We did it! Twenty two days full of adventure with only three trips to Urgent Care facilities and all friendships still in tact!
We are done the trip, but we are not done our blog. All of us are writing our final thoughts and filling in on stories we did not get to write while on the road. Check back in about a week for some more entries.
...and thanks to all who wrote, called, or just plain visited our blog. We had a lot of fun and sharing the experience with all of you and getting your reactions made it even more enjoyable.
-Chris
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Thursday, July 26, 2007
The Big Split
For a few days the two families went their separate ways. The Durkin-Bulls headed to Chris's old haunting grounds for a visit with family and the Wonderlin's picked an interesting spot on the map and headed to Claytor Lake State Park in Dublin, VA, which turned out to be a beautiful park on a 4,000 acre lake with a "sandy beach", marina and great hiking trails. We hiked at dusk and had a fine time wandering around trying to find the way home. We startled a deer on the trail, made a few wrong turns, but eventually Kerry successfully led us out of the wilderness. It was a cold night playing cards around the bonfire for us Floridians-it was in the 50's. The next morning to the delight of Kerry and Kelsey we were able to rent a couple of canoes and explore the lake, communing with nature and bonding with their parents. Ask them yourselves... it was pure bliss.
All to0 soon it was time to pack up and meet up with the Durkin-Bulls...er, that is we really liked Claytor Lake and hope to visit there again, not that we couldn't wait to get the whole group together again.
After a marathon unloading of the RV and loading up of mini-vans we all headed to our favorite restaurant in Charlotte, NC- Miguel's Mexican Restaurant for pitchers of margaritas and dinner. The next morning the boys flew home to Marathon and Deb and Cindy returned the RV and hit the road again...clearly on a mission we drove over 500 miles to the Orlando townhouse...and the joys of a never ending supply of water, sewers, and taking a shower without shoes.
Yesterday Riley and Kerry enjoyed a makeover day of shopping, salons and finally a movie ( the girl's shopped 'til we dropped!) Today we hit the pool and water park and checked out the hotties on the lazy river. Cindy's new Jackie O look was a real hit. Lunch and umbrella drinks at the pool-wow wonder what the poor folks are doing.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Break-ups, malfunctions, and fatigue
As we enter the third week of the adventure, things are getting interesting. The adults are tired and leave the blogging to the kids (since Monday). Deb wanted to go sightseeing in another clinic, so she went on Friday (and comes out with three more souvenirs!). The families separate Saturday with the Bull-Durkins going north and the Wonderlins staying put, then heading south.
Saturday and Sunday was the great homecoming for Chris to show his family where he grew up and to see friends and relatives in a whirlwind 36 hour tour. We are now on our third camera. The first one jammed and cannot be used until it goes in for servicing. I brought Regan's from home when I flew up, but she "misplaced" it within 48 hours of my joining the group. Now I finally get to take some pictures of the home coming with some lame disposable camera. Argh!
We heard from the Wonderlins today that they are doing fine. They chilled out yesterday and headed to a lakeside motel in the south west area of Virginia off of I81. We landed in Williamsburg late tonight and get to do the Jamestown festivities and then drive to Charlotte tomorrow.
The adults will stop slacking soon and put some stuff up here in the next day or so. I definitely have some thoughts on the whole DC and Maryland experiences the last few days. Stay tuned...
Saturday and Sunday was the great homecoming for Chris to show his family where he grew up and to see friends and relatives in a whirlwind 36 hour tour. We are now on our third camera. The first one jammed and cannot be used until it goes in for servicing. I brought Regan's from home when I flew up, but she "misplaced" it within 48 hours of my joining the group. Now I finally get to take some pictures of the home coming with some lame disposable camera. Argh!
We heard from the Wonderlins today that they are doing fine. They chilled out yesterday and headed to a lakeside motel in the south west area of Virginia off of I81. We landed in Williamsburg late tonight and get to do the Jamestown festivities and then drive to Charlotte tomorrow.
The adults will stop slacking soon and put some stuff up here in the next day or so. I definitely have some thoughts on the whole DC and Maryland experiences the last few days. Stay tuned...
