![]() Our departure time was somewhere around 5:50 am this morning. We followed Daddy all the way to the bridge and then at the border we went separate ways. :( But we can't wait to have him join us soon. It took the kids and I no time at all get get through customs, and lucked out with a great border guard who asked us where we were going, and some of the usual questions, and when we replied that we were travelling to attend Space Camp in Alabama, he gave us a big smile and basically said HAVE FUN! Em didn't take long to fall back to sleep in her little nest in the back seat, and she missed our crossing into Ohio, and through a long stretch of construction from Toledo to Findlay. It was pretty smooth sailing through Ohio, and then before we knew it we were over the bridge in Cincinnati and entering our third state of the day. Construction found us again when we changed from i-75 over to i-71. Then again when we hit i-65 on the south side of Louisville. This time we found ourselves surrounded by license plates from almost every other state in the giant parking lot that the highway became for about an hour. But the glass is always half full, so this made it easy to play our license plate game. This game is a tradition we started years ago of bringing a colouring map of the US with us and colouring in each state when we see its license plate. New Mexico, Texas, New York, Georgia, Arizona were a few we found today. This is our first trip down i-65 and through Louisville! From the highway we did see the Kentucky Speedway, a giant poster of Colonel Sanders on a Building, and the massive Stadium where the Cardinals of the University of Louisville play. Even with all the construction we made great time, but at 3 pm it was time for a break, and Mammoth Caves National Park was calling us. We needed to get out and stretch and our National Parks Passport Book was needing a new stamp that we didn't have. I thought perhaps we wouldn't have time for a tour before they closed at 5:30. But I had forgotten about the time change, and the fact that it was only 2 pm. So the kids and I signed up for the 3 pm History Tour. It was 2 hours long, took us on a 2 mile hike down to about 380 feet below ground...and yes the 189 steps back up again. The kids loved it. Emmy thought underground looked like FRAGGLE ROCK. I liked that even though it was 90 degrees outside, below ground was a lovely 60 degrees F. On the tour we learned that at almost 400 miles, The Mammoth Cave is the longest in the world. Flash photography was not allowed underground. So this is the picture we have to share with you from the caves today. After the caves, we were pretty done for the day, after our early start and all that driving, so we have stopped for the night in Bowling Green, KY. Just North of the Tennessee border... can you guess where we ate dinner???? Yep! Cracker Barrel. Another one of our traditions crossed off the list on this trip. :)
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We are not used to the time change yet, as we were wide awake by 5:30 local time. I am sure over the next two weeks we will get more settled into it. Showers, breakfast downstairs at our Hampton Inn , Dixie (yes the truck) was reloaded and gassed up and we back on the road again. Just 15 minutes down the road we crossed into our 4th state and took some time to get this.... Through Tennessee we made sure we made the most of the experience and the IPOD was set to play our Country Music Play list. ( Poor Ethan!!!! ) It's especially fun to sing along to a song that mentions cities or places along this trip like.
Em and I were excited about our next stop in Nashville, TN. Where most of these songs were written and recorded. It didn't take us long to get there. We saw the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Ryman Auditorium, and saw some great stores. Many were selling shirts and souvenirs for ABC'S TV show Nashville too. I loved all the cowboy boots stores... but the price tag was a bit too steep to bring a pair out of Nashville with me. Here is picture of the Hall of Fame. It looks like Piano keys. We stayed a few hours in Nashville, before heading south to a little town called Franklin. Southern Living Magazine, had a contest last year, and Franklin won it's Best Little Town in the South Award. So glad we made this little detour because when we arrived there was a Street Festival and Music Fair going on right on its main street. Franklin if full of Southern Charm. A beautiful old town with magnificent historic homes and an original main street and square. It was lovely walking around listening to the fiddle and banjo music. The weather is about 91 degrees F. So you all know that is a bit toasty for me and my hair. hehe So Franklin didn't get us as long as we would have liked. But bless them for the complimentary ice cold water bottles they were handing out. Back in the car, and back onto i-65 heading south to head for our next stop! ALABAMA. Many of you know about my little crazy goal...to see all 50 states by the time I am 50. Well Alabama was once one of those elusive states missing a pin on my map...until TODAY! I let out a little YEE HAW when we saw this.... Which was very quickly followed by a shout of glee when Ethan saw this.... The very first welcome center as we entered the state had its very own Saturn Rocket. He's a very excited boy knowing very well that tomorrow is the day he gets to go back to Space Camp. So we have now officially arrived in Huntsville, AL. ... by the way they pronounce it Hunts-vull. We are staying almost right across the highway from the NASA - Space Training Center where Space Camp will take place. It's right there, and our boy will discover it all for the next week. We have had some dinner. We have checked into our hotel, and everyone we have met here so far has been wonderful. Emmy thinks it was funny, and I have to agree with her, that the sales lady at a store said to us, "we'll don't y'all have the best accents". HAHA!
