Day 42 of the Road Tripping Trio 2017 ….the LAST day….

Today we made breakfast burritos and packed up.  We went swimming one more time, in Lake Mendocino, then we stopped and took some pictures of us and our van Aloha.  On our way home, we stopped at a river spot that we used to go to when I was little.  The water was SUPER high!  It was pretty cold, but it was REALLY hot out, so the water felt nice.  We swam for a few minutes then we headed out.  We were about an hour away from home.  It felt like the shortest hour ever because I knew exactly where we were.  When we got home I finally got to see my cat Jar Jar.  I cried because I missed him a lot.  He was kind of confused I think.  It took him about 10 minutes to remember who I was.  When he finally remembered me, he snuggled with me just like he used to.  I really loved the road trip, but I’m glad to be home.

Day 41 of the Road Tripping Trio….

Today we woke up at the Walmart in Oregon.  We headed straight to Lake Mendocino in Ukiah, California to surprise my Grandparents.  When we got there, we couldn’t find them, but then they saw us in the Aloha Van, so it wasn’t a surprise.  They were there because it was my Grandma’s friend Renee’s birthday.  We hung out at the campsite for a little bit while they all packed up their stuff to leave.  When they were done, we went down to the lake and we swam for a little bit.  That’s when we called our friend Shanna and asked if she wanted to come camp with us.  Shanna was the one that was taking care of our house, and my cat Jar Jar while we were on the road trip.  When Shanna came, we swam for another 30 minutes, and then Renee had to leave.  After swimming we had soup, salad and potatoes.  All of us except for my Grandpa (he was keeping an eye on the campfire) went down to night swim and take some night photos.  When we got back up to the campsite, Shanna caught a pretty big king snake.  While she was holding it it pooped on her, and then she put it on my neck and it pooped on me.  It was pretty gross.  After we washed the poop off, we all got ready for bed.  I got to sleep in the hammock on our very last night.

Day 40 of the Road Tripping Trio….

Today we woke up at a Walmart in Idaho.  We drove straight through Washington then we stopped for lunch in a town called Bend, Oregon.  When we got to Bend, we stopped at a brewery called Deschutes.  I got a pizza with pepperoni, sausage, and mushrooms and a Dr. Pepper to drink.  My parents shared a burger and had some beer.  After we ate, we went in a little gift shop and met a lady who used to live in Marin County.  My mom got a copper necklace from her that said “Off To See The World” with a van on it. While we were in the gift shop I got a cup that is pretty much indestructible.  It can stand up to 500 degrees, and you can freeze stuff in it, because it’s silicone.  After Bend, we headed to a camp site we thought we would be able to stay in, but they said they were all booked.   We still played frisbee at the day use area.  We also felt the water in the river and it was freezing so we didn’t swim in it.  After an hour or so, we drove to another Walmart to stay for the night.  When we got there, there was a giant swarm off mosquitoes above the van.  It was INSANE! There were swarms of them everywhere!  We all stayed in the van and went to sleep.

Day 39 of the Road Tripping Trio….

Today we woke up in the town of Golden, British Columbia.  We think they call it Golden because when the sun shines on their river it looks like it’s made out of gold.  We woke up and pretty much headed straight to Wild Waters.  We were the first ones there, so we went inside and filled out the waivers.  Once more people came we got our water gear on.  Our gear was wetsuits, booties, fleece sweaters, splash jackets, life jackets, and helmets.  Then we got on their bus to ride down to the water.  We met this really cool guy that worked there named Carlos.  He is from Costa Rica, so we were talking to him about our trip there a couple of years ago.  Everyone that worked there were super nice and really funny.  When we got to the boat launch one of the guides, named Matt, had me as his volunteer for an instruction, on how to pull someone out of the water and onto the boat.  When we started we saw one of the workers named Dan taking pictures of us.  The first few rapids were class 2 and 3’s.  I was in the front of the raft with a lady named Mary Catherine.  We were the “water blockers,” so we got soaked the most.  Once we got to class 4 rapids, it was insane!  I was super scared at first but then it was super fun!  We also went by a big rock in the water that I got to literally high five.  Once we finally got to the end I was freezing!  On the way back I put on a dry fleece that one of the workers named Mike gave me.  After rafting, we drove to a place called Radium Hot Springs.  This one was cheaper and better than the other one.  They had a hot spring pool and also a regular pool with a diving board.  I did a bunch of front flips off of it.  After the hot springs we drove through Idaho to stay at a Walmart.  On the way, my dad thought he saw a Sasquatch because he saw glowing eyes in the trees.  Then as soon as we got to Walmart we went to bed.

Day 38 of the Road Tripping Trio….

Today we woke up at Tunnel Mountain Village.  When we woke up, I had cereal and my parents had eggs and Canadian maple bacon.  After breakfast we headed towards Moraine Lake in Banff National Park.  We got the van ready and got our swim stuff on.  It was about an hour and a half drive until we got there.  When we got there we rented a canoe for an hour but, the people that worked there said  that they didn’t really care if you went over by like 30 minutes.  We got out in the middle of the lake and we had a snack & drank our drinks for a few minutes.  We were the only people out in the water.  The water was so calm and SO blue!  It was the bluest water EVER!  It looked like we were in a massive pool.  We rowed to a piece of land where I took some pictures of my mom while she was on the canoe by herself.  Meanwhile, my dad was flying the drone.  After being on the island, we rowed back to the dock.  Once we left the lake, we headed to Yoho National Park which was literally right next to Banff.  We headed to a place called Natural Bridge.  It’s a rock formation that looks like a bridge going over the river, which was created by the movement of the water.  Although you are not allowed to go on it people were still doing it, even a little girl.  The rapids underneath the bridge were like a whirlpool with a bunch of rocks in it.  While people were being dumb, my dad was droning it.  We decided to go to a lake called Emerald Lake.  It is kind of like Lake Moraine but a little more touristy.  I decided to go in and take a dip, that took me SO long to get all the way in.  I dunked my head in the glacier water like 3 times.  While I was getting in the water my mom recorded me and took some pictures.  We started to head back to the campsite in Banff, but then we decided not to.  We thought we should just stay somewhere closer to where we were going tomorrow.  We scheduled a rafting trip at Wild Waters Adventures.  If we went back to the campsite, we would have had to drive like 2 hours.  So we decided to just stay in Golden, British Columbia.  On the way back to Golden we saw a cave that I wanted to check out.  It wasn’t very deep, but we had our flash lights in there and a bat flew out!  After we saw the bat we kind of just ran and got in the van.  Then we stayed by some baseball fields in Golden for the night.

Day 37 of the Road Tripping Trio….

When we woke up, we drove to Banff National Park.  While we drove through it, I started to second guess if Glacier is my favorite National Park.  When we got to there, we went to Banff Hot Springs.  That was the second hot spring that I’ve been to.  I also went to one in Costa Rica a couple of years ago.  We spent about 30 minutes in the hot springs and then we got a campsite at a place called Tunnel Mountain Village.  We got set up and we headed back out to go on a Gondola.  While we where on the Gondola, we saw a big brown bear!  That was the first one I’ve seen NOT in a cage!  It was so cool!  We took the Gondola all the way up a mountain to a little trail to a restaurant that was pretty good.   While we were eating we saw a brown mama bear and her two cubs.  They were just walking around while people were taking pictures and recording them.  We were going to hike a little to try and see some more wildlife, but we were too tired.  So, we headed back to the campsite and we went to bed.

Day 36 of the Road Tripping Trio….

