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. 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.

4 days to lift off

An RV trip wouldn't be complete without that map on the side of the RV which allows you to color in each state as you conquer it. We put ours on tonight. We have one state sticker on, Virginia. We figured out that we will be hitting 38 states and 7 Canadian provinces. We are missing states such as Delaware, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Minnesota, Idaho, Iowa, Wisconsin, Alaska, and Hawaii. The only two Canadian provinces we will miss are Manitoba and Saskatchewan. If we really wanted to conquer states, we could easily hit many of these. But that wasn't an objective. After all, we have to leave some territory for the next sabbatical trip in 2014!

6 days left to departure

Only 4 more working days to go! How strange it is to think that since my 10 year old son has been born, I have never spent more than two consecutive weeks with him (meaning 24 hours a day). Now I will be spending 16 consecutive weeks with him. This presents a good opportunity to be a role model in a way that I have never been before. Of course every mistake will be observed. Therefore, the handling of mistakes is just as critical as the handling of everyday coaching in life. This will be a trip that is full of opportunities to make an impact on my boys (particularly the older ones). Sheri has now packed everything but our clothes. Thankfully, we are finding we have more room than first anticipated. We did decide to fill the shower, anticipating that at most RV parks will have a more spacious shower a short walking distance from our site. We made the decision to cut back on clothes only taking 4 warm weather outfits and two cold weather outfits. We won't have room for dirty clothes so laundry will be something we'll need to do every third day. We have decided to bring winter jackets just in case it is cold in places like Glacier National park at night. Good news is that Sheir's brother found his basket that connects to the trailer hitch (it was tucked away in storage) so we are going to be able to take the bikes. Another blessing, my neighbor offered a bike rack that will allow us to take all 5 bikes (Sheri and I included). I just hope we have plenty of places to ride. So if you see a 21 foot RV with 5 bikes dangling from the back it might just be us.

18 Days Left to Departure

We're down to the final home stretch. Sheri has spent the last several weeks putting aside the essential trip items. We'll pick up the RV on June 16th and begin the tedious process of packing the RV. This will probably involve several iterations. We probably have more items than we can fit, but maybe we will be surprised to find we have more room than we have items. Since the kids are homeschooled, Sheri has put together their math and writing curriculum. We are taking it light on schooling as our main mission is spending time with each other. I've made reservations for the first 25 days. The only location that cannot accomodate an RV is Boston. We were able to find a hotel near Logan airport that has a free shuttle to the subway station, which will provide needed access to the city. I don't really want to drive in Boston.
The most important item on my list is finishing up a major report before I depart. Check back on the blog about July 7th. Our goal is to have posted pictures for the first couple stops (Hershey Park, New York City) by that time.