Tomorrow - Stay Tuned it's Space Camp Day!!!!! Quiet day here in Alabama. A little breakfast, a morning swim, a stop at the book store, a quick lunch...and then oh yes, that little thing called.......SPACE CAMP! Ethan had been quiet most of the morning. I knew it was nerves causing that. This camp is BIG and for Ethan things unknown is always his biggest challenge. But very soon those nerves disappeared and excitement took over. Once he realized the set up was similar to last years camp in Laval, QC he was just fine, and was eager to get started. We arrive at the Front Gate. - I.D. and Registration Confirmation were required for entry. Once we were approved we are told to proceed to Habitat 1. Inside Habitat we are directed to Registration and Ethan is given his wrist band and information package. Ethan is in the HYPERION CREW, and his wrist band lists his hometown, and has his room number printed on it. It also has a bar code. The bar code is because a Space Camp bank account is linked to that number, and we have deposited money into his account so that when they have free time he can go enjoy and IMAX movie with some popcorn, or if he sees something in the gift shop he can get it for himself. Ethan has already met two other kids from his room. Blake, 12, who is from San Francisco, California. And Greyson, 13, who is from Chicago, Illinois. They have both flown into Huntsville. Ethan and Greyson are sharing the bunk, and both agreed this weather is HOT!!!!! It is 93F again today!!!! Once registration was over, they gathered the kids into their groups and it was a very quick goodbye and they were already out the door for their orientation and first activities. I will admit I got a bit teary. But I know he's already out there having fun. Love this KID!!!!!!! ![]() Em and I took a little road trip on our road trip today. We decided to go explore the mountains around Huntsville. While out and about and an hour up the road to Scottsboro, AL. we found something interesting. Some of you may know that name Scottsboro from the tragic history of the Scottsboro Boys during the 60's, but now Scottsboro is becoming known for something else.... Have you ever wondered where your lost luggage ended up... well we found it today. It's at the Unclaimed Baggage Center http://unclaimedbaggage.com/. It is two buildings filled with all the things those bags contained. There were surf boards, i pads, wedding dresses, and even soldiers fatigues. Because even military personal lose luggage while travelling. Here are a few pictures we took from the day.
![]() Electronics and Cameras . Wish I had the money to buy that lens up front!!!! After spending about 2 hours there, we could have stayed longer, we came away with some books, some DVD'S for $0.99 each and some clothing that still had the original tags on them. We are back in Huntsville now.... and Em is asking what's for dinner? I guess she worked up an appetite looking for treasures. So I hear it's cold back home. It got a bit cooler here today too. Which made our day outside just perfect. Em slept in a bit more today, and we had breakfast downstairs with some lovely people from the Dept. Of National Defense. The Redstone Arsenal is located just behind the NASA training center. A few of the people we met are from Arkansas, and have families travelling with them. Tonight Em and I spent time at the pool today with one mom and son, from this group. Let us tell you about our fantastic day! The Huntsville Botanical Gardens was our first stop today. http://www.hsvbg.org/. We were excited to learn about their summer special exhibit, Alice's Garden of Wonders. As you wander through the park, and through the beautiful gardens you discovered the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, The White Rabbit, and the Queens Castle. Em's favourite Exhibit was the Giant Round of Croquet that you could play with the Cheshire Cat looking on. Em and I liked the arbor walkway... where we found a few of our favourite things. There was also a collection of lovely statues of different kinds. Here are a few we really enjoyed. Em had some fun with this one though. "It's a Small World"- We were approached by a mom and her two kids, who after seeing our license plate in the parking lot, told us they were from Waterloo, ON. They have lived here in Huntsville for 8 years now, but have a Canadian Flag on their car. :) After the Botanical Garden we continued towards downtown. Huntsville is not a city full of skyscrapers. It is very well preserved. The Historical Society has made sure it has kept its old buildings and its view of the mountains. One of these great old buildings is where Em and I had some fun exploring today. Harrison Brothers Hardware Store. http://harrisonbrothershardware.com/ In operation for over 113 years. It was bought by the preservation society when the Harrison Family wanted to retire after multiple generations had been its proprietors. When the preservation society purchased it, they not only purchased the building , but all its inventory, and supplies as well, which still reside in the building as a part of the display and