Saturday, July 21, 2007
sexeist blog kown to man,girl, and he-she
from Riley...
Today we started out driving, going about 45 mins to get to "the wagon wheel restaurant." there we had lunch with Chris' high school friend pete. Then we all headed to their highschool and checked it out. it was pretty cool homie. Then we did a drive by christinas middle shcool. it was gangsta wid a capitol G. Then we went to chris' house and found out that the guy tore everything apart and redid it all so it was ruined. then he destoryed all of chrises dirt bike track he had. it was total devastation. he did find some stuff like a well. i could tell chris hated that guy for the destruction to his home. later we visted petes house. he had a huge human hamster ball that i roled down the hill in it. then i went in the pool with it and it was very cool. then we watched the chelsa vs la galxy game. chelsa won 1 0 it was a boring game becks played about 5 mins and did nuttin. then we went back to the hotel game over(or day over)................
THE SEXYEST MAN ALIVE WROTE THIS RILEY DURKIN
Today we started out driving, going about 45 mins to get to "the wagon wheel restaurant." there we had lunch with Chris' high school friend pete. Then we all headed to their highschool and checked it out. it was pretty cool homie. Then we did a drive by christinas middle shcool. it was gangsta wid a capitol G. Then we went to chris' house and found out that the guy tore everything apart and redid it all so it was ruined. then he destoryed all of chrises dirt bike track he had. it was total devastation. he did find some stuff like a well. i could tell chris hated that guy for the destruction to his home. later we visted petes house. he had a huge human hamster ball that i roled down the hill in it. then i went in the pool with it and it was very cool. then we watched the chelsa vs la galxy game. chelsa won 1 0 it was a boring game becks played about 5 mins and did nuttin. then we went back to the hotel game over(or day over)................
THE SEXYEST MAN ALIVE WROTE THIS RILEY DURKIN
Friday, July 20, 2007
Inner Harbor
From Regan...
Today we are going to Inner Harbor. We got up and headed to Inner Harbor. It was an hour drive. The kids thought it was only 15 min. But it was a lot more than that.
Once we got there we saw all these geeks in funny costumes. We had a good laugh. Then Tim stopped a guy working at an outside store to see what was going on. The guy said, "you mean the old men in minivans that have there doors open?" (lol). But then he said that it was the anime convention.
We went to the aquarium and we saw lots of fish, birds, frogs, stingrays, and sharks. Kelsey and I saw this shark and he kept on following us so we decided to name it, I wanted to name it Ketchup and Kelsey wanted to name it Spot, so we named it Ketchup-Spot.
Then we left the aquarium and went to Phillips resturant on the way we saw a funny street proformer we watched him for a little. After that we went to dinner. They had huge kids meals So Mr.Tim and I made a bet if I could eat the whole thing. I did and earned 10 dollars. I was so stuffed.
After that we did a little shopping and then got in the car and went home. In the car the kids were all over the place in the back. It was crazy! Then we were really tired so we went to bed.
Today we are going to Inner Harbor. We got up and headed to Inner Harbor. It was an hour drive. The kids thought it was only 15 min. But it was a lot more than that.
Once we got there we saw all these geeks in funny costumes. We had a good laugh. Then Tim stopped a guy working at an outside store to see what was going on. The guy said, "you mean the old men in minivans that have there doors open?" (lol). But then he said that it was the anime convention.
We went to the aquarium and we saw lots of fish, birds, frogs, stingrays, and sharks. Kelsey and I saw this shark and he kept on following us so we decided to name it, I wanted to name it Ketchup and Kelsey wanted to name it Spot, so we named it Ketchup-Spot.
Then we left the aquarium and went to Phillips resturant on the way we saw a funny street proformer we watched him for a little. After that we went to dinner. They had huge kids meals So Mr.Tim and I made a bet if I could eat the whole thing. I did and earned 10 dollars. I was so stuffed.
After that we did a little shopping and then got in the car and went home. In the car the kids were all over the place in the back. It was crazy! Then we were really tired so we went to bed.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Six Flags, Concerts, and Tales by the Campfire
from Kelsey....