When we woke up we headed straight to Glacier National Park.  The National Park is in Montana, USA and connected to Waterton National Park in Alberta, Canada.  It is the only International Park in the world.  When we got there I took a picture in front of a sign that said Logan Pass, which is my best friends name!  Then we did a hike up a mountain to see a lake called Hidden Lake.  Oh, and we are in July, which is in the summer, and the summer is usually hot, AND WE HIKED IN SNOW UP HILL FOR BASICALLY A MILE AND A HALF!!!!!!  I was hiking in the snow in a T-Shirt and shorts.  It was comfy!  Glacier is the most beautiful National Park I have ever been too.  After Glacier, we crossed the border into Alberta, Canada.  We drove through Waterton National Park, then we stopped for dinner at a restaurant called the Canadian Brewhouse.  My mom and I had burgers with maple leaf shaped patties.  My dad got some lame-o sandwich, and he wished he got one of our burgers instead.  After dinner, we got into the van and went to a Walmart parking lot and watched Tommy Boy before going to sleep.

Day 35 of the Road Tripping Trio….

Today we woke up at Walmart in Fargo, Minnesota.  We woke up pretty early and my dad drove for four hours to the border of Minnesota and North Dakota.  Then we had breakfast at Rolling Hills at Truck Stop.  I got a strawberries and cream pancake, but then I saw that it was two HUGE pancakes!  Unfortunately I wasn’t able to finish it.  After breakfast, we headed to North Dakota to the “Grand Canyon of the North.”  It was inside Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  We got a stamp in my National Parks Passport and took some pictures of a bison that was laying down on the rocks at the bottom of the canyon.  Then my mom took pictures of me and my dad on top of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park sign while we were wearing our RSVLTS shirts.  After, we drove for a couple hours to a campground called Choteau Mountain View.  Once we got there we set up camp and played some frisbee.  My dad and I went super far from each other and tried throwing it that far.  After frisbee, my parents and I went into the lounge area that the campsite had and played some pool.  While we played pool we saw a cat named Camper and a dog that was super fluffy.   We played three games and got some ice cream.  We were going to play frisbee golf that the camp site provided but it was a few miles away and we already set up our stuff.  For dinner we had steak and potatoes that my mom made.  We had to eat quick because there where a bunch of mosquitoes EVERYWHERE!  After we ate we got situated and went to bed.

Day 34 of the Road Tripping Trio….

Today we woke up in Madison, Wisconsin.  We went to Resurrection Cemetery.  My dad REALLY wanted to go there because that is where Chris Farley is buried.  Before we saw his memoriam, I asked my dad if that was where Chris Farley was buried and asked if that’s why he showed me the movie Blacksheep.  I was right, it was!!  After we left, we stopped at a street by the cemetery called, Farley Avenue.  When we left Madison, my parents told me that Wisconsin is famous for their cheese, so we had to stop and get some.  We stopped at a place called Carr Valley Cheese.  That was where my mom spent 40 dollars on different types of cheese.  She’s crazy!  I got a grape soda and a changing color fire packet.  Then, we went to St. Paul, Minnesota to meet up with my Uncle JJ, his girlfriend and his friends.  We ate at a place called the Nook.  They are famous for stuffed burgers.  Every bite I took, cheese would ooze out!  It was one of the best burgers I’ve had!  After dinner we drove to a Walmart and slept there for 4 hours.

Day 33 of the Road Tripping Trio….

Today we woke up at the memorial of Kiera’s Great Grandfather and drove all the way to Illinois.  When we got to Illinois we met up with my two Aunts.  My Aunt Chris, and my Aunt Kim.  My Aunt Chris drove from her house in Chicago to meet us at my Aunt Kim’s house.  My Aunt Kim showed us around her home and the things she likes to do around there.  She likes to draw, write, play games, watch movies, and read books.  She showed us a little snack shack place with some good stuff that she likes to eat.  She showed us where she works at a green house where she plants and maintains flowers.  After seeing my Aunts, we stopped in a town called Rockford, Illinois so my mom could see the baseball field of the Rockford Peaches.  The Rockford Peaches were a women’s professional baseball team that played during World War 2 when the men were fighting in the war.  We went to the field because my mom loved that women got to play major league baseball.  My mom grew up playing baseball and softball.  She found out about the women’s professional baseball league when the movie A League Of Their Own came out.  That’s one of my mom’s favorite movies.  She loves watching it with her friend Heather.  When we first got there, I saw an original ticket booth that they used at the games.  There were also metal plaques that told us about the Rockford Peaches.  Some of the things I read were that the women’s league played from the years 1943 to 1954 and that Rockford Peaches were league champions in the years of 1945, 1946, 1949, and 1950.  We didn’t bring our baseball gloves but we did have a frisbee!  So we played catch on the Peaches field with the frisbee instead.  After Rockford, we drove to Wisconsin and stayed at only the second hotel of the trip called AmericInn.  For dinner we had pizza from a place called Rosati’s where my dad used to get pizza all the time.  While we ate at the Hotel, we watched a movie called Black Sheep, with one of my dad’s favorite actors, Chris Farley and one of my favorite actors, David Spade.  It was HILARIOUS!

Day 32 of the Road Tripping Trio….

Today we woke up at a boat launch in Ticonderoga, New York.  Then we left for Niagara Falls.  When we got to Niagara Falls, we took some pictures and walked around for a little bit.  At the bottom of the waterfall we saw a rainbow which was pretty cool.  After looking at the falls from the New York, USA side, we went to the other side in Ontario, Canada to see the falls from there.  I like the view of the falls from the Canadian side better because you can see more of the waterfalls.  We drove through Ontario and the touristy side was just like Universal Studios.  Once we drove through Ontario, we arrived in Michigan and we finally met a cool border patrol guy on our way in.  We drove for a couple hours and got to Cassopolis, Michigan where we visited a memorial of The First Spaceman.  His name is Ivan C. Kincheloe and he was a Captain in the United States Air Force.  At the memorial, there were a lot of metal plaques with information about him and stone engravings of his face and Air Force stuff.  The plaques said that on September 7, 1956 he flew an experimental rocket aircraft and piloted the Bell X-2 to a record 126,200 feet, the fringes of outer space.  Chosen as the first pilot of the American X-15, he was a national hero and spokesman for the U.S.A.F. and Space Program.  The best part is that The First Spaceman is one of my best friends Kiera’s, Great Grandfather!  We ended up staying parked there to sleep for the night.

Day 31 of the Road Tripping Trio….

Today is The 4th Of July!  Today we woke up at Ausable Chasm campground and went to the Ausable Chasm to go tubing.  We found out that we couldn’t go tubing because the water was too high, so we did a rafting tour instead.  We hiked 1 mile down to the river and then waited a few minutes to put our lifejackets on.  Our tour guide was cool.  She told us all about the Chasm.  She said that the first section of the water looked like we dropped 10 feet.  It really did!  Then she told us it was an optical illusion.  It was just like Magnetic Hill!  Right after that, we rode down a little rapid, then we turned a corner, then it was over! THE RIDE WAS LITERALLY 10 MINUTES LONG!!!!  It was cool, but too short in my opinion.  Oh and the price for it was $80 total for all 3 of us!  I was super mad!  Right after we were just like, “let’s get out of here!”  So then we headed to Ticonderoga, New York for the day and to watch fireworks later on.  In Ticonderoga there was a carnival set up right next to some falls.  I also saw some kids jumping off of a bridge into a creek.  So I went over there and jumped with them.  That was when I met seventeen year old twins named Christian and Michael.  They can do so many kinds of flips!  Both on the ground and into water!  After jumping a few times, my mom and I went on a ride that spins and goes upside down.  I did it two times and then gave the rest of my tickets to a little kid.  When we got back to the van, I went to go jump some more with Michael.  We jumped off a big tree a couple of times.  When he jumped off he was about 40 feet in the air and I was 35 feet.  I couldn’t climb up to where he was because it was too slippery.  After, Michael and I played some frisbee and walked around the carnival.  Michael did backflips in front of a bunch of people.  It was cool seeing little kids ask him to keep doing them.  We played some more frisbee and then the fireworks started and we went and sat down.  The fireworks were AWESOME!  You could hear and FEEL the boom from the fireworks!  A piece of a firework hit the car behind my mom, then hit her shoulder.  I kept it because it’s kind of cool.  It was one of my favorite firework shows!  That was one of the best 4th of July’s ever!

