Birmingham, AL & Downey Wedding (Dec. 29-31)

We made a quick trip down to Birmingham, Alabama for Ben Downey's wedding to Kathy. We found ourselves with some free time, so we saw a few of the sights.

We toured the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, right across the street from the famous Sixteenth Street Baptist Church that was bombed by the KKK in 1963, killing 4 girls. Here's the church undergoing restoration. Leaving the institute, it was cool to walk out with white, black, Latino and Asian neighbors. Left us with hope for the future of race relations in our country and world.

What better way to settle the pre-wedding jitters than some 4-on-4 basketball? Ben, the groom, is fourth from left in the red t-shirt.

We toured the Sloss Furnaces, where iron was refined and poured for a hundred years. We learned that Birmingham was a major steel town, called the Pittsburgh of the South, starting after the conclusion of the Civil War. The tour was self-guided and allowed near full-access to the many stages of iron production.

Jen, Andrew, Ben and Kathy. We look forward to spending more time with you guys! 

Christmas (Dec. 25)

We spent Christmas with our moms. That meant we were apart. Both sides of the family were thinner than normal for various reasons.

Andrew and his mom served Christmas dinner with a few friends from church at the Renucci Hospitality House in Grand Rapids, MI.







Somewhere between 35 and 40 people came for dinner, on a break from visiting their loved ones in the hospital over Christmas.











We prepared a typical Christmas meal: turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes & gravy, green beans, rolls, cranberries, salad and pumpkin pie. 

West Michigan Friends (Dec. 6-9)

We visited our good friends, the Bradfords, Blondins and Wolthuises, once we returned to Michigan. Seems the thing to do is spawn (make babies). It was a string of great evenings with all of them. Once we land in Chicago come February, weekend trips will be possible. We have missed all 9 of yous.

Taye Robert Nesta Bradford - created by Rob & Sharon Bradford.

Kev & Jen Wolthuis have procreated Elinore Yarin (taking the picture, just kidding).

Andrew with RB.

Sixty My Senior (Dec. 3)

We celebrated the birthday of Andrew's Grandma Vans after celebrating his the day before. There was a surprise cake and a birthday-girl dance for Grandma put on by her friends. Grandma is 60 years older than Andrew and still going strong! 

Florida Grandparents (Nov. 29 - Dec. 4)

After visiting Jen's sister in North Carolina, we decided to visit Andrew's grandparents in Florida. After the thousands of miles we had driven thus far, a day's drive was no big deal. Here are the highlights:




Our first casino gambling with electronic slot machines. Andrew lost his second $10 in 90 seconds. Jen tripled her $20 in the end. It was irrational: pushing a button and not understanding why you are winning and especially why you are losing is lunacy. Next time, Andrew is going to the poker table for Texas Hold Em (and giving Jen his slots money)











A bridge lesson with some of aces. They all thought it would be so neat for us to play in Chicago. I said we're the youngest bridge players we know. Jen said we could take a class at the local senior center. We all laughed and had lots of fun.











Everyone together for the Sights and Sounds of Christmas production put on by Word of Life. Left to right: Grandpa Ray, Grandma Vans, Grandma Dorothy, Jen, Andrew.














Shuffleboard with the Davidson grandparents. There were a few tough calls, so we put our heads together. In the end, the grandparents pummled the grandkids.

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.