A day or so back we hit Boot Hill and saw the coolest horses ever.  Check em out.  The sasparilla ( or however you spell that was pretty good as well! )

We made it here by stopping in Garden City and monument rocks and [thanks to ben ] caught some hawks on video.

After a brief stop here in Nebraska, we head to Custer SD… in the black hills!!!!!!!!!!!!

Scotts bluff  is on the side 0f a mountain that looks like it has been cut in half.

On one side is the North Platte river,on the other is the Badlands.

7 Nation Army Couldn’t Hold Me Back  –  Cool White Stripes Song

Sammy – We are hanging at the most awesome-est HomeWood Suites ever!
Sammy – It has a basketball court, putting green, running/biking  trail, free movies, popcorn, tea, and lots of pillows.
Ben – I had a blast watching Dirk in the NBA finals at a hotel ( that has a hoops court  ) while wearing my Snuggie wrapped in a cool wool blanket!
Sammy – I love the hoops court, the pretty geese, and watching Despicable Me!
Willeee – I love trying to cook popcorn in the VHS player ( yes, the hotel room has a VHS / DVD player combo), unloading the cooking utensils and eating everything I find on the floor or in the trash.

Hog Wild! Pit BBQ is Wichita is really good!
The ribs and pulled pork were unbelievable!
Mom – catching up with old friends was the coolest ever.  Rock on ( stick your tongue out and flash your gang signs / horns / whatever ) !!!!

Kansas is a really pretty state – lots of hills, lakes, and trees!

On to Dodge City and then to the edge of the earth!
We are going to run through some corny fields along the way, so stay tuned.

Happy trails!

The A-team Midwest US Tour is beginning.  We plan  to visit Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Illinois, Ohio, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Arkansas.  There may be a little Georgia in there along the way as well as a splash of Florida.
We will be camping in Custer State Park in just a few days.
Check back for lots of awesome picks and travel tips if you plan to hit any of these spots in the future.

By the way, the Chicken Express rocks chicken strips like nobodies biness!

Well, it is has been some time since I last put up a post, but here it goes.

Camp Site #33 at Pedernales is the BOMB!
It is right next to the trail that goes down to Trammel Crossing and not to far from the Bano!

On friday we hiked down to the river and built a dam to make the current stronger ,then we went back to the campsite to make dinner. After we ate, me and a few friends went searching for bigfoot down by the bathroom because we figured he had to go at some point.  Then we went to bed.

When we got up, we went over to another campsite to make breakfast . I helped with pancakes ,tortillas and ,bacon. Then, I went back to our campsite to ride my bike ,but as soon as I got on ,my mom said we had to wash the dishes and I had to dry them. After that , we went hiking down to the falls.  The water was low, but there was lots to look at and we saw a snake. After having some lunch, we packed up and biked over to the Indian bath tubs which are part of Bee Creek.  The bike ride was brutal, but the water was cold and refreshing.  Jumping off the cliffs was pretty fun as well.  On the way out, it started to rain and the rain turned to hail.  That was quite scary.  We went down and made an even bigger damn once we got back to camp. When we went back to the campsite, we made silver turtles. By then we were starting to hear thunder. Then, the emergency broadcasting system came on and said there was a severe line of thunderstorms headed our way and anyone outside should take cover. At that point everyone went into panic mode.All of  the sudden  everyone  started throwing stuff in the car. We helped someone else pack up before we left. on the way home we got food and went to sleep.

What a gret camp out!

Well, we made it back to Texas and it feels GOOD to be back.
We are at the Hampton Inn West in El Paso tonight.
We head to Carlsbad Caverns in the morning.

It is day 31 of our roadtrip and we are getting a bit tired.
Also, we have a bit of distaste for one another at this point.
The car smells quite awful as do both boys.
There might be someone else that smells as well, but I would rather not say.
Will is getting closer as you can see by the pics.
He keeps doing jumping jacks and such all night which is cutting down on the sleep.
I think we can survive a couple more days, but it will be a bit dicey.
Ben – Me and Sammy got arrowheads and real marshall badges in Tombstone.  Sammy hit me on top of my head with his fist on the way to eat tonight.  It really hurt.
Sam – Food has been pretty good – the trip is fun and I have had a ton of fun.  I do smell even after a shower.

Adios,
The A-team!

P.S.  Who said “I think we’ve all arrived at a very special place. Spiritually, ecumenically, grammatically.” ?

We made it from Carlsbad, California to Tombstone.
The drive was hot and dry with a touch of boring.

We stayed at the Lookout Best Western hotel.
The boys were pumped because our bathroom door was a double-door swinging bar door.
They thought we were really staying in a Wild West gun-fighter motel!

After checking in at the Lookout-mahal, we drove downtown to the famous OK Corral area.
We saw the spot where the Earps and Doc Holliday fought Ike and Billy Clanton.
We were at the actual spot where they say Doc Holliday stood during the gunfight.
It was a pretty cool place with some serious history.

Below – we actually were able to walk down the main Tombstone street!

We had supper at the Longhorn!
It is located inside of Big-Nose Kate’s Saloon!
The boys wanted beers, but we said no.

