A Re-telling of an Old Fable

There was once a husband named Ted who lived in a small cottage in a small town in Maine. Ted lived with his wife Leslie, his three young children, two large golden retrievers, a cat, a bunny and a bearded dragon. Ted thought his house was very small. He complained to his wife. She just smiled and continued her chores. A month went by and Ted decided to try talking to his wife again about the size of their house. This time she smiled and said , “It’s not small honey, you’re just used to a bigger house.” Ted knew that his wife was very wise, so he smiled too and went on his way. But after a month, he told his wife, “This house is really very small. There are kids and animals all over the place. What are we going to do ?” So wise woman Leslie smiled and told Ted that she would solve the problem. So they took their Three Kids and Five Pets in a RV and traveled the country. After the first week Ted said to Leslie,” I don’t understand. This is even worse than our house. I can’t move. There are kids and pets everywhere.” He continued coming to Leslie every week for two months and telling her that this didn’t solve the problem at all. So wise woman Leslie smiled and said that he was right and it was time to go home. They arrived at their cottage. Ted walked in and exclaimed,”I don’t remember our house being so big.”He walked around to all of the rooms. Where was everyone? The kids were in their own rooms, the bunny and the bearded dragon were downstairs, the cat was hiding, and the dogs were stretched out in their beds. There was no one in his way, he didn’t have to wait for the bathroom, and he could get into bed just by walking around the side of it. He sighed contentedly, their house was the perfect size.

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.”
- Marcel Proust

Thank you to everyone who followed us on our journey!  We hope you enjoyed the blog.  We enjoyed sharing our trip with everyone.  We hope we can do it again, but probably not right away.  After 7, 912 miles, we're going to give the camper, (and it's driver), a well deserved rest.

Favorites!

Favorite Sunset

With only about 5 days left in our grand adventure, we talked today while we drove about our favorite things on the trip.  Here are some of them!

Arches National Park - Utah

Favorite National Park

Chris - Grand Canyon, AZ

Chelsea - Badlands, SD

Daddy - Rocky Mountains, CO

Mommy - Arches, UT

Katie - Arches, UT

Favorite Thing We Did

Chris - Six Flags, IL

Katie - American Girl, MA

Chelsea - American Girl, MA

Daddy - Sandia Peak Tramway, NM

Mommy - Sandia Peak Tramway, NM

Sandia Peak Tramway

St. Louis

Favorite Restaurant

Daddy - Sunset Grill, UT

Mommy - Sunset Grill, UT

Chelsea, Katie, Chris - Melting Pot, MA

Favorite Food

Chelsea - Cheesecake

Chris - Steak (Cattleman's Grill)
Mommy - Butterfinger Cheesecake at "The Range"

Daddy - Prime Rib at Sunset Grill
(And Fried Pies - St. Louis!)

Daddy loved them pies

Favorite Campground

Big Pine, Custer, SD (Daddy)

Yogi Bear/Jellystone Park, St. Louis - (Kids)

Favorite City
St. Louis


Most Unexpected Surprise

- Louisville Kentucky and Churchill Downs

(we didn't plan on going to Louisville, but bad weather diverted us there)

Funniest Thing(s)

Person who used to live in Maine and flipped out when he saw our license plates at the Grand Canyon saying "Holy C...p did I just have a brain f..t and get transported back to Maine?  Are you guys really from Maine!?!

People in Oklahoma at "Pop's Soda" in the parking lot who saw our plates and pointed saying "Look!  Maine People!" (like we were from Mars)
Russian who ate the 72 ounce steak in 43 minutes at "The Big Texan Steakhouse" in Amarillo, TX

Worst and Most Annoying Camper 

- Bentley

Best and Most Well Behaved Camper 

- Max

Biggest WOW!!!

TIE: Grand Canyon and Arches National Park

That's all we can come up with for now, if anyone can think of other things you'd like to know what were our favorites leave a comment!

We are moving pretty quickly now as we move through the northeast and start to turn north.  We were in Ohio yesterday, Pennsylvania today, will be in Connecticut Friday, Saturday, Sunday (visiting Grandma), and then back in Maine by Monday night!
- Posted by Ted

Six Flags Great America

Here are some photos from today's trip to Six Flags!

