HokieEscape

HokieEscape's Home

2009-04-12T20:48:00.008-04:00

Heh fellow travelers,

Yeahhhhhhhhhhh! We're home! Oh how we loved our trip, and how quickly it passed! We had such a good time, and can't believe it's over.

Our visit in Evansville with Jan's Mom was wonderful, but Saturday we were off for the last two legs home.

Southeast Indiana is beautiful with it's rolling countryside, and when we first saw those redbuds bloomin' after all that arid countryside, we just had to stop and get a good look:

How nice to see spring. Later, I couldn't help but jump out and take a picture of beautiful weeds! Yep, these beauties are roadside flowers in SE Indiana.

Both Southern Indiana, and Kentucky have some wonderful camping areas. In Indiana, the Hoozier National Forest has multiple campgrounds around lakes that are just lovely. Kentucky's Daniel Boone National Forest is another similar area that's worth exploring. Both have multiple caves too that are interesting.

As wonderful as all the Western Mountains were, there was no prettier sight to us than our first sight of the Appalachian chain of Eastern KY and West Virginia. And then, our own Allegheny Mountains:

What a wonderful sight when we crossed the New River (actually the 2nd oldest geologically, in the world - only the Nile is older) which means were are close to home, since we live in what is called The New River Valley

And then, there was home! There's no place like home!

After 4058 miles, our Frontier and HokieEscape are resting

But not for me. Tomorrow is back to work!

How could the time have passed so quickly?

But we were blessed by all our experiences and all our memories. Thanks for sharing it with us!

"The heart of every problem is the problem of the heart, and ONLY God's Spirit and God's Word can change and control the heart" Wiersbe

Mizzou to Indiana

2009-04-09T20:53:00.012-04:00

Today started in Colombia, Missouri, pointed at St Louis. I couldn't help but compare the lay of land and scenery of most all of Missouri, with Central Virginia. Nice rolling land, no real hills, but not flat. When we entered into Illinois, then it got Eastern Virginia flat! Could have been either place taking pictures.

Our big event was stopping at the Arch in St Louis. What a thrill. Designed in 1947, it was constructed for the World's Fair in the 60's. It is not what I imagined at all.

Right down on the Missouri River waterfront, it is an amazing piece of engineering.

Speaking of amazing piece of engineering!!!

I love my wife!

OK, back to the story. Made of steel with a stainless steel covering, it is really up there! 600+ feet, with an observation platform inside at the top of the arch. How in the world do you get up there???? Glad you asked! They created this amazing little "capsule tram". Eight of these tied together on North and South sides, running every 10 minutes.

Five persons/capsule. It is tight, and no place for someone who's claustrophobic! Kind of a cross between an elevator and a carnival ride : - )

Once to the top, there are viewing ports on both sides.

As you can see, it's 630 feet to the ground. You lean over on the carpeted area under the window, and look down. Yes, it does feel like it begins to "tilt"......yikes!

Nice view of the mighty Missouri below,

and points west.

This is the symbol of St Louis being the Gateway to the West during the western expansion of the United States in the 1800's. They have a great movie about the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1804-06:

The other side has a great view of the city of St Louis, and notably, the old capital building. Notable to any Virginian, because it looks just like the Virginia Capital Building, designed by none other than Mr. Thomas Jefferson himself:

The Museum of Westward Expansion was very enjoyable as well.

The only thing NOT enjoyable is the traffic trying to get into and out of the city : - (

But, worth the effort.

We've arrived at Mom Hoppel's place in the country outside Evansville, IN, and are bedded down for a couple of days. Will pick up again on Saturday, for the last two legs to good ole Blacksburg, VA!

"The heart of every problem is the problem of the heart, and ONLY God's Spirit and God's Word can change and control the heart" Wiersbe

Kansas to Missouri

2009-04-08T21:25:00.011-04:00

Heh all,

Well, today was what we refer to as an Earl Hoppel day. Earl was my Jan's Dad. He was a self employed Upholsterer with 6 kids (Jan is by far the best of the bunch), who every year, when Jan was a kid, emptied out his delivery step van, equiped it with bunks, and took the whole family on a wild ride. As Jan was growing up, they left Evansville, Indiana and went all over the US for 3 weeks each time. They went to Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, up into the North East, down South. You name it, he probably took them there. Well, he'd spend all his time out "there", then he'd turn toward home and "high tail it"! That meant LONG days driving. Jan always got sick and threw up! I'm glad she's over that now : - )

So, we left Wakenny, KS, and headed East, hoping to get somewhere between Kansas City and St. Lewis. We're in Colombia, home to the University of Missouri.

I'll have to repent! Kansas is not all level fields! The western part is "slightly" rolling (Eastern NC is Flat, Kansas is not Flat!), but as you get to the central area, it looks like "Dancing with Wolves" was filmed there. Not uninteresting at all! We loved to see the old windmills:

Some like this one, provided water for the livestock that surrounded them.

