Our North American RV Adventure

Home Sweet Home

2009-08-03T18:39:00.000-07:00

Well we made it home safe and sound after being on the road for almost 6 months, visiting 35 states and 5 provinces and travelling close to 25,000 km. We all were very happy to be home and sleep in our own beds!We have a few more photos to share from Grandma & Grandpa's in Manitoba.

We also had a good visit with Uncle Ted and Aunty Lois in Regina. Emma just recently wrote a fictional story about her Uncle, when we got to Regina, Uncle Ted presented Emma with her very own story called "The Legend of Emma Taylor Pilkington" which he wrote for her.

We also had a good visit with Nana and Grandpa Ralph at Emma Lake in Saskatchewan. The tubing behind the pontoon boat was great. It was also good to see Aunt and Uncle Don while at the lake - thanks for driving up to see us!

Thanks everyone for following along with our blog. The interaction was lots of fun and made us feel closer to friends and family while being so far away. Special thanks to Uncle Gordie (aka master bubble blower) and Uncle Phillip for being regular video skypers throughout the trip. We also want to thank Emma's friend Nicole for being our most consistant blogger!

That's all for this trip....................

Homeward Bound

2009-07-27T22:02:00.000-07:00

Yikes – it’s been a really long time since our last blog – how can you tell that we are on our last leg of our journey!

When we left the Windsor area, we decided to head west via the USA. After a long wait at the Detroit border crossing and a construction detour through the ever scenic downtown Detroit, we finally got on the road. We went through Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa without a hitch. Lot’s of corn that is for sure! Ray really wanted to stop at Gary Indiana (Michael Jackson’s childhood home) but the girls and I talked him out of it.

We stopped for a couple of days just outside of Minneapolis, Minnesota at the fanciest ``cashino` that we have ever seen! The Mystic Lake Casino is a huge, new casino that not only has a fancy hotel, great campground, rv gas station, etc, etc – they even had fireworks in the early evening each night. But sad to say Ray didn’t hit the jackpot!

Of course, we spent a day at the Mall of America shopping up a storm. We went to an American Girl store – wow that was something! Dolls galore – can you believe you can take your doll in to the Salon and get their hair done for $20! Emma has a Mall of America story to tell :
(Emma now talking)
Well let me tell you all, on how I got attacked by a sales lady! You know those annoying people in the middle with little stands trying to sell you crappy stuff that no-one wants. It was insane in Mall of America! It was just as bad as Mexico! There was this European lady trying to sell us a fancy dandy hair straighter. She literally grabbed me and pulled me to her both seated me down on the chair and started doing my hair. Mom keep saying on how she wasn’t interested and we had to get going but she wouldn’t listen. Then she started curling my hair with the straighter. Then finally dad came to my rescue and pulled me away. So we are walking throw this busy mall and all of a sudden Mom and Leah start laughing. I ask what they were laughing at and then I looked in the mirror. The lady had only curled one side of my hair!!!! So all day I was walking around with one side of my hair curled and the other side not! It was horrible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We zipped through North Dakota with a stop at the Cabala’s store and then we finally were back in Canada!! We decided to pop in at our long time Delburne friends – David and Anita Brandt and family for a visit. A couple of years ago, they moved from Red Deer to an acreage outside of Winnipeg. It was great to visit and catch up with them all!

Our next stop was Grandpa and Grandma’s at the farm in Hamiota. We seemed to be busy doing various things:
*Checking out Grandpa's new tatoo!

*Fishing with cousin Ron at Sandy Lake. Although no fish were caught we still were able to have a yummy shore lunch!
*Spending a couple of days with Aunt Maggie in Brandon *Leah modeling a new Bobcat/Amazon Witch Doctor look
*Visiting a haunted house and picking wild flowers

*Emma visiting her friend Kira in Souris

We’re now on the road again and planning to stop in Regina for a visit with Uncle Ted and Aunt Lois.

Then home………….

Ontario Falls, Fireworks, Family & Friends

2009-07-11T10:35:00.000-07:00

YIKES - It's been a long time since our last blog entry.

Since our last blog entry, I returned from Manitoba on Canada Day, to find Ray and the kids surviving in my absence. It was great to spend time with my family, unfortunately, my uncle passed away the very day I returned to Vermont.

Onward to Ontario - we travelled through the US with a stopover at the magnificent Niagara Falls. We actually lucked out and were able to see some fireworks at the falls which were very impressive.

Our next destination was Guelph (technically Ariss) to visit Aunt Sandra and cousin Randy, Nikki and girls. Emma and Leah were thrilled to spend time playing with their cousins and to have a brief visit with cousin Ian!

We took in some of the local sights such as St. Jacobs and Aunt Sandra arranged some impressive photo opportunities like watching the Old Order Mennonites travel through Ontario's only covered bridge with their horse and buggies and of course checking out the Pilkington Overlook! Thanks for the great hospitality!

Next was a visit to friends Mark & Julie and kids in the Windsor area. Dealing with the infamous Ontario heat and humidity was a breeze, since the Vickers' have a beautiful outdoor pool!

We were busy checking out the sites like Point Pelee on Lake Erie which is Canada's most southern point. We also got to watch Abbey's soccer game, Geoffrey's baseball game, see Mark at work at his pharmacy and Ray and Mark managed to get in a few games of golf and relive their "glory days".

We are now slowly heading back home, we are going to go back to Manitoba to visit the family via the US with a few stops along the way - like the Mall of America for one!

Bye for now!

We love Vermont!

2009-06-29T15:49:00.000-07:00

Greetings everybody!

Sorry for not giving an update on the blog lately but we are not near any consistent cell phone signals. We are in beautiful Vermont – staying at a campground just outside of Westfield. This area is referred to as the Northeast Kingdom and is said to be one of the last frontiers in America. You won't find any fast-food restaurants, strip malls or brand name discount stores here. Instead, we are surrounded by large forests, mountain streams, covered bridges, maple syrup farms and lots of Ben and Jerry’s Ice cream.

When we go into town we shop at the “general” store and have to drive out near the local monastery to get a decent cell signal to make our phone calls (kind of weird seeing monks in black cloaks walking the farm fields).

Unfortunately we got some bad news lately - Carmen’s dear Uncle Doug (aka Coon) has taken a turn for the worse and was placed on life support in Brandon, Manitoba. Hearing this news, we made the decision for her to fly out of the nearest airport (Montreal) to be with her Uncle and Aunt Maggie at this trying time – our thoughts and prayers go out to you both!

So since being in this area for the past week, we have been busy doing the following:

- bike riding around the lake at Newport
- playing and swimming in the numerous mtn. streams/waterfalls in the area
- getting our exercise on some of the local hiking trails
- exploring the nearby small towns during our country drives
- playing golf at Jay’s Peak – hardest golf course I have ever played but simple beautiful
- catching fireflys and having smores around the campfire
- visiting the Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream factory – one word – YUMMY

Well that’s it for now – will post a new update once back in Canada!

Bye for now.

Shaking with the Shakers

2009-06-22T18:39:00.000-07:00

Hello there,

After our Massachusetts experiences, we ventured to Canterbury New Hampshire to visit a historic Shaker village.

This Shaker Village was established way back in 1792 when founder Mother Ann Lee formed their 7th community in Canterbury New Hampshire which remained in existence for 200 years. At its height in the 1850's, 300 people lived and worked in the over 100 buildings and 3000 acres.

The Shakers are a religious group dissidents from various religions such as Quakers and Methodists. They were known as the"Shaking Quakers" of Shakers because of their use of dance, whirling and clapping in their worship.

They believe in:

*community ownership

*pacifism

*dancing in workshop

*celibacy

*living simple

"Hands to Work and Hearts to God" - Shakers were aggressive entrepreneurs with their well known "Shaker Brand" - furniture and brooms in particular. We recently read one classic shaker chair sold for over a 100k - WOW!

This was a very fascinating tour and look at the Shaker way of life. Today there are only 3 or 4 Shakers left alive in a community in Maine.

So about Ray's distant relative............would anyone believe it's Chevy Chase!! The Clark Griswold comparison is frightening!!

We are sticking around the northern Vermont area for awhile - stay tuned for a Pilkington family update soon.

Bye for now.

"Witch" you were here!

2009-06-19T18:31:00.000-07:00

Greetings all!

Since our last blog we have travelled to southern Vermont and had a visit with the folks at the Robb Family Farm in Brattleboro and managed to pick up some farm fresh maple syrup (Grandpa Ralph - too bad you weren't with us)!

We then travelled to east Massachusetts to a State Forest in the Boston vicinity. Talk about crazy traffic and roads! Our 3 big Massachusetts outings consisted of:

*A quick road trip up to Gloucester which is right on the ocean - very beautiful! Tyrone managed to sneak in yet another swim in the ocean.

*Salem - which is witch central. This is the spot back in the late 1600's when 14 women and 5 men were hung (not burned at the stake) because the community felt they were witches (which they weren't).

