July 30 and 31 - Dayton, Southern Illinois, and St. Louis

July 31 – Southern Illinois to St. Louis’ Gateway Arch
We started today with a 2-hour drive to St. Louis. We had reserved a slot to ascend the gateway arch at 3pm, so I wanted to arrive around 1pm to ensure I could park the RV somewhere. What a blessing to find a free parking area on the Mississippi River for RVs. Not only was it free, it was close to the Arch. The Arch is quite an impressive work of art and construction accomplishment. It stands about 630 feet high, and you ascend it in what feels like a space capsule. The Arch is actually called the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial as it houses a neat museum underground that explores the Louisiana purchase in 1803 by Thomas Jefferson and what developed from that time to 1900. I wish Brandon and Bailey had a little longer attention span because I’d like to read the exhibits, but I guess we will save that for some other day. Tomorrow we drive 4 hours to Kansas City. We have no intent to see sights in KC. Just passing through on our way to Nebraska, where Sheri’s great grandfather was a State Senator in the 1920s and 1930s.
July 30 – Air Force Museum in Dayton Ohio, then to Southern Illinois
Today we went to what I personally consider the best airplane museum in the nation. I’ve been to the new Udvar Hazy (Air and Space Museum) at Dulles Airport. While that is certainly impressive considering it houses a Space Shuttle, the Air Force Museum still has a more extensive collection. They have an F-22 (the newest fighter), an F-117 stealth fighter, B-2, B-1, and other recent airplanes as well as many other fighter planes and early aircraft. They also have huge superfortress bombers of WWII and Vietnam. The only bummer of the day was that they have a collection of old Air Force One planes that is in a hanger about 10 minutes from the museum. Only a select number of visitors can tour that and you have to reserve a spot as soon as you get to the museum. Unfortunately, we arrived too late such that our time slot would have been too late and we had a 4 hour drive to Southern Illinois.

July 29 – Visiting with Sheri’s cousin and Keith and Laura Mayo in Ohio

We had a relaxing day at the KOA in Toledo. Sheri’s cousin came over around 11am and had made a delicious lunch for us. I tried to allow Sheri and Melissa some time alone by taking the kids to the pool, but it was extremely cold. The water temperature rivaled that of the lake in Halifax. They said they had received some rain lately, but I didn’t realize it rained ice cubes in Ohio in the summer. Instead we played shuffleboard, which was fun. We had a good visit and then just hung out for a couple of hours until Keith and his wife Laura arrived. Actually the kids kept themselves busy by renting some of those crazy fun cycles. They are a three wheeled cycle requiring you to steer with your hips. Thankfully Keith and Laura arrived around 5pm. He must have used the afterburner on the U-Haul because he made it from West Virginia to Toledo in record time. We had pizza with them and then headed to Dayton. Tomorrow we will see the Dayton Air Force museum before heading to southern Illinois (a stop on our way to St. Louis).
Oh yea, I almost forgot. I put a new survey on the blog. It will allow some interaction between you readers and our family. Let us know how much time you think we should allow for transition from trip to work.