Others, were lying dormant, like this one, surrounded by a ranshacked ruin of a house and barns. We saw many like this. I have to wonder: Who settled this land? How many generations lived there? What ever happened to those people? Why has it been left to fall in with no care? What were these people like?

Quess, I'll never know, but it does make you wonder.

Of course, these days, the old windmills are being replaced by a different sort of windmill. We saw a few "farms" of these

slightly larger variety!

A need for gas, and an exit that had NONE close by, caused us to ride 3 miles into a little Western Kansas town, called Alma.

There are no large cities out West, but I'm sure lots of little town's like this. This is small town Americana for sure.

I dropped Jan off at the Antique Store, while I got gas. She had a ball! As I was going pick her up, I clicked this picture of a cute little house on Main Street. It could have been taken in a little town in South Carolina, and you'd never have known the difference!

One of the curious things we saw, and I'm sure some Midwesterner among you can explain, was the burning of the fields. Large acreage scorched, I'm sure for a good agricultural reason.

Something about getting the nitrogen back into the ground I suppose!

We stopped for lunch in Topeka, and I couldn't help but take these pictures of a fellow traveler. He's pulling a little more than we are! I checked the end for a kitchen sink, but couldn't find one..

YES! The car and the boat, are both connected to, and towed by, the RV!!!!!!

Look at this. The front of my truck is about 18" or so from the front of his RV, and the back is not quite as far back as his. You could put our truck AND Escape inside this dude! Wow!

Staying in a nice Good Sam's Park in Colombia, ready to head toward Evansville, Indiana tomorrow, hopefully to spend a couple of days with Jan's mom.

Goodnight.

"The heart of every problem is the problem of the heart, and ONLY God's Spirit and God's Word can change and control the heart" Wiersbe

Colorado to Kansas

2009-04-07T20:40:00.010-04:00

Well fellow sojourners,

We got the great opportunity this AM to visit some dear friends in Colorado Springs. David and Renee Lyons are with the Navigators (David's one of their International Directors). Their 12 year old son Ian has been battling for a year now, a very rare cancer. The doctors have done all they can do, so Ian is home recovering from his latest bout, and waiting for what we feel will be a miraculous healing. It was so wonderful to visit and pray with this wonderful family who, as David said, is being severely stretched. Being with them made our day!

Afterwards we stopped by the headquarters of Focus on the Family. Nice campus just a mile or so from the Lyons:

That little hill behind the buildings is Pike's Peak! We have been supporters of Focus on the Family for years, so it was a special treat to see where they "live".

Then, with our faces turned toward the East, we let down onto the plains of Eastern Colorado, and off we head to Kansas.

75 mph and a straight road, and surprisingly, not a lot of traffic, we get to

Yep, flat is the word, although it's not TOTALLY flat! Totally flat is Eastern North Carolina! Pretty farm land, with house's spread far apart:

Jim Sarver told us that when you get to Kansas, you can see a "whole train"! You see in our neck of the woods, you'd never see a whole train. Part of it would be around the bend, in the trees, etc. but out here....Well, here she is! Can you see her? She IS the horizon:
(click to enlarge)

Well, here we are in Wakenney, Kansas, right off I-70, all hooked up and ready for bed. You'll notice the similarity of the background to all the other pictures tonight. Yep, Kansas looks like

Kansas : - ) We're gonna try and get past Kansas City tomorrow, Lord willing.

"The heart of every problem is the problem of the heart, and ONLY God's Spirit and God's Word can change and control the heart" Wiersbe

Pikes Peak

2009-04-06T22:34:00.013-04:00

Heh Blogging Buddies,

Today we headed over to Manitou Springs, and a trip up Pike's Peak via the Cog Railroad (show you what that is later).

I forgot to tell all the 5th wheel Escapees, to watch out when you check into a campground. You may not have this trouble with regular campers, I don't know. But, when I checked in last night, I wrote down that we have a 5th wheel (check the box type of thing). So, the guy asks me, "Do you have any "sliders"? I answered him, "Well, that seems like a pretty personal question to be asking since you don't know me, but Yes, TWO! I usually slide out of bed first, then my wife!" : - )

OK, so off to Pikes Peak, and as we are inching up the mountain, after we cleared the tree line, we look up the side of the mountain and see the tracks, where we're going (you'll have to click on picture to enlarge to see):

Then in just a few minutes, we could see the tracks much clearer, as the snow plow engine had just gone before us:

Off to the side, the conductor turned our attention to a large gold mine, first mined in the late 1800's, still mined today. They take out, I believe he said, about 2 million a week today (I wanted to get out and pick up a few scraps):

At the top, I got a picture of the ruins of the first mountain top station, constructed in 1873, the observation tower, and the howling wind and blowing snow:

Well, here we are at the top, taking the obligatory, "We're at the top" picture:

When we got there, the conductor told us the wind chill was -25degrees. And when I went to take these next pictures (Jan went back to the warmth of the train), I didn't leave my hands out for too long. Thank goodness for the Hokie Sweatshirt with hood! Here's looking NE with our train in the fore ground:

Looking South toward New Mexico, with the weather station:

And finally, East toward Colorado Springs, and beyond, Kansas, Missouri, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia. I can almost see home : - )

Here's the view from the front of the train, where the engineer sits. It's only one track, so the guy changes ends going up/down. You can see the cog track in the middle of the tracks. The train was made in Switzerland, where they do such things:

Going down, I wanted to get one last picture of the prettiest view of the whole trip:

The background ain't too bad either!

