Finishing the trip.

Hi from Coeur D'Alene. The last few days have been a whirl of cross-country activity. We have gone to the Eisenhower Presidential Museum, Mt. Rushmore,Badlands National Park, Yellowstone, and a couple of minor league, but fascinating museums and hikes. Tomorrow it is home to Portland! Meanwhile, here are a few pictures:

This is the house Eisenhower grew up in. They built the Library and Museum around it.


We did the loop drive through the Badlands National Park in South Dakota. It is amazing. Really BAD.


Need I say more?


This is a yellow-bellied marmot that we saw in the Bighorn National Forest in Wyoming on the way to Yellowstone.


Old Faithful was so amazing we stayed to watch it erupt twice! We packed a lot into our two days in Yellowstone including a hike to the top of Mt. Washburn.

The buck stops here.

Greetings from Independence, MO. We spent the morning at the Truman Library and Museum, then on the way to Abilene, KS and the Eisenhower museum we stopped at the US Cavalry Museum at Ft. Riley, Kansas.

Here are Jeanie and Andy in front of the Eisenhower Museum.

This is a replica of the Truman oval office.

Out in the courtyard, Jeanie found the flag from the most beautiful state in the Union.

In front of the Truman home.

All you ever need to know.

At the Ft. Riley U.S. Cavalry Museum

In front of General Custer's house. (He didn't make it home from his last business trip).

Herbert Hoover - not as bad as you think

Today we saw the Herbert Hoover Presidential Museum in West Branch, Iowa. We learned a lot about a president we had only thought of in relation to "causing" the Great Depression. First, he didn't do that, and second he was a great humanitarian. We're all learning a lot and enjoying the trip. The picture is in front of his birthplace.

Tomorrow it's on to Independence, MO and Harry Truman.

Land of Lincoln

We arrived in Springfield, IL on Sunday night and spent all day yesterday learning about Abraham Lincoln.

In the morning we went to the Lincoln home. The National Park Service has restored four city blocks to their 1860 appearance. We toured the Lincoln home and took lots of pictures.

In the afternoon we went to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. They had a couple of great multimedia presentations and some self-guided "journeys" through the life of Lincoln. Again, really worth the trip. I can't believe we have never done this before (sorry, older kids:).

Here we are with the Lincolns at the White House (that's John Wilkes Booth over Andrew's right shoulder):

Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village

In our cross-country American History tour, Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan have been the highlight. This complex is worth a trip from anywhere in the USA. There is too much to describe, but I will say Andrew was fascinated!

I wish the rental car company had had a newer model for us :)

Washington, D.C.

We're in the nation's capital with Sarah, Dustin, Wesley Paul and Cooper Andrew. Sarah is big on FAMILY TIME, not MUSEUM time. So we have walked in the arboretum and had a picnic at the park. Yesterday, though, Andy and I went to the new Marine Corps Museum at Quantico. Really worth the trip. Here are some pictures:


The USMC Museum


This is the main hall of the museum. They have amazing galleries for each era and war.


But we're really here to see the kids, Wesley and Cooper:

Three boys. One turtle.



Wesley Paul enjoying Time Out too much.


Cooper Andrew is a happy guy.


Jeanie and Cooper Andrew


Sarah (because she'll ask, "why isn't there a picture of me?")

Columns from the old East Front of the Capitol at the National Arboretum.

South Carolina

We're a little late blogging, but we had a great time in Camden, South Carolina with our daughter and son-in-law, Patty and Luke and baby Anna Kate. We arrived on Saturday, the day they moved in from Wake Forest. Luke is an assistant pastor at Malvern Hills Baptist Church in Camden. About 40 people showed up to help them move in to their new house.


We all love Anna Kate.



Especially Grandpa.

Here's Anna in her poodle towel.

We're on our way!

We've been in the US for a week. While I've been in Orlando at our meeting of the new Global Leadership of Campus Crusade, Jeanie has been in Gainesville with Stephen, Rachael and Leah Rose. This morning we'll take off for Camden, South Carolina to the new home of our daughter and son-in-law, Patty and Luke Tolbert and baby Anna Kate.


Here we are with Leah Rose.


The rental car company upgraded us from a small car to a mini-van- no charge! What a blessing!