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We are home

Guess I better let everyone know that we are home. We got in Thursday night on the fast ferry Chenega. Left Valdez at 4:30 and we were home before 6:30! It felt pretty good to sleep in my own bed after 6 weeks on the road. We put over 8700 miles on the car which is almost more than I put on my car since I bought it 7 years ago! I am so thankful that we had such an awesome time every step of the journey. We didn't do such a great job keeping up with the blog once we got to Oregon. Way too busy! I think Cadi mentioned that we went to Seattle, Ellensburg and Bend. Then after that we headed to the Oregon coast for our reunion with our "Chinese cousins" We have been getting together with these two families for the last 10 years and have gone from 1 Chinese daughter to 7. This is such a treasured time each summer. After we got back from the beach we had one day to pack and then we headed back up the highway. We took 6 days going back stopping in Cache Creek, Dawson Creek, Muncho Lake, Whitehorse, Tok and then caught the ferry in Valdez.
So now we're hunkered down in rainy Cordova just enjoying being home. Thanks for keeping up with us. Hope you enjoyed the trip!
P.S. I'm ready to retire, buy a motor home, homeschool and travel for a year. Anyone interested in starting the motorhome fund?

Josi says-

There's really only one event I'd like to say: Today we drove from Neene's house to Cache Creak, BC Canada(say that 5 times fast!). About 30 or so miles away from Cache Creak, there was a lot of smoke! And when I say alot I mean ALOT! We had to stop the car and pull over because they closed the road. Why? well a lady came over and said something about how there was fire next to a propane tank and how the propane tank could suddenly blow up! While we were waiting for the Water Bomber to fly over and drop hundreds of pounds of water on the inferno, Cadi and I played harmonica. Cadi played Home on the Range and Oh Suzanna, while I played something more appropriate: Amazing Grace. As we were about to drive away from all of it, the other cars started going forward. So we followed them. No one and nothing blew up.

The End.

Cadi says...WASSUP?

WASSUP PPLS? Sorry we haven't been keeping up with the blog. . .we've been REALLY busy!
Well, last week we went to Seattle and picked up our cousin Seth, who's going to a wrestling camp. We picked him up and stayed at the Comfort Inn. The next day we went to the Pike Street Market where we saw a magic show and TONS of people selling their food or arts and crafts. We also went on the Duck Ride, you've probably heard of it. It's a bus/boat! It drives around the city as a tour, and then we just glide into the water! We had some technical difficulties though, our propeller wouldn't work! We had some guy come and try to fix it, but he just managed to loose his $500 sunglasses down into the bilge. Eventually, another duck came to the rescue and the man got his sunglasses back. The captains were HILARIOUS! They wore all these weird hats, from a hat with ducks with flapping wings, to a red white and blue hat (it was the 4th of July) with hands waving pom poms! It was great! While we were on the water, we saw a house that was in the making of Sleepless in Seattle. Never watched that movie. . .Anyway, later we drove to Ellensburg and watched the BEAUTIFUL fireworks from a window inside the hotel. The next day, we dropped off Seth at his camp, and drove to Bend where Carrie, Clint, Marcus, and Keegan Burleigh live, our cousins. We stayed there with their dog Bruno for a couple of days. Then, we set off for Portland, taking Marcus with us. Marcus, Delleen, and part of the Marleau family are going to The Lion King! I WISH I COULD GO! I saw it already and it's GREAT! I encourage you to go if you can!

Cadi Says...