Days 27 and 28 - Ontario and our Return to the USA

July 28 – Visiting the Hurta Family then to Toledo, Ohio
Today we drove for a short 1.5 hours to the Hurta household in Michigan just south of Detroit. We crossed the US border at mile 3308 and we entered Ohio later in the evening around mile 3382. The Hurta’s are friends of Sheri’s. Sheri’s father and Don Hurta were best friends in the Marines so the ties are strong and go way back. We spent about 7 hours visiting Mrs. Hurta, Jessica, and Christie. Sheri hadn’t seen them in 18 years. We had a splendid visit: we didn’t break anything, we got our laundry done for free, and they feed all of our family. What else could we ask for…maybe a heated pool (oops they had that too!). The kids had a ton of fun, and they asked when they could play with Christie and Jessica again. In fact, Seth said they were "basically like cool teenagers" (even though they are in their 20s and 30s). Sincerely, we had a wonderful visit and God once again blessed us with great weather. We certainly hope that the boys get to play with the Hurta girls before another decade goes by. After our pleasant visit at the Hurta’s we drove the short drive to the KOA at Toledo where we will see Sheri’s cousin tomorrow and hopefully my brother too. He is moving from West Virginia to Portland, Oregon and is stopping in Toledo.
July 27, 2007 – Niagra to Wheatley, Ontario
We woke up this morning to rain so we made the best of it and got on the road quickly. So early that we finished our 4 hour drive at 1pm, which was perfect considering that the rain was gone and the kids were ready to play. Just an aside here; we have had only one day where rain actually kept us in the RV. God has truly blessed us with excellent weather. Most of the rain days have occurred while we were driving. By the way, today marks the first day where Sheri did the driving. Oddly enough the 4 hours went by faster for me as a passenger rather than a driver and I didn’t sleep at all. The campground here is on Lake Erie so the kids and I went for a swim during the afternoon. Lake Erie was fairly cold, but I can’t let a little cold water dampen the adventure. It was odd, Lake Erie was so murky that when Seth went under right next to me, I couldn’t see him. In contrast, Lake Ontario was crystal clear. This may have been partly due to the weather conditions because we also saw lake Ontario when it wasn’t as clear in the evening, but not nearly as murky as Lake Erie. This evening, Levi made his first official fire, I didn’t help one bit. He had the teepee of sticks set up just perfectly. Bailey, our princess in training, had kind words for the fire, "I’m going to kill the fire, Daddy". She said this as she threw a stick into the fire. Yes, it is hard to train a princess when you have three pyromaniac brothers. Not that the fire makes any difference. Bailey has no trouble punching her brothers in the most lady-like fashion. I leave out so many of the moments I will cherish forever. There was the moment when Bailey was "pushing" Seth and Brandon into the pool and laughing like crazy. Another moment was when Seth carried Bailey on his back to help her. How could I forget that Brandon has learned to swim on this trip. Seeing his excited little face when he made that accomplishment is worth remembering. Almost forgot the one where I left the pliers on the rear bumper only to find them still sitting on the bumper when I stopped about 10 miles down the road. And of course there was the time when the sewer hose came out of the drain pipe……(I’ll spare the details)….Yes there are moments we will all laugh about someday in the future.

Day 24 - Lake Placid, New York

July 24- Lake Placid and then to Oswego, New York
Today was great. We drove to the olympic area of Lake Placid and got to see junior athletes training for the louge using whelled sleds. Then we proceeded to the ski jumping center where we saw freestyle skiers (the ones that do the tricks) practicing into a pool. We took the ski lift and elevator to the top of the ski jump to view the entire area. Lake Placid is the only winter olympic venue where you can see all event areas at one time. The only downer of the day was learning that the bobsled was not open the day we were there. They offer summer rides most days starting about 1/3 of the way from the bottom. We drove to Oswego after Lake Placid. The Oswego RV park was right on Lake Ontario so we had a beautiful view of the sunset.


