Anissa's Concluding Thoughts

Although it was so nice to sleep in my own bed last night, and I'm sooo excited to see & get caught up with all my friends, I'm going through some sort of "post vacation let-down"; like I'm more depressed that our travels are over, than I am excited that we are home. I've always said that I need/want balance in my life; that I enjoy a "normal life" for 9 mths, with a weekly routine and schedule of activities, seasonal traditions, etc. But this might be a sign that I could travel for longer after all. The tentative plan is to retire after Jonas graduates and travel full time, but obviously we'll see what God has in store. "Traveling" could mean short-term or long-term missions. Joey would love nothing more than to initiate that plan starting NOW, but I keep insisting that the kids need to have a "normal" life for at least 9 mths (during the school year). It's important for them to build relationships, be involved in church, sports, music, clubs, community activities, etc. Alea made it VERY evident that God did not design her to be a full-time traveller; she is a home-body through & through! Jonas is highly social and thrives when he is around his friends (although he is a much better traveller than Alea; he could just go & go as long as he's engaged & stimulated). I believe we need to respect those needs (how God designed our children) and not force our "selfish" desires of travel on them. Plus I absolutely LOVE my career and feel that God has called me to be in the Deaf Community. I welcome the 3 mth break in the summers (and with my tennis elbow getting worse&worse I physically need the break from signing) but I'm always so happy to start back up again, see all my clients and get back out there in the community! I know that if we would retire early, there would always be this void inside of me. BUT throughout the whole 9 mths school year we are constantly craving & dreaming about seeing the world! Oh the bitter-sweet life we live! Lol!
The only thing that made me road weary was the WAY we traveled (small cramped quarters, no leg room, things falling on me & poking into me in the car, tent up/tent down, pump the air mattress up then turn around and smoosh all the air out of it, packing/unpacking the car, etc, etc...!) When Joey & I retire and ifff we do indeed end up traveling full time, it will NOT be in a tent. We definitely don't want a huge RV, but maybe one of those little silver pull-behinds; at least something where we can just pull over and climb right into bed & something that we don't have to set up/take down in the rain!!! So it's not the missing home or missing my own bed that makes me want to go home; it's just being exhausted by the logistics of living out of our tent & very small car. However, Joey & I were talking about how you just trade tasks...I haven't vacuumed, dusted, loaded/unloaded a dishwasher, or cleaned a sink/mirror/toilet for 10 weeks (all the things I grow weary of at home), so really what's the difference? Along that same sentiment is the issue of the kids' behavior....Of course the kids' bickering is always exhausting and it's amplified being in each other's space 24/7 when we're on the road, but we always say "we can stay home all summer and have them fight at home or we can we can go on the road and let them fight in the car; either way they're going to fight" (unfortunately).
Bottom line is, that any amount of stress from traveling is most definitely worth it for all we got to see & do this summer!!! I feel sooo blessed to have been able to see so much of God's amazing Creation this summer! We live in such a vast, diverse country. It still amazes me how we experienced such extremes of hot & cold all on the same trip! My prevailing emotion all summer was simply gratitude: so thankful to be with my 3 favorite people every day for 10 weeks, so thankful for the fun memories we were creating together, so thankful to have jobs that allow us to have summers off, so thankful for healthy bodies to hike & climb & swim, so thankful for safety on our journey thus far, so thankful for the resources to be able to take this trip, so thankful that our govt preserved so much of the land for public use & enjoyment, so thankful to live in such a beautiful country, but above all thankful to God for creating it all!
I only wish all of our family & friends could share in our experiences, or even just see half of what we saw. Americans just don't seem to value travel like Europeans & Asians do (that's who is crowding our national parks, NOT Americans). Granted, Europeans get 6-8 weeks of vacation every year, while the average American only gets 2 (and those 2 weeks are usually spent visiting family, which is of course more impt than a national park). So I get all that, but it still makes me sad. I truly believe Teddy Roosevelt had his own countrymen in mind we he set aside all the national parks, not Europeans. Americans love theme parks, not national parks. We want to be entertained/thrilled/dazzled by man-made attractions, instead of being awed by God-made attractions. Now of course I'm speaking in generalizations and our family loves theme parks as much as the next guy. But one couldn't help but notice the stark differences between visiting national parks full of foreigners, pristine beauty, quietness, everyone drinking out of reusable water bottles, recycling bins and "leave no trace" signs everywhere THAN visiting theme parks full of Americans drinking out of plastic water bottles, overflowing trash bins, crowds, long lines, noise, and a parking lot carpeted with litter! At Joshua Tree Nat Park, I saw a lady with a perma-smile on her face; she literally couldn't stop smiling! Finally she just gushed to me in her strong accent, "Oh isn't this so wonderful?!? It's absolutely amazing!!" My response to her was, "Yes it is! I just wish my fellow countrymen shared your sentiments!"
Another analyzation Joey & I made is that you can either work the land or you can travel the land, but it's really hard to do both. Some people might be jealous of our travels, but I'm jealous of their gardens! We REALLY miss not growing our own produce. I believe there is an instinctual desire God put in us humans to work the land and there is such gratification in seeing the fruits of your labor (whether it's food or flowers, just seeing God grow something that you have planted and so carefully watered, weeded & tended). There is great satisfaction in eating food out of your own garden, sharing your fresh produce or fresh flowers with friends & neighbors. There is something about getting your hands dirty; a deep connection with the earth. I gave a sign to my mother (an avid gardner) that says "One feels closer to God in a garden" and it's true! We should put a sign in our front yard "One feels closer to God in a national park" because that is also true! So how can you do both? Gardens tie you down and force you to stay close to home. Well maybe when we're retired we can travel during the 9 mth school year and stay home in the summers to have a garden when the kids come home from college! ;)
THANKS to all of you who prayed for our safety & well-being throughout the 10 weeks! We are soo grateful! When we made it to our family in IND there was a big feeling of relief, thinking "we're home free". But then the thought occurred to me "we could still get in a car accident driving thru Chicago the last leg of the journey"!!!

