Christmas Decorating

Brody loved his branch.
The sisters decorated the porch. 

Christmas Tree

Tree selection at Lowes. This was the first, and only, one Kristi touched. She picked a winner.






Wrapped, Tied and Loaded.







Girls with saws...









Final status.

North Carolina Sister (Nov. 24-29)

Jen's sister, Kristi, lives in Fayetteville, North Carolina. What brought her there, you ask? Her husband serves in the U.S. Army at Fort Bragg. He was deployed to Iraq in September. So we hustled down to see her (in the car) after Thanksgiving.




Friday night we went to the Dickens Holiday. People were in costumes, we all carried candles, and fireworks were launched after the lights were turned on.





Taking advantage of a little mistletoe.

Moving North (Nov. 18-20)

Back in February 2004, Jen's mom helped her move cross-country to McAllen, TX.

Andrew's mom flew down to help move us back north.

All of our stuff has been sitting in a self-store unit in Texas. We opted for this because it's a whole lot cheaper than renting the apartment for the time while we were road tripping.

Our friends Alex and Oscar helped us load the 16' Penske rental truck in a few hours. One of the tires was bald; Penske fixed that within the hour. Our Penske experience was great: new equipment, reasonable price, friendly service.

Andrew's fear in towing the Ion on the car carrier behind the truck was having to back up at some point in the trip. 1,551 miles later, it never happened. We drove it in 3 days.

We unloaded our stuff in Wisconsin at Lynne's Self Storage (Jen's mom's). She no longer has a useable dining room. We turned our attention to the 15 lbs of mail waiting for us.

Recognition

Now that our great Road Trip West is finished, we want to acknowledge the following:

Statistics

• 9,140 miles driven in 2006 Saturn Vue
• 45 days
• 10 states
• 13 National Parks visited
• Favorite National Park: Yellowstone
• 1 wedding attended
• 6 In-N-Out visits
  
• 10 lbs gained (each)

Gifts Received

• Eddie Bauer Sportdome tent from Kev & Jen Wolthuis and Megan & Alan Freudigmann
• Coleman 2 Burner Propane Stove from Cassidy & Jerry Joule
• Magellan Redrock Double Sleeping Bag from Covenant MERGE Ministries staff

Travel Planning

• National Geographic Guide to the National Parks of the United States
• AAA CampBooks
• Microsoft Streets & Trips 2006 with GPS

Audiobooks

• Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
• The Likeability Factor: How to Boost Your L-Factor and Achieve Your Life's Dreams - Tim Sanders
• The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference - Malcom Gladwell
• Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ - Daniel Goleman
• Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game - Michael Lewis

Podcasts

• The RELEVANT Podcast - RELEVANT Magazine
• The Official LOST Podcast - ABC
• Mars Hill Bible Church - Rob Bell

Books

• Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic - John De Graff, et al
• The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less - Barry Schwartz

Back to McAllen

We returned to our former home, McAllen, today. We see that gas is under $2 a gallon. We observed the expansive dullness of the landscape from the city's highest point - an expressway overpass. Quite a contrast to the scenery we have witnessed in the past month and a half. It was weird going to a hotel, instead of to our (former) apartment. We saw our friends, Alex and Amanda Velasco, and played the Settlers of Catan with them.

Big Bend (Nov. 12-14)

Our last and thirteenth national park was the least visited, Big Bend National Park.

Highlights were: walking into the Santa Elena Canyon, a huge gap in the Mesa de Anguila that dominates the southern landscape, and the Cerro Castellan, a majestic formation that demands attention.













We camped in Terlingua, Texas, a town like no other, camping at the Big Bend Motor Inn. Terlingua is actually a ghost town after the mercury mining (for military bomb switches) dried up. There is a fantastic little bar with outstanding BBQ (so we were told; they were out when we arrived) called La Kiva. The air is some of the least light-polluted in the country. The sunsets and stars were spectacular. Before local schools were built about ten years ago, the kids used to have a 80 mi bus ride to school...one way! There is only one radio station run by one guy and his 500-disc changer. The FCC cannot locate him or the source of the pirate signal. If you're visiting Big Bend or want to get away from it all, Terlingua, Texas is the place to go. It also hosts the annual International Chili Cookoff Competition.

We rode horses one evening into the desert as the sun was setting with Big Bend Stables.

We spent an entire day on the Rio Grande River on a guided raft through the Colorado Canyon with Big Bend River Tours. Our guide, Tim, was extremely knowledgeable and cool. We enjoyed the sun and shadows, sounds and stillness, serenity and sublimeness of it all.

Back to Texas

Today was a long day on the road. To pass the time, we listened to Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis. Whether you know everything or nothing about baseball, we think you will enjoy it.

