The "Dog" Days of Summer (Fish & Crab Days Too!)

Our little puppy loves to paint!

Anju snuggles up to Jonah during library story time

Solveig and Jonah decided to spend some of their money last week on new pets.

Solveig decided to invest in a few goldfish and ghost shrimp,

and Jonah went with the fiddler crab.

One week in, and all are still living.

All about Scotty

Scotty at Baker Park Campground

Isn't his awning lovely?

I was asked in the course of my trip postings my feelings on if Scotty was worthwhile. I would say, yes. Since we just got him this summer, we haven't had an opportunity to fully appreciate all that he has to offer, but so far so good. Even with a tire blow-out and spending an hour+ sitting on I-94 waiting for a tow and a day's plans changed to "buy new tires and have Dad put them on", it is so far worth it.

We're used to rustic cabin camping at campgrounds, so walking to the bathroom in the middle of the night is old hat anyway. Not having piles of pillows and sleeping bags and wet, molding tents in the car is a definite plus also.

Having 5 of us in a camper made for 3 made for definite bonding on our trip to Ky. :-) In the Twin Cities, when the kids were with us and not staying with my parents, Solveig and Jonah slept in a tent outside. That's a great option to have when the weather is not humid, incredibly hot or wet. And, Scotty has a great compartment in the bottom perfect for storing a tent along with the camp chairs and awning poles.

It was wonderful to have a fridge and range for use when a campfire was not a prime option--such as when we got in to the campsite late or it was raining. Having electricity and running water (if there was a water hook-up) inside allowed us to have our morning coffee without having to go outside to the spigot/outlet. The cabinets in Scotty are ample for storing whatever we needed, keeping the car neat. There's a heater for the spring/fall and A/C for the summer. And, you can't get a hotel for $16/night!

We look forward to towing it up to the North Shore of Lake Superior and spending a week just enjoying nature. There's many fun places within a few hours of here that would be fun to explore. I think I'd enjoy being on the road with Scotty less, and at the actual campsite more.

All in all, we love Scotty and hope that he can spend many more years with our family, sitting quietly by us as we enjoy our s'mores and laughter. And let's face it, screaming and crying.

The End------finally, right?

The long drive from St. Louis to Lengby was broken up by a quick drive through the town of Hannibal, Mo; birthplace of Mark Twain. I was looking for the statue of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn for a photo op, as I had read the home tour was way overpriced for what you get. Although Hannibal is advertised as "America's Hometown", it was clear to my carload that the moniker would only be true if your hometown was a trailer court in 1982. At least the garden with the statue wasn't hard to find and looked beautiful.

Our overnight stop, which hadn't been planned ahead of time since we wanted to get as far as we could, ended up being Clear Lake, Iowa. You may remember this as being the location of the plane crash which took the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper, immortalized in the song, "American Pie" by Don McLean. We ended up picking a budget hotel since it was too late at night to set up a campsite and we wanted to get going very early in the morning. The hotel was owned by an Indian family who loved visiting with Shawn about Anju and our India/adoption experiences and didn't mind our rig taking up 4 spots in their parking lot. The hotel lobby had a picture of the memorial at the crash site. It is a significant hike through a field to get to it, so I just took a picture of their picture. Much easier, and less poison ivy.

After our restful evening in the hotel, we made it home the next day, with a quick stop in Monticello for some highly desired KFC with my mom.

Whew! All in all, it was a wonderful trip and the kids still talk about it and all the things they learned. They talk excitedly about seeing all their new friends again soon--we hope so too!

Since our big trip, we've had several other ones--shorter, of course. We've camped in Scotty a week while Shawn had summer seminary in the Twin Cities. We've been to southern MN for a wedding and bridal shower. We've even made a day trip to Lake Superior and back. So, no grass growing here! One negative aspect of living in a more remote, rural area with commitments every Sunday is that we don't get out much during the school year. Well, I think I'm good for awhile. I'm ready to curl up in my home with some chili and coffee and let the snow fly. (Remind me of this in February when I'm going crazy.) I'll definitely have a full photo album to page through, and some warm memories to keep me company.

This post is in memory of our dearly departed station wagon which made this trip possible.

It has gone on to the big car lot in the sky---

if in fact the elevation of the junk yard in Winger, MN is higher than it was here in Lengby

which is actually quite doubtful.