Jelly Belly Warehouse

We made it to the Jelly Belly Warehouse in time. We took a factory tour on a cute little train and watched videos about how jelly bellies are made. Their factory is in California. 

But the best part of the tour was the tasting afterward. Much to my surprise and delight, they had Bertie Bott’s Jelly Bellies. Those are the jelly beans in Harry Potter. They had all of the great flavors. Chris had soap flavor, Katie had toothpaste flavor, Chelsea had sausage flavor, Ted had grass flavor, and I alas… had ear wax flavor. Not to be outdone, Ted decided to have the booger flavor. Much to my horror and the lady’s disgust behind him, he said, “It doesn't taste like mine.” 

We left Jelly Belly with a bit of jelly beans and headed to our Yogi Bear campground.

See more photos in the Photo Gallery #2!

Little House in The Big Woods

Today we drove to Pepin, Wisconsin, the birthplace of Laura Ingalls Wilder author of The Little House on The Prairie series. The site of “Little House in the Big Woods” is seven miles from the village of Pepin. Unfortunately, the house, barn, and big woods are no longer there. We did get to see the Laura Ingalls Wilder historical museum which was small, but interesting. 

Beautiful Lake Pepin is still there, and we had lunch at The Pickle Factory overlooking the shores of Lake Pepin. We had fried pickles and cheese curds for appetizers. Afterwards we walked along the lake. Lake Pepin is much bigger than our lake in Maine, although not as pretty. 

Tomorrow we are driving to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. We are hoping to make it in time for the Jelly Belly Factory Tour along the way.

Winnebago - Forest City, Iowa

Since Daddy wanted to go to Winnebago's factory for the tour, Daddy is posting tonight to the blog.

Today we went to the Winnebago factory in Forest City, Iowa.  The entire complex is 200 acres with multiple buildings, including their final assembly building which is known as "Big Bertha" which we were able to tour.  Unfortunately, we were not able to take photos inside the factory itself, (I guess to guard against industrial espionage).

Dinette in the 1967 Winnebago
(very similar to today's dinette)

In the museum itself we got to see a 1967 Winnebago motor home (or motor coach as the more snobby owners refer to it).  Amazingly it was not too much different than today's Winnebago's, although technology has certainly come a long way, especially as it relates to the bathroom.  In 1967 the bathroom was one room with the shower, sink, and toilet all in one.  That's right you could brush your teeth, sit on the pot, and shower all at the same time in 1967, (a luxury that we don't enjoy today).  Also on display was one of the first campers manufactured by Winnebago in 1958 which was a travel trailer.  It was eight years until they made their first self contained motor home, (something I didn't know).  Interestingly, Winnebago just recently announced they are getting back into the more affordable tow-able travel trailers business as purchases of motor homes are way down with higher prices of fuel and the current economy.

Katie, Chelsea, Chris
with their Winnebago Trading Cards

The kids really liked seeing the motor homes going down the assembly line.  They got to see the front cab over being welded on the "Tour" model, (one of Winnebago's largest units), and the floor being installed onto a Class C frame that will look very much like our Winnebago when it is finished.

Unfortunately, Winnebago does not award badges to Junior Rangers, but Chris, Katie, and Chelsea wore their new vests with their badges.  They did hand out Winnebago trading cards for the kids however.  Tomorrow we will be making our way north into Minnesota.
- Posted by Ted

The Badlands

Last minute studying for their Junior Ranger review
by the Park Ranger at Badlands

We spent a day at the Badlands National Park and the kids earned another Junior Ranger Badge, (that's eight if you're counting them).

In case anyone is thinking they just hand out these badges if you answer a few questions, the review by the Park Rangers at the different national parks is different from ranger to ranger, but each  one is very thorough to make sure the junior ranger has completed everything they are supposed to.  In many cases the ranger will ask additional questions to make sure they understand what they learned.