New Mexico has many small mountain ranges that gave us nice views in the morning. It also has a town that caught our attention, Truth or Consequences:
Crossing back into Texas reminded us that the end of our road trip is in sight. Seeing a sign indicating 500 miles to San Antonio on I-10 let us know we're not that close to home after all. Here's a nice "formation" called Elephant Mountain:

Really Old Wood (Petrified Forest, Nov. 10)

You really cannot find the famous Route 66 on maps anymore, however, we see signs for the old highway all along I-40. Before the interstate highway system, it was the main route between Chicago and Los Angeles. In Holbrook, AZ, we saw the Wigwam Motel, immediately reminding us of the Pixar/Disney animated film, Cars, and the cozy cone motel. Here's our picture:

We drove through Petrified Forest National Park with only two stops. The scenery is nice, but things are looking similar after all we have seen thus far. Here's Jen on the Giant Logs trail (will anything look large after the redwoods and giant sequoias?).


We stayed the night at the Albuquerque Central KOA, in a cabin after seeing the overnight low in the thirties. It smelled like a nursing home.

Dizzying (Grand Canyon)

We were prepared not to be impressed at Grand Canyon National Park because we have seen so much already and there is so much hype about it. We found ourselves ill-prepared; the Grand Canyon is more than we could have imagined. Our first time walking to the edge was dizzying.
One highlight was being pursued by some bighorn sheep on the south rim trail! We were definitely too close. We tried twice to move out of their way, but they kept on coming! So we did what any visitor would do, we took pictures.
We saw the sunset from inside the car at Moran Point. It was so beautiful that Andrew fell asleep for ten minutes. On the way out of the park, we stopped to see the IMAX Grand Canyon Movie. The actors were novice, but watching them run the rapids in old fashioned boats was fun. The best part was when the mountain lion wrestled the trapper so that his hand got caught in the trap. Real believable.

We are staying at the Budget Inn in Flagstaff, AZ. We finished listening to Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman.

On the Road Again

We completely repacked the Vue and set out later than we intended. Driving east means we lose an hour crossing time zones. How's this for an elevation increase: We left the Newport Beach, CA seashore (0 ft) and crested the Arizona Divide (7,335 ft) before coming to rest around 7,000 ft in Flagstaff, AZ. Before leaving California, however, we had lunch at In-N-Out one last time (tear). We visited some of Jen's college friends, Steven and Jessica Grahmann, and their kids, Noah and Jack in Flagstaff. Here we are:

In-N-Out count: 6

Recuperation & Repacking

After the weekend wedding, we returned to Newport Beach, CA for a couple of days. We could taste the salt in the air at the beach while watching a sunset with pelicans diving for fish and dolphins cruising at the surface in the foreground. We were treated to an afternoon breakfast and a late night drink at fun restaurants. It was the first time Jen and I spent extended time with our California family. Their hospitality was astounding. We watched Finding Neverland and the election results. Here we are: Andrew, Jen, aunt Marsha, cousins Robert and Yazmin, and second cousin Samantha.

Andrew had to stop at Baja Fresh, a restaurant claiming "No Microwaves, No Can Openers, No Freezers, No Lard, No M.S.G., No Compromises"'. It didn'’t taste like Mexico, though it was fresh and healthy.

Iowa Wedding (Nov. 3-5)

One of Andrew's Hope College friends, Eric Howland, was married in Marshalltown, Iowa to a woman we had not previously met, Holly.

We flew through the night to arrive the day of the rehearsal. It was great seeing Dave Yang, Tyler Bing and Nate Hansen. We enjoyed a round of frisbee golf the morning of the big day. Some things haven't changed since college: one frisbee landed on the roof. Andrew retrieved it standing atop the shoulders of two guys standing atop two stacked picnic tables. College education in action: problem solving.

Jen was dubbed an honorary groomsmen as she hung with the boys most of the weekend. When she was apart, it was usually on a special-ops mission like making a Wal Mart run late at night or sneaking into the honeymoon suite to add a little something special for the Howlands. She enjoyed the boys and their never ending humor.



The wedding was nice, rather warm up front, and thus had a groom sweating profusely. Everyone was prepared for him to topple, but he held his ground and stayed on both feet. The weather was wonderful for November in Iowa. The dancing at the reception was one of the best we have been to. At one point, Jen and Andrew were the only two on the floor. Seeing Eric and Holly the following morning at their gift-opening brunch was special. We love you guys!

In-N-Out count: 5

Newport Beach Family (Nov. 1 & 2)

The family is growing. Jen met Andrew's cousin, Robert, and his wife, Yazmin, and daughter, Samantha (8 mo). Andrew and Jen met Samantha for the first time. Absolutely adorable! We also visit with Andrew's aunt, Marsha, who lives just a few miles away. Robert took us for a wine tasting at Hi-Time Wine Cellars that was high-end fun.

