Our Last Day on the Road

We had planned to split this last day into two days, but we were all getting tired and cranky.  SO...we looked at the map and made some adjustments to our journey and made it to my mom's by the end of the day.

We started out at a reasonable time (no real rush) and made it to our first stop of the day...

We actually made it before the park opened...but we were not sure where to go to see the battlefield.  So we waited for the visitor center to open.  It turned out that we were the only visitors of the morning and the ranger asked if we would like to assist in raising the flag...AWESOME!!!!  Edward was chosen to help and he did a great job!  The rest of the family stood at attention and recited the pledge.

We enjoyed the museum and then walked around the path that led around the museum.  It had buildings arranged around the area, but what interested us the most was the display sharing the importance of prescribed burn.  It was definitely a reminder of all the work we have done with the wildlife project.

We then walked out on the battlefield and were amazed at what once happened here.  It is such a peaceful place but it also felt kind of sad to think so many died here.  Such a terrible time in our country's history...I always stop to think about how our country...based on equal rights...could have been a model of unity...and yet we hurt those who truly protected and cared for this land for generations before our arrival!

Yes there was much rejoicing our children were able to raise their hands to pledge their desire to keep this history available for future generations!  I truly love this program...looking at our two oldest in this picture...it will be sad when these two are no longer accepting the challenge...but I hope they grow to love the parks into their adulthood.  

We were not able to stay long and linger on these thoughts as we were meeting one of my cousins (Rosemary) near Oklahoma City.  We were going to return to one of our favorite restaurants...Pops Diner!  Great food as we have come to expect.  Very crowded as we were greeted by several buses on our way into the parking lot.  That was OK because it was a beautiful day and we could enjoy the outdoor seating in the back...open space for children to run around included!

It was nice to have the time to talk to Rosemary about family and update her family listings with what I know.  I especially enjoyed hearing about our family in Ireland and how it is possible to visit some of the family who stayed in our home lands.  It just makes that desire to take that trip back to Ireland grow even more!  I guess I need to start saving my pennies now!

But, for today...we were just happy to make it back to our current home land of TEXAS!!!!

We continued the drive straight into Texas..then it was a race to see who would be the first into Texas on foot!  We stopped long enough to celebrate with our pop from Pops as we crossed the border.

There was also a war memorial at this rest stop, so we took the time to remember our veterans, past and present.

Then it was back in the van for the last push to make it back to mom's before the end of the day...we were pushing the limits arriving just before midnight!  However, the goal to be at her house for Mother's Day was accomplished and all were happy!

Back in Texas but Much To Do and Explore

So...we made the trip and enjoyed all that we could of the other states...but when we got to Texas our only desire was to make it home.  This meant leaving out a few stops along the way.  Well, we had already decided after this last year of seeing so much on the West Coast that we needed to explore Texas in more detail upon our return.  SO...in the last couple of weeks...along with moving into our house...we did a little back tracking to see a few things.  We like to consider this part of our trip home.

Here are some of the highlights:

May 14

The newest park in the National Park system is Waco Mammoth!  We could not up coming to see this colossal park!

While in Waco, we also did a little geocaching.  It was a rainy day so we only made a few strategic stops, but the rain actually stopped long enough for us to make a stop at the famous Magnolia store and this interesting bridge and art work nearby.

Yes...our little miss decided to ruin the picture!  

May 15

We explored our new neighborhood a little.

First a stop at the most important place...our new church...St Anthony Marie Claret.

Then a quick cache placement in our empty neighborhood...as in empty of caches!  We will need to remedy that soon!

Started with a new geocache placed to welcome us to the neighborhood!

Then a trip to our neighborhood park!

And stayed in our empty house!

Then when we got a little stir crazy, we remembered we had a 4H workshop for Sean and that we needed food!  So I dropped some off at the workshop (more about that on our 4H blog!) and I went to the near by grocery store with some of the others!

May 16

The movers arrive with TWO big trucks and too many crates!

While the guys are working hard to unload, Michael takes the children to our next most important place in the neighborhood...the local library!

They arrive home in time to watch the beds being put together...but the movers are having a little trouble with the triple bunk bed.  They have never seen anything like this before!  It took them a little time to figure it all out!

It's a good thing we had fun movers...can you believe they had an audience while they put the beds together?

Still working on those bunk beds!

Little Miss is loving her bed!

Not so much for the boys!

And then the movers were driving away in the sunset!

We had an ace in the hole...a nice dinner out planned after the busy day at our favorite spot nearby!

Everyone crashed hard after the long day...bless their hearts!  Even the bunk beds were finally in place so they could all have a good night sleep!

And I was left with boxes stacked above my head to worry about another day!

May 17

Our not so old van had been driven A LOT of miles while we were on the West Coast and we were having issues...so in spite of the fact that it seemed a silly prospect...we made the decision to trade it in for a newer van.  So with boxes still in need of unpacking and other details left undetermined...we we found a deal that we thought would work for us.  Lord help us!   

[UPDATED July 2016] 

A new van of white would later seem fitting as the craziness would soon begin that would eventually put 7000+ miles on this new van in less than two months!  We do seem to find adventure in our lives...I know God will be riding along for this crazy ride that I will tell about this in another post!