Today was by far the best day of our trip for me. We went to Six Flags!! The very first ride we went on was Superman and it was awesome! It had a huge drop and just had a really good track. My mom encountered a problem though, because when she was already sitting down in the roller coaster car seat, all buckled and all, they came around to check her seatbelt and would not let her ride because of her waist pack. She was very upset by this and the same thing happened to Regan when she was about to go on a flume ride in a bikini and they told her 2 seconds before boarding that she needed a top and bottoms on. We were so surprised and happy to learn that we just happened to go to Six Flags the day that Katherine McPhee was performing there for free! Regan and I were psyched about it the whole day and couldn’t wait. There is a rollercoaster that passes over the stage Katherine performed on, and a few hours before the show, Regan and I were on the rollercoaster, and Katherine waved to us!!!! We were very excited by that.
Later on, when we were on our way to the concert, we passed a candy shop which had a sign saying that if you bought 2 bags of starbursts, you get a VIP pass to the concert. Of course, my mom being the greatest that she is (major brownie points here), bought Regan and me each 2 bags so we each received a VIP pass. We sat three rows from the stage! It was a great surprise when we learned that the all-girl band Everlife was performing too! We got some awesome pictures. After the show, Katherine was signing autographs, and we waited what seemed like forever, but I got her autograph and got a picture with her too!! We headed back to the RV Park after an amazing day. Cindy made her specialty, mac and cheese, for dinner. Regan and I finished watching our DVD and then we had to go outside by the fire and do our blogs. Of course, my dad cracked many of his jokes and had Cindy laughing so hard, you don’t even want to know what happened. Basically, in the end, she was saying “I can’t breathe!” We had many laughs tonight and I’m sure there will be plenty more to come on this trip.
Today was by far the best day of our trip for me. We went to Six Flags!! The very first ride we went on was Superman and it was awesome! It had a huge drop and just had a really good track. My mom encountered a problem though, because when she was already sitting down in the roller coaster car seat, all buckled and all, they came around to check her seatbelt and would not let her ride because of her waist pack. She was very upset by this and the same thing happened to Regan when she was about to go on a flume ride in a bikini and they told her 2 seconds before boarding that she needed a top and bottoms on. We were so surprised and happy to learn that we just happened to go to Six Flags the day that Katherine McPhee was performing there for free! Regan and I were psyched about it the whole day and couldn’t wait. There is a rollercoaster that passes over the stage Katherine performed on, and a few hours before the show, Regan and I were on the rollercoaster, and Katherine waved to us!!!! We were very excited by that.
Later on, when we were on our way to the concert, we passed a candy shop which had a sign saying that if you bought 2 bags of starbursts, you get a VIP pass to the concert. Of course, my mom being the greatest that she is (major brownie points here), bought Regan and me each 2 bags so we each received a VIP pass. We sat three rows from the stage! It was a great surprise when we learned that the all-girl band Everlife was performing too! We got some awesome pictures. After the show, Katherine was signing autographs, and we waited what seemed like forever, but I got her autograph and got a picture with her too!! We headed back to the RV Park after an amazing day. Cindy made her specialty, mac and cheese, for dinner. Regan and I finished watching our DVD and then we had to go outside by the fire and do our blogs. Of course, my dad cracked many of his jokes and had Cindy laughing so hard, you don’t even want to know what happened. Basically, in the end, she was saying “I can’t breathe!” We had many laughs tonight and I’m sure there will be plenty more to come on this trip.
And there was excitement!
From Kerry...
Today we went to the 6 Flags while Chris went to meetings. I went on every available roller coaster with Regan and Riley and Kelsey. We got there around 11:30 am and left at about 8:30. Kelsey and Regan went to a concert where Everlife and Katherine McPhee sung and Regan and Kelsey got there autographs.
Today we went to the 6 Flags while Chris went to meetings. I went on every available roller coaster with Regan and Riley and Kelsey. We got there around 11:30 am and left at about 8:30. Kelsey and Regan went to a concert where Everlife and Katherine McPhee sung and Regan and Kelsey got there autographs.
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