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.

Day 28: VA inside an A/C room

We were hermits for most of the day doing a while lot of laundry and watching TV for most of the day. Brian and Rosan ventured to the store to buy food for the cave boys.

Day 27: MD to VA

Today we decided to take the RV into see about the tire situation. What was supposed to take an hour took much longer and in the end, we decided that we needed to continue our journey toward Williamsburg. So, c’est la vie to the rest of Washington, DC until another day.
About 5 hours later, we arrived at the Marriott timeshare where we escaped the heat inside

Day 26: Washington, DC

Off to visit our nation’s capitol. We ventured down the fire road in a forest basically and instantly popped out into civilization---streets and cars whizzing by. We walked about a mile in the hot a humid weather to the Metro Station. The kids learned how to ride a metro. Ethan marked our route on the map to ensure a safe return home trip. Off to the Smithsonians: National Air and Space, Natural Science, and American History. The boys also visited the National Archives to see the Dec of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights(???) Relaxing ride back allowed our feet to rest and propel us to our RV—another mile and half away from the metro stop.

Day 25: MD----tire blowout #2

A long day of driving in the humid weather.

Another tire blow out! This time the wonderful staff at Walmart helped us out and changed the tire for a whopping $10. Thank you!
Now for another 30 minutes until we arrive at Greenbelt Nat’l Park. HOT AND HUMID!!!
Greenbelt Nat’l Park is located in the middle of the city but you would never know it once inside the enclave of trees, foliage, and deer.

Day 24: MA to CT to NY to MD

Off to NY and hopefully MD.

More news…NY signs do not clearly distinguish what vehicles can go on the parkways….so when we approached the bridge sign that stated 8’ 8” we stopped and waited for the kind policewoman to escort off the parkway. No more anything in NY!

Final destination: no room at the park so Walmart it was for the night.

Day 23: MA

Movies: HP#7 part 2
Slow RV—injectors clogged or WHAT???!!
Speedway in CT

Day 22: Boston to Plymouth to CT

Today we were off to downtown Boston driving tandem with Carol. We experienced the MassPike—that would translate to fees for driving on highways. We found parking for about $15 on wharf near the Freedom Trail, which we were going to follow throughout downtown. We saw a cemetery, the Old North Church, the New North Church, Paul Revere’s house, Little Italy, and Faneuil Hall, dating to 1742, Marketplace.
Now off to try to find the bronze duck statues (in honor of the book titled Make Way for Ducklings) in Boston Common. One wrong turn and our journey turned to Plymouth Rock about an hour south but with traffic it takes much longer! Plenty of parking in Plymouth. The rock seems much smaller than expected, but as you read more about the rock, you learn that most of the behemoth is actually under the dirt. The rock is housed in a covered shelter near the shore. We looked from afar at the re-created Mayflower II. After seeing where some of our ancestors set foot in America, we were off to see parts of Connecticut where Brian served as a missionary. One apartment and church building later, we headed to North Brookfield.

Day 21: Brimfield and Springfield, MA

Today we split into two. Alexander, Carol, and Rosan went to Brimfield for the afternoon. Brian and the rest of the kids went to the NBA Hall of Fame and also to parts off to see where he served as a missionary. Burgers and hot dogs on the BBQ delighted our tummies tonight.

Day 20: Vermont for Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream tour

Rented a car to be able to drive to Vermont to see Joseph Smith’s birthplace and Ben & Jerry’s factory. Carol & Trevor also joined us today, so we had 2 cars and plenty of space. Alexander drove today, too. Side trips led to a very clean and quaint Vermont Visitor Center, King Arthur Flour mill/shop, old covered bridges, and windy country roads. Vermont is very green with not many towns along the Interstate so stock up on gas beforehand.

First official planned stop: The Joseph Smith birthplace where a 38 ½ foot monument was erected in 1905 to celebrate his 100th birthday. The process to get the stone to the site was a story in and of itself---imagine a Vermont December with a lot of snow and freezing temperatures. The stone pillar needed to transported to the site and the weather was not cooperating until the roads froze and the ice allowed the wooden “sled” with the monument atop to glide to the site. Of course there was more to the story, but onto the rest of our journey. And talk about timing on our part, we arrived minute before a downpour occurred and the skies parted about 20 minutes later to allow us to go see the monument and the house’s actual threshold.

