Home again, home again, jiggity jig!

 Well, 5,000+ miles later, we are home!

This is the route that we took, more or less. (Google Maps is not easy to work with when you have so many points along your route!)

States that we visited (or at least drove through):

Utah
Colorado
New Mexico
Texas
Louisiana
Florida
Mississippi
Alabama
Georgia
North Carolina
Tennessee
Kentucky
Indiana
Illinois
Missouri
Kansas
Nebraska
Wyoming

We weren't able to get in as many as we had hoped--we had to cut out visits to the Four Corners area (didn't get to visit Arizona), the Badlands (didn't go to South Dakota), and Yellowstone (didn't get to go to Montana). I would also like the record to show that I STILL have not been to visit Carhenge! We had to cut that from the itinerary too. But never fear--I am already starting to plot a route for next summer (we are going NORTH where it is COOL next summer).

When we got home, we were excited to see our custom plates for the RV arrived. So here's what the back of the RV looks like now:

We have been collecting stickers from each of the places we visited. If we couldn't find one, I got on etsy.com and ordered some, and they were waiting for us when we got home. (Still waiting for the Kentucky sticker and the Mammoth Cave sticker.) Kind of fun! We hope to add many more stickers in the near future!

Homeward bound

Well, we are just about done with our epic journey. We are in Laramie, Wyoming tonight, after having spent the entire day driving across Nebraska. Who knew Nebraska was sooo wide? (Well, actually, I should have remembered that from our last trip to Nebraska.) 

The good part of the trip today was that temperatures were much cooler. In fact, right now it is 54 degrees here in Laramie! It has been wonderful. We made soup for dinner, and right now I am sitting by the window with fresh, cool air pouring in. It is so nice not to sweat!

Last night was the pinnacle of our there-and-back-again journey. We arrived at our campground just outside of Lincoln, Nebraska, hurriedly set up camp, and then drive into Lincoln for a long-anticipated dinner at Honest Abe's. Honest Abe's is a restaurant that Dylan discovered when he was on his mission here, and when we came back as a family to visit he introduced us to its many wondrous hamburger creations.

We all loved it so much that LaMar seriously asked them about franchise opportunities. (No luck, darn it.) Anyway, once we realized that we would be within 100 miles of Honest Abe's on this trip, it immediately went on the itinerary as an imperative stop.

It was with great pleasure that we all say down to a delightful dinner together.

I mean, just look at those beauties! And the parmesan truffle fries!!! Scrumptious. Here's an up close look at my personal favorite, the 1809 burger:

And yes, that is a gluten-free bun, heaven bless them!

Okay, I will stop extolling the virtues of Honest Abe's before I burst into song. (The kids are always so embarrassed when I do that.) Anyway, it was a fun way to cap off the trip, so to speak.

I am feeling mixed emotions about the trip coming to an end. It has been an amazing experience to see so much of this beautiful country. I don't want to go back to real life, especially with the dread distance-learning school lurking in the girls' immediate future (and mine too, of course). I am going to have a ton of things to get caught up on and new projects waiting to get started. But of course it will be nice to be home again and not have seven human Johnsons and one canine Johnson packed into a 200-square-foot box on wheels. Bouncing Betty has definitely earned a recuperation period. But we are already making plans to visit Yellowstone on fall break (we have to get SOME use out of that national parks pass!) so I am sure there will be more Johnson Journeys ahead. Here's to hoping the last 6 hours of drive time go smoothly tomorrow. Thanks for coming along for the ride with us!

A spot of spelunking

 We started the day yesterday with our self-guided tour of Mammoth Cave National Park. We were surprised to find that there is no entrance fee to the park, although the tours do cost money. Unfortunately, they don't allow dogs in the cave, so LaMar stayed out with Belvedere. I tried to convince him that I should be the one to stay, since there is a lot of up- and down-hill walking, as well as plenty of stairs, and I wasn't sure how much this fat old body could take! But LaMar insisted, so away we went.

The tour started with the ranger giving the necessary safety lecture, and then we headed down the path to the cave entrance. 

We showed our tickets to the ranger there and turned the corner to go down the stairs into the cave, and lovely cool air came rushing up to greet us! Better than any air conditioner.

Many people, including the girls, put on jackets, because the cave is about 54 degrees inside. As for myself, I was just looking forward to not sweating for awhile!

The cave at first has a very low ceiling. Carter did this and freaked me out:

When I realized he was just faking it, I made him do it again for a video. 😁

The first open area was called the rotunda, about 140 feet from the surface, and we were able to see the remains of an old saltpeter mine.

After that, we could go in one of two directions, so we chose left and started out. It wasn't long before I realized that this spelunking stuff wasn't my cup of tea--probably because I am old and fat, but there just wasn't that much to see. It is a huge cave (over 365 miles have been mapped so far, with an estimated 600 more still uncharted), but not many points of interest. I decided to go back up and stay with Belly Man so LaMar could go down, because I knew he would enjoy it. Sierra want to go back too, because her knee was hurting.