museum that is quietly run as the building is also still a store. I guess like us, the store draws you in as the customer, but then teaches you a little something while you are there. The upper shelves are full of cans and goods, the floor to ceiling little drawers are still full of nails and bolts, and the old telephone and order forms are still tacked to the wall. The store is still full of things to buy that you could have bought many years ago, like penny candies and trinkets and even the bags of marbles which Emmy picked up for herself. At $0.10 a marble she was able to fill a bag for $3.00. Picking shooters, and cats eyes and many other different colours too. But perhaps the very best part of our stop here was when Emmy went to purchase her marbles. She got to ring in her own sale on the 107 year old cash register that they still use every day. That was fun!!!!! The wonderful sales lady/guide told us that the reason they had a marble ledge on the cash register was for checking counterfeit coins in the early 1900s. Coins such as pennies and nickles would be tapped on the marble, and if someone tried to use a metal slug to pay for their goods, they would know, because they made a different sound. (There's your history lesson for today!) ![]() Keeping with our history theme we continued through downtown and headed up to Burritt on the Mountain. http://www.burrittonthemountain.com/ Located at the top of Round Top Mountain, it is a historic park where you can learn about homesteading farmers, and miners. Here is the view from the top of the Mountain. Look...we can almost see Ethan at Space Camp below. Do you see the white rocket? HI ETHAN!!! WE MISS YOU!!!!!!
Em was also able to try and be a gold miner herself. In the early 1900's mining hopefuls came to these mountains in search of gold. Today Em found some gold and crystals. (wink wink) ![]() Every summer the kids and I do a novel study and visit parks or museums or places that represent what we have read. Because of this trip, this summers book selection was our own local author- Christopher Paul Curtis' Award Winning Novel - THE WATSONS GO TO BIRMINGHAM. Those of you who know me well, also know that I have been interested and studying the Underground Railroad, and the Civil Rights Movement for many years. So this book was important for me to share with the kids. Though after years with me, they know much more about the subject than the majority of kids their age. For myself, it was important to me that after reading and learning so much about it, I wanted to visit one of it's most famous sites while I was here. So Em and I took a novel study field trip in Birmingham, Alabama today. It is about 1 1/2 hours south of Huntsville, and a much bigger city. It is also the city that during the 60"s was known as BOMBINGHAM. Bombings, Riots, Freedom Rider Bus Blockades, Boycotts and Lunch Counter Sit-Ins all took place here, and the most famous of those may be the Bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church , where 4 young girls were killed. Today Emmy and I visited the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. http://www.bcri.org/index.html, which just happens to be directly across the street from the 16th Street Baptist Church. The views of the church through the windows of the Institute was a very powerful and emotional part of the displays. Pictures were not allowed inside the Museum. So Emmy and I took them outside of the Church and the Dedication Park across the street which honours those who fought and even died for their civil rights. . Here is pictures from our visit there today. ![]() Honouring the Foot Soldiers. Birmingham's notoriously Racist Police Commissioner used Dogs to victimize and violently keep segregation intact. ![]() The 4 Little Girls. Killed when a Bomb exploded at their Church. Cynthia, Addie Mae, Denise and Carole. ![]() 16th Street Baptist Church - as viewed from the dedication park, and past a statue of Martin Luther King Jr. ![]() 16th Street Baptist Church After we finished at the Museum - we stopped of at the gift shop. They had a great library of books and information that expanded on the videos, newspaper articles, dioramas and displays we had just seen. I picked up a couple books, and well.... as you can see Em's still thinking about what she learned today too. Spent a quiet morning around the hotel, while we did some reading, and had some breakfast while we waited for the laundry to finish. Here are some pictures of our home for this week. Home2Suites - by Hilton. This is our first time staying with this branch of the chain and WE LOVED IT! Mid morning we headed downtown to explore Alabama Constitution Village. http://www.earlyworks.com/alabama-constitution-village/ We learned about some of the early settlers of Alabama, we also learned that Georgia, Tennessee and Mississippi were all states before Alabama. In order to be a state Alabama needed 3 things. 1. 66, 000 people. 2. The land they wanted to declare. 