Now off for another hour drive. The Ben & Jerry’s factory was bright and fun. We got to see how the ice cream is made and packaged and eaten (by us).

Off to our temporary home: Massachusetts. A long drive, about 3 ½ hours. Starving, we stopped along the way home in a small town and ate at a Greek-run pizza parlor/diner. We even found a couple of covered bridges from ages hence. Dark engulfed us on our journey.

Day 19: Relaxing in North Brookfield and Haying

Relaxation was our top priority for today! After Carol got home from work around noon, we headed to the farm and then to the land Trevor was haying. The boys helped Trevor stack the hay bales and drive the tractor while Rosan and Carol went to visit the house on the farm.

Day 18: NY to MA

We drove for an hour and half to get to church this morning! This ward was a real ward with a phase 3 building! We met a sister who knows the McCord family. Small world!

Now another 5 hours or so and we would be in North Brookfield, MA! We sidetracked to Troy, NY to see one of Brian’s mission areas and even found his apartment. A quick picture from the RV and then we were off to our destination: Massachusetts.
Brian kept asking if the highways looked familiar (because I have been here before) but none did because I have never driven from the west to get their house. But, when it came to N. Brookfield and their street, I knew exactly where I was at. Carol was at home to welcome us as we excitedly exited our motorhome. Wayne and Trevor arrived home in the early evening after haying.

Day 17: NY

Now off to Niagara Falls and then Palmyra, NY for the Hill Cumorah Pageant and to tour the Sacred Grove. Niagara Falls was amazing! The weather was humid so when we got close to the some falls the mist was a relief. We took the trolley around the park so help ease the hot. The tour of the Smith homes and buildings were once again amazing. This time the guides were serving two-week missions in comparison to the missionaries in Nauvoo.

The pageant was quite different from the Nauvoo Pageant—this one would be great to have friends come to see.

We were able to leave the parking lot at around 11 pm and Brian drove as far as he could until his pillow beckoned for him. So, we stayed in a Walmart parking lot because there was no other place to go so late at night.

Day 16: OH to PA to NY

The boys ventured to the camp showers which were supposed to have much better water pressure than the motorhome. We decided to be adventurous again and see if we could find any Amish. The KOA campground map boasted that we were in the heart of Amish country. Not until we turned onto another country road did we notice that we were actually at the very tail end of Amish country, so we readjusted our destination on the Garmin and bound and determined, we set off to find this folk. We saw one lady near a car but that was not good enough because they aren’t supposed to drive cars. We stopped at a vegetable stand to get some local food. Then off to finish our quest. By the way, the roads were fabulous to drive on (only in one county though—name will be listed later) and on that highway we had to slow down for none other that a horse and buggy. We tried not to be too invasive but our cameras were in full swing. Now off to Kirtland, OH.

We went on the tour of the Kirtland Temple, and afterwards visited with a family coming from Japan, who happened to know Victor Jackson, and were heading toward Virginia for more military duty. Then we quickly toured the Whitney Store. Our guide was especially informative about the objects and special events that occurred there. We would highly recommend a longer period of time than we allotted if you go there.

Now off to NY. We made it through the tunnel to get to the park with the 12’ 2” clearance! We spent the night in Lake Erie State Park, and it was right next to the lake.

Day 15: Sidenote

Being able to use the Internet is absolutely wonderful! However, being on the road daily has made Internet access harder to obtain. I will upload photos, hopefully, in the morning or next night...the process currently is taking eons and I need to sleep. Hope our blog keeps you up to date on our adventures. Share the link with anyone who knows us. Talk to you later.

Day 15: IL to IN to OH

After our tire was fixed, we continued on our trek from IL to IN and then to OH. We took mostly Interstate Highways, which meant city buildings and homes.

Alexander decided that we needed to see the Indianapolis 500 Speedway and the Lucas Oil Stadium where the Colts play, so off we went. Then back to the highway and finally to a KOA campsite in Butler, OH…supposedly in Amish country. Hopefully we’ll see tomorrow.