LaMar and I had traded phones because his phone had the electronic tickets on it. I had been taking pictures on LaMar's phone, so I gave it to Garrett so he could keep taking pictures. Then Sierra and I started back to the top.

After much huffing, puffing, and sweating, I found a bench and took a break. I sent Sierra on ahead of me to tell LaMar to come down. I rested on the bench for awhile, expecting to see LaMar come, but he didn't. Eventually, I got up and staggered my way back to the top. Just before I got there, I realized my mistake--I had given LaMar's phone to Garrett. LaMar's phone had the tickets on it. Without a ticket, LaMar wouldn't be able to get in. 

Geez, I can literally feel the grey cells dying in my brain.

I went back to the motorhome very sheepishly. I tried to talk LaMar into buying another ticket, but he wouldn't do it. I really feel bad that my poor tired brain just didn't work. I know he would have liked the cave.

When the kids came back, they told us stories about the cave. It had been used by a doctor at one point, because he read some article from Europe that said tuberculosis patients had been successfully treated by taking them into caves. So he bundled up all his tuberculosis patients and sent them to live in the cave. Unfortunately, he didn't read all the way to the end of the article, or he would have discovered that the European patients were only kept in the cave for a short time, and their actual recovery was made after they were taken into the sunshine and participated in horseback riding. So all the poor tuberculosis patients died deep in the cold, dark cave. The remains of the tuberculosis huts are still in the cave. 

The kids also told us about a guy who bought the cave at one point because the conditions inside were perfect for growing mushrooms. But after he got his mushroom beds all prepared, someone sabotaged them by pouring coal oil all over them. His venture went bankrupt before he was ever able to grow mushrooms.

Anyway, that was a fun adventure for the kids. As always, Belvedere was very glad to get all his humans back in the traveling box. 🚌 (Whenever anyone steps out of the motorhome, he maintains constant vigil staring out the window until they all return. He really doesn't like when his people escape the box, unless he gets to go too.)

After the cave and a quick shopping trip to stock up on provisions, we hit the road again. We went past St. Louis right at sunset, and we could see the Gateway Arch framed beautifully against the colorful clouds for just an instant. It was too fast to get a picture, but Garrett did get some pictures of the beautiful sunset.

Also, the bug spatters on the window are illuminated quite nicely.

We made it to our camp site outside of St. Louis around 9 pm and got settled in for the night.  

This morning, we got up early and unloaded the van from the trailer to make the drive into St. Louis to visit the Gateway Arch National Park. Apparently, LaMar has a bad history with St. Louis, so he wasn't at all surprised when the GPS led us in circles back and forth across the Mississippi trying to get to the park.

We finally figured out where to park the van and walked from there. 

This is the THIRD national park in a row that has not charged admission. Who knew? Certainly not me. If I had known, I probably wouldn't have spent $80 on a National Parks pass! I thought I was being smart. 

Kamikaze grey cells....

The Gateway Arch National Park also includes the old historic courthouse directly in front of the Arch.

The courthouse isn't open for tours right now, but I read a little about it. This is the courthouse where the famous Dred Scott trial was held. (If you are rusty on your American history, look it up. It's a sad but interesting and important story.)

It is also the courthouse where Virginia Minor, a suffragist, attempted to register to vote in 1872.

Savannah was really interested in this, because her history paper that she has been working on all summer is about the women's suffrage movement.

The tram going to the top of the Arch isn't running right now, but the museum and gift shop were open. Unfortunately, we couldn't take Fred in with us, so I waited outside with him while the others went in. They all seemed to enjoy it, especially Sierra and Savannah.

We got back to our RV park a little after 11. LaMar loaded the van back on the trailer while the kids and I got everything stowed away inside and got the RV "squished" (what we call it when we pull in the slide-outs). 

And now we are back on the road! We passed Kansas City a few minutes ago after several crossings of the Missouri River along the way.

Currently, we are driving through the northeast corner of Kansas, just to say we have been here. 😁 If all goes according to plan, we will be dining at Honest Abe's in Lincoln, Nebraska, for dinner!

Confederate graveyard

 LaMar finally got me some of the pictures he took at the Confederate graveyard in Madison on Saturday.

God's World

One of my long-time favorite poems is by Edna St. Vincent, titled "God's World." It describes so well how I feel when I look at the grand, majestic, varied beauty in the world:

O world, I cannot hold thee close enough!

   Thy winds, thy wide grey skies!

   Thy mists, that roll and rise!

Thy woods, this autumn day, that ache and sag

And all but cry with colour!   That gaunt crag

To crush!   To lift the lean of that black bluff!

World, World, I cannot get thee close enough!

Long have I known a glory in it all,

         But never knew I this;

         Here such a passion is

As stretcheth me apart,—Lord, I do fear

Thou’st made the world too beautiful this year;

My soul is all but out of me,—let fall

No burning leaf; prithee, let no bird call.

After the scenery we have seen these last few days, I am just that much more convinced of an all-powerful, creative, and loving God. 

Truly. Spectacular.