July 25 – Oswego to Niagra
Today we spent a few hours playing in Lake Ontario at the RV park. The kids decided to "wade" in the lake, but that quickly turned into swimming in the lake when Levi slipped and got drenched from head to toe. We drove the 4 hours to Niagra and decided to see the US side of the falls prior to crossing the border. The US side is a state park so it isn’t full of tourist traps. The national CBS morning show was doing a remote spot at Niagra on July 26. I happened to run into the producer and we talked for 5 minutes or so. When she heard about our trip she "promised" to put me on the front row of the spectators if we showed up on July 26 at 6:15 am. The family voted and agreed that sleep was more important than a remote possibility at getting on national TV. I imagine that we weren’t the only ones promised a front row spot. The only downer was that it was a long hike from the parking lot to the falls and Brandon’s little legs got worn out. After seeing the falls I took Brandon and Bailey back to the RV. That is the only bummer of walking so much. Brandon’s legs get tired (we have a stroller that is primarily for Bailey). However, we are always surprised how long his little legs can swim in the pool…… We partly wonder if his "tired" legs are truly tired. Sheri and the boys walked down to an area where they could go down closer to American Falls, which is right next to Horseshoe Falls (both together are considered Niagra Falls). We crossed the border into Canada with no trouble at mile 3064. The KOA here at Niagra on the Canadian side is right on a strip with other hotels with access to the public bus system.
July 26 – Niagra
Today we spent all day on the Canadian side of Niagra. Unlike the US side, they have a little city with plenty of tourist traps and hotels, etc. We stayed away from all of the non-Niagra River associated attractions. We first boarded the "Maid of the Mist’ boat tour that takes you close up to the falls. You get pretty wet with the mist, but they issue you a poncho prior to boarding. We then went to the largest whirlpool in the world. They have an aerial tram that crosses the whirlpool so we decided to do it. Just as I was getting ready to buy tickets a man approached me and offered me 5 free tickets. He was with a tour group and they had purchased a block of tickets with some left over. What a blessing! We arrived back at the campsite around 4 pm. After dinner the kids wore themselves out in the pool for 2 hours. Tomorrow we have to get an early start because the campsite didn’t take reservations for Friday only. It’s first come first served. The campsite is in Ontario and about a 30-minute drive from the border near Detroit.

July 23- Montreal to Lake Placid

Yesterday we made it back into the US so I can now read the road signs. I loved the construction message boards entirely in French. Thankfully, my inability to read them didn't cause too much trouble. Here in the Adirondacks of New York, the scenery is beautiful. We are going to the 1980 winter olympic site today and then travelling to Oswego, New York, which is another stopping point along the way to Niagra. The funny moment of yesterday was when the border guard asked if all 4 kids were mine. I know he has to ask that question to anyone travelling with kids, but he asked it in a way that sounded like he expected me to say that I had kids with me that weren't mine. We made it back into the US at mile 2596. I just asked the boys if they had anything to add to the blog. They said that their funny moment of the day yesterday was when I was making up a bedtime story about a polar bear and a seagull and I started to fall asleep. They had to kick me to keep the story going.

July 22 - Montreal

Up until yesterday (July 22), we had been blessed not to have any sickness on our trip. I should say that we continue not to have sickness, only a forgetful father. As many of you know Bailey is allergic to milk. As I was preparing scrambled eggs yesterday morning I used cow’s milk instead of soy milk. Just a moment when I wasn’t thinking. The result was that when I gave Bailey the eggs her stomach became upset. Thankfully she didn’t get much at all. She didn’t throw up, but her body rejected the milk. We decided to stay at the campsite until she got better with a willingness to skip seeing Montreal yesterday. About 1pm she was fine and we made lunch and ventured into the city. We decided to take the subway in because common sense tells us that there isn't much parking for RVs in downtown Montreal. We went up the highest inclined structure in the world to see the city from above and then we just walked downtown. Today we travel to Lake Placid, New York. One thing I should mention regarding our trip. Sheri and I have realized that we have scheduled the trip with 4 hours or less driving per day. We aren’t driving every day, but even when we do drive, 4 hours is too much. We are going to modify the trip after Yellowstone since that is a firm reservation we don’t want to change. Instead of going into Alberta and British Columbia, we are going to take our time seeing the West Coast and the Grand Canyon. I’ll miss seeing Banff and Lake Louise, Alberta. However, cutting that leg out will save us some driving time. Flexibility is a good thing.

July 19 - 21

July19- Bathurst, New Brunswick to Riviere de Loup, Quebec
Northern New Brunswick is not the place you want to break down. It’s a good thing I gassed up in Bathurst. Little did I know there would be about 100 miles of nothing but woods and logging trucks passing me on a two lane road. They were probably passing me because I was afraid the suspension was going to fall apart so I had to keep the speed down. Let’s just say that they maintained the road just enough for the logging trucks. However, we did manage to finally reach an interstate. Smooth pavement never felt so good! The municipal campground in Riviere de Loup on the St. Lawrence River was very nice. We really didn’t enjoy it too long because we decided to leave early the next morning (July 20) so that we would have time to let the kids play in Quebec.

