Day 6

The time change is officially messing up my sleep. Even with being up until after midnight I woke up ready to go for my morning run at 5am. This is 4am where we currently are. What happens when we change to Pacific Time??? I tried my hardest to go back to sleep but after 30 minutes I gave up and went to the patio to finish all the days so far and get them ready to post to the blog. I had a friend with me most of the time taking care of all the bugs that were bothering me.

Once I was finished Ryan was walking toward me so we decided to wake up Laney and get busy packing up. My idea of waking her up would be "Good morrrrning Laneeeeey" in a sing song voice. Ryan's idea was letting all the air out of her sleep mat. Guess which one goes over better for morning-wants-to-sleep-in-Laney?  We were packed up within about 20 minutes so the girls went to play chess while I changed and drove closer to Grammie's spot.


She already had bowls of watermelon ready because she knew I was wanting to get on the road early. We had a 7 hour drive today - the 2nd longest of the trip. It was through a section of the Lincoln National Forest which I was thrilled about but there were also long sections back on good 'ol I-10.

Once we downed our fruit and bagels, the kids helped Grammie pack up and we were back on the road in no time. There are several memorable drives in the past 7 years and our trek through Lincoln National Forest is one of them. Our drive 7 years ago took us on a northern pass from Roswell and today's would take us a more southern route that was a fun drive as well as a beautiful one. This route was quite a bit more commercial but it was very enjoyable still to say the least.

With a few stops for gas and a bunch of hours on the road, we finally made the turn south for the 40 minute drive toward the Chiricahua National Monument. This part of the drive was interesting because I kept seeing things in the distance thinking it would be the campground and we would drive right past it. It was 104 outside so I was hoping for at least a tree to put the tent under.

We pulled into an empty parking lot at the visitor's center and Grammie thought they'd closed the park and forgot to tell us! We found it was actually open, checked in, and bought some postcards and stickers at the gift shop. I also remembered I'd brought the kids' National Park passports so I grabbed those out of the car for them to stamp.

We pulled into our campground and I was instantly thrilled. It was a tiny, quiet little campground with perfect little spots all nestled in the trees. It had rained while we were in the visitors center so the temperature was a lovely 72 degrees. Much better than 104!

After we both set up we had a quick dinner and got back on the road for the scenic drive. I'd had it on my list to do but the pictures in the visitors center reminded me why! The views were absolutely spectacular and again there is no way I can do them justice with my photos. Around every turn there was something else to see. I'm just glad noone was behind me!




















We first hiked part of Sugarloaf trail. Grammie noticed there were no dogs allowed on the trail - likely because of the mountain lions - so the kids and I hiked in about a third of a mile to the CCC tunnel. The trail was very nice and the views were even better.  Next time I would definitely hike to the top of the mountain!






Next we stopped at the Echo Canyon trail to go to the Grotto area. We saw lots of lizards out finding their dinner as we walked. The formations on the trail simply defied physics.

Once we made it to the Grottos the kids were thrilled to be able to climb all around the nooks and crannies that had been created by so many years of water. I wanted to climb up but decided to let the kids have this moment. I'll be back with Dave for sure.

Last we visited Massi Point - the end of the scenic drive. We just happened to drive in just as the sky was turning pink behind the mountain. It looked like there was a fire in the valley behind the mountain. After taking a few pictures we explored the nature center learning about some legends and skirmishes of history.

The drive home wasn't quite as spectacular as it was getting pretty dark. I was tired even though the kids claimed it was only 7:45. We are still having time zone conversations after all these years!  The girls and I retired to the tent to write, read, and enjoy the lovely 65 degree night.

Day 17

It was a very chilly night for all of us and we all slept deep down in our sleeping bags. Little did I know until we got in them that our tent was set up on a slope. A slope that would mean Laney would end up in the side of the tent, I would end up smooshed next to her, and Ryan would be practically on top of me. By the looks of our tent when we woke up we could have all slept in a full sized bed.

Brayden kept asking if we were going to get up so we could eat which just made me want to stay in bed longer. I left the kids whe they started climbing head-first into their sleeping bags to see what it was like. Pretty smelly I would imagine!

After breakfast I declared we would be washing hair and feet at the bathroom. No showers since we've been on the parkway - about 12 days - has taken it's toll on my mood and nose! Fortunately this bathroom had a tall faucet so all our heads fit under just fine.  Our feet required a little more balance and coordination but we made it work. Once I was finished I walked out and made a mad emoji face when I saw the kids running around in the dirt again. Oh well, at least they had relatively clean feet for a few minutes!

