother. Gavin and I are both heading to bed as well. Tomorrow will be a very LONG day and it begins EARLY.

Plus, a quick note to our loved ones please rely solely on this blog for any news of our travels the next few days. We are charged for every text and .80 cents a minute for phone calls. Therefore, rest assured that no news is good news, and we will keep adding to the blog.

We love you all, and pray the Lord blesses you with all the love and mercy we know He is capable of.

Peace n Prayers,
Allie, Gavin, Nehemiah, Evelyn, and Lilyan

Day Two Gardner Journey to AK

Mount Rushmore witnesses our renewal of vows.

Kids viewing Mount Rushmore- Silently taking it all in

We are in Wyoming

Avenue of Flags with Rushmore

Kids with Alaska plates and Mt. Rushmore

Sorry we could not get wifi connection until this morning so this post is late. Have a great day everyone!!!

We awoke at 4:45 am this morning with excitement building as we were going to travel to the Mount Rushmore National Monument. We ate a quick breakfast and stocked up on some groceries from good ole' Wal-Mart. We began the twenty two mile drive to the historic monument.

We found some neat elements along the drive that added to the jaunt up that very tall mountain. A bridge constructed out of cedar and wood joists was pretty. Then we woke the kids up as we drove through a tunnel carved out of the side of the mountain. As we started up the mountain Lily kept exclaiming that it must be Ak because it has mountains.

Once we had made it to the point we could start seeing the monument of faces we all began to wiggle in anticipation. Pulling into the parking lot we were all amazed at the size of it all. Both Gavin and I were snapping pictures like crazy.

It is so hard to explain how inspiring that big slab of granite can be. Patriotism just seems to burst from the entire area. The swell of pride as we stared at those four faces filled our hearts and throats. No matter the number of pictures we took they just could not do it any justice.

We posed the kids and then Lilyan became our photographer as Gavin and I exchanged vows again. We know we already have SD on our list but renewing our promise to one another between the avenue of flags and Mount Rushmore was too perfect to pass up. The four great men on the mountain were our witnesses and it was really touching.

The mountain was breathtaking and all of us could not believe how remarkable the monument truly is. We wanted to learn more about the history, and collected some information books on the mountain's history along the way. We finished our visit to the mountain with a detour to the gift shop for coffee mugs and t-shirts for the kids. We decided our old coffee mugs were not sentimental enough to pack up so we took them to Goodwill before we left Iowa, and decided to buy new ones from places that provided memories from our trip.

Once we were back in the car the kids were writing feverishly in their journals about Mount Rushmore. Nehemiah thought it was " awesome and an extraordinary site." Evelyn thought it was "cool." Lilyan said, "there was a lady right beside the man and it was awesome. The faces were cool."
Gavin stated the mountain was "awe-inspiring." I agree whole heartedly. I feel the monument is a magnificent representation of the principals and ideals that should be emblazoned in the hearts of all Americans. Each face on the mountain played a huge part in establishing the liberty and freedom our beautiful country was founded upon.

We learned about the amazing and talented sculptor, Gutzon Borglum from our reading material. He was a unique man who accepted the project, but refused to carve the faces the superintendent of the South Dakota State Historical society, Doane Robinson, wanted. Robinson wanted giant statues of the local heroes; however, Borglum declared his "life's work would not be spent immortalizing regional heroes." Borglum insisted upon subjects who were "national in nature and timeless in it's relevance to history. "

Each president chosen was picked because of his involvement in the United States' philosophy of liberty and the emphasis in pursuit of individual liberty.

George Washington, is remembered for helping the nation gain it's independence and establish a governmental rule that represents it's people.

Thomas Jefferson holds a place in the monument because he drafted the Declaration of Independence. Borglum include him because Jefferson was a visionary who dreamed of expanding the US territory from coast to coast. He accomplished a big part of that dream with the Louisiana Purchase, which doubled the size of the nation.
One thing that is very interesting about Jefferson's face is that Borglum pointed his eyes towards the Heavens emphasizing Jefferson's reputation as a "visionary and philosopher."

Theodore Roosevelt was the only face that was caught up in a controversy about being selected for the mountain. However, Borglum felt that Roosevelt's energy and spirit were the epitome of the "American Spirit." Plus, it might have helped that Borglum and Roosevelt were buddies too.