Joey's Final Thoughts...

Well, the party is over and the travel must halt for now. I am overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude for being able to travel with my family for 71 days straight. I absolutely LOVE to travel. The thrill of the journey, satisfaction of reaching the destination, and the overwhelming sense of how very small I am and how very big God is by viewing all that He has created. We were blessed with family, friends, mountains, canyons, rivers, caverns, deserts, oceans, and so much more!

This summer has confirmed that I have a burning desire deep in my belly to travel. It is a part of my soul that is an insatiable desire to see, experience, and go travel the world. Balancing this with two younger kids is difficult when one loves to travel and the other one loves travel and home.

I truly think my next job profession will be a vagabond. No home to call my own, no deadlines, no utility bills, no house to clean, no water bill, no yard to mow, etc. The difficulties will be food. You can't grow a garden on a moving vehicle. Fruit and Veggies were hard to come by out in the middle of the desert or long stretches of the PCH. Even though we made the best choices we could make when eating at Fast Food places, when we had to eat fast food,...fast food is junk for your body. Being home for my first day I am excited to start back on my Vegan pathway of eating. That's what we need. A Vegan fast food restaurant with healthy choices to munch on while traveling.

Life is short. We aren't guaranteed tomorrow. Carpe Diem. Experience much, travel lots, love more often. Bring glory to God in everything!

Trip Summary & Statistics

Days traveled: 71 (June 10-Aug 19)
Miles driven: 11,638
States traveled in or driven through: 16

NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM VISITED:
16 National Parks
7 National Forests
6 National Rec Areas
4 National Historical Parks
3 National Marine Sanctuary
2 National Historic Sites
2 National Wildlife Refuge
2 National Volcanic Monuments
2 National Historic Trails
1 National Seashore

ALSO WENT TO:
9 Lighthouses
5 American Girl stores
4 Hot Springs
Innumerable beaches & waterfalls