Day 30 of the Road Tripping Trio….

Today we woke up and went to a place called Magnetic Hill in New Brunswick Canada.  It is called Magnetic Hill because when you drive to the bottom and put your car in neutral, your car goes uphill BACKWARDS!  We read that it’s an optical illusion, but we still don’t get it.  After the hill, we drove to Hartland, New Brunswick and drove through the Hartland Bridge.  It’s the worlds longest covered bridge.  It’s 1,282 feet long!  After the bridge we went into a gift shop on the other side.  It’s owned by an older couple named Bonnie and Alan.  They were both super nice!  They told us that they used to get a lot of visitors until the interstate was built.  Now most people use the highway to cross the river, instead of the covered bridge.  It reminded me of the movie Cars.  Next, we went to a waterfall called Montmorency Falls in another Provence of Canada called, Quebec.  The waterfall was cool, but it didn’t look that natural.  There weren’t rocks where you think that there would be rocks.  Instead, there were concrete blocks and slabs.  There was one guy who totally ran into my mom and then into me.  When he ran into me, I totally bumped him and he bumped into his wife.  I don’t know what it is about us!  After the falls, we went to Quebec City.  We drove around downtown and took photos and recorded some of the old buildings.  It totally looked like London and Diagon Alley from Harry Potter!  Then we drove through Montreal, Quebec.  We were going to go into the Botanical Gardens there, but by the time we got there, it was pretty late.  It would have cost us a bunch of money just to go in for 1 hour.  So, we decided to head back into the United States.  When we finally got into the U.S, we were in upstate New York.  We ate dinner at a little pizza place called Giuseppes’s.  That pizza was delicious!  The cheese was super gooey and the crust was soft, yet crunchy!  After we ate, we went to a campground called Ausable Chasm Campground for the night.

Day 29 of the Road Tripping Trio….

Today is Canada Day!  It’s Canada’s holiday like our 4th of July.  It’s pretty cool because this year it’s Canada’s 150th Birthday.  This morning we watched 3 movies because it was raining.  We didn’t want to deal with the chaos of a parade, concert and fireworks that we were going to go to for Canada Day.  The parade got cancelled because of the rain, but the the concert was still going to happen later on.  The first movie we watched was Batman Forever.  Then we watched Batman and Robin, and then 3 Ninjas.  After the movies we went to Halifax, Nova Scotia, to see a concert with Deadmau5 in it!  If you don’t know who Deadmau5 is, he is an EDM (Electronic Dance Music) producer.  In order to see him we basically had to stay until the end.  We got food at a Gecko Truck, which was a taco truck.  I got a burrito and two tacos but I had to have my dad eat the second taco.  After we ate, my mom and I went to go look for a water refill and we saw a kid doing flips, twists and cartwheels in front of balloon words saying “Canada 150!”  He was really good!  Later on, we were all watching some of the people singing.  There was a guy that just stood right in front of us while we were watching.  He stood there for an entire song!  Once he finally left, we watched a guy sing who was pretty normal looking, but then the people playing the instruments looked kind of creepy.  When they showed up on the big screen, we started to laugh!  While we were laughing, this girl that was sitting right in front of me, kept looking at us with a super derpy face.  When she would look at us we would stare at her, and she kept doing it!  Once Deadmau5 was about to come on, my mom and I went into the standing crowd.  Deadmau5 was taking forever to come on, I couldn’t see, and I could smell like 3 different kinds of smokes from people smoking.  So we went back to sit down.  When Deadmau5 started playing, the fireworks started.  The music was good but the fireworks were just okay.   The fireworks were in their own smoke, so all you could see was a lit up cloud of smoke.  The firework show wasn’t very long, but it was still fun though.  After watching Deadmau5 and the rest of the concert we were all super tired so we went back to the campsite and went to bed.

Day 28 of the Road Tripping Trio….

Today we woke up and my mom took us to a Canadian National Park called Green Gables.  It was based on a book called Anne of Green Gables.  It’s about a girl who was adopted, but the people that adopted her thought she was going to be a boy.  The people wanted their adopted son to work on their farm, but they got a girl named Anne instead.  My dad and I have never read the book, but I mom did when she was younger.  Anyway, the place where the author used to live, is now a part of a National Park of P.E.I.  After Green Gables, we went to get breakfast at a place called Leonhard’s cafe.  It was ok.  I got the French toast.  It was good, but it was on a weird bread.  The hot chocolate was delicious!  My dad got something called Hot Orange Juice.  That was also really good. Then, we went to a brewery called The Gahan House.  I was just playing video games the whole time.   My mom and dad found a beer that they really liked that had blueberries or something in it.  After the brewery, we headed to another Provence in Canada called, Nova Scotia.  In Nova Scotia we got a campsite at a campground called Wood Haven for 2 nights.  They said that we could pick either spot 19 or 21 so we picked 21 because we were under trees.  The thing was, we didn’t have to tell them which one we picked.  We got situated in the van and put on the movie The Punisher.  I loved that movie, it is now my favorite Marvel Comic Book Movie!

Day 27 of the Road Tripping Trio….

Today we woke up and went to Fundy National Park in New Brunswick.  Throughout Canada there are a lot of very pretty sights.  Most places have red adirondack chairs that were put there so you can sit and look out at the scenery.  From those chairs you can see things like mountains, lakes, rivers, waterfalls and forests.  While my mom was taking a picture of me and my dad sitting in some of them, there was a mom, dad, and a daughter that just went right in front of the picture.  It was really rude!  After sitting on the chairs, we went to the visitor’s center and while we were in the visitor’s center, those same people that went in front of our picture were there too.  At the National Park, there was a GIANT grass field!  Once I saw the field I told my parents, “we have to play frisbee there!”  While we where playing, my Mom was recording me and my Dad catching and throwing.  One of the times my Mom got hit on the back with a frisbee that my Dad threw.  She fell to the ground like it hurt her, but she laughed really loud after!  After playing frisbee, we went to a place called Hopewell Rocks.  They were HUGE rocks in the ocean when it’s low tide.  When they are in the water (high tide) they are pretty much squeezed together at the bottom from the water, and almost disappear.  Then when it’s low tide you are able to walk around and in between the rocks.  My Dad and I would throw rocks in the mud and it explode everywhere!  We spent about an hour there and then headed back up to the entrance.  The walk was a half mile, so it was pretty easy, IF YOU WHERE WEARING SHOES!!!!  I was walking in the mud a LOT, so I had to rinse my boots before walking back up the hill.  My dad was helping me rinse them, and soaked them AND my socks!  So I walked barefoot on pebbles that where super cold!  After the rocks, we drove to Price Edward Island (or P.E.I.)  That is another Province in Canada.  We had to cross The Confederation Bridge to get there.  It was 8 miles long! The bridge is the longest bridge in the world that goes over icy waters.  When we got there, we ate linner (lunch/dinner) at a place called Ship to Shore.  Their food was REALLY good!  I got a Pepsi in an Original can, with a Dr. Pepper Burger!  That burger was way better than I expected.  After linner, we went to our campsite at Twin Shores Campground.

Day 26 of the Road Tripping Trio….

