more news from the road

As we crossed the mississippi we saw the Arch in St Louis.   It is quite impressive.   Don't think I would like to go up inside of it, and the way the roads and the time was going by we just couldn't get to it easily so there wasn't the chance.    

Here is a sign proving that gas was less expensive in some places.   We actually got some near Ian and Susans for only $3.61.   We should plan to get gas before we get into Utah, as the gas is at least fifty cents higher there.   We just might plan our trip home following the less expensive gas.   You can check gas prices at   Gasbuddy.com.   is an interesting site.   Map gas temperatures for long trips and put in your zip code for closer to home gas stations.

Here was a welcoming rest stop in Oaklahoma.   We actually saw another that said  "Free Restrooms, no purchase necessary"  And these were on the interstate.   But they had interesting hand washing stations.   There was a hole that you put your hands in, first it sprayed water, than added soap, then a little water to rinse and finally air to dry the hands, truly a one stop shop.    

leaving for Utah in the morning. 

Before the trip

Before our big adventure, we went over to Prudence Island to visit with Mary Brooks.   Here are some pictures from that trip.  

Here we are on the ferry boat coming into the dock at Prudence Island.  Was a nice ride, the water was calm and there was just enough wind to keep it from becoming to hot on the half hour ride over Narragansette bay.

We took a walk after lunch to this old cemetery.   As you can see Prudence Island is a part of Portsmouth, but the only way to get there is on a ferry that leave from Bristol 

Rumor has it that the stones that have U shaped cut outs in them were hit by British cannon fire during the Revolutionary war.   The dates on the stones do make it seem believable.  From what I have read many livestock were swum over to the island to protect them from being eaten by the British soldiers 

This is Mary's cat Melanie, she is quite fluffy.  She has to stay inside because of the coyotes on the island.  There are also deer on the island. 

A  quick look towards Portsmouth, on the right, as we were waiting for the ferry.   You can see the Mt Hope bridge on the left, and the pilings for the ferry landing on the bottom right.   It was a great trip.

We're at Ian's!

We arrived at Ian and Susan's home in Rio Rancho, NM (point E) Thursday at about 4:00 PM.  We made pretty good time and of course we switched to Mountain Time so we gained an hour.  We'll be here until Monday when we leave for Provo, UT.

Progress on Wednesday

While we were in Indiana we got a map here and went on a side trip to see covered bridges.  You think of Vermont as the place with them but we sure saw a bunch on this little side trip.

Their had been a huge wind storm the night before, but we neglected to take pictures of the trees that had fallen down.

We did get one tree.   if you look closely you can see a log in the middle of the river.   This one is a new bridge was built just a couple of years ago, after the one it replaced was burned.  It looks just like it did before the fire. You were unable to drive over most of the bridges 

This pick up was near the last bridge.  This is also where we discovered that the windstorm had been the night before.   Power was out at the Bridgton Mill.  

This was the one bridge that we saw, out of about 15 that you could drive over, but we weren't going in that direction, so we didn't.

We made good progress Wednesday, but ended up about 90 minutes short of our goal for that day.  We are in Clinton, Oklahoma, which is 82 miles east of point D.  We spent a couple of hours at some great factory outlets in Missouri and bought some knives and Russell Stover chocolates.  Also, we are finding "cheap" gas in MO and OK - "only $3.69/gal (I never thought I'd be calling that cheap, but with $4.07/gal gas at home it is)

Our Trip West

We are on our way on our nearly 6 week trip to visit our family in New Mexico and Utah attend BYU Family History Conference and Ryan's graduation from BYU as well as a family vacation up in Lava Hot Springs, ID.  

We left home on Monday, July 21 and got to point B - Youngstown, Ohio that evening.  

We left fairly early Tuesday and got to about 45 miles east of St. Louis (point C).  On Tuesday we took a bit of a side trip to look at covered bridges in Indiana, which was very interesting. 

This was our weather the other day

Just  a real quick post.   This is a picture taken from our front porch,   not the rain coming down, and also notice the sun shining in the back ground.   It was quite a strange feeling to have the sun streaming in the door and the rain just pelting down and blue sky.   And we couldn't even see a rainbow.  Oh well that is weather in New England, just gotta love it.

visit from Geoffrey

 

After the beach there was time for a bike ride 

We had a whole day at the zoo.   Here is Geoffrey petting a sheep.

One of these days I am going to get the pictures put in in the order i want them, but for now, oh well they are what they are.
A donkey

A cow, they didn't come close enough for us to pet them.

This was the funniest looking flamingo I have ever seen.   Notice that it is standing flat footed.  I guess he was more tired than the others who were standing on their toes. 
Another bird, larger this time, and EMU
Her we are, actually touching the sheep 

back home sitting among the aminals
More animals,  Where is Geoffrey?
Hidden among the bears 
Papa and Geoffrey kissing a camel Geoffrey, sitting on the camel 

Giraffes

Elephants
Penguin




More Giraffes

g and giraffes there were 3 giraffes

We had a great time at the zoo, and when we arrived home we went to the beach.  Unfortunately the batteries on the camera left us after we got home from the zoo.  Oh well, it was a good time at the beach.   We were able to avoid the jelly fish, which was a good thing.   After all the fun we had, we hosed off outside and then had dinner and got ready for bed.