PAID ATTRACTIONS:
6 Flags Over Texas
San Diego Zoo
Sea World
Lego Land
Hearst Castle
Medona Musical (in ND)
Whale Watching Trip in San Juan Islands
The Whale Museum
Monterray Bay Aquarium
Seattle Space Needle
Jumpstreet (in Phoenix)
Tucson Desert Museum
Drive-thru Tree

RODE ON A:
Ocean Ferry
San Francisco Cable Car
Mechanical Bull
Seattle Monorail
Ferris Wheel
Roller coasters
Log Flumes
Ariel Tram
Outdoor escalator
Water Taxi
Whale Watching Boat
4 wheeler
A horse
A ranger/gator
Moped scooter
Elevators

HIKES: 26

NIGHTS SLEPT
In the tent: 35
At family or friends house: 18
In motels: 9
At a youth hostel: 2
At a beach house w/ Anissa's fam: 4
In the car: 3

Cheapest camp site: $8
Most expensive camp site: $45
Cheapest Motel: $50
Most expensive hotel: $120 (downtown San Francisco)

PHOTOS:
We took at total of 7,210 photos on the iPad. This averages out to 102 photos per day.

DRIVING:
Number of stops for gas: 64 times
Cheapest gas: $3.09
Most expensive gas: $5.52
Average gas mileage: 30.6 mpg
Average gas we paid for whole trip: 12.4 cents per mile
Average miles travelled per day: 164 miles
"Near misses" (for car accident): 1
How much of the driving Joey did: 100% (the one time he allowed Anissa to drive 3 blocks to get food for the kids, she accidentally went down a 1-way street and got pulled over by a cop! No ticket thankfully, but further determining Joey to not let her drive!)
What percentage of the time we had to remind Jonas to put his seatbelt on: 100%

WILDLIFE SIGHTINGS:
1 black bear
1 grizzly bear
4 bald eagles
2 coyotes
A pod of orca whales
1 gray whale
A herd of Roosevelt Elk
Dozens of Dolphins
Hundreds of buffalo/bison
Packs of prairie dogs
3 Foxes
Several roadrunners
1 armadillo
Jack rabbits
200+ elephant seals
Scores of Seals & Sea lions
Tons of slugs
Zillions of lizards
Handfuls of hermit crabs
A bunch of bats
Flocks of Pelicans, Cormorants, Black Pigeon Gillimonts & other sea birds
An island full of obnoxious nesting sea gulls
Innumerable star fish, sea urchins, sand dollars, chitons, & sea anemones
0 snakes (to Joey's great relief)

WILD ANIMALS JONAS HELD:
Baby chipmunk
Squirrels
Birds
Lizards
Snails
Hermit Crabs
Starfish
Chiton
**the kids also petted dolphins & sting rays (in captivity) at Sea World**

PLACES JONAS SWAM:
ocean, natural lake, man-made lake, river, hot springs, swimming pool, hot tub, tide pool, creek, waterfall

WEATHER:
Hottest day: 120 degrees
Coldest day: 38 degrees
Drove through 3 monsoons
Hiked through hail
Slid down snow
Hiked on snow
Roads closed due to snow: 3

JUNIOR RANGER BADGES EARNED:
Alea--16
Jonas--10

EXTREMES:
*Slept with fleece hats & gloves, 5 layers of clothes, mummy bags cinched up & zipped together so we could snuggle for body warmth and STILL so cold we couldn't sleep!
*Slept in tank tops, no covers, not touching, so hot we couldn't sleep, Joey got up and dunked his head in water halfway thru the night to cool off.

Number of days without showering: 5 days (twice)!

The 6 states we never found for the "license plate game":
New Hampshire
Rhode Island
Vermont
West Virginia
Connecticut
Delaware
**You'd think after 71 days and almost 12,000 miles we would've seen cars from all 50 states, but alas we came up short!***

Contest #2

Surprisingly Joey only ate 14 veggie subs from Subway (we were guessing it was higher ourselves). He also ate 6 Chipotle burritos. But our top stopping place for fast food on the trip ended up being Taco Bell, with Joey eating 22 black bean or other vegetarian burritos (cheap & fast!)
"And the winner is..." Kelly Jaeck from East Troy, WI (Joey's next-door teaching partner and 3rd grade bud) who had the closest guess of 21 veggie subs. Congratulations!

