Experiencing our nation through its environments, animals, people and history.

Galatians 5:1

Monday, June 23, 2014

Jojo kaler

Hello this Is jojo kaler reporting from the Winnebago chalet. A.K.A. Winnie I am sorry I haven't reported in a while but I have been busy so this is going to be a long blog so sit back and relax. What you need a potty break go ahead ill wait............. Ok anything else before we start? Yes you may get water. Go ahead and got some food also. Alright I'm starting now
Day 5: you have to go to the bathroom again well I have to go to so I won't judge.
Ok let's try this again. Day 5: i woke up by the power of mom to see some place called jellystone. What is it now I spelled jellystone wrong? What I did it again oohhhhh your supposed to spell it Yellowstone well how was I supposed to know that I mean I've only been to the place it's not like I looked it up in the dictionary. Geez okay where was I jellystone ok fine Yellowstone. anyway, the first thing I woke up to was a bison out the window. Yeah not the best way to start your day after that we went on to see some pretty lakes burnt and pine bettled trees, and snow in June!!??!? Crazy huh soon after we went to a little station where we got our junior ranger worksheets. We did that until I found a page where we had to find scat and if you don't know what that is look it up. So we searched around and eventually found some elk scat which just my luck is the stinkiest scat in Yellowstone. Next after fabreezing ourselves which when looking back wasn't the smartest idea because right after we went to old faithful an got stinker up again but this tome not bad enough to fabreeze ourselves. Old faithful was really cool though. We had a little trouble getting back to the rv though. After that we went to some extremely beautiful and colorful steam pools some dark and muddy boiling mud pots. Then on the way out we had to find a ranger station to get our junior ranger badges but oh know we couldn't find one. What now I no how to spell know what they're homophones oh well you no what I mean. Anyway we eventually found one got our junior ranger badges and headed for Seattle Days 5-10 these days were filled with lacrosse games and World Cup watching. Also we we're thrown a party and went to JJ's would be graduating class if he hadn't moved we also went by and said hi (rhyme intended) to all our old teachers. Along with that we went to our first mariners game in a long time, toured UW, reconnected with reed and aunt patty, and went to Kingston island. When we hit the road on day 10 we met up with Chris and Brownwin. Who showed me my dream car the tesla and watched a very small 3D clip of my favorite movie the avengers. After that when I was asleep the soccer ball tooled out when mom opened the door onto a steep hill which got darker and darker as the ball got faster and faster according to mom. She eventually gave up when it was out of sight. Day 11 I woke up at bob and Liz's housemate breakfast there played with their bearded dragon then left for onienta gorge once we arrived we hiked into the gorge which was aboulutely beautiful finally when we arrived dad actually ended up jumping into the cold water of the falls. All in all onienta gorge is the most beautiful place I have ever been to and I have been to the Grand Canyon, mt Rushmore, Niagra falls, and other national parks. After that we left to meet some old friends of ours Nathan and Collin in Portland. We talked and caught up with each other. After that we went to Cathy's house where we met quite a few goats and chickens and a lama. We also played some wii with cousins. Day 12: when I awake we are in Monmouth Oregon. First thing we did was tour Western Oregon Wniversity or WOU. Which was where mom and dad met so we revisited some of their favorite sites there. We also met up with mom's old friend and went to a restaurant with kombucha on tap which was awesome for mom. After a 2 hour drive to Odell Lake we met up with my great aunt D and some other family. We also went on  hikes to the one armed bridge and around the lake. We also learned how to skin and clean a fish. Day 13: we headed off to Cherea's wedding which much to Shayna's happiness was quite short ceremony and to everybody's happiness very good cake. Afterwards we went to aunt Denise's house where we swam and slept. Day 14: I wake up to the smell of cinnamon heaven which turned out to be a so called cinnamon roll which I thought should be called cinnamon roll cake and arrived uncharecteristicly early to aunt Judy's house where we watched the USA vs Portugal game which if you didn't see it tied with 15 seconds to go in injury time. Such a heartbreak because if we won we would have automatically qualified for the round of sixteen. Never to fear we are in good shape to move on. After a wonderful dinner we were served cookies, drumsicks or torte which is fancy crust with cream cheese filling and fruit on top. She also bought us a new soccer ball.

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Day 4 by Jojo kaler

This is jojo kaler reporting to you from inside what I believe is called "Winnie" STOP selfie time dunununuh. I'll be darned my selfies won't load. I will have to resort to using emojis 😁😃😁😃😁😃  today we went to 2 mountain carvings crazy horse and Mt Rushmore. When we arrived at Rushmore we ate breakfast and set off. First we went to the grand view terrace which was basically a platform with a straight on view of the faces of Lincoln, Washington, Roosevelt, and Jefferson carved into the mountainside then we hiked along a small trail and got different views of the presidents. We then received junior ranger booklets that when completed we would get a badge for it. We watched a 13 minute film about the making of the carving and answered some questions about it then we went through a few exhibits and read about the presidents, sculptor, workers, etc. here are a few fun facts. It took 14 years to complete the project
90% of the carving was done by dynamite
The sculptor was Gutzon Borglum
The original model only had three presidents
There was controversy over wether Abe Lincoln should have a beard or not
After that educational stop we went to crazy horse an Native American chief who is a hero.this project is not yet finished but is a big one. It will be the biggest statue on planet earth. Now I'm sure some Martian has built seething bigger so I refrained from saying In the entire universe. Anyway the monument is not government funded at all in fact they turned down 10 million dollars in potential funding from the government twice. Chief crazy horse was a chief known for his quote look to the graves of my ancestors that is where my home is. We also enjoyed some Native American culture and craft.

