Danielle and Paul

We're back in Seattle! Thanks to everyone who followed along with our trip...we had a phenomenal time...and it was wonderful to hear from all of you, read your comments, and know that you were keeping us safe with your thoughts! This is our final entry...so, farewell, and keep in touch! And, if we missed you on this trip due to weather or distance from our route, you can bet that we'll plan a vacation near you in the future! We still have to hit the Rockies in Colorado (can anyone say skiing and boarding?), the Carribean/Keys, and a few other places. We did hit all 48 continental United States...though in some we simply drove around in them or straight through them and didn't stop to sightsee. We'll have to plan vacations to Alaska and Hawaii in ... read more

Passing through North Dakota on our way to Montana, we stopped at a small hamlet called Rugby. Rugby has been declared the "exact geographical center of north america" and proudly displays this title with a big stone monuement. It also happens to be the site of a little restaurant that sells toe jam (a delightful jam made of nearly every fruit under the sun...yum!). And then...a couple of days drive later...we arrived in Glacier National Park. Glacier is HUGE...and is an International Peace Park because it is joined with Canada as well. It's the home of enormous "U" shaped valleys, gigantic Rocky Mountains, and of course, glaciers. The Rockies here weren't just caused by the continental divide...they were carved out by the glaciers 10,000 years ago as well. The glaciers melted into the large and immensely ... read more

We stopped at St. Louis and took plenty of pictures of the arch...arch from the bridge, arch from the road, paul with arch, danielle with arch, arch with both of us...etc etc...haha. Yay Gateway Arch! St. Louis is the "Gateway to the West"...and while you can actually go up in the arch and look around from the observatory, we both got there too late and Danielle's a little scared of rickety elevators at great heights. Then we stopped at Hannibal, Missouri, Mark Twain's hometown. Everything there is named for him or his characters, like the Mark Twain Dinette featureing Mark Twain Fried Chicken and homemade root beer. We sampled the chicken, climbed up Cardiff Hill over statues of Tom and Huck, and wandered around the town where his boyhood home is kept open for tours. Next ... read more

We spent a week in our childhood hometown in Indiana, visiting family and old friends. Danielle's neice and nephews went canoeing with us one day, which was awesome. We wish we had brought a waterproof camera with us! We took two canoes, found a couple of rope swings, and had a great day in the sun. Paul worked on an old mustang a lot, which we had bought over Christmas to sell. It just needs a few minor repairs and it'll be in near perfect shape. Danielle went to a couple of soccer games that the same neices and nephews were in, and then mostly we just relaxed with friends. Also, Echo had a new friend to play with while we were there. Danielle's neice just got a Yorkie puppy named Bella, who only weighs 3 ... read more

Crossing into Canada to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, where we were staying, was an adventure with the camper and Customs. There are a lot more questions when you enter a country with your house in tow! But we made it in and went down to explore the falls. They were absolutely breathtaking, and awesome to stand and take in. The area has embraced the tourists who flock to the falls as well, offering everything from "Maid of the Mist" boats rides that take you into the mist of the Horseshoe Falls to the Vegas-like strip of things to entertain, albeit Niagara's version was a little more family-friendly, with arcades, Ripley's, wax museum, and big name fun stores like Hersheys and Coke. We declined on the super duper package with the Maid fo the Mist, ... read more