Finally online!!

Well, here we are at last, with something of a record of what has happened in the last 5 weeks for the Lopdell family since we left Gaithersburg Maryland, en (long) route for New Zealand.

The US part of our trip is all done, other than a week in Los Angeles at the end of September. We will try to update every few days from now on.

It all started on the 19th July, when our possessions headed off from Bobwhite Circle in a truck, bound for a ship to take them across the Pacific to New Zealand.

John was warmly farewelled from Westat after a great 18 months' experience, we had a big farewell at the final swim meet, said goodbye to our church family, and friends came to say goodbye on our last day in town.

Then it was time to squish into the car and head West. As you can see, the air conditioning got a lot of use, and the kids had to bundle up so Dad could have it on cold to keep him awake at times. Note that Caitlin made sure she kept in touch with friends on the trip..

How do you briefly summarise a month of wonderful experiences around the USA? With difficulty, but we will try do so with lots of pictures.

The reality show "Amazing Race" comes to mind, when the host says to the winner "30000 miles, 20 countries, etc etc - You are the winner of the Amazing Race!". Well, it was more than 9500 miles (by road), 29 states, plus Mexico, and although we did not win a million dollars, we probably spent that much, and saw countless million dollar sights.

Our first main stop was Chicago, where we had been instructed by many not to miss Giordano's deep-dish pizza, and we were glad we took their advice, and we can be seen above dining at the Giordanos in the shadow of Sears Tower. While in Chicago we also took in an outdoor concert, and we all thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Willow Creek Community Church on the Sunday.

Then it was a deep breath as we headed on a 16 hour drive to Rapid City, South Dakota. On the way, we visited the quirky and unique Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD. Arriving in Rapid City, we took in the wonders of Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse and the Badlands, drove amongst the buffalo in Custer State Park, and visited the famed Wall Drug Store, and Deadwood, the place where Wild Bill Hickok breathed his last. Bear Country USA was also a hit with the kids, as huge bears wandered around us as we drove. Here are a few shots of some highlights in South Dakota.

We left South Dakota, and headed for Yellowstone National Park, via Wyoming. On the way, we took a short detour off the main highway to see the "Devil's Tower" in WY. Joshua and Siena pose in front of it here.

We drove through Yellowstone NP as it was getting dark, staying just over the border in Montana for the night. The next day was spent exploring Yellowstone, and we started with the Old Faithful Geyser, and the thermal area. We then drove for several hours, seeing Elk, an eagle, coyote, buffalo, deer, and hanging out for the all-elusive bear. There was a big flurry at one stage when we passed several cars stopped by the side of the road. Someone said a bear had been spotted, but we saw nothing! Our highlight at the end of the day, after having seen no moose, was that a young moose darted in front of us on the road, and after looking at us in a startled fashion, took off into the light bush, still in sight, so we could get a photo.

We didnt think too carefully about where to sit when waiting for Old Faithful to erupt. Decided to sit downwind along with many other novices as these were the closest seats. Y0u've never seen a crowd of people move so fast!

The Great Salt Lake pictured below.

After two nights in West Yellowstone, we headed south to Salt Lake City, Utah, where John attended a statistical conference for 5 days, and the family enjoyed some down time, with lots of swimming and journalling being done. En route to Utah, we drove past the spectacular Grand Teton mountains (pictured here with the family), and then through Idaho. We stopped at Idaho Falls for a few minutes, but didnt buy any potatoes!

After the conference, it was time to explore some of the most amazing scenery anywhere. We're not sure if there is a maximum number of "WOW!" moments you are allowed in 3 days, but if there is a limit, we probably exceeded it. We drove to Bryce Canyon, spending a few hours there marvelling at the landscape, before impulsively deciding to attend a nearby rodeo for a while, and then carrying on to our accommodation on the south side of Zion National Park. We drove through Zion in the dark, and though we sensed the view around us was spectacular, we didnt see any of it until the next day. After the hard day on the road, we decided to let the kids have a swim, and the hotelier kindly kept the pool open for us until 11pm. We woke up and walked out the door to see incredible sandstone mountains surrounding us, and then went for a tour of Zion NP. Just wonderful. It was too warm to take any of the side hikes - we enjoyed the shuttle and the commentary as we drove deep into the canyon.

