Almost every reply involved food!

So we headed to downtown in search of the food trucks.

But first we had to stop at Powell’s. Priorities!

After grabbing lunch at a food truck we headed to Voodoo Doughnuts but none of us were willing to wait in that line.

That’s okay because after dinner we went to Salt and Straw to get our sugar fix with some handmade ice cream.

We would have loved to eat our way through Portland but we live on a budget so a trip to a farmers market was in order.

And a night eating in really isn’t so bad when you are with the one you love.

There is more to Portland than food. There is science!

The boys had a fun afternoon exploring the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, OMSI.

While the boys went to OMSI, I caught up with my friend Rola. Rola and I used to hang out with our babies almost 12 years ago. It had been that long since we had seen each other.
Fortunately, it hadn’t been quite that  long since we hung out with some special friends, Greg and Michelle, and their kids.

It is such a joy to hang out with old friends when it feel like it was just yesterday you hung out even though it has been a few years.

It’s also fun to finally get to try Voodoo Doughnuts in the company of good friends without having to wait in line all day.

While we were out and about why not go  to Por Qué No?

Portlandia loves its bikes.
And we love our Mexican food. Por Qué No did not disappoint.

We finished the night laughing and goofy off with Greg and Michelle at their house.

Fun times playing in Portland.

Love and Laughter,
Jenn

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Inside of Ford’s Theatre where we watched,One Destiny, a play about Lincoln’s assasination.

Across the street from the theatre is the Petersen House, the house where Lincoln died.

The boys added another Jr. Ranger badge to their growing collection.

This tower is made of about 6,800 books, a fraction of the estimated total of 15,000 books written about Lincoln.

Then another quick stop by the National Museum of American History. Thing Two wanted one last walk through the war section and we both though this uniform worn by George Washington was pretty cool

We continued on to the White House. Unfortunately we weren’t able to get tickets for a tour despite applying 6 months in advance.

After a long day of learning we headed home…

where we ended a great day with a great dinner with great friends!

Love and Laughter,
Jenn

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It was a rainy Monday.

The grey skies and drizzle seemed fitting for the main destination of the day, The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

We started with the children’s exhibit, Remember the Children: Daniel’s Story. The exhibit is based on the historical fiction novel, Daniel’s Story. It’s hands-on exhibit exhibit that follows Daniel from his warm bright home, to the confines of the ghetto, and finally into the dark concentration camp surrounded by barbed wire. Along the way there are diary entries written by Daniel describing life through his child’s eyes.

Afterwards, we moved onto the main exhibit which is a narrative telling of the Holocaust using artifacts, video, and words. It spans 3 floors. Three floors of heartbreak, horror, and human spirit.

It took us 5 hours to get through the United States Holocaust Museum.

By the end we were all emotionally drained.

We didn’t make the decision to take the boys to the museum lightly. Ultimately, we decided it is a very important piece of history that we felt like they are mature enough to begin to understand without being terrified. It puts our “hardships” into perspective and, perhaps more than any other event in modern history, it reminds us of the cost of silence in the face of injustice. It’s something no one should forget.

We also visited the Bureau Of Engraving and Printing next door but millions of dollars just doesn’t compare to millions of lives.

Love,
Jenn

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I’ve said this many times that the best part about being a family on the road is meeting up with family and friends, old and new.

In DC we met up with Brent’s cousin, Christopher, who was an officer in the Navy. The boys loved hearing him explain our airplane engines work.

One of the our favorite things in the Air in Space Museum was the original Wright Flyer. We had seen the reproduction in at the Wright National Memorial in Kitty Hawk in North Carolina. The story of the Wright brothers is such a great example of what can be accomplished through teamwork and friendship.

I was fascinated by Amelia Earhart’s red plane, a Lockheed Vega 5B in which she set many records. So fearless!!!

Love and Laughter,
Jenn

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I could write…

About the artists, musicians, and street performers like the funny robot man or the homemade Transformer at Jackson Square.

About muffalettas, mules, meltdowns, and Mississippi River sunsets.

About beignets and the mounds of powered sugar that stuck to our finger tips. Our favorite was Cafe Beignet. (Thanks Lynn!) The atmosphere was quaint and the beignets delicious. Cafe du Monde was good but overrated in comparison.

About how much fun it was to sit in the more than a century old building of the Napoleon House for lunch. It didn’t even matter that the food was mediocre.

About, despite what you might think, New Orleans is great for kids as long as you steer clear of Bourbon Street. Trust me, you won’t truly enjoy a whimsical street performer until you enjoy him or her with a child.

About the WWII museum and how Thing Two was dressed ready for “battle” the moment he heard we were leaving. I learned more about WWII in three hours than in all my years of school combined. You don’t want to miss the movie Beyond All Boundaries.

About walking on sidewalks cracked from tree roots in the Garden District where houses that have as much history as beauty line the streets.

About how an all day Jazzy pass for the streetcars is the best $3 you’ll spend. Make sure to ride the St. Charles line to the end and back.

About how after a long day of walking, the streetcar we were riding broke down. So we walked back to the ferry only to be passed by the trolly at our would-have-been-stop. Thing One and Thing Two were troopers that night.

About the pralines and how eating a freshly made praline from The New Orleans School of Cooking is nearly ecstasy and the ones we bought from a lady in the Algiers terminal come in at a close second.

About how our boys practiced haggling in the French Market. Thing One bought a clarinet was a man wearing a beret.

About how Jambalya and pizza should always be served together.

About how much fun it was taking the Algiers Ferry (it’s free!) everyday from Algiers Point to The French Quarter

About the Hurricane Katrina exhibit in the Louisiana State Museum.

