Culprit lives near Westminster

EVIDENCE #1
At 10:31 pm last night, the teepeeing bandits purchased Quilted Northern Bathroom Tissue GIANT pack at the bargain Westminster Walmart. Hmmmmmm.....who could this be?

$12.36 spent on a worthwhile activity? Don't you think your allowance money could be better spent on donuts or clothes or candy or movie tickets?

EVIDENCE #2
Receipt is undergoing fingerprinting and DNA testing. Results pending.

Day 38:WELCOME HOME

Well we slept soundly in our own beds! And apparently so soundly that our night visitors were not heard. It's great to be loved! Now let us rest. Our bodies are truly on a very different time schedule. Some awoke at 6 am, some at 7 am, some at 8 am, and one grizzly bear is still asleep! We changed 2 time zones in 2 days, so we are off kilter! Let me repeat, it is great to be loved but no more loving!

Day 37: AZ to CA

We set off around 8 am to try and beat the desert heat for the drive home. We were successful, plus there was cloud coverage to help ease the high temperature. We stopped in Barstow and found the weather around 80, so we opened the windows and enjoyed the cool weather. Our drive was swift and direct: to get home safely and before 2 pm. Mission accomplished. We pulled up to the curb, began unpacking, and finished around 3:30 pm. Laundry started, off we headed for dinner at Home Town Buffet to tell grandma to tell her all about our trip.

Day 36: NM to AZ

Today was another driving day. We saw plenty of desert and some amazing forests( in Flagstaff). The weather was favorable for the most part. We set off from NM at about 11 am and the weather wasn't so hot yet. Then as we proceeded more westward, the sporadic cloud coverage kept us cool. We stopped at the Nat'l Petrified Forest in Arizona. We saw the beautiful Painted Desert, which are another set of badlands similar to the ones in the Dakotas. Andrew and Ethan were sworn in a official Jr. Rangers. Then we traveled to the southern part of the park to view the petrified trees. Those were amazing! Some looked like fallen logs others were pieces scattered among the eroding badlands.

Now off to Flagstaff for dinner. We stopped for dinner at the mall which had a mountain right next to it. Looking at the mountain, there was mist hanging near the peak and complete darkness. Now with our stomachs filled we headed toward Kingman. We got there around 10, pulled in, and slept. The roads from Flagstaff to Kingman were windy and bumpy. Not the greatest driving conditions for driving in pitch darkness.

Day 35: OK to TX to NM

We headed out early from the RV park at 7:40 am to try to beat the heat. We drove for about 1-2 hour increments, pulled over for a break, and ate. That lasted until Santa Fe, NM. Then, we drove straight to Albuquerque to air-conditioned hotel rooms. The scenery for today was mostly dry land with the occasional bushes and farms with cows and plenty of wind in Texas. The upward climb began in New Mexico. We reached 6800 feet in Santa Fe and 5000 feet in Albuquerque. Not so hot in New Mexico, windows open and a nice breeze followed us.
We stopped at the Georgia O’Keefe Museum in Santa Fe and walked around downtown for a half an hour. Most buildings are one story in the state’s capitol. A center plaza had open market vendors surrounding the green. The city seemed like a compact Laguna with plenty of museums and artsy stores within walking distance.

Day 34: Branson, MO to Elk City, OK

To get Oklahoma we headed north up the 65/60 to hit the 40. On the 40, we jogged over to be looky-loos in the tornado stricken city of Joplin. We saw some destruction in Brimfield, MA when we were there, but nothing could quite compare with the destruction we witnessed. As we were trying to find the path of destruction, all we saw was a very busy city, big like ours with every type of store you could imagine, so when we were close to getting on the highway to finish our day’s journey, we turned left and saw a store sign on the ground. Then, looking more closely, a Home Depot was housed in a gigantic, super-sized white tent. Then complete amazement….buildings that once were there were now gone. We knew that the Stake Center was demolished so we were headed there. Along the roads, complete annihilation of buildings and homes at least a ½ mile wide that went on for a least a mile in length. Relief signs everywhere, workers busy, trash everywhere, red x’s on damaged buildings, spray painted signs, church signs telling members where to meet temporarily, portable pharmacies, random houses standing. Words cannot speak for the damage that we saw.
Sadly we left for Elk City, OK for a RV park.

Day 33: Cemeteries in MO and the wonderful pool

Alexander and Rosan went in search of cemeteries of relatives. The rest of the family spent time lounging by the pools and watching tv inside a cool A/C room.

Day 32: KY to MO

Church in Kentucky. Our country’s natural wonders abound in Kentucky. Mammoth Caves Nat’l Park with 392 feet of caves was an amazing site. To venture in the cold depths of the earth—especially on another scorching day filled with humidity levels that begged for rain!
Almost didn’t make it to Branson today…it takes a while and endurance to drive for that long. Did I mention the thunderstorms with heavy winds in Kentucky? Brian kept going but finally pulled over to seek shelter in an abandoned gas station. With rain not as heavy, we proceeded on our way to try to cross the mighty Mississippi. One of the two bridges was closed to DETOUR signage we followed.

Near Branson, our destination, driving in the pitch black is not easy either. Vegas-like billboards flanked our sides for about 10 miles, then complete darkeness again. Then the hills began. Nowehre is posted the grade %, just a sign occacionally that shows a big rig going down the hill. About 35 miles of up and down later, around 1 am we arrived in Branson to beds and A/C. Yeah!

Day 31: WV to KY

Now off to Kentucky’s Mammoth Caves but with a stop in Bowling Green to visit the Corvette Museum.

Day 30: Williamsburg, VA to WV

Another scorcher at Williamsburg.

Goal: to drive to Walmart parking lot in West Virginia.

Day 29: Jamestown, VA

We came out of our shell to visit the Nat’l Park at Jamestown. What a wonderful place to visit—much better than the other Jamestowne site---ours was free because we had the Nat’l Park pass—horribly humid and hot---but interesting at the same time. A/C was found at one building...the museum where the artifacts are stored. Actual archaeologists were performing digs while we were there. Andrew and Ethan earned their Jr. Ranger badges here, too.