Day 14: Nauvoo to ?, IL

We toured more houses at Nauvoo for a few hours. Then we went to the wagon ride (thanks to Brian who got up at 6:45, rode a bike to the Visitor’s Center, waited in line, and successfully got the tickets for us!) We highly recommend the wagon ride if you ever come to Nauvoo; it took us around the city and the sister missionary explained the houses and history of the city along the way. We parted ways around 2 pm: some went to the temple for baptisms while others went to the Rivers and Showboats show.

At around 5 pm we headed eastward. We saw many large fields of corn and many silos on the farms, these seem to be much larger than previous states we’ve passed through. Along our journey on the I74, we heard a large bang and Brian precisely and skillfully maneuvered to the side of the road. We blew one of our rear inside tires. We limped a mile and a half to the next town to a tire shop where we hope at 8 am tomorrow will fix our tire. Lights out tonight at 10 pm in the tire shop’s parking lot (we’re first in line).

Day 13: Carthage Jail and Nauvoo, IL

Around 9 am we headed for Carthage and then onto Nauvoo. The Carthage Jail tour was very informative as to how and what happened to Joseph and Hyrum Smith.

Then onto our destination: Nauvoo around 3 pm. We lodged in the park across the street from Historic Nauvoo. Hot and HUMID….sticky and sweaty…but endurable….but thoughts of home ran across everyone’s mind. We spent the next few hours trying to figure out what to do and see. We literally tied up our seats for the pageant. Pageant workers and missionaries guided us to various venues to fill out time before the pageant. The Cultural Hall was COOL and exciting to see where dances were held. The actual 2nd story wood floor was completely intact. We learned about cooking, making candles and rope and bread, children’s games, medicine, and shopkeeping in the 1840s. Pre-pageant festivities included many fun activities: cutting wood, wood branding, tug-of-war, stilt walking, whirl-a-gig making, and much more! The pageant was inspiring. We learned that this is the only pageant the church created and initially funded. All characters, except for the Lairds, are real. You can even go to the computer stations to see if you are related to one of the cast characters. What an amazing and filling night. A long walk to our RV ended with a night of AC. Yippee for a cool night.

Day 12: Springville for the 4th of July and Lincoln Museum

Museum and Presidential Library in Springfield, IL. What a great place to learn about our president. The 2 films were co-produced with Disney, so they were phenomenal to the eye. We even took a photo with the First Family!

Lunch and spending time chatting with family filled our afternoon. Ethan and Nicholas made friends with a “new” 14-month-old cousin.

To celebrate the Fourth properly, we headed back to the capitol for our 2nd firework show. Street vendors and juggling and blow up slides were available for the kids. A few of us headed on walk to Lincoln’s home, law offices, the old state capitol building that Lincoln used in his day. “Fantastic! WOW! There’s more? Is it going to end?”….were some of the comments about the fireworks show. Disney has competition.

Day 11: Church in a BARN!

We pulled down a country road with a small bridge around 9 am for church. Just as the GPS stated the name of the address was the J&K Barn, we pulled in to see the J&K Barn! Brian talked to the Branch President who explained that the branch does meet here, has about 25 members, and today will be inundated with about 47 visitors (mostly his family). Two big dogs also greeted Brian and the kids. The little boys quickly got dressed to sit on the steps of the church (i.e. to play with the dogs). Longtime members described the building over the years as being used as a dance hall with weapons hanging on the walls. Today, there are 5 main rooms that function as the primary, RS room, SS/YM room, YW room, and the chapel/priesthood room. It was SMALL! The size of the entire building was smaller than our cultural hall. Fast and testimony meeting was spiritually uplifting as was the rest of the day. And, a member, Sis. (Paas) White came up to us to ask us if we knew anyone from Westminster. After talking for a while, the Secrist name came up for discussion. No matter where you travel to, someone is bound to know another someone. It is amazing how our friendships are boundless.
Next stop was Springfield, IL to Brian’s aunt and uncle’s home for dinner around 6 pm. Many more fields of corn and the extra large Mississippi were all seen before the taco salad for dinner. After dinner, we ventured off to a fireworks show in the town park.

Day 10: Flooding of Missouri River and Winter Quarters, NB to GG

Today’s travels take us from the Walmart parking lot in Mitchell, South Dakota to Iowa to Nebraska and back to Iowa. The Missouri River is overflowing as are the tributaries we have driven by on our trip so far. Today, Alexander took a picture of a flooded on-ramp to the I29 and the surrounding stores. Now after stopping at a rest stop to ease the odiferous offerings from the back half of the motorhome, we now are offered the vistas of cornfields and farmhouses. Flat ground abounds in this area, so it is no wonder with the flooding of the Missouri River, the highway is also damaged and field after field has an enormous pond near a rows of corn.