Today we woke up and drove to a town called Saint Andrews, where we went on a boat and did some whale watching.  It was really cool because we got to see Minke Whales.  They never jumped out of the water, but they did come to the surface for air.  We also saw Harbor Seals, Harbor Porpoises, lighthouses and a LOT of birds.  I did take a little nap because I was tired, but I still saw all of the  animals and views.  When we finished the tour, we wandered the little town of Saint Andrews.  I wanted to get a Canadian hoodie at a shop but my mom said I should wait.  Then, we went to Fundy National Park and went to a campground there called, Chignecto Campground.  For dinner I had Quesadillas and Chili again while my parents had chicken caesar salad and soup.  While we ate, we watched a movie called The Good Son.  Now, because of that movie, I am never going to look at Macaulay Culkin the same again!

Day 25 of the Road Tripping Trio….

Today I woke up in the hammock, and my parents had breakfast ready.  I told them, that was the best sleep I’d had the whole trip.  After we got ready for the day, we went down to Bass Harbor Light House.  We thought it was going to be big, but it was really small.  There was a little trail that went down to the ocean and a lot of rocks.  While my mom took pictures, I was climbing all over the rocks, as usual!  When we got back to the van, we saw a bunch of really old cars drive by.  There were at least 10-15 of them!  They were really cool looking.  After the light house we decided to get lunch at a place we went to 7 years ago, called Ruth and Wimpy’s.  My parents got Lobster’s and other seafood. Guess what I got?  A burger!!!  It wasn’t just any burger, it was a 4x4x4.  It was a double decker with 4 patties, 4 bacon pieces, and 4 slices of cheese.  You HAVE TO see the pictures!  After lunch we went into New Brunswick, Canada.  When we got there we lost another hour.  We found out that there was a time zone called Atlantic Time Zone, so we are now 4 hours later than California.  We got a campsite at a place called Island View.  We didn’t have dinner because we were all stuffed from our big lunches.  So, we just went to bed.

Day 24 of the Road Tripping Trio….

Today we woke up and went to Acadia National Park, in Bar Harbor Maine.  It is the oldest National Park East of the Mississippi River.  The first thing we did there was look at The Garden Of Acadia.  The garden was hand planted with flowers and ferns that grow around the whole park.  It was kind of small, but it was really bright and pretty.  While we were there, my dad said there was a plant for me called “Brown Nimrod,” and I believed him!  I still feel stupid.  Dad jokes.  After the garden, we went to a beach called, Sand Beach.  The name could have been more interesting, but it was still cool.  At the beach me and my dad did some awesome frisbee throws and catches.  We also climbed on a big rock mountain that was over the sea.  After, we went to Cadillac Mountain.  It is the highest mountain on the U.S East Coast.  While on the top of the mountain we Face Timed my aunt and my cousins.  Then I raced my parents up to the van and I won!!!  Then we went to the camp site again and had spaghetti and veggies that my mom made for dinner.  After dinner I went to bed right away in our hammock.

Day 23 of the Road Tripping Trio….

Today we woke up at the Rest Stop and we ate breakfast at a little Dunkin Donuts right there.  My parents didn’t really like it, but I did!  After we ate, we headed out to Salem, Massachusetts.  Salem is supposed to be a kind of haunted town.  Salem is mostly famous for the Salem Witch Trials that happened in 1692.  My mom told me a little bit about the trials, but I don’t really remember too much.  I do remember that she said 20 people were executed.  19 of them were killed by hanging.  Now, there are stores and museums all throughout the town.  One of the stores we went in was Salem’s first witch shop.  It was called Crow Haven Corner.  There was also a National Park there called Salem Maritime National Historic Site.  It was cool because my mom told me to read some of the signs that were around and I read that the Historical Site was apart of the Triangle Trade.  I learned about that in school.  It is when the Americans would trade things like sugar, cotton and slaves with Europe, and Africa.  After the little town, we went to a different part of Salem where we played in an arcade, got ice cream, and got popcorn.  I ate the ice cream pathetically, (it melted and got everywhere!) but it was good!  After Salem, we headed to Bangor, Maine.  On the way, we went through New Hampshire in about 15 minutes!  Also, we stopped at a store and I got 2 T- Shirts.  One was a Dr. Pepper shirt, and the other was an IT shirt!!!!  It was perfect because we were going to see Stephen Kings house!  So I put on my clown nose that I got in Tonopah Nevada, and my new IT shirt and we took some pictures in front of Stephen King’s house.  After a few minutes of looking and taking pictures of his house, we saw someone walking their dog.  We looked closely and my mom took pictures and zoomed in on them, then my mom said, “:that’s him!!!”  It was Stephen King!!!!  We saw him go into his house, just from being there for a couple of minutes.  It was AWESOME!  Once we left his house, we drove around the town of Bangor.  We realized that the town looked a lot like Derry, Maine from IT.  My mom told me that Stephen King based the book on a town from Maine.  We think Stephen King made up a town that looked like Bangor because he didn’t want Bangor to be super populated and crowded, because the town was so calm and quiet.  The town had the creek, the library, and even a house that looked kind of like a girl named Beverly’s from the movie.  After Bangor, we booked a campsite in Bass Harbor to sleep for the night.  I made quesadillas and chili for me and my parents while we watched IT.

Day 22 of the Road Tripping Trio….

Today we woke up at the Minute Man Campground, the super cool campsite, and we got ready for the day.  We did the laundry, ate, and brushed our teeth.  Then, we headed to Minute Man National Park.  A Minute Man is someone who is a first responder, hence the name “Minute” Man.  When we got there, there was a little trail going towards the Visitor’s Center.  We followed that trail so we could go get a stamp for my National Park Passport.  After the park, we started to drive out and we saw a turkey and it’s babies.  They were really cute.  After that, we left the park we headed to Sleepy Hallow Cemetery.  In Sleepy Hollow there are a bunch of famous people buried there. My mom wanted to see Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Louisa May Alcott.  They were famous Poets and Writers.  After we found their headstones, we left for Boston.  When we got to Boston we walked the city for like 6 hours at least!  We went to a National Park called the Boston National Historic Park.  Then, we walked part of the Freedom Trail.  The Freedom Trail is a 2 1/2 mile long walking tour through Boston.  One of this things that I think I will remember forever, was the Boston Holocaust Memorial.  It was really sad reading about how people were treated, just for being Jewish.  The memorial didn’t have their names on it.  It had the numbers that they were given instead.  My parents told me that they were given those numbers and they had to get them tattooed on as soon as they got to the concentration camps.  I felt really bad when I was reading everything.  I still feel really bad.  After walking around for awhile, we met a guy named Jimmy, who was working at an Ice Cream truck.  He was the coolest Ice Cream truck guy I have ever met!  Usually they are kind of quiet and don’t make eye contact, but Jimmy told jokes and he was really kid friendly!  We also went to a park that me and my dad did some sick parkour on.  I hung on a giant crane over a bridge, trust me my mom took a picture!  Just kidding she just made it look like that in the picture.  After that, we got an Uber to a FedEx store so we could get our tickets for the Boston Red Sox Game printed out!  Our Uber driver’s name was Sidonnie.  She was super nice!  We told her about our trip and that we drove from California.  We also told her about our website.  After we got the tickets, we got another Uber to Fenway (the Boston Red Sox Stadium).  Before we went into the Park we got dinner at a Restaurant called the Tilted Kilt.  When we got into Fenway I said, “Fenway is literally the coolest Ball Park I’ve been too”, sorry AT&T Park!  They have a whole side section with stores and food stands.  In one of the stores I got a David Ortiz plaque Baseball Card for 10 bucks!  I got it because I love David Ortiz and he just retired.  We watched some of the game, but we mostly just walked around looking at the Park.  The last thing we did in Boston was, we saw the finish line of the Boston Marathon.  We saw the little memorials of the 4 people that died from the terrorist.  I have watched a movie based off of what happened that day called, “Patriots Day.”  I still can’t believe that that actually happened.  Seeing the Finish Line in real life mad me sad and really angry.  I’m glad I got to see it though.  After seeing the finish line, we walked back to the van and drove to a town called Beverly, Massachusetts, where there was a rest stop that we stayed in over night.