Newport Beach is a hip area (setting of the TV show the O.C., which neither of us have seen), and our location could not be better than what it is: on the Balboa peninsula, across the street from the beach. It's been very relaxing and rewarding to reconnect with family.

We returned to Universal Studios on Thursday...with the camera this time. Here's our picture with the famous Hollywood in the (fake) background. They still had the whole Halloween theme going.

In-N-Out count: 4

Universal Studios Hollywood (Oct. 31)

For Halloween, we spent all day at Universal Studios Hollywood. And it worked out great: hardly any lines, comfortable weather, and lots of costumes. We saw actual street sets, including one in Bruce Almighty. That very day, they were filming the sequel, Evan Almighty, in Studio 27. There were effects demonstrations and a few scares. We saw the crashed 747 scene created for Spielberg's War of the Worlds, and it was HUGE. The Desperate Housewives set was also visible from the tour tram. We had enough time to see everything in the park; the setup is nice in that you can walk from one end to the other in ten minutes. Our favorite attractions were the Revenge of the Mummy ride (3 times), Terminator 2: 3D and Water World. Rather than sit in L.A. rush-hour traffic, we hung around the Universal CityWalk. We saw the movie Catch a Fire and had crepes for dinner. The kids were out in full force, trick-or-treating through the shops and restaurants.

City of Angles (Oct. 29)

We left our hot springs campground and quickly found ourselves in the longest line of RVs that we have ever seen. As far as the eye could see, before us and behind us, there were motor homes, trucks pulling trailers and pop-up campers. Almost all of them had four-wheelers or dune buggies on a trailer or in tow. It was slow going.

Then while scouting the map for the best way to navigate the web of L.A. freeways, we came to a standstill. And we were still 70 miles from L.A. proper! We sat in four lanes of traffic for close to an hour with the rest of the weekend-getaway traffic returning to the city for the work week ahead.

We met a good friend of Andrew's from Hope College, Noel Snyder and his wife, Heidi, in Pasadena. The college buddies met each others' wife for the first time (they met each other for the first time too). We had a great time with them, walking through Fuller Seminary where Noel studies, having an Italian family-style dinner at Buca di Beppo and catching up on the years since we'd left Hope and been married. We found this Harvest Festival in place on campus and took advantage of the photo opp. Noel and Heidi: Thank you for spending so much time with us! We will miss you guys.

Death Valley (Oct. 27 & 28)

Here we are at the lowest point in the western hemisphere, the Badwater Basin at 282 feet below sea level. (Telescope Peak is in the background, rising to 11,049 ft.) We found we could breathe really well with the extra air pressure… The ground is a salt pan, though it looks like snow from a distance. Too bad it comes with us on our shoes! Death Valley would be 9,000 ft deeper if all the rocks, gravel and sediment “fill” was removed. Again, we prayed for no earthquakes on the “loose” terrain.

Our favorite places in Death Valley National Park were:

Artists Palette: The multi-colored sediment layers throughout the park are fascinating. Coming upon all the colors of the rainbow in volcanic ash was breath-taking.

Dantes View: After climbing a road with a 15% grade finale, we had the best view of the Death Valley. You can see the white Badwater Basin below.

Mosaic Canyon: Naturally occurring marble is all over the place! You can feel it, walk on it, even slide down it. At points, one wall is marble and the other is a sedimentary rock. Very cool.

Ubehebe Crater: Spectacular striations. Thinking about falling in this 3,000 year old, 600 ft deep crater gave us the hebe-jebies…

Tecopa Hot Springs (Oct. 26 & 27)

Today we drove to the Tecopa Hot Springs Park. Before leaving Visalia, we shopped at a Save Mart. What surprised me was that there were only 7 check-out lanes for the entire supermarket, and it was a full-size, full-service store. Maybe things are bigger in Texas. We had lunch at Bakers Square which has the best pies on the market. Andrew ate too much. We have driven through most of the San Joaquin Valley and have seen the cultivation of numerous crops. Today we crossed the Mojave Desert, and at one point saw a bunch of parked, commercial airplanes!

All the water at the campground is hot, which is nice when you wake up in the morning and not so nice when you want a cold shower after being in the hot spring. The hot springs do have a rule: birthday suits only...

We also had a crazy neighbor who chose to set up his tent (with three dogs) BETWEEN our car and our tent. And we were the only tenters in the campground!

In-N-Out count: 3 There is a Bible verse printed on the bottom, inside rim of the cups. Any ideas on why?

