We Are Home!

What a wonderful three weeks.   We traveled close to 7,000 miles, crossed many states, slept in dozens of strange beds but had a wonderful time.  Chris is a great kid, funny, mischievous, doting,
helpful, just an all-around terrific kid.  I know I might be a bit prejudice, but no, he really is just an awesome kid.

He was so excited to be home.  He loved on Papa, loved on Suki, and was very happy to see his dad.  Russ took him to a movie, dinner and to visit with his dogs.  He is happily up in his room, catching up with friends and playing his games.  Life is good for a 15 year old.

Art had everything spic and span when we got back.  We took the rental car back, then had a nice dinner at Stonewood Grill.  Now for a good night sleep.  Tomorrow is back to the schedule ... volunteering at the high school, getting Chris to orientation, picking up his schedule and books and finding a locker.   Looks like I need to pick up some groceries too.  I'm home!  Feels good!

Almost Home!

Our last stop before the final drive home.  I don't know who is more excited, Chris or Art.  I packed the car this morning while Chris took his shower.  Checked out of the villa, got ice for the cooler, gassed up the car and found Steinmart.  I could not waste  a tax-free weekend!  We picked up Art's mom and took her to lunch at Applebee's then took her back home then got on the road by 12:30.

There were a couple of torrential downpours along the way which were quite scary.  God is so good - protected us all the way.  Lots of prayers have been said in the car and He hears all.   Again we had a hard time finding a hotel but are settled in for the night at another Hampton.  Very nice staff here - impressed.

Along the way we picked up AP study guides for Chris's world history class this year, some shorts and shirts for school, and stopped at Staples for some new binders, paper, notebooks and a lock.  I think we are ready; Chris just needs to finish his second reading assignment.  He  will accomplish that in the car tomorrow.  :)

I am about pizza'd out ... Chris's number one go-to meal.  Ready for a good night sleep.  Pleasant dreams all; don't let the bedbugs bite.

If it is Friday, it must be Myrtle Beach

Quiet day.  We needed this.  Slept in - sort of, got up at 9am.  Chris got up at 10:30.  Went to lunch at Texas Roadhouse where Chris downed nearly two baskets of rolls before his salad arrived.  After lunch, had the car washed - to remove all the bugs from across the country.  Car drives better when it is clean.  So naturally you have to know it rained this afternoon.  Not just rain, torrential downpours.

We picked up Art's mom and after a short visit went to the cemetary.  She had not been there for a while and was glad for the ride.  Of course we had to sit in the car and wait for a break in the weather.    Then we bought some flowers and Chris put them in the urn at Art's dad's grave.

Dropped Mom off at home and took Chris on a round of shopping.  He left his phone charger in the last hotel, needed to replace the mouse to my laptop, and wanted to buy a new game for his Game Boy.  Allowance given on 8/1, gone on 8/2.

Went back to get Mom for dinner at Carrabba's, it is one of our favorites and it did not disappoint.  I told the manager that we were celebrating Mom's 90th birthday so we received a free dessert!  Delish.

We are packed and ready to take off tomorrow.  We will take Mom to lunch then get on the road.  Will not try to make it all the way home but get a good start so we can get in Sunday.  Chris has to pick up his schedule and books on Monday.  And I have to work Textbook Distribution at the high school.

Have a great night.

Day 16

Wrote this and then lost it before it published.  That is the way this day has gone.  You would think I had walked under a ladder or something the way things played out.  Had a short night's sleep thanks to a Sysco truck running under my bedroom window from 4 to 5am.  Then the hotel clerk refused to give me a print out for our stay.  We went to IHOP for breakfast but had a waitress who did not want to work.  Driving along from North Carolina, we were cut off badly and had to slam on our brakes.  Gigi sent us to Myrtle Beach by way of two-lane farm roads and then had us on a bypass road instead of the actual road where our hotel was located.   Then we find the hotel and they cannot find our reservation.  Took nearly an hour to get checked in.

On a very positive note, we had a great visit with our nephew and niece, Jason and Stephanie, and helped celebrate our great-nephew Colton's second birthday.  He is growing and changing so quickly.  Very smart and so cute.  

Tomorrow we will visit with Art's Mom and hopefully get her out for a special birthday dinner.  She turned 90 in July so she deserves a special celebration.  It won't be the same without her son, but Chris and I will try our best to spoil her.

