Trading Time for Memories in Boyer world

We are traveling home.

This morning is the last fun before we begin our trek home. We are heading off to visit the Air Force Academy. Watching the introduction video showing life at the academy brings back good memories of Navy Officer Candidate School. Funny how all the screaming, exercising, and marching became very enjoyable in hindsight. None of the kids express an interest in attending.  We walk over to the chapel which is an architectural marvel. It is beautiful with 24,000 panes of stained glass. Signs tell us that it has won various architectural awards and I am not surprised.  Next stop is what we have all been waiting for, Adventures in Odyssey (AIO) at Focus on the Family. The AIO area there is an awesome and fun reflection of the stories and characters. We play for a while until THAT time arrives. It is lunch time which means it is time for a Wod-fam-choc-sod. Before we know it, there are four delicious wod-fam-choc-sods in four greedy paws linked to four smiling faces.  What can I ...

Today we will be on top of the world.  A few days ago we unwittingly climbed above the tree line at Rocky Mountain National Park in our RV. It was awesome and frightening.We are now climbing to 14,110 feet, 2000 feet higher than that feat. However, we are much better prepared today. We are styling in our new ride, a small SUV. There were more than a few logistics to get us into this little treasure. The big question we had to settle was, What to do with a 31 foot RV after we rent the car? It turned out there was a perfect road with trucks a plenty parked on it just a block from the rental agency. Sweet! Driving a small SUV up a windy trail is SOOO much easier. The switchbacks are so tight that our RV could never make them. As we go up the scenery is awesome. It seems every minute is a new "Oh wow!" There are ponderosa pines, Douglas fir, and aspen trees, though we see no wildlife. Suddenly there are no trees, but there is plenty of snow, and what is not snow is ro...

Today we are traversing. We are driving from Rocky Mountain National Park with its breathtaking views and amazing wildlife to Colorado Springs anticipating times at Pikes Peak, the Garden of the Gods, and with John Avery Whitaker at Focus on the Family. But first we tarry with old friends in Denver. It turns out my old friend Will Gould and his mom, Bev live here. I haven't seen Will for about 20 years. Will and Bev and Will's two girls are great folks. Will has a contagious laugh just like his father had.  All are just great Jesus followers. We get caught up at Anthony's pizza and eat perhaps the largest pizza I ever saw in my whole entire life.  We arrive at Colorado Springs well beyond the original schedule and stop by Focus on the Family. We hang out for a short while, and our Christmas card picture finds us there. I could reveal it here, but that would spoil the surprise. We will have to make an unplanned second visit to Focus on the...

Ii Rocky Mountain National Park. It's one of those things I have heard about but know nothing about. We are learning that there is a lot of beauty to experience at this majestic park.  Our journey begins at the Beaver visitor center where Chelsea gets her Junior Ranger workbook. The Junior Ranger program at the national parks is the bomb, and Chelsea enjoys it immensely.  We wander all over the park seeing animals and breathtaking mountain scenes looking for geo caches. The last one we do takes us, without warning, up to the top of one mountain. Suddenly, I am driving a large RV up windy mountain roads looking straight down massive cliffs; at one point the road falls off on both sides. Nervous as all, the payoff is amazing as we pass the tree line and see a frozen world in the midst of summer.  As I have been touring caves and mountain ranges, I have been in awe at the work that God did to prepare a place for humans. Respecting other opinions, as near as I can figu...

Today we focus. We focus on the surprise adventure. There is only one destination the girls don't know about, but today they will know. We are heading through Wyoming, destination Fort Collins, Colorado. And there it is, A1 Whitewater. We are going whitewater rafting. The guide tells us the water was snow ten hours ago, so it's COLD. 30 degrees he estimates. Since my life may be in his hands shortly, I don't point out that 32 is freezing and at 30 we would be riding on a glacier. But before we can jump in the river, we must pass the Safety Brief. The five of us stand there in our corsets, which double as wet suits. I always wondered what it's  like to put on spanx, and now I know. We have very nice blue helmets and orange PFDs which also help limit our lung capacity. The guide commences with the brief, and puts the fear of Neptune in everyone's hearts. It sounds like there are 50 ways to end this trip disastrously. We pass the...

