We decided to take a little road trip in Aug-Sep 2011

4 weeks

Roger & Nikki’s wedding

18 states

5874 miles

time spent withrelatives & friends

8 National Parks &Monuments

Memories to last us forever : Priceless

We took the pets to the“Calvin & Abby Hotel”

The big blue tote on the left side isfull of Roger’s baseball cards – now weonly have only 4 remaining in our shed

Tobaccofields inWest Virginia

We left the morning of HurricaneIrene as it hit the entire East Coast.

We saw 48 bucket trucks in the first 3 hours

– all coming from Indiana and headed towards the East Coast.

Lots of horse trailers in Kentucky

Lincoln Boyhood Home -Indiana

Lincoln’s MotherIs buried here

We love the National Parks andhave visited most of the big ones.

This trip we wanted to see some different historical places – I was able to get lots of stamps for my Nat’l Parks Passport book.

Split rail fence

Split-rail fence

Replica of the house

St. Louis, Missouri

Harry S. TrumanVisitor CenterAnd home

Independence,Missouri

Abilene,Kansas

Old West buildings In Abilene

Sorghum fields in Kansas

Utah

Skyline Arch

Utah

Arches Nat’l Park

Idaho

School that Roger attended in Meridian,Idaho - the truck he had to drive for his CDL license

Tyler is a

BIG (100+ lbs) dog –and Ziggy is a BIGCat!

Cousin Linda SmithDrove down fromDuVall (near Seattle)For my birthday

The master chef:Beer- Butt chicken

Plank Salmon

Tyler got into the bucket of applewood chips

Roger and Nikki’s wedding was at Cannon Beach, Oregon. It was a beautiful day on the beach and abeautiful wedding. We were so happy wecould make the trip to be a part of it.

Nikki and her Dad In the hotel lobby

Nikki’s Mom Laurie & step-Dad Darrin

Nikki’s Dad Gary & step-Mom Cheryl

Nikki’s brother & sisters & families

Haystack Rock

Now we’re headed back east.We had lunch in Spokane with mychildhood friend Rebekah.

Ah, the peaceful Pals’ cabin in Montana

My brother Dave and his wife Karen.

Dad and Momstarted buildingthis cabin inthe 1970’s. Nowit’s passed on downto our generationand Dave and Karenhave added so muchto make it an evenmore beautifulpeaceful place.

Dave and Karen trying to get cell phone reception at the cabin.

Back to Billings: Jake getting some coaching help from Dad Joe

Updated pix:Jake with newjersey with hisname on it!

The wholegang

The guys beat the pants off thegals at marbles – we’ll have toget’m next time!

Saying goodbye atDave & Karen’s house

Wyoming

Corn Palace – Mitchell, SD

Pretty unique McDonald’s in Iowa – the Hawkeye state – antlers for the lights and a beautiful carved wood hawk.

Now who else do you know that takes pictures ofMcDonald’s on their vacation??!!

Okay, this is the cool piece of driftwoodfrom the cabin that Dave found and wrapped up for us.We somehow managed to fit it into the alreadyfully loaded car and brought it home. It’s nowon the entertainment center,and you can see that it willwork nicely into any of myseasonal decoratingmotifs (Halloween is coming!)

This is in the empty car!

Calvin and Abby were so glad to get back to their own home, after being inthe kennel for a month. But alas, a few days after we got home Calvin developed a hematoma in his ear and had to have surgery to remove it. Thesepictures are right after he came home from the vet. He is not a happy camper with his lampshade collar. Notice the cute bandage wrap on his leg from the IV.

We’re all now back to normal – Abby had a play date with her good friendJada (who had a pretty big growth spurt while we were gone) and that eveningshe was tucked away in her bed ready for sleep. Next she has an afternoonplanned with her other good friend Buddy. Abby is so happy to be back home!

THE END