Carriage Ride Through Central Park

We had a charming Irishman give us a tour through Central Park. We got to see the hustle and bustle of the city and even saw an HBO TV series being filmed. Too bad we don't have HBO so we did not have a clue what the show was! The tour guide kept referring to what the millionaires net worth was "prior to last week". He also told us to duck if we see any body jumping from the windows! Such is the economic state of the US right now.

New York, Here We Come!

We took a water taxi from Jersey City to Manhattan. There actually is an RV park right there where you board the boat, but we were told that if you miss your exit you get to drive all 60 feet of your bus through the middle of New York City. We decided we would check it out first...and they were right! The weather was absolutely perfect today.

The Naval Academy

What a beautiful place! We felt very patriotic as we passed battlegrounds, visited memorials to the great leaders of our country, and spent the evening here where our future Navy Officers reside. We are a blessed country.

Maryland crab cakes...oh my!

I just don't know if I can ever have our crab cakes again! These were just wonderful. Everyone else got an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet with crab legs (for Evan), a raw bar (for Connor), mashed potatoes (for Lacy), and salmon (for Ted). It was a perfect day for touring Washington and visiting Annapolis.

Connor and Evan meet VIP's!

No. Not really. But things are very politically charged here in Annapolis, MD at the Naval Academy! We are ready and praying for tonight's debate. We are all so glad that nothing that happens will take God by surprise!

Can we say H-Y-P-E-R?

We got to the campground around 2:30 p.m. and had to drive through Washington to get there. We were all very excited about seeing the sights!

Mr King Goes to Washington

We love KOA Campgrounds for overnight stays. They are clean, kid-friendly (many places aren't), have great playgrounds, and generally have 70 foot pull-throughs so we don't have to unhook the car if we are leaving the next day. This KOA is near Annapolis, MD so we got to tour the Naval Academy, eat some awesome seafood and see the largest sail boat sale in the nation (my dad would have loved this)!

The Altrux moving office

When I drive, this is what Ted does. We have a desk with an executive chair where he has all the comforts of the office. We have our printer in a printer drawer, a fax/scanner/copier, computers and air cards. Because all of this is available now, the people you see in RV's are getting younger and younger. The median age of the RV buyer has dropped almost 10 years over the last decade. Ted and I tend to trade off driving about every 1 to 1 1/2 hours. He makes phone calls when he drives while I work with the kids. We could never do this without our wonderful team in the home office (Thanks Peggy and Jan!!!).

Roadschooling!

Lacy does her math in the front seat as the world goes by. School is a challenge on the road. Our motto is "we work hard when we work, and we play hard when we play". Our goal every day is to get the math, English, spelling and science done. History and geography are generally centered around where we are and what we are doing. Much time and preparation goes into each trip as we all brush up on our history in each area. We also watch movies that help us prepare. For this one we included God's and Generals and Gettysburg for our drive to DC, and National Treasure 1 and 2 for DC and Philadelphia where we head tomorrow. The Tapestry of Grace, Year 2 curriculum in unit four covers much of this part of the country so we started this year there. We have looked at the Puritans and the Colonists, the French and Indian War and we are now headed into the Revolutionary War days. We plan to return to this part of the country in the spring to spend more time at the Civil War battlefields and much more time in DC.

Watch out, she's behind the wheel!

The #1 question I get asked is "do you drive the bus?". The answer is yup, I sure do. If I didn't, Ted could not work and we could not take the trips! Actually, I enjoy being behind the wheel. This morning we left at 7:00 a.m. so I was a little sleepy!

That's a Big Bug!

Well, we're off again! This time we are headed to Canada. After a quick over-nighter near Charlotte, NC we pointed the bus toward Washington. Here we take a quick pit-stop where Ted cleans the window and fills the tank...ouch!

Hello Friends!

This trip is over and what a wonderful time we had! Since this is our third trip out west, we have now thoroughly covered the lower half of the United States. We have, in fact, travelled 17,000 miles since June of 2007! In April we travel to Chicago, stopping in Kentucky to visit the Creation Museum. May is spent travelling to Georgia's coast. In June we can't wait to go back to Peru to visit our new brother's and sisters in Christ and hopefully introduce even more to the Lord. The summer will be spent on short, local trips (travelling with everyone else is no fun!). September brings a trip to Orlando and our next big trip is in October when we travel to Toronto, Canada - with a few stops there and back.

If you want to check out our last trip to Tucson and up the California coast, scroll all the way down to the bottom. That way you will see it all in order.