Salem certainly has a witch theme with many different themed restaurants, gift shops, etc.. Apparently it's quite wild around Halloween! Emma and Leah were quite intrigued to learn about the present day witches.

We also visited the Maritime Historic Site which talked about non-witch things like the maritime history of the area.

*Boston - We also jumped on the"T" to check out the downtown sites, especially the Boston Common area. We walked along the Freedom Trail where the freed slaves walked so long ago. One of the stops along the way was the State Building where we saw a statue of a relative of Ray's by the name of Anne Hutchinson. She lived back in the Puritan times and was considered to be a courageous exponent of "civil liberty and religious toleration".

Our plans are to continue north through New Hampshire and northern Vermont - we just finished a great visit to a Shaker community which we will talk about soon.

Our blog question - After viewing the statue of Ray's relation, we did some further research to find that he is actually distantly related to a handful of notable individuals including George W Bush, Marilyn Monroe and another actor from the 80's (which there is a resemblance - Helen you should get this) - who is it??

Bye for now.

New York Today - Tomorrow the World!

2009-06-15T19:29:00.000-07:00

We love NYC! Wow - what a place. We ended up jumping on a commuter bus in Pennsylvania for the 2 hour excursion to the Big Apple. Finding a hotel is a bit of a challenge here - did you know the average price for a hotel room is $400 a night. Ray found a deal, a great hotel with a 2 room suite in a perfect "Uptown" location.

We spent 2 action packed days taking in all the city sites. Here are the highlights:

*Central Park - Is lovely and much to Emma and Leah's dismay we missed seeing the live concert in the park featuring the Jonas Brothers by minutes! Also saw the John Lennon Memorial "Stawberry Fields" and later walked in front of the apartment where he was shot and killed.

*9-11 Memorial - Very powerful and emotional to see the stories from this tragic experience. NYC is in the process of rebuilding a whole new complex and park as a tribute to 9-11.

*Restaurants - There was this great little diner just by our hotel - lots of character and yummy food.

*Broadway - We stood in line in the rain for 2 hours to get discount tickets to Mary Poppins (no Wicked tickets were available). Mary Poppins was great fun - Chim Chimney, Chim Chim Chero.

*Times Square - I think it's even more overwhelming live in person - big tv screens and flashy lights everywhere and lots and lots of people.

*Subway - We spent lots of time travelling on the subway which certainly was a efficient and safe way to get around but are the subway stations yucky - very dark, dirty, dingy and stinky - I could just imagine the rats!
*Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building - are amazing to see in person.

*Ethnic Areas - Nyc has some strong ethnic areas so we toured both "Little Italy" and "China Town" which was really neat to see.

*Atmosphere and People - Much to our surprise, we always felt very safe and the people were very friendly and helpful.

So all in all a fun little excursion. We are right at the Massachusetts/Vermont border and just had a visit with some Strolling of the Heifers folks.

About the Amish trivia question - Grandma was right - this was a picture of a "Pennsylvania Phone Booth" - where the Amish families have phones for their businesses.

Bye for now.

The Civil War, Amish and Lots of Lots of Chocolate

2009-06-12T19:09:00.000-07:00

We are finally catching up on our blog - we enjoyed our time in southern Pennsylvania. Here is a family effort on the highlights.

All Things Civil War in Gettysburg:

We weren't really sure what to expect in Gettysburg but can report that it's a cute little town and beautiful countryside but wow the highways are narrow and the houses and barns are really close to the road (sometimes 4 feeet or less). At the National Military Park we took in a video and an unique cyclorama which outlined the gruesome 3 day battle during the Civil War. There also was a very detailed museum that we took in. Because of some of our interactive experiences in the museum, we now have have a new morning tradition here in the Pilkington/Andrew motorhome - a morning bugle revelry wake up call! There are statues and memorials all over Gettysburg, many with costumed folks rein acting various aspects such as soldier marches, musket shooting, etc.. There were tons of things to explore and never enough time.

The Best Day of My Life by Leah Pilkington

We were in Hershey and went to Chocolate World where they showed us how they make the different kinds of chocolate bars there like the Hershey's chocolate bar, Reese's Pieces, Kit Kats and of course Hershey Kisses. We went to a chocolate tasting school and sampled lots and lots of different kinds of chocolate. Because of all my hard work, I got my very own Masters in Chocolate Tasting Degree!! We ended up buying lots of chocolate there!! Did you know that the street lights in Hershey have Hershey kisses on them?? This really was the best day of my life (and Dad's too).

The Amish in Lancaster County by Emma Pilkington:

The Amish are people who live in different parts of the US and Canada who do not believe in using cars, tractors or any motorized vehicles and don't have any electricity in their homes. They travel by horse and buggy. The kids are not baptized until they are adults so they are not members of the church until they decide after the age of 18 years. Before young Amish make the decision to become members, many of them move to the city for awhile and drive cars.
We went to a Visitor Centre and saw a movie about an Amish boy called Jacob who drove his own car until he decided to become a baptised Amish. Next we got to tour a typical Amish home - I found it amazing that boys had to all share bedrooms until they got married but once a girl turned 16, they got their own bedroom. As soon as Amish men get married, they must grow a beard and never, ever cut it.

Since it was Sunday, many of the stores were closed and the Amish were at church, so we weren't sure if we would see any of them. But we were in luck - we saw many horses and buggies driving in the country side - we even saw kids playing baseball and some girls roller blading on the road through a covered bridge!

Our next trivia question - what is this Amish building (below)??

With the last Springer Spaniel question - many of you were right - both George Bush Sr and George W had English Springer Spaniels like the one in the photo on the White House Grounds.

We are currently in the Pocono Mountains about 2 hours away from NYC. In fact, we just spent 3 days in the big apple - so will be telling you all about it very soon.

Ta ta for now.

Crisis at the Whitehouse

2009-06-05T19:58:00.000-07:00

Well we had a bit of an issue in Washington at the White house. I told Ray that we shouldn't bring Tryone!! He got off his leash and slipped through the fence and loved running on the green, green grass. This picture is courtesy of Homeland Security.

OK - So we are joking but this does really look like Tryone on the White House grounds. This leads us to our question right off the start - which US President(s) had English Springer Spaniels?

We have spent the last 2 days exploring all the great things in the US Capital. We ended up staying at a National Forest just outside of the city area and then took the subway in.

Washington is home to many world renowned Smithsonian Museums (and there is no admission for most of them). We took in a few like the Natural History Museum and American History Museums. We saw many sites including a display of ball gowns of all the past First Ladies,the Hope Diamond and the big excitement was seeing "Night in the Museum 2" on IMAX which was filmed right in the various Smithsonian Museums!

Walking is a given when visiting here, we spent lots of time walking (in the pouring rain) to see the Lincoln Memorial, US Capital Building, Vietnam, Washington and WW2 Memorials, Reflecting Pool and of course the White House. Lots to see and do that is for sure.

We are now in southern Pennsylvania and are hoping to explore Gettysburg, Lancaster and Hersey in the next while.

About the last question - the photo from Jamestown Virginia, there were lots of good guesses but the correct answer and the Mytton family knew, was Princess Pocahontas. We certainly learned that the Disney story is very different from reality. Go figure. Click here to read more on her

Bye for now.

In Old, Old Virginia

2009-06-02T17:26:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Virginia,

Since our last post, we have arrived in Virginia, spending some time in the scenic Shenandoah National Park. Here is a picture of an exhausted Tyrone after our hike in the forest.

We then got to the Williamsburg area - talk about history! We visited Jamestown Stettlement where we learned about the 400 year history of the English settlers, natives and african americans. There was lots of interactive activities and things to learn about - everything from building a canoe, musket shooting, ships and Emma's physics lesson (she knows all about currents, compasses, compass roses and knots per hour thanks to Dennis the sailer). It was a great day and certainly gave us an appreciation as to how hard life was for these people.

We also went to Colonial Williamsburg and saw the old colonial town. The girls learned how to use a quill pen and had a bit of a hang up at the stalks.

We stayed at a great state park across the James River (we have to take a ferry to Williamsburg). By far this state park had the nicest campground and even an Olympic size swimming pool with diving boards. It's been very hot here (around 93 degrees with humidity) - so good thing for the pool. On Sunday, the campground had a Historic Gas and Steam Engine Show which we caught the last hour of - there were some snappy bands - but no bib overalls.

The park also has big, beautiful trees which Emma and Leah love to swing on!

Here we come Washington DC in the morning!

Question Time - Here is a picture of a famous woman that we learned more about at Jamestown - any guesses?? HINT- This actual photo is much different than the image we know.

Banjos, Bib Overalls and Bourbon

2009-05-29T06:48:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since our last posting, we have been mainly in Kentucky taking in the sights.

