Ten on the Tenth: Summer Road Trip

We’re leaving today for a three week road trip, so I thought I’d share 10 things I’m looking forward to seeing in August. I’ll be linking this up with Shimelle’s 10 Things later today when I get some wi-fi.

So here are the 10 Things in the order that we’ll be seeing them. (Not necessarily in the order in which I’m excited about them.)

#1. Our good friends, Carol and Gordy. I have no recent photo of them although we’ve seen them both in 2011 and 2010. I’ll be sure to get good photos this time around. We’ll be staying with them two nights, and if the weather is good, will be enjoying Gordy’s boat on Lake Norman on Saturday.

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#2 Sarah, Adam and Caleb

We’ll be meeting them in Atlanta on Sunday. On Monday and Tuesday, we’ll be babysitting while they participate in The Fund for Theological Education conference. We last saw them in early May, so we’re due for a good visit.

#3 The Atlanta Aquarium. It’s been a few years since we visited, but Caleb loves to look at new things, so we figured a trip to the aquarium might entertain him (and us) for a few hours on Monday.

#4 Hilton Head Island

Following the FTE Conference, the five of us will be heading to Hilton Head for five days. We haven’t had a beach vacation in several years, so I’m looking forward to family time and some time on the beach. 

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#5 After we leave Sarah, Adam, and Caleb in Atlanta to travel home to Oregon, we’re headed to Birmingham, AL where we hope to visit the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.

#6 From there, we’re headed through Memphis, TN (not sure if we’ll have time to explore or not) to Little Rock, AR where I’m looking forward to visiting the National Historic Site at Central High School. Our neighbors highly recommended a stop at the visitor’s center there. They also recommended a stop at the Bill Clinton Library, but I’m not sure we’ll have time to do both.

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In preparation for the two civil rights stops, I’m reading Elizabeth and Hazel: Two Women of Little Rock. It’s an excellent book, and since I was pretty young at the time these events took place, I don’t have any strong memories of them. I know I’ll get a lot more out of both stops because I’ve read the book.

#7 Next on the agenda is a stop in Bentonville, AR to visit  Crystal Bridges, an art museum and park built by the Walmart heiress. Everything we’ve read about this place sounds wonderful!

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#8 Then we’re off to Denver, Co (via Wichita, KN) to spend some time with Matt. We last saw him in June, so it’s time for a good visit.

#9 While we’re in Denver, we’re staying with our long-time friend, Dan, and his wife, Nikki. We haven’t seen them in over a year so it will be good to catch up with them.

#10 One of the things we’ve always wanted to do in Colorado is visit Rocky Mountain National Park. Matt is taking the second part of a national landscape certification exam on Saturday. As soon as he’s finished, we’re headed to the national park for two days. Although he’s been in Denver for over a year now, he hasn’t had the time to visit the park either.

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Given that any month when I see both of my kids is a good month, and that I love road trips and new experiences, I’m really looking forward to this trip!