July 20 – Riviere de Loup to Quebec City.
So much for leaving early. We arrived at our campsite here in Quebec around 2pm or so. However, today was the wettest day we have had yet, nonstop rain from about noon until bedtime. For the first time we had to find indoor activities in our RV. I guess we should count our blessings since that has only happened to us once. The other rainy days were spent driving. It would have been a whole lot worse if the rain of July 20 hit on July 21. But, another blessing indeed because July 21 turned out to be a beautiful weather day.

July 21- A visit to Quebec City and then a drive to Montreal
Quebec City is a beautiful city. The original city buildings still stand from the late 1600s and early 1700s. Certain buildings have an architecture that is unique. We spent about 4 hours walking around, watching street entertainers, and watching a glass blower make wine glasses. The most exciting part of the trip was just barely making the ferry ride in both directions It would have only been a 30 minute wait for the next one, but there was much more thrill running to catch the ferry. The KOA here about 30 miles south of Montreal is best described as a mosquito farm. I put OFF mosquito repellent on my legs and arms but they have a breed here that must be resistant to that stuff. At one point I killed 4 mosquitos in one slap. They were all huddled together on my leg. Tomorrow we will visit Montreal and return to this campsite.

Day 18 - PEI to Bathurst, New Brunswick

I doubt any of you have ever ventured to Northern New Brunswick. The drive felt a lot like Washington state: endless evergreen trees. However, there was one difference: the moose signs everywhere. One section of road had so many accidents that they are putting up fence to keep the moose from crossing. Thankfully, we didn't see any. I should state that prior to our 4 hour drive here we spent from 11 to 3 in PEI. We went to the Green Gables House. I thought we had hit every Anne of Green Gables site in the last two days, but we missed the main one. It is tucked off the road and is a Canadian National Park, which threw me off when I had passed it before. The house is a short walk from LM Montgomery's house she was raised in. It belonged to a relative and inspired the setting for the book. Its interesting that the Canadian National Park house had no artifacts from LM Montgomery. All of the artifacts were at the smaller private "museums". Its almost seems that certain folks hung onto the artifacts and created their own museums rather than giving them to the Canadian National Park house. After touring the Green Gables house, we ventured to Charlottetown (the capital of PEI) to see a sand sculpture exhibit. The sculptures were amazing! Despite all of that, the highlight of my day was checking in the the small campground here in Bathurst. The campground is situated next to a strawberry patch (self pick and pay) and they are owned by the same folks. When I asked the lady at check-in how much the strawberries cost she gave me two buckets and said, since you've come so far, its on the house. To top it off, she then gave me a third bucket she had picked herself and said, "enjoy them for breakfast". There is nothing like fresh strawberries. If you are ever in this area, this campground comes highly recommended (they even have wireless Internet!). Tomorrow we will drive to Riviere du Loop, Quebec. I'm almost certain that won't have Internet access. So I'll check back in when I get to Quebec city on Friday. I almost forgot....We broke 2000 miles today. We entered PEI around mile 1640 and left around mile 1850.

July 17 - A day at Avonlea (Prince Edward Island)

Today was a dream come true for Sheri as it would be for any other girl or boy who fell in love with the Anne of Green Gables series. In 1999, someone got the bright idea of creating a "real" town of Avonlea (it was a fictional creation of LM Montgomery based on other towns here near Cavendish). The town is full of replica buildings and original buildings that were torn down and reconstructed on the "town" of Avonlea. They had 6 theatrical performances throughout the day, each one a scene from the main story. Then the characters led a country fair, several singing concerts, and a square dancing session. The best part of the entire day for me (Hunter) was winning an event at the county fair. No, I didn't win the pie eating contest, nor the bicycle race, you can count on me for something much more distinguished. I am the proud blue ribbon carrying winner of the horse manure slinging contest. Yes, I know, you might be thinking its quite a disgusting honor, but indeed it is true. Sheri's got the video to prove it. I can sling manure with the best of 'em. By the way, it might be helpful for you to know that the manure was dried and in a potato sack. So, I didn't need a shower after the event. Tomorrow we will travel to Bathhurst, New Brunswick, which is really one of two stopping points between here and Quebec City.