Some questions we came up with when checking into a hotel, based on the last two weeks on the road:

1.  Where and when are hotel deliveries made?
2.  Does the air conditioner work and is it quiet?
3.  Is there a refrigerator and is it quiet?
4.  Is there an elevator near the room or an elevator shaft that backs up to the room?
5.  Is there a reunion or convention group on the same floor?
And this one from Chris tonight, based on our villa:
6.  Is it cozy and does it feel like home?

Chris is ready to get home.  He wants to sleep in his own bed.  He has been great lugging in all the bags tonight - to our second floor walk-up.  I know his fun-meter is pegged and he wants to get back to normal.  Back to guitar lessons, getting ready for school starting on 8/12, getting his schedule, books and teacher list.  Boy, summer has just flown by.

From Buttsville to Bottoms Bridge

We slept in this morning and it felt so good!   Gigi Garmin continues to give us the run-around.  We saw all the non- major roads through Baltimore and D.C..   So it is no wonder that we have come up with a couple of additions to our funny town names list.  First off the block is Bottoms Bridge.  Must be a kissing cousin to yesterday's Buttsville.  Then a few miles further down the road we came across Croaker.   Who comes up with these names?

Not a bad travel day that ended in Chesapeake, VA.  We just finished dinner with Christopher's other grandparents, aunt and uncle and baby Kensley.  It was good to see everyone and catch up a bit.  The baby is so cute and has quite the personality.

Tomorrow we head further into the deep south, South Carolina.  Before we started out on our adventure, I asked Chris if he wanted to fly or drive.  He obviously opted for the drive across our beautiful country.  So I asked him today if he had the choice again would he fly or drive.  Without hesitation he answered "fly!"  It has been a long couple of weeks in the car but we have had fun.  No regrets here.

Buttzville and The Land of Dreams

While driving to the Big Apple today, we passed a couple of interesting towns.  I wish we had kept a list of the funny places we have passed in the last 14 days.   The first was Buttzville.  Yes there really is a place named Buttzville, in New Jersey, of course.   Maybe we are getting a little giddy being on the road so long but Chris actually took a photo of the highway sign to the town, and we both giggled over it.  The second sign was to the Land of Dreams.  There was no explanation - was it a theme park, a sleep study or ????  

We made it to New York City.  Yes, I drove in the city again.   It has been many decades and I was a little nervous but we found our destination then drove in circles looking for a legal parking space.  What was I thinking?  We finally parked and went to visit our dear cousins, the DePierro's.  They are both in their 90's and we had a great visit with them.   After leaving we found the car, and there was no parking ticket.  Yippee!   Now to get out of the city.  We did end up going in circles a few blocks but did end up on the Hudson Parkway and headed south.

We made it as far as Aberdeen, Maryland.  We are both tired after the previous night of restlessness and text messages about the explosions in Tavares, FL.  We worried for the people there and sent up many prayers for those injured.  So tonight we are ready for bed, had dinner at Chili's, and are looking forward to sleeping in a bit.   We will be heading to Chesapeake, Virginia tomorrow to meet up with Heidi's mom and have dinner.  Chris is looking forward to seeing his other grandmother.  Wonder if he has thought this through?   Two old ladies, one young man, and plenty of time to ask him all kinds of personal questions.   Should be fun!  

Night, all.

A Day of Rest - Sort Of

No sightseeing today.   Art had to fly back to Sanford tonight so we slept in then packed the car.  You should note that the car, with just Chris and I, is packed from stem to stern all the time.  Now the trick was to get Art and his little suitcase in the car as well.  The valet came to the room and saw what we were traveling with and was so perplexed, he wanted to go get a second cart.   I informed him that it was not necessary and proceeded to direct the loading of the cart.  It was fun to watch him try to push the cart down the hall.  :).  

When we descended into the lobby of the hotel, the ramp was closed, so he was again perplexed as to how in the world he would get all the bags out to our car.   He decided to buck the line and went through the 'no entry' tape and bring the bags down the ramp.   At this point he just stood back and watched.   I think I won the prize for most bags stuffed into a Lincoln MKZ.   There was a seat for all of us, and all the bags were in and we could see out the back window.

Off to lunch then drop Art at the airport.   His flight was supposed to depart at 7:25pm and we got him there at 3pm.   There was not a soul around. The airport was closed up tight but he wanted to wait it out.  
We did receive a message from him that the flight was delayed again, but only one hour this time.