Last weekend was the Memorial Day Long Weekend here in the US, so we decided to take it easy and stay put for the weekend. We stayed in western Kentucky in the Land Between the Lakes Region. It's an interesting area, between the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers which were dammed over 50 years ago to create Kentucky and Barclay Lakes. It's a fishing hub - they sure do like to fish down here - even in the rain!

The funniest thing that we did was go to a "Picking Party". We went to an old historic farm site and we stumbled upon a Bluegrass picking party. There was a central stage set up for different acts to play but people were playing their fiddles and banjos all over the place. Bib overalls is the clothing of choice in these parts!

See the video for some toe tapping bluegrass - if it will load - it's 16 sec long though (removed).

We then carried on to central Kentucky to Bardstown which happens to be the Bourbon capital of the world. We camped at My Old Kentucky Home State Park which just happened to be located right beside a beautiful championship golf course - cost? a whopping $22 for 18 holes. So there was no surprise when Ray spent the morning golfing and nearly had a heart attack walking it. The girls and I opted to tour My Old Kentucky Home instead.

This beautiful house was the inspiration behind the Kentucky state anthem. The fellow who wrote this song (Stephen Foster) also wrote classic songs like Yankee Doodle, and Camptown Races.

We also went to the Heaven Hills Bourbon Site where we learned about the history of Kentucky Bourbon making and sampled some. A bit strong for me!

We then went to Georgetown (close to Lexington) which is the home of a relatively new Toyota manufacturing facility. We went to the visitor centre where we hoped to be able to get a tour only to find out that the tours were all sold out for the day.

We are now out of Kentucky and in the hills of West Virginia. Our big excitement for the day was getting caught in a crazy rain downpour and seeing a greyhound dog race which didn't really impress the us - they sure run fast down here. We thought of entering Tyrone!

We are off to Virginia in the morning heading towards the Shenandoah National Park and Williamsburg.

Wow Taylor (and Kim) for their correct answer in our last Tennessee trivia question. The state of Tennessee seems to have some very bizarre laws - why you would shoot a whale from a vehicle? A couple of other interesting laws - it is illegal to lasso a fish and to drive while you are sleeping. Only in Tennessee!

Bye for now.

Hunka Hunka Burning Love!

2009-05-24T07:31:00.000-07:00

When in Tennessee, you must go to Memphis to experience the one and only Graceland! Although Memphis was likely our least favorite Tennessee city, Graceland was lot of fun.

We toured Elvis's home and were quite impressed with it's unique furnishings - like carpeted walls, blue suede furniture, etc.. There was a beautiful outside pool, raquetball court and large yard for Elvis's horses. Elvis, his mama and daddy, grandma and baby twin brother were all laid to rest on the property and there is a little memorial garden where people can pay their respects. Did you know that Elvis loved his golf cart (as most people in the south) and was often spotted on the streets of Memphis zipping around!

We also went to a few other small museums depicting Elvis's time in the military and his movie career. Did you know that Priscella Presley is 10 years younger than Elvis - she met him when she was 14 years old! Needless to say, Emma and Leah have been on an Elvis movie marathon since our time in Memphis and have been watching Elvis movies like crazy (they just watched Speedway last night) Dang - Elvis was a handsome guy!!

Of course we also checked out Elvis's posh airplanes - we especially liked the Lisa Marie - Fancy! And then there were all of his cars and motorbikes.

And to end our Elvis experience in true Pilkington fashion - Ray felt the need to crank up the stereo on the motorhome as we drove past Graceland on our way out of town with "Burning Love" blasting and of course the motorhome air horn honking (and Ray waving as the waiting enthusiastic crowds waved back) - the girls and I were hiding in the back!

We are now out of Tennessee and in western Kentucky. Since it is the Memorial Day Long weekend down here we thought we would stay in one place for a few days and are camping in the Land Between the Lakes area. More about that later.

So since we are now out of Tennessee, we thought we would ask a final Tennessee trivia question - according to some travel books that we were reading - In Tennessee it is illegal to fire a gun at any wild game other than 1 particular type of animal from a moving vehicle - what is it? Trust me the answer is a bit of a stretch!

Bye for now.

Live from Nashville!

2009-05-19T19:43:00.000-07:00

Well here we are live from Nashville Tennessee! We have taken in the sights and sounds visiting of course the Grande Ole Opry. We went to the Museum and Gift Store but didn't end up getting tickets to the show - Leah was really sad that Taylor Swift was not playing!

We also went to the Country Music Musuem and Hall of Fame which is in downtown Nashville. We learned lots of the long and rich history of country music and learned about people like Hank Williams (and Hank Williams 2nd and 3rd), Little Jimmie Dickins, and of course the one and only Johnny Cash.

Emma and Leah were interestedto learn more about Dolly Parton and we took some George Strait pictures for Mrs. Jackson.

So about our last trivia question - "Dang" (the Tennessee folks love to use this word) - you folks are smart! Pigeon Forge Tennessee is all about Dolly Parton - besides being our camp hosts second cousin, she has a whole theme park called Dollyworld and Dolly's DixieLand Stampede right in town. We were impressed with Grandpa's quick answer, the Pisko's skilled response and Laura and Georgia's correct guess (Yes Georgia - Leah did get to pet the stingrays but she thought they were kind of slimy!).

After a visit to Camping World in Nashville in the morning we hope to head towards Memphis for all things Elvis!

See you - Has the snow all melted?? It sounds like it was quite the May Long Weekend - from Sunburn to Snow!!

The Great Smoky Mountains (the North Side)

2009-05-15T18:02:00.000-07:00

As promised here is the Great Smoky Mountains update from the north - Tennessee side.

We are currently in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee which is close to the gates of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I think the best way to describe Pigeon Forge and the neighboring community of Gatlinburg is wall to wall touristy!! There are tons and tons of mini-golf courses, go kart tracks, wax museums, cheap hotel rooms and of course BBQ's.

We are camping at a nice little campsite owned and operated by some friendly Tennessee folks. In fact, the owner tells me his family has lived in the area for over 100 years and actually own a mountain! They have alot of deer heads mounted in the wall of the office and when we came in today - they were playing with a rifle! (Has anyone seen Deliverance??)

We went on a very scenic drive today up to the National Park and toured around an area known as Cade's Cove where about 100 years ago there was quite a thriving community in those hills. We had the opportunity to see old homesteads with some very interesting architecture. We even saw lots of wildlife - a mama black bear with her cubs, wild turkeys and of course deer.

We also went out for a yummy lunch at a local BBQ and Ray and Leah just loved those ribs!!

Tomorrow we are planning to head out and slowly make our way towards Nashville.

Our big trivia question is actually about our campground hosts (who really are nice folks) - they told me (and I saw pictures) of their very famous 2nd cousin - who is it??

Oh and finally - we forgot to tell you the big anouncement regarding Carmen's recent annoucement for mother of the year - see the news broadcast here (thanks to Uncle Phillip for sending it out).

Ta,ta from Tennessee.................

The Great Smoky Mountains (the South side)

2009-05-15T17:45:00.000-07:00

Hi yea all,

Since our last blog we have travelled north to North Carolina - Transylvania County actually which is just outside of Ashville and on the south side of the Great Smoky Mountains. Wow - is it ever beautiful - very green and hilly with lovely pink and red wildflowers everywhere. For the first time in ages it's actually cooler - we had to wear pants and jackets!

We visited the Biltmore Estates in Asheville. This is America's largest home and we believe it, it took us about 1 1/2 hours to tour!! It was built in 1895 and is just beautiful - it even has an indoor swimming pool, excerise room and bowling alley!! Emma is quick to point out that there were 43 bathrooms as well! The estates also consist of amazing gardens, a winery, farm and inn.

We also travelled down the Blue Ridge Parkway which is a very scenic drive and very high up. Transylvania County is quite well known for it's waterfalls - there are many throughout the area. Our favorite was the Sliding Rock which is a very popular spot for folks. I will let Leah explain and show you all about them.

"After I got on my wet suit and life jacket, Emma and I walked across this rocky cold creek and then went up a sidewalk where we could get to the top of sliding rocks. In the summer, there are lifeguards but it was too cold for them to be there when we went. Emma went first and then I did. I went to the top of the sliding rocks and sat down and slid down in the water and it was really, really, really cold. At the end you land in a big pool of really, really, really cold water! It was lots of fun we went again 2 other times but cold!!!"

See my screaming video below! (removed)

So in our next back to back blog we will tell you all about The Great Smoky Mountains from the North Side perspective.

Ta, ta for now.

In the Deep, Deep South

2009-05-10T19:51:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day

Well after our PGA golfing experiences we headed north to the beautiful Savannah Georgia. We were totally blown away with how beautiful it was with the amazing trees (especially the magnolias in bloom) and the town squares and gardens were definately worth the visit. It was a bit of challenge to drive the rv down some of the roads though. Was it ever hot and humid in Savannah - wow!

We are currently in Augusta Georgia where we have been for the weekend. Another lovely city where we have taken in some interesting sites:

*We watched an outdoor movie on a hot May evening in our tank tops and shorts on the lawn of a park in downtown Augusta (they have mosquitos and ticks here).