Sequoia & Kings Canyon (Oct. 24 & 25)

Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks

Largest Living Thing On Earth
And we saw it! It's the General Sherman tree, a giant sequoia. It's not that pretty to look at, but then again, neither would you be after 2,200 years! Incredible to think that it was living before Christ came to earth. It has the mass of four fully-loaded jumbo jets. This is a limb that fell less than a year ago. One gentleman remarked that maybe aliens came and planted these giant sequoias. That's California for you...

Andrew's favorite part of the park was the Four Guardsmen at the entrance to Giant Forest. Kings Canyon afforded us nice views as we drove in along the river and a walk around Zumwalt Meadow on which we stumbled upon three deer that bolted into the brush! After three national parks in the Sierra Nevada range, we are ready for something new.

We stayed at the Visalia KOA. We opted for clean facilities and WiFi with a higher price and longer drive time to the parks. It was worth it! We have managed to keep current with our favorite TV show, LOST, and are 4 for 4 in watching the episodes live. While on the road, we have been listening to the RELEVANT podcast. Check it out.

In-N-Out count: 2

Mercy in Merced

We have found that traveling works better when we take a day to catch-up and rest once a week. So we found a Travelodge in Merced, CA where we could check-in early and check-out late.

We went to the Laundromat with our clothes. We read poolside in mid-eighties sunshine. We holed up in the room and ordered pizza while watching NUMB3RS episodes on cbs.com (the innertube player was rather annoying). We checked email, updated the blog and made a few phone calls. We even went for a run/walk in the morning in the brisk air. We also bought groceries and washed the vehicle.

Milestone: Jen's first visit to an In-N-Out. For those of you not familiar with this fine Californian establishment, let me tell you that itÂ’s some of the best fast food out there. The three previous times that I (Andrew) have come to California, I have eaten my first meal at In-N-Out. They have the simplest menu in the industry: hamburger, cheeseburger, double cheeseburger, French fries, sodas and milkshakes. Their ingredients are as fresh as can be. We WATCHED them dice potatoes, fry them, salt them and serve them to us. We had been looking for In-N-Out for the past week since entering the state. What joy!

Since the drive to our next campground was short and the weather was warm again, we went to the movies! We saw The Prestige (trailer here), which fascinated us and we heartily recommend. We couldn'’t keep the characters/actors straight so we called them by their other, famous roles: Batman and Wolverine.

Yosemite (Oct. 21)

We awoke to a cold cabin. Apparently, the space heater has a timer on it that we cannot figure out. We stayed at Yosemite Westlake Campground & RV Park last night and tonight.

Today'’s agenda was Yosemite National Park. We learned that Sierra Nevada range, which passes through Yosemite, is one long piece of granite, spanning 400 miles.

The fall leaves in their colorful splendor made for a nice drive into the Yosemite Valley, which is the heart of the park. We now know how to spot a Ponderosa Pine. Our favorite spot was Bridalveil Falls where the water falls freely, landing on the rock several hundred feet below. Above the falls, comparatively little water flows so as it falls, it fans out at the mercy of the wind and chance giving the appearance of a thin, misty bridal veil.

Yosemite was the busiest national park of the seven we have visited thus far. Of course, it is within a day's drive of San Fransciso and other major California cities. Today is Saturday, and was a nice day with a high in the mid-seventies. Still, it felt touristy and congested. We enjoyed hearing numerous different languages throughout the day.

Milestone: the Vue turned 10,000 miles inside the park, after 3 months and 3 weeks in our care.

San Francisco (Oct. 20)

Today was long. We followed the Shoreline Highway (CA-1) into the Bay Area, crossed the Golden Gate Bridge (for $5 dollars), got lost in San Francisco, toured San Francisco as we found our way again, crossed the Bay Bridge (while praying for no earthquakes), and thought we beat the Friday afternoon rush hour traffic. We were stopped in traffic near Tracy which afforded us time to talk on cell phones to those of you who answered them!

We knew we were in San Francisco when we saw this:

A few observations about California:

1. Long live the Toyota Prius! It seems 1 out of every 20 cars here is a hybrid.

2. Hippies abound. If youÂ’re finding yourself craving some hippy companionship, buy an old VW mini-bus and head for the Pacific.

3. Chinese Camp, population 150, is located on CA-120 west of Yosemite. We in no way endorse this name for a any town.

4. We appreciate the “End 35 mph Speed Limit” signs. Can you post the new speed limit too???

Redwood Highway (Oct. 19)

Today was a turning point. Andrew lessened his grip on making plans. We left in the late morning and drove a reasonably short day, enjoying the time. We started south on the Redwood Highway (US-101) along the coast. We stopped for the Pizza Hut lunch buffet and somehow avoided the gut rot that normally follows. When the Shoreline Highway (CA-1) split off, we took it, and were surprised by the steepness of the inclines and sharpness of the curves. We stayed at Fort Bragg at the Pomo R.V. Park and had a roaring campfire.