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The Amazing Whitsett Family Adventure

Greetings All!

We are happy and healthy in Illinois. We are staying at Kevin's mother's house. It is good to be in familiar places, and it will be so good to be in my own bed in another night or so.

We woke up yesterday in Mitchell, SD. Mitchell is famous as the "Home of the Corn Palace". Now, this is just one of those places you've got to see for yourself if you ever stay in Mitchell (don't think I'd make a special trip for it, but it was interesting!). The Corn Palace is a building where they have done all sorts of murals inside and out all made of corn. Let me tell you, there is a LOT of corn grown in South Dakota! You just wouldn't think that someone would take the time to do art with different colors of corn to make a mural, but they do -- and have for many years. The outside has to be redone every year because of the weather and such. I'm not sure how often they redo the inside. The inside is like a basketball arena, with hoops and all. Bands and special events are held at the Corn Palace. We had a good time looking around. We were there when they had all sorts of souvenier booths and things set up on the wood basketball court. We even got our picture taken like a bunch of tourists that we are. I told Kevin it was just one of those "Route 66" type of things that you just have to pull over and see. It was different.

While in Mitchell, we had coffee (surprised you there; didn't I!). We went to a place called "The Mad Cow". The coffee there was excellent. Kelley had a caramel coffee shake. She is still raving about it a day later. She told me that I had to include that in the diary incase any of you ever made it out there. (It was excellent!).

From there we traveled, and traveled, and traveled. We finally made it to Iowa where we drove, and drove, and drove. (HE HE HE HE HE). There are a lot of corn fields and bean fields in Iowa. I took a nap -- I just couldn't stay awake. We FINALLY made it to Bloomington, Illiinois at 12:30 a.m. It was a terribly long day. I guess by now you have figured out why I didn't log on last night! I was still on the road. We were on the road 12+ hours. We saw some weird field art along the highway. I finally got a picture of one of them. After supper I sat in the back with Korey for a bit and watched a couple of DVD's. We bought a car bingo game and played that SEVERAL times as well. Kevin was real pleased when I taught the kids some silly songs (NOT - but he smiled).

I know I've said this before, but I just have to say thanks for all your prayers. This has been a great time. We have some wonderful memories. I think we took over 1,500 pictures if any of you really have the desire to see them all (including some 20 second movies). It has been great to see what God has made just for us. I know it is your prayers that have: kept the car running well, kept us from accidents, kept us healthy -- and getting healthier , and the kids have been super. I just think they are wonderful! They haven't argued this trip, and hardly complained. I couldn't have asked for better traveling kids.

We are really looking forward to being home and with our friends and church family. It has been so nice to share this trip with you all. We are also looking forward to being in our own beds soon. We will be home probably late Saturday night. We have some family matters to attend to here, and then we'll be on our way again -- but this time only 5 and a half hours home (it will seem like a short trip!).

Thank you for joining us on this journey. A HUGE thanks to my wonderful brother who put together this web site, and edited it on business trips away from home, as well as taking out family time to do this for me, or time when he should be sleeping (insomnia runs in my family!). I'm a spoiled rotten child of God, and a spoiled rotten sister (and wife, and daughter, and ....) Rick, I love you. Thanks.

Tah-tah friends and family! We'll be home soon :-)

~Cindy (and KSWx3)

Howdy Hi There Neighbor!

Today was an early day. We woke up and were out of the hotel by 7:00 a.m. SHEW!! We wanted to get to Mt. Rushmore before it was too hot, or before the storms that were predicted were on us. We ate at a Hardee's for
breakfast. This morning we saw a lot of animals. We had to laugh. We saw more today than we did yesterday coming out of Yellowstone. We saw bison, pronghorn antelope, a bald eagle with eaglets in a nest, sheep, cows, horse, and a red fox. Not bad for not being in a park!

We made our way through to South Dakota (we said hello, Barb!). We went through the town of Sundance, where the water tower said, "Where the Kid got his name." We have learned a lot of the Old West famous people have come
out of, or ended up in South Dakota, including: Wild Bill Hickock, Calamity Jane, Sundance Kid, Billy the Kid, and Wyatt Ear. That's not including all the famous indians that were there too! The kids have learned more history than they care to! 

