Going home

Although we have had many fun and exciting adventures throughout these three months of making friends, exploring new areas and having fun, alas, it must come to an end. I would like to give a few

thanks before are arrival.

First off, I would like to give special thanks to Sheila Zinmaster and Tonja Shipman, for taking care of

our beloved animals while we were gone.

I also want to thank Tonja for giving us some gifts to use and three nice sports bags.

I would like to thank Mike and Bev Baker for providing a few wonderful gifts for us to open during our

3 months gone.

I would also like to thank Kristin Schroeder and Kristey and Shannon Geraty for getting us a variety of travel gifts.

Many thanks to the following:

David Harraden, Jason and Phil, Erica and Jason, and Dean and Ben.

Most of all, I would like to thank my mom and dad, for making this trip possible.

Rose

!

Rapids!

Hi! Very sorry I haven't posted in a long time, my fault, blame it all on me.
After my last post we went to Bryce Canyon, a large area with tall sandstone formations.

Then we went to Moab, where we went to arches NP and took a jeep tour.

After that we went to Salt lake city where we went skiing.

We then drove to Boise, Idaho to see my dad's friend.
We just got back from a 3 day rafting adventure with some awesome whitewater.
Here are some pictures.
Special thanks go to Erica and Jason (Ouzel Outfitters).

Death Valley to Las Vegas to Zion NP

After San Diego we went to death Valley, where it's name fits it's personality. It was beautiful but definitely deadly.

You may ask why I have imprisoned my tiny brothers. Long story.

Then we went to Vegas which is basically just a bunch of casinos where people get broke.
Two days later we arrived in Zion National Park, a very interesting 229 square miles.

New Orleans

(Oops, this is a mess up, supposed to be after Destin post)
Hey! We are in New Orleans right now. It started pouring down rain last night, and still is this morning. We were soaked yesterday on the way to dinner, and I had my first Key Lime pie at the restaurant. It is SO delicious. If you haven't tried it, TRY IT!

And yes, Hurricane Katrina passed through New Orleans. Some of the damage is still there.

Flagstaff Adventures

Yesterday morning (April 21), we left Flagstaff, Arizona, from two big adventures. I am going to tell you about them in this post.

Sedona 

Sedona is a beautiful city surrounded by huge formations of red rocks, shaped over millions of years. You'll definitely gasp or say "whoa" at the gigantic mountains. There just amazing. While we were there we went on two hikes and and awesome helicopter ride.

The Grand Canyon

An amazing place, really. Pure amazing. I mean, to even think of the fact that a river that small shaped something that big? Seems impossible. When we visited there we basically all we did was go on a hike, but we still saw a lot of it.

Also on our hike we saw this rock-mover machine thing. As you can see, there's a pile of rocks beside it

.

Right now we're in San Diego, California, visiting our relatives. I will post soon after we leave.

Saguaro National Park

Have you ever bungee jumped? Probably not. Although if you ask me, well, I have, for the first time. I can show you, too. Click this link.
When we were in Deming, we visited my parents' friends' winery, and after that, their friends took us to the Adobe Deli, a unique restaurant featuring a two-headed calf.

After Deming we went to Tombstone, a city reliving the wild west, where we went to see a comedy gunfight show. We also went to this place where these people made snake parts into various things and then sold them. They also had one acre of wild west antiques.
We left Saguaro National park today, home of the famous Saguaro cacti, where we went on an eight mile bike ride and then went to the Pima County Fair, where I Bungee jumped for the first time.

Now we are almost to Flagstaff, AZ, where we will see the Grand Canyon and visit Sedona.

White Sands National Monument

Hi I'm back, finally. No wi-fi for a long time so I haven't been able to write for a long time. I'll start with San Antonio, TX.
We went there to see are friend, and the last day there we saw her parents.

There we created painting-carving things and the one in the middle is mine, a goblin shark.

Next, we went to Big Bend National Park. There we went on a four-day canoe trip.  Click here to see a video of us.

After that we climbed Gudalupe Peak in Gudalupe Mountains National Park.

Then we went to Carlsbad Caverns. It was extremely cool.

We just left White Sands National Monument, a series of completely white sand dunes, today, April 14. Click here to see a video of us. Ya, ya, laugh at the end, thats me.

Now we are in Deming, New Mexico. I have yet to discover since we just got here.

Crystal Beach, Texas

You probably have one question: Where?

Devastation by Hurricane Ike a few years ago literally destroyed the whole place. Not much anymore, just a small settlement made of mostly houses. New houses, actually.

Stung!

I have been stung by a jellyfish!

Destin RV park

Hello everyone! Sorry I haven't wrote for a long time. First I'm going to tell you about Dry Tortugas National Park. Fort Jefferson, the 3rd largest fort in the United States, was built there. There were no battles at the fort, though, which made it kind of useless.
After that we went to Clearwater to see our relatives. We had a lot of fun there.
Now we are at Destin RV park, still in Florida.

The Everglades

Hey everyone! I'm back from my Everglades adventure, and it was really awesome. I'll show you some pictures I took of the things that were in the park.

That was an alligator we saw on our boat ride during the first day. There were more, but they were in bad light.

That is my parents on the boat ride to the park, and behind them, David Harraden (Everglades Adventures), our guide. He had an interesting character, and I want to give him special thanks for his stories and knowledge about wildlife.

That's what my foot looked like after the first day.

Dashel, in front, and my dad Bill, in back.

And my mom, in the back of a kayak. Well, I guess that's it for this post. I will try to post again as soon as I can.

March 17, 2011

10:45 pm. Right now I am in a hotel in the Everglades city. I have to make this quick, I only have ten minutes. We are going to get up tomorrow and eat breakfast, then head off to start kayaking with our guide. We have just packed our things and have to be at the dock really early tomorrow. This little trip within a trip will be three days long, therefore I can not post on this blog during that time. I will try to take some pictures that I'll post when I get back. It should be really fun.

March 16, 2011

Nothing really exciting yesterday. Our first day, yes, but six hours of driving-SO much fun. Here I am, sitting at a table in our travel trailer, typing this in the middle of Bowling Green, Kentucky. We were supposed to leave at 9:00 am yesterday, but um... slight change of plans to about 3:00 pm.

9:45 pm. We just finished an 11 hour drive to Tifton, Georgia. Long and boring all over again. Tomorrow we drive seven hours to the Everglades in Florida. We will leave to start a kayaking adventure on the 18th, then visit our relatives in Clearwater. Sorry I haven't put any pictures on here, anyway, though there was not much to see.

March 14, 2011

Hi everyone! My name is Gibson and I am about to go on a totally insane RV trip. We are actually going in a travel trailer, and we are going to leave early tomorrow morning at 9:00 am. It is going to be three months long and my parents are going to have to homeschool my brothers and I. We are going to travel all over the U.S. and I can't wait to see all the amazing places. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy reading the posts I put on this blog! ( If you haven't already checked, the link is www.insanervtrip.blogspot.com)