The end

After deadwood we went and visited Pete's Uncle in Green Bay. It was nice to see him and meet some cousins that I had never met before. After Green Bay we went to Chicago. We went up the Sears/Willis Tower. There is a section with a glass bottom. Pretty, pretty scary but we did it and didn't fall through! We also went to dinner at Ed Debevics which is a restaurant where the waiters can be as rude to the customers as they want. VERY fun! The kids loved it and had fun giving it right back to our waitress. We went to Michiana Shores the following 2 days and spent time visiting with my friend Trish and her kids. That was fun and relaxing! We spent both days on the beach. A great way to spend 90 degree days. On Saturday we stop in at my uncles in Grand Blanc Michigan. We had a nice lunch with him! Then we were on our way home! We got home about 730pm and had a nice time at my sisters house visiting with my family! It was a great vacation but it was also great to be home!



Thanks for taking the journey with us!

Yellowstone and Devils Tower

Posted by Malena

Today we  went   to  Yellowstone.  We played license plate bingo.  I, Malena, won! The  first  day  we  were   there   we   saw   Bison. There  was a huge herd of  Bison   crossing   the  road. I almost   got   to  touch   one.  My  dad  found   Bison  hair  and   said  we  will  make  a  coat  for  our  guinea   pig.

Continued by Suzanne…

We went horseback riding.  Our horses were Mohawk, Dodger, Cheyenne, Cobbler, Buddy and Pow Wow. We rode by the edge of Yellowstone canyon.  We did not see any animals.  That may have been a good thing because when we asked our guide what would happen if we saw a bear she said she has only seen a bear once on the trail in the 3 years she has worked there and it didn’t end well!  I guess it was every man for themselves!  We went over to see Old Faithful!  The kids were amazed at the height of the geyser. Their  guesses ranged from 2 feet to 50 feet.  It went about 100 feet. 

We left Yellowstone and went to see the Devil’s Tower in Wyoming.  We also enjoyed watching the prairie dogs.  After DT we headed to Deadwood.  We are planning 2 days here.  We had a nice time walking the town last night.  Today we are making a side trip to Mt. Rushmore.  This is the stop Jamie has been looking forward to most.  Afterwards we are planning on catching the Wild West show.  Yeeeeeeee Haaaaaaaa!

Calgary and Galcier National Park

Posted by Mackenna

Yesterday we went to the Calgary stampede it was awesome.
We saw cowboys riding bareback on broncos. We also saw
More cowboys riding bulls’ one guy almost got his head
crushed. Then we saw cowboys wrestle baby bulls and
baby cows. Then we saw kids try and ride wild ponies
They had to run up to them then jump on there backs
It was hilarious. If you ever get to do that it is worth it.
Today was kids day and we were driving but it was fun.
We got to glacier national park and saw a black bear
Then we spotted a full grown male grizzly bear and got
The best pictures ever it was awesome because if
It wasn’t for my mom none of the thirty people there
Would have seen because at first he was hiding!
It was awesome we also saw a female moose and her
adorable baby! Then we saw a waterfall in the mountains.
We had a wonderful day!!

Portland

We were visiting Matt and Lisa Moran in Portland.  We spent one day hiking around Mullhomond Falls.  We also went to a place called Edgefield, which is a beautiful 30 acre resort which had tiny bars and restaurants as well as spas and shops. It used to be a poor farm and now all the little buildings are turned into shops and pubs.  You can only walk through and the children are not allowed in the little pubs and distilleries. You can walk from shop to shop and bar to bar with your drink.  There was an 80s band playing an outdoor concert that evening. Great place for people watching.  Hippies were visiting the Jerry Garcia statue and others were hanging out on the roof of the insane asylum turned hotel.  Needless to say we would like to spend more time there someday.  Pete and I think this would be a fun place to open in EA!

We celebrated our Anniversary there.  Look at the pics and see if you can find my present.

We started the drive to Calgary and are hoping to be there tonight.  Probably won’t get that far but should get pretty close.

San Fran

We are staying in a campground that is right on the Pacific!  Last night I fell asleep listening the waves.  I can get used to this!  We  went on a tour of Alcatraz this morning.  Very interesting!  It is pretty amazing that it is 1 ½ miles away from San Fran.  Those prisoners must have hated to see how close they were. Yet so far away.  We learned a lot.  I always thought it was just a prison but it was also a military fort and later after the prison closed the Indians tried to claim it as their land.   Then we took a trolley (cable car) ride up and down the streets of SF.  We visited Ghirardelli  Square.  We went down the Crookedest Street in America, and we visited the Redwoods in the Muir Woods. We are looking forward to our visit with our friends, the Morans, in Portland tomorrow and Thursday. 