About the music but my words would could never express the magic that filled the streets.

About the armadillos that waddled through our campground every night bringing huge smiles to two boy’s faces.

About how our campground, Bayou Segnette, was a perfect place to stay. It was close enough to the city to be convenient but far enough away to experience a different side of Louisiana. A bit of beautiful bayou, bustling city and free laundry. Yes, FREE, laundry.

About how I will never forget our family trip to The Big Easy.

New Orleans, thank you for the wonderful memories.

I’ll leave it at that and 80 pictures.

Love and Laughter,
Jenn

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Old Friends – Mike and Jen moved to Franklin from Ventura 10 years ago. We parked our RV in their driveway on a quiet cul-de-sac next to a lake. We felt right at home. They showed around Franklin and took us to Leiper’s Fork. They made us dinner and we stayed up late sharing stories and laughter.

New Friends – We had just got settled when we got an invitation for dinner from friends of one of Brent’s clients. Brent had told his client that we were going to be in Franklin and much to our surprise and delight they called us. Dinner that with strangers ended as dinner with friends.

Date Night – Mike watched the boys one night so Brent and I could spend some time alone. Being the adventurers we are we went to Trader Joe’s. Romantic, huh? Afterwards, we drove around Nashville and spotted a little pizza and kebab place called PizzeReal.  As we waited for our food we decided to check the Yelp reviews. Not a good idea. The restaurant had poor reviews. We hoped for the best and weren’t disappointed with the Tusan Garden, pizza topped with kale, mushrooms, garlic, mozzarella, and labne.  Sooo good. It just happens that an ice cream place, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, we wanted to try was around the corner. We got a Black and Tan sundae made with Salted Carmel and Smoked Tea and Plum. Splendid, indeed. Do not miss Jeni’s if you are in Nashville.

Franklin – Franklin takes pride in her history. The downtown is lovely, clean, and quaint. The visitor center provides a plethora of maps and brochures. One is a historic downtown Franklin self guided walking tour map. There are six tours routes to choose from: the Great American Main Street, Art & Antique, Haunts a & Headstones, History Homs of Hincheyville, Battle of Franklin, and Margin to Main. Unfortunately due to rainy weather and time constraints, we didn’t complete any of the walks but we did see many places on the walks. One of which was the The Carter House grounds. The Carter House, a National Landmark, served at a command post during the Battle of Franklin and was the home of the Carter family who sought safety with their slaves in the basement during the battle. One of their sons, Todd Carter, had joined the confederacy. He was mortally wounded during battle and was brought to boyhood home to die.

Adventure Science Center – Our last day in Franklin was a rainy one a perfect day to visit the Adventure Science Center. It’s part of the ACST Passport Program which means free admission and I like free. The boys played giant instruments, zapped germs with lazers, and experienced what it would be like to walk in 1/6 gravity. Fun times for all.

Love and Laughter,
Jenn

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Just when I was almost caught up blogging about our trip, we lost a strong internet connection. One night I sat at the computer for over an hour trying to upload 5 pictures. Frustrated, I decided the blog would just have to wait. Then we came up to my parent’s for Christmas so we’ve been busy with family. I’m going to be here for the week and I’m hoping to get all caught up so I can start writing in (almost) real time again.

Tuesday morning, we left San Antonio for League City near Houston. It was the longest driving day we’ve had since we left Marfa.  We pulled into the campground before dark which, for us, was very exciting.

And meant time to to just hang out.

Wednesday morning we visited Space Center Houston.

Space Center Houston is cool. Really cool.

The space center is filled with exhibits, tours, movies, and hands on activities for the entire family. (I sound like an infomercial, forgive me.) My favorite part was the Starship Gallery. There were videos featuring one of the astronauts (I can’t remember his name..ooops.) on the last Apollo 17 mission. He talked in detail about the last mission and what it was like to see earth from outer space.  While listening I kept looking at the Apollo 17 Command Module imagining it in outer space and looking down at the earth. Thinking about it gives me chills.

Next time I want to complain about the shower in our RV I will try to remember the shower in Skylab.

We also took the tram to see historic Mission Control, the astronaut training facility, and the Saturn V rocket. That thing is crazy huge. HUGE!

The space center opens at 10:00 am but we got there at 11:30 am. At 5:00 pm security was pushing us out the door as we lingered in the exhibits trying to see just a little more. We considering hiding in one of the space capsules until after closing so we could play all night but the security guard was pretty frightening.

I thought from now on it would be nice if I share some visiting tips. Maybe someone will find something helpful.

Visiting Tips

- Buy tickets online. You will save $5 per ticket.

- Try to get there when it opens at 10:00 so you have all day. They told us it takes people 4-5 hours to see everything. We had 5.5 hours there and wished we would have had another hour or two more. We didn’t even watch all the movies or read everything. If you purchase a ticket two hours before they close they will let you come back the following day for one day’s admission.

- The audio tour was totally worth the extra admission to us. The only downside is you really have to look for the audio guide numbers. I ended up missing quite a few including the one at the Saturn V exhibit. I listened to it on the tram ride back to the museum which wasn’t nearly as interesting as it would have been walking around the rocket itself.

-We were glad to have brought our lunch (which they let us bring in because it was cold outside) as there was only one restaurant open in the food court. The guy at the door did say that they normally don’t let people bring in food and they have to eat outside at the picnic area.

-Watch Apollo 13 the night before you go! It adds an extra layer of excitement. Of course, if you aren’t in the mood for something as intense there is always Space Camp. It was all fun and games until someone got “launched”.

Love and  Laughter,
Jenn

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