Abraham Lincoln, or The Great Emancipator," was Borglum's favorite leader and was included because of his "steadfast devotion to the nation." Borglum felt Lincoln was such a good leader that the sculptor named his only son, Lincoln Borglum, after the 16th president.

Lincoln Borglum ended up spending 7 months adding the finishing touches to the memorial after his father's death. At the monument there is a sculpture of Gutzon Borglum created by his loving son Lincoln. I thought this was a great touch to have the face of the masterful artist looking on his handiwork for life.

One of the cool things was that the 400 workers employed made $1.25 a day, but during the Great Depression this was a large amount. Even though these workers dealt with dangerous conditions there was not one life lost creating the carvings.

Another intriguing fact was that 90% of the carving was completed by dynamite. The workers were highly skilled and precise with the dynamite and could blast within four inches of the final surface. The dynamite helped shape the noses, eyes, mouths and chins of the great men ever immortalized on the side of a mountain.

If you have never been it is definitely a must see. It is one of the most memorable and spectacular sites I have ever viewed and suggest it to all Americans.

Wyoming! We made it into the state with some rain and clouds, but even with the dreary weather it was really pretty with all the red rock jutting out of the hillside.

We exchanged vows in front of a huge tree fossilized over the years. The sweet exchange of heartfelt dedication was followed up with today's version of I do; "I will again, two times in the same day, before lunch."

We snapped a few more pictures of the kids with their Wyoming maps, and headed back down the road. The road opened to fields of sage bush, pine trees, red rock and a distant view of the Devil's Tower. The Devil's Tower is a national monument which is sacred to the Plains indians.

Learning new things happens everywhere. The kids learned what dung was today. We read about all the things the Indians tad Bison for and this word prompted confusion. The Sioux Indians used the bison dung to make candles amongst other things; however, it's combustion capacity was highly valuable to these people. Then Evelyn piped in with, "then I guess that is another name for scat." after praising her for making connection to prior knowledge she learned on a field trip with Mrs. Ferrell, the other kids chimed in with other names for dung. Evelyn chimed in lastly with, "also the bad word we can't say." the laughter could not be stifled and eventually we were all chuckling uncontrollably. Out of the mouth of babes indeed!

We stopped at a rest area and let the kids play. They were running, skipping, screaming and quivering with joy. It was funny watching those little bodies release all that pent up energy. They went crazy and had a blast. Once back in the truck, as we prepared to cross the state line into Montana, they were still going berserk and kept nettling one another until they got out their journals and put into words the feelings and vigor surging through their veins.

We made it to Billings, MT at 5:30 p.m. We ended up having to drive around looking for an auto parts store to put a replacement cap for a wheel on the trailer. On our way to the hotel we noticed a terrible squeak coming from the trailer brakes. Can we say nervous when we have a huge mountainous region to cover in the next six days.!!!!

Well the brakes are more of a concern than we can just let go; therefore, we will be in Billings until we can get them looked at by a professional. Our cargo is too precious to risk it. So we are trying to relax and enjoy the nice hotel with a water-slide for the kids.

Dinner at Crackerbarrel came at 8 pm. We were ravenous and cleaned our plates. Then we went to swim awhile. The kids had a blast on the water slides and it was great sitting in the hot tub. However, Gavin convinced me to go down the speed slide, and it was really entertaining.

After the long day of driving and lots of expended energy at the pool we al showered and crawled into bed. The only sounds are the air conditioner and a dripping swim suit or two. I feel much more relaxed now that we have a room where our feet do not stick to the carpet tonight. Big improvement from last night.

To our followers we hope your day was blessed, and pray you witnessed the Lord's hand today. On the road it is hard to deny His vast creativity and Glory in all that surrounds us. We are blessed to have made it thus far and will continue to pray for safe travels.

Good night and God Bless everyone!

Peace n Prayers

Day One Traveling to The Last Frontier

Day one - Monday June 13, 2011
As we pulled out at 5 am from Maurice and Melissa's home we were tearing up and fighting through the pain in out hearts. We were all excited to be going back to the home we have missed for three years, but the family and friends we love so much made leaving a struggle.
The children were snuggled into their quilts from great grandpa Thomas, and I found solace wrapped in a blanket covered in signatures of my students from Cardinal. Gavin and I stared out the windshield knowing the road that lies ahead. We each have our dogs with us; his,Otis, in an urn under his seat, and mine crashed out in the floor board. Otis made this trip with us a few times and even though he is gone we could not bear the thought of leaving him behind.
We pulled out of Ottumwa and Gavin flicked on the radio to fill the quiet and silent tears slipping down our cheeks. The first thing on the radio were the words; " I'm at the starting line of the rest of my life I've got stars in my eyes and am ready as I've ever been." How fitting for the journey we are embarking.

