Destination: Celebrate the life of Carl Enersen

Uncle Carl and his favorite girls, Nicole and Kristen (me)

 Hey Carl, I got a good one for you . . .

There was this Norwegian that walked into our life in 1959.  He lit it up with his smile and his jokes.  He and his schizophrenia opened our hearts and minds to “different.” 

He loved his mom like nothing else in this world; with the respect and dedication that sons were long ago taught, that few today demonstrate. 

He was everybody’s best friend; the kind of friend that never left you stranded, never left you lonely, never failed to show you graciousness.

He periodically blessed us with his presence and quite often under-stayed his welcome, but always departed with gratitude and love.

Fifty-four years later, once again, this handsome Norwegian under-stayed his welcome.  Cancer ravished his body, but his spirit never dimmed. 

The punch line to this one is that while much of the world shoves “different” into a corner because it makes them uncomfortable, my Uncle Carl’s light shone so bright it lit up all of those corners. 

 His shining example lives on in all of his family and friends.  One could not see that light and fail to share it.  One could not see that light and ever again contemplate shoving “different” into a corner.

The beautiful box that his brother (my dad) made for him.

. . .  Uncle Carl, you will be always missed and I will be always grateful that you were in my life.  

Destination:  Eau Claire, WI

Odometer:  4,643

Camp Memaw & Papa Joe: After the Final Rose

Symbolic of the beginning of our journey 10 days prior . . . foggy, stormy,
dark clouds, trapped . . .

It started out with 4 kids and 2 adults and a lot of fighting and disrespecting.  By the end of the journey I was amazed at the conversations and laughter that echoed through the RV.  We discovered that we were friends again; we enjoyed each other's company again.  It was a beautiful thing that I hope we can hold on to, at least until the next road trip.

I was inspired by another discovery on our journey, by something that I probably would never have known about if it weren't for having time to pay attention to small details.  This is something I hope to find more of . . . time to appreciate the small things.

During the journey through West Virginia, we continued to get glimpses of clusters of 3 crosses. After at least five occurrences of this, I decided to do some research to learn the origins of these crosses.

Here's what I found.  A minister, Bernard Coffindaffer (from West Virginia) was inspired to make a small difference in this world.  He "planted" 1,864 clusters of 3 crosses across 29 states, the District of Columbia, Zambia, and The Philippines.   We spotted around 15 of the 352 clusters that reside in West Virginia.

Ten years after Mr. Coffindaffer left this earth, his work had a profound affect on me.  While extremely simple visually, the crosses definitely made me stop and think.  I started to really pay attention to the country side which is absolutely breathtaking.  It was like an inspired version of "I spy" or "Where's Waldo."  To me, the crosses are small reminders of love, hope, and forgiveness.  Who doesn't need each of those in their life?

To think that one person made this happen and that his inspiration lives on well past his worldly life . . . it moves me to find the purpose and inspiration for which I was put on this earth.




Here is some more information on the Crosses Across America:  http://www.thecross-photo.com/Crosses_Across_America_Inc.htm




 

How appropriate.  Oh the things we learn while traveling
as a family across country!

The only casualty.  Shame on you Fat Amy!!

The perfect ending to a perfect journey . . . driving into the sunset holding my husband's hand, listening to
the ringing laughter of our 4 beautiful, loving children.

Camp Memaw & Papa Joe: Farewell

The Goodbye

Unfortunately, our reservation at the camp is up and we have to pack up Fat Amy for the long haul home.

We had such a fabulous time!  All the hours spent packing and unpacking coolers, bags, life-jackets, tubes, skis, kids and dogs . . . they were all worth it.

I know it's been a great vacation when 7 days into it I realized that I didn't think about work once.  In fact, not only did I not think of it, I think that I forgot that I do work.  Makes me think of a girl that Jordan met this summer . . . she dreams of growing up to be a trophy wife.  I used to roll my eyes at girls like that.  Now, I dream of growing up to have my only career be a Mommy-memory-maker.  I wish that all I got to do was take care of the kids and manage the household.  Maybe someday . . .