LA conitnued

We spent Sunday at Venice Beach.  We didn’t see too many Crazies.  The only crazy thing I saw was Pete trying to Boogie Board with the kids. There was a guy riding a bike dressed in black leather, wrapped in chains with a padlock on his back, singing a happy tune.  We also walked through the Venice canals, which I didn’t know exisited. That is where I would want my vacation home.  That evening we went to Spago’s. Wolfgang Puck’s place.  It was wonderful, beautiful…The kids were great!  We sat at the table next to Stephanie Powers.  That was my celeb sighting of the weekend.  I loved Hart to Hart.

LA

     We headed into LA today. We spent the day with Pete’s cousin Andrea.   We went to the Le Brea Tar Pits which was pretty interesting but it wasn’t cruising the blvd to see famous people.  But we did do a little PLANKING at the Tar Pit.  See Mackenna.  Our camera broke right after that so either I have to become tech savvy with Pete’s phone or we need to buy a new one.  After the Pit we went to the Hard Rock Café for lunch.  We did the walk of star thing and we hunted down some celebs homes.  We all agreed that J. Depp has the best home and the best location.  Then we trekked it up to the Hollywood sign and took some great pics but unfortunately they are on HIS phone.  I’ll see what I can do after dinner.   Tomorrow we head to Venice Beach to watch the Crazies. I think there will be a lot of teachable moments during that visit!

The Grand Canyon

Posted by Jamie

     Yesterday, we traveled to the four corners of the USA and saw where all four states met (Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico). Then we went to the Grand Canyon for the first time ever and viewed it on foot. Today, we took a helicopter tour and admired the canyon from above. We couldn’t believe the canyon is 277 miles long!  We drove through the Mojave desert, it was 110 degrees out.  We are in Los Angeles tonight.

Days 4 and 5

     We visited Cadillac Village in Texas.  Some guy in the 60’s thought it would be cool to bury Cadillacs in the ground with half sticking.  He buried them at the same angle as the pyramids.  We drove and drove and drove after that across the top of Texas and New Mexico.  It is BARREN!!! I feel like we are in a different country.  We stayed in Santa Fe and visited with Melanie, a friend of Pete’s from college.  Santa Fe looks like “one giant sand castle” according to the kids and I have to agree with them.  We should end up in the Grand Canyon tonight but one never knows… 

Day 3 and 4

We had a fantastic time in Graceland!  Malena is jealous and sad because she thinks that Elvis was lucky to have so many nice things but he's dead.  After Graceland we made a stop in Oklahoma City.  We were surprised at how nice it was!  Bricktown has a beautiful canal that they just added within the past 5 years.  We are now in Texas!  It is a lot of fun!  We went to a steak house where you can eat a 72 oz steak in an hour and get it for free. We did not do it but had fun watching someone else do it.We also ordered Rocky Mountain Oysters which everyone but Suzanne ate.  After the kids tried it Pete told them it was Buffalo Testicles.  The faces of the kids were priceless!  Tony says he still has the taste in his mouth.  Mackenna refers to them as Bull Balls.  Quite the education!    Tomorrow we are on our way to Santa Fe and Sedona.

Day 2

     We had another exciting day!  We went up the Arch in Missouri.  Very fun and a very small car to the top!  I will post the pic of the 5 person car.  It looks like something from outerspace.  I almost didn't go due to my clastrophobia but I did and it was pretty cool to be up there.  We are in Memphis now and we will get to Graceland tomorrow for the Queen's (Malena's)birthday!  She is very excited to be spending part of her birthday at Elvis's but I almost think she would prefer to be with her Elvis-Terry Buchwald!

Day 1

    We left a little later than we wanted but we are on vacation so there is no schedule.  We have 30 days to make it back to East Aurora so anything we see beyond Vidlers is a bonus, right?    We made it to Indiana!  It was a good first day.  Lots of car time.  Nothing much to report but I wanted to check in because I don't want anyone to not see a posting and then decide not to check in (Holly).  Here is the highlight of today's trip:  Pete spent the night packing so "we" had to take a nap in a plaza parking lot!  While he slept the rest of us spent $$$$$!!!!!That'll teach him!  We bought some $5.00 movies-Vacation with Chevy Chase which is rated R so I am not sure if they will watch it.  I can't remember anything too bad about it but I don't remember movies very well.  We also got The Great Outdoors with Dan Acroyd which had a PG rating but when they were watching it Malena started yelling,"inappropriate, INAPPROPRIATE!!!" and Mackenna was yanking wires out of the DVD player.    Anyway...It can only get more exciting (hopefully!)  Tomorrow we go to/on the St. Louis Arch and then head to Memphis to see Malena's favorite King.

And We're Off!!!!

     We are very excited to be heading South, then West, then North, then more North, then East, then back to "the Bubble!"  We are hopefully going to keep track of our lovely adventure daily with each of us taking turns with the posting.  Our plan is to leave EARLY Saturday morning and head to Tennesse.  Elvis is a calling so that is the first stop on the journey.  We will let you know how it goes!