Tonight we enjoyed hosting one of our Escapee friends, Edgar and Lisa from North of Denver. They drove down to check out our HokieEscape. Since they have never "camper" camped, it was fun showing them all the systems, and of course, the specialness of the Escape. We spent about an hour and a half, checking her out:

Great fun meeting you Edgar and Lisa, hope we get to meet again sometime.

Tomorrow, we set our eyes on Blacksburg, and tackle those flat lands of Kansas!!!

"The heart of every problem is the problem of the heart, and ONLY God's Spirit and God's Word can change and control the heart" Wiersbe

Montrose - US50 to Colorado Springs

2009-04-05T21:06:00.013-04:00

Hello Vicarious Travelers,

Well, we left snowy Montrose early this AM with vision's of sunshine dancing in our heads. It did clear pretty good before we got to this beautiful lake at Curecanti Nat's Rec Area:

That boathouse bound by the ice really looked neat to me.

The sun really shone as we reached Monarch Pass (elev 11,312 feet), unfortunately, not early enough to help much with the snow covered roads:

Take a look out of our back rear and notice the extremely LOW shoulders!!!! Jan did much better this time, she was only sitting on my right knee:-)
Actually to take some of these pictures, she was hanging out the window, and I was hanging onto her ankles (no, not really), but it was 13 degrees, and I was glad the camera was wrapped around her frozen pinkies!

Unfortunately, I was not kidding about the roads being snow covered. We took our time however, and HokieEscape tracked beautifully.

The views along US50 are just breath taking.

We saw this old abandoned mine, probably gold or silver as we were going down (I remember because Jan was saying, "keep your eyes on the road, you can look at the picture!). It is quite lovely :-)

Once we got down into the valleys, and along RT24, we looked back to the mountains we had just come from and they were awesome!

Those last two are going to be Jan Paintings before too long!

We just have to stand back in awe, and say over and over, "there's just no way we can capture this!" And it's true, you have to come experience it yourself!

Four and a half hours of driving over those snow covered roads, seemed like 7 hours, so we were SOOOOOOOOOO glad to stop in Florissant, CO, at the Coffee House (right on 24), what a treat! Great food, beautiful surroundings, and as I look at this picture again, I must say, what a beautiful wife! My treasure (along with the 11 grandkids we share).

Tomorrow, Pike's Peak! The Cog Railway....

"The heart of every problem is the problem of the heart, and ONLY God's Spirit and God's Word can change and control the heart" Wiersbe

Durango to Montrose

2009-04-04T19:31:00.002-04:00

Boy oh Boy, we had an adventure today !
Well, it all started at 2:30AM, when I woke up and realized, "it's colder in here than it should be!! And it seems awfully quiet ... the MaxFan isn't running.... and I don't hear the furnace! (think, think) Oh no, no gas!!!!!!" Yep, turning up the thermostat didn't help at all!
I looked outside, and not only was it cold, it was snowing to beat the band!! At least 1-2" on the ground then! Oh well, somebody will be open (gas, grocery, etc) who has a Rhino Gas display. Out I go, and YES, there's one. "What am I doing up at this hour? Well sir, I uh, I uh..... Well, you see it's like this...." So, off I go with some bottled heat. Get to HokieEscape, pull up the hatch, reach in and.......the second tank was OFF!!! Oh man! Turn the screw and Hisssssssssss.... Reset the furnace, and off it fires!!! (Oh well, now I have an extra tank for the grill at home). My sweetheart was up by this time, 3AM, checking email with her coats piled on top, laughing at the adventure!!!! So, all Escaper's out there, always check after someone fills your tanks, they may not turn it back on (the guy at Camping World graciously reinstalled my newly filled tank so I could go in and pay). Oh well, another lesson learned, check the tanks before heading into town : - ) What a dope!
Well, we were up now, wide awake! So we had some great worship time, scripture time, prayer time, then decided, let's go check out that place, that hole in the wall (downtown) called Durango Diner. About 6:15, we were out and about in snowy Durango ... and we were the only ones!
Well, we decided, it's gonna clear, let's head North to Montose. Got 3 passes of 11,000 feet to go over, but surely, CO DOT will be on it! First electronic sign we passed said "Chains required on all Commercial Vehicles". Ok, that's not us!!! Now I've got to say, I was all about spending another day in Durango til the weather passed, but my sweet sidekick said, "it won't be bad". When we got to the first mountain, it looked OK to start, then as we climbed, my normally perky copilot starts getting a little antsy! "Maybe we should go back?" "Uh, sweet pea, there's no where to turn around!!!!" So, from about 1/2 way up, to 2/3 of the way down to Silverton, I learned how to drive our new Frontier with 2 people sitting in the drivers seat. I have to admit, there were very few guard rails and the shoulder was VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY low on her side of the truck!!!
We made it over the first 2 mountains into Silverton, and went into town. 98% of all the stores were CLOSED! We did find a coffee shop, and trying to straighten our wobbly knees, we wandered in and sat down. After a strawberry/raspberry smoothie, my smoothie agreed to get into the truck again.
The next mountain had the most spectacular scenery we have ever seen. Try the following: http://www.roadtripamerica.com/places/million.htm
Now the reason we don't have any pictures of our own is, that it was snowing the whole way, and any pictures we took would have looked like a smeared black and white photo. Plus, I couldn't get my arms up high enough to take any because Jan was hanging on so tight : -)
Well, we made it to Montose, got settled in a nice site, and I gave Jan a little while to unwind, as I went out to fill up the gas tank, and buy her some flowers! She still loves me!
Tomorrow, to Pike's Peak, Lord willing! It's supposed to be sunny the next few days...Yeah