3. The laws. So 22 representatives of the state gathered here in Huntsville and declared they wanted a state, and they wrote the laws which their state would stand by. For a short period Huntsville was even the capital. But since the laws were made here in the north, the capital got moved to the south. ![]() Constitution Village ![]() Cotton branches. ![]() Spinning the carpentry wheel to help Miss Connie make a spindle leg for a chair. ![]() Working in the Printers Shop. Today we also learned where the phrases- sleep tight, and dead as a door nail came from. Sleep tight referred to the ropes or ties under your mattress. If the ropes were not tied tight to the boards your mattress would sag and then you wouldn't have as tight of a sleep. Dead as a door nail. When building doors carpenters or builders would lay out the vertical boards, and then nail on the horizontal braces to hold them all together. In stead of nailing them right through, and in order for there to be no nails sticking out the other side, they would drive the nail into both boards and then bend the nail at the top and hammer it sideways right into the board They called this making a nail dead, hence dead as a door nail. ![]() What else did we discover today....... This is an ugly jug. These ugly jugs were used in the area by slave women, to scare children away from liquids that were harmful to them. ![]() Em was able to ring the Constitutional Bell at the end of the tour. On our walk around Huntsville, or Rocket City as they call it. We also made this discovery. To commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the Walk on the Moon- Astronaut Alan Shepard and Huntsville Children share their footprints. That was over 20 years ago now. BUT YOU WANT TO KNOW THE VERY BEST PART OF OUR DAY!!!!!!!
PICKING UP THIS GUY AT THE AIRPORT!!!!!!!!! YAHHHHH!!!!!!!! Well today was the day we had been waiting for... Ethan's graduation from the Space Academy program at the US Rocket Center. We were excited to see him, and excited to hear all about it. Jason, Em and I all got up, packed up all our belongings, had some breakfast and checked out of the hotel. Graduation was scheduled for 11 am. We arrived at the Rocket Center at 9:00. Family members are given free entrance to the museum and facility on graduation day, so we took advantage of that to show Jason around a bit. When we were walking through the museum and past the mess hall we were surprised early with an Ethan sighting. When he saw us through the window he ran out to say hi, but quickly disappeared back in to rejoin his crew and complete his training. Graduation was still two hours away. ![]() Ethan walks by with some members of his team- The Hyperion Crew. We walked around a discovered a few more sight and exhibits on the grounds, and then Jason and Em rode on the G-force simulator... Em got off and declared- Nope, I won't be going to space. I didn't like that!!!!!! In one corridor we discovered a display celebrating a little movie called - A Smile as Big as the Moon. This movie is the entire reason we were here. Almost three years ago we saw this movie, and Ethan remarked on how awesome space camp would be. Jason and I looked into it of course, and as many of you know he attended Space Camp Canada last summer. At the Canadian camp Ethan was chosen as pilot of his crew and he and his teammates won the silver shuttle award for outstanding mission. Then this fall an email arrived with an invitation to attend camp at the US facility in Huntsville. It was an opportunity of a lifetime...and we accepted. Here are some pictures of the Smile as Big as the Moon exhibit. By now it was getting close to 11 am. So we headed to the graduation hall and found some seats and waited for it to begin. Here is graduation hall. The Academy Graduates were all marched in in procession and it was like a college graduation. They were seated, and they even had a few guest speakers. The first was the director of Space Camp, who spoke about the elite group of individuals in which these kids now belong. Graduates of the program are now considered NASA ALUMNI and she told all the cadets they should be very honoured to belong to it. The second speaker was a sponsor company executive who spoke about future job opportunities that space camp alumni can follow. He talked about the future openings in STEM jobs. (SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS). The third guest speaker, was NASA ASTRONAUT, Dr. Don Thomas. He is a three time missioned astronaut, and Ethan was very excited to learn from him this week. He was involved in the mission simulations, and handed the graduates their diplomas today. Here is Dr. Thomas speaking to the graduates. ![]() Then it was time for the almost 300 graduates to receive their diplomas. Each crew were presented their diplomas together. Each member of the crew is introduced with their name, their state, (or country in our case), and their position on the crew. When Ethan's name was announced, we excitedly found out that he had been chosen as the International Space Station Commander. ( Our very own Chris Hadfield!!!) After the diplomas were given out, it was time for the awards to be announced. - I have video of his graduation- just too large a file to upload here. - There