Day 34

The first thing Brayden said to me when we left the beach last night was to ask if we could come back in the
morning so after a quick cereal breakfast we did just that!  It was already getting hot so we all jumped in for
more waves.  The beach had completely changed overnight with shallow waters out 50 yards or more.  The waves weren't quite as strong today either, but they were enjoyed by the kids immensely!

The breaking news of the day was a bird who'd met an untimely demise.  We dug a hole on the beach and buried him,  but with these shifting sands and tides I'm not sure he'll stay that way.

After about an hour, we decided to get on the road to our next spot so we could set up and be ready for Dave to finally arrive!  Ever since we'd left New Jersey, his arrival was on top of the daily countdown question list.  Second to Milo the cat and Austin the dog of course.

After quite a long drive all the way through a new state, we made it back to Georgia and Skidaway State Park.  You'll notice the kids are still in their swimsuits - we'd actually slept in them, swam in them, and were now traveling in them!  It's an optimistic attempt in assuming we'd be able to swim again after we're set up today.

We'd been looking forward to staying on the Georgia coast since our travels around the state last year. After a ultra fast set up, we headed to the river to get soaked before dinner. We were treated to a display of (river?) dolphins playing while we cooled off!

I think the kids were starting to get hungry as they started diving to catch some fish for dinner.  While that's on my list to learn to do soon, I wasn't up for it today!  There were no-see-ums something fierce here, so before I was carried away we drove back to the campground.

I started our last loads of laundry on the road in an attempt to lower the ultimate piles of laundry once we
returned home and the kids graduated to taking showers solo.  It was either that or no dinner and I supervise, so my hungry little people worked up the courage to shower with the critters.  They reported back there were millipeeds, spiders, and roly polys getting clean too.

While we were eating I received a text from Dave that he would be a little early so I shuffled the kids to bed and read a chapter hoping they would be able to fall asleep before he arrived.  I knew if they saw him before bed they would never go to sleep!  That and I could have him all to myself for a few hours.

He arrived just in time after I finished the first load of laundry and dishes.  I'd iced down some beer from Maine earlier so we shared a few and caught up before crashing ourselves.  I was betting the kids were going to be up around 4am checking to see if he was in the tent!

Quote of the Day: "Why can't we just always wear our bathing suits?" asks Laney.  That's a great way to always prepared for any opportunity for swimming!

Day 34 - Driving and Diving

Day 30

Really?  We've been on the road for a month?  Seeing pictures of the first few days does seem like a really long time ago, but wow - I can't believe we've been on the road that long already!

Today was the day for us to explore the city.  Although the Cadenas family lives in New Jersey, they live right on the edge next to Philadelphia so we were excited to see the sites this day.  Just 2 blocks from their house is the train into the city.  When I told the kids we were taking the train, the girls having never ridden a subway type train before, were expecting something completely different!  It was a nice, quick ride and deposited us right near the Old City section of Philadelphia.

We started walking toward the Independence Hall section of town ready to check out all the sites.  Just before the main visitors center, I bargained with a guy to give us a double-decker hop-on/hop-off tour of the city for only $37 - not bad for the four of us!  We hopped on and headed upstairs for the best view with a snack in hand!

I was hoping to be able to ride the trolley around once to be able to prioritize what we wanted to see, but I couldn't contain the kids' excitement to see everything so we hopped off the very first stop - the Betsy Ross House.  In this 16ft by 18ft standard house of the day, she set up her upholstery business in her early twenties to making a living instead of taking the normal homemaker/wife route.

This is the room of the famous painting where Betsy Ross is showing George Washington and another general the finished flag design.

With the war going on, the only place she could actually work on the flag was her chambers as the soldiers were very sensitive to the patriots and the revolution happening.

We even got to talk with Betsy Ross herself as she explained why the star design on the flag is a five-pointed star instead of a 6-pointed star they had requested.  The kids were surprised when she showed them how to cut a five-pointed star with one snip - something I'd taught them years ago.  They all turned around with that look like, "Hmmm.  Maybe she does know what she's talking about when she's teaching us stuff."