July 16, 2007 – Prince Edward Island

So much for weather forecasting. They called for showers all day today. When we woke up it was overcast and looked like rain could fall, but by noon I saw no clouds in the sky and it was a beautiful day. Once again a weather blessing from God above. We went and saw 5 very small museums today. The first, Woodleigh Replicas, is an amazing little outdoor display of castle and cathedrals. Most are 1/20 to 1/3 in scale. They even have some you can walk through. The other 4 museums were all related to Lucy Maud Montgomery, the author of Anne of Green Gables. One was her brithplace, the second was her childhood home (she was raised by her grandparents), the third was Mrs. Montgomery’s Aunt and Uncle’s house (the setting of the main book), and the fourth was a house of a relative who actually gave the tour himself. Tomorrow we will go to Avonlea, which is a recreation of the town in Anne of Green Gables. Sheri purchased a Anne of Green Gables hat that comes complete with red haired pigtails.

July 15 - Halifax to Cavendish, Prince Edward Island

We got up this morning (July 15) and drove to Halifax (only 15 minutes from the campsite). The fog was so thick some of the top of the buildings were not visible. The tall ships were in Halifax this weekend (July 14 and 15) so there was a flurry of activity on the boardwalk. After we walked the boardwalk, we drove to Prince Edward Island. The island is beautiful - green rolling hills, white sandy beaches, and red cliffs. I didn't realize how agriculturally based it is. We saw dozens of crop fields - everything from wheat to vegetables to potatoes. There are only 138,000 people that live here but 1 million visitors come between June and September each year. Of course it is the home of the story of Anne of Green Gables, so we listened to the first book of the series (on CD) between Halifax and PEI. Monday, July 16 is supposed to be rainy so we are planning some indoor activities.

July 14 - A day to relax in Halifax!

Sometimes in life you just have to be flexible. In my planning, I routed us to Halifax because I thought it would be a great city to see. I thought today would be a great day to go down to the pier, perhaps catch a whale watching tour or just see the city of Halifax. However, after waking up and thinking about another busy day walking around another city, Sheri and I changed plans. Today marks the first day where we didn’t log a mile on the RV or venture into a city. The RV didn’t get used in Boston or New York but we stayed pretty busy using the subway. Today was different, just a day to relax. We took advantage of the bike trails right next to the campground, then we went swimming in the lake (also next to the campground). We just had a break. If I didn’t have reservations at all the other campgrounds, I’d probably stay here another day. Sheri and I decided we will drive through Halifax tomorrow morning on our way to Prince Edward Island. The good news is that we will be in PEI for 3 nights. Interesting note here in Nova Scotia; Milk costs US$5.78 for 4 liters (slightly more than a gallon), but fish is pretty cheap.