were 4 crew awards given out. 2 awards to the advanced academy- 16 years and older. and 2 awards to the Space Academy - 12- 16 year old. There were 300 graduates making up 16 crews .... and guess what???? Team HYPERION won OUTSTANDING CREW!!!!!! OUR BOY BROUGHT HOME AN AWARD FROM CAMP!!!! You can not imagine how proud and pleased we are for him. Out of the 300 kids- 1 was from Germany, 1 was from Korea, 4 were from the UK and 1 great kid was from Canada. The other 273 were from all over the US. After graduation Ethan ran up to us, and once again exclaimed how much he loved it. Such a wonderful experience for him. By late afternoon we were done and it was time to leave Huntsville, we had some traffic, but once we were back on i-65 we were moving. We are now headed SOUTH again. We stopped for some yummy dinner- BBQ! Mac and Cheese, Ribs, Catfish, Coleslaw and Fresh Watermelon were on our table tonight. Oh, and lets not forget the lemonade. http://www.jimnnicks.com/ And have stopped for the night in Greenville, AL. . We will continue down to Mobile tomorrow and across the coast. But we have just found out that most of Alabama and Mississippi will be joining us there. It is their last weekend of summer. School starts here on Tuesday. It's so nice to have the four of us back together. It's been a wonderful day. But it's time for bed. Night y'all Today we headed south on i-65 through the rest of Alabama. Crossed over a few causeways as we made our way out of the mountains and to the bayous. Soon we were through Mobile, and it was our last sighting of Alabama. ( What a wonderful time we had there.) Before we knew it we were excited to cross another state off the map when we arrived here.... In Mississippi we saw signs for the Gulf Shores National Seashore. We turned into the park and headed for the visitor center. A park ranger signed our National Parks Passport Book, and we got another stamp for it that we were missing. Then he showed us a 20 minute video about The National Seashore, and guided us to some nature trails where we saw some birds, some crabs, and then this guy. By just after noon we had arrived at our stopping point for the day. We had pre-booked a hotel on the Beach in Biloxi to enjoy a much deserved lazy afternoon in the sand. Biloxi Beach and it's sandy white beaches is our playground for tonight. Here are a few picks of our afternoon in the sun. ![]() We got hungry a little while ago, so we headed down the street and had some dinner at this place. ![]() But now we are back in our room, and we are looking out our window at this view. So I think we may be headed back out there very very soon. ![]() Woke up this morning in Biloxi, Mississippi. We opened the curtains to this view out of our window. The shrimping boats were out very early. Just a few more miles down the road we hit our 7th state of this trip.... and then were headed across the bayou and into the BIG EASY..NEW ORLEANS. We found a parking spot and paid the 30.00 for the day. Which is very affordable by New Orleans standards. Then we walked straight to Jackson Square and found ourselves a carriage driver to take us for a private tour around THE FRENCH QUARTER. It is very hot here today, so the tour was a great way to stay a bit cooler and to save our feet. But mostly a fantastic way to cover a lot of ground and get a great tour and hear the history of New Orleans. Here are some pictures from our carriage ride. ![]() We saw this house with lots of Mardi Gras beads. ![]() And this one with its Romeo spikes above the door ways. They kept thieves, or suitors away from the daughters of the house. Go up a Romeo, you come down a Juliet. haha The boys thought this was funny! Ouch! Emily helped our tour guide Nancy feed our mule ELVIS his carrots after our ride. Opps...he dropped it! After our tour we walked across the street to one of New Orleans most famous restaurants... CAFE DU MONDE. The serve chickory coffee and hot delicious Beignets. We stood in line and waited our turn to get those delicious beignets. ![]() We found a bench in Jackson Square to eat them. Here is a picture the cathedral and the statue of Andrew Jackson. After our delicious and powdery snack we were re-energized for our walk around the French Quarter on our own. One of our first stops was the voodoo store which Jason was very curious to check out. He bought me a little voodoo worry doll. HMMM... I guess I have to apologize for making fun if it actually works. Here's the one Jason bought himself. A few more photos from around New Orleans. The Mighty Mississippi River and around town. After all that walking and sightseeing in the heat ..we were HOT AND HUNGRY. It was time for dinner and to disappear inside for some air-conditioning. Seeing as we were on the Mississippi River this place seemed like a great choice. Even better was that they served one of New Orleans other famous dishes - POBOYS. A stop off at the convenience store before checking in for the night found us these fun coke bottles... Next stop is our hotel. Staying at a Hilton Garden Inn right next to the French Quarter. The kids love the 18th floor roof top pool.
