Charleston, South Carolina

Easter and Charleston...James Island County Park

April 19-22

What a CHARMING city!!  So many people had told us about Charleston...and it did not disappoint.  The first several pictures are from the historic downtown area.  We had a picnic at this darling waterfront area.  

 We could see one of the many forts in Charleston from the boardwalk.(More on the forts later)

 We loved all the fountains..especially the pineapple one.  We thought it was funny that they had signs that said, "No lifeguard on duty."(for the fountains)

 Loved the tree lined walkway.  We also saw lots of cobblestone streets and sidewalks.

 This was an open air market downtown.  It reminded us of Pike Street Market.

 There were so many beautiful old churches.  They often had a cemetery next to the building from long ago.

 We continued our ever expanding, "Tour de Forts."  This time we visited the Ft. Sumter Visitor Center and Ft. Moultrie.  Ft. Moultrie has been involved in five U.S. wars from the Revolutionary War up until World War 2.  The fort has evolved during that time and the machinery has changed...which was interesting. This fort was useful in World War 2 to look for submarines that might try and sneak into the U.S. coastal waterways. They had an underwater net and underwater mines to catch any German U-boats.

We are heading north up the coast to Huntington State Park, a little south of Myrtle Beach.  We are excited to have a few more beach days!!  I hope that you all had a blessed Easter!

Cumberland Gap National Park

Cumberland Gap National Park...Wilderness Campground

...in Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia!!

April 16-19

We have spent the last few days exploring the Appalachian Mountains at Cumberland Gap National Park.    This area is so beautiful (I know that I say that a lot...but it really is!).  All the deciduous trees, flowering trees and leaves covering the ground is unlike anything we have seen before.   The Cumberland Gap was a very important east/west passageway in the Appalachian Mountain Range that was used by bison, Native Americans, explorers, settlers and soldiers.  It is one of the only passageways through this mountain range that runs from Canada to Alabama.  Danielle Boone was commissioned to blaze a road through the gap, that 300,000 people between 1780-1810 traveled through, in hopes of a brighter future in the West.  

We went on an awesome tour of Gap Cave.  The coolest part of the tour was that there was no lighting inside the cave except our flashlights.  We felt like real cave explorers!

Another great thing about this park was the hiking and biking trails.  The park was so quiet and peaceful!

We hiked through the Cumberland Gap and up to Pinnacle Point.  From that point you could see 3 states...Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia.  The trees are just starting to bloom...the pictures of this place in the Fall are breathtaking...so many colors of leaves changing.

We had our 2nd (YES...you read that right) campfire of the trip.  It is funny that we have been camping for over 100 days and just haven't had many campfires.  It was fun to roast marshmallows!

Tomorrow morning we have a long drive SE to Charleston, South Carolina.  We have done a NW loop inland from Georgia and are now heading back down to the coast.  We will be in Charleston and the Myrtle Beach area for the next 10 days.  We hope that you all have a blessed Easter.   It will be a weekend of remembering the precious gift that God gave to us through his son Jesus, his sacrifice on the cross and glorious rising from the dead on Easter.  We are so thankful for this priceless gift!  He is RISEN!

Mammoth Caves and Abe Lincoln's birthplace

Mammoth Caves and Abraham Lincoln's birthplace

Nolin Lake State Park...April 9-16

We have spent the last several days in SW Kentucky near Mammoth Caves National Park.  We are in a very rural (pronounced "rule" by the locals) area with lots of bluegrass and rolling hills.  It is very beautiful.  We had a few extra days here as they were expecting high winds and possible snow where we were headed, so we stayed a couple extra nights.  This gave us time to go and visit Abraham Lincoln's birthplace...a small cabin in rural Kentucky.  The National Park Service has made a stunning memorial on the spot, with the small cabin inside of it.  The museum also had artifacts from his life including his family's bible.  He was quoted as saying, "In regard to this Great Book, I have but to say, it is the best gift God has given to man."  WOW!!  He only had 2 formal years of school and likely learned to read and write from his mom as she read to them from the bible.  It was so neat to see all that he had overcome in his early life to become one of the nation's most influential leaders. 

 Striking a somber Abe Lincoln pose.

 This is the monument that they created early in the 1900's, before any other Lincoln Memorials were made.  It has 56 steps outside the monument...one for each year of his life.  It was designed by the man who designed the Jefferson Memorial in Washington D.C.  

 Here is a small replica of Lincoln's log cabin. 

 One of my favorite "snapshots" from our trip has been seeing the boys reading so much!!  We try and have a reading/quiet time each afternoon and it is so peaceful.  

 We spent a day at Mammoth Caves National Park.  We went on a tour of one of the almost 400 miles of caves in the park.  It has the longest known cave system in the world.  It was a very busy park and we would have preferred touring on our own...but we got a chance to see some amazing rock formations.  

 We also went on a short hike down to the Green River.  We met an interesting park ranger on a ranger led walk who grew up in this area.  Her childhood home had no running water, electricity, and she only attended school when "they felt like it."   She never wore shoes and said that she and her siblings regularly had to pick ticks out of one another's hair. YET...she always had loved to read and decided that she wanted to go to college and became a Botany major.  It was fascinating talking to her.  We also saw several horse drawn buggies with Amish people in them on our drives through the countryside.  This is a very diverse state.  Tomorrow we will head to the eastern edge of Kentucky to Cumberland Gap National Park.  

