Au revoir!

In case you didn't notice, this blog has been gathering dust.  And cobwebs.  And cobwebs covered in dust.  

The thing is, I'm not really *here* anymore.  It's been a long time since I've been doing something and thought "I should blog this".  A goal of mine has been to be a little more present with my family and a little less present with the interwebz.  

I'm hit or miss, but when I started working towards this, the first thing that started to feel less important was this blog.  

Which is sad, because several years of our family have been chronicled here.  Families grow, move on, and find new places.  This isn't the place for me, or us anymore.  

I'm not closing it, maybe we'll find our way back - but for now I must say, Au revoir.  

Quick catch-up!

I know, it's been silent on the ol' blog front.

Here's a catch-up of what's been going down here.

We returned from our mammoth road trip mid August.

We jumped right into doctor's appointments, because…

That guy had surgery.  He's now missing one set of tonsils, and adenoids.

Then, B-rox finally donated his hair.  

He looks wayyyyyy too grown up now.

Then, as things were settling down.  (As settle as they can be while you're running from school, to soccer, to chess, to robotics - plus you know, dinners, baths, and other necessities.)

I left for a little while.
And took a trip to the best coast to unwind a little.  With the bestest.

Unwind before this:

Pretty priceless picture of what drugs do to you. 

My feelings on it all.

Four weeks post (my) surgery, I'm here, writing this.
I started driving again, though, I'm still in a cast.  (3rd one so far).

So, I'm working on it.  Bear with me.

Finally a post!

It took a little over a week for me to recover from our 8,346 mile journey.  To feel like I was at home again.

I don't have time for many words, so I'll post many pictures and few words.  Hopefully that will work for now.

(For some reason they did not upload in order.  Apologies.) 

The one spot the boys *had* to see, on the drive out west. 

So, we saw it. 

How the trunk was packed the day we left.
I ROCK at packing.  

In Danville, Illinois - "Where's Perry?" 

It stormed during dinner in Rapid City - this was the view out of our Hotel when we returned. 

We made it!

We saw Crater Lake, another *must see*.  

Iron Castle, at Crater Lake.

Hiked to Paulina Falls.

Hiked the Big Obsidian Flow at Newberry Crater

"WE LOVE HIKING!"

And rocks.  They love rocks.  We came home with about 50lbs.

(See, out of order.)  More Crater Lake. 

Night time light up of the balloons at Balloons over Bend. 

Mi Madre! 

Chocolate on the face, and a fishin' pole.  Life is good. 

My brother and I out for a paddle. 

Poppy spent this whole day fishing, untangling lines... 

My turnout could use some work... 

Beer and a Fire pokin' stick.  

Cleaning, on the last day of camping. 

Then we visited Mt. Bachelor - rode the chairlifts to the top.
(That's Jefferson in the background) 

"I'M THE KING OF THE WORLD!!!!!" 

Billy Goat Kenny. 

Spent a fair amount of time in Poppy and Grammy's Saltwater pool.  

Of course we visited!  

I really miss this place. 

While we were camping - my parents' neighborhood was evacuated because a fire swept through.
Thankfully - no one lost their house, but things were pretty dicey for a bit. 

My gramma. 

Chairlift. 

My other Grandma.  

After four weeks on the road, we "turned around" and headed east.
Well, first we went south.  

Two places at once!
Hoover Dam! 

Canyon of Grandness.
One of my favorite places on earth.  

Dried strawberries are possibly not the best road trip snack.
Unless you want to glance in the mirror after hearing maniacal cackling and see this. 

Power plant tour at Hoover. 

"Mom - get away from that ledge or you will fall and become death!" 

Puerca Pueblo Ruins in the Painted Desert National Park

Petroglyphs in Petrified National Forest
This particular one is the Summer Solstice Calendar Marker.  It's pretty nifty how it works. 

On the Historic Rt. 66

Smashing Geodes in ABQ. 

At the very tippy-top of Sandia Peak.
(Explanation for B-rox's face:
He threw a tizzy about climbing onto the roof  [everyone else there was]. I wasn't
so sure in the beginning [this cabin is on the very edge of a 10,000 foot peak].  But then decided we'd climb
the non-ledge side and scoot to the ledge for a photo op.
Halfway into the little scuttle up, he got scared.
I couldn't let him chicken out, so I helped him up.
The ledge was just too much.  Hence the face.)   

Digging out fossils. 

The big Texan in Amarillo. 

Yes. 

Fire museum in Charleston, SC. 

And, the 23rd and final state of our journey.  

That's it in pictures, folks.

We had an awesome time and learned a ton - about a lot of things.  My main goal for the trip was to instill a love of adventure into the boys.  I think I succeeded - and that's what matters most to me.

I plan to (we'll see if it happens) write up a post about how we did it.  What tricks I used (especially on the days where we exceeded 600 miles of driving), what didn't work, where we stayed, etc.

Until then, enjoy our journey with that rather long picture journal!