Next up was a play opportunity to make turkey pot pie.  We put our vegetarian twist on it of course!  The kids had to prepare it in a pot over the fire then transfer it to a beehive oven to bake.

Just outside the house we sat down for a story about "Dr. Mom" outside the house.  The kids learned about leeches and other wacky "medicines" of the day doctors and especially moms would whip up.  The kids especially loved how animated and funny our storyteller was.

We took a walk back around the corner to walk down Elfreth's Alley - the oldest continually occupied street in the country.  Among the shops there are apparently people still living there.  I'm not sure I could stand all these people walking by my house day & night!

Instead of walking back and waiting on the next bus, we walked on a couple blocks to the U.S. Mint to see how money is made.  Unfortunately (of course with our luck), they had just this morning shut down the machines for a few weeks so we wouldn't be able to see everything in action, but we still took the tour and learned all about how coins as well as some presidential medals are made.  It clicked with Brayden when I asked him about the little letters next to the year when we've looked at different coins.

Like Ben & Jerrys and Cape Cod Chips, the government wants to protect their secrets so there were no pictures allowed inside.

We then hopped back onto the next bus to head to Reading Terminal in search of food.  On the way, we heard about this wonderful gate in China Town given to Philadelphia by their sister city.  According to our guide, there is no glue, no bolts, screws, nails anything connecting this structure together.  It fits together like a puzzle, interlocking and using it's weight and gravity to stay together.  Plus, it's beautiful!

Reading Terminal had to be one of the most overwhelming experiences of my life.  There was so many choices and people I think my kids zoned in on the word pizza from across the huge place so we made a beeline to some delicious brick oven pizza.  Back at the Betsy Ross house, the story teller told us about a recruiting & training session for kids near Independence Hall so with pizza in hand we walked the few blocks back to enlist the kids.

Here you see the newest recruits for the Revolutionary Army.

They learned how to salute, handle a bayonette, march, and charge.  The quickest and funniest training I've ever seen, except for maybe watching freshman at summer band!

Even after being chastised for their footwear choices for training, they still graduated!

They are to report at 5am tomorrow morning for 3 years of service, so please call us to tell them your goodbyes.

We headed back to the bus for the complete tour this time with some refreshing ice cups along the way.  My kids were easy to find anywhere for the rest of the day - I just had to look for the red faces and teeth! Luckily, I picked lemonade!

We made lists of the must see stops for the next time we visit as there was no way we could see everything in one day.  We will definitely go to the Museum of Art and Franklin Science Center as well as the Zoo and several other historical buildings.  Ryan really wanted to run up the steps at the Museum of Art like Rocky (though she has no clue who Rocky is), but I wasn't up for the 30 minute wait for the bus just to run up the steps.  Then she promptly fell asleep.

We missed tickets for Independence Hall so that is definitely on our list too.

And the line for the Liberty Bell was enormous so we peeked at it through the window and put it on our list for next time as well.

Our last stop was the visitors center - kinda backwards I know - for a movie about the war and how some young adults dealt with all the changes.  The kids enjoyed the characters and said they understood a little more about the different sides.

Once we were all wiped out, we headed back to the train and to the small city to find some dinner.  We lucked into an outside table at an excellent restaurant and enjoyed the evening relaxing in the cool night air. At the Cadenas house we celebrated Diego's birthday and enjoyed hanging out for our last night.  We are on to another state tomorrow!

Quote of the Day: Ryan in a sing song voice, "We're riding on a traaaiiin.  Wait, what?  Like a real train train train?"

Day 30 - Gettin' our Philly on!

Day 28

I woke this morning a little later than normal and without any machine gun fire!  Once the kids got up we packed everything and headed to the beach since it poured the day before.  I wanted at least to be able to put my toes in the water and get a picture or two!  I'm not exactly sure what part of the cape we were on, but I'm thinking this was probably just Cape Cod Bay.  It was freezing!