*Walked along the Savannah River

*Shopped and dined on catfish and hush puppies

*Were chased out of the Member's Only Augusta National Golf Course (another Ray story)

*And the most exciting thing we did on Mother's Day was attend a regular church service at the oldest black Baptist church in the US. In fact the church is 227 years old! This was quite the experience for all of us, lots of lively music and dancing and "hallelujahs". We were made very welcome - we received lots of hugs and handshakes! So if you are ever in Augusta I would highly recommend attending a service at the Springfield Baptist Church. See their website here.

We are planning to head towards North Carolina in the morning to the Great Smoky Mountain region.

Regarding our last blog question about what Ray ran over on the way to The Players golf tourney - Taylor and Jocelyn you made a really good guess. You wouldn't believe how many parking pylons we have seen in the south! We actually ran over this really, really large snake - we haven't figured out what kind it was though.

Signing off from the south.

Dad - Dreams do come true

2009-05-07T19:20:00.000-07:00

Perspective by Emma:

You know, for some weird reason I always get to tell all about my Dad’s wild adventures. Whenever something happens to Dad, it’s always my turn to write the blog. But anyway let’s get right into the story shall we.

Well now Dad’s life is complete. He’s lived his dream. Can anyone take a guess? Dad got FREE tickets to The Players PGA Golf Tournament. When he returned from visiting the World Hall Of Fame Golf Museum in St. Augustine Florida, he comes back with 2 golf tickets in his hand. (Kids get in free.) Dad happened to stumble upon people who know people, who just happen to have 2 extra tickets. So next thing we know we are all on our way to The Players at the luxurious TCP Sawgrass Golf Course.

Once we got there, we went through more security than you would traveling on an airplane. While Dad was shopping for golf stuff (and losing his wallet – a whole other story), Mom, Leah and I hung out at the famous 17th hole watching the caddies of the caddies try to par the hole. We soon find out that there is to be a special presentation on the 18th hole where Mr. George Bush the 1st will make an appearance and a short speech. It’s quite the ceremony with 200 military people in white that stood out in the bright green grass like a beach ball in a snow bank.

But just when we think all the excitement is over, Dad rushes us over to the practice field were a few men practice their putting. Not sure that they were actually famous golfers, we watch them for a few minutes. Then Dad realizes that one of the men is Vijay Singh and another is Padrig Harrington! Dad starts snapping pictures when suddenly another young guy walks onto the practice field. Suddenly the group of kids beside of us start screaming his name SERGIO GARCIA, or whatever his name is. (Apparently the guy who won the big tourney last year). The kids beside us, who were kind of annoying, keep screaming his name. I’m surprised the golfers didn’t start throwing their putters at them! But instead Sergio starts tossing out golf balls at them. All the kids started running for the balls. Dad quickly threw the camera to us, and dove down to try to catch the balls.

Determined to get one of the three balls, when the next one came rolling down, he was ready. He made a huge V-shape with his arms and grabbed the ball. I’m surprised he didn’t laugh in the kids’ face and say Ha! Suckers. I got the ball, and you didn’t! It even had a fiery red S on it for Sergio. Dad will probably sleep with it under his pillow for the rest of his life. Oh and I almost forgot to tell you about the clubhouse. My word Delburne needs to bump it up a notch! First of all it looked like a huge Palace, and you needed the special pass to get in. Well I think that wraps it up. And that was our “The Players Golf Experience”.

Because of all the golf going on I didn’t get to tell you about getting out of Orlando and St. Augustine (the oldest city in North America.) Getting out of Orland was crazy, as Dad would say. We went through 5 pay tolls, and we paid over $12.

And now I well tell you about St. Augustine. Mom loved St. Augustine. It is so old and pretty. We went to the Castillo de San Marco’s National Monument. It is a fort in St.Augustine that was ruled by the Spanish, until 1763 when the British took it over. It was very cute and quite an amazing design.

We have compiled all your Disney villains and it seems like the awful Maleficent off of Sleeping Beauty, Cruella deVille and the Evil Queen off of Snow White were the favorites! My vote would definitely be for Cruella de Ville.

And now what you’ve all been waiting for another nail-biting head-puzzling TRIVIA QUIESTION!!!! , in our rush to get to the Golf Tourney, what did Dad run over with the van??

Ta,Ta for now. Signing of from Savannah, Georgia. Bye.
Blog entry by: Emma

Step Sisters, Shamus and Sunscreen!

2009-05-04T19:20:00.000-07:00

Hi there - Well it's official - we are "theme parked" out! We certainly aren't cold that is for sure, Florida has been having a spring heat wave, it has been 90 degrees for the last 10 days and the forecast is remaining the same for the next short while.

We visited the last of 4 Disney World parks which of course is a favorite - Magic Kingdom. Everyone enjoyed the Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain and the list goes on and on. Emma and Leah just loved meeting the characters that roam around - Emma was thrilled to see her special friend Barney and Leah was happy to see Daisy Duck (but mad she didn't get to meet Donald). Getting to meet the step sisters and step mother from Cinderella was a highlight. Wow are they something - they made Leah do a dance for them. We wrapped the evening up by watching the fireworks over Cinderella's castle which were amazing - we even saw a special appearance from Tinkerbell.

Seaworld was our next stop where we got to watch sea lion, dolphin and whale shows and of course the fabulous Shamus show!! We saw a huge group of penguins which was quite interesting but are they ever stinky! The highlight though was getting to play and feed the dolphins - they are so cute.

Our final Orlando destination was Aquatica - a huge waterpark which is part of Seaworld. This was a great way to spend yet another hot day tubing down the rivers, sliding and riding the waves. The big excitement at this park was the waterslide which is a clear tube and goes through a dolphin pond.We are off tomorrow heading north to the St. Augustine area. Did you know that St. Augustine is the oldest community in North America and is also the home of the World Golf Village??

There were lots of great comments about your favorite Disney characters. Now for our next question which is inspired from the evil step sisters and step mother, who do you think is the all time worst Disney villian??

Bye for now.

4 Disney Days Done - 3 More to Go

2009-04-30T19:16:00.000-07:00

Hello from Kissimmee, Florida!

We are theme parking like crazy with four full days under our belts and three more to go. Armed with sunscreen, lots of money and of course hand sanitizer with have explored Disney World's Animal Kingdom, Epcott and Hollywood Studios and today we checked out Universal Studio.

One of the things that we have learned is that Disney World is really huge! It's really 4 separate parks with many other extras like water parks, golf courses and lots of resorts. You have to hand it to Disney, they do think of everything!

We are really enjoying staying in the condo (thanks again to Aunt Sandra) - it's nice to have a "house" - Emma and Leah have their own room with a tv so when we get back every night the girls are quick to get to bed! Tyrone is on his own little holiday as he is spending the week at the Puppy Dreams Pet Motel.

Highlights for us have to include:

*An African animal safari - Have you seen a rhinoceros pee?

*Musicals - Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Finding Nemo - we have seen them all!

*Stunt shows - Leah's favorite

*Rides galore - Just thinking of some of the rides we have been on make Ray and I dizzy!

* Video Game Design - see Leah and Ray star in their own game - try it online here

http://www.thinkingofyoupostcards.com/runtime/play?Guestcode=KQ2QKC97CHME2Q

*Jaws - Just ask Emma about that one

*Fireworks - Thanks to the Atkinson's for the Fantasmic tip.

*Animal Actor Show - Leah was pretty pumped to be callled up stage to help with the dog actors!

*And of course seeing all the characters - Emma was thrilled to see Barney, Leah loved the Princesses and Ray was excited to pose with Marilyn.

So we are mustering up our energy for 3 more action packed days - to the Magic Kingdom and SeaWorld.

Stay tuned................

We were kind of curious to see if anyone was reading our blog so Ray added the website counter (a company even contacted us to advertise on the blog!). So since we know people are reading this - we want to hear from you! What is your favorite Disney character??

A Trip to the Florida Keys

2009-04-24T18:20:00.000-07:00

Hi again (2nd post today),

We thought that no trip to Florida would be complete without spending some time in the Keys. We ended up leaving the motor home up in the Miami area and zipped down to the Keys for a couple of days with our tent.

We pitched our tent at a very lovely oceanside spot. It was beautiful at night looking out at the stars (with all four of us and Tyrone in the tent!)

We spent lots of time on the beach swimming in the very turquoise warm water. Tyrone had fun at the Dog Beach and Ray and Emma went snorkeling and she saw her first stingray and jellyfish!

We went down to Key West to the Sunset Festivities at Mallory Square where we witnessed all types of interesting shows - everything from chain saw juggling to cat performances - some of these were strange indeed! The highlight of the night was of course seeing the beautiful sunset and hearing the crowd cheer and clap. Oh and about that key lime pie - YUMMY!

The Keys were beautiful - the weather was amazing - it was like we were on a tropical island!

