Summer Road Trip 2024: “Motor City” and back again

This year’s epic summer road trip led us on many surprise adventures! We knew that we were going to see some fantastic friends along the way, but we also got a lot of surprise adventures in this road trip as well! Come along with us as we road trip from South Carolina, a stop in The Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, through Kentucky, a stop in Ohio and onto Detroit, Michigan and back!

We kicked off this trip with a familiar and place dear to our hearts: Maggie Valley, North Carolina. This trip we booked a night at The Rollingbrook Inn and enjoyed breakfast on the creek. We also took a familiar trip to Santa’s Land Theme Park and Zoo in Cherokee, North Carolina. Those people are like family, who recognize us year after year and you always go and feel like you have the whole park to yourself! (and most importantly, you have to put in your Christmas orders with the man in charge, Santa Claus). Santa’s Land is closed after Oct. 31st (you understand why…Christmas season and all), $27.67/person over 2 years old, opens mid-May – October, closed every Tuesday and Wednesday.

We had a stop over in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, which is home to the famous Oak Ridge Lab of World War II and The American Museum of Science and Energy. The lab is still used today (but I’ve said too much already…plus the museum is the part open to the public unless you work there.) They did a great job of presenting “big science” and complex ideas about plutonium and splitting atoms for younger children to explore and they have lots of hands-on exhibits at the museum and live demonstrations about static electricity experiments. Adults and teens would also enjoy the history and reading behind all of the hands-on stations. Adult tickets were $10, kids ages 6-9 were $3, youth ages 10-17 were $5 for general admission.

Next, we traveled to Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky and stayed in Glasgow. There isn’t an entry fee to the park, but you do have to pay for the cave tours. We opted for the Discovery (self-guided) Tour, which was $12 for adults/$9 for kids. It took us 45 minutes to explore the cave rooms, including the famous “Rotunda” room and you could spend even longer in the Visitor’s Center reading about cave features and history. Mammoth Cave has over 600 miles of unexplored cave system and to date they have mapped about 420 miles! America’s (and the world’s) longest cave system was certainly impressive! Plus, no spelunking cave tours are required to see its grandeur!

We took a second day in Kentucky to see The Creation Museum, in Petersburg, Kentucky. This is a sister museum of The Ark Encounter, but since our time constraints only allowed for one museum, we chose this one as it was en route northbound. This museum has A LOT of reading, which we ran through most of the museum to catch up with our smallest who wanted to only see the dinosaurs (which are at the back of the museum). The animatronics of the museum are very cool. This museum makes a case for the Creationism theory, so the first part of the museum is making a Biblical worldview point (distinguished from over worldviews, such as evolution). There is a lot of history and more reading than we realized, but the highlights for us were the dinosaurs, the Noah exhibits (which covered some of what is at The Ark Encounter) and the 4D theatre experience of “Six Days.”

In Ohio, we stayed in Columbus for a night with our friends, the Lunas! It was fun to reconnect with them and we saw a lot of their favorite things around Columbus. We ate at The North Market (an indoor food court) with many food stalls and vendor shops. Upon their recommendation, we chose Serafino’s Pizza (so good!) We drove around the campus of The Ohio State University and explored Upper Arlington. We also spent the day at Olentangy Caverns in nearby Delaware, Ohio. Olentangy Caverns is a kid-friendly attraction park with self-guided cavern tours (about 30 minutes), a rock and gem shop, a treasure-hunt maze to get lost in, gem-mining, a petting zoo, mini-golf and museum. We opted for the all-access wristband ($27.99/adults, and $24.99/kids) that let’s you do all of the attractions (takes a few hours), or you can choose to do activities a la carte. Note: Olentangy Caverns shuts down November – March, but will reopen in Spring due to weather.

Hocking Hills State Park is also Ohio’s gem in the foothills! An immaculate state park, which is FREE to visit, with beautiful trails through the woods and a raptor rescue center to check out! The Grandma Gatewood Trail is also at this state park, but due to time, we opted for the easy Rim Trail and Old Man’s Cave Trail. The trail was partially paved and easy for families with small kids. The caves were a highlight to check out! The Visitor’s Center had a lot of nature info, aquariums and a riverbed with a cavern playscape to climb.

Coming up through Ohio, we also made a lunch stop at Maumee Bay State Park, near Toledo, Ohio. Maumee Bay State Park was also a free state park, with an inland pond/beach clearly marked by the shorebirds as bird-friendly only. There was another beach for public use that overlooked Lake Erie. We were advised by our friends to not swim at this park; however, there was one brave person out there swimming between the cove. There are many paved walking and biking trails here and plenty of picnic shelters and spots to relax. We opted for lunch at a pavilion and some beach time to play in the sand and run around before getting in the car again to head towards Detroit.

