america, america! day #1

we are on the road across the country, to our next tour destination -- monterey, california! we moved out of our home in newport, rhode island (saying goodbye to our wonderful friends from church and salve) last week and drove down to maryland for my sister-in-law's wedding. we have the kids and all of our stuff (for the road trip) packed up in our green van! each kid has a dvd player. we have a splitter so that the three oldest kids can listen to their music and we can have some peace. i have collected all sorts of diversions for the kids (colorforms, crayons, stickers, books, cds, dvds, trinkets, jump ropes, surprise dolls, unopened birthday presents for ransom etc.) so far the kids have been amazing. we started at 7am from annapolis (on wed) and made it all the way to columbus, ohio (with stops & traffic about 11 hours). last night we stayed in the home of friends, dave & amanda. dave grew up with graham and tammy his mother was there as well (with gift bags for our kids). she has remained a very close friend of my mother-in-law's from their days in akron. our kids had a blast. it was a lovely evening - wine, yummy food, children, babies (their kids are darling!), & fellowship. their property is nestled in beautiful farm fields. graham and i enjoyed watching the sunrise over the fields and hearing the rooster crow his early wake-up! fall in ohio is gorgeous and like coming home.

some highlights of day #1:

- traveled through maryland, pennsylvania, west virginia and ohio.
- crossed the appalachian trail
- counted barns + ransom noticed all the water towers
- drove thru the alleghany mountain tunnel