Off to Winter Quarter’s Visitor’s Center. There we learned about the pioneers’ temporary 18-month stay in Nebraska in the harsh winter. We walked around the cemetery and viewed the temple.
Now off to dinner tonight in Iowa: Alexander’s choice…Carl’s Jr. but re-named as “Hardee’s.” Onward to GARDEN GROVE that is in IOWA not CALIFORNIA! The saints founded the city and the signage gives reference to this fact. Now onto a good night’s rest in Centerville, IA in another Walmart parking lot.

Day 9: Devil’s Tower and Mt. Rushmore

Brian and I awoke early and started driving to Devil’s Tower National Monument near Hulett. The boys awoke slowly one by one on our drive down a dirt country road; Brian is quite the competent, adventurous driver! As we drove through the Devil’s Tower National Monument , we were awed by the prairie dogs in the field. Then, onto the steep ascent to the Visitor Center and to eat breakfast in the parking lot. FYI: The native American tribes consider the Tower as a religious site so they do not approve of the climbing on or the name of the tower.

Next destination: Mt. Rushmore, SD. A note for the road: it is a 10% grade both ways; be careful because there is not a long start to begin your ascent up the mountain. The story behind the memorial’s creation only adds to the grandiose of the actual sculpture. Congratulations to our new Jr. Rangers: Andrew and Ethan.
A heavy downpour helped us to quickly deicide to get going to our next sidetrip: South Dakota Air and Space Museum at Ellsworth AFB. The boys were in awe with the size and capabilities of the planes on display. Final destination for the night: somewhere near the South Dakota/ Iowa border when Brian gets tired of driving.

Day 8: Wyoming-West to East

First thing in the morning, Ethan finished up his Jr. Ranger requirements and got sworn in as a ranger!
As we left Yellowstone NP, through the East Entrance, a completely different park amazed us…one that had not awoke from the slumber of the winter. This side was covered in snow and dead rush and trees.
The rest of Wyoming…
We drove for most of the day. Semi-flat land with cows, crossing deer signs, and rolling green grass spotted with a few houses now and then was the only scenery for most of WY. Towards nighttime, the rain clouds followed us like ghosts on the sideline not really bothering us rather illuminating the sky with ferocious lightening storms for our entertainment. It wasn’t until late at night when we were trying to find a campsite at Keyhole State Park that the storm affected us: the sky was pitch black. That combined with nearly no signage as to where to turn or whatnot turned into an extra hour or so driving around. Then, when we finally parked, the sign stated: “Reservations Required, call (phone number) after hours for help.” No answer and no help was to be found and we were parked, so thus we stayed. It poured and thundered all night long. Brian had counted to 2 until the next thunder sounded during the night, so we knew the storm was close, but we survived and even got a free car wash! We knew we were near water but not until we woke in the morning did we realize how close to the lake we were. It was a few campsites away; we drove past it last night, in fact many times on our adventures of finding a campsite!

Day 7: Yellowstone National Park

This morning we awoke and began our trek to discover wildlife and geysers and mud pots and visitor centers. We headed up to the Northwest Entrance, which was a LONG all day adventure. Luckily traveling with all of our supplies comes in handy. We saw two elk.

Then on our return trip, we stopped at Beaver Pond (no water nor beaver). After talking with another camper, we learned that he and his company were tracking a bear…fresh tracks in the marsh we had just left. We were excited to hear such news but also anxious to not see a real bear so close. On the road again: a complete impasse…. the road was blocked by visitors simply parking on the sides and in the middle of the road, just like we heard happens when wildlife is near. We saw many people gawking at 2 cranes but further ahead there was a grizzly bear. What an amazing sight. Now we can rest better with knowing that we saw a real wild bear---not one in our campsite. The night was not over until Brian, Rosan, Ethan, and Andrew rode bikes in the pitch black to the Ranger led program at 9:30 pm. A thunder storm struck just as we arrived. We found shelter near the visitor center and stayed there for about 30 min. until the delayed program started.