We wake up in Custer State Park clean as can be after showers the night before. We have high hopes for seeing wildlife today in the park, and are weighing the benefits of a good breakfast against the hopes of seeing more animals in their early morning routine. With grumbly tummy's we opt for an early start on our day. Our sacrifice pays off when we encounter two bison right in the middle of the road. They are completely aloof. They never look at us and feel no pressure to get off the road. I am amazed at how skinny their legs are; I think Lydia's legs are bigger than theirs even though they weigh more than 10 times her. We don't witness them running, but they can run as fast as 35 mph carrying a ton or more of weight. Going on we see another vehicle pulled off the side of the road, but see no wildlife. We pull over anyways, and are rewarded with an entire city of prairie dogs. They are smaller than expected, and so cute, and Chelsea falls in love with them. They...

This morning we are heading through the badlands on to Mount Rushmore. As we drive, we spie the most irrestibly climbable hills we have every seen. Chelsea, Lydia, and I have the climbing adventure of our lives.  We climbed the hills with the skill of pronghawns and mountain goats. But before Mount Rushmore can have our happy upturned faces, we have one very important stop to make. In the east we have South of the Border and its miles of billboards imploring travelers to stop. In the west there is Wall Drug Store. For miles and miles, we learn hundreds of reasons for stopping at Wall Drug. We give in and stop. There is pizza, a splash zone and plenty of cheesy photo ops. It's time for the main attraction for the day. We are on our way to Mount Rushmore. Lynne has always wanted to see Mount Rushmore in person. Stepping past the walk of flags we see the four majestic faces looking down at us. It was awesome. The day ends with a light show at the in process Crazy Horse monument....

We do not own an RV. In fact we did not even rent an RV. Yet we are traveling across the country in an RV. Friends of ours were gracious enough to loan us their RV. Amazing. But that is just a small token of generosity in their overall story. Our friends started a foundation, the Walk the Walk Foundation, that shows love and shows Jesus to many needy people in the Maryland area. For friends in the Crofton area, you may have seen, or even participated in, their recent fundraiser at Waugh Chapel. We would like to bless the generosity of the WTWF by telling everyone about their work. One of the projects they do every year is pack backpacks for needy school children in the area. These provide needy kids all the basic supplies they will need their whole school year, and only costs $30. If you would like to help bless our community through WTWF, you can donate at http://www.WTWF.org/donate. Our family wants to sponsor one backpack for each one sponsored in the next week. Mark don...

Good Morning Wisconsin. We had a good rest in a very quiet and dark state park, a sharp contrast to the highway rest stop from last night. First task today is to get drinking water. I pull up at the water station to find this very tall water hose device thing. It looked strange, but after review works well for its purpose. I name it Rocky in honor of Moses and his water experience. My only challenge is that I park the RV too far away from Rocky to hold the hose in place and turn the valve on. So I just turn Rocky on and move toward the RV, water gushing. But before the water enters the fill tube, it hits the side of the RV and splatters all over me. A second time I accidentally move the hose and get a second dousing. In the end, we have a full tank of water, and I will be drying out. This is our longest driving day so far. The road is so flat and straight in Wisconsin and Minnesota and part of South Dakota you don't need a google car for unattended driving. (Lynne won't buy...

Good morning Ohio rest stop. We are well rested and ready to tame the asphalt jungle. Breakfast is delicious at Chelsea's  bed/kitchen table.  There are times that test a man's soul. There are times that test a man's strength. Then there are times that test his bio waste skills. Today I am emptying  my first RV poop tank. Of course, in the RV world we call this black water because poop called by any other name is not as stinky. I am employing by eldest daughter for the operation. Her job is to step on the hose so it does not catapult out of the septic tank when the gushing begins. Clearly that would be bad. The gushing and flushing starts and the operation goes well and I earn my merit badge.  [[[Photo auto deleted by Blogger]]] Driving... We are at Six Flags in Chicago. I am fearfully driving a large white RV avoiding cars, pedestrians, bright orange cones, and cartoon characters trying to find the RV area. I've consulted with 4 employees so far trying to help me na...

It seems forever ago we decided to take an RV trip. Forever ago, it seemed forever away but here we are, picking up Abigail, about to launch from the great city of Odenton. As I get out the RV, I hear my Abigail say, "Um Dad..." You never want to hear that. There is "Daaaad!" And "Um Dad." The first means Dad is embarrassing to his children. No concern.  The second means I made a real mistake. In this case the entire comment was "Um Dad, did you know that cargo door was open?" Fortunately nothing fell out driving confidently up Route 3, at least nothing I remember packing there.  Then we hit the road.  After a dinner time cookout, we head off to Handels Homemade ice cream in Ohio because we are unwilling to violate the vacation rule and it sounds yummy. And it is not until we realize we must navigate down a small town road in a big RV that I get nervous. Somehow I avoid a host of cars each glaring at me and daring me to side swipe i...