The Badlands

The ranger at Mt. Rushmore was especially tough asking things like, "What was George Washington's job before he was President?"  Who was the 3rd President of the United States?"  and, "What did the Emancipation Proclamation do?"  He also told a guy who asked for some ranger badges for his grand kids, "they have to come here and work for them like these junior rangers did," (referring to Chris, Katie, and Chelsea).  Interestingly he also knew that the kids were home-schooled without us saying anything.  He said that home-schooled children always look him in the eyes when he speaks to them and are not afraid to talk to him.

Since with their eighth badge there is no more room on their lanyards to hold them, the kids received Junior Ranger vests today that will hold all of their junior ranger stuff and display their eight badges with room for many more.  Not sure yet where or on what we will put all the junior ranger patches they received from each park.

Here are some photos from our trip through The Badlands.  We are in Sioux Falls tonight and will be heading to the Forest City, Iowa area where on Friday we will take a tour of the Winnebago factory and see where our camper was born.
- Posted by Ted


Learn more about:
The Badlands: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badlands_National_Park

Home on The Range

“Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam, and the deer, and the antelope play…” we were there today. We drove through Custer State Park in South Dakota and saw buffalo, deer, antelope (they are not actually antelope; antelopes are in Africa; these are really called pronghorns) and prairie dogs. It was a beautiful drive on the way to Wind Cave National Park.

We took a 1 hour and 15 minute tour of the cave. It is the 5th longest cave in the world. It is different from other caves that we have seen in that there are no stalactites or stalagmites. The passageways were also narrower than any other cave that we had visited. We descended over 300 stairs to reach the bottom (fortunately there was an elevator for the return trip). The kids also earned another junior ranger badge there. 

Tomorrow we are leaving Custer and heading to The Badlands.

Check out more photos in Photo Gallery #2. And Check out our new page: "Animals We've Seen!"

Learn more about:

Wind Cave NP: http://www.nps.gov/wica/index.htm

Custer State Park: http://gfp.sd.gov/state-parks/directory/custer/default.aspx

South Dakota Black Hills

Yesterday we rode the 1880’s train. It was the first time we ever rode on a real steam engine. We watched them pour the water into the top. The train cars were beautiful. The ride was through the Black Hills National Forest on one side; (I unfortunately was sitting on the less scenic side :O). Trains are always fun and we had good snacks.

Our favorite part of the day was Fort Hayes Chuckwagon. The chuckwagon was located where they filmed “Dances with Wolves.” We had a good old-fashioned chuckwagon dinner served by cowboys and a great show after. Before dinner, we wandered around and watched a blacksmith, the penny smasher, and a rope maker.

Today we spent the day at Mt. Rushmore National Memorial. The kids earned their junior ranger badges and were quizzed extensively about American history from a park ranger (I must admit I was a little nervous.) Fortunately, they did well.

Bentley (before his bath)

Right now, Ted’s grilling chicken, the kids are running around screaming, the dogs are digging holes (I’m a little concerned that they’re going to need baths), and I’m sitting at the picnic table . After dinner, we are finally going to get to have a campfire (this is the first western state that doesn’t have a fire ban) and s’mores.

Learn more about:
Mt. Rushmore: http://www.nps.gov/moru/index.htm
The 1880 Train: http://www.1880train.com/history.html
...and more photos from today are in Photo Gallery #2!!!

"There's Gold in Them Thar Hills!"

No visit to The Black Hills is complete without a visit to a gold mine. We chose Big Thunder Gold Mine. It is an actual mine from the 1890’s. We took a private 45 minute tour of the mine. It was really interesting. Our guide was a homeschooled senior in high school. He was extremely knowledgeable, articulate, and great with the kids. We learned lots of cool stuff. Did you know gold fever was actually caused by mercury poisoning? Mercury was used in the sorting process, because gold stuck to it.

FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!

After our tour we decided to do some gem mining. Wait… why didn’t we go gold panning ? If you have ever been gold panning (and we have) then you know it takes patience. Enough said.

We ate lunch at Ruby’s Restaurant, exactly what I would expect an old elegant western restaurant to look like. Unfortunately, the food wasn’t that great. We also drove by The Crazy Horse Memorial and Mt. Rushmore, which we plan to visit.

Be sure to check out more photos of today in the Photo Gallery #2!

Ruby's Restaurant

Learn More About:

Black Hills Gold Mining: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hills_Gold_Rush