July 11-13 - Acadia to Halifax

Finally got internet access today. Here is what we have done (in reverse order).
July 13 – Spencer’s Island to Halifax, Nova Scotia
We woke up to a beautiful sunny clear morning. The tide was coming in and peaked at 32 feet around noon. We walked out to a mound of rock, which was part of the shore during low tide. It quickly became an island faster than we realized, so we had to wade through water to return to where we started. The tidal change is amazing. In fact as we drove up the bay low tide was peaking. We saw parts where it was mud as far as you could see. I’ve posted some pictures so you can see the difference. Oh I almost forgot, we also stopped at a scenic lookout where we saw some magnificent cliffs before driving to Halifax.
July 12 – St. John to Spencer’s Island, Nova Scotia
St. John just became a stopping point for us. It was raining when we arrived and raining when we woke up. We decided to get an early start because we wanted to get to the next stop where we could see the huge tidal change so we left St. John immediately after waking up. We arrived at Spencer’s Island around 2 pm as the tide was going out under a misty fog. I never realized the boys could have so much fun playing with seaweed and water. In fact, I’d venture to say that this stop was the most fun for them. Give them a beach and seaweed and they would be happy for days.
July 11 – Acadia to St. John, New Brunswick
We got up this morning in a misty fog. Our first activity was for the three boys to get their Junior Ranger patches from Acadia National Park. All National Parks have programs for Junior Rangers where they listen to two ranger lessons and do some activities in a handbook. Their reward is a patch with the specific park on it. We hope to get between 8 and 10 patches during the trip. After completing that task, we decided to go biking in Acadia before driving for 4 hours. However, as we drove into the park it started to rain. Thankfully, God blessed us with a break in the rain long enough for us to bike 7 miles on the carriage roads (no cars allowed, only bikers, hikers, and horse drawn carriages). We just about pushed Brandon beyond his biking stamina but thankfully the second half of the trail was downhill. Acadia is a biker’s paradise. With 47 miles of biking trails around beautiful lakes, local and travelling bikers take advantage of them. The funny thing about this day was when Seth saw a sign for the speed limit in Canada that read "Maximum 110". The sign doesn’t specify that it is in km/hr, but Seth couldn’t believe how fast we were allowed to drive in Canada. We entered Canada at mile marker 1054 (from Berryville).

Day 10 - Acadia National park

Whew! We just completed a marathon day at Acadia. We boarded the 9:05 bus to Acadia, hiked 3 miles on the carriage road system, saw various lakes and other sights, sat through a US park ranger's lesson on animals of Acadia, returned to the campsite for dinner, then departed back to the park for sunset atop Cadillac mountain, and then a park ranger's lesson on the stars. We arrived home at 11:10 pm. I think we may have pushed the kids too hard because Brandon and Bailey fell asleep while we viewed the stars and the other two were asleep by the time we arrived back at the campsite. The night sky was very clear and I saw more stars than I have in a long time. Even the milky way was pretty visible tonight. After completing the animal and star education lessons, Levi, Seth, and Brandon will get their Junior Ranger badges tomorrow morning and then we will drive up to St. John, New Brunswick. St. John is really a stopping point because the next day we drive to Nova Scotia where we will view the 30 foot tidal change from our RV site on the bay. I'm not sure how accessible the internet will be for the next several days. The campsites in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia may not have access.

July 9 - Boston to Acadia

Most travel days are 4 hours or less, but yesterday (July 9) was one of the longer legs at 5 hours. Everyone did fantastic in the car. I must admit, we did let the kids watch a movie on the DVD player to help pass the time. Yesterday was one of those days when you'd rather be in the car than outside, it was in the mid 50s and raining most of the day. We are hoping for warmer weather today as we venture into Acadia National Park. Two neat things about Acadia: they have the highest coastal mountain north of Rio and they have 57 miles of cobble stone roads that are dedicated for biking and hiking (no cars).

Boston Day 2 - Sunday July 8

Today (Sunday, July 8) we decided to give the kids a little break from seeing historical sights by taking them to the children’s museum. We had read that the Boston’s children’s museum is one of the best children’s museums around so we had planned on making sure we spent some time at it. It is fairly large and had enough activities to keep the kids entertained for 6 hours. Sheri and I had seen a poster advertisement for the Blue Man Group on Saturday as we were walking around Boston. We decided that would be a fun activity for Levi and Seth so we split up after the Children’s museum. Levi, Seth, and I went to the Blue Man Group while Sheri and the little ones returned to the hotel to swim in the pool. Levi and Seth really enjoyed the Blue Man Group. For those of you who haven’t seen them, they are a variety show that includes humor, skits, and music (played on PVC pipes). There is no speaking throughout the entire show. Instead, they use those LED message boards to make statements. Monday we have a 4.5 hour haul to Acadia, but the drive should be really nice through Maine.