We spent the day playing card games, reading, playing chess, and eating. It was so nice to be able to dry out and bask in the sunshine. Brayden and I went to the top of the meadow to throw the frisbee at one point then were eventually joined by everyone so we decided to play ultimate frisbee.















Teams ended up being Laney, Emily, and Brayden against me, Ryan, and Evey. We had to split up the most competitive and experienced ultimate frisbee players! Us girls scored right away answered quickly by the other team. Within a few minutes we were tied at 2-2, then 3-3 shortly thereafter. The other team took the lead 4-3 and we answered them to tie it 4-4. Emily and I agreed to play to 5 so this was the moment where the Clarke kids could explode or play gracefully. Thankfully Emily caught the winning goal and they chose grace this day.

We decided to get back into the shade for a little while and Laney ducked back into the hammock to read. Brayden decided to be in my lap and the other two picked up the water guns and decided to fire all around until deciding on eachother's mouths for targets. They were soaked by the end!

We were expecting a few hours of rain today so once I felt the temperature start to drop we packed up all our stuff and ducked into the tent. Evey joined us and entertained the kids with a game on her Kindle while I wrote. Laney started out in the hammock until the crazy thunder started and she raced over to climb back inside with us. She was very brave until then!

When there was a break in the rain we all ran to the bathroom and I pulled out cereal for dinner as it looked like we only had about 30 minutes until the next blob of rain. We ate pretty quickly then walked around the campground a little while until the drops started again.

Evey and Emily ducked into their tent for the night and we did the same. The kids taught me how to play Farkle and I almost beat Ryan. Unfortunately she was rolling three pair the whole game. We ended the night playing 3Up 3Down again - a definite favorite. Tempers started flaring after all that time in the tent so I decided it was time for bed.

Day 32

Today was the day we decided to explore a little further away. We picked the aquarium in Atlantic City and after talking to Dave we thought we'd find a New Jersey boardwalk to experience. Today was supposed to be a little bit hotter so it would be nice to stay inside for at least part of the day.

The kids really enjoyed seeing all the tall casino buildings as we drove through part of Atlantic City. We ended up at the aquarium shortly after they opened and just in time for a program.  The program today was on exotic animals and included a blue-tongued skink, a rare corn snake, and a not-very-exotic box turtle.

There were some very interesting animals on exhibit but I think the girls favorite thing was the touch tank for the sting rays. No matter how many times they do this at aquariums, they still squeal when they get to feel them as they swim by. Extra bonus squeal if they get accidentally splashed!  Brayden even touched one of the guys swimming by us a couple of times - a first for him!






This was a pretty small aquarium so we were finished before noon. We drove around for a few minutes in search of the boardwalk. From what I could tell Atlantic City boardwalk wasn't the place for us so we decided to make the hour drive down to the Cape May area. Ryan picked a zoo the day before in the area too so we headed there first for lunch and lots and lots of animals.

This red panda was a definitely favorite of all the kids. If they could've broken him out and taken him they absolutely would have!

We learned the capybara is the largest rodent in the world!  Apparently they are currently invading Florida.

And this guy stole all the kids' hearts once we read he'd been fighting cancer for quite a while. He'd been through three surgeries and chemotherapy and was currently cancer free.  No wonder he was rolling around like a cub!

After a stroll through the reptiles and a peek at the wallaby, we headed down the road to the boardwalk. Wildwoods was supposed to be a fun, family-friendly boardwalk that looked like a place the kids would love.  After finding some parking and having a little ice cream we walked up the steps to an overwhelming experience of games, shopping, and food!

After we walked the whole boardwalk, the kids decided what they wanted to ride and what games they wanted to play. Everyone ended up with some kind of basketball activity and by the end of our stay all the kids had a stuffed animal to hang on to.

Our drive home wasn't too terrible and we arrived home perfectly at bedtime. The kids were beyond excited about picking up Dave the next morning! We all had a tough time going to sleep that night for sure.

Day 27

I woke up with the sunrise to be sure not to miss Grammie leaving. It was a nice little sunrise on the top floor of the apartment over the roof tops.

Once Grammie was ready and struggling to get her suitcase closed, I woke up the girls as she protested. They sleepily came up the stairs to give hugs and just a minute later Brayden slunk in too. I had to get one more picture and Brayden suggested I use the timer and get one for everyone. I wasn't expecting a picture with my bedhead, just theirs!

Once we walked her out for final hugs I started up and down the stairs for our packing process. While I do enjoy having the cargo space of a minivan for a short time, I still don't enjoy packing!  We tried to eat all the leftover breakfast food from the fridge and I cooked up some pancakes for quick reheating in the excessive temps we were having.