Tomorrow, we head to El Paso on the way to Carlsbad Caverns!

Adios,
The A-Team!

P.S.  What state did the Earps move from when arriving in Tombstone?

We took another trip to San Diego today to visit the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Park.
This place is a really really BIG zoo!

The herbivores all run free together.  You have giraffes and rhinos rubbing shoulders.

We took the ride that goes through the park.  It was very cool to see all of the animals.
The park has helped restore many different species to the wild.
It is like a real Jurassic park with regular old animals.

Speaking of Jurassic park, the park has a Dino Mountain area that is amazing.
You have a mess of robotic dinosaurs in a redwood forest.
Sam – the King of the Dinos is right in the middle – Big Rex!

Grandma – we knew you would love this!

This one is also for Grannyma!

After the dinos, we did a bit of calf-roping.
It was fun and a bit of a pace-changer.

Lastly, we stopped off to see a porcupine show.
We sat back and the boys ran up to watch the show.

We overheard the boys ask the nice park hosts how the porcupine shoots off its quills.
Kelley and I were laughing so hard that we could not see.
Sam and Ben were very upset that the hosts told them the porcupine could not shoot its quills.
Sam said – “My daddy said the porcupine shoots its quills at stuff!”
Sam was very upset that the hosts knew so little about porcupines.
I had to defend my position on the deadly nature of the porcupine.
I explained that the nice hosts did not want panic and hysteria to overtake the crowd which was of course why they did not tell the real story of the porcupine and its ability to shoot quills with laser precision.
Had the crowd known the real danger they were in, it would have been a real riot.
We were lucky to have survived such a close encounter with such a deadly adversary!

Adios,
The A-team

We took a drive to San Diego today to visit the San Diego zoo.

The first thing we saw was a mess of flamingos.

Sam – There is an app for that!
Ben – I love pink – is that a bad thing?

Next – we saw bears and they were really funny.
Sam – I am a sloth bear and I am swinging my head like a baseball bat.
Ben – Sloths are the 2nd most dangerous animal on the planet.  Only the porcupine is more dangerous.  My daddy said that hundreds of people a year are killed by sloths and porcupines.

After that, we discovered that there was a bus you could ride around the zoo.  We hopped on and went for a ride.
Sam – To the Polar Rim we went – home of the mighty polar bear!
Ben – I love bears!  My paw-paw is a bear.

Hippos and Pandas were next!  The hippo tank was awesome – the hippo was laying in the tank right up against the clear glass.  Eeepo-nonymous!

The pandas were a bit sleepy, but we did see them up close.

Food followed!
Sam – I hate tacos with tomatoes!  Bring on the Tex-mex!
Ben – I love hot stuff!  I like my food hot and the weather even hotter!  I love Texas!

Elephant Odyssey followed and we received a brief history of the California coast and animal life.
Sam – How did I get that in that picture twice?
Ben – Why do I have no face?

We rode the sky-tram about 300 hundred times and then went to see some snakes.
We figured Aunt Shirley would really like the yellow snake.

Sam – That thing is massive.
Ben – I really like giant snakes!  I want to hug him and call him george!

Sam – How did I get a panda bear?
Ben – How did I get a woolly mammoth?
Sam – When did my mama eat the watermelon?

Adios,
The A-team!

We are still in Carlsbad, California which happens to be the home of Legoland.
I find amusement parks fun, but Legoland was even better than expected.

There are full size people made entirely of legos – 120,000 or so per person.

What a cool place to hang out if you are a little kid or a big little kid.

As we arrived, we signed Sammy up for a lego robotics class in the afternoon.
We told them it was his birthday so he received a cool button to go on his shirt.
Ben was crushed and wanted to go home.
They gave Ben a birthday button as well and he was happy.
Sammy and I went to the robotics class and we had a blast.
We designed a robot to pick up some magnetic rocks.  Tons of fun!

We arrived at 10 am and left at 8 pm.
Sammy had a great birthday at Legoland.
In all, he rode 3 roller coasters and attended a really cool class on robotics.
He also picked out a cool Lego kit for his birthday.

We also hit the Pirate buffet with all you can eat ribs, BBQ chicken, and smoked turkey legs.
It was a Pirate feast for all.  Argggggghhhhh!
Weeerah eaten turkee legggggs – arrggghhhh!

Adios,
The A-team!

P.S.  Who said “I think we’ve all arrived at a very special place. Spiritually, ecumenically, grammatically.” ?

We arrived in Carlsbad today after a few minor stops here and there.

First, we ended up driving through Compton.  Wow!
I am so glad that we took that left instead of  a right.

We drove through Huntington which was hosting the world surfing championships.
That was very cool indeed.
Lots of big waves and lots of people cutting them up.

We arrived in Carlsbad, CA and are having a good time.
The hotel is on the beach and it is only a 100 foot hike down to the beach.
Getting back up is a bit of work though.

Tomorrow we are off to Lego Land.
We also plan to see the San Diego Zoo and Wildlife Park this week.

Adios,
A-Team!