Continuing Summer 2012 Travel

Thursday, July 26th, 2012

The Oba and Holm families packed up their vehicles and headed toward Salt Lake City and Nampa, respectively.  Nana used the trip to spend more time with Grace and Mari in the back of the van.

Lynn, Janson and girls were on the way to Nampa for a Holm Family Reunion.

Doug, Ellen, Tony, and Eli spent the night in Meridian, ID.  The girls came and used the pool and hot tub, even Tony joined in the water fun.

Friday, July 27th, 2012

We drove the scenic route from Meridian to Salt Lake City. (Actually if someone knows a scenic route let me know for next time.)  My sister Carol's family were vacationing in Heber, Utah so we invaded their home, in Centerville.  We met Sara there .

That evening Doug, Eric, Sara, Tony and Eli went to the Real Salt Lake vs Vancouver Whitecaps soccer game.  Real Salt Lake were the victors!  While they were watching their soccer game, Ellen and Ashlyn trotted off to a wonderful quilt shop - The Material Girls. We eventually chose some fabric to cover the pillows to Ashlyn's white couch.

Saturday, July 28th, 2012

Eli had his trip to Redman's barber shop for his creative hair sculpture. Mostly there was family time just sitting around talking and watching the Olympics.

Sunday, July 29th, 2012

We made monster cookies, went to church, grilled out with Carol's family and our family.

Monday, July 30th, 2012

Ellen, Tony, and Eli flew to Minneapolis, MN picked up their vehicle and drove to Marshfield.

Tuesday, July 31-Aug9th, 2012

Doug stayed in SLC one more day and spent time with Sara and then with Ashlyn and Eric.  He then drove to Meeker, Colorado to spend time with his mother and step-father at the 'guest house'.  He did some small projects and watched some of the Olympics.  As he left for home he drove over Ripple Creek pass and took some photos- see below.  His vehicles just seem to head east and south when he hit's Denver, though.  He came home through Kansas City and was able to watch Sporting KC and the Seattle Sounders at the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup Championship.

He was sad to see that most of Kansas crops were completely dried up.  After leaving the mountains of Colorado he didn't see any green vegetation until he was in northern Iowa and southern Minnesota.  As he was nearing home he took some pictures of a beautiful sunset on Lake Dexter in Dexterville, WI

We miss our family that are so far away, but memories, email, text, skype, and phone calls will have to do for a while.  We are blessed to have so many ways to communicate with those we love.

Portland

Saturday, July 22:  A few hours after arriving in Portland, our first excursion was to visit the new domicile for the Holm family they will be moving into in August.

Sunday, July 23:  The highlight of the day (besides all the time Nana got to spend with the girls) was hearing Jansen speak about his ancestors in church!

Monday, July 24:  The family went to some movies and then experienced a Portland eatery.  Doug found it more interesting to ride the trains while the rest were watching the Dark Knight or Brave.

Tuesday, July 25:  The highlight of the day for the men was to experience Jeld-Wen stadium and watch the Portland Timbers play Aston Vila in futbol.

Wednesday, July 26:  The families piled into two cars and drove to the Oregon coast and enjoyed the beach at Ecola State Park.  The forest was amazing and even though the clouds were out, the time on the beach was enjoyed by all.  Sandcastles, photography, beach soccer, and dam building kept everyone busy.

Westward ho! Summer 2012

We're finally on the move again. With the end of Eli's summer soccer season on July 18th (well, actually his season ended the week before with a pulled hamstring but he wanted to support his teammates through their last two games) we could finally squeeze in a trip west before high school soccer starts on August 6th. Here's a brief synopse of the first leg of the trip. 6:45pm, Marshfield, Wisconsin. On Thursday (July 19) we left Marshfield after Ellen finished work--Dad and Eli in the trusty Sienna van that has 213,500 miles on it and Tony driving the Honda with Mom as co-pilot. 9:45pm, Minneapolis, Minnesota. We dropped off the Honda at the Minneapolis airport parking and proceeded onward with Tony sleeping on the floor and Eli on the back seat while Doug tuned into the Hunger Games audiobook. 12:30am, Alexandria, Minnesota The first of many gas stops. 4:42am, Bismarck, North Dakota We filled up with 13 gallons and saw TV headlines about a shooting that just happened in Aurora, Colorado at a theater. We drove through a remarkable lightening storm that lasted for well over an hour--first on all three sides of us and finally pouring down and striking closely around us. We're glad when the storm lets up and we start to see the early morning dawn. 8:32am, Miles City, Montana We filled up with 12 gallons of gas and two quarts of orange juice. Ellen took over at the wheel after Doug needed to remove his lenses. Three states done, four to go. 11:36am, Bozeman, Montana We filled up with 14.8 gallons. Tony took over driving since the straight roads were behind us. 3:10pm, St Regis, Montana We stopped for a bathroom break, bought out the convenience store, and Dad took over at the wheel again. It took three drivers to get us all the way across that huge state! 5:05pm, Liberty Lake, Washington We filled up east of Liberty Lake with 17 gallons and then pulled into a McDonalds to use the wifi to make motel reservations. For some reason we couldn't get 3G coverage in the mountains of western Montana and northern Idaho! 5:40pm, Spokane, Washington We arrived at a slightly aged Comfort Inn in Spokane, Washington. Mom and Dad walked next door to Qdoba for dinner but Tony and Eli stayed at the room! 10:30am, Friday, July 20th We pulled out again after Doug found some dry ice to freeze the thawed out ice packs that were needed to keep 4 weeks of insulin cold. 3:30pm, Troutdale, Oregon So after driving through the beautiful Columbia Gorge, we stopped at an outlet mall so Tony could get some socks and a swim suit while Dad filled up the van. 4:30pm, Portland, Oregon We arrived at the Holm's and were greeted with weLcome signs and hugs from two excited girls and their parents. Nana was ecstatic to be with the girls. Doug was just glad the first 1900 miles of our journey was complete.

Fathers Day

Dad - in his natural environment

so, i think it's safe to say i've spent a bit of time with dad. and i guess i just wanted to send a shout out to daddy, and let him know how great a guy he is. 

i love you daddy!! 

Happy Fathers Day!!

Saras travel map

I know i'm a little behind on posting this with the family. So here goes: 

(i just noticed, Massachusetts isn't highlighted when it should be. but everything else is accurate)

DAD. yours rocks. Maine, and the carolinas? really?! that's it!? so impressive!!

DAD. you should make one for mom. or MOM you should make one yourself! i'd LOVE to see where mom has been and where she has left to go.

alright everyone, Lynn and i decided: Family Reunion in Maine? sounds good to me!!

love you all!

Travel Map: Holms

Here are the Holm's maps.  It's interesting to see that there are places that only Mari has been to (thank you Nana and Papa), and that Grace has been to but Janson hasn't. :)

I have to add that the first introduction Mari, Grace and I had to most of these states happened while Dad was driving us in the car.  Thanks, Road Trip King!

Lynn:

Janson:

Grace:

Mari:

Travel map

Competition with my kids and their maps!  Places Doug has visited!