Day 21 of the Road Tripping Trio….

Today we woke up and said goodbye to Sheila and Adam.  We got bagels at a spot that Sheila and Adam recommended.  It was called the Bagel Pub.  It was super tasty.  It was unique because they had all sorts of types of fresh baked bagels and home made cream cheeses.  I got bacon and cheddar cream cheese on a plain bagel.  The cream cheese had actual chunks of bacon and cheddar in it!  After the bagel place, we headed towards Connecticut.  While we drove through Connecticut we were watching Batman Returns.  As soon as the movie finished we arrived in Massachusetts.  We got a campsite at a place called Minute Man Campground.  IT WAS AWESOME!!!!  The fire pits were literally just rocks in a circle, with one big rock, it was super calm, and they had a store with almost everything in it.  For dinner we had salad and soup.  My mom and I had clam chowder while my dad had chicken and dumpling soup.  He calls it “One o’ ma Favorites!”  After dinner we made s’mores.  Then,  we set up the bed and we watched a movie called The Beverly Hillbillies.  My parents have seen it and they wanted me to watch it with them.  The movie was actually pretty funny, I liked when the Granny got electrocuted and she started saying, “ Na Na Na Na Ni,” over and over!  When the movie was over we all went to bed.

Day 20 of the Road Tripping Trio….

Today we woke up in the Escape Camper Vans parking lot/site so we can get the van Aloha.  We unloaded everything into the new van so that when we left, the Escape Camper Van people could put the sleeper on the top of that van.  We left so we could go to Central Park.  We stopped at a playground and I did some epic parkour moves in front of a bunch of kids.  While I was doing parkour, there were some kids having a water fight with water bottles, and then one kid went to the sprinkler and picked it up and started spraying the kids!  It was hilarious!  I jumped off a little bridge and some girl was like “Oh my god did he just do that!”  I played there for about an hour and then we walked around for a bit.  While we where walking around I spotted some guy who I thought was a magician.  So I stopped and watched with my dad, while my mom was taking videos and photos in the back.  The magician was super cool he was funny and he was really good!  If you want to check him out he also has a blog called “Magician on a Motorcycle.”  He travels the whole world on his motorcycle doing performances.  He also has an Instagram with the same name.  After Central Park, we took the subway all the way to Brooklyn,  to see our friend Sheila.   My mom has known Sheila for basically her whole life.  Sheila is super cool! She talked to me like I was an adult, not just a kid.  That made me feel really comfortable talking to her.  Sheila is a 7th Grade History Teacher.  I told her that my favorite subject was History.  So that was cool getting to talk to her about my school and her school.  When we met Sheila, she gave us a little tour of the Brooklyn Waterfront.  First she took us to a street by the Brooklyn Bridge.  Almost underneath there was a carousel which was pretty cool looking.  Then around the corner was a pizza place that we ate at called Grimaldi’s.  Sheila told us that there’s ALWAYS a line to get in, but when we got there we were the first in line.  BOOM!  Sheila also took us down a cool little path where we saw a couple arguing about something.  The guy in the argument grabbed something out of a girl’s hand and threw it, then he walked away.  It was weird.  After a little while, we got down to a dock then we turned around and headed back.  After walking around the Waterfront, we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and rode the subway back to the parking lot to grab our new van.  Before we got there, I had to pee SO bad that I almost peed my pants!  I totally started doing the pee dance.  We had to walk a few more blocks just so I could use the bathroom.  Once we finally got to the van, we headed to Shelia’s house in Brooklyn.  When we got there she introduced us to her husband Adam and their friends Cody and Nicole.  Her house was super cool, it was 3 stories tall!  While the adults were talking and having drinks, I was watching a movie.  When we finally went to bed it was ALREADY 2:00 a.m!  I fell asleep on an air mattress in Adam’s giant shoe closet!

Day 19 of the Road Tripping Trio….

Today we woke up in West Virginia and went to Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine in Baltimore, Maryland.  Fort McHenry is where the “Star Spangled Banner” originated.  When we got there my mom wanted a picture of me at the sign of the park and she wanted me go climb on top.  As soon as I got on top one of the one of the rangers said, “get off the sign please”.  So, my mom and I booked it into the van and we drove to the parking lot.  Inside it was super cool.  We watched a video of what it was like for the Americans trying to fight off the British .  Then, the Americans won and the “Star Spangled Banner” was made.  After that, we headed out to the fort.  In every room there were little interesting facts, like, old radio recordings of the battle ending, and a glass case with a super old letter, it was so important that it had security sensors.  So if you broke into it, alarms would go off.  Also, my mom asked me to hold her camera and when she was done I jumped on like a 1 foot ledge and then jumped off to give the camera back.  When I did that a Ranger told me not TO DO THAT!!!!!!  Then, later she was gone and a little girl started walking on like 5 foot ledge and didn’t get in trouble!  Once we saw everything we went back to the van and started our 3 hour drive to New York.  When we arrived at New York we went to go get a spot for parking and to sleep.  Then, we went to check in with the New Jersey Escape Camper Vans.  We talked to them about getting a new van because ours had too many problems.  We told them that we liked one of them that had huge flowers and leaves on it, and it was super tropical.  They said that they would give us it, but they needed to find the keys first.  Once they found the keys, they told us the name of the van, it was called Aloha!  That’s when we said we need it!  They said we can come pick it up tomorrow and we can move our stuff into the van.  We were all really excited about getting the new van!  Later on, we got a subway train card so we can ride to the World Trade Center (WTC).  The train was an interesting thing.  We saw lots of different people, a homeless man asking for food, he actually made me sad, a man that had a VR Headset on, and a women all alone picking her nose.  We finally got to the WTC and it was huge!  The spots where the twin towers stood are now big fountains.  Water runs off the side of them into a giant square, and then that water runs into a smaller square.  There were even buildings that were museums with pieces of the towers inside!  After the WTC we took the train to Time Square.  We came up right outside of Time Square so we could eat at a place called Heartland Brewery.  We all had different sandwiches  and a brewed drink from there.  My parents had beer and I had a fresh brewed black cherry soda.  After we ate, we went into Time Square and took some pictures and videos.  We wanted to make our way to the M&M store.  My mom wanted a picture of me in the same spot and same position as the last time we went to that store 7 years ago.  I wanted to get a button up shirt with a bunch of little M&M’s all over it but they didn’t have one.  We went up and down the 3 stories like 4 times trying to find that shirt.  After Time Square we headed back to the camping space so we could get some rest.

Day 18 of the Road Tripping Trio….

Today we went to a National Historic Park in West Virginia called Harper’s Ferry.  We took a bus down to a place called Lower Town.  It was a tiny little fake looking town.  We took a bus because it was free, so we said why not.  It was a town that people used to use.  Now they have stuff in the buildings so you can see what they used to do.   Like arsenals, cloth stores, dry goods, churches, and houses.  The really cool part was you could almost go in any door, go up any stairs, and just go anywhere.  We ate lunch at a little restaurant called the Potomac Grill.  I got ANOTHER cheese burger with a black cherry soda.  After, I got a Mint Chip Ice Cream.  Then we wandered a little bit more and then headed out on the bus.  We decided to stay nearby and camp at Harper’s Ferry Camp Ground.  When we got there we went swimming in the Potomac River.  The river is kind of gross on the bottom because there was a bunch of thick slushy mud.  There was so much mud that if you stood in it, bubbles would burst out of your shorts.  I swear I didn’t fart!  When we were done swimming, we ate dinner. My mom made REALLY GOOD B.L.T’s and soup for us. Then we all went up into the rooftop sleeper and watched the first Batman movie together.  Well at least me and my mom did, my dad fell asleep.