The field of windmills in northern Iowa intrigued the kids enough that they wanted to journal about them. We have journals and colored pencils from Aunt Eileen the kids wanted to use to document the trip from their perspectives. Plus, it will give them some great memories after they write about it. The teacher in me is jumping for joy and smiling proudly that they want to use their brains.

We are married again! In Minnesota we exchanged vows in the woods on a little wooden bridge. It was beautiful and the silly vows included laughter and a kiss documented by our son, Nehemiah, as the photographer. The kids thought it was great and Evelyn even picked out honeysuckle as the flowers we needed to make it complete.

Once in SD the kids were excited about the teepee sculptures at all the rest stops. We had to take their pic in one . They got pins and a map of SD and were excited to write about the sculptures in their journals.

We made a game out of counting Wall Drug signs. As these signs are the only things that seem to break up the monotony of the plains of SD. However, when we fell asleep Gavin did not count so our accuracy with 35 is way off. These were seen only during my waking hours while not engrossed in my book of course.

The kids found the giant bulls head to be interesting, and worth documenting. In fact it was only after reading their journals that I realize I had missed the bull's head altogether. Nicholas Sparks tends to draw me into his stories, and evidently I did not even notice Gavin tapping me repeatedly or the ahhs and oohs as we passed this iconic symbol in SD because my nose was stuck in my book.

The enthusiasm and volume of joy increased greatly when we saw signs directing travelers to Demat SD the birthplace of Laura Ingalls Wilder. They were exclaiming how cool it was because she wrote one of their favorite read alouds, Little House in the Big Woods. See the love of reading can be shared and it makes life more exciting, and not just for English teachers:-)

The very long, long, long state of SD was a little boring, until we saw yet another wall drug sign. The view was neat as you can see forever across the plains We did stop at a few rest-stops to stretch our legs. I enjoyed taking Olivia for walks until we stopped where a sign warning "beware of poisonous snakes " was posted. I then forced Gavin to walk Olivia at his own risk! Lol!

We rolled into the mountain time zone and gained an hour. For some reason this seemed to rejuvenate the whole sleepy bunch. As we entered into the Bad Lands we discussed the history of the land. It was really neat and Nehemiah shared his knowledge of the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder and Indians.

Next stop was a slight detour to the infamous Wall Drug. We married again in the chapel in Wall Drug. Evelyn was our photographer this time. Then we proceeded to purchase a coffee mug with advertisements for Wall Drug all over it. After some post cards for all our nieces and nephews we got out of the tourist trap as fast as possible. So glad we do not enjoy trinkets and money swallowing devices and could escape without having to sample everything the place had to offer. Yikes!
Evelyn said, "Wall Drug was awesome!"
Nehemiah stated it was"nifty and cool."
Lilyan said "It was awesome. It looked like there were tigers all brown all around" We believe she was referring to the pictures of buffalo or bison found all over the walls, t-shirts and other tourist "must haves."

We pressed on and drove through the Black Hills. It was definitely better than the endless plains, though the plains have a simple appeal too. The hills were pretty and the shadows seemed painted into the horizon. These hills with dark soil had an aesthetic appeal that was refreshing as they were not littered with the big billboards and advertisements, which fill the other parts of the state.

We made it to Rapid City and ate a quick dinner before checking in to the hotel for the night. At 8:30 p.m. it is time for the kids to go release some energy in the pool. They were starting to squirm and needed out of the truck. First we checked the room for bedbugs, and once safe we all piled into the small room that seemed really spacious in comparison to the cab of the truck. Lilyan is excited about the hair dryer, Evelyn wanted a bath, and Nehemiah turned on the news. Everyone is unwinding in their own way, and then hopefully we will get some rest before we head out to Mount Rushmore in the early morning.

Thank the Lord for our safe travels today and for watching out for us as we put 700 miles on the truck and trailer.