The Craziest Summer Vacation...part 4

Even with the fire happening back home, we knew we needed to make the most of this vacation.  We made every effort to stay connected with our family and friends, but we also knew that we had to disconnect and be in the moment in order to enjoy ourselves.  So we did just that.  

In order to get to our main destination, Washington DC, we decided to take a ferry that goes from New Jersey to Delaware.  It boards in Cape May, New Jersey and disembarks in Lewes, Delaware.  The best part is that you just drive your car right onto the ferry. (In case you missed the the previous post about this vacation you can it here part 3 ).

Not exactly sure how you end up with mile zero, but so be it!

Boarding the boat

Enjoying the views

These birds were catching a break from the winds.  No flapping needed.  Just gliding behind the boat from one state to the next!

 

I'm not sure about you, but doesn't Craig look a lot like Mo from the three stooges here?!

Beautiful memories of our time together.

After driving a few more hours, we had finally arrived in DC.  What a thrill.  After two years of talking about taking the kids here, we finally made it.  It really is an area filled with so much history and we are so grateful that we were able to make this happen. 

 After getting settled into our hotel, we met up with Emaleigh's best friend, Megan. They really are two peas in a pod and have remained such good friends even though her family had moved to the DC area a couple of years ago.  The best part of this story is that when we booked our hotel we had no idea it was just a few minutes from their house.  Even better...the week after we left, they packed up and moved to Montana.  Her dad is in the Air Force, so they move a lot!

Caleb, Emaleigh, Megan and Sarah  (Our families have actually known each other for 6 years.  You see, I had the priveledge of teaching Sarah when she and Caleb were in the first grade.)

After saying our goodbye's at 10:30 that night...we knew we needed to get a good night's rest.  The next three days would be filled with lots of walking and sight-seeing!

The Craziest Summer Vacation...part 3

Day 3 arrived, and after days one and two we were so grateful to finally have our car looked at and hopefully fixed.  We dropped the car off first thing and the service tech told us it would be about an hour and a half before they could get to it.  We decided to take a walk through the neighborhood.  It was a pretty run down town, but once we got off the main street, we found the most beautiful neighborhood.  Amazing what you can see when you open yourself to taking an adventure!  Upon returning to the shop, Chris (a former Air Force soldier that was stationed in the Springs for 7 years) was unable to tell us what was truly wrong with our car.  However, he was so kind, and he did put our minds at ease by letting us know that our car was safe to drive to the east coast and that we would make it back to Colorado. We would simply have to put up with the nuisance of the car shutting down from time to time.  We were okay with that.  So grateful for his passion for automobiles, and his ability to help us enjoy our trip a little bit more.

Upon leaving the car shop, we shared with the kids what we were doing that day...going to Jersey!  You see the long standing joke in our family is that anytime the kids ask what do you want to do today, their dad responds with the phrase, "going to Jersey."

So today...we went to Jersey!

We decided to make Atlantic City our base camp for the next three days. The day we arrived was rainy, but that didn't stop us from walking the beach and enjoying a little nightlife!  We ate dinner at a fantastic seafood restaurant called Phillip's Seafood.  Then enjoyed a walk on the boardwalk, a trip to the arcade and a light show just before bed.

We knew we wanted to venture up to Philadelphia for a day, and boy that was sure fun.  Lot's of history loaded in this mini-visit.

Upon arriving to Philadelphia we were cruising along on a 6 lane highway when we had to pay the toll to take this two lane bridge.  Yes, there were seven lanes but as you can see only two were open.

Independence Hall

Caleb wanted to ride the Duck bus, but we simply ran out of time...

While Emaleigh and I were waiting for Craig and Caleb to bring us our sandwiches from that vendor on the corner, two people just stopped in the middle of the street to have a conversation.  Those cars were just getting ready to start moving and had to stop for them to get out of the way...CRAZY!

Lunch...a Philly Cheese Sandwich from a street vendor.  Yum!