We woke up in New Orleans, had some breakfast and took another little walk around the French Quarter before we checked out of the hotel. Here are a few pictures of our last adventures there.... After checking out of the hotel we drove to one of the places we were not able to get on our carriage tour. One of the old cemeteries. Jason captured a few shots there. We were soon headed out of the city and headed west on hwy 10, following the old river road along the shores of the Mississippi River. Our destination and our most southern point on this trip was OAK ALLEY PLANTATION. An old sugar cane plantation on the Mississippi River. We were just finishing our fantastic tour at Oak Alley when the weather gave us our first rain storm of the trip. But it was so hot and humid. ( It really does feel like you can cut the humidity with a knife in the south.) The rain helped cool things a bit, but what a down pour. Not so fun to drive in. We headed back over the Mississippi, and followed Highway 61! Yep, the very same Highway 61 I grew up on in Thunder Bay. I lived a the city where the highway ended, and here I was today driving along where it starts. We followed 61 until we reached i-55 and north up the interstate we headed. Because of the weather we just kept driving and decided to put some miles behind us today. Soon we had left Louisiana, and had entered Mississippi again, and hours after that were back in Tennessee. So normal people would head east, and retrace the route in which they came down on.... but as you know... we are far from normal... THIS WAS OUR OPTIONS WHEN WE REACHED MEMPHIS..... WHERE DO YOU THINK WE ENDED UP?????
Well we spent hours on the road today, making our journey home. First continuing up i-55 and then i-70. But we did take a break to have some fun too. We entered our 9th state of our trip just a few minutes up the road. Have you guessed where were headed..... Look up, look way up!!!! We arrived in St. Louis, MO and went straight to the Arch. We entered the Ranger Station..and immediately took our Passport Book to the desk to get our Stamp of this National Park/Landmark. While in line we enjoyed the museum and exhibit that you walk past... Jason and the kids had fun on these weigh scales.... ![]() Then we picked up our tickets for the tram ride to the top. Here are some pictures from the top of the arch. ![]() And then some more from the ground looking up.... ![]() After the arch we were on our way again, and across another border we go. We always make time to have a bit of fun on the road, for instance, Emmy's bunny usually drives every once and a while. ![]() or we stop at cool little towns to see their claim to fame like the worlds largest golf tee in Casey, Illinois. Today we slept in. Perhaps it was all the driving we did, perhaps it was changing time zones, perhaps it was just that after 12 days on the road...we were TIRED! We missed breakfast at the hotel , and grabbed some Starbucks for the road. Heading up i-69 now... nothing to really do today except finish our journey. We made a stop for a little back to school shopping, bought the kids some runner s and some jeans. So now they'll be all spiffy on the first day of school. First real shopping we did all trip too. Soon we were crossing into Michigan, and then it happened... the really exciting moment when this came into view. WE ARE HOME!!! ... and with the most fantastic memories of an incredible journey. 4801 km of fun, and wonderful family adventures!!!! I am now so happy that I did this blog, because it is like a journal that we can go back and relive when ever we want to now. Thanks for travelling along with us. Our next adventure isn't too far away...so stay tuned. |