"The heart of every problem is the problem of the heart, and ONLY God's Spirit and God's Word can change and control the heart" Wiersbe

Mesa Verde

2009-04-03T21:37:00.009-04:00

Heh Everyone,

Well, today we left Moab, and headed to Durango, CO. Yep, we've left another state behind, heading to Virginia. When we crossed over into Colorado, we were suprised at all the miles and miles of semi-arid land devoted to agriculture. Beautiful fields for miles with the tools of irriagation standing watch, ready for the first signs of Spring.

We were soon turning off to Mesa Verde National Park. I've really been looking forward to this side trip. These people came to the area about 600AD and lived here until about 1300AD (twice as long as when the US was discovered), then moved on. Remarkable following their culture from hunter/ gatherer's to more stable society, then to the builers. We really enjoyed the story. History is fascinating!

We made it into Durango. A beautiful old historical section of town, first settled in the 1880's, and made rich by silver and gold mining. Mostly tourism now. Wonderful little shops and resturants (we tried out Francisco's, it was great.

Wondering if we get to go North tomorrow. Apparently a Blizzard it hitting Colorado tomorrow, so we may have to sit out a day. That wouldn't be ALL bad! Love to all,

Dan and Jan

"The heart of every problem is the problem of the heart, and ONLY God's Spirit and God's Word can change and control the heart" Wiersbe

Arches National Park

2009-04-02T22:10:00.012-04:00

Heh all,

This morning we went into the great little town of Moab, Utah, sent some mail, got a great cup of Joe in a neat little book store, a tasty blueberry scone, and off to Arches Nat'l Park we went.

What a GREAT place, it should definitely be on the "I've gotta go there some day" list. We had a ball. Your eyes just can't take it all in, just fascinating. Jan saw an elephant in almost everything, like this one???? What's it look like to you?

Isn't that neat?

Take a look at this one, I thought it looked like a man, laying on his back, looking up to heaven. Can you see his 2 eyes, and the underside of his nose looking at you?

Watch out, I heard he had a cold, and was about to sneeze......duck!!!!!!

One of the first things we saw was balancing rock.

The stone on top is a denser stone, the layer just

below softer, and as the years have eroded the softer stone, it is perched pretty precariously!!! That in fact, is what has formed all the amazing things we saw (actually, it's all God's amazing sculpture work, like He was playing with play dough and blobbed some here, and some there). We started the day reading Romans 1 to remind ourselves to worship the Creator and not the creation: - ) (ie. where it all REALLY came from).
The arch to the right is Landscape Arch. The longest in the Park (over 300'), you can see how thin it is. In 1991, a 180 ton chunk of it fell from the right bottom, while visitors scrambled. Now it's REALLY thin! They don't let you get THAT close any more!

Some you can however, and we enjoyed getting our picture taken in front of these two. The one on the right is called Delicate Arch and it the most photographed. It was a 3 mile hike uphill!!! But, when we got there, it was worth ever ounce of energy it took. Of course, in these two pictures, you can also see why I think I'm the most blessed man in the world! What a side kick!!!

We were famished when we got back and had a couple of the most delicious burgers and salads we'd ever had at

Slippery Rock Cafe! A must on the list.....

(of course, we're not sure whether the burger's were really that good, or we were just soooo hungry?)

Tomorrow we head into these mountains.

