Mt Cheaha State Park, Alabama-Girl's Road Trip

This weekend the girls and I got away for a bit. We drove 5 hours north to visit family and then another hour (or so) east to see one of my Army buddies who is at Ft. McClellan for training. On the way home we decided to take the scenic route. We ended up driving through Mt Cheaha State Park and Talladega National Forest. It was so beautiful! We got out at the highest point in Alabama, Bald Rock and any other scenic overpass that we saw. We took our time and were able to just enjoy all of God's wonderful creations around us. I love these trips with my girls. We're making memories that will last forever.

Our road trip north...way north!

For over 10 years now we've been going to Canada.  I've posted about it every year.  Every year I leave totally renewed.  There's always something different, something more, something special.  The people take time to get to know you, to visit, to make you feel special...

The sunsets and sunrise are bigger and more colorful.

The snow...oh the snow!  It's what we wait for! It never disappoints.

This year we happened upon a little coffee/gift shop.  We couldn't wait to go back everyday! Our new friends there were so much fun! (Mr. Mike, me and my Grace)

The whole gang in Rossburn at the coffee shop.

One of our favorite friends finally brought his violin on the last day. He played Ukrainian songs while my girls played their music.

Another favorite stop is Mrs. Marion's store in Olha. She always takes time to visit with us and always has everything we need.  She's more than the 'shopkeeper', she's like family to us.

Here's me and my crazy friend Cheryl. She makes me laugh more than anyone. I love this girl!

The kitchen of the little farm house we rented this year-playing cards with one of our buddies Taras. He's the most kind-hearted, giving person you could know.

Mr. Steve at the Olha store. So shy! he's so kind to pump our gas for us. So many stories to tell. Such a sweet man.

My favorite latte at the coffee shop in Rossburn. Better than Starbucks

Another favorite find.  This one is online too!

A Long Drive

Driving home from Canada this year I had the bright idea that we go back by Mt. Rushmore again  .Because everyone knows that that's a direct shot from Manitoba to the Gulf Coast of Alabama, right??  NOT!!  Driving from our town to Manitoba, Canada was 1900 miles.  Driving home through Rapid City, SD was 2269!  That's almost 400 miles out of our way.  Honestly...it was so worth it and I'd do it all over again.  

 We'd been to Mt. Rushmore about 6 years ago but Emma (our youngest didn't remember it).  The morning we were going to visit this time was so very foggy.  You couldn't see 100yds in front of you.  We had to visit early because we had to get on the road.  After all, we still had whole lot of miles to drive that day (we didn't end up stopping until 3am in Joplin, Missouri).  Before leaving the hotel parking lot, we prayed for our traveling safety and that God would open the clouds so we could see the mountain.  I knew God wouldn't have let us drive this far to not get to see Mt Rushmore-our only reason for going off track.  Even as I parked at the mountain, the fog had not cleared.  I still kept the faith that God would give us a glimpse.  Walking through the corridor of flags to the mountain, the clouds parted and the sun shone down in all it's glory.   Seriously!  It did!   There, ahead of us, was the amazing mountain carved so many years ago.  We had tears in our eyes as we gazed at it.  We stood in awe of this man's gift at carving the stone but more importantly at God's goodness in moving the fog and letting us see it once again.  God is so good and sweet like that!

We stayed longer than we should have, but we wanted to see and experience everything.  I didn't care how late I had to drive.  God had opened the heavens for us to see this and we were going to totally absorb it!  (I failed to mention that the whole time we gazed at the mountain, the fog was still thick as pea  soup behind us.  We literally could not see the car in the parking lot!)

Now we had to drive all the was across South Dakota (it's a really wide state, in case you haven't noticed).  It was such a beautiful drive.  I enjoyed every minute of it.  We went on through Iowa, Missouri, a little bit of Kansas and back into Missouri again to stop.  The next morning we drove on into one of our favorite southern states, Arkansas.  We cannot possibly drive through Arkansas without driving by the Duggar's house.  They are on our favorite reality show.    After stopping there we were energized to drive home.  (we arrived about 1:00am). 

We saw a whole lot of this beautiful country that God has created, felt His protection and watched as He performed a miracle...just to love on us!  One long drive turned into a trip of a lifetime!

Views from Canada

Why do we keep returning to Canada??

Here are just a few reasons why:

I love to watch our dogs 'work'. They are truly amazing animals.

We get to spend quality time as a family with no outside interruptions (TV, computer, phones, etc.)

SNOW!!! We certainly don't get this in south Alabama!

A simpler life. Mrs. Marion runs a small store which is also the post office. She sells home-baked goodies including breads and tarts. Every time we go in she insists the girls pick out something to take as a gift from her. She always has time to visit with us.

The main reason I keep returning is to see my buddy Cheryl. 2 weeks a year is just not long enough to spend with her.

School day in Canada

We arrived in Canada a few days ago. So far we've been to a volleyball game, ice skating twice, shopping, carved pumpkins and visited with several friends. Today one of Grace's friends invited her to go to school. She was excited to go along. I can't wait to hear all about her day.
The picture shows Grace about to leave for school at 8:30. We're always surprised at how dark it is here in the mornings .