The day before at Constitution Hall the kids mentioned wanting to go to a hands-on elections exhibit they had that I decided not to buy tickets for. They weren't open until noon so we had a snack and learned more about the Underground Railroad at the visitors center until it was time. I wasn't sure they would let me buy these add-on tickets only, but it turns out he let us in for free! Since it was just opening everyone buying tickets was heading to the live show so we had the "Headed to the White House" exhibit to ourselves for awhile.






They were to learn about the election process and first up was campaign speeches. The read from a teleprompter a speech they selected from either Ronald Reagan or John F. Kennedy. They were all pretty convincing!

They decorated campaign buttons and learned about debates. Then I gave them a topic and they debated! They were not very convincing at all. When asked how they would pay for different programs, two of them were hopeful that donations from taxpayers could cover billions of dollars. If only we could solve our country's problems that easily!







They worked on campaign commercials and emailed them to themselves. They weren't thrilled I made them only do positive ads.











Next they shook hands with a lot of people and pretended to kiss a baby. What fun training for politics!

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present to you, three presidents of the United States!






Ryan had to stop back by to play the politics game again. I'm not sure who won as I was booking a hotel at the time. Temperatures were only to get down to 90 for the night so I was not thrilled about sleeping in the tent for three days. I got us a place pretty close to where we would have been staying so we could still do the same activities but sleep in the cool. I'm all for camping in a tent, but not when I can't sleep!


We made a quick stop at Walmart for photos for journals and made our way to the hotel. The kids were super excited to swim in a pool in the 115 degree day.  Luckily I had remembered from a deep sleep at 2am that the swimming bag was in my getting-fixed-car at the dealership so we could grab it before we left town.

The pool was refreshing and even a little too cold for me! While the kids goofed around I was on the phone a good portion of the time because there was a glitch that was making a reservation in my name at the hotel every 30 minutes. By the time we got it fixed I had 12 rooms reserved in my name!


Once we got back to the room we at sandwiches, relaxed watching Olympics and I planned our next two days. We were all pretty sleepy and the alarm clock just happened to be an hour fast so I tricked talked the kids into going to bed at 9:30 (really 8:30) and we were all snoring within seconds.

Day 33

I peeked out the window in the morning and it still appeared to be pretty dark even though it was 5:30am. At least it wasn't raining!  I grabbed my camera and headed for the beach.  The streets were really flooded now so it took some unique steps to get around it all.

The beach sand was still soaked from all the rain, but it was beautiful - stretching for miles.  I could see why it still seemed so dark as there were some very low, thick clouds hovering down by the horizon.  This sunrise should be interesting and I couldn't believe I had it all to myself here!

Well, I did share it a little with these guys but they were more interested in their breakfast.

We had 10:00am ferry reservations to head back to the mainland so the kids didn't really get to see a thing except for the game room at the lodge and a gift shop.  I'll definitely have this place on my "need a few days here" list for the future.

Our Trader Joe's breakfast!

The morning was clear and beautiful as we loaded onto the ferry so we headed to the sun deck to watch the island disappear.  The kids were enjoying this ferry ride even more as we got to explore and watch the water as I'd imagined they would.  We grabbed some snacks and travel games from the car and headed to the inside passenger area to play the 2 hours away.

For those "Cards Against Humanity" or "Things" players out there with kids, there is kids version mine had a blast with - "Loaded Questions".  Once they got the hang of not really making their answers obviously theirs, the guessing became very tricky!  Grandpa Scott comes through again with a couple other travel games as well.  We are definitely a game-addicted family!

We said goodbye to the ferry guys (me not so gracefully by mistaking the mens bathroom door for the stairs - ack!) and found our campground within a few hours.  The kids were excited to swim and get some relief from the heat (how long does it take to acclimate back to southern temps??) so we headed to the beach. The waves were brutal knocking us all down in knee deep water.  The kids loved every minute of it!

After a little while I headed back up to the beach and hung out with this guy.  I do realize he wasn't really wanting to hang out with me - more like wanting a hand out.  He did pose well though.

We headed back to the campsite and just as I was getting food out for dinner we heard the familiar sound of thunder in the distance.  Brayden helped me load everything back into the car and we ate in the tent.  I'm not sure if what we'd escaped in Ocracoke had followed us here or we were just lucky.

It was nice to read a whole bunch of chapters tonight though and we were put to sleep once again with the sounds of rain on our ultrathin roof.