That's Colorado folks! Headed South to Mesa Verde National Park, then on to Durango, CO

See you tomorrow.
Dan and Jan

"The heart of every problem is the problem of the heart, and ONLY God's Spirit and God's Word can change and control the heart" Wiersbe

Provo to Moab - Utah

2009-04-01T22:36:00.015-04:00

Heh Blog Followers,

We stayed last night at Lakeside RV, close to Lake Utah. We would have preferred to have been at Utah Lake State Park, which was right next door, and actually ON the Lake, but they didn't open until today : - ( Boo Hiss!!!! We awoke last night to the sound of rain on the roof of the Escape, and both mellowly dosed back off to sleep. Oh the sound of rain on the roof. However, when we awoke this AM, it wasn't rain, but sleet and freezing rain! It was 27 degrees, and the wind was blowing! Heh Provo, this is our only visit here, you could be a little nicer : - )

Well, hook up went fine, and off we go, toward SE Utah. The huge mountains on every side of Salt Lake, were shrouded in low snow clouds. (Reminded me of the description of Mt. Sinai when Moses ascended!) Supposedly, there was supposed to be a storm moving in, so we skedaddled it out of town, headed South, and hopefully, sunshine and warmer temps. Well, we did find the sunshine about 50 miles

South. See what else we saw when the clouds lifted! Oh Man! Just beautiful. We left I-15 at RT 50 and started heading SE again, toward Salina. Jan kept saying over and over, "all this land and no one living here" Well, that little cabin to the left was one of the only houses we saw for miles! Right after that we came upon Scripio Lake, nice. We crossed over the mountains at 8000 feet and then started into Salina. And, since we'd not eaten (remember the way to keep your dishes clean) we stopped at Mom's Cafe!

It was GREAT HOME COOKING, featured in National Geographic in '96!

Pork Chops, eggs, fried potatoes, and biscuit gravy, Ooooooooooh, we rolled out of there. Should be on every one's "one day" list!

Well, now we were on I-70 (our companion til we get to St. Louis), and headed for the San Rafael Swell (look it up)! We were leaving the snow covered mountains behind, and letting down into the desert country! Check out

this "castle" made of limestone! Amazing! I'm speaking of the beauty just emerging from the Escape, but the view beyond isn't too shabby either : - ) Cute little rig

here too! Both pictures! (I know, I'm partial)

When we hit the height of the San Rafael Swell, closer to Green River, we hit a section, that both of us described as "like driving down into the Grand Canyon". I've never seen anything like it! We had to pry our mouths shut!!!! As we hit the end of this particular geological wonder, called the San Rafael Shelf, we let down into the flatter desert and headed for Moab. Now we're getting some rest, to tackle Arches National Park tomorrow. Nite nite!

"The heart of every problem is the problem of the heart, and ONLY God's Spirit and God's Word can change and control the heart" Wiersbe

Idaho to Utah

2009-03-31T23:10:00.012-04:00

Heh Fellow travelers,
We left the Ward's home, full of a delicious breakfast, and followed Brian over to MAF (Missionary Aviation Fellowship) headquarters, where he works. MAF just moved to Nampa a few years ago, from Redlands, CA. It was just too expensive there for poor missionaries to live. The facilities are on the grounds of the Nampa, ID, airport, and are fabulous. Many built by volunteers like SOWERS (Seniors On Wheels Ever Ready Servants - for you RV buffs looking for something useful to do), who first built a little RV park for them to stay in, then build some buildings like these dorms for new recruits.

One of the awesome exhibits they have at MAF, is this salvaged frame from Nate Saints little yellow Piper Cub. (if you click on the picture to enlarge, you will see a picture of it on the sand bar in the Amazon River, in Equador)

It was recovered from the site of the massacre of 5 missionaries in 1959, including Jim Elliot. If you saw the recent movie "End of The Spear", you are familiar with the incident. Nate Saint was with MAF.

Some of the more recent work that many may know of, was in response to the tsunami in the Indian Ocean. The pictures to the left are from work they were doing in Sumatra, following the tsunami, to establish communications for many disaster groups, and to fly in supplies.

Brian's group is the non-flying side of MAF. He's involved in Distance Learning Technologies. For instance, they were one of the first groups into Russia after the fall of the Iron Curtain, to provide Russian pastors with much needed resources, such as Bibles, and literature. They had had none for years. They did that by digitizing resources, and sending them on CD's and DVD's. Can you imagine the joy? They're continuing similar work today. (note the Russian hat to the left??)

I tried to get them to let me take their new STOL turbo jet, the Kodiac, out for a spin, but as you can see, they were installing some special avionics, and getting it ready for the field.

So, I had to settle for one of their Cessna 208's that they use for training. Now I'd need some training, since despite having private, twin engine, and instrument ratings, I haven't flown in 20 years.....so, I had to only sit in the pilots seat and dream of those days of pushing the throttle to the wall and soaring like a bird.

Speaking of soaring like a bird, we made it to Provo, Utah today, and I'm not sure any birds fly that high, but we enjoyed an unbelievable variety of terrain again today, but our favorite is to the left,

here in Provo, Utah.

Tomorrow, we head to South East Utah, the desert country, where we hope to camp for a few days, do some hiking, and some RESTING.

We're ready!