Day 17 of the Road Tripping Trio….

We woke up from La Quinta Hotel and headed to Washington D.C.  On the way, we went across a bridge my mom went across when she was a kid.  It’s called the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.  It is a 23 mile long bridge with two tunnels. When you go into the tunnels it seems like a normal tunnel, but you are actually under water, you just don’t see it.  You go under water in a slight U shape, so boats can go right over you.  I thought this was cool because they don’t have to have a draw bridge or a massive bridge to go under like The Golden Gate Bridge at home.  Once we got to Washington D.C, we went to the International Spy Museum.  It was SUPER COOL!  It wasn’t like a normal museum, you actually got to participate in things.  Like, in the beginning, you get to pick an alias. Mine was a 14 year old named Billy Henderson.  I picked that name because it reminded me of my friend Billy back at home.  I was a student from the U.S.A on vacation in London, England for 9 days.  I also learned some spy tactics.  Like how to check my surroundings, look closely and how to be stealthy.  Another one of the things you can do, is try and hold onto a really wide bar as it moves up, for a minute to beat the James Bond record.  If you hung up there for a whole minute you get a 20% discount from the gift shop.  I tried it and hung on for the whole minute.  I could’ve gone longer, but once you beat the James Bond record, they make you get off.  Oh and did I mention that the bar shakes, vibrates, and they pump wind at you?!  That place was also super cool because they had stuff from actual movies.  Like, gadgets, weapons, clothes, and cars.  After we were done, we got stuff from the gift shop.  I got and $18 Tumbler but then I gave her the 20% off coupon and then it was $15.06.  Then we went to the National Monuments of Washington D.C.  When we got there I tried to get a stamp for the Washington Memorial for my Passport book.  We got in the building at 5:57 p.m and the lady told us we had to leave because it WAS 6 and that’s when she got off!  So I didn’t get a stamp for that.  I did get my Passport book stamped for the rest of the monuments that we saw.  My mom took a picture of me in front of the Lincoln Memorial and the Reflective Pond doing a pose that me and my dad like doing.  This time I did it so my mom could take a picture of me so I could send it to my friend Billy.  After the monuments, we left Washington D.C and went to a campground called Brunswick Family Campground in Maryland.

Day 16 of the Road Tripping Trio….

Today my mom drove me and my dad to go see where she used to live in Virginia when she was little.  She lived in Virginia from kindergarten to third grade.  She took us to her first apartment called Edgefield Apartments in Churchland, Virginia.  She told me a lot of stories about what she used to do there with her brother and parents.  She took us to her first school there, called Churchland Primary School, and she said it looked pretty much the same.  The second school was called Churchland Academy, and the Mascot was a Patriot.  She said every morning the kids would say the Pledge of Allegiance.  She even showed us a short cut path she used to take to go to that school.  After that school year, she moved to a townhouse on Reese Drive, which was my Dantie’s (my Aunt) first house.  The third school was called Churchland Elementary.  That is were she learned how to play the recorder.  She still plays sometimes.  She taught me how to play too.  She showed us where some of her friends lived, a 7-11 that her Papa would take her to, and showed us the exact path they used to walk to get there.  When they first moved to Virginia, they moved out there because my Papahoney (my Grandpa) chose to go into the Coast Guard after being in the Army for a few years.  His first station was in Portsmouth, Virginia, which was 10 minutes from their house.  My mom told me the boat he worked on was called the U.S.C.G.C. (United States Coast Guard Cutter) Bear.  After my mom’s tour, we went to Virginia Beach.  The beach was awesome!  The waves were huge and they were breaking pretty shallow on a slope and it was high tide.  We stayed there all day and left to go on the American Rover Three Masted Top Sail Schooner, for a Father’s Day sunset cruise on the Elizabeth River in Norfolk, Virginia.  My mom wanted to do that because she did it when she was a kid with her Mama, Papa, Dad, Mom, and Brother 28 years ago.  After that we stayed in La Quinta Hotel for the night.  That was the first hotel we stayed in during the trip so far.

Day 15 of the Road Tripping Trio….

We left the RV Park and went to a place called Waterfront Park in Charleston, South Carolina.  It was a big downtown area that was super friendly and cool.  I got some mango & strawberry flavored Italian Ice.  We also walked around Charleston for a little bit.  While we were walking we saw a big water fountain.  There were a TON of little kids playing in it and it was kind of funny watching them.  My parents wanted to go to a Laguntia’s Brewery that they didn’t know was in South Carolina.  My parents told me that it originally started in Petaluma.  It was pretty neat to see a place that is really close to where we live, on the other side of the country.  The Brewery was super cool because there were glass windows everywhere so we could see how they make their beer. Everybody was super nice, and it was 3 stories tall!  My favorite part of it was the elevator.  It played Willy Wonka music while you were in it.  After Charleston, we went through Myrtle Beach, North Carolina.  WE LITERALLY SAW LIKE 30 MINI GOLF COURSES NOT EVEN A MILE APART FROM EACH OTHER!  Then we went to Wilmington, North Carolina.  That is where my parents went to ANOTHER brewery called Wilmington Brewing Company.  My Dad heard about it on one of the Podcasts that he listens to.  Outside of the brewery there was a Taco Truck.  So we got lunch from the Taco Truck.  We also went to Downtown Wilmington.  A big reason why my Mom wanted to go there was because she watched the shows, Dawson’s Creek, and One Tree Hill.  She told me that were both filmed there.  She fangirled!  For dinner we ate at a place called Slice O life Pizzeria and Pub.  Then we left downtown Wilmington and found a place to sleep for the night.

Day 14 of the Road Tripping Trio….

This morning we had to say good bye to the Florida Fam and Florida.  We headed to Cumberland Island National Seashore, in Saint Mary’s, Georgia.  We had lunch at a little place called Riverside Cafe.  It was like a greek theme which was kind of cool.  My parents got some what greek stuff, but then I was just sitting there eating a burger.  After, we went out to Wormsloe Historic Site.  It’s about a 2 mile long road that is closed in by Live Oaks and Spanish Moss.  After seeing Wormsloe, we drove to Savannah, Georgia.  We stopped at a place called Crystal Beer Parlor.  When we were there, we got some fried green tomatoes, chicken and sausage gumbo, a giant pretzel that was bigger than my dad’s face, and their famous Gawgia (yes they spell it like that) Peach Cobbler!  I also had ANOTHER burger, this time the burger was a double decker with bacon.  We left that place feeling like we were going to explode, well at least I did.  We drove around Downtown Savannah people watching.  It sounds creepy, but it really isn’t!  After Savannah, we drove to one of the oldest living things America, it is called the Angel Oak Tree.  Angel Oak is estimated to be 400-500 years old.  It stands 66.5 feet tall, 28 feet in circumference, and produces shade for around 17,200 feet.  From tip to tip it’s longest branch is 187 feet long.  After seeing Angel Oak, we drove to our camp site in Lake Aire RV and Campground in Hollywood, South Carolina.

Day 13 of the Road Tripping Trio….