Day 7 - Boston Day 1

We had a full day in Boston today, leaving the hotel around 10 am and arriving back about 9:30 pm. We took advantage of Boston's subway and the free hotel shuttle to the closest subway stop. The first stop we made was at Bunker Hill. The entire family climbed all 294 steps to the top of the monument. I was surprised Brandon made it, but he is a real trooper. Bailey took the easy route and rode on my back. At Bunker Hill we got a chance to view a a musket firing where Sheri got a nice picture as the smoke erupted from the gun (see picture link). We proceeded to the USS Constitution, which is the oldest active Naval ship (built in the 1790s). Then we went to Paul Revere's house (built in 1680). A day in Boston wouldn't be complete without a meal at Cheers, so we finished the day with that. One of the funniest moments of the day happened in the morning. After Bailey's bath, I tried to blow dry her hair using the wall mounted blow drier. Unfortunately it appeared broken. After I said, "I don't know what is wrong with it", Bailey proceeded to tell me she knew. It took me a few minutes to figure out what she was saying: "It needs to be plugged in!". Sure enough she was right. I hadn't bothered to check that as my expectation was that all wall mounted blow driers stay plugged in. That moment was good for a family laugh. A second funny moment occurred at bedtime. We have been trying to have everyone state their high moment and low moment for the day just as we are going to bed. Bailey has picked up on this and tonight she proclaimed that her high moment today was playing on the playground. We all laughed because we didn't do that today.

Day 6 - Plymouth (July 6)

This morning (Friday) we woke up and decided to relax before seeing the sights in Plymouth. We went to the swimming lake and enjoyed the water. Seth, Levi, Brandon, and I tried to swim about 100 yards to a floating dock. Brandon being the only one with a flotation device. Brandon started by holding onto my shoulders, which isn't usually a problem. Unfortunately, he was scarred fish were going to bite him so he kept trying to climb up my back to get his feet as close to the surface as he could. That served to force me under. I could handle that until Seth cried, "My arms are tired I'm not going to make it!". Seth grabbed my shoulder and then I couldn't stay afloat. So I threw Brandon off of me (he can swim fine with his flotation device) and we all returned to shore. Thankfully, Seth didn't give up. We realized it was a mental problem more than a physical problem. Within 10 minutes Levi, Seth, and I made it to the dock and Seth needed no assistance. After our swimming adventure, we went to see the Mayflower in Plymouth. They have an exact replica of the Mayflower which was constructed in the 1950s and repeated the journey in 1957. Our RV is huge compared to what 102 people lived in for 3 months. I enjoyed talking with one of the actors on the ship who portrays a women who went across. Because she maintains her 1620 acting role, I couldn't explain where I lived. In those days the Potomac wasn't the Potomac, the Chesapeake wasn't named that either. The closest thing I could reference was Jamestown. We're in the Boston hotel room now, which is about 3 times the size of our RV. We'll tour Boston today and tomorrow and head up to Acadia on Monday.

Day 5 - New York to Plymouth

We had a long journey today. First, I got redirected in the Bronx. Lost isn't the appropriate term since the GPS always lets me know where I am. Redirected reflects the fact that I got run onto an exit because traffic wouldn't let me merge onto the interstate. Then I tried to get creative to avoid an 8 mile backup on I-95 in Connecticut by taking Route 1. Apparently, everyone else had that idea as well. Then we had to make a stop at the grocery store and WalMart (to get a bike tire for my bike). In short, we turned a 4 hour trip into a 7 hour trip. Significant milestones included: New York, mile 342 (we had entered by foot but the RV hadn't touched it until today), Connecticut, mile 368; Rhode Island, mile 480, and Massachusetts, mile 523. The RV park I picked near Plymouth is huge. There must be 200-300 sites. Seth and Brandon took the opportunity to swim in the pond this evening, the rest of us opted for the warmer view of the pond without swimming. We roasted marshmellows tonight. I think we invented a new campfire meal: banana and strawberry flavored marshmellow. We put them both on a skewer and heated them up together. They make a fine combination. Tomorrow we are off to see Plymouth and then we drive to Boston where we will stay in a Hotel for 3 nights. Do you think people at the hotel will look at us funny when we go out to the RV each night for dinner? (Just kidding, we'll probably eat out).