Meanwhile, Chris and I began our drive to the Big Apple.  We have reservations in Binghamton, the halfway point.  Art had programmed Gigi Garmin for us so off we went on our next adventure.  After a little more than three hours, we made it to the programmed hotel . . .  but they did not have our reservations.  'Is this Vestal Drive?'   No. That is about ten minutes away.  So off we go again, looking  for our hotel.. Now Gigi acts up a lot having us doing u-turns or going in circles, ending up where we started, but this city is crazy.  You have to do u-turns to get to the other side of the street.  Anyway, we are settled in our room for the night.  We had dinner at a local Outback, and Chris is taking  after his Nanny with style.  He got to eat free tonight.  Some days just go like that.

I am doing laundry as we type.  Thank goodness they have two washers and two dryers here.  It is going much faster tonight.  Can not wait to lay my head down on a pillow and catch up on some much needed sleep.  Good night!

Riding down the Erie Canal.

The Erie Canal and the locks were a focus for us today.   We started out at the Cave to the canal.  Art and Chris took that tour on their own.  By now you have figured out I don't do caves, underground, high places, roller coasters, among a few phobias.   Wouldn't a shrink have a great time inside my head!   The cave tour included a walk along the locks and a boat ride into the cave.  They enjoyed the tour, the humor of the guide, and the information they were given.

After lunch we took a boat tour of the locks.  We got on an open boat and headed into the three locks.  It is an amazing feat of engineering.  The boat is secured to the side of the lock, the gates closed and water is either emptied or pumped into the lock.  It goes very fast - five to seven minutes to raise or lower the boat at least 25 feet.  The canal was all hand formed over 100 years ago.

I haven't mentioned how much fun we are having at our hotel.   The first night in our room, there was a constant banging from the AC unit.  I called for maintenance in the morning and we were told they would take the unit apart and fix the issue while we were at the Falls.   When we returned, we had no AC.  We called and was told they needed to replace the unit - they would move us to another room.  That was day one and two.  Evening two, in the new room, there was a knocking noise from the other side of the closet wall.  We called the front desk at 2am and they wanted to send security up to the floor.  Huh?   Nothing was accomplished with that call, so armed with no sleep, I hit the front desk first thing in the morning.   The manager on duty assured me they would take care of the problem.  Turns out our room backed up to the service elevator.   Not good!   After several conversations, we moved for the third time in three days.   I am not unpacking this time.   Hopefully, we will get a better nights sleep this evening.  This is supposed to be the relaxing part of our trip.

Tomorrow Art heads back to Florida.  His flight in was delayed over two hours coming north.  We sure hope he gets out on time tomorrow.   Chris and I head for New York City after we drop Art at the airport.  Wednesday we plan on visiting with our dear cousins in the city for a short time before getting back on the road.   Thanks for following our adventures.

Awesome views

What a treat - I did not have to drive at all today.  Art is here and took over behind the wheel.  Day 11 found us heading out first thing this morning for the U.S. side of Niagara Falls, Horseshoe Falls and all the sites associated with them.   Combo tickets included the Maid of the Mist boat ride, Cave of the Winds, Aquarium, Theatre and Trolley transportation.

Our first excursion was to hit the boat.  Raincoats were secured and donned, and off we went.  It was a thrilling ride.  I hugged the inside wall the whole time and the guys wandered around for a better view.  It was wet!  The rapids were incredible, speeding past at 60mph in some places and over three feet high.  The power behind those 76,000 gallons a second falling from the top is daunting.

After the boat, we traveled by trolley to the Cave of the Winds.   Art and Chris went off on this one and I stayed on firm ground above.  Apparently they have closed a main portion of the caves but they did enjoy their trip and the sandals and raincoat they had to wear.  

From here we went back to the car to head over the border.  The Canadian side was breathtaking.  We drove around a bit, stopped and had lunch on a patio overlooking the Niagara River, then headed to the quaint village of Niagara-on-the-Lake.  Just beyond the village we came upon Lake Ontario, our last hooray for the Great Lakes portion of our Bucket List.

Do not know what is next; I guess we will discover Buffalo or go back and check out the theatre and aquarium at the falls.  It is actually nice to slow down a bit and relax.  We leave this area Monday afternoon, so we have a chance to rest.

Almost there!