Bryce Canyon:

And Zion National Park:

That same day, we drove to the North Rim of Grand Canyon, arriving mid-afternoon, and after our first breathtaking glimpse of the canyon, came driving rain, and a massive thunderstorm. Very spectacular, and the rainbow that followed was icing on the cake. Hard to put into words the feelings that come when standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon. For us as a family it was a worshipful experience, and a great sense of how very small we are and how great God is. It was a real treat to see it as the sun set. Some images of Grand Canyon:





The next day it was off to Monument Valley, which borders Arizona and Utah. Another wow moment, and John eventually got to see what he had been waiting for - the road that Forrest Gump is on when he decides to stop his running across the USA - with the monuments as the backdrop.

So John and Joshua did the Forrest Gump run...

We then headed to the four corners monument, the only point in the USA where 4 states meet at a single point (Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico). There are probably a thousand different ways to be in 4 states at once, but here are two of the 15 images we took. It was interesting having 4 kids in 4 different states.

As if that all wasn't enough for the visual senses, Utah was not finished with us yet. We travelled by night to Moab, Utah, and again had no idea what was surrounding us until the next morning, when we awoke surrounded by beautiful red mountains. We then drove into Arches National Park, different again to the other parks we had visited, and just as compelling. Below you can see the "Balancing Rock", and one of the Window arches. It was a scorcher of a day, so we didn't see every arch we wanted to, PLUS we had to be in Colorado Springs that night, so after a couple of hours it was back in the car, and off to Colorado.

And Colorado had its own beauty to amaze us with. It was especially delightful to drive through the forested ski-resort areas towards Denver, after having been in the rocky, arid landscapes of Arizona and Utah. We arrived at Red Robin restaurant right on closing time at 10pm in CO springs, but we were all so tired that most of the food went home with us in 'a box' or 'a doggy bag', depending on what side of the Pacific you come from.

We visited "Focus on the Family" in CO Springs - a ministry dear to our hearts. And then took off for Amarillo Texas, ready to start our excursion along Route 66 the next day.

Route 66 was a lot of fun, and the kids enjoyed watching the Cars movie as we drove along it. Here are a few somewhat non-descript photos we took along the way. One of the more interesting sights, just west of Amarillo, was the Cadillac Ranch - a 'sculpture' of several Cadillacs buried nose-first into the ground. The photo below has each of our children standing beside the Cadillac they spray-painted with their name. We suspect your name stays visible for at least 10 minutes - until someone else comes and paints over it!!

After Route 66, we headed south from Oklahoma City to Dallas, Texas, where we met up with our friend Sunil and his family. We then headed to Austin for a few nights, and spent a day at the San Antonio Sea World, which was just awesome.

One of the highlights of the whole month was visiting our friends, the Cruz family, in Monterrey, Mexico. We were only in Mexico for 24 hours, and it seemed like half of those were spent either sorting paperwork to get into Mexico, or queuing up to return to the USA. But we had a wonderful time with them, sharing a Sunday church service in their home, and dinner together.

Then it was on to New Orleans - a quick visit, which included a trip on the Natchez paddle steamer along the Mississippi, which we all thoroughly enjoyed - and a drive through the French quarter. Everyone in New Orleans has their own story, and it was fascinating to hear a few of them, and their longing for people who have stayed away after Katrina to return to the city. We were somewhat overwhelmed by the evidence of devastation as we drove north towards Georgia.

Once in Atlanta, GA, we had two things on the agenda. The Martin Luther King Jr historic site (for Mum and Dad), and the World of Coke (for the kids)..... (and for Mum and Dad). The MLK site was very inspiring and challenging. It is amazing what faith, conviction and courage can accomplish.

The Coke museum... well the first thing that struck us was the huge New Zealand themed coke bottle in the first exhibit (see photo)! And of course the highlight was the 70 coke products that you could drink endless amounts of at the end of the tour. I dont think we slept that well that evening!

We were nearing the end of our US road trip, and our last port of call before flying out of New York was two nights in Pennsylvania, where we met up with our neighbours and good friends, the Segui family, in Lancaster. Lancaster is home of the largest population of Amish people, and in our time in the US it has been our favourite place to visit. So it was kind of appropriate to spend our last night there. We went with the Seguis on the Strasburg steam train, and dined at Cracker Barrel (our first experience - what a cool, kid-friendly restaurant!), playing checkers as we waited for our table.

After saying goodbye to the Segui family, we made tracks for JFK airport, and the beginning of our Europe adventure.