Day 4 - New York City

What a fantastic day in the city!! We walked to a subway in NJ and took it to 34th street (where Macy's is located). Then we walked to Times Square and Central Park and took a cab to the World Trade Center. It looked like it was going to rain all day, but it held off until we were about 500 feet from our RV. We took the kids into Toys R Us and FAO Schwartz. In the evening we watched the fireworks (which Bailey could have done without) from our RV site while it rained off and on. After we went to bed we were awoken by torrential rains. Thankfully we didn't become an ark and float away. We are also grateful Bailey didn't hear the thunder(loudies)or we would have been up all night. One very interesting thing we saw today was this reed boat called the Abora3 (I posted a picture on the link or you can learn more at www.abora3.com). A German scientist believes that there were ancient people from Africa who crossed the Atlantic way before Columbus (several thousand years BC). He believes they used reed boats. To prove it, he is sailing from New York to Spain starting on July 11.

Day 3 - Hershey to New York City

We made it to NYC today. The only noteworthy milestone today was mile 257: entrance into New Jersey. Since we aren't on a time schedule, we decided to take a break and stop at Cabella's in Pennsylvania on our way here. It wasn't a planned stop, we just saw it from the interstate. We hadn't been before, but everyone kept talking about how great it was. If you haven't been, its nice. You have to really like the outdoors and mounted animals to appreciate its nicety. If your into guns or fishing, you would definitely want to go. They've got an entire room full of stuffed deer. The interesting thing is that they are all prize deer, most for their atypical antlers. Many have antlers like I've never seen: Prongs pointed down, and other odd configurations.
The RV park is bascially a parking lot. No trees, but a nice view of the city. Its actually situated in New Jersey right next to the Hudson River. We can walk to a light rail or a ferry, which will take us into Manhattan (on the schedule for tomorrow).

Day 2 - Hershey Park, Pennsylvania

Hershey Park was a blast. The high point was seeing Seth, Levi, and Brandon all try their first loop-de-loop roller coaster. Brandon's face didn't look excited as soon as we hit the loop but he yelled "awesome" when we got out of it. Unlike the first night in the RV when we tried to put the kids to bed early to get some sleep, last night they went to bed with no trouble and are still asleep about 9 hours later (I'm blogging at 7:15). The low point of the day was when I (Hunter) knocked off Levi's new $250 glasses in a crowd. A man stepped on them (it was nighttime) and popped the lens out. I was able to get the lens back in, but lets just say they don't look like they did when they were first purchased. The first purchase at the first WalMart stop will be a strap to hold them on. We've got a 4.5 hour trek to New York city today and then we will watch the fireworks on the 4th. We'll travel to Plymouth and spend one day there before going to Boston for the weekend.

Day 1 - Berryville to Harrisburg, PA

Blast off! We began our adventure today. You couldn't miss us if you passed us on the road. We've got three bikes and a stroller strapped to the back and the two adult bikes strapped to the front (see the Harrisburg Pictures via the picture link to better appreciate it). Some milestones for the day: At mile 18 (that's 18 miles from the start of the trip) we entered West Virginia, mile 43 we entered Maryland, and mile 55 we entered Pennsylvania. Not to often we will touch 4 states in a day!
We only covered a total of 130 miles today. It's Hershey Park tomorrow and then on to New York City for the 4th of July fireworks.