Today my Aunt Sumer and I went to drop off Logan at work.  On the way back, my Aunt Sumer took me by the Daytona Raceway.  She told me that the Raceway was actually on a 45 degree angle.  She also told me that after a hurricane, it flooded the whole track.  The Raceway was HUGE!  One day I would like to watch a race there.  Later on,  my mom, my dad, John and I went to a gun store that was super big and really cool.  We went there so my Dad could get some ammo for when we go shooting.  For lunch we got Krystal Burger.  It’s kind of like White Castle because of their tiny burgers.  We got back to Great Grandma Patricia’s and I played on Logan’s computer while all of the adults took naps.  At 5:00 p.m we went to go pick up Logan so we could go right to the shooting range.  I shot Logan’s 22 Revolver.  I shot the Revolver by myself, but my dad’s gun I didn’t want to shoot by myself because it had a lot of recoil when he was holding it with me.  It was super cool being able to shoot!  After, we went to a restaurant that was super busy, it was called Aunt Catfish’s.  That meant everybody that worked there had to be called Cousin and then their name.  Our waiters name was Cousin Cody.  I ordered Frog Legs so I could finally get them on this trip.  (I LOVE froglegs!)  When I got them they were huge!  Usually I get a bunch of super small ones, so I had to take some in a to-go box.

Day 12 of the Road Tripping Trio….

Today we had awesome pancakes that my Great Grandma Patricia made.  They were so fluffy and soft!  There was also super good bacon with Cajun sausage.  After breakfast we went to the beach with my Great Grandma and Logan this time!  We went body surfing, attempted to dig a huge hole, and we threw the frisbee.  I thought I got stung by a jellyfish on the face but it was just a scratch.  I did get stung on the foot though.  When we left the beach, we went to go drop Logan off at work.   After, we headed to the house and my Aunt Sumer was there!  Technically, she is my Great Aunt but she is still my Aunt.  For dinner we had Brisket, corn, beans, and rice, and it was all super good!   When Logan got back from work he made me a delicious milkshake!

Day 11 of the Road Tripping Trio….

Today we went to Daytona Beach to visit my Great Grandma Patricia for a few days.  My Great Grandma went to go drop off my cousin Logan at work, then we went to get me some new flip flops because I left mine at Cavin’s house in Alabama.  After the store, we headed out to Daytona Beach.  As soon as we got there the van got stuck in the sand.  We were just going to fix it when we were done at the beach and ready to go.  When we were done, it took close to an hour of trying to get the out.  SO many people drove by with big trucks and didn’t bother helping.  There was one guy from Tennessee who helped my dad dig out the tires even though he didn’t have a car or anything.  While they were trying to get the van out I was in the water body surfing.  Eventually Beach Police came to help get us out.  We went out to go get my cousin Logan from work, then we stopped to  get free tacos from Taco Bell because the Warriors won the Championship!  For dinner we had delicious spaghetti that my Great Grandma Patricia made with the help of John that made the sauce with huge meatballs that were made out of pork, beef and sausage.

Day 10 of the Road Tripping Trio….

Today we went to Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. We went to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and the Islands of Adventure.  We got there at 9:00 a.m and headed straight to Harry Potter.  As soon as we got there, I got a famous drink from the book and movie called a Butter Beer.  It was weird, because it was super sweet but good at the same time.  The first ride we went on was the Hogwarts ride called the Forbidden Journey.  It’s a rollercoaster that went through Hogwarts.  That was my favorite ride of the whole park!  After a few rides, my parents bought me got a Chocolate Frog.  I  thought it was going to be hollow, but it wasn’t.  It was a solid piece of chocolate, so it was kind of hard to eat.  It was still really good though.  Too bad it didn’t come to life like in the book and movie though.  We also went on a ride called the Dragon Challenge.  It had a lot of loops and twists.  Then we went on the Flight of the Hypogrif.  Later on we took the train from Hogsmeade to Diagon Alley.  Hogsmeade is in Islands of Adventure and Diagon Alley is in Universal Studios.   On the train it had a little movie thing playing like you were going by people and creatures.  It was really cool!  Then we rode a ride called Escape From Gringotts, which is a bank in Diagon Alley.  It was a 45 minute wait, but it was worth it!  Then we went to the front area and went to Springfield that had a Duff bar, Krusty Burger, and a Kwik-E-Mart.  We went on a Krusty Burger ride and then watched Fear Factor Live.  It was really gross because they blended up a bunch of disgusting stuff like bugs, milk, and hot sauce and drank it.  We also went on a super fun ride called the Rip ‘in Rock ‘it.  It was really cool because you could select and listen to  music on the ride!  It even does video tapes, not just pictures.  We were one of the last groups to go on that ride because it started to pour and because there was lightning.     Since it started to pour we headed out to Daytona to see our family.

Day 9 of the Road Tripping Trio….

This morning we have to pack up and head out to Orlando, Florida.  We said goodbye to the Brennan’s for now.  We started to head to Orlando but the front of the van had been shaking the whole trip, so we stopped in Marianna, Florida at a Firestone to get the van fixed.  The problem was the tire had a hop in it.  That means that it would shake and bounce around.  So we had to get a whole new tire.  The good thing is we can send the receipt to Escape Camper Vans and they will pay us back.  While waiting we went to a pizza place called Hungry Howiez.  Oh, bye the way, this town felt totally deserted.  It was creepy.  The pizza place was pretty good and it even had FLAVORED CRUST!  It was funny because they were playing a show about cheese burgers on the TV.  After we ate,  we went into Winn Dixie (which is like Florida’s Safeway.)  The cashier even asked us what we were doing in Marianna, Florida.  After we got the van back we started for Paynes Prairie State Preserve in Gainesville, Florida which is were we are going to stay for the night.  We pulled in at night so we had pay in the morning.  We fell asleep at 11 pm because we were exhausted.

Day 8 of the Road Tripping Trio….

When I woke up today I kind of forgot I was at The Brennan’s house and I thought I was at home.  Cavin and I played with his superhero toys and had a battle with them.  We went out on the trampoline and wrestled for a little bit.  Then we went out in the garage and did some sick scooter tricks!  Then, Andrew (Cavin’s Dad) took all of us to his work at the Coast Guard Base.  He works in Hangar 1 which is where all of the helicopters are for the Coast Guard.  I put on all of his gear he wears when he does his job.  IT WAS SO HOT IN THAT THING AND MY MOM TORTURED ME WITH PICTURES!!  After the hot gear, we stopped and got 10 pounds of crawfish!  That was 2 pounds per person, but I only ate 1 pound.  After we ate, we headed out to go to a shooting range in Mississippi.  (Mississippi is only like 25 minutes away from Mobile, Alabama.)  We got there and I was going to shoot my dad’s pistol and Danielle’s  AR 15.  The shooting range was only open for like 20 more minutes and it was still 12 dollars per person that was shooting.  There was going to be 6 people that were going to be shooting.  So, we didn’t go.  It didn’t seem worth it.  Even though I was REALLY excited to shoot for my first time.  We got back and swam and went down a little hill on skateboards and scooters.  For dinner we had delicious home made lasagna (Thanks Danielle!), salad, and garlic bread knots.

Day 7 of the Road Tripping Trio….

Today we are going to visit our friends, the Brennan’s in Alabama.  We’re going to hang out with them for a couple of days.  Before we left Louisiana we went to the oldest cemetery in Louisiana, called Lafayette Cemetery No.1.  There were so many lizards living inside the graves.  I was so fascinated with how many lizards there were, I kind of lost my parents in the giant cemetery.  I ended up finding them taking some pictures of the graves and tombs.  We drove in from Louisiana, through Mississippi, into Mobile, Alabama.  We got to our friend’s house and we swam in their pool for a few hours.  I also jumped on their trampoline with their son Cavin.  Cavin and I got to drive their 4 wheeler around their back yard for a long time too, until it ran out of gas.  We also went out to play basketball, but we just ended up stepping on fire ants.  For dinner we had bomb enchiladas that Danielle (Cavin’s Mom) hand made!

Day 6 of the Road Tripping Trio….