Now we are making our way to Orlando for our Disney World adventures. We are very excited to be able to stay at a Condo for a week while we are hear - thanks Aunt Sandra for making those connections for us!!

Oh and about Ray's speeding back in Louisiana - luckily he did not get a speeding ticket especially since he was going 44 miles per hour in a 15 miles per hour zone! Paul - how did you know Ray would be driving that fast - your coveted prize will be coming in the mail.

Bye for now.

Everything Alligator (well almost)

2009-04-24T17:45:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

It's been awhile since we last blogged - where does the time go? We have so much to talk about that we are going to 2 posts in 1 day!

Since our time in Louisiana we travelled along the Gulf Coasts of Mississippi and Alabama on the beautiful sugar white sands of Florida's Emerald Coast. We ended up staying at a little place called Mexico Beach which is just outside of Panama City for a couple of days of walking the beach, shell collecting and of course swimming!

Then off to explore southern Florida - the Big Cypress National Preserve, the Everglades and of course the Keys (the topic of our next blog).

As we travelled through the Big Cypress National Preserve and the Everglades - there is one common factor - alligators! Lots of them - from babies to big ones to even dead ones on the side of the road. The handy hint we learned in Louisiana about outsmarting an alligator came in handy when we went for a family bike ride in the Everglades!! We had a slight incident when an alligator was on the move after us. You should see Leah zig zag on her bike!! An eventful way to end the "Alligator Chapter".

Finally, below is a video we shot during our biking adventure thru the national everglades park - and no Uncle Phillip this wasn't taken off Youtube!! Enjoy.

Mud - Boggin in Lousianna

2009-04-16T19:35:00.000-07:00

Last time Leah wrote the blog so now it’s my turn. We headed north of Lafayette to Natchez, Missippii on April 13^th to visit the Frogmore Plantation, which is very close to the mighty Mississippi River. It had rained the last few nights and it was wet and really muddy. The parking lot at the Plantation was small so dad didn’t want to park there. Instead Dad decided to park at a large grassy area down the road. Splatt! Right into the a huge mud blob. AHHHHHHH! Yelled dad jumping outside. After about 10 minutes of Dad going back and forth, and back and forth inside out, trying to get out of the sticky, gooey, Lousianna mud, finally a nice afro-american came out of his GMC truck and got us out of the mud. Thank goodness!!

Dad thinks of the Kia SUV swamp commercial now - he found it here

We ended up missing the last tour at the Plantation after all that excitement and toured around Natchez instead . There are lots of really nice old houses in Natchez that we looked at and went went to a spot in downtown Natchaz where they used to sell slaves.

Then the next day we all got up bright and early and went to the Plantation. The Lady gave us a tour and showed us the slave quarters, barn, church, and saw how they harvested cotton long ago and today. This was really interesting to see a plantation first hand especially since the Grade 5 class read the book The Underground Railroad.
We then went to the New Orleans area and stayed a state park on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain. To get to New Orleans you have to cross a huge bridge which goes on for 25 miles across the lake! New Orleans was very pretty in the French Quarter. In some ways it reminded me of pictures of Paris. We went to this place called Café Du Monde and tasted some very yummy baignets - a square dounut thing with lots of icing sugar (thanks for the tip Grandpa Ralph). And for lunch we went to this old fashion burger dinner were 3 people worked. There was an Afro-American Lady who kept dancing as she was cooking and all the employees had a dancing competetion. It was so FUNNY!
Well all your guesses on what to do if an alligator is chasing you on land are all good, but what we were told was if an alligator is ever chasing you on land you should run in zig-zags. Because you see when Alligators are on land they can run extremely fast in a precise straight line – they only see straight ahead… So that’s what you should do if an Alligator is chasing you on land.

Today’s nailbitting, headpuzzling trivia question is……………………… when we were staying over night at the State Park, and when dad got stopped by a State Park ranger, because he was over the speed limit of 15 miles per hour, how fast was he really going?

Until next time.

Emma

Easter with the Alligators.

2009-04-12T16:49:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody It's Leah writing the blog this time. We are in Lafayette Louisiana and are having lots of fun. This morning we went to a swamp and we went in a boat but it wasn't very big but it had lots of seats. We were the only ones there except for the person driving the boat and explaining all of it.It was really scary seeing Alligators we saw a really small alligator - we think it was a baby alligator and we saw a really big Alligator - we are thinking that it was 12 feet. We also saw lots of different kinds of birds, lots of them were on their nests with baby birds.
We also visited a little cajun town where people were dressed up in costumes. We even went on an Easter egg hunt and got lots of candies!

We went to this factory that dad really wanted to go to where they made Tabisco sauce - we got lots of samples! We went out for supper at this place where they had lots of seafood like crawfish (which everyone eats here tons - I like catfish better though) and they had a band that was playing Canjun music and we got to dance!

We are staying at a really nice campground with lots of people staying at. Me and Emma made three Louisiana friends - one girl was called Augere and one other girl was called Danielle and those two are sisters and the last girl is called Selena. Everyday and night they partyed and mostly every adult had a golf cart with the two back seats - my dad wants one!

Y'All have a Happy Easter!!

PS - Congrats to Aunt Sandra and Miss Nicole Macdonald who guessed our last trivia question about Leah's expensive visit to the doctor. The cost to see the doctor was $150 and then the 3 medicines were $110 for a grand total of $260...good thing we have coverage! Ladies - your prizes will be in the mail sometime soon!

We learned lots of interesting facts about alligators today. Did you know that they can run extremely fast on land! So if you are ever chased by an alligator on land - what's the best thing you can do to protect yourself??

We are heading north to the Natchez Louisiana area tomorrow to visit a cotton plantation by the Missippi River.

Bye,

Our travels with Uncle Phil

2009-04-09T19:24:00.000-07:00

Hello there - It's been awhile since we have last posted - we have been doing lots of different things. Here are the highlights:

San Marcos - We returned to San Marcos and met Uncle Phil where we spent 2 fun filled days on the San Marcos River. Everyone had the chance to frolic in the river swinging off a rope, just jumping (Tyrone) and kayaking. Ray, Emma and even Leah were successful in shooting some rapids!!

Houston - We then headed to Houston where Phil led us on 3 very action packed days.

We visited the Houston Aquarium where we touched stingrays and saw "Marina the White Tiger".

We checked out the Houston Museum of Natural Science where Ray learned all about directional drilling and now considers himself an expert (can you believe that Paul - he's sending you an email all about it) The girls were very excited to tour a vault of precious gems and jewelry.

The Houston Children's Museum was fun as Leah worked as a banker (and actually came home with some of the money...oopps) and Emma did a weather forcast for a local ficticious Houston tv station.

The Houston Zoo was a hit, especiallly the animal merry-go round!

We also toured around Galveston and saw some of the damage from Hurrican Ike. They are working hard to get things back on track. However, we did visit a nearby Barrier Island/Penisula called Bolivar where the damage from Hurricane Ike was incredible - the community was basically destroyed - very sad. But they do seem to be rebuilding.

Thanks to Phil, Kelly and Bandi (their dog) for being our tour guides!

We left Houston on Thursday and are now at this great little campground in Lafayette, Louisiana where we will be spending a Cajun Easter weekend - stay tuned for an update soon.

Oh and about our last trivia question about the seanut - Tyrone just went crazy playing with coconuts which were washed up on the beach from Caribban destinations. YEAH Grandpa Harry for getting that question right!

Our next trivia question deals with the American health system. For the last few weeks Leah has been hacking and coughing and becoming more and more conjested so we decided to take her to the doctor and get her checked out which was quite an experience. After pages and pages of paperwork (19 in total) , Leah saw a doctor who believes that what she had was allegry induced and prescribed a bunch of different medicine. The good news is that she is back to her bubbly self but we want to know from you - how much did this all cost us (doctor visit and prescriptions)???

Happy Easter - Hope the Easter bunny finds you.

Surfs Up in Padre Island Texas!

2009-04-01T15:37:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Padre Island Texas!

Since our last post, we have travelled across western Texas and spent some time in the Texas Hill Country - Fredricksberg in particular and then went to San Marcos (yes that's right Mrs. Jackson!).

We are now further south on the Gulf of Mexico at this great spot south of Corpus Christi at Padre Island National Seashore. We are camping right on the ocean and are having lots of fun wading in the water and walking on the beach. As you can tell by the photos - it was really windy and cloudy here today but lots of humidity! Tomorrow is supposed to be hot and sunny! In true Pilkington/Andrew fashion, we got into a bit of trouble yesterday as our fearless hiking leaders (Ray and Leah) lead us onto the sand dunes (which we quickly found out that we weren't supposed to be on when we got yelled at by the campground hosts!).

We plan to stay here for another day and take in a ranger lead beach hike and the girls are going to work on their Junior Ranger cerfification. Friday we are going to head back to San Marcos and hook up with Phil and Kelly and then head back with them to Houston on Sunday evening.