Shawn will never forget you and all the times you shared

driving up to Roseau.

RIP

"And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!"

More injustices....but swimming and burgers too!

So---here's where I left off: it's July 14th and we are practicing gross child neglect at the Cahokia Mounds by refusing to purchase new flip flops for our son with a hearty laugh and a tweak of the greasy, twisty mustache.

Jonah hobbles into the building toward the guest services desk. Shawn talks to the volunteer on duty while I take the girls to the bathroom. When I return, there is a search going on in the museum for a roll of duct tape. In a few minutes, the woman returns and proceeds to tape up the shoe. It looks great! Jonah takes two steps and his flip flop flops once again. Great! I have no idea what we are going to do, as he can't go barefoot around the place. I suggest just wrapping the tape around his foot so it is on there and deal with the consequences of it later. Then, the woman says that she used to be a secretary to an engineer or something like that and that she has an idea. She takes the shoe and disappears down an "employees only" hallway.

We wait, and wait, and then wait a bit more. Finally, she reappears with a lovely duct tape creation which apparently included the original shoe in there somewhere. It held! However, she suggested we go to WalMart and buy him a new pair. Why didn't I think of that?

We walked around the museum learning about the mounds and their guesses about who the people were who built them. It was very interesting and mysterious and contained many artifacts I had read about as a graduate Anthropology student. There was an especially entertaining film highlighting the methods of archaeological discovery used at Cahokia done in the late 80's. The eyeglasses alone in the film were classic!

Since it was well over 100 degrees outside (heat index was 112), we didn't take the long walking tour which highlighted several mounds and artifacts. Instead, we headed across the road for one mound: Monk's Mound, the biggest and most significant one, built to raise their leader closer to the gods.

A mound at Cahokia

I had purchased a walking guide at the museum shop for $1, so I figured we'd follow just the portion which discussed Monk's Mound and then head back to the car. A 20 minute excursion. We can do that, right?

Anju is thrilled to be at Monk's Mound

Anju was done. She was overheated, thirsty and it was past her nap time. So, I gave Solveig the tour book so the rest could carry on, and sat down with Anju at the base in the shade provided by a couple trees in the parking lot. Anju drank some water and calmed down after 10 minutes or so, but she insisted on sitting on my lap. So, I had a bunch of sticky limbs clinging to my sweaty body while we waited. Fun!

Solveig ready to make the climb

Shawn, Solveig and Jonah ascending Monk's Mound

Solveig and Jonah at the top

Caption unnecessary

When the whole gang had descended, Jonah once more made us all aware of the fact that the mound was dumb and the trip was dumb and didn't we know it was too hot to hike and we wouldn't even buy him a flip flop----you know the rest---so we decided to head for our nearest WalMart and then go back to the pool for a swim.

On the way to WalMart, we spotted a Sam's Club and decided to eat a cheap meal. We went in to have pizza and Solveig noticed this:

Shawn got trapped in a discussion with a gentleman who gave detailed descriptions of the care and needs of diabetic cats. Seriously. For easily 20 minutes. We escaped, and found ourselves in the shoe aisle of WalMart, which happily provided Iron Man flip flops on the clearance rack. We bought a few more St. Louis t-shirts from the clearance rack at $3/piece and after a seemingly never-ending ride in a car with weak A/C, we joyfully swam in the Jellystone pool for several hours. Shawn met another adoptive family there and enjoyed conversing with them after I had gone back to start the fire for supper.

We enjoyed our Angus burgers fresh from WalMart over our campfire (charcoal too pricey and wood plentiful) and fell asleep instantly.

Gateway Arch and Bitter Suffering

We had another long day of driving from Cave City, Ky to St. Louis, MO. I must say it was nice not to have downpours of rain and greenish haunted skies when we were camping or swimming outdoors or hiking---but having such poor driving conditions every time we had a day of driving was not fun. This being our first time pulling the camper, it was very nerve wrecking to have 3 feet of visibility pulling it down a steep incline or with standing water on the road in 5 lanes of busy urban traffic. But, we made it. We drove right past the Gateway Arch on the waterfront and continued on to Jellystone Eureka.