Wednesday we were on the road all day and well into the night.  We started our day heading for Lake       Michigan and many hours later found ourselves walking on the beach in Chicago along the shores of Lake Michigan.  It was breathtaking.   Back in the car and through city traffic we headed out to the most obscure Lake Huron.   Not an easy ride, not much scenery along the way but we finally got there in late afternoon.   Headed south and east to find a hotel, but hit Lake Erie before a room was to be had.  Took some photos of all the sailboats out on the lake and got back on the road to find a place to lay our heads.   Five hotels later, and 9pm, we got a room and headed out to get something to eat.   I had to promise Chris that we would sleep in on Thursday.

Thursday we had planned to head towards London, Ohio.  My grandfathers cabin has been calling me and I was looking forward to visiting the past.  We called the London Historical Society to get directions and hours only to find out they only open on Saturday and Wednesday - missed it by one day.  I was disappointed but we went with Plan B.   Giving Chris a day off from travel, we trekked to Cedar Point, Ohio, land of 16 roller coasters and other rides and waterpark.  I allowed Chris to have free run of the park for a few hours.  When he reappeared, we had lunch then wandered the park together.  He rode a couple of rides again then headed out in the direction of Buffalo, NY.

Today we will depart Ashtabula and find our hotel.  We pick Art up at the airport around 7pm.   I think Chris will enjoy having some "man time" for a few days.   We will look for Lake Ontario along the way and take in Niagara Falls tomorrow with Papa.

Have a great day.

Bucket List

Today - lots of driving.  Chris even helped out and drove about 80 miles.  He did really well.  Our goal was to find our first Great Lake.  There are five lakes in this landmark series and we plan to touch each one.   We finally reached Lake Superior around 2pm central time.   We had planned to go all the way to Duluth but decided to cut out some of the drive and headed to the Wisconsin side of the lake.   We finally got a glimpse of Superior at the border of Minnesota and Wisconsin. In the town of Superior, we found a dock and took some photos of the lake.  Chris put his toes in the lake and said it was cold!

Back on the road we thought we could head to Chicago.  400 miles was a daunting ride so we recalculated and headed toward Milwaukee.  About 150 miles from Milwaukee and it was already 6:30pm.  Recalculating once again, the decision was made to stop in Madison.  As we entered town, all of Chris' favorite restaurants were in a row.   First find a hotel, then dinner.   Five hotels later - all fully booked - we opted to eat first then try again for a hotel.   Texas Roadhouse won the Chris vote.   Two more hotels and we finally ended up in a Best Western.

Bucket List:
Mt. Rushmore - check
Lake Superior - check
Lake Michigan
Lake Huron
Lake Erie
Lake Ontario
Niagara Falls

Wednesday, July 24, we will explore Lake Michigan in the Chicago area.  Maybe we will get there around lunchtime and enjoy a yummy Chicago Pizza.  It would be awesome if we can make it to Lake Huron as well.   I don't remember ever driving so far at one time before.  It is great to have the company of my funny, and bodacious, grandson, Chris Noah!

Goodbye Mt. Rushmore

On the road again.  Stopped at the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum on our way to the Great Lakes.  An interesting town, they are getting ready for their annual motorcycle rally, and expecting many thousands of visitors.   Chris took lots of pix of his favorite cycles.  

Did not realize how far it would be to Duluth, Mn for our first toe dipping in a Great Lake.  Our goal is to dawdle in each of the five lakes and still make it to Buffalo by Friday.  After the museum, today has been all driving.  The weather has been perfect and there has not been a lot of traffic.  Had to slow down a bit for road construction, but all in all, not too bad.   We did have some interesting sights along the way.  We were at a rest stop and came upon two of the cutest prairie dogs playing tag in the grass.  They were so cute!   During our travels we have been seeing these long trucks carrying a strange looking object.  We could never figure out what it was.   As we crossed into Minnesota from SouthDakota, we spied wind farms.   What we had been seeing was one of the three blades for one wind mill.   Very cool - it seemed like there were hundreds of wind mills.   One last sighting, I think I saw a black panther.  Are they indigenous to the area?   I don't know, and my eyes could have been deceiving me, but it sure looked like one.  

We are settled for the night in Owatoona and need to get an early start tomorrow.  Hope everyone is doing well.  I am waiting for the laundry to dry at the hotel.   Then it will be time for bed!  Until tomorrow . . . And congrats on the new royal heir to the throne.

