Mum's Farewell and School starts up!

It's already been three weeks since our return from our road trip! And of course, there hasn't been a dull moment! There was plenty of laundry to wash and put away, sheets and towels to be put back in the RV and getting the RV cleaned which after 4 weeks was in real need a deep clean!

And just a few days after we got back, I went on a overnight girls outing with a very good friend, Janice! We camped at the Lynden RV park and did fun stuff like having pedis, walking to Edaleen's for an ice cream, therapy in the form of clothes shopping, taking a hike around Lake Padden and going out for dinner. We had a blast!!

Since we live very close by, their kids are often at our place, and our kids will often go there. Here's Cassie and Jordan are playing 'tap tap nail' with Taleesha. 

The Saturday before Mum was leaving to head back home, we went for breakfast at Dutch Mothers. 

 Unfortunately the photo is a bit blurry, but here we are about to tuck in to pancakes, waffles and bacon and eggs! It was delicious and we didn't need lunch that day!

Monday was the first day of the Washington North West Fair in Lynden. It's a bit like the Kelmscott Show but a lot more animals! The weather was fabulous and we enjoyed looking at the various stalls and shows. Check out this pumpkin!

That evening Mum, after 3 months living with us, left us and returned to Australia. Since we still don't have visas, Hester kindly offered to take her to Vancouver airport. It was wonderful to have her with us, and we were thankful that she was healthy and well to be able to undertake such a long trek on her own! We can report that she had a good trip back, and is adjusting well to life back at home!

As part of the school's fundraising, we had a dairy booth at the fair, manned by volunteers of our church/school. So Anthea did 4 hours on Friday morning as a cashier (her Subway and fruit stall experience came in very handy) and I also did a four hour shift in the afternoon from 3-7pm. My job was to take the completed order sheet and fill out the order by scooping ice creams and making sundaes. We had a busy and fun shift and I now know the many various flavours. 

Someone had some free time up their sleeve and decided to straighten their sister's normally wavy hair!

On Tuesday, 25th of August, Cornerstone Christian School opened its doors for a new school year. Shantel is now in year 2 and Stefan in Year 11. Steve is teaching year 7/8.

Since Taleesha is almost five and a whole year away from kindergarten (pre-primary), her and Cassie will enjoy informal preschool at home! Last week they learnt the sound 's' and the number 1 which they both knew already!

A little playmate (Alaynia) who lives all the way out in Ontario came and joined the girls for the afternoon! 

After a very dry summer, Saturday became one very stormy day. We had crazy winds gusts which by midday, we along with the whole Whatcom county, had lost power. We watched as the wind just peeled off the tarp like plastic, from the next door's hoop barn. Many trees and branches broken and were uprooted. This was put down to 1) a storm like this is too early and 2) the trees were still 'green' with lots of leaves which with the wind coming through, knocked them over. This was also apparent in the corn fields. One field was planted a lot later than the rest and this field was flattened by the wind when across the road, a field planted weeks before stood up straight and tall and undamaged.

We too had no power and so Steve rigged up extension cords to the RV's generator which provided enough light and and some power for light phone charging. By morning we still had no power and our 4 fridges/freezers, which were full of meat etc, were also connected up. After church, the generator decided it had done enough and wouldn't start. Then just as we were about to go to church at 2pm, the power turned back on! We quickly reconnected them all up and were very thankful for power! And there are still families without power.

Tucking into a bowl of ice cream which was getting soft in freezer without power! The kids didn't mind in the least!

This week we are on school cleaning duty and I'm also in the committee organising the Fun and Fitness Carnival to be held in two weeks time, so that's also keeping me somewhat out of mischief! Shantel has soccer practice twice a week leading up to the soccer games and she is looking forward to that!

Well, that's our update! 

Thanks for looking!

Summer Road Trip Part 4!

Finally the last update from our Summer Trip! This is the final post of our road trip and it's a long one!

From San Diego we headed north east toward Nevada and Les Vegas. We arrived early evening and the sun was just setting. It was very warm so we were very thankful for full hookup meaning electricity and the air cond! After dinner, we headed into town just to check out the strip!

The lights were amazing and nothing short of dazzling! 

The casinos were everywhere and so were the people!

It must have been quite the sight to see our RV touring the strip!

The following day we toured during the daylight hours and it's a totally different outlook!

The RV park had a pool and as it was sooo hot, we spent a good part of the day in the water! Interestingly, we saw planes coming and going every other minute. Flights to Vegas are cheap and people sure make the most of it!

We were happy to leave Sin City. The following day we made our destination Hoover Dam. It was very hot so it was tempting to drive through and carry on. But we stopped and looked at this impressive man-made dam.