Waiting for the tour of Independence Hall to start.

This was the room where the Declaration of  Independence and the Constitution were formulated and signed.  That chair up in the front of the room is George Washington's .  They have a replica that you can see up close and personal at his estate in Mt. Vernon, VA.  You can't see it in the picture but their is a carving of a rising sun at the very top of the chair.

The Liberty Bell

Goofy Boys

On our way back to the car we found this lifesize statue of none other than Rocky!

On our last day in Jersey we decided to enjoy the beach and do a little shopping. This was a great way to unwind from the craziness that was happening at home.  You see, on Tuesday we received news that our home was now under mandatory evacuation for a fire that started in the middle of the Black Forest.  We live of the very northeast side of the forest.  We knew there was absolutely nothing we could do being 1500 miles away from home.  So we did a lot of praying and a lot of breathing!

 

This is Lucy.  She is an office building that some man built to lure people into buying land in Atlantic City before Atlantic City was a raging tourist area.

A yummy Italian restaurant with only one other group of people eating.  They happened to be the loudest most obnoxious people ever with crazy Brooklyn accents, but at least the food was good!

Not sure how this ended up in New Jersey, but that's okay!

Calebrina at his finest!

We're too cool for our hats!

Getting ready for some big sand castle building event that was to be held the week after we left.

 We really had a great time while we stayed in New Jersey.  Lot's of fun memories, but the biggest memory is the one when we found out our home back in Colorado was to be evacuated. While is put a slight damper on our ability to relax, with the support of our family and loved ones we were able to get everything secured and do the best we could to enjoy this time away.

Fire or no fire, we knew we wanted to make our way to Washington DC.  We had our hotel booked, and even if we wanted to go back home, we really couldn't get to it until they lifted the mandatory evacuation status.  So...once again we pressed on.  Clearly God's plans were much bigger than we had expected and we simply had to trust that He had our best interest at heart.

The Craziest Summer Vacation...part 2

Day two...we woke up refreshed with a great attitude. While day 1 caused us a little grief we were pressing on.  Car problems or not, this was vacation and we were bound and determined to make the most of it.  Our goal today was to make it to Morgantown, WV.  We decided to make a pit stop in Louisville, KY so that we could tour Churchill Downs.  The arena where they hold the Kentucky Derby.

Boy, was that a cool tour.  Our hope was to be able to tour the stables and see the horses, but by they time we arrived that particular tour was sold out for the day.  Regardless, we did get to tour the museum, plus we got a behind the scenes tour of the track and even got to see the first race of the day!  We didn't bet, but it was exhilarating, just the same!

one of the numerous hats on display and me fashioning a headband

 Here is where they parade the horses before the race.  We were lucky enough to see  first parade of the day.  So neat!

As a part of our tour we we saw an actual horse race.  The track is much larger than I had imagined.  And the sound of the hooves as they were approaching and passing us was truly amazing.  Oh the thrill of it all!

The last part of our tour before heading to the museum was to see a retired race horse up close and personal.  He sure was a beauty.  Probably because he is groomed everyday.  (I'm sure if we ever get horses, they certainly won't be this good looking!)

Up next, the museum of Kentucky Derby memorabilia.  This was a great exhibit for the kids.  It even included a 360 degree movie about the history of the Derby. 

Video game race horsing at it's best!

The cutest jockey's ever!

Getting ready to race!

After a wonderful day at the races, we got back into the car and headed to our next stop of Morgantown, WV.  It was a 6 hour drive and we were hopeful that we would not experience a break down. Right around the dinner hour we found Nana's favorite fast food restaurant from her childhood. White Castle.  We didn't particularly care for these burgers, but it was great for the kids to try a place that their Nana enjoyed so much as a child.

By the evening's end, we made it to our destination with just one hiccup with the car.  All we had to say was thank you Jesus for getting us here. 

Up next...a trip to the car repair shop and continuing on our way...