Operation: Asa Joy

May 15, 2015 Hidden Gems!!! Today was a day filled with hidden gems. It was an unexpected day where we did things that were not in the plans. None of the places we went today were where we had envisioned ourselves. I had never even heard of the places we went today. Yet, we were so blessed and it was one of the best days we had so far. The day started out at Seminole Canyon State Park. I had found the park on the Texas State Park website by chance. We had pulled in at night so we did not get a good chance to see the park. We woke up to a beautiful cool morning. We found that this park was indeed a gem. It was absolutely beautiful. We decided to go to the Visitor’s Center to see if this was a place that we should make the time to stay and visit. We met a very nice lady on the way who happened to be the camp host. She has a passion for this particular area. She recommended a certain trail to hike. Once we got the Visitor’s Center, the ranger gave us the same advice. S...

Oh my! It has been a while. We have been on a whirlwind tour of the west. Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah again, and finally Colorado. Whew! This trip has been so wonderful. We are here at my sister's house where I FINALLY have a good Wi-Fi connection. That has been the only draw back to this trip. No cell phone service. Some places we have been have NO SERVICE whatsoever. None. Zilch. Nada. Some places have had service but we were out of luck. You know how Verizon says that they have the largest network. Don't believe. It is a lie. A bold face lie. Every place that has had any kind of service whatsoever has been on an AT and T network. Verizon users have been out of luck. Now I know why there are not as many Verizon stores out west. So I have been journaling. Every day. Mostly. I just have not been able to upload any blog posts. I have decided that instead of deluging you gu...

May 13, 2015 A Day of Rest We did nothing today. No parks. No hours long drive. We needed a little break so we planned a day where we did nothing. That was not the original plan by the way. The Alamo was on the agenda. BUT…. We woke up to a deluge of rain. A soaking, cool rain that flooded roads everywhere. Carl got up and fixed a breakfast of eggs and bacon. He loves to do it even when the bacon sets off the smoke alarm in the camper. Even when he drops my egg onto the hot stove top, accidently. Even when his wonderful wife throws away his grease collecting can and he has to put the bacon grease in a pan. Even when 8 children are underfoot as it is raining so hard outside that we can barely hear each other speak. Among all the chaos of 10 people being forced to be together in a camper with little ones coloring and big ones folding their bodies up into tight spaces. Among the wife who is researching things to do in the rain while in San Antonio. Amo...

May 12, 2015 Texas!!!!! We got up and packed up by 9:00. We wanted to be at the office to pay and then be at the park when they opened. We are definitely learning to work together as a family to get the camper packed up and ready to go. Esther and I normally work on the inside and get lunches ready. Carl and the boys work on the outside and get the camper hitched up. It is teaching the kids teamwork and responsibility. We drove down the road and pulled off to drive the Natchez Trace Parkway. It is a trail that was used by the Native Americans and later the early explorers and settlers. We then drove to Natchez National Historic Site. When I heard the name I thought Indian site. I was so wrong. Think antebellum Southern plantations. It was incredible to see the huge houses and all the buildings that went along with the plantations. I explained to kids that the plantation owners did not want to heat their houses up in the summertime so the kitchen and laundry were in separat...

May 11, 2015 Best Laid Plans Today was the day we were supposed to go to Shiloh National Military Park and then on the Vicksburg. That was not how the day ended up. Carl realized last night that we had missed one of the National Parks that he really wanted to visit, Fort Donelson in Tennessee. We had spent the day yesterday trying to drive through 5 states that we completely missed it. Carl was disappointed but it made us realize how carefully we need to look at the map at night when we are planning our days. It also made us realize how fast this trip is going already. We have so much more that we want to see but we are learning that we might not be able to see everything on our list. We are now starting to prioritize our visits. That led us to make the decision to forego Shiloh and just head to Vicksburg. We packed up and got on the road pretty early. We did have quite a few stops as kids kept having to go to the bathroom. As we were leaving Memphis we arrived at a ...