Sunday, June 21

I didn't write last night, because we stayed in a hotel in Mammoth Cave National State Park, and it didn't have internet. It wasn't camping, but pretty close. And I lost my camera (it may be in the van somewhere, but who would know.)

We started the day in Beckley, WV. Two miles away from where we stayed was an exhibition coal mine, so we started the day there by taking a 45-minute coal mine tour.  We rode a little open train, and the girls each got a piece of coal. While we were in the mine, the guide who was a retired coal mifner, showed us tools that the coal miners used throughout the years.

Then we drove to the New River Gorge Bridge. People can parachute off the bridge on one day in October. There we walked to an overlook to see the view of the river and the bridge. As we were looking at the bridge, we saw the top of a port-a-potty go by. We couldn't see the truck the potty was on from the overlook viewpoint, only the top of the port-a-potty going across the bridge. It was funny. We walked about 200 steps down to the overlook that looked down on the New River. The view was spectacular.  This was a really fast stop.

Then we drove about two hours west to our first Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives stop. For those of you who don't know, that is a fun show on the Food Network that showcases hometown eateries in the USA. I googled the website and found the address for Hillbilly Hotdogs in Lesage, WV, an eatery on our way that had been featured. We plugged the address into the GPS, and had no idea what we were headed for. It was unbelievable! I'll try to upload pics later, but google Hillbilly Hotdog pics. and there is even a video on youtube. Hillbilly Hotdogs is a shack with two buses connected to it for sitting.  The owners enjoy for people to bring them things, and then they display what is given to them somewhere inside or outside the shack. For example, outside there is a tree filled with hubcaps on the trunk, boots on another, and stuffed animals on another trunk! Then they give you markers to sign your name somewhere. The bus, tables, and walls are covered with signatures. Then the hotdogs! We had a scrambled egg hotdog, a pizza hotdog, a taco hotdog, and two corndogs. The taco hotdog was the best. Basically, they put any topping on a hotdog, and the result is surprisingly tasty! Their menu is also on the web and can be googled. We had a blast there. We began talking to three bikers, two male and one female. The female gave us recommendations on what to order, and showed us how big her salad was when she got her order. She showed where she had brought a baby blanket to the shack with all of her family's signatures on it, and where it was displayed.  Before leaving the shack, if you leave a tip, the workers sing a "weenie" song to you. It was quite a fun experience that we talked about all day. If you are ever near Lesage, you have to stop.

Then we drove on to our hotel in Mammoth Cave, KY. The speed limit in Southern West Virginia and Kentucky has been 70 mph.  In total we drove over 400 miles today, and were very happy to get to our hotel.

We made it to Beckley, WV

At 11:00 this morning, Nana took our picture in front of our loaded van and then we heading off on our summer trip. Don't we look happy! Right before that, Blair and Brooke had been arguing and Molly was refereeing. There were tears, yelling and gnashing of teeth. What a way to start a long journey together! But after some threats, we pulled it together to get the picture taken. And everyone did well on the first 243 miles of our journey.

Below Winchester on I81 it started to rain so hard that we had to put on our flashers for a while. Then it stopped and the sun was shinning. I love the new GPS system. When we were ready to eat, using the GPS, I found a neat worker-owned, vegetarian grill in Harrisonburg that we loved. Deana, there was even a picture of John Lennon! Blair liked the restaurant so much she bought a t-shirt!

Now we're at our hotel. It's nice - one room with two queen beds and a sleeper sofa. Tonight we are going to TheaterWV to watch the Hatfield and McCoys. 

We leave tomorrow.

Since we leave tomorrow, I finally made reservations for the first 2 nights that we'll be gone. I also made reservations to see the play The Hatfields and the McCoys at the WVTheater in Beaver, WV. Then I made reservations for our tour of Mammoth Cave. I chose the four-hour cave tour where you get to eat lunch in one of the rooms in the cave. There was a tour called The River Styx Cave Tour that we wanted to go on, but it was already booked. Some people are better organized than me!  

I think that we have purchased everything, and we have started to pack. I made a checklist for the girls, and Molly and Brooke are mostly packed. Blair is out enjoying one last evening with her friends before she is cooped up with her family all summer! Blair, Jerry and I will probably pack in the morning. No sense in rushing these things! 

We hope to leave by 10 a.m. We will drop Duncan, our dog, off at the home where he is staying for the summer, and then we'll head down 81. 

Question

Does anyone have any ideas of things to do in Kansas? Except drive through!

WooHoo!!

School is finally out for the kids. Our last day is tomorrow. I can't believe that our school year lasts so long. At least this year seemed like a long year. Today I sent my resume to a school closer to my house, Middletown Middle School. In fact, it's the school that Molly will go to next year. It would be so convenient, but we'll see what happens.

Today was a big day for the Donald girls. It was Blair's last day at the middle school, Molly's last day at the elementary school, and Brooke's last day at the primary school. Next year, all three girls will be in the youngest grade in their schools - 9th, 6th, and 3rd. Everyone seems to be excited to be moving on. I can't believe that they are growing up so fast! Brooke is sitting beside me now watching as I type this, and she is promising to always be my baby!

Anyway, we're glad that summer is finally here. Bring it on!

Six days to go!

So yesterday while lounging at the pool, Jerry starts thinking about our trip. We were thinking about driving all the way down to Carlsbad Caverns which are in the southern part of New Mexico,  but now are changing our minds.  We want to go St. Louis and after that we were thinking of driving down to Memphis and then through Arkansas and Texas to Carlsbad. But after much thought, we decided that that's a lot of driving to see one place and it could be another trip at another time. So we changed our minds and decided that after St. Louis to travel straight through Kansas to get to Colorado. That will allow us more time out west. I wonder if we'll change our minds again? We really have no idea what we are doing!

I didn't post this past week that I went to Georgetown and got a good report from my doctor. My cancer didn't grow enough to worry about, so we are still at the monitoring stage. I go in three months, just to check in. In six months, I have another CT scan. I was really scared before I went, because I was afraid that I would be the one that would stop our family from this trip that we have talked about for a while. I was really relieved when the appointment was over and everything was okay.

One week until we take off!

I can't believe that we are actually leaving in one week. The kids have 2 more days of school and Jerry and I have 3. This school year is dragging on way too long. I think a law should be made that school has to be out by the second Friday in June. Anyway, yesterday Jerry showed a friend how to take care of the lawn, and we already have someone lined up to take care of Duncan, our dog. This weekend we are going to make a list of what we need to take. Our neighbor's mom gave the great idea of rolls of quarters for laundry. I'm sure we'll forget some things, but there are stores where we are going!