And about the last trivia question - In Carlsbad, we had several incidents involving grocery shopping carts! In the afternoon, there was a run away shopping cart on the highway and then during the night we awoke to the sound of crashing shopping carts, in the Carlsbad Wallmart parking lot! Are these questions too hard??

And the next question - Tyrone has been having a blast running in the ocean and chasing birds and basically going quite crazy. He found a particular item on the beach that he loved to play with - what is it?? Here's a hint - it is technically a member of the "seanut" family.

Ta, ta for now.

Rockets, Ufo's and other Flying Things

2009-03-27T19:57:00.000-07:00

Here's our lastest update:

While staying at Alamogordo, New Mexico we visited the Space History Museum where we learned more about rockets and missiles. It was most interesting to learn more and see some of the equipment that was used to perform various human reaction tests on G force (and I thought going on a roller coaster was bad). Leah was very interested to learn more about the role of chimpanzees in space training and testing. One popular chimp by the name of Ham was buried there. Ray also feels that he has missed his calling - he seems to be very skilled at landing the space shuttle during a simulation game!!

We then went to Roswell and of course had to visit the UFO Museum and learn more about "the Roswell incident". Roswell has certainly capitalized on the whole alien thing - they even had aliens on the Wallmart!

And to continue on our "flying theme" - today we visited the Carlsbad Caverns a truly amazing underground cavern. It took us about 1 hour to walk all the way down to the "Big Room", on the way we witnessed many spots where the bats like to hang out. These caverns are considered to be some of the most "decorated" (as in have lots of stalactites and stalagmites) in the world.

We are off to Texas tomorrow slowly making our way towards Houston with stops in Fredrickberg and San Marcus.

Way to go Gordie for figuring out why the highway by the White Sands is closed on a regular basis - for missle testing!

Our next question - Last night we experienced some crazy weather - there were extremely strong winds and even a touch of snow. As we were driving yesterday, Ray had to swerve to miss this particular item on the street and then again in the middle of the night, we awoke to a huge bang when 2 of these items crashed together. What are we talking about??

Until Texas.

Tobogganing in New Mexico

2009-03-24T20:37:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Alamogordo New Mexico!

Today we visited the White Sands National Monument just out of town. Thanks to Carol & Paul Williams for recommending this spot. This is a really amazing spot - in the middle of nowhere, actually right next door to the White Sands Missle Range, there are miles and miles of white sand and dunes! This sand is very rare and is created from the gypsium in the nearby mountains. (some may say it's radioactive)

There are lots of hikes to explore the sand dunes and the funniest part - tobagganing! It is spring break in this part of the country so the park was packed with families playing in the sand. We borrowed some saucers from our campground and had to use some special wax and we were off (we wished we brought our crazy carpets though). It was just liked tobogganing in the snow except nice and warm!!

Tomorrow we plan to go to the Space Museum here in town and then venture over to Aunty Tracy's hometown of Roswell to learn all about UFO's.

It looks like Mr. Paul Overwater answered our last blog question correctly - at the Casa Grande Ruins there was a rattlesnake warning! YIKES! Ray has the perfect card for you Paully!

The next question - on our way to the White Sands we saw a big sign up on the highway stating that the highway is regularly closed at least 2 days a week for approximately 2 hours for what purpose??

Bye for now.

In the Wild, Wild West

2009-03-22T20:16:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since we have last blogged, we have been back to Yuma trouble shooting a few minor RV problems and visiting with Ray's parents and Aunt, Uncle and cousin Tanya from Langley BC.

We are now back on the road eastbound and have checked out some interesting sites. We have had some really hot weather here recently (I know you are all feeling really sorry for us!) but as we get further east it gets cooler and windier.

Casa Grande Ruins

This is a National Monument south of Phoenix and is home to the "big house" built by prehistoric people called the Hohokom prior to 1350 AD. Around these partial ruins are the remains of a walled village. There was even a a ball court there where the Hohokom appeared to be a fairly competitive bunch - if you lost a game the losers would be given to the Gods.

Every time we visit a National Park or National Monument, the girls take a Junior Ranger program - they basically have to complete a age appropriate booklet and then they get their very own Ranger badge - they are getting quite a collection.

Tombstone

Today we hung out at Boot Hill and the OK Corral at Tombstone, Arizona. The highlights were definately the gun fights, trolly ride, the Tombstone Epitaph Museum and we even got a special family picture taken (Emma and Leah chose to be saloon girls as opposed to prairie girls). Oh yeah, Ray finally got under my skin and I had to take matters in my own hands.

Way to go Pisko's (David, Jane, John, Hannah and Jacob to be specific) for being so quick to answer correctly our last blog question. Yes it was Tyrone who initially had some cactus issues at the Joshua Tree National Park. Ray also ended up getting in on the action rescuing Tyrone!

And for our next question - at the Casa Grande Ruins there was a warning out about an animal recently spotted on the grounds. What was this animal???

We are planning to head into New Mexico tomorrow hoping to get closer to the White Sands National Monument.

Bye for now,

How I Spent My Birthday (and the day before)

2009-03-17T09:28:00.000-07:00

Happy St.Patrick's day Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And Happy Birthday Carly from Leah and family!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks everyone for all the Birthday Wishes! I am glad that you remembered!

On Sunday we visited the Joshua Tree National Park. This is a new park and did you know that U2 even named a record after this park!

We went to 3 different spots. #1 We went to an oasis. In case you didn't know an oasis is, in the middle of the desert all of a sudden there's bright green trees and bushs. And sometimes if your lucky there might even be a stream or something.

#2 Next we went to the most dangerous part of the desert. The Cholla cactuses! Every since then if you ever get hurt really bad, oh I don't know maybe not paying attention and banging your head on the van roof!(Grandpa H!) Instead of swearing say Cholla! Anyway I can't tell what exactly happened because it is our trivia question.

#3 This was my personal favorite. We went to the White Tank campground. Surronding it was big red desert rocks, that were so cool they looked fake! We climbed and we climbed and we climbed. There was one set of rocks called the Arch rock. The Arch rock is a big rock that is in a natural shape of an arch! It was pretty cool. With effort, I climbed up on top of the arch rock, but then I got yelled at by..............MOM AND DAD, so I had to come down. But then an English Lady came up to me and said "is it hard to climb up there". So I said "well yes". But she was determined to climb up and she did.

Now let's get to the importand part................MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well this was the most interesting birthday I've ever had.

First we stoped at an old dirty gas station and I got some gummy Octupuses. Mom told me not to eat them all, because it might be my cake. But I finished them up anyway.

Then after traveling for about an hour in a half, we say the Sultan Sea which is a large salt water sea just like a lake. Tons of different birds like pelicans were there.

Our next stop was a very interesting place called Slab City. This is an old Air Force Base that people camp at. There was moterhomes (from brand new to very, very old ones) scattered all over, and guys had taken old dirty toys, old tires and well just trash and painted it up and make it look artsy. Dad wanted to stay there overnight but mom said NO! Not far from the campground was quite a sight - Salvation Mountain. We stopped there and met the man who made it out of clay, straw, and bright colors and it took him 25 years! So there is a big mountain of colors and paint in the middle of the desert. It was SO cool. And up the mountain he had made a path that went all the way to the top called the yellow brick road. (which of course was yellow.) He was a really cool guy. And for the 25 years of building it he lived in the back of an old white truck and beat up motorhome!

When we got on the road, we stopped at a Mexican market and got Ice cream sandwiches, strawberries, whipcream, and candles. And that was my birthday cake. And for supper, mom made me delicious noodles, and ceaser salad. mmmmmmmmmmmmm................And all and all not a bad birthday. And the best part about is today (now that we are back in Yuma) is that for lunch were going to the Olive Garden for Lunch and shopping for my b-day present!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are going to be in Yuma for a couple of days and then head east towards Tuscun.

Oh and about the cholla cactus - that is our trivia question - one of the members of the Pilkington/Andrew family had quite an experience with the cactus - who was it??

Bye for now,

Emma

Hanging in Hollywood

2009-03-15T07:49:00.000-07:00

We spent Thursday in Hollywood where we toured around and checked out the stars and took in the sights.

We then did our own Celebrity tour and zipped around Beverly Hills and Bel Air looking for the stars but we didn't see anyone (Emma and Leah fully expected to see Tom Cruise or someone else famous cutting thegrass on the front lawn). But we did see a German reality show commerical being filmed, Lots of fancy houses and yards and really shiny cars! Ray was particularly impressed with the Hugh Hefner estate (he thinks he should be a gardener there!).

We then saw the famous Santa Monica Pier and spent some time at Venice Beach - now that is a colourful spot! We then dined at the beautiful Manhatten Beach for supper while watching a gorgeuous sunset.