Driving past the arch

The campground was great- with a large outdoor pool, train, mini golf, and a nice playground right next to our campsite so I could let Jonah and Anju play while I could keep an eye on them from inside Scotty or out by the fire while I prepared meals. It was oppressively hot in St. Louis--more humid and hotter than in Ky, which was not what I'd call comfortable. We're talking heat indexes in the 100+ range with humidity that would not let up--even late at night. Thanks again, Dad, for installing AC in Scotty!

The Jellystone playground--even a castle for Princess Anju!

Scotty at the entrance to Jellystone Eureka/St. Louis

We settled in and enjoyed a good meal over the campfire. I had read that to avoid long lines at the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, you should be there when it opens--which is 8 a.m. and we were about 30 miles west of it. So, you do the math: 3 kids, 2 adults, breakfast, showers for appropriate people, potty time, in the car, drive 30 miles, find the arch, park in the ramp, walk to the arch by 8 a.m.

Well, we did it. Everything fell into place for once and we were in the arch building at 8:05 or so and had our tickets and were headed up to the top by 8:30 along with only a couple other families. And when we came back down about a half hour later, it was buzzing!!!

Posing with Mr. Twain before the trip up

St. Louis from the arch

The kids loved the Arch. They loved the tiny tram ride, the view from the top and all the facts about how it was built. They loved the Museum of Westward Expansion at the base and Sol/Jonah became Junior Rangers once again. The museum had a large collection of Indian Peace Medals which the kids found fascinating. It was lots of fun for all--until the event.

No sooner had we come down from the arch, walked through the museum and bought some postcards than the Great Flip Flop Disaster of 2010 occurred. Maybe you saw it on the news?

Yes, one of Jonah's flip flops broke at the Arch. There was weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth in Biblical proportion. It was hot. It was cement. There was a boy with one working shoe. Oh the humanity!!! With great emotion and in an Oscar-deserving manner, Jonah made it back into the car in the Arch parking ramp. There he demanded we take him to a flip flop store. Not immediately seeing one in the downtown St. Louis area, we continued on to our next stop, certain that we'd see a WalMart or something from the highway. The mourning continued in the car and had we sackcloth along, Jonah would have been wearing it.

Well, we didn't see anywhere to purchase new shoes along the route. We arrived at our next stop, Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, with an improperly shod boy. His other shoes were in Scotty 40 miles away. We had him walk on the grass into the visitor's center, hoping they would have some duct tape to get us through.

To be continued...............

Cave Tours and Don't Tread On Us!

At Mammoth Cave National Park, we decided to split up so Shawn and the older kids could take a longer, more strenuous tour. Anju and I went on a shorter, 45-minute tour into the cave. However, I later found out that Shawn and the kids took a bus to the entrance to their cave tour and Anju and I had to walk a good 1/2 mile to ours- so I'm not sure which was less strenuous. She walked about 30 steps. I carried her to the cave, through the entire 45-minute cave tour and then back from the cave. They don't allow purses, strollers- really anything to be taken into the cave. You could have a camera, but no camera case. So, I was only armed with a naked camera and a mint Chapstick. Anju called our cave visit the "baby tour" because there were many families with young babies and toddlers waiting on the benches for the tour to start.

Anju hikes with her mom toward the "baby tour"

(actually she's running back to me to have me hold her again)

The cool 54 degrees of the cave were a welcome break from the hot and humid day. In our sweatshirts, we were perfectly comfortable down there. The second we entered the cave (down about 50 steps), several babies started crying and Anju clung even tighter to me and said in a very quiet voice, "I afraid of the dark." But, as long as she was held, she was o.k. My baby koala and I made it through the whole tour and I had a great time learning about the cave's history and enjoying the dry, cool air. We didn't see any bats, but our tour guide said if we saw something that looked like a fuzzy chicken nugget, to point it out to her.

From the days of salt-petre mining

When we were done with the tour, and I had carried Anju back to the headquarters a half-mile in sheer exhaustion and dripping with sweat, I decided the two of us should kill time in the Mammoth Cave hotel where they had an air conditioned little ice cream shop. We enjoyed a treat and some cold water. Soon, we reunited with the rest of the family and they desired a cool-down too. In addition to sharing about their tour, the kids worked on their junior ranger books in the shop while they ate.

