Ceiling And Visibility Unlimited

Florida, Georgia, S Carolina, N Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Idaho

6-24 We stopped at the Florida line and I got my keychain and free cup of OJ. Then, again at the Georgia welcome center. The kids got a welcome bag with a coke and magazine. We grabbed Chick Fil- A. The first time in a long time. Next stop was Savannah, Georgia. We drove through the town. It’s a beautiful city. I wish we had more time to explore.
We went next to Columbia, SC. We are hoping to surprise Kelsey tomorrow with a stop at the zoo.
We got to the hotel at around 8. The kids swam. We went about 5 or 6 hours of driving today.
6-25
We started our day getting the kids out of bed by telling them we had a surprise. They were skeptical. Then, I told Kelsey “today is the day you see a koala.” She was behind excited. We got to Riverbend Zoo and Garden in Columbia, South Carolina at opening at 9am. We saw a few animals before getting to the koala habitat. It was such an awesome experience. All 3 of the koalas were awake and active, eating and walking around. The moms name is Charlotte, the little girl about a year old was Kirra. She was more active and all over. We saw her jump, walk, go backward, eat and even climb down a little and poop. It was pretty magical. They are only awake 4 of 24 hours, so we were so luvky. All the kids enjoyed it so much. They all have a greater appreciation for Kelsey’s love of koalas. The zoo was great. You had great, close up views of all the animals.
We stayed until about 11:30. We stopped a few times before we before we got to the border. I was trying to find a keychain with no luck. We also stopped at the NC visitors center. We got some brochures. The drive was beautiful. We took the Blue Ridge Parkway into the smoky mtns. It was a bit rainy and cloudy. There was a mist over the mtns. It is so green. We stopped at a lookout center by Cade’s Cove. We drove past a side street and Cale slammed on the brakes and went into reverse. There was a black bear right on the road. We watched him for awhile. A few minutes later, there was another one right next to the road. I was surprised to see them. Our next adventure sent us to Pigeon Forge for a unforgettable drive down the main road in town. The kids just couldn’t believe what they were seeing. So many go carts tracks, themed hotels, upside down buildings, rollercoasters, pool slides. They were in shock and awe. So was I. Such an unbelievable place. We got pizzas at Little Caesars, our cheapest meal in a long time, and checked into our room at la Quinta. We ate then went to look around at night and got 77 dollars worth of froyo. I couldn’t believe how expensive it was!

6-26
We let Cole decide the day since his birthday is tomorrow. He chose Dollywood, which wasn’t a big surprise because he loves theme parks. We got there at opening and made a big day of it. The funest part for me was not knowing anything about the rides. They were all a surprise. We had no idea if they had flips or turns. It’s built right into the woods so it’s hard to tell. We ended up on the mine ride because it didn’t have a line. We had no idea it went upside down. Kelsey had been nervous about riding the big one but she hopped right on, front row. She said she was pretty scared when she realized it went upside down but she was hooked. She rode all the rides the rest of the day. In fact, next to Cole I think she rode the most. We rode lots of rides. Cade started feeling sick about half way through the day. At first it was his stomach. He tried to power through but eventually just needed “air conditioning ” as he said. Kira also didn’t feel great on and off. Cole went strong all day. We did loose him for a bit at the end of the day when we went to a show and he was supposed to meet us but got confused.
Knowing we had a few hours to go tonight we decided to leave around 6. We stopped at a grand opening of the Sieverville (Dollys hometown) Buc-ees. It was crazy. The biggest one yet. It was packed. We walked out with a pretty big tab, but got dinner and some snacks. Cade got an icee….which probably didn’t help the tummy.
We got back on the road close to 8. 3 hours to Nashville.
6-27
We lost an hour on our drive. I woke up about 7 but everyone else slept until 9. We had a weird night. Cade woke me up about 12:30 in total panic saying he was going to throw up and he needed to go. I was so confused but stumbled out of bed and followed him to the bathroom. He proceeded to just ramble and freak out. He was feeling so sick and in pain saying I have to go to the hall. I’m going to fill the bathroom up. I’m going to throw up. He was completely delirious. It took about 10 minutes but he slowly came out of it and we got him to settle back in.
We went into the old town Nashville. It was a very cool town. We walked around but Cade still wasn’t feeling good, so we didn’t stay long. We saw the Ryman where the original grand Ol’ opry was. As we walked back to our car we saw a fancy waiting for people to come out of cmt. We hung around and it was Vince Gill. Cale was especially excited. We drove out of town to where the new opry is and Cole went into bass pro. We finally got on the road for the 4.5 hour drive to S Louis around 1. It wasn’t long before we stopped and got lunch, Cole’s choice of Firehouse Subs. We also made quick stops in Kentucky to get a keychain and see the welcome center. Kentucky is still green but also has a lot more fields and rolling hills.
We also drove through Illinois on the way to St Louis. We stopped once for a bathroom break and keychain.
We saw the arch driving into town and crossed the Mississippi River. We got a nice hotel at the Regency downtown. We had to valet park our car. We changed and then walked down to see the Cardinals game. We thought about going in, but it was over half over. We ended up eating at the health market. Cole got an ice cream sandwich for his birthday.
We walked back with the crowds from the game. There are two whole blocks of buildings that are shut down. One is condemned. One just vandalized. It was so sad.
Cole seemed to have a good day, especially that we got to celebrate yesterday at Dollywood.