Next up was a fun suggestion by Uncle Terry - Mystic Seaport in Connecticut.  We had a little drive ahead of us so we only made one stop at this border.

I never saw a sign for Connecticut and by lunchtime we were there.  

As with all our stops, we really wish we'd had more time here.  There was so much to do and see but I knew we would need to get on the road in just a couple hours to make it to Aunt Sue & Uncle Mike's house at a reasonable hour.  I had the kids pick a couple things they really wanted to see or do and we hopped around to all of them.

We learned how boats were made and toured a few. What a beautiful day and cool clouds! 

We learned what might be going on in a typical year in Mystic Seaport with a scale model of the area. My kids love these things, especially picking out the animals and figuring out what the people are doing.

Then they made boats. This room was so crowded I just had to sit back and watch as they worked on their creations.  Ryan was at least accommodating to her crew as she made benches for everyone to sit or sleep on.

Laney was more interested in using as much glue as possible.

Brayden wanted to duplicate one of the example ships.  All I could think of was where in the world we were going to keep these for the rest of the trip!

After a quick tour of the chapel and schoolhouse, we headed to the children's museum.  They learned about the life of a sailor by sleeping, cooking, and working. 

If only Laney had been a little bit taller - Ryan cracked me up in this one!

When we hopped back into the car I programmed the gps which happily told us we'd be in New Jersey in 2 1//2 hours.  I figured we might need to add an hour to that with traffic so we'd get in between 5:30 and 6. However (you knew there would be one of those), at about 45 minutes away we came to a complete stop before the George Washington bridge.  We crawled for about 30 minutes and the kids started to get antsy so I decided to exit the highway and make my way through the city.  

My people watchers were so entertained!  We drove through The Bronx and right down the middle of Manhattan.  A Friday afternoon at 5pm was definitely not the most efficient time to do that, but to see the awe in their faces as they looked around the middle of Time Square was priceless.  It wasn't dark yet so they didn't get the full effect of the lights, but they sat there looking around with mouths dropped open almost the entire way to the Lincoln Tunnel!   Ryan is also convinced she saw the real Batman.  Of course not just someone dressed up making a quick income off the tourists - I didn't tell her that though.

Within another 40 minutes we finally made it!  Uncle Mike had a beer or 4 already waiting for me! The cousins were playing together as if they'd always known each other. Frozen was a big topic of conversation and Samantha, Laney & Ryan played tricks on Brayden while Natalie trailed behind trying to keep up!

It was so nice to get to socialize and meet people I'd only heard about.  We were even surprised by 2 bags full of Trader Joe's snacks for our trip - thank you Joanne!  After Aunt Sue cooked us dinner, the kids played and played like they would never run out of energy!  It might have something to do with the ice pops and cupcakes they were being fed!  

Brayden loved to hear stories about when Grandpa lived in this house. He couldn't believe all the Clarke kids slept in our bedroom back then!  

After the kids went to bed, we chatted for awhile then I crashed as well.  How luxurious it felt to sleep in a real bed!   

Quote of the day: "Brrrrraaaayyyy-deennnnnnnn, come find uuuussssssss!"  The call of young cousins is magnetic!

Day 28 - Time crunch and Times Square

Day 12

After a wonderful, cool and quiet night I got up and watched the sunrise with 30 of my closest friends. The weather was quite chilly so I retreated into my car to write for the morning.  It was such a special treat to have 2 bars of 3G service - I could actually post to the blog from the campsite!

We started pretty early this morning to get to our first main stop for the trip - Niagra Falls!  The kids were excited and knew it would be big, but I think we all really had no idea just how breathtaking it would be.

Grammie had booked us a guided tour including all the major stops so we hopped aboard a small bus with Jimmy, our admittedly strange-accented tour guide.  Our first stop was a slight wardrobe change and the Cave of the Winds tour.