Our newly-badged Junior Rangers pose by yet another

closed for renovation site: the Mammoth Cave visitor's center

Mammoth Cave was a highlight of the trip for nearly everyone and we highly recommend it for those who have an opportunity to go. It would especially be great for older school-aged kids who are capable of handling a 2-hour walk without whining. If I ever meet some of those kids, I'll definitely recommend this trip to their parents!

We headed back to the Jellystone campground, and Shawn took the 2 older kids swimming and down the giant waterslide. Since Anju was too small for the waterslide, and her foot looked pretty icky, she helped me neaten up the camper, and then joined me for Yogi's Hey Hey Hey Ride. It was actually fun in a lame way. We waited outside the character's "house" and as the hay ride wagon arrived, out came Boo Boo and a handler to meet everyone. We followed Boo Boo onto the wagon and were led in some camp songs, which Anju loved, while we drove around the campground. "I know someone you don't know....Yogi, Yogi....I know someone you don't know...Yogi, Yogi Bear!........(Camptown Races)" She loved the songs so much she wanted to sing them the rest of the trip and taught all the verses to the other kids--which made for better background noise than the banter of fighting, pinching, tired kids in the back seat.

Anju enjoys the Hey Hey Hey Ride at Jellystone

Anju & Boo Boo

We had an "interesting" encounter upon arriving back from swimming and hayriding. A couple of women and their children had set up their tents on our grassy area, next to our fire pit, and had moved our picnic table in order to do so. They ended up angrily calling the office that "there's a man here who says we're on his campsite and is telling us to move" while I built the fire for our supper about 1 foot away from their tent. So, our trip to the mid-south was complete with a Hatfield/McCoy type dispute over land. At a campground. Pitiful.

They were a very angry couple, because Shawn presented no hostility toward them at all, yet their reaction was wild. Eventually, they were moved to another site, although the camp staff never admitted to them that they were in the wrong (which they did to Shawn) and so these ladies glared at me in the bathroom when I ran into them again that evening.

We enjoyed our burgers--extra sweet with the taste of victory in them--around our fire pit with no neighbors to disturb us.

Sunday morning goodbyes, Lincoln's digs, and Sam Walton's dream for America realized

On Sunday morning we said goodbye to the Yeast and Tague families and got Scotty hooked up for our trip toward Mammoth Cave National Park. Having the Ashraya children together again felt so natural, that it seemed especially sad to split them up.

Jonah and his buddy, Manu

A bit too much love for Manu!

Nisha (sans headwrap), Anju and Manu

Nisha & Anju

Anju & Manu

Goodbyes accomplished, it was off to our first stop: Hodgenville, Ky to see Abraham Lincoln's Boyhood Home at Knob Creek Farm, and the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Site a few miles away. As luck would have it, we hit the boyhood home enroute before the birthplace, and the movie/exhibits/museum were at the birthplace, so we were left kind of winging it at the boyhood farm.

As luck would also have it, the birthplace memorial itself was closed for renovation, so we couldn't go in. However, the ranger at the boyhood farm pointed out that the cabin in the birthplace memorial is a "symbolic" cabin (and actually is too new to be of Lincoln's birth era), and the one at the boyhood home which we were able to enter was the actual cabin (20% original reportedly) of Lincoln's best friend, Austin Gollaher. So, Lincoln had actually been in that one. (This is the same friend that saved his life when he was drowning in Knob Creek if you have done any reading about Lincoln.)

Inside the Gollaher cabin

Anju enjoyed "Lincoln's potty" at Knob Creek Farm

Nice group pic with construction fence

After checking out the Lincoln family Bible on display at the birthplace museum and viewing a film on Lincoln, we continued on to Mammoth cave with one stop:

What could be more redneck than Wal-Mart? Why a Wal-Mart in Kentucky!

Actually, it didn't contain drastically different clientele than our Wal-Mart back home. (You can take that as a compliment to Ky or a slam to N. MN--either way works.) It took a few moments to find the sauerkraut in the veggie section, as there were so many cans of types of "greens" there I didn't even realize existed. We also took advantage of a sale to get Ky t-shirts for the crew for $3 a piece.

We arrived at Jellystone Park in Cave City, Ky and made use of the laundry facilities which were located next-door to the playground. It was a beautiful night with a clear, starry sky and a cool breeze to give us a break from the heat and humidity. Mammoth Cave tomorrow!