This is my first post. I wanted to do this before I left. Thanks for everyone that is interested in what I'm about to embark on. It's exciting and scary all at once. I'm about to leave a lot of people that care about me to venture into an unknown territory with unknown people... and I can't wait. I leave this Sunday from Dulles airport at 10pm and I'm due to arrive in Accra, Ghana at 8:10 pm. I will be 4 hours ahead over there. [View Full Entry]

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We left Idaho Falls after 8:00. It was a pretty uneventful trip through Idaho..lots of potato fields for Thomas to drool over and we zigzagged across the Snake River. I didn't get a lot of pictures of interest from Idaho though! :( There was some interesting landscape though as occasionally you'd go from really nice farm land to what looked like an ancient lava flow..it looked like old road black top that kind of crumbled in the heat Dad & I took turns driving all day on I-84... which was good because I was pretty tired and was having trouble staying [View Full Entry]

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We got up and left Cody, WY a bit after 7:00 a.m. I was driving as it looked like it was going to be another winding drive and I didn't know if it was going to be up hill or down hill! (Much to my surprise, it was downhill!) Right outside of town there was a huge gorge with swift water running through it...had to get a picture of that! We were only about 50 miles from Yellowstone at that point so we got there quickly and it was still early in the morning. I think everyone should see it Yellowstone [View Full Entry]

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It was a ten and a half hour difference between here and there. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t sleep past 3 AM on my second day back home. I finally got out of bed try of bed and tried to get my life back to normal. Throughout this day however, I had some harsh realizations that if “normal” was the way I was before I left for India, this way of life would no longer an option. On that early morning, I wandered into the kitchen. Although it seemed as if the rest of the world was sleeping, [View Full Entry]

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What a day!!! We started out with the plan to go to the Crystal Cave in South Dakota, but after reading the brochure and finding out that the tour included going up (or down) 723 steps..we reconsidered. So we just packed up and left and headed towards the Devil's Tower in Wyoming, which was on Dad's list to see. It took us about 2 hours to get there and again, most of the driving tours were 2-3 hours long, so we just took pictures and left. Wyoming (at least in the eastern part) is very desolate in many areas. We saw [View Full Entry]

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We had a leisurely morning as we were doing the 1880 Train Ride at 10:00 a.m. and it was right next door. The ride takes about 2 hours and it was a relaxing ride, though it was totally full and by the time we were able to get on, the only seats left were in the very back of the very last car, so we had a hard time seeing things. Then, when we were on the return trip, the engine was now right in front of us and we had to hear the whistle blowing every time the train went [View Full Entry]

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Today was a little more relaxed driving wise since we'd knocked off so many miles in the first 2 days. We started out around 7:00-ish again and as we were driving, decided to stop in Mitchell, SD to see the world famous Corn Palace!!...couldn't pass it up! We had breakfast there, then went to find the Corn Palace. They were in the process of changing the pictures and things already for 2009 (go figure!!) and we spent probably an hour there going through the gift shop and picking out a few souveniers. Anyway..we got back on the road and since it [View Full Entry]

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We left this morning promptly at 4:00 a.m...after a quick turn around at the end of my driveway as I remembered that I'd forgotten my phone!!!! We pretty much had a none eventful trip, though slightly behind what I wanted due to a 6:00 a.m. bathroom break for Stephen and to grab a cup of coffee for me! We got to Breezewood then about 9:15 and to the farm around 11:45. We spent about an hour there and then headed out. We hadn't eaten anything yet at all, so we went over to Mars (yes..that is a REAL place in PA..right [View Full Entry]

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Only one more day until liftoff!! My oldest sister Cathy has come onboard too, so I'll at least have another driver! I still hope to get Stephen behind the wheel once we get into the open plains.. The boys and I will leave early on Sunday morning (think 4:00 a.m.!!) and we will drive to Pittsburgh to pick up Dad & Cathy. Barring any problems, we should be there before noon, then take a break and head out again and hopefully make it as far as Toledo by evening. [View Full Entry]

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the good thing about low points is that it means there has to be a climb back out. The climb out came from all a long term Internet friend, chris and her partner roger. A last minute call saying ' hey man you wanna come up and stay with us in crozet?. She even drove down to Roanoke to get me. I have known these people for over 10 years on the net but never met them, but by the end of the drive up to their cottage it was like we had been friends for life. The cottage is set [View Full Entry]

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