So some of you may be wondering where Tyrone has been during all this LA excursion. Well Tyrone has been having his own LA experience at Camp Ilene. This is an overnight camp for dogs - there are no kennels (futon beds) and they have a huge backyard (which includes a pool) and tons of room to run, lots of balls,etc.. They even had a live pet cam that we could check on our computer while Tyrone was in camp so we could keep an eye on him. Needless to say, all he has done since we have picked him up is sleep! Here's the link to the Camp Ilene website for you to check out http://www.campilene.com/

It is often referred to as the "Disneyland" for dogs!!

We are heading east out of the LA area and hope to be at the Joshua Tree National Park later today.

About the trivia question - the "snotty princess" from Emma and Leah's perspective was Princess Jasmine! Leah overheard the Princess say to Alladin - I'm hungry - let's split and go for a burgerrrrrrrrrrrr (in a really valleygirl voice)!

Talk to you soon.

Zippidy Do Da.........

2009-03-12T21:55:00.000-07:00

Hello from Disneyland - We just spent three action packed days there and have lots of exciting things to share!

FROM LEAH:

The Hollywood Tower Hotel of Terror was very freaky. Dad and I yelled and I was scared. I liked Splash Mountain but we did get really wet. Meeting all the different princesses and characters was great - Micky Mouse liked me so much he asked me for a great big kiss on his cheek! We went to the musical Aladin and it was very exciting.

FROM EMMA:

Disneyland was so much fun - I really liked the Space and Splash Mountain rides, The Tower of Terror, California Screaming ( a really big roller coaster), the princesses (especially Snow White my favorite) and getting called up to dance at the High School Musical Show!

FROM RAY:

I really liked the California Soaring and Splash Mountain but was not a big fan of the California Screaming roller coaster and the Tower of Terror. I was most proud of surviving the drive to Disneyland each morning and evening!

FROM CARMEN:

We had lots of fun in Disneyland! I am proud to say that I survived the Tower of Terror (it was touch and go) and all the other crazy rides like the Indiana Jones adventure. Can you believe on our first day we saw 2 different families from Delburne!!

We are exhausted from all this excitement! We plan to stick around the area for another day to hopefully tackle the traffic one more day and check out Hollywood before we head off towards Palm Springs.

There were lots of great guesses from our last blog about the gorilla's favorite snack. Unfortunately, none of them were correct. Can you believe that the gorillas just loved brocolli??

For the next question - Emma and Leah were quite miffed when they met one of the princesses and felt she was "quite snotty" - can you guess which one??

All for now.

All is Well in San Diego

2009-03-08T20:31:00.000-07:00

Well we made it to San Diego yesterday afternoon - we had a slight delay in departure from Yuma as we had the rear rotors and brakes replaced on the motorhome (always a good thing to have functioning brakes!) One of the things we ended up doing in Yuma is some ag tourism by visiting a peanut farm!

San Diego is really beautiful but colder than Yuma (we are wearing capris as opposed to shorts). Last night we were touring around in the late afternoon and we found this wonderful place right on the ocean called Ocean City. It just so happened to be a no leash dog park - so needless to say Tyrone was very happy and thinks he may just become a California dog!

Today we spent the day at the San Diego Zoo - a great place! The highlights included a sky tram ride over the park, up close and personal with pandas, a show boating polar bear, gorillas and tortoises. Here are some of our photos and video clip that we thought you might like.

Tomorrow the plan is to head north to the Los Angeles area (technically around Corona California) for the next few days to be in fairly close proximity to DisneyLand and LA.

Ray has been doing a fabulous job driving in all this crazy traffic - the traffic from Delburne to Red Deer will be pretty boring for him when he gets back.

With the last trivia question - Leah's favorite Mexican dish - We have decided that Jocelyn is the lucky winner - Leah loves fish tacos!

For our new question - the gorillas at the zoo were hungry, hungry and loved a certain snack - What do you think it is??

A big Happy Birthday (from yesterday) goes to Auntie Tracy and Jaydee!

Bye for now.

Hola!!

2009-03-03T20:38:00.000-08:00

Today we spent the day in Algodones Mexico which is a short 15 minute drive from Yuma.

Algadones is famous for being a hotbed for cheap dental, medical and eye care services for Canadian and American snowbirds. Everyone drives down to the border and then just walks over for all their medical needs. Many women go down just to get their hair done! Ray's mom got her hair done for $7.

We enjoyed wandering around taking in the sights and sounds, shopping a bit of course (Ray was very excited to buy 1 litre of Kalua for $6.50) and eating Mexican food.

We had to wait in line at the border for about 1 hour since there were so many people heading back to the USA.

Here are some photos from our Mexican excursion:

One more day in Yuma and then we will be heading west to the San Diego area on Thursday.

Congrats to Mr. Adam Overwater who had the closest answer to the last trivia question. The main gates at the Friendly Acres RV Park are locked at 7pm. The gate right by Ray's parents place is actually locked at 5 pm. Those snowbirds need to be locked up early! Adam - we picked up something for you in Mexico today and will send it to you soon.

Our next question.....
Emma and Leah have been sampling many different types of Mexican food in the last few days. Leah is very fond of a particular dish - any guesses??

PS - Not that we want to rub it in, but did you know that the temperature in Yuma has actually been warmer than Hawaii these last few days!!

School in Yuma

2009-03-01T21:38:00.000-08:00

SCHOOL IN YUMA

We have been enjoying the sunshine here in Yuma for the last week or so. Emma and Leah wanted to let everyone know about what school has been like here in Yuma.

Emma’s perspective: Well school in Yuma is much different then at Delburne. But some things are still the same………..
Sing O`Canada and do a thousand pages of math a day and stuff like that. School is definitely different then back at home.

Leah’s perspective:
If we are not done our math then we can`t go to gym class (which is the pool!)

Ray has been busy puttering around with the motorhome and we all have been spending time with Ray`s parents and his brother Phil and Kelly. A few of the highlights include:
*Mexican swap meets (farmers market)

*A personalize celtic band performance

*Shopping galore
*Bike rides
*Marguritias!
*And of course lots of sun!

We hope to go over to Mexico for a day before we head off to California on Thursday.

Congratulations to our last blog question winner – Britany Atkinson. The burros in Oatman just love carrots!

This week`s question – Since we have been hanging out at Ray`s parents 55 plus community our skill testing question will revolve around this theme. This is a gated park with numerous `rules`to abide by. The gates are even locked up every night – what time is `lock up`at the Friendly Acres RV park

All for now,

A Special Reflection

2009-02-25T06:45:00.000-08:00

All of our thoughts have been back in Delburne in the last few days.

Our community has lost a very special lady - Debi Volker. Deb - we will always remember your great big smile and laugh, your hugs, your willingness to help anyone wherever you could and your spunk. You will be missed greatly.

Our hearts, thoughts and prayers go out to Jeremy, Jordan and Janelle.

Love Ray, Carmen, Emma and Leah

On Route 66......

2009-02-21T21:23:00.000-08:00

Hi there - here's a quick update on what we have been up to.

We headed to the tiny town of Oatman Nevada which is on the historic Route 66. What a cute little place - it is an old mining town/ghost town with a western flair. Leah's favorite part - the cute little burros who roam the town (they actually stop traffic as they walk down the street). They have gun fights on the main street - as you can tell one of them captured Leah from the crowd and wanted to keep her! (He offered his share of the local gold mine and his burro for her).

We then meandered further south to stay at Quartzsite for the night. Now this is an interesting place - motorhome after motorhome camped all over the place. Quartzsite is home to a huge rock and gem show in January which seems to drag into February and brings people out from all over. We seem very young here let me tell you!!

We are now in Yuma and weather is wonderful. We plan to be here for the next week or so since Ray's parents are here.

So no issues with Homeland Security in the last few days but Tyrone did have a bit of a run in with the Native Tribal Police Animal Control Services in Bullhead City!!!

In regards to Emma's bathroom question - she had her emergency stop at the Walgreens on Las Vegas Boulevard.

The next question - what is the favorite treat for the burros at Oatman?

Ta, ta for now

Emma's Post

2009-02-19T20:57:00.000-08:00

So I hear that you all wanted me to write the blog so I decided I would. Yesterday we went to the Hoover Dam. The Hoover Dam started to be built in 1931.They finished building it in 1935. Since the Hoover dam was built in the old days, they didn’t have all the high-tech tools and equipment we have now. So sadly in the making of the dam, 110 people died.

When we were parking, dad was already mad, because we were being charged 7 dollars for parking but then what I am about to tell you is very, very funny and made Dad even more mad. When we took the long walk from the parking lot to the dam, and just entering, we saw a sign that said no food, drinks, or weapons allowed. Then dad started to look very guilty. Then I asked him what was wrong? He had his Leatherman (pocket knife) in his pocket!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mom started freaking out telling him that he had to go back to the car and put it back. But then dad started having a hissy-fit saying that he wasn’t walking all the way back to the car to put a Leatherman back. So then dad started walking over to the corner pretending to look at a sign. Then he pretended to um…………..oh I don’t know what he was pretending to do next. He bent
down and put the pocket knife under a tree. But happily he didn’t get caught. I’m surprised he wasn’t arrested by the Department of Homeland Security!
P.S Doesn’t that bring back any National Lampoon’s Summer Vacation memories!