We woke up in Vinton, Louisiana.  We headed out to see my mom’s friend that she coached in softball 9 YEARS AGO!  We ate breakfast with her and her son at a Waffle House in Louisiana.  After that, we left for New Orleans, Louisiana.  We got a sick campsite about 30 minutes out of New Orleans!  It was 37 dollars for the site, WiFi, free showers, laundry, plus access to a wave pool.  Also, every camp site had an outlet station.  That was really cool.  I also finally got to sleep in the sleeper on the top of the van.  We left for New Orleans and we ate at a Cajun restaurant called Mulate’s.  It was the best Cajun food!  Then we went to a brewery and stayed there for 20 to 30 minutes.  We also drove through alley ways with jazz music playing and lots of people partying.  It was super cool!  There was even a guy walking around with a snake and scaring people!  That was hilarious!  We got back to the camp site and pretty much fell asleep right away.

Day 5 of the Road Tripping Trio….

We woke up 4:00am and left at 4:15 to go to Jacob’s Well.  The well was kind of creepy at first because it was dark and deep.  People kept trying to touch the bottom.  They couldn’t because it was so deep!  I jumped off of a 15 foot rock like 30 times.  After the Well, we went to meet up with our family in Austin, Texas to eat lunch at a place called Terry Black’s BBQ.  IT WAS THE BEST BBQ I HAVE EVER HAD!!   I liked hanging out with our family.  I haven’t seen them since we visited other family members in San Diego.  My Aunt Darlene told us about a river that was close by.  So after we ate, my Mom, Dad and I went through a restricted area and jumped off a bridge we weren’t even supposed to jump off.  The bridge was really fun and it was probably 20 feet tall.  We did it because other people did it so then we knew its was okay to jump from.  The cool thing was, there were so many turtles in the water too.  I saw so many squirrels, I think I saw like 20 in 20 minutes!  After jumping and swimming, my mom, my dad and I played frisbee for an hour or so.  Before we left Austin, Texas we stopped at a food truck area and I got a smoothie, my parents got bread/cheeseballs put together, and some Mexican food.  Then we headed out as far as we could to Louisiana.

Day 4 of the Road Tripping Trio…..

Today we woke up at 7:30 am. in New Mexico at a campsite in Oliver Lee Memorial State Park.  We left at 10:00am to go to White Sands National Monument.  When we got there we rented a sled from the gift shop for the sand dunes.  We got to the dunes and it was SO white that the sun on the sand kind of blinded our eyes at first.  So we had to go get our sun glasses.  We got the sled and the GoPro and went down a super steep hill!  The first time I put my legs out I got sand all in my MOUTH.  It was kind of salty.  After a couple of hours and about six different steep dunes, we got some ice cream and headed out to Roswell, New Mexico.  On the way to Rosewell we stopped and saw the World’s Biggest Pistacio!  It was so random!  When we got to Roswell, it was not as alien like as we expected.  Even an alien store wasn’t that cool.  We stopped for dinner at a Mexican restaurant called Martin’s Capitol Cafe.  It was pretty good.  After dinner, right when we were leaving Roswell, there was a huge storm that followed us to Texas.  In Texas it got so windy and the sky was red with gray clouds that were moving SO fast. We stopped to set up the GoPro on the back of the van so we could video the storm.  After that, we left for Wimberly, Texas to a place called Jacob’s Well.  It’s basically a super deep pit full of water that you can jump into and swim in.  Honestly, I think it is kind of scary looking from seeing photos and videos.

Day 3 of the Road Tripping Trio….

So last night we stopped at Kaibab National forest that was only 5 minutes away from Route 66.  We went to an awesome coffee shop for breakfast called Brewed Awakenings.  It had fro yo, coffee, breakfast stuff, and pastries.  The owners kids were helping out with the place too.  After the coffee shop, we got some stuff we didn’t have from Safeway, then we drove towards Sedona.  We were going to a state park in Sedona called Slide Rock.  Once we got to the Slide Rock entrance, I had to pee SUPER bad!  So, of course I didn’t see a bathroom so I had to go behind a tree and pee in a bush while my parents were in the van waiting to get into the park.  Once we got in, the parking lot was pretty crowded.  Luckily, there was still room to swim.  It was literally a giant rock water slide!  We went down the rock slide a little farther and saw like an 8 year old boy trying to jump off of a big rock.  He sat up there for awhile not doing anything.  He was probably thinking about if he wanted to jump or not.  So I went up and jumped after about 3 seconds.  It was awesome!  I did it 3 times.  The second time it felt like my whole face moved up, like I was the Joker or something.  Once we left, there was a little gift shop place were we got Ice cream.  While we were walking back to the van I was eating my ice cream and tripped and almost face planted.  After leaving Slide Rock, we left for a 3 hour car ride to Segura, National Park in Arizona.  We stopped there so we can do some sunset photography.  We had a perfectly clear view to see the sunset where we were parked.  It was really pretty!  After the sun set, we drove towards New Mexico.

Day 2 of the Road Tripping Trio…..

This morning we woke up at 7am to get the day started (you know, brushing, eating, changing, all that good stuff.)  We headed out to Tonopah, Nevada at about 9am.  Last night we stopped at a rest stop right out side of Tonopah because we knew we could stay there over night and we could just do Tonopah in the morning.  What we also wanted to check out in Tonopah (besides the brewery) was the Clown Motel.  The motel has a bunch of clown stuff inside and people stay there.  Oh, did I mention that there is a cemetery right next door too it?!  I was super excited to go in and video tape the whole thing.  I think a big reason why I like clowns, is because my mom is afraid of them.  As soon as I walked into the office of the Clown Motel, there was clown stuff EVERYWHERE!  I got a clown nose and a Clown Motel mug.  The cemetery that was right next door to the Motel, had tombstones of miners that died horrible deaths.  Like, mine fires, heart failures, and getting hit by mine carts!  After Tonopah, we wanted to go near Area 51, which is a secret military base that has aliens in the base that they do research on.  The thing that is even more weird is that nobody knows where it is!  We think we got close, because we started to see alien stores and signs everywhere.  We stopped and had lunch in Rachel, Nevada.  It was SUPER windy!  After we ate, we headed out on the Extraterrestrial Highway (it’s called that because of Area 51 I think.)  Our next stop was Sedona, Arizona.  We are going to be going through Las Vegas, and the ride is going to be 8 hours!  In Las Vegas we stopped at Walmart to get some stuff that we needed.  After that we did what we did on the first day.  We are going to drive 3 hours to a National Forest and stay there over night, even though it is only about an hour away from Sedona, Arizona.  My dad told me the kind of sleeping we are doing is called dispersed camping, which means pulling off roads and sleep over night.  On the way to Sedona we realized that we would be passing the Hoover Dam, so we stopped for about an hour.  Honestly, the height kind of scared me, and my mom wanted me to sit on the frickin’ ledge!  When we had to leave, the loud speaker came on saying that the dam was closed for the evening and it said so many times I couldn’t count it.

Welcome to Day 1 of the Road Tripping Trio 2017…..

At first I was kind of sad and nervous about leaving home, my friends, and the rest of my family.  Once we got on the road, I was more excited than ever!  Our first stop was going to be Yosemite National Park.  That took four hours of driving from home to Yosemite! We wanted to go from Yosemite to Tonopah, Nevada but the road we needed was blocked.  The cool thing was the gate that was closed, was right next to a waterfall.  We stayed there and did some photography and felt the water.  While we were next to the waterfall, my dad was video taping everything from under the bridge.  After spending about an hour there, we double backed a while to go a different way to get to Tonopah, Nevada.  The drive is going to be about seven hours to get to Tonopah, Nevada.  Since we did have to double back, my parents didn’t get to go to a brewery they wanted to go to in Tonopah.  We finally arrived in Nevada at 8:30 pm. Then we had 3 hours and 41 minutes to Tonopah, Nevada.