By jojo

Hello this is jojo kaler reporting from inside what is called"Winnie"where five members of some group called the Kalers are traveling cross country ad high speeds of 60 miles an hour. But first let me take a selfie


We are currently 2 and a half hours out from Mt Rushmore can't wait to see that at night. On day 1 of traveling I went into work with the on they call "mom". The we took off and stayed in a rest stop bout an hour out of St. Lois. Once we arrived in the city we realized how much it looked like DC it even had a free zoo that we went to after a wonderful college tour and watching Shayna eat her free lunch we ended up meeting about half of the colleges police force because no one knew where we should park. The zoo was quite cool it had some really awesome monkeys. My favorite was a monkey that we called the twitch monkey because every time it moved it's head it looked like it was twiching. After that we took off towards Owensville and stayed at one of my top 5 favorite RV parks. The next day and also the current one we started off towards Mt Rushmore a thirteen hour drive the stops included a cool park with a pool that required swimsuits!!?!???!!? After that disappointment we were off again. And that is where we are now I will report back to you tmw but for now jojo out.
~jojo

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Omaha, Nebraska

We're having a big driving day... After a night of good rest and luxurious accommodations at our "new favorite camp site in Missouri". The camp ground had two indoor pools, pirate mini golf, a full recreation center, a spa and a free movie theater. The spa was closed but the boys enjoyed some indoor soccer, a pick up basketball game, mini golf and I took in "Man of Steel." I figured it was good cultural immersion since we were about to drive through the plains states and all.
So today is a lot of sunshine, grass, books on tape... We have a big hole in our map for Nebraska so we made an intentional trip over to Omaha. We picked a random park along our route and got a little reminder of our privilege... Some local kids came up on their bikes and looking at Winnie said "what the heck is THAT??!" Like it was a spaceship or something. They talked about not being able to swim much cuz their uncle didn't have a swim suit. I thought about all our stuff neatly organized in Winnie's closets. Privileged, indeed. The goal is to get to Mt Rushmore tonight and Yellowstone tmw. It's a lot of driving but everyone agrees at this point it's Seattle or bust.

St. Louis, MO

Our first day on the road after a long while... What a joy to have a full day to spend with my children!! They're into more teenage humor and are very smart... We laugh a lot making puns, or busting out in our accents, or enjoying some other random moment. Today we kept spotting people who needed toupes, it became a good little inside joke. It helps that we know sign language. We had driven through the night (we? I mean Greg) and stopped at a rest stop about an hour south of St. Louis. We had our first college tour at what we thought was a random school that kept sending sk mail, but turned out to be a real interesting and viable option for the kids (if they could handle being land locked for four years). So here we are... Our rising junior, freshman and enthusiastic tour guide.

Unexpected bonus- there is a huge park (Central Park style) right across the way, with free museums, very much reminiscent of DC. We chose the zoo for the afternoon, then headed out to an ROD camp on the hills.

EXCELLENT FIRST DAY!! Ps I'm trying to upload pictures but I'm going to go ahead and post while my phone and google have a lengthy discussion about this.

Friday, December 27, 2013

Hellloooo? Update??!!

Wow. it has been so long since I've updated this blog, it seems i need to update my entire computer to do so. this is a test blog... perhaps more is coming soon....

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Abita Springs, LA

The Legend of Princess Abita....

Back during the time of the Spanish Occupation of what is now New Orleans, there was also a tribe of Native people that lived on the northern side of Lake Ponchatrain.  They were a peaceful people that thrived on a natural Spring and the lush wetland environment.  The Spanish Capital city was busy and growing, and one weekend a young man ventured across the lake for a weekend of rest and rejuvination at the springs.  Lo and behold,  he met a beautiful native princess named Abita.  They soon fell in love and married.  He took his princess back to the city,  where she learned the new culture and city life with her young husband.

Unexpectedly, Princess Abita took ill in the city and her body slowly deteriorated.  The young Spaniard was devastated as he watched his lovely bride suffer before his very eyes.  What became her dying wish was to return to her native Springs across the lake.  He made the journey and laid her limp body by the water, expecting to return in a month for her burial.

A month later,  he returned to the Springs and Princess Abita ran to greet him,  full of radiant health.  Instead of a funeral, the people celebrated the wellspring of health and vitality given by the Springs... and a town was born.  A place to go to cure all the  ailments of city life!

Now,  I find it poetic that the Kalers have happened upon this town,  the same year they retired from the camping life and bought a home, and the very same year Cheryl has been recovering from surgery and new foreign health ailments.....

So we spent a week in Abita Springs,  discovering its legend and enjoying a bit of refreshment of our own.  Many locals might be familiar with Abita Beer,  made also from the Spring water.  (We dared tried some of that as well...  not bad!)  Next blog will have some shots of our campground and other interesting tidbits of the area.  Cheryl has been feeling AMAZINGLY WONDERFULLY BETTER since our time here.  Coincidence?!