Day Five

Happy Sunday to all.   We are in Spearfish, SD and are using this as our basecamp for the area. Today we started out at Deadwood, a small gambling town south of Spearfish.  The main site we visited was Mt. Moriah Cemetary . . . Final resting place of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane.   We were lucky enough to arrive during a paid tour presentation so picked some free info.   I must say that coming from FLAT Florida these mountains are doing me in.  Poor Chris is doing circles around me.  Sure sign that I am getting old . . . I have really slowed down!

We drove around town then headed to Mt. Rushmore, our reason for driving totally across the nation.   It is such a beautiful country and the drive up and down the mountains is quite lovely.  Rushmore is breathtaking.  We went to the main photo op then traveled down to the sculptors studio.  What an undertaking those brave workers performed.  An awesome national site.

Taking off from MR, we headed off to visit some caverns.  Gigi Garmin took us onto a little road known as 16A.  Started out fairly calm, but do not let your guard down.  18 miles of winding, did I say winding hairpin turns, and one-lane bridges.  18 miles of white knuckle, heart pounding, traffic coming at you roadway.  Can you tell I was a bit anxious?   After a nail-biting trip, we never found where we were heading.  Thanks Gigi.

As a secondary visit, we  stopped at the Black Hills Caverns.  Chris took the one-hour tour down three levels of mining and crystal searching.  Nana Bev does not do underground or closed sites.  Chris is very brave!  

Back at the hotel, cleaned up for diner and hit one of Chris's regulars, Applebee's.   We are settling in for the night.  Have decided to depart the Black Hills tomorrow with one last stop at Sturgis.   Chris heard about a Motorcycle Museum there.   Sweet dreams.

Tennis ball siized Hail

It has been an interesting day.  First thing very early this morning, Art calls to tell me the house next door was broken into and several other homes in the neighborhood have also been violated.  This started a series of calls about what we needed to do to beef up security.  Would not be so bad but it was not even 6am my time.

Chris and I finally got on the road about 8:30 facing the last leg of our trip to Mt. Rushmore.  It was a beautiful day and the driving was pretty easy.  We took a detour from our trek to ride through the Badlands.  What a beautiful site.   After the Badlands we visited the town of Wall...the home of the worlds largest drug store, which carries everything you can imagine, cowboy gear, ceramics, jewelry, leather goods, just to name a few.   I asked the clerk if there was anything they did not carry and she motioned me closer and whispered in my ear, "underwear".

We were watching some storms off in the distance throughout the Badlands and Wall, so it was no surprise that we ran into a little rain.   What really surprised us was the violence and size of the raindrops.  They hit the car so hard and loud that it was mesmerizing.  However, the next thing we knew, the rain turned into hail, at first small droplets, them suddenly we were being pounded by tennis ball sized hail.  Hard!  And by the hundreds.   It was amazing to know that yesterday the temperature in the area reached 100 and today they had hail.   We charged through the storm even though many were pulling off the road.  After we arrived in Spearfish, our home base for a few days, I inspected the car to find at least a half dozen dents from the hail.   Can you say "thank goodness we rented the car rather then put mileage on mine"?

So we are ready to be tucked in for the night.  I am glad the driving all day long is over and tomorrow we get to be full-time tourists.  Thanks for visiting . . . More tomorrow.  Good night all.

Where's Toto?

We are not in Kansas anymore.   Actually I don't know if we were ever in Kansas, or Nebraska.  It looked like we tickled the borders but spent most of the day in Missouri or Iowa.  What a beautiful country.   Fields of corn, grain and other things that our farmers nurture then bring to market for us to enjoy.  This truly is the heartland.

There was a lot of road work going on again today.  It is actially good to see the infrastructure of our country receiving the much needed updates.  When we started out on our journey, we stopped to take a picture of Chris at the state welcome centers.  Georgia was great, and Tennessee had a nice spot for a photo op.  after that, we kind of lost the vision.  Illinois had a small plaque that we used, but there was no welcome to Missouri or Kansas, Nebraska or South Dakota.

So I told you we named the GPS thingy Gigi Garmin.  Around lunch hour I asked navigator Chris to check with Gigi for possible places to eat.  He came up with lots of places we had already passed, I suggested he look ahead.  He came up with McDonalds, a no name joints and Subway.  Chris loves Subway and suggested we do that again.  He swore there were no other choices - so we stopped at Subway.   I have nothing against the sub place but really do not enjoy it daily.  Guess what was at the very next exit.   Olive Garden, Applebee's, Chilis, Red Lobster . . . just to name a few.