We drove through the Great Smoky Mountain National Park on our way to our RV site in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The park is one of the few free national parks, because the road was originally a joint effort between North Carolina and Tennessee to increase travel and commerce in the mountains. When the park was made and the road was bequeathed to the federal government, it was done with the stipulation that no one would ever be charged to use the road. Pretty cool. 

So here is a little of what we saw as we drove through the park:

The pictures can in no way do justice to the grandeur of God's world. I am so grateful I had the opportunity to visit this park!

Gatlinburg is quite the tourist trap, and it was jam-packed with tourists, most of whom were not doing much in the way of social distancing. Thankfully, we just drove through to the outskirts, where our beautiful RV park was.

This was the view directly behind our campsite. Just behind those trees is the Little Pigeon River, a shallow, rocky stream that filled the camp with its beautiful sound. The kids had great fun skipping rocks and "accidentally" falling in. There was even a swimming hole a little ways from our campsite, although we never actually got to use it.

We decided to stay an extra day in Gatlinburg, because some of the kids wanted to go do touristy shopping in Gatlinburg, and the rest of us wanted to go back into the Great Smoky Mountain National Park (GSMNP). We also started having problems with the electrical system in the RV. So on Tuesday, LaMar stayed to work on the RV for awhile and the rest of us went to breakfast, where we got the most divine cinnamon-sticky-bun-flavored pancakes! They even had gluten-free. 😁 

After we ate, we got a to-go order for LaMar and took it back to camp. He ended up having to call a repairman, but the guy couldn't make it until Wednesday. LaMar, Carter, and David decided to go into town, so we dropped them off and the rest of us drove up to the top of the GSMNP, stopping many times to take pictures.

The Smokies were truly living up to their name yesterday. It was cloudy but quite warm in Gatlinburg, but it didn't take long going up the mountain for the weather to turn colder and misty. As we got higher, the mist turned to outright rain. By the time we made it to Clingman's Dome at the top of the park, there were small rivers running across the roads and beautiful rivulets and miniature waterfalls running off the rocks. The temperature was only 60 degrees, and it was heavenly. The girls even got cold after being outside for a few minutes!

There is an observation tower at Clingman's Dome where you are supposed to be able to get a full 360 view of the Smokies, but visibility at the top was very limited because of the rain and mist, so we didn't bother to climb the tower. We just played in the trickles of water for a few minutes.

Right before we got to Clingman's Dome, I noticed the gas light was on in the car. I felt like an idiot for not checking that before we headed up the mountain! It was at least half an hour's drive to get down, and there is no cell signal for most of the trip. I was really worried that we would get stranded and have no way to call for help. We decided to say a prayer and ask for Heavenly Father to get us safely down.

I was able to coast in neutral for most of the way down the mountain, and there was a gas station right at the bottom. I was very grateful for Heavenly Father's watchful care--especially when I filled the tank, and the pump said I put in a little more than 20 gallons (it's a 20-gallon tank). I know He helped us.

We picked up the others, got some ice cream, and headed back to camp. LaMar got a power strip and was able to jimmy-rig enough power for us to charge our phones, but we weren't able to use the microwave or air-conditioner, so I let David convince we that we should drive to the nearest Wendy's, about 20 minutes away in Pigeon Forge. We had fun a fun drive, especially when we passed a street called Gnatty Branch Road. We were laughing about how unremarkable a road must be to name it that, when Garrett noticed on the GPS that Gnatty Branch Road intersected a road with an even funnier name--Boogertown.

We got a great laugh from that, and I decided that I need to write a story with those streets in it somehow.

When we got to Pigeon Forge, we realized that it is the home town for DOLLYWOOD!! You can just imagine how excited I was, and of course we HAD to go take a picture.

I mean, wow!!!! 😂🤣😂🤣😂

This morning the RV repair guy came and he and LaMar tinkered around while I did some laundry. The final verdict was that our power inverter has most likely died. Joy. So they came up with a workaround so we could at least use the power outlets until we get home, and then we will have to take it in for repair. 😟

We finally got on the road a little before noon and set out for Kentucky. We were hoping to go to Mammoth Cave National Park today, but because of our late start, we didn't have enough time to get there before the last tour started. So we are going to do a tour tomorrow morning before we head out. Meanwhile, since we had extra time, we decided to take a scenic drive through Kentucky that a client had told LaMar about. It took us through the rolling hills of bluegrass horse country.

Truly. Spectacular.

According to LaMar's client, some of these old rock walls we saw along the way were over 200 years old!

Again the pictures don't come close to doing it justice, especially since they were taken from inside the RV while we drove. But let me just say wow. It was the Kentucky I have always dreamed of seeing. I am so glad we were able to take the time to see it! All of these wondrous, beautiful parts of the world we have been able to see have testified to me of the Master hand that created it all.

The day ended on a perfect touch. We arrived at our RV campground, and there is a swinging bench right by our site! And best of all, when I went to check out the bench, I saw fireflies!!! I was so excited. I immediately called David to come and see. He has been wanting to see fireflies this whole trip, and now that wish has been fulfilled.

Beautiful world. God is good. We are blessed.