By the time we got to Detroit, we knew we were going to love it! The old, Gothem-style architecture, where art-deco meets new was very cool! This trip would not have been nearly as much fun if we didn’t get to stay and hang out with our friends, The Coffmans! They really took care of us around the city (thanks for helping us re-park downtown to avoid that parking ticket) and show us your favorite things about your city. Even if you all forgot you moved this year and gave us your old address, so some random person’s Ring camera in Detroit has a very confused Jen Carter on it one summer afternoon wondering why Mrs. Coffman wasn’t coming to the door. However, once we found your current home (which is a beautiful Detroit-style masterpiece by the way), you showed us a wonderful time with eating Detroit-style pizza (they claim that Jet’s Pizza, is the BEST).

We explored The Eastern Market, which is America’s largest flower market and is in the “Top 3” largest farmer’s markets in the U.S. and has an abundance of food stalls, flowers, vendors and street performers to check out on a Saturday. We want to give a shout out to Josh and the folks over at Anthology Coffee (around the block from the Eastern Market) for making such good Nitro-brew coffee tonics on such a hot day! Thank you. Also get a homemade popsicle from inside the Farmer’s Market, totally worth it.

Now, legend has it, that there are two competing hot-dog restaurants located side-by-side in downtown Detroit. So the next day, we knew that would be our lunch spot. Prepare to pay about $2.35 for a plain hotdog at Lafayette’s Coney Island. The price is the same at American Coney Island next door. Expect to pay more if you want toppings or a side of chili cheese fries to go with it and a drink. So which one is better? You will have to go and try them both to decide for yourself! These are also fighting words depending on who you talk to, so we will let you decide for yourself (although we favored Lafayette’s if you are comparing a chili cheese coney as your test subject. There are many factors we could judge on, but we were trying to just go with one food item.) Watch the video to see why.

We also took a tour with our friends to some of Detroit’s famous buildings to learn a little bit of state history and city history. The newly renovated Grand Central Station was massive and had a quickly moving line to enter. The kids loved the Lego display inside and we enjoyed the greenway. We also loved touring The Guardian Building to walk off all of those hot dogs and the kids LOVED the Detroit People Mover. All of these things (except lunch) were free things to do in Detroit with kids!

We are very grateful for our friends, both The Lunas and The Coffmans, for having us and for your hospitality and friendship! It was so good to see you!

On our way home, back through Ohio, we stopped for a free picnic at Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Brandywine Falls is a beautiful and easy hike (mostly on paved trail or boardwalks). There were plenty of biking and hiking trails here and the kids enjoyed the Visitor’s Center (and ice-cream) near the bridge and old buildings. This national park makes you feel so “far away” even though you are very close to big cities.

Passing back through Kentucky, we stopped at The Birthplace of Abraham Lincoln’s National Historic Park. We are almost certain there was an episode from “The West Wing” where the characters are arguing over “What is on the mantlepiece of Abraham Lincoln’s boyhood home?” and the characters go into debate mode because there are many boyhood homes of Lincoln. Which one? Well we made it to two: his birthplace home and his boyhood home. We also love that the nearby township is all Abe Lincoln themed and that was neat to see, along with learning some history along the way.

We also wanted to make one last stop in West Virginia on our way home. We chose the beautiful scenic route through Pocohauntus County to check out the silent town of Green Bank, home of the famous Green Bank Observatory and the world’s largest steerable telescope! Be prepared to have zero Wifi or cell service as the town forbids all of it, as to not interfere with the telescope. We enjoyed the observatory and just opted for the free museum exhibit hall. You will pay $10/person if you opt for an additional bus tour.

All in all, this was one of our cheaper road trips to take for the summer and we would highly recommend doing things in the Midwest USA. We realize we did a lot of cave tours this time and have no regrets, except that if we had more time in Kentucky, people say that The Gorge/Crystal Cave underground kayak tour is supposed to be amazing! Until next adventure, thank you for joining us on our Midwestern Roadtrip in 2024!

On By David CarterIn Family LifeLeave a comment

We Are Off To Niagara Falls!

In the Summer of 2023, we set off from South Carolina to head North to Niagara Falls! Well, actually, we had some dear friends, The Enslows who moved back to Dryden, New York that we had to see as well! They were the pinnacle of the trip and while we were up there visiting them, they said, “Well you know, Niagara Falls is ONLY a few hours away…” so we took them up on it!

This led to our beautiful road trip where we ended up doing even more than we had anticipated and so we tagged on the beginning of our homeschool year with this adventure. Buckle up!

Days 1-4 Washington D.C.

We spent the first few days of our trip squeezing in as much of the free Smithsonian Museums and free things to do with kids in Washington D.C.! We stayed in a comfortable AirBnB in the Shaw neighborhood and opted to walk the few miles everyday (at least one-way, walk around all day and then Uber back “home”). The location was great because it was a mile to Chinatown, the National Mall, and only a mile or so more to the Museum of Natural History, The National Air and Space Museum, The National Botanic Garden and close to food trucks and local parks. We also appreciated the free parking at this neighborhood that did allow us easy access to the car everyday. We would stay there again if we visit DC. There are so many cool spots that we know we missed only having a short time so we plan on coming back here to explore more!

Days 4-6 Delaware! (Dela-where?)

