Cross-Country

Hi again! Sorry it’s been so long. It seems like we haven’t had any time to keep up on the blog lately! We are finally home & settled in for a while though. We had an awesome trip across the country. Without going on & on I’ll try to give you the short version.

We left North Carolina with WIND-BORNE on the hard safe & sound. She is in good hands until we can return. We headed south towards Florida to see Ben’s grandpa Reg & our friend Hamish in Miami. We made a stop in Savannah GA on the way & had a great time walking around & admiring all the old houses & beautiful parks that are on every other block. It is worth going to Savannah just to see it…and go to the Mellow Mushroom, which has the best food & beer ever! We took a night time ghost tour before hitting the road again & off we went to meet Reg & Dot in Ft. Lauderdale.
We had a really nice evening with Ben’s grandpa & went to Miami to stay on Hamish’s boat “FREE @ LAST” We stayed with him about 4 days I think (it’s been a while) and had an awesome time catching up & Ben got to help a bit with boat stuff & getting sails put up. We went to the beach & Henry had his first dip in the ocean at Miami Beach. He was a little wary at first, but warmed up to it quickly. The waves hitting him didn’t seem to worry him at all. He seemed quite at home.
From there we went up the East coast a little way to get Ben a little surfing in & Henry took another dunk in the ocean. Then we headed west across Florida, Louisiana bound. We made it to New Orleans! The plan was to spend only 2 days there, but we had no idea that we arrived just 3 days before Jazz Fest!!!! We had to stay! There was no way we could miss such an awesome show. Who knows if we will ever get back to that city again. Jazz Fest is even bigger in New Orleans than Mardigras believe it or not. We were on a limited budget, so we only went to one day of shows, and had a blast despite the torrential downpours we encountered. The pavilion we were in flooded almost a foot deep. We were sitting watching the show with water up to our shins. Henry slept through the shows mostly. He does really well with loud noises. He sleeps best when there is a lot going on. We wrapped a pair of his little pants around his head with balls of fabric over his ears to muffle the sound a little. He looked really funny.
We walked around the French & garden districts for days & saw one of their famous above ground graveyards. We also took another ghost/history walking tour in the French Quarter. I had no idea that New Orleans had such a crazy & violent past! I could write a whole blog on just the history that we learned about it. We also ate some awesome local cuisine. Ben loved the gumbo, muffaletta, and brioche royale. I loved the Jambalaya, Cajun duck Po boy, & alligator sausage.
We sadly left New Orleans with much left to see. We were on the way to Colorado. I’m going to have to say Texas was the least driver friendly state in my mind that we encountered. The speeds were lower than other states & the rest stops were all closed after dark, so if you had to stop for a bathroom break at night you were out of luck. We would drive for ever trying to find some silly little town & hope that they might have an open gas station…which they usually didn’t…. The multiple rattlesnake warnings made sure we never just pulled the car over on the side of the road to get out. Anyway, we made it to Mesa Verde which was really amazing!!! I have no idea why the Indians in that area decided to build their houses and villages into the sides of sheer cliffs, but it makes an amazing sight to see. They farmed the plateaus above their houses & had to climb tiny foot hold “ladders” carved into the rock face to get food & water. Not the life for me. Mind boggling to visit though. I highly recommend everyone see this as well.
We spent one night here then hurriedly got on the road towards Utah. We made it to Moab where the Arches National Park is & spent an entire day hiking & driving around to the different arch sites. The arches are spectacular & even though they explain how they are made it’s still hard to believe they stand there. You can’t help but just stare at them wondering how the middle has so much strength no to just cave in to gravity. I loved arches!
So, after a whirlwind tour of the US, we were on the way home. We had to finish quarterlies etc… and take care of things at home. We had been gone almost a month & a half. Home looked like heaven when we arrived. Our own bed, finally!!
We didn’t make it at home very long. Still more people & places to visit, so we went to Blakely Island to see John & Laurie & take Henry prawning & he was in his first ever boat parade.
We once again made it home, had a few visits from family…Mary & Martha came by & we went to Port Angeles & Port Townsend & saw Chris, Mary, Spencer, and Cy. We stayed out there for 3 days or so & here we are again at home.
My mom Lori has been staying with us a few days a week & is getting as much Henry time in as possible before we leave for Australia. She is really excited about being a grandma & loves playing with the little man. Since being home Henry has been making the rounds locally to see everyone. We spent mother’s day out at grandma’s in the Teanaway & he was happy to see My grandparents, great aunt Becky, auntie Jessica, Unlce Tyler, Serina, his new little cousin Alice….the list goes on. He also recently go to see great grandma Gwen, Doug & Janis, and a bunch of friends who haven’t seen him since he was a new born. There’s lots to do when you are as in demand as our little man. J
As far as Ben & I, we have been trying to find work & clean out the basement getting ready to leave. Lots to do. We managed to have the biggest yard sale ever memorial weekend. We did it Sunday only & had a yard filled with things. We had Ben’s scaffold set up with planks as shelves three sections deep full of things, three tables, stuff on the ground, and a clothesline full. We ended the day with only one table of stuff left over & we even sold the suburban which came as quite a surprise considering it was a last minute thought to put a sign on it.
I got a part time weekend job at a local coffee stand and little bits of work have been coming in for Ben. Looks like we will make it alright for the summer. It’s nice to have mom around to watch the little man while I’m working weekends so Ben can get some things done.
Well, that’s just about it. Thanks for hanging in there & waiting for us to finally fill you all in. Hope to hear from you all soon & hope to see as many of you as possible this summer.
Love, Kristen, Ben, & Henry the busiest most non sleeping baby ever.
Oh, forgot to give you an update on the little man :
Weight 22 lbs! Age 5 months, chews on toes, talks all the time, grabs anything he can get his hands on, can get knees worked up under his booty when on his tummy, but no crawling yet. Stands on his own feet, but needs support. Sitting well alone, but needs a spotter for when he tips over for a soft landing. Rolls over & over. Can’t leave him alone for a minute.