Jimmy had all the best tips and seemingly inside info for us that we instantly liked him.  You'll notice here they are not carrying their shoes after changing - Jimmy was carrying 15 bags of shoes back to the bus for us so we wouldn't have to lug them around this part of the tour.  

Of course I don't have a ton of pictures as the spray from the falls is huge but I did get some.  On this part of the tour, we basically got to walk around a boardwalk that was built just to the side along the rocks of the American falls.  There were several lookouts along the way where you could experience the spray (or splash!) of the falls right behind you.  We did have one unwilling participant who stuck it out through the walk, but really would have rather it been over!  Laney, on the other hand, would have stayed there all day!

This was at the top lookout called "Hurricane Bridge".  You had no choice but to get soaked if you walked up there.  There was no way I was talking Ryan into this one!

After we recycled our ponchos, we walked around the park (or "powck" as Jimmy would say) to see views of the falls from the top.  It is very hard to capture the power of this water - it was amazing!  This is the American Falls with Rainbow Bridge and the Observation Tower in the back.

Here's a view of the Cave tour where we just were.

Around the other side of the park is Horseshoe Falls where we share the view with the Canadians.  The amount of water that falls here creates an enormous cloud of spray so there's no way to see the entire horseshoe but it's there!

Here's proof we were there!  That's Canada Niagra behind us!

During the whole tour, Jimmy gave us very interesting history lessons about the falls.  One fun story the kids enjoyed was about people closing themselves in barrels and going over the side.  So while the others grabbed some ice cream, Laney wanted to try it!

At this point as we ate our ice cream on the bus, Jimmy turned into a 10 year old boy and circled the roundabout 14 times.  I wasn't sure our ice cream was (a) going to stay in kids' hands and (b) going to stay in my stomach!

Our next stop was the Maid of the Mist tour of the falls, but not before a visit with the local begging squirrel, Henry.  I know you can just hear the "Awwwwww!" from my kids right now.

Beautiful postcard view of Rainbow Bridge.  

And we get more ponchos!

Our tour guide said he'd be hula dancing while he was waiting on us to get back....didn't think he was serious!

I was wishing I'd had a waterproof box for my camera at this point, but all you would have really seen is water spraying us!  So I put the camera away under my poncho to live another day.

I did have a quick opportunity to pull the camera out when we were right in the middle of the falls, but my son quickly ruined that photograph!

This part of the tour was pretty thrilling and I don't think the kids will ever forget it.  We were totally surrounded by water and power and yet the moment was so quiet with just the booming sound of the falling water.  This moment was definitely worth all the rain, mud, sleepless nights, whining and arguing kids, gps frustrations.....we were here and all that was forgotten.

This is the full view of the American Falls - can't see that from up above!  The bottom right is where we walked along the boardwalks.

Next up - the observation deck!

More gorgeous views with the American falls on the left and horseshoe falls in the back.

More proof!

After all those thrills, we headed for more history as we toured where the falls used to be (did you know they move each year?) and the huge whirlpool before the water flows into the lower Niagra River.  

Here there are class 6 rapids just before the whirlpool - I didn't even know there was a class 6!

After driving by a few more views and learning a little more history, we said goodbye to Jimmy in search of postcards for everyone.  He was an awesome tour guide who went out of his way to make the tour fun for us and the kids as well as very interesting.  

We stopped for dinner at a delicious restaurant Jimmy recommended close to the falls and headed home.  As my electronics charged, I rearranged the car for our stay in Toronto and slipped in one more load of laundry.  It was Ryan's turn with Grammie tonight so the other two kids and I crowded back around the Cadenas campfire to share stories of our day at the falls.  With heavy eyes once more, we reached our tent just as the rain started to fall.  We fell asleep quickly in our warm sleeping bags to the gentle patter of raindrops.

Quotes of the day at the waterfall:

Brayden, "Woah.  That's big."

Laney, "Again, again!"

Ryan, "No way."