Tampa, FL

The ward in Tampa was so friendly. We met the Reynolds family who generously invited our family into thier home and lives. Reese and Kat and their four lovely children spoiled us with room and board for several days giving us a place to park the camper and access to do our laundry. Other activities in the Tampa area were a day at Dinosaur World and an evening at the emergency room tending to a broken arm.

Port St. Joe

We took a day trip out to the Gulf of Mexico in a town called Apalachicola, FL. The beach close by at St. Joseph's Bay was the most perfect of beaches. The sand was sugar white and the water was so blue and clear and warm like a bath. The sun was hot and it was the loveliest day yet.

Tallahasee, FL

Our time in Tallahasee, Florida turned out to be both frustrating and fun. We were detained there for a week because of trailer troubles, but we didn't allow that to spoil our fun and learning. Some of the highlights include; a dollar movie place in close proximity, a really good and affordable public swimming pool and Fort San Luis, the old fort was discovered by archaeologist and then reconstructed on the original site. It is open to the public to explore and interact with people in character of the time.

Foley, AL

We found a place in Foley to do some laundry this morning and general maintainance around the house (trailer). As we got on the road a bit we hit a big thunder storm. We decided to find shelter as we weren't sure if our humble abode could stay water proof in that much rain. Lucky for us God is looking after us and we found a church with a covered entrance plenty big enough for us to park under and wait out the storm and cook up a mess of Lambert's leftovers for lunch. When the weather was nicer we got driving again but when we stopped for a pit stop in Tallahassee Jared discovered a possible wheel bearing problem. Lucky for us that we were at a truck stop and not the side of the road.

New Orleans, LA

We met the Slidell Ward of New Orleans, LA. They welcomed us and the boys made some new friends. They seemed a little mystified as to why we would choose to spend our summer holiday in a trailer for 3 months for fun. Some of these people lost thier homes due to hurricane Katrina and had to live in trailers for a long time. After church we hit the road again and landed in Foley, Alabama, where we stopped for dinner at Lambert's Cafe home of the throwed rolls . The kids had a great time catching hot rolls. Ewan was especially enthusiastic and caught more than he could eat. Noel was more interested in catching than eating. Liam, Rory and Noel joined me in a dance around the restaurant doing the YMCA actions. The management promised us banana pudding for our participation but unfortunately ran out as soon as we were back to our seats!

New Orleans, LA

Spent a soggy day in New Orleans. It was still fun though. Our friend Jayme showed us all over the city. It was cool to have an insiders perspective of what happened two years ago during the Hurricane disaster. We found shelter at a traditional Cajun Style restaurant and enjoyed Po-boy sandwhiches and red beans and rice. It was tasty!

Texas

Remember The Alamo.

Three big driving days to get across Texas. BIG state.

Tucson, AZ

I managed to get up at 5:30am to go running with Mindy and a couple of friends. I felt a little out of shape for running but it felt good to get my heart rate up. We convoyed up to the mountains and spent the morning hiking around a place called Mount Lemmon. There were lots of great trails and all the boys in our group scouted ahead to lead the way. The kids did awesome and set a pretty good pace. We ate lunch under the shade of the pine trees and enjoyed cool mountain air. The drive back included stops along the way to see giant cactus at the Saguaro Nation Preservation park and a playground that featured water springing out of the ground. Jared made an authentic Spanish paella for dinner and I put a Trifle together as per a request from Justin. It was a lot of fun.

Tucson, AZ

The Parker family welcomed us in to thier home just after midnight when we pulled in to Tucson AZ where they live. We are so grateful for thier generousity and air conditioning. We enjoyed a lovely weekend joining them for church and learning about the beauty of the Arizona desert right in thier back yard.

Phoenix, AZ

We bought another fan. It is crazy hot around here. The city pool doesn't open until noon which is just silly since it was 90 degrees at 6am. We played at the pool and got showers until it was time to head to the stadium for Jared's graduation ceremony. It was a really nice event and the kids and I couldn't have been prouder. Way to go Dad!

Phoenix, AZ

We endured another hot night with the help of a fan. Today we beat the heat by spending the day in the library in Glendale near Phoenix. The boys enjoyed the summer reading challenge by getting stuck in to reading as many books as they could. There were computers available and the boys had fun playing some games.

Palm Springs, CA

The heat caused us some car trouble and while Caitlin and the boys stayed cool by the pool Jared went to an auto shop and had our starter replaced. We waited until the temperatures dropped a bit before we continued on our journey towards Phoenix AZ.

Palm Springs, CA

Checked in to Sam's, our RV park, at Desert HOT springs in the morning. We spent a very hot 4th of July by the pool. Temperatures reached 121 degrees.

Los Angeles, CA

Our last day at Disney Land we arrived early so we could ride the Nemo submarine ride. We still waited an hour and a half. Ewan was thrilled by it. We spent the afternoon at the California Adventure park. We stayed until the parks closed. We hit the road and drove to Palm Springs.

Los Angeles, CA

Checked out an old grocery store which specialized in the sale of hard to find soda pop- very cool! We walked around Venice Beach today and also visited the Los Angeles LDS Temple. To top the night off we enjoyed a Dodgers Baseball game. Ewan found some new mates to hang out with at the ball game.

A couple days before we spent the day in Tijuana, Mexico and found a very interesting painting for sale on the street.