"The heart of every problem is the problem of the heart, and ONLY God's Spirit and God's Word can change and control the heart" Wiersbe

Oregon to Idaho

2009-03-30T21:47:00.004-04:00

Hi Fellow Traveler's,

We left the Reservation without any problems this AM, headed to Idaho. I'm probably the only one who thought this, but I thought most of Washington, Oregon and Idaho were mountainous, green places. And parts are, but from what we've seen so far, most are semi-arid plains with large outcroppings of mountains spaced fairly far apart. Now, this is along the roads we are traveling, but I'm getting to understand more, the effects of the Cascade Mountains in retaining most of the moisture on the Pacific coast. Most of the landscape we saw was barren scrub brush hills, and this:

Great fertile plains, all irrigated, covering miles and miles of country. There's a lot of open country out here! Being from the East, it's hard to imagine. I understand here in Idaho, besides the potato, that the number one crop is seeds. Apparently, because it is so arid, and everything is irrigated by the root, it's possible to grow seeds without the damage of molds, etc., that accompanies plants that are irrigated from the sky. Never knew that!

We got to Nampa, Idaho to visit with good friends, the Brian Ward family, who are stationed here with Missionary Aviation Fellowship (MAF). Brian and Christy, and 5 kiddos, have been here for a couple of years now, developing long distance learning aids for Christian training, in developing country's, in particular. It's been great catching up, and in particular seeing what a great job they are doing raising these kids. It was wonderful to share a meal with them, and share our hearts together.

Well, another day. Discovered I''ve got some kind of exhaust leak on my water heater that smells up the trailer when it's running. Just fine except when we make hot water (OK Jan, no more showers til we get home April 12th! OK, OK!!! I'll come up with a solution, you don't have to catch a plane in Boise!!!). We've got a temporary solution, no big problem, the trip will continue....... Good night!

"The heart of every problem is the problem of the heart, and ONLY God's Spirit and God's Word can change and control the heart" Wiersbe

Washington to Oregon

2009-03-29T23:20:00.006-04:00

Heh fellow cyber journey(er's),

This AM we couldn't find another Cookie's Grill, so we ate oatmeal and toast in our new kitchen. Yummmm, but not as Yummmm as Cookie's!! Had a great time worshipping with Rick and Melissa at Plain Community
Church (the only church in Plain - it's a Plain small place). We said our teary goodbye's (hope to see them in the East in the fall), and off we went.

Now tell me that's not one good looking family. I only know one other that's cuter!

Driving out of Plain, we headed for a little Bavarian town along Washington 2, that I'm sure is a great tourist spot, called Leavenworth (no, no prison there). Rt2 runs along the Wenatachee River and the whole 14 miles looked much like this:

In the summer, Rick runs inflatable kayaks down this river with lots of kids. They love to have kids that are "at risk" (troubled kids, families), and put them through hiking, back packing, ropes courses, and river stuff in the summer, and skiing, snow mobiling, etc in the winter.
Not too shabby of a drive, eh?? Leavenworth was just lovely with Swiss Chalet type stores, and shops, narrow streets (I didn't want to take HokieEscape down them), and quite a few shoppers for this time of year. Of course, there's lot of Alpine skiing around, so I guess they're there for that too. Here's a shot back toward the mountains in Leavenworth:

Nice eh?

Letting down out of the mountains, going South, we headed toward Yakima. Very soon we were in a desert area, and it got flatter and flatter. Big wine country for the next 40 miles or so (lots of irrigation), then desert again with nothing much too look at except sage brushy hills. Beautiful in it's own right. Washington sure has a wide variety of terrain.

Just into Oregon, we stopped at a campground called Wildhorse RV Park in Pendleton. Didn't know it, but it's on an Indian Reservation, and shares property with a Casino!!!!! Nice place, as a matter of fact, it's "outstanding in it's field" (ie. there's not a tree around). Here's the view toward the Idaho mountains, where we head tomorrow:

Off to the sack, Good night, and sleep tight (no bed bugs in an Escape!!!)

"The heart of every problem is the problem of the heart, and ONLY God's Spirit and God's Word can change and control the heart" Wiersbe

First day out

2009-03-28T22:16:00.006-04:00

Heh Everyone,

Well, the first day out has been exciting. We stayed last night at Cottonwoods RV Park in Chilliwack, so to not get too far from the roost if there was any problems, but alas, none that we could tell. I didn't have to unhook and hook up again since the nice lady gave me a pull through. We were so tired last night, we really appreciated that!

This AM, there were a lot of low clouds, so no pictures of Chilliwack. We were really surprised at how flat Washington and southern BC are, between towering monstrosities of mountains! Crossing the border wasn't too much of a hassle. Tammy, at Escape Trailer's had us set up with the right papers, and it went well. The border guy asked me, "Don't they sell trucks and camper's in Virginia?" To which I went into my Escape sales pitch. So, if any sales come from a border officer, Tammy, he's mine : - )Well into Washington, we ran into what the Pacific NW is most noted for ....RAIN! And it continued (I hate to drive in the rain) until be got to Steven's Pass on Rt 2, where we ran into this:

Now, for the Northerner's that are following, you're asking, "well what?" But for us Southern boys and girls, to be driving along a road where the wall of snow made by the snow plow is above the roof of your car, is just a little unusual!!!!! 8" of snow for us is a BIG snow, so who knows how much this is??

