Traveling Across the US

Some of you know by now that we are on a cross country trip to enjoy the United States because we love to travel. I have found it challenging to keep up with my blog posts on a daily basis between two blogs but so far have not missed a day. Our goal is to see as much as we can before I start teaching grad courses in June. If you are interested (or bored or just feel like torturing yourself) feel free to read my personal blog: The Life of Loonyhiker or see the gazillion pictures on my Flickr account. We have met such interesting people and I have learned so many things on this trip which is more proof that learning is lifelong.

We started out in SC and headed to St. Louis so I could see the arch. Then we ended up in Hutchinson, Kansas so I could visit the Cosmosphere and my virtual friends face to face. We left there and went to Colorado Springs so we could go up to Pike’s Peak but scrapped that when a blizzard hit. We went toward Portland, Oregon along the Columbia River Gorge which was awesome and finally arrived at Seattle where my Council for Exceptional Children’s Conference was held. A week later we were on the road again.

We went to Olympic National Park, Mt. Rainier National Park, Mt. Saint Helen’s National Monument while we were in Washington. We also visited an air museum and the Boeing factory near Seattle. When we left Washington, we headed down the coast of Oregon which we truly loved! I was able to meet a digital scrapbooking friend face to face for the first time and it was thrilling to search the tidepools with her and her children. We also found out that a friend of ours was working on his other house along the coast so we were able to stop and visit him. After Oregon we went a little down the coast of California and then headed east to Reno, Nevada. We were actually stalling and waiting for a bad storm to pass through Utah. We stopped in Wendover, UT to see the WWII airfield that was involved with the atomic bomb and then arrived at Great Basin National Park. While there a nice guy talked us into going to Zion National Park next and after that we have arrived at Bryce Canyon National Park. We will go through Grand Staircase –Escalante National Monument and Capitol Reef National Park this week and hopefully spend a few days at Arches National Park. After that we aren’t sure where we will head to next. It all depends on the weather and our mood!

I would like to head to Denver and Rocky Mountain National Park but we will have to check the roads. I had hoped to see Mt. Rushmore and the Badlands but not sure how the roads will be but I will check as we near the time to go there. If we can’t go there, maybe we will head for Texas.

I hope I haven’t bored you but if you live near any of these places and you are in my PLN, please let me know. I would love to get together for a cup of coffee, soda, drink, dessert etc. so we could meet face to face. It has been so much fun meeting my virtual friends in person!