From there we left Nevada and entered Arizona!

On the way to Grand Canyon, we stopped in at Williams. This was the home of Route 66, the mother highway of America!

We had dinner at the Pizza Factory. It was very good!

That night we did some free camping somewhere out in the middle of nowhere! 

The following morning we headed out to the Grand Canyon. There were shuttle buses again and so we headed to the visitor centre and watched a short overview video. We then walked to the rim and saw it for ourselves! It was very impressive and we admired the amazing handiwork of our Creator!

The mighty Colorado!

The watchtower offering spectacular views!

Grand Canyon south rim was very spectacular. The colours, the shape and the steep cliffs; all testament to God's wonderful plan of creation. 

We spent a day at the south rim and being Saturday we headed out for a place to stay for the weekend. As we intended to check out north rim as well, we found a little place called Cameron Trading Post which was half way in between. That Sunday, we listened to sermons and experienced an awesome thunderstorm right overhead!

Monday morning bright and early we left Cameron and headed to the North Rim. 

On the way we crossed the Little Colarado river. We had breakfast there and also spotted two condors. Condors were at the point of extinction a number of years ago with only 20 left. Now with captive breeding they have reached numbers of 450 birds. The condor is one of the largest wing spanned birds. We were allowed to look through a scope of a gentlemen looking for condors and spotted number 54 and its young. Very interesting. The canyon is so vast and so deep that we could not see them with the naked eye!

We then headed to the North rim. 

What better way to relax than to read a book!

The Roaring Springs Canyon!

A mini hike at the Grand Canyon.

From there we made our way to Zion National Park. We arrived late afternoon and booked at the RV campsite. After dinner, Steve, Mum and the two older girls went on the shuttle bus and viewed the park. I got to stay behind and catch up on the laundry and put the little girls to bed as they were overtired and needed an early night. The following morning, I went on the shuttle bus at 7am and did the early morning tour. 

To get to Zion NP we had to go through a 1.1 mile tunnel completely dug out by hand in the 1920's! At that time, vehicles were not as tall and big as they are now, so RVs and tour buses needed to go in single file and in the centre! Vents/windows were carved out on the side, which from the outside look tiny!

Wild turkey and its young

Big Ben. Notice the different colour rock.

Once back at camp, we left Zion and headed to Bryce National Park, which quickly became our favourite national park. 

The hoodoos, pinnacles and caverns were fascinating and looked just like enchanted castles!

We did another mini hike and then headed to Ruby's Inn for a buffet dinner. Delicious food and plenty of it!

As our next destination was Salt Lake City we travelled for a number of hours and free-camped overnight at Cove Fort.

Early next morning we hit the road and made it to Salt Lake City by noon. We toured the Mormon Conference Centre and their visitors centre and then listened to a organ recital in the tabernacle.

The temple. We couldn't gain entry because it's only used for weddings and baptisms, but did see a model of the inside. 

The Conference Centre. The roof is 4 acres of garden and relaxation area.

The tabernacle where we also listened to an organ recital.

The acoustics were amazing. No microphones needed and no nails were used in the whole building, only pegs.

That night we camped at Flying J's in Snowville.

While checking the map that night, we decided to make a slight detour (5 hours all up) and visit Craters of the Moon Monument and Park. So the following morning, that's where we headed.

It was a very strange and eerie experience. The area was black and desolate with cooled larva. The last time this volcano erupted was 2000 years ago. It wasn't the mountain dome type but bubbled up from the ground. This one could erupt anytime again.

Virtually no trees, just small plants and shrubs.

Surprisingly larva is very light! Although this chunk tested the muscle!

Miles and miles of larva

It really was an incredible park to see. Just so unreal. And that it is so barren.

Here the larva looks like tree roots.

From Craters of the moon, we were just one day away from arriving home. We bypassed Boise and drove till it was dark and free-camped at a rest area in Huntingdon Oregon. Lots of trucks also used this rest area so we were did hear trucks moving in and out during the night (except the person who wore earplugs!)

The following morning after breakfast we headed for home. Lots of driving and then familiar territory! Marysville, Mt Vernon, Bellingham and then, Sumas!

When one young lady takes up the whole bench and another takes up the table doing scrapbooking, the little girls are left to do their activities on the floor! They didn't seem to mind!

Stefan was waiting for us when we got home. He was happy to see us!

We were very thankful for the time away. For the beautiful scenery along the way, for the time we could spend together as family including time with Mum, for traveling mercies and beautiful weather!

To summarise, we were away for 30 days, visited 6 National Parks, 7 states and free-camped 14 out of the 30 days.

We hope you enjoyed reading the blog and that it might even inspire you to visit some of the places we saw, yourself!

Thanks for looking!