We passed by one place where there must have been some drifting, and I know it was 3 times the height of our truck! And, still snowing! This picture in no way begins the capture the majesty and beauty of the area since the clouds cover most of the mountains, but you can see, the hills are a little higher than in Virginia:

We were on our way to visit with Rick and Melissa D'Atre (and 5 kids) who live in Plains, WA, and are missionaries with Youth Dynamics. What a thrill to see where they minister in the wilds of Washington, and to have dinner with the whole crew. Great family!

When we set up the 5.0 tonight, it's on a hill, and the front jacks are fully extended, yet the trailer is a little low in the front, where our heads are ... so we'll see what its like to sleep with lots of blood in our brains : - ) I'm learning!!!!!!

"The heart of every problem is the problem of the heart, and ONLY God's Spirit and God's Word can change and control the heart" Wiersbe

HokieEscape Escapes

2009-03-27T22:33:00.005-04:00

Well, it took all day, but HokieEscape escaped the fenced prison she had been sitting in on Atwell Rd, Chilliwack, and soared across Canada 1, to a nice camp ground within a couple of miles. So far, it's GREAT! Having fun already. Tomorrow we begin the great journey across the US! That's my Jan, getting ready to roll. The next picture is the standard one Tammy takes of all us Escaper's leaving the fold:

Then here's the one everone has breathlessly waited for, who wondered which of the 18 feet was Rease's, and what in the world does the Escape Guru really look like (an Escape forum joke)??? Well feast your eyes on the gorgeous couple, who were without a doubt the second cutest couple in Chilliwack!Just refer to picture no 2 for the cutest!!!!
Can't tell you how pleased we are, the trailer meets all our expectations! It's been a long day, off to bed!

"The heart of every problem is the problem of the heart, and ONLY God's Spirit and God's Word can change and control the heart" Wiersbe

Adventures in Seattle

2009-03-26T23:44:00.005-04:00

Heh Co-Adventurer's,

Well after many travails in even getting to Seattle (forgotten passports, only 3 hrs sleep for me the night before, and the long flight), we got to our hotel Wednesday at about 12:30. Had a great lunch/dinner at our hotel, then did everything possible to keep awake, but finally succumbed at 5:30 PST (8:30 EST)! We awoke at 4! Boy, were we beat puppies!!! But, we were refreshed this AM. Great quiet/worship time together, then off to Denny's for a good breakfast, and we were READY. Bob Brice our Nissan guy here, picked us up, and gave us a great tour of the big city. There's lots of water, so for a big city, it's our kind of town. And those mountains, nice. So, where do you go to see those big mountains in Seattle, to the top of the Space Needle:

Wow, that was some trip! 41 seconds to the top! And what a view! Mt Ranier to the South, Mt Hood to the North, the Cascade Mts to the East, and the Olympic Mts to the West, some show.

Had a great meal in the circling restaurant, turns 360 degrees in an hour. Breath taking! Here's a pic of the 3 of us enjoying the moment:

The most beautiful view of course is to my immediate left, but when I could steal my eyes away to look beyond Jan's brown eyes, Seattle whirled slowly beneath us.

After lunch, we headed a little East, to Eastside Nissan and met our new little buddy, our new Frontier. Just what the Dr ordered! We love it and are looking forward to the rest of our trip with HokieEscape hooked up to the back!

We traveled an hour or so North to Mt. Vernon and are bedded down, looking forward to tomorrow, to see our HokieEscape, and get on with the show!

Blessings,
Dan and Jan

"The heart of every problem is the problem of the heart, and ONLY God's Spirit and God's Word can change and control the heart" Wiersbe

last trial

2009-03-22T20:49:00.003-04:00

heh all,
This is the last trial before we leave Tuesday afternoon for Richmond. Wed AM @ 6:10, we board a jet plane for Seattle. Still no truck, but are trusting it will work out.Took a picture of Jan's new juicer, which she just LOVES!!! She hasn't asked to take it with us YET, but.....

Well, that seemed to have worked pretty seamlessly.

Ready to go now!

Dan and Jan

"The heart of every problem is the problem of the heart, and ONLY God's Spirit and God's Word can change and control the heart" Wiersbe

2 grand kids

2009-03-10T10:23:00.004-04:00

Hello everyone,

Continuing practice on blogspot, to get the whole thing in hand before the trip (only 2 more weeks before blastoff). The whole thing of getting pictures on the computer, getting them resized, then onto the blog has to become 2nd nature, and it sure isn't now!!!!