All jokes aside, we drove to northern Delaware to meet up with former coworker and friend, Julia and her beautiful family! Julia and her husband Chris are in the crabbing business, which runs throughout most of the year on the Chesapeake Bay, when they are not teaching and working. It is also important to note that Chris is also an accomplished chef and he generously treated us to a crab pot. The kids were intrigued and he demonstrated how he layers the crabs with a secret blend of spices (like you would layer a lasagna) and steam them. Once they were cooked, he patiently taught us how to “pick” (eat) a crab. They were indeed the BEST (no exaggeration) crabs that we have ever eaten! Julia and Emma also took us to a fun state park, just up the road from where they live: Killens Pond State Park! This park had a herpetarium and Nature Center, lots of biking and walking trails and water activities.

Day 6-7 Gettysburg and Williamsport, Pennsylvania

After we left Delaware, we drove to Gettysburg, PA to visit the National Battlefield and listened to Jonny Cash’s version of Abraham Lincoln’s famous “Gettysburg Address” speech. We found the South Carolina memorial and got our stamp at the Visitor’s Center. The kids will probably remember it being very hot and “there’s nothing here but corn fields.” (But the corn fields are it, where in one day of battle, it was the bloodiest day in US History, on American soil and became the turning point of the Civil War.) After the somber drive through Gettysburg, we drove through Harrisburg and landed in Williamsport for dinner. We ate at a pizza shop on the downtown main street and there also happened to be the inagural parade for the Little League World Series. The Grand Slam parade featured baseball teams from regions across the US as well as hosted teams from other countries. They do parades very well here in Pennsylvania. 18-wheeler trucks passed out cases of Pepsi products and a chip truck passed out entire bags of chips and all the floats had some sort of candy or prize on board that they gladly threw at bystanders.

Days 8-10 Dryden and Ithaca, New York

Spending time with our friends was amazing! It was an honor to meet Bill’s parents, Heather and Bill’s kids (whom we hadn’t met in SC) and to see the sights around their hometown. Buttermilk Falls is their favorite falls in the area and was a nice hike for the kids. We also visited an indoor playground and recreation center in nearby Lansing, NY. Enslows, your hospitality was amazing and we are so grateful for all of you and for showing us around “gorges” Upstate New York!

Days 10-12 Niagara Falls, New York

We stayed at a cheaper hotel because of it’s proximity to the Falls. Driving up to Niagara Falls State Park is really exciting because the rapids in the river are huge! We stopped on the Goat Island pedestrian bridge to watch. We explored the top of American Falls and walked the walking/bike path to Hennepin View and the trails that led to the Powerhouse and Discovery Center (which was seasonally closed). We rode the trolley back to the main parking area. The next morning, we got up, bought sweatshirts (it was that cold in August!) and went to Terrapin Point, where we saw rainbows and beautiful views. Then we toured Cave of the Winds (no line in the morning) where we walked under the spray of Bridal Veil Falls! We had lunch and stood in the afternoon line for Maid of the Mist boat ride up to the base of all three falls: American Falls, Bridal Veil Falls and Horseshoe Falls (which belongs to Canada). Note: if you are towards the back of the line, they fill the bottom of the boats first, so we ended up getting to ride on the top of the boat to catch all the views (and all the water!) Even though we opted to not visit Canada on this trip, we really felt like we were able to enjoy all the things we wanted to do.

Days 11-12 Harper’s Ferry and Beckley, West Virginia

On the way home, we made stops to Harper’s Ferry National Historical Park and hiked to St. Peter’s Church and up to Jefferson’s Rock. This is also on the Appalachian Trail, so naturally we had to also visit the Appalachian Trail Conservancy headquarters. This is the mental “half-way” point on the AT. They say, if you can make it here, in either direction, you should keep going. (The physical halfway point is Pine Furnace, Pennsylvania). Miriam got herself an AT shirt and some white-blazed earrings. They have a kids area to play in an AT shelter/play structure and to learn about different hikers who built, preserved and crushed goals on the longest footpath in the US. If you are a hiker and stop in, they have a hiker lounge with free wi-fi, resupply and shuttle services.)

On the way home to continue to stretch our legs and get out of the car, we stumbled upon the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine. This was the coolest stop-over, where we ended up spending three hours exploring and got a tour. The tour goes inside an old mine (which is open for teaching purposes only) and the tours are conducted by volunteers who used to work underground. Our tour guide, Mike, was excellent! He was full of knowledge and stories and did a great job explaining everything to kids and adults. He made the journey so much fun! Your entrance fee also gives you access to the Coal Miner’s Museum and the Appalachian Mountain Home Museum, AND a hands-on Kid’s Museum which has animation and film themes. After this experience, we headed on home; tired, yet so full of all we saw and experienced! As always, it’s the people that make these trips so worth it! And we are grateful for our friends who hosted us, as well as the new friends we made along the way!

On By David CarterIn Family LifeLeave a comment

South Carolina to Northwest Arkansas Road Trip

On By David CarterIn Road TripsLeave a comment