The sweet photos are from our graphic artist friend in Oregon, Kent at http://www.knail.com Check out his website!

Contest #3

Alea earned 16 Junior Ranger Badges.
Jonas earned 10 Junior Ranger Badges. (Even though Jonas petered out early on, he finished strong, and deserves credit as well!)
"And the winner is..." Kandy Fetzer of Lebanon, IN (Anissa's best friend) with a guess of 17! Congratulations!

Contest #1

Starting mileage: 97,246
Ending mileage: 108,884
Grand total: 11,638

"And the winner is..." Jonathan & Diane Miller of the UP Michigan (Anissa's cousins) with the closest guess of 14,000. Congratulations!!!

Last stop: Indiana

Had a great time visiting our families before heading to WI....Joey's 98 yr old Grandma, both sets of grandparents, swimming in Aunt Fannie's pool, collecting eggs at Aunt Kandy's, husking corn from Grandma's garden with Uncle Kevin (and eating it moments later...yum!), playing with cousins, etc!

Contest deadline!

Just a reminder to submit your guesses for the 3 contests we posted at the beginning of the trip:
1. How many total miles did we drive? (winner gets a $5 gas card)
2. How many veggie subs did Joey eat from Subway? (winner gets $5 gift card to Subway)
3. How many Junior Ranger badges did Alea earn from national parks? (winner gets a homemade craft of Alea's choice :)
***Submit your guesses by either commenting on this blog OR email joeyhaywood40@gmail.com****
DEADLINE": midnight THIS Sunday, Aug 19th
**Winners will be announced Mon morn 20th on this blog***

On the Home Stretch!

So we are visiting our families in Ind before heading home to WI. Indiana IS home (when we say "we're going home for Christmas" we mean our parents in Ind where we both grew up), but we are that much closer to being back home to our house in WI. Can't believe we'll be sleeping in our own beds in just a few days!!!
Stay tuned for the last few posts....

American Girl, St Louis

Okay so I was wrong on my earlier post; we still had one more Nat Park (Hot Springs) and one more Am Girl store. :} We splurged and actually got treats from the bistro since this time!

Road Runners

The kids have had fun watching for road runners racing across the road throughout Arizona (where we saw one with a lizard in its mouth), Texas (where this picture was taken) & in Joey's grandpas backyard in Arkansas. Unfortunately they are so fast, we don't have any good photos of them.

Heaven Holds Me

"Words can never say, the way He says my name,
He calls me lovely.
No one ever sees the way He looks at me
He says me as holy.
Words can never hold this love that burns my soul,
Heaven holds me, heaven holds me."
***This was a song from church last night that touched my heart so deeply. The title is "Sing My Love" from Bethel church in Redding (where Joey's cousin goes) if you want to look it up and listen to the whole song.***
My family has seen my ugliness this summer (short-fused, impatient, crabby, etc) but God sees my loveliness! No one else sees me as He does: holy & righteous & pure because of Jesus' blood covering me. How amazing is that!?! His love for me, as I am, despite my worst, overwhelms me and I can't contain my worship!!!

Family Time in Arkansas!

We had a very special visit with Joey's Grandpa, who we usually only see once a year when they drive up to IN for Thanksgiving. Joey hadn't been here since HS, Alea came once with Joey's mom when she was in kindergarten, but Anissa & Jonas had never been, so it was a treat to finally see their place. We got to see his prize garden & eat some good home southern cookin! The kids had fun jumping on the trampoline with their cousin, learning to drive the gator & building a rock fort in the dry creek bed. Anissa enjoyed chatting with Joey's 2 sweet aunts while Joey enjoyed hearing details of his uncle's mission trips to Nepal. Joey's grandpa is a hilarious jokester & trickster so we had lots of good laughs; you never know what he has up his sleeve! Since we just happened to be here on a Wed, we got the added bonus of getting to go to church with them and had a real special time of worship together & hearing his uncle preach.