Ronald Reagan Library - Erica Carleton

On  Monday, we went to the Ronald Reagan Library.  I got to see Air Force One that Ronald Reagan got to ride in.  The plane was very big.  He had Jelly beans in the plane because that was his favorite candy.  And he would bring a chocolate cake when a member of his staff had a birthday or anniversary.  I also got to see Marine One (the helicopter) that he road in.  I didn’t get to go in the helicopter but it was big. 

I got to see a replica of the oval office in the white house.   It was decorated like he had it when he lived there.   He had jelly beans on his desk.  They also had a picture of him made out of jelly beans.  He must have really liked them.

I also got to see a necklace of faith.  This was a necklace made by Vietnam Prisoners of War when they were held in captivity.  They gave it to Nancy Reagan as a token of their love for her.

The view was pretty.  We had fun.

Entrance to Ronald Reagan Library

Oval Office Replica

Air Force One

Marine One

Picture Outside of the Library

Burial Site

Air Force One

Making Our Way

After we left the Alamo in San Antonio Texas, we drove through El Paso and could see across the boarder and the Rio Grande into Mexico. Then, we went through Yuma, Arizona and across to California to the Salton Sea. We were able to see the Texas Canyon (in Arizona??), Cactus patch (where the Saguaro cactus grows to 40 to 50 feet and lives for 150 to 200 years!!!), and then through the Imperial Valley Sand Dunes (where we got to watch dune buggies zoom around). We spent last night (Friday) at the Salton Sea where they have some amazing hot mineral springs. You can see the pictures of the Roman Style Baths below. They were fantastic. The view from them was the desert valley leading up to huge mountains!! Next Stop......Los Angeles, California.

 Texas Canyon in Arizona

 Aquaduct leading into Yuma, AZ

Rocks in the Texas Canyon - Arizona

Sequaro Cactus' in the "Cactus Patch" Arizona

 Tubs that fill up with hot mineral water from the hot springs.

"Remember the Alamo" - Erin Leigh

Earlier today we went to see the Alamo and River Street.  River Street is a river that goes right through the middle of San Antonio, and on either side there are shops and restaurants.  At one place the river goes right through a beauty store.  There are a lot of ducks there and nothing to keep them out so they go along the river and into the shops sometimes.   There are also little boats that give tours in the river and big bridges that go over the water to take you to the other side of the street.  I liked it!!!

The Alamo was interesting too.  This was first used as a Spanish Mission, but was later used as a fort in the Texas Revolution.  The Texans were beat at this fort, but later won the war.  In the last battle the Texans would chant “Remember the Alamo” as a way to “pump up” the soldiers to make them want to fight for all that had fallen at the Alamo.  Now, the Alamo is a museum in downtown San Antonio.  A fun place to visit!!

                -Erin

Andrew - What's up

What’s up

So far the trip has been pretty good except for the last 250 to 300 miles.  We went to Mobile, Alabama the first day and stayed at a KOA.  Alan and I played basketball and then we all went swimming in the ocean.

Now it has gone downhill from there because the girls do their flips every two seconds and Alan is pitching a tantrum because I messed around with his pet animals. We just got to a Koa and it’s in the middle of nowhere. Like I’m serious there hasn’t been 1 town in like 200 miles and the population of this town if you call it a town is like 10. We still haven’t seen a soccer field or for that matter an open field in 250 miles.  Guess I’ll have to play on cactuses. Ouch!!!

The USS Alabama

The USS Alabama

On Monday we went to the USS Alabama.  The USS Alabama was a battleship that fought in World War 2 and was commissioned in 1942. It carried 2,500 people in war time and carried only 1,585 people during peace time.  The USS Alabama weighs 42,500 tons and can go 28 knots (or 32 mph).  The USS Alabama was decommissioned in 1947 and turned into a museum.

The Home Team Wins!!!

The Home Team wins the 3v3 U-11 Boys Bracket at the TYSA tournament 4/1/12.  What a way to start off a trip!!!!

On the road again.....

Hi everyone.  We are very excited to have the Sardines back on wheels and moving.  This time we are heading out west.  We will be going the South route through Texas to Los Angeles and up to San Francisco; Then, over to Lake Tahoe across Nevada to Utah and then to Arizona and back home.  We are going to see Yosemite, Sequoia, Muir Woods, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Grand Canyon and Death Valley National Parks. 

Uncle Tom and Aunt Julia batten down the hatches we will be rolling into Georgetown, TX on Tuesday evening.  We’ll call to confirm.  Can’t wait to see yall.

As we did before we will update the blog with pictures and we will have the kids post their own writings as we go.  We love to hear your comments and hope that you will leave us a lot of them.  We’ll post more soon.