Around 11:00 a.m. we arrived at Mt. Rushmore. We took a LOT of pictures. We got there in time for the half hour presidential tour. This was a free guide given by one of the park rangers. It was quite interesting, although we did a lot of walking. After the tour, we went to the sculptor's studio. This also was very interesting. We had a good time looking around, and being together. It is quite a piece of art.

We ate lunch at a Culver's. Boy do we love this restaurant! They have excellent hamburgers and custard. Right now we are driving down the highway on a bright sunny day. We are trying to figure out where we are going to spend the night. We have canceled our reservations for the rest of the trip Weare just going to go until we can't go any further, or until something interests us and we stop. It is a great vacation!

Well, we finally arrived in Mitchell, SD. The skies were very threatening. I was a bit nervous. My first hint that something wasn't right was the cattle all herded together in a corner. I always heard that was a sign of tornado. So we turned on the radio. There was a severe thunderstorm warning, and tornado watch. NO THANK YOU! So Kevin decided we would stay in the next town, which happens to be Mitchell, South Dakota. As soon as we unloaded, the clouds separated, the sirens stopped going off (that was not pleasant!), and the sun broke through.

We are staying in a wonderful Holidome. There are two hot tubs (which I took advantage of!), a large swimming pool, and a miniature golf course. I found out that I don't play any better left handed than I do right handed (my right shoulder is still a tad sore). We had a great time, and ordered Dominoes for supper.

I think we are going to try to make it all the way to my mother-by-love's (mother-in-law to those of you who don't know what a blessing she is to me) home sometime tomorrow night. It is about nine hours. I would appreciate your prayers as the forecast is for some nasty thunderstorms. (Welcome back to the mid-west!).

We have been so blessed to be able to sight see and not get rained on all this time. It's been such a blessing to be with my family. We are tired, and ready to be home soon to all our friends and church family. 

I may not post tomorrow, depending on what time we get in Illinois. I should see you all Sunday if not before :-)

With lots of love,

~Cindy (and KSWx3)

ttfn!

This is pretty cool. Today, instead of staying up into the wee hours of the night or morning, I am typing this as we travel down the road. I really like my laptop :-)

We got to sleep in today!!!! (9:00 a.m. and a slow morning!) We were going to stay another day in Yellowstone today. We had reservations and were going to go on a scenic raft trip. Well, they were all full. Apparently, make the raft trip reservations MONTHS in advance. They have a couple of trips that seem really interesting to me, but it really didn't matter. So we stopped by the front desk at our hotel and explained our situation. They gave us a refund for the next day! That's just unheard of in Yellowstone. We quickly packed the car and headed out.

We had to re-enter Yellowstone to go the way that had been recommended. There were lines to get into the park. There weren't any lines on Sunday. We were going through the top part of the park, or from the north entrance to the north east entrance. We didn't go through this part purposely on Sunday. We tried looking for animals again. There just wasn't much to be seen that time of day.

The smell of pine was strong to me and Kelley. Kevin said he couldn't smell a thing. We noticed that the creeks and rivers were very muddy today. Last night we went to sleep to the sights and sounds of a thunderstorm. It was a
brilliant display, and from our fourth floor room we had a great vantage point. We understood that there was two land slides, trapping 14 people. Thankfully, we weren't involved in any of that. No one was killed as I understand.

Korey decided that he would start drawing animals since he couldn't find any Kelley was happy to just look out the window. We finally exited and were on our way to Beartooth Pass. Debbie A. had said this was wonderful.
Charles Kuralt stated it was the most scenic highway in America. Before we could see if they were right, we had to wait in traffic. This just gave me an opportunity to get out and take some pictures of wildflowers beside the road that were just beautiful. 