I personally don't fare very well with goodbyes.  That word, goodbye, makes it feel so final.  So, instead of goodbye, we bid farewell and a see-you-soon to the lovely staff at Camp Memaw and Papa Joe.

The Geography

In the last 10 days, Fat Amy will have led us 2,800 miles through 15 states of our beautiful country.  Thank you Fat Amy!  You are a rock star!!  (And don't think I didn't hear you huffing and puffing up those mountains.  You'd better get that under control!)

The northern drive East:

Missouri

Illinois

Indiana

Ohio

Pennsylvania

New York

Massachusetts

New Hampshire

Maine

The southern drive West:

Maine

New Hampshire

Connecticut

New York

New Jersey

Pennsylvania

Delaware

Maryland

West Virginia

Kentucky

Illinois

Missouri

The Journey

George Washington Bridge (New York to New Jersey)

• Traffic in New York City (2.5 hours worth).  We never got close enough to drop Jordan off, as that's her final destination.  Oh well, she's got a lifetime to get on Broadway!

NYC Skyline from the George Washington Bridge

• Slept soundly at truck stop amongst the big rigs (I suppose there were some stars out there as well.)

Is this traffic over with yet?

This is how we get our caffeine fix while driving.

Spooning

• Beautiful climbs and descents in the Appalachian Mountain Range
• Camping in Sutton, West Virginia; nestled in the hillside (another great KOA, I highly recommend it!)

Pit Stop

Bet you can't find Jeff . . . 

Heading towards the mountains

"Sutton", the tailless cat adopted us as his temporary family.
We named him Sutton because that's the name of the town we were camping in.
Little did we know, the cat bears a striking resemblance to John D. Sutton,
who settled this little town.  There was a picture of him hanging inside the office;
a chunk of his white hair was missing, much like the cat's missing tail.

Fat Amy in all her glory

View from the pool

Dinner Time

Evening Activities

Paxton LOVES breakfast time!

Mac found a new den to sleep in while we travel

Charleston, West Virginia

Destination:  Home
Odometer:  3,978

Camp Memaw & Papa Joe: Days 5-7

We finished out our reservation at the camp with another day on the lake sandwiched between 2 trips to the drive-in theater.

The first night was family night; Despicable Me 2 and Monster's University.  We left the young and old people at home for the second night; Man of Steel and WWZ.  There's something about the atmosphere at the drive-in . . . I can't get enough of it.  It's been my long time dream to own one.  Someday . . .

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay with Memaw and Papa Joe.  They facilitated so many wonderful memories for us, most importantly, for the kids.  They have a way of finding individual time with the kids that makes each kid feel so special; like the most important person in the world.  I've got to get better at that!  There's always room for improvement.  This trip has helped me to identify a few of those areas for myself.

Here are some of our final memories at the camp.

(BTW - Believe me when I say that  Jordan WAS on this vacation with us.  She didn't go with us this last day on the boat, she decided she'd rather dog-sit (i.e. needed some alone time).  (However, I believe during her afternoon nap, the dogs sat on her.)  She had a lot of fun with us, but she didn't want to be in any pictures, so . . . I'll post the pics of her later, when she's no longer following this blog.)

Brave girl Paxton, after she got over the unreasonable fear (that her father put into her) of Alligator Gar

Memaw and her girls

The slide off the top deck of the boat was one of the favorites attractions.
Kids of all sizes and ages would come over and ask if they could go down the slide.  Giggles and ear-to-ear smiles ensued after each plunge.  After many plunges myself, I concluded it's the ONLY way to enter into the lake.

The infamous plunge

Reagan's Ski Lesson

First Attempt

Needless to say (by the looks of these pictures), the dogs got along great!  They had so much fun swimming in the pool and lake together.  They also enjoyed the freedom of playing tag in the acres of wild blueberry patches at camp.

Can we swim now?  We said PLEASE!