Moving on down the road, I decided we would stop at Sioux Falls for the night.  I figured there might be something fun to do for the evening.  Let's ask Chris to check with Gigi for hotels.  The only problem was that we were at Sioux City not Sioux Falls.   Needless to say we are sitting in a Hamptin Inn with nothing around.  Choices for dinner included Billy Bobs, Hungrys Restaurant, Goode to Go, and Ike's Bingo and Casino.   Now if you know me even a little, you are laughing your fanny off.  So as we head out I stop at the front desk and ask if there are any 'real' restaurants around.   "Oh yes, go under the interstate, down eight blocks, make a left and check out Beano and Cheeries".   I am thinking I must have stepped in something or I have stupid on my forehead but ok, I give up.  Down the road we go, find the restaurant - it is a casino.   This screams "do not let Heidi and Russ find out I took their kid to a casino".   Anyway we survived dinner, even though the bartender had to ask me how I wanted him to make my Southern Comfort Manhatten.   No, we are not in Kansas anymore, we do not know where Toto is but we are enjoying the ride.

Now we have to get to bed so we can get an early start tomorrow.  Sioux Falls is at least an hour up the road!

Nashville to Columbia

Another long day on the road but it is such fun with a 15 year old.   Chris has a great sense of humor and is doing a great job as a navigator and designated texter!  We started out from the hotel with tourist pamphlets in hand but no great plan.   In my mind, how can you be in Nashville and not see anything music related?   Chris, on the other hand, just wanted to get on the road.  No Opryland, no zip line, no white water rafting, no anything.  Wrong!   So we headed to Opryland at 9:30am . . . only to find they did not open until 10.  Chris tolerated a walk around  the hall and some pictures around the giant guitars.  

Back on the road, we headed toward St. Louis.  We arrived just in time for Rush Hour Traffic.  As we are navigating thru it all, trying to follow the garmins advice, we spied the famous Arch.  Can we get over and head downtown?  No!   Quickly Chris grabbed my phone and snapped a few shots.  Then we were gone.   I do believe that St. Louis traffic almost rivals Atlanta and has more construction going on too.

We are in Columbia, Missouri tonight.  I think we are about 100 miles from Kansas City.   Will I get Chris on a mechanical bull or a real horse or visit something in this next highlight along the way?  Only time will tell!  :)

Drumroll please . . . I know you are all awaiting the announcement of the name of our testy GPS thingy.   Chris has come up with Gigi Garmin!   And Gigi has been up to her tricks again today - sending us on wild goose chases around the city.    Good night all, sleep well!

Longest day one ever!

We started out at 7:49am from Lake Mary,  FL with a plan to get thru Atlanta.   We stopped at the Georgia border for a quick photo op.  Atlanta traffic was horrible but we made it thru with time to spare and made the decision to chug on to Chattanooga.  For some reason Chris was really excited about this even though he had just been in Tennessee last week.  Another photo op at the Tennessee border.  We didn't have a good plan here, got a bit lost, let the GPS thingy take us in circles more times than we could count.  There were no hotels . . . We could not find even one. . . . I don't know where they took them!  Our next big decision was to get back on the road and try to find one on the highway.   Tennessee could seriously use more hotels.   After almost 12 hours on the road we are just outside of Nashville.   Maybe we should find a name for the GPS thingy...then it will behave better tomorrow.    Chris wants to call it stupid but I doubt that will help our cause.   Maybe we should sleep on it.  As a side note, Chris has mentioned more than once how really nice people in Tennessee are.   So, here we sit at 9:14pm, central time, ready to call it a night.   Hopefully we can learn how to download some photos tomorrow.  Good night!

Getting ready to travel

Chris is on a Mission Trip with the youth group of our church.   Upon his return we will head off on our annual summer vacation.   We are almost packed, our route has been chosen.   We are looking to travel approximately 400 - 450 miles each day.   Our ultImate goal is to visit Mount Rushmore, touch each of the Great Lakes, stand in awe at Niagara Falls and visit some family on our return trip.   Stay tuned for daily reports of our progress and hopefully some pictures of our adventures. Please keep us in your prayers for our safe travel as we tour this beautiful country God has given us to enjoy.