Also that night we went to see the Las Vegas lights. It was A-M-A-Z-I¬-N-G!!!!!!!!!! At the Mirage they had a volcano and waterfall mixed together. IT WAS SWEET!

Now what you’ve all been waiting for, it’s time for another Trivia Question!!!!!
Congratulations to our last contest winner Mr. Harry Andrew!!!! The correct answer to the limo question is 24 limos. Grandpa guessed 23. We would also like to say that Mr. Andrew has always made a guess on the Trivia Question, but has never won. So YAH for you Grandpa.
Today’s hard question is when we were enroute to the downtown Las Vegas light show, what store did Dad have to make an emergency stop at for me to go to the bathroom? P.S This is in America. Think American Stores.

Today we went shopping at an outlet mall. Me and Leah got matching green outfits. Are twin names are Pixie and Dixie. We also went to Pro Bass Sports. Holly cow is that store BIG!!!!!!!!! It is like that Wal-Mart super center we told you about before but bigger. I know some people who would die to see it. ( Grampa Harry, Grandpa Ralph, Paul, Dwayney Boy.) It includes Hunting, Fishing, Camping and lots of other sport stuff. And they also have a huge clothes area of very nice Men’s, women’s, and kid’s clothes. + Shoes. And the coolest thing about it is, is that in the parking lot the lines were FISH!
P.S If you guys are exited about this store one will be near Calgary soon. And they are making a lake with it so you can test out your boats before you buy them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you want to know were we are we are at Bullhead City, Arizona and staying right close to Lake Mohave.

HAPPY SWEET 16TH BIRTHDAY SHELBY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Viva Las Vegas!

2009-02-17T20:02:00.000-08:00

We are in the Las Vegas area and enjoying our time in the “city that never sleeps” and the lack of snow!

We are staying at the beautiful Lake Mead National Recreation area which is only about 20 minutes from Las Vegas. The location is perfect, we are close to the city but we are on the outside which works great for all of us (especially Tyrone who loves the canyons). Today we toured the strip via double decker “Deuce” bus. The highlights were seeing the Freemont street area, Circus Circus performance and the tigers at the MGM.
Yesterday we dined at the very busy In and Out Burger Restaurant.

So we plan to stick around here for a couple more days – we want to explore Lake Mead and hit some factory outlet malls! Then we will continue south to the Lake Havasu area.

About the blog question – None of you are right! The correct answer is The Flying J Travel Plaza.

Our next question: Emma and Leah were very excited to see all the limos in Las Vegas – they would like you to guess how many they saw today.

A bonus question – We want to hear your best Las Vegas story (just remember this is a family blog).

Here are a few pictures of interest:

*Leah practicing her poker face (what do you think Uncle Gordie?)
*Emma & Leah on the Deuce bus
*Ray at the In and Out Burger
*For all you Delburne Ladies – this billboard signs for you - Hot Australian Men “The Thunder from Down Under” – Carmen says she’s already setting up a girls weekend!

Oh and by the way – Leah wants Marina and Georgia to know that they will have to hop on a plane to Vegas to get her because she wants to pursue a dancing career at the Tropicana or deal cards at the Golden Nugget!

Good night all!

Green Grass at Last!

2009-02-15T20:39:00.000-08:00

Hi all - We finally made it out of the snow - we even saw green grass today! After navigating our way through Salt Lake City - we ended our journey today in the beautiful St. George, Utah. The red rocks are stunning - check out the link here of Zion National Park .

It was even so nice out this evening we all played a quick game of basketball! Tomorrow we plan to continue into Nevada, in the Lake Mead area.

Just a point of clarity, it was brought to our attention that it was actually Merle Werseen not Terry who answered the Montana millionaire question correctly. Uncle Phil was the first to answer the question about the Utah fry sauce - your prize will be in the mail shortly!

The question of the day - What is the name of the gas station that we regularly fill up the motorhome at?? Nice to see diesel around 2 bucks a gallon (that's around 57 cents/litre)!!

Bye for now,

Storm Stayed in Salt Lake City

2009-02-14T18:19:00.000-08:00

Well here we are in the Salt Lake City area for a bit longer than we had anticipated. We left Dillan yesterday morning and had a relatively uneventful trip - we did climb to heights up to 6400 feet!

When we got to Salt Lake City we heard that there was a big snow storm on its way. When we woke up in the morning - we saw snow - lots of snow (about 8 - 10 inches). So needless to say we decided to stay put.

Ray spent the morning working on the motorhome battery, being the handy person that he is, everything is good to go!

We went to this very cool, drive-in restaurant for lunch called Maddox. The girls were very impressed that someone would actually come out to our van to take our order and give us our food. Leah is a fan of the "long dog" as you can see by the photo.

We then spent the afternoon visiting a state park on the shores of the Great Salt Lake and Ray went to a RV camping store.

So the plan is to continue south in the morning and get out of the SNOW. We are beginning to wonder if we will ever see the end of it!

Congratulations to Mr. Terry Werseen (at least I am assuming I have the right family member) correctly answered the last blog question - Helena Montana is the community with the most millionaires in the 1880's. Terry your prize will be coming to you soon.

Today's skill testing question - during our lunch experience, we learned that the Utah folks have something called "Fry Sauce" that they always serve with french fries which closely resembles a popular salad dressing - any ideas??

Happy Valentine's Day everyone and Happy 18th Birthday Shanah - sorry we aren't there to celebrate with you!

Leah's Report

2009-02-12T19:47:00.000-08:00

Hi grade 2-3 class (and everyone else)all we saw today was mountains - I miss you guys so much. I think we are slowly getting into the warm weather. We are at Dillon Montana tonight and will be off to Idaho in the morning. Didn't you used to live in Idaho, Cole?? So lots more mountains to see but not much snow which is good.

Aunty Tracy won the contest again from yesterday! (she googled it we think!) The next question - which community in Montana had the highest number of millionaires in the 1880's???

Well good bye love Leah.

Day 1 was definitely an Adventure!

2009-02-11T21:02:00.000-08:00

Well folks we are now in the United States of America – Great Falls Montana. Yesterday was quite the day. Everything was fine until after Three Hills. Highway 1 was a nightmare. Snow was blowing across the road and the wind was howling. We counted 3 cars in the ditch in a very short stretch of highway. We eventually pulled over on the side of the highway by Brooks and had to unhook the van from the motor-home, due to the very icy conditions and the strong crosswinds. But then we got away from the snow storm and stayed overnight at Taber, at a beautiful campground. Did you know that they make sugar and Lay`s potato chips at Taber?

Ray is quite relieved the router and network thru Verizon is now setup and working perfectly - skype is working too!

Now it’s time for another trivia question!!!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations to Auntie Tracy Atkinson and the Werseen family who are the big winners (tie). The actual length of our rig with tow vehicle is 56.6 feet or 17.25 meters. Auntie Tracy, Merle, Terry and Rylee check your email for your prize in the next few days.

Today we visited the Wallmart Superstore in Great Falls – so guess what our question is about Wallmart -- Who can guess how many checkouts there are at the Great Falls Wallmart Superstore?

So we will continue to head south in the morning – cross your fingers for NO MORE SNOW!

P.S
Hooray for the Grade 2-3 class for registering a gmail account and making a Hands on guess for the trivia question! Keep it up 2-3s!!!!!!!!!!!!! Today the girls started on their mountain of school work while travelling – however; the picture you see of the books insn't their work – it's Carmen's planning books!!!!

Bye for now.

And we're off.......... The Great Adventure Begins!

2009-02-10T09:42:00.000-08:00

Wow - what a busy last few days - it has been wonderful to receive so many phone calls and visits - we will miss you all!

We are loaded up and ready to head south. Just our luck, we heard on the news that Arizona just had the worst snowstorm in recent history!

Congratulations to our first contest winner - Mrs. Helen Overwater. She was the lucky recipient of marshmellows and potatoes straight from the Pilkington/Andrew pantry!!

For our next skill testing question:

What is the total length of our rig including the towed van. Looking forward to your responses!

Talk to you soon...

Emma & Leah's Bon Voyage Bash!

2009-02-08T20:15:00.000-08:00

This afternoon, Emma and Leah invited some of their pals to an afternoon of skating and tobogganing followed by hot dogs and hot chocolate. What beautiful weather - a perfect sunny Alberta afternoon! And only a few minor tobogganing incidents, Leah was one of the victims as she crashed into a pole! Thanks everyone for coming - I hope you all had fun!

Now back to the packing - we are still planning to head south on Tuesday morning. So stay tuned........

And finally, we would like to kick start off our blog entries with a regular trivia question - Name the three adults that skated on the ice? First one to comment (answering correctly) will be recognized in our next entry.