IRONMAN THE BUILDER

See this adorable picture of baby Ironman with his dad?

Now, look at the top of his pants, near his belly button...do you see the tool that he carefully stuck there for safe keeping?  Apparently Ironman was always meant for construction.  Even years ago, as a wedding gift, Ironman built me a beautiful jewelry box.  He is naturally gifted in wood working.  Side note - I told my dad that he should name the company "Wick n' Nick", but he didn't think that was very professional, so he stuck with Black Mountain Development group as his company name...haha!

What did you pretend to be when you were a child?  A builder?  A bus driver?  A princess?  Want did you want to be when you grew up?

Best sister ever...

Everyone needs a sister! Mary Ashley (aka Yahyee) cleaned my entire apartment and left us goodies all over the place. What a treat to come back from a long road trip to this!!!

We are Home Sweet Home!!!

We pulled out of Florence on September 3rd and are now just getting home on the 29th! Our cross country road trip was amazing and definitely worth all that we invested into it! The USA is a beautiful place. Thank you for praying for us on our trip and keeping up with our daily stories and photos. Nick and I can now scratch this off of our bucket list and start planning what we will attempt next! We summed up our trip with a Fast Facts list below...

Our Route:
South Carolina
Georgia
Alabama
Mississippi
Louisiana
Texas
New Mexico
Arizona
Nevada
California
Oregon
Idaho
Montana
Wyoming
Colorado
Kansas
Missouri
Illinois
Kentucky
Tennessee
Georgia
Tennessee
Georgia
Tennessee
Georgia (we went back and forth between TN and GA while driving around Lookout Mountain...half of the mountain is in GA and half of it is in TN)
South Carolina

Our Overnight Stops:
Roswell, GA
Cypress, TX
El Paso, TX
Phoenix, AZ
Grand Canyon National Park, AZ
Palmdale, CA
Cupertino, CA
Redwood National Forest, CA
Rock Springs, WY
Idaho Falls, ID
Buena Vista, CO
Lenexa, KS
Lookout Mountain, GA

Our Site Seeing Stops:
Downtown Houston
The Woodlands
The Alamo
Montezuma Castle
Chapel of the Holy Cross
Grand Canyon National Park
Hoover Dam
Hollywood
Santa Monica Pier
Sailing the Pacific coastline
Pier 39
Ghiradelli Square
The most crooked street
Coit Tower
Apple
Golden Gate Bridge
Redwood National Forest
Crater Lake
Yellowstone National Park
Colorado ranches and mountains
St Louis Arch (saw it from the car)
Scenery of half of the country while driving...

Hours of driving: 127 hours 45 minutes
Miles on the road: 7,801.9
Gallons of gas: 270.4
Gas stops: 30
Days on the road: 27
Nights on the road: 26
Nights in hotels: 5
Nights in campgrounds: 4
Nights in car: 1 (our tent site got flooded)
Nights with strangers: 4
Nights with family: 5
Nights with friends: 7
States we drove through: 21
Road trip kick off: aunt Vicki's in GA
Creepiest overnight stay: Rock Springs, WY
Worst traffic: Houston and San Francisco
Longest drive: Atlanta to Houston in one day
Hardest drive: 23 hours in two days
Most deserted: Oregon and Idaho
Laziest afternoon: watching John Wayne movies with our cowboy, Ben Temple
Hottest weather: Houston
Sweetest dog: Holly Hoffart's sister's dog in Kansas
Sunburns: a day by the pool with Holly
Least disappointing: Seeing the Mexican border and not crossing it
Asians site seeing with us: 8,546,976
Best camping: Redwoods
Craziest host: Bob near San Francisco
Coldest weather: Grand Canyon
Never want to go back: Las Vegas
Traffic jams: 3
Grizzlies: 0
Spoiled us rotten: the Hoffart's in TX and my cousins, the Mays, in CA
Best memory: sitting around the campfire in the Redwoods
Snacks: Twizzler Bites and Combos
Caffeine of choice: Starbucks
Injuries: none
Car problems: on the verge of overheating
Handsomest guy: Nick
Best nap: on the beach in Santa Monica with my cousin Carrie
Hours Emily drove: 0
Most surprising moment: Going to church in California and meeting someone from my hometown in Bolivia!
Audio books: 2 1/2
eBooks: 5
Books: 2
Magazines: 1
Sick days: Nick had allergies
Most expensive gas: Northern California $4.39 per gallon
Least expensive gas: South Carolina...never complain again
Hours of silence:...................
Favorite state: Colorado
We didn't get to see, but wanted to: Alcatraz and Yosemite
Lessons learned: Don't camp in the rain
Random: We moved my friend, Kira, from South Carolina to Arizona, then brought my cousin's, Emily, sewing machine back from California to Georgia and finally, dishes for my cousin, Gail, that we brought from California to South Carolina! Road trips apparently help everyone...

Favorite place in the country: home!!!

Most used sentences:
"I can't believe we're here!"
"I hope the car doesn't break down!"

How would we rate this trip on a scale of 1 to 10?: TEN
Would we recommend this trip to a friend?: YES

USA Road Trip Day 26

Departure: Lenexa, KS
Arrival: Lookout Mountain, GA
Hours: 11 1/2
Miles: 725
Gallons: 26.1

Today we drove through six states!!! That is our record so far. We haven't done too well with getting photos in front of the state line signs lately. We passed the Missouri sign while driving 60 miles an hour over a bridge, but we did get a picture of the arch! Traffic was crazy...we were in the middle of a city and couldn't stop. We didn't even know that we were going to drive through Illinois until we saw a sign telling us that we were already in the state! So we missed that sign along the way too. We got the Kentucky sign from our car while going over a bridge, but missed the Tennessee sign because I was asleep and Nick didn't want to wake me up. So partly it is the lack of accessible state line signs and partly it is our fault. I think at this point we just want to get home! Near Chattanooga we passed into Georgia, back into Tennessee and then back into Georgia...that was weird! It is wonderful to see green grass and dense trees on the highway again...it makes us feel like we are already home. A friend set us up to stay with someone that he knew in the Chattanooga area and we just figured out that we know each other. Roger and Joy Gulick used to live in Florence and Roger used to be the pastor at First Presbyterian...small world! We arrived at the Gulick's house and Roger came to pick us up and take us back to their friends home, where we all had dinner. After dinner and visiting, the Gulicks took us to another friends home where we will spend the night because Roger and Joy are hosting 6 Africans and ran out of beds! Can't wait to be home tomorrow. I feel like we have been gone so long that we need a welcoming committee waiting for us at our house!

USA Road Trip Day 25

Departure: Buena Vista, CO
Arrival: Lenexa, KS
Hours: 11 1/2
Miles: 707.4
Gallons: 28.4

We missed the Kansas state welcome sign because there was road construction going on and we couldn't get to it...oh well. Holly Hoffart set us up to stay with her sister and her sister's husband. Dave and Lori were not home when we got there so we let ourselves in...here is a picture of the attack guard dog who met us at the door. Scary...huh? She followed us around, laying all over us and crying if we stopped petting her. We could have been burglars for all she knew, but she loved us like family as soon as we came in their door! Dave and Lori were so friendly and hospitable and it was fun to meet some more of Jennifer's family (Jen and I have been best friends since we were 2!!!).