6-28
The hotel was nice. We slept good. We got up and going around 7. We didn’t want to miss breakfast. We left around 9 and drove by the arch. I was surprised by how run down St Louis is.
We stopped in Independence for some church history. I hadn’t even realized it would be on our way. We went to the visitors center first and learned about the land there and the area that was dedicated for a temple to be built. We learned the history of the area and how they were forced out. We then drove about 20 minutes to Liberty Jail. The tour was really informative. We saw a replica of Liberty Jail. My thoughts were if God had his prophet suffer like that we all will need to at some point, and we can learn. D&C 121,122,123.
From there we tried to find some KC BBQ but didn’t have luck. We finally gave up and went in to Topeka, Kansas and ate at Panda Express. We then had 3 hours to go, we almost ran out of gas but made it. We got a room in Hays, right by Walmart.

6-29 We got up around 6:30, but by the time we got up and going it was 7:30 then we had to drive around looking for a place to fill air. We found one eventually. It was about 5 hours to Superior. We first drove by our old house and neighborhood, then got lunch and then went to see the Babcocks. It was so much fun to see them. The kids were nervous, especially, Cole at first. It didn’t take long and they warmed up. We went to their new house. It’s beautiful and I’m so excited for them. We ended up back at their house. The kids played and Leighann made us dinner. We ran to my old Walmart. It looks just like 10 mile one so it was so weird.
She took me on a tour of all the houses that burned down. It was so sad to see all the destruction. They have started to rebuild most things. We had dinner. The kids went swimming at their community pool.

6-30
We had hoped to leave CO around 12. Kelsey woke up sick and slept until 11:30. Kira and I went to Walmart and then to the Babcocks. We hung around. The kids scootered. Kelsey rested on the couch. After and hour or 2 she started to feel better.
The boys were so persistent and wanted to stay so badly we finally relented. It somehow had become 4 anyways. We went over to their new house and played ping pong. Then to play top golf. It was so much fun. I think we are reluctant to go home.
7-1 We made it home. We got up and left around 6:30 am. Cale drove by his childhood home on our way out, so it was 7:30 by the time we got to I-25. We made good time. We got lunch in Evanston and I drove the rest of the way. Our longest driving time yet on our cross country drive. Mom and dad and the Durgins were at the house when we got home. Cubby was super excited. It was fun. We got the car unpacked. The jeep started right up, but then died. The van had a dead battery. After charging it awhile it seemed okay. The kids had fun reconnecting.
It feels weird to be home. So many mixed emotions. Overwhelmed for sure. The house and yard are just so much. I also feel grateful for the experience. I feel sad it’s over. Sad to be home. It’s just a lot to have had life so simple and now it’s feeling so busy.