Blessing to you all from the King Family,

Ted, Kris, Connor, Lacy and Evan

Home or Bust

We decided to have two hard days of driving and arrive home on Sunday instead of Monday. Ted needs to work and my best friend Lori and her family will be coming for the week on Monday. We drove 11 hours straight with only a gas stop today. I know, I know...you don't need to get out your violins. 11 hours in a motor coach is not the same as a car. It is not a bad thing at all. Ted and I drive in shifts and the kids can cook, eat, watch TV (thanks to in-motion satellite), or play games. We are in a great RV park tonight with the St. Louis arch in view from our bus. It is bittersweet going home. It has been a great trip, but we miss our family and friends. We will see you soon!

Back to one of our favorite campgrounds

Last time we came through this part of the country, we discovered a neat little KOA campground that the kids loved. They still consider it their favorite campground. They have beautifully manicured grounds, a putt-putt course, and some neat playground equipment that is similar to the equipment my Granddad used to have at the school where he was Principal. We were sad to see that it opens tomorrow for the season and we needed to be here today. When we contacted the owners, Richard and Alicja, they graciously offered to let us come on in. They rolled out the red carpet and we are staying at a campground in which we are the only occupants! Lacy is pretending that we rented the whole place to keep the Paparazzi away (-: ! Tomorrow we are off to somewhere in Missouri. We are not sure how far we will make it. More snow is predicted we hear. Goodnight!

Snowstorm on the Colorado Prairie

Broomfield is a beautiful town because they are on the edge of the mountain. Snow-capped mountains can be seen all around, but you are not out of Broomfield long before the land turns flat and mostly agricultural. It amazes us that you think of Colorado as mountainous. It is not true! You drive a good 3 hours in Colorado where it does not look any different than neighboring Kansas. It was along these Colorado prairies that we saw firsthand how a snow storm blows across the road. We travelled much of the way in close to white-out conditions. Fortunately, we were on flat land, and we could go as slow as we needed. We pretty much watched the truckers and did what they did. Once again, Ted demonstrated his superior driving skills and got us through. Here, the kids watch TV while we travel through the storm. Ignorance is bliss!

A Meeting with LANX

LANX is a company we do a great deal of our business with and today Ted had a meeting scheduled at their headquarters in Broomfield, CO at noon. We parked the bus right down the street in a Wal-Mart parking lot (Wal-Mart is very RV friendly) and played while Ted worked. Here, the kids are pictured where we crossed a beautiful pedestrian bridge that goes from the Wal-Mart shopping center to an AMC Theater where we went to see "Collage Road Trip". It was a cute movie and I think Ted would have cried. It is a movie about a dad taking his daughter to visit colleges. She wants to go to a school that happens to be far from home and he wants her to be a one close to home. It is hard to believe that in 5, 7 and 9 years...that will be us!

Washing Lacy's Hair

As promised, we washed Lacy's hair in the sink tonight. It worked better than I thought it would! She is doing better today. She loves to answer the question "what happened to your arm?” She is thankful she can answer "I broke it snowboarding in Park City", rather than something like falling down the stairs.

Storm on the Horizon

You can see in the sky the approaching snow. This park we are staying in is out in the country. It is advertised as a "rural setting" in a cowboy town. There is a pasture in the park for those passing through with their horses. The only problem is the SMELL! We think there must be a chicken coop up wind! Every time we arrive at a new location, Lacy and Evan head to the general store. Evan is now renting space in Connor's cubby. Frugal Connor has not bought a thing besides marshmallows and Reeses, except a book for Evan.

Pit Stop in the Snow

We wanted to top off the tank, just in case we got stuck for the night. Because we left early, and really did not lose too much time because of the snow, we ended up driving across southern Wyoming and into Colorado. We thought we had seen every terrain the west has to offer, but Wyoming was different from the rest. It was really beautiful with small, rounded mountains and sweeping plains. It was neat...even in the snow storm! We are staying in Ft. Collins, Colorado tonight. Tomorrow, Ted has his final two meetings for this trip near Denver. This location brings us within an hour of where we are going in case the snow is an issue in the morning.

Driving in the Snow!

Our plans were to leave Salt Lake City around noon to head to Laramie, Wyoming. When word came in of a snow storm on the way, we headed out earlier. The major highways that we stay on are kept clear, and we watch the truckers and do what they do. The snow was beautiful and it was interesting to see the different techniques areas use to deal with the snow.