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville, TN...Vanderbilt and Ohi family

April 9-11

We had a great time in Nashville with our wonderful friends, the Ohi family.  They were so welcoming and the kids had so much fun together.  Their two children are so delightful and sweet.  We had a small adventure on the way to Nashville when we started to smell something strange coming from our engine.  Thankfully, we were right outside of Chattanooga on the way to a National Park.  There was a Ford dealership was just 2 miles away.  They quickly diagnosed the fuel pipe leak and were so nice to us.  They even loaned us a car so we could go see the Lookout Mountain National Battlefield while they fixed the truck.  It was an important battlesite in the Civil War.  We even made it to Mel's in time for a great BBQ dinner, southern style.  Today when we had tater tots for lunch the boys asked if it was fried okra.

 We spent a fascinating morning at Vanderbilt where both Mel and her husband are researchers.  She was so patient explaining the complicated things they are studying and showing the boys all the amazing microscopes they use.  We were very impressed!!  I tell the boys that Melanie is the "smartest person I know."

We enjoyed walking around the campus and another Centennial park.  This was an interesting building in the middle of the park, Jordan said it was in the Percy Jackson movie. 

 We spent the afternoon at the Grand Old Opry Hotel.  It was so AMAZING and HUGE!  They have tons and tons of indoor gardens, waterfalls, fountains and shops inside these huge atriums.  It would be so fun to stay there someday.   Today we are headed NE up to Mammoth Caves National Park.  We had such a great time in Nashville...I sure hope we can come back sometime. Thanks Ohi family!!

Atlanta, Georgia

McKinney Campground....Atlanta, Georgia

April 6-9

We had spent the last 3 days in the Atlanta area.  The campground reminded us of the Pacific Northwest and had a great view of Lake Alatoona.  We had one really rainy day and decided to stay dry and went to the theater to see the Lego movie. It was so cute...if you haven't seen it...you will love it!  

 Today Jordan and I went to the Coca Cola museum.  It was a fun experience and we got to taste all kinds of pop from around the world in the "tasting room."  

 Here is the vault for Coke's coveted SECRET RECIPE!!

We had a wonderful walk through Centennial Park, the site of the 1996 Summer Olympics.  It was really neat to see in person.  You can kind of see the 5 rings in this picture.  

 We also visited the National Historic Site dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr.  Jordan is standing in front of his childhood home, which we took a ranger guided tour of...proving very insightful into his life.  We were inspired by his courage and ability to lead others during a very difficult time in our nation's history.  

 This is Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King's grave.  It was surrounded by a long reflective pool, similar to the one in Washington D.C. He died so very young, but his mission of peace and equality was carried out in part, by his wife, Coretta.

 Curt, Benjamin and Bradley spent the day at Six Flags.  Jordan got a mild concussion last week playing basketball, so he will have to hit the next Six Flags.  All of my boys LOVE roller coasters...I mean LOVE!!  One of their goals for the trip was to ride as many roller coasters as possible.  They made big progress on that goal today.(all with huge smiles on their faces)

 Tomorrow we drive further north and west to Nashville, TN.  I have a dear friend and teammate from high school and college, Melanie, who we are going to visit.  We cannot wait to have see her and her family and be in a regular house...we have been feeling a little homesick this week.  It must be the mid-trip lull...3 1/2 months down and 3 1/2 months to go.  We hope that you all had a great Spring Break!

Savannah, Georgia

Savannah, Georgia, Tybee Island and Fort Pulaski

April 3-6

We spent a great morning exploring downtown Savannah, Georgia.  It is a beautiful city with tons of city squares (small parks) amid the city blocks.  We parked near Forsyth Park and walked around the city.  The flowers were in bloom and it was so nice!

 St. John the Baptist Cathedral

We also visited Fort Pulaski.  It is run by the National Park Service and we are always impressed with their historical sites.  It was eventually won by the North in a decisive battle in the Civil War.  

 Should we let them out???

 We spent the afternoon at Tybee Island.  It was a fun place to visit and the boys enjoyed skimboarding.

We have just loved Skidaway Island State Park...beautiful!  We head to Atlanta tomorrow to explore more of the south.  

So long Florida...on to Georgia

Fort Clinch State Park...Amelia Island, Florida

March 31-April 3

We visited the Kingsley Plantation and learned a great deal about what life on a plantation and slavery were like in this area.  It was very sad to hear of the difficult life that so many black slaves had at the hands of the white plantation owners.  The audio tour was excellent in conveying the history of slavery.  

 This plantation had an unusual labor system. Slaves were assigned a given task for the day ranging from picking cotton, cooking for the white families or working as a blacksmith. Once they finished their task for the day they could work on their own small gardens or be hired for additional work.  Their hope was to save enough money to buy freedom for themselves or their family.

We loved the historic downtown area of Fernandino Beach.   SO CUTE!

 We had a pizza picnic on the beach.

 Fort Clinch State Park has both a beach camping section and a river section.  Amelia Island sits at the mouth of the Amelia River on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other.  It was so beautiful!!  This morning while I was walking on the beach I felt like I was transported to Gilligan's Island...a beautiful, deserted, wide beach.  I think this was one of the most stunning places we have visited...it reminded me a little of the Puget Sound and our first home in Steilacoom.  We also got to see many dolphins on our evening sunset walks...so cool!

The campground is located next to historic Fort Clinch.  We toured it one day and learned about the interesting history of a fort that has never seen a battle.  Due to it's key location on a river inlet to the United States...it was important in keeping the interior of the U.S. safe.

There was little urgency of war when this fort was built so there are tons of interesting architectural elements to the fort.  The boys loved the secret passageways and spiraling staircases.

We spent a couple of afternoons at a nearby beach park...the boys loved the beach and the fact that a basketball court was across the parking lot.  Basketball and skimboarding all in one place....PERFECT!

This afternoon we are leaving the great state of Florida after nearly 2 months here.  We have loved the beautiful beaches, amazing animals, historic sites and sunny weather.  We are going to Savannah, Georgia for a few days then on to Atlanta. Happy Spring Break to our Spokane friends!!