Listening to some good Christian CD's (thank you, Angie!) we headed up Beartooth Pass. They were right! This is on the must-see list for anyone wanting to see God's beauty. A traveler's note: Don't wear shorts and short sleeved shirt! Though it was to be in the high 80's in Yellowstone, at the summit it was 54 degrees and windy. We were cold -- but it was so worth it! It was just amazing! I felt like I might be in some kind of Julie Andrews movie singing, "The Hills Are Alive!" It was so beautiful! I have seen a lot of mountains and been on a lot of mountain passes in my time but this was simply breathtaking! We stopped somewhere near the top and the kids got out on a "glacier" (a bunch of thick snow that hadn't melted). There were gorgeous lakes that were on top of the mountains. The road is not for the faint-hearted. There are a lot of hairpin turns and switchbacks In some places there were no guard rails. Kevin was sweet and went very slow. It rained on us a bit, but I imagine any time you went that would happen. It was worth the drive (thanks Deb!).

We got off the mountains and were back in the flatlands. We went by where the battle of Little Big Horn took place. Other than that, it was flat with animals (mostly horses!) dotted on the scenery. We stayed the night in Sheridan, Wyoming, which is the home of Buffalo Bill.

It was a beautiful day. Once again I am reminded that I am just an ink dot on God's great canvas. However, He loves me enough to die for. How totally awesome is that! We have so much to be thankful for!

Until tomorrow (Mt. Rushmore!), and with much love,

~Cindy (and KSWx3)

'"THIS IS THE DAY THAT THE LORD HATH MADE. LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT!"

Boy, what a day today was! Some of you have expressed concern if a day is missed on the posting. Please, don't worry. We are either so exhausted that we can't seem to get a post written, or it is just that things don't work out for a posting. We're okay, just enjoying God's creation and our family. It has been a wonderful time.

This morning started early. We wanted to see Yellowstone and all it had to offer. It is such a beautiful place! It is such a fisherman's paradise. It is also a camper's paradise. I guess I've mellowed in my old age, but sleeping where you KNOW there are bears, wolves, coyotes, and other creatures is just not an enjoyable thing for me. I will look at them from the window of my car, thank you very much.

We drove through the north entrance. We can actually see the arch from our hotel window. At the entrance, they gave the kids a paper game -- they needed to find several of the different kinds of animals found in the park. It was fun! We all looked for the animals on our way to different locations.

There was a forest fire here in 1988. We were amazed at the acres and miles of land that was destroyed by this huge fire. The trees have been naturally re-seeded, and they are still only a couple feet high after 16years. They were able to save the Old Faithful Inn (where Korey's picture was taken), but there were miles around that were not saved. 

We saw mud volcanoes. Kelley said, "Yellowstone stinks, stinks, stinks!" He he he. (She liked it, just not the smell). The smell of sulfur at some of the places were a bit overwhelming We saw a lot of springs, mud pots, and places where the ground bubbled. Most of those places stunk -- as in being odiferous (as my mother would say) They were interesting. We did a lot of walking today.

We also saw some gorgeous waterfalls. I think the lower falls were the prettiest. It is nestled in the mountains. I could have looked at them all day. We saw other falls and cascades. It was just amazing to think that God made all that for just us! He is so good.

We did find lots of animals on the check sheet given to the kids. The bison were RIGHT next to the road. I was a bit scared being so close to an animal with horns. There were a lot of bison in herds. We saw lots of mule deer. We kept looking for moose, but didn't find them. We did see elk, and even a bald eagle (though we didn't get a picture of the eagle -- sorry Jason).

We even went to see the Grand Tetons. Boy, those mountains are just beautiful. The snow capped mountains were so majestic. Around every corner we would say, "Oh, there's a good picture!" We ended up taking about 150 just today.

Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons were just gorgeous. It was great to see it through the eyes of my family. We came to the hotel late, and happy. Kevin had purchased grape juice for the night. We couldn't find a church where we wanted to worship, so we had church in the hotel room (that's the nice thing about being married to a preacher!). It was a great service just the four of us. We missed our G-town church family though! 

I'm VERY tired. Sorry for the delay in the posts again. As soon as I get a local connection, this will be going out. (well, duh!)

~Cindy (and KSWx3)