But, I had a great practice arena with these two grandboys this last Saturday. We were at Seth's basketball game and caught these two little guys. Check this picture to the right

Look at those two faces! What are you doing Poppy? Well, they figured it out, check this out:

Well, they are a couple of sweet boys, and they were having fun! And so were we!
Til next "practice"
Dad & Poppy

"The heart of every problem is the problem of the heart, and ONLY God's Spirit and God's Word can change and control the heart" Wiersbe

2009-02-24T20:50:00.004-05:00

Hi everyone,

Another training adventure. I took a picture of 4 generations this afternoon. One Mom Hoppel, one Jan Thompson, one Susan Bran and one Zane Bran. Turned out pretty good!

Check it out.

Let me try an add another one.

Not bad,

Blessings,

Dan

"The heart of every problem is the problem of the heart, and ONLY God's Spirit and God's Word can change and control the heart" Wiersbe

Jan and Zane

2009-02-24T09:06:00.003-05:00

Today, Jan was holding Zane and singing to him. It was precious, so I got a short video on my camera. Now, can I take it to the blog and record it here? That is the question. I'll have plenty of these on our trip!
Dan

"The heart of every problem is the problem of the heart, and ONLY God's Spirit and God's Word can change and control the heart" Wiersbe

Isaac's 1st basketball game

2009-02-07T15:02:00.003-05:00

Today, Isaac was pressed into service at Seth's basketball game, when a couple of the kids didn't show up! And step up to the plate he did! Picture's show the two Thompson boys together after the game and a couple of action shots. Seth got an award for best offensive effort (he scored 20 points), and Isaac got an award for hustling!!!! Their Poppy and Daddy were very proud of their efforts. Yep, Isaac should have been playing all year I think.

"The heart of every problem is the problem of the heart, and ONLY God's Spirit and God's Word can change and control the heart" Wiersbe

New Year @OBX

2009-01-19T11:50:00.007-05:00

Hello everyone,

Jan and I traveled to the Beach House, alias Hokies@OBX, on Christmas day after having seen our sister Deborah and kids, and having dinner, church and evening with our brother and sister David and Gloria. On the 1 1/2 hour trip, we probably passed 12 cars!! Not a lot of people out on Christmas Day morning : - )

Jan and I sure enjoyed those few days, having extended quiet times, walking on the beach, checking out the hot tub, a trip to Manteo (always a favorite for us) and eating sea food!! Ymmmmmm!

Tuesday night, the 30th, Derek, Rachel and all the Richmonders descended on the Beach House. What a joy to have them with us. The pace definitely quickens, but what fun! As you see from the pictures, we had a time. We walked down the beach to the Outer Banks Bagel shop where we loaded up one morning on some great bagels. Coming back we stopped and fed the sea gulls some scraps. The kids loved seeing the gulls swoop down and catch the tasty mosels in the air. Of course, the lazy ones just waddled over and picked the dropped pieces off the sand.

Jan and I sure enjoyed holding the kiddos, reading to them, walking around the lake (one of our FAVORITE passtimes) and yes, playing in the Hot Tub. Benny wanted to get in the day it didn't even get above freezing, and the wind was blowing. We had to set a minimum temperature range (so he hovered over the thermometer on the window quite a lot) : - ) You can see in one of the photos, he spent so much time in the Hot Tub, snorkeling, that the snorkel froze to his face and we couldn't get it off when they left on Saturday!!!!

Rachel was the prime puzzle'er, although everyone but color blind Poppy added to the picture. 1000 pieces of Light Houses! Jan enjoyed the times in the loft the most, with Caleb playing his guitar and leading in worship songs!

Rachel's B'day was Friday the 2nd, and we tried to baby her. She and Derek got to go out to dinner while Nanna and I got the priviledge of keeping the grands. And they are GRAND!

I was hoping Saturday night, that the office would call and give me the horrible news that all my next weeks patients had canceled, and that we may as well stay another week. But, alas, no call came, and we had to head home on Sunday! Oh well, we sure had a great time.

Oh yes, and the Hokies won the Orange Bowl! Great time at the beach!

"The heart of every problem is the problem of the heart, and ONLY God's Spirit and God's Word can change and control the heart" Wiersbe

Vacation '08

2009-01-12T18:57:00.000-05:00

We had a great vacation the end of September. All of our kids and grandkids (count them, that's right - 11) gathered in Corolla, Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Damon and Andi with their 4 boys (Ethan, Seth, Isaac, and Luke) on the right. Derek and Rachel with their 6 (Beth, Caleb, Miriam, Benjamin, Lydia (Boo) and Tabitha Grace) in the center. Susan and Leonel with Zane on the left. And of course, my beautiful bride and I at the corners!

We had a great time even though we encountered a Nor'Easter the whole week we were there. It didn't matter, everyone was enjoying each other so much, the weather didn't count! We did get down on the beach a few times, but the waves were really going to it. It's the memories that count, and there were many. One of the greatest was when Derek, Benjamin and I were in the Hot Tub together, and Benny announced, "Poppy, I just found out that you are my Daddy's Daddy!" Priceless!

That's why we have family vacations : - )