We are in Gresham now, staying with aunt Delleen. On our first day, we went to the library to sign up for the Summer Reading program. Later, we went to the Marleau’s new house for dinner. Their house is HUGE! It has three floors, including the basement. There is like a whole ranch house in the basement. The next day, we spent 5 hours in the Clackamas mall. We saw Toy Story 3 and went shopping for clothes. It was REALLY fun. Day 3, we went and saw Knucklehead #1, Dennis Ball and his wife Sue. Well, in Priest Lake, I discovered Doug Ball, Dennis’ brother, was a knucklehead. When we saw Dennis, I told him about how Doug and I teased each other and Dennis made it clear that HE was Knucklehead #1. Dennis even let us pull 3 big lemons off of his tiny lemon tree. WE GOT TO PICK FRUIT OFF OF A FRUIT TREE!!! WOOOO HOOO! Ahem. . .
When we got back inside, Dennis said, “We’ve got dessert!” Then he pulled out like two fruit pies, a cheesecake, a coconut cream pie, a Boston cream pie, and tiramisu! Even thought we had just been to Izzy’s (a big buffet) we had some of Dennis’ desserts.
Yesterday, we went to second hand stores, played games, and the xylophone. In case some of you didn’t know, I am a percussionist, and am doing VERY well with the xylophone. To you teachers out there, tell Mr. Thomas he will be maybe a LITTLE impressed on my skills next year!

Cadi Says...

The Wildlife Safari was awesome! There were giraffes, ostriches, long-horn cows and gazelles! My favorite was the emu. The emu walked up to our car and picked a bug off of our windshield! He had big eyes full of curiosity. It was really COOOL!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While we were in Grants Pass

Jacob, Lisa and Lydia Balint came down and hung out with us. We had a lot of fun exploring Jacksonville and the Applegate Valley and just being together. Lydia is sure a bundle of energy and she's not afraid of anything!

 

 

 

Mariah

After hearing about Uncle Bud’s horse Mariah for their entire lives, they finally got to go see her. We had apples all ready for her, which she inhaled!

Cadi says. . .
It was really fun to go to Tom’s farm and see Mariah, Bud’s twenty year old horse. Buddy always told us a about her, but we’ve never met her. We fed her apples and we got to sit on her back. It was really GREAT!

 

 

 

 

 

We are in Gresham...

Got in last night. Still need to catch up on some of our doings in southern Oregon, but wanted everyone to know we arrived. Over 4000 miles and two and a half weeks later we arrive at our destination.

June 25- Redwoods

Quote of the day: We can get from Cordova, Alaska to Crescent City California without getting lost, but once we get out of the car without our GPS we get lost in the redwood forest!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cadi Says...

Okay, I’m not the biggest fan of spiders so this house had, like Josi’s, not the best impression. But later, I got settled in and it was all fine. Today we are going to a Redwood forest. Ever since I did a presentation on California in like the 4th/3rd grade, it’s like ‘huh, that would be kind of a cool thing to see a really big tree with a big trunk and big branches and that was red colored’. When I get there, I’m going to go to the first tree I see and wrap my arms as far as they will reach around it. Weird huh?
P.S. If Chandelle, since you OBVIOUSLY don’t check you email, I might as well post this on the blog, this is what you get, public announcement, sorry buddy. I miss going to the lake with you, I miss jumping on the trampoline with you, and just screwing around! It’s kinda nice when you have someone around to talk and laugh with, and when they are gone, it’s kinda like a part of you is gone. You are like an antique or a best friend, irreplaceable. Sorry for all that mushy stuff you KNUCKLEHEAD. By the way, I left a message on your home phone. .

Josi says...

I don’t have much to say. Ummm. We’re at Wanda and Buds house watching a movie. The first impression of their house is dust, spiders, spider webs, cobwebs, miscellaneous bugs, and a 2-inch-long-1 ½-inch-wide-beetle-that-won’t-go-into-the-cup-like-we-want-it-to bug. Ewwwww… But then again when we got settled it was great! Anyway we came up to the driveway and guess what greeted us? A deer! And then at dinner (of chicken, bread and grapes), we saw a turkey with a bunch of its babies! Wow! So, nothing more to say.
(Hi Mrs. VanDyck! :-)

Quote of the day-overheard at Crater Lake...

I’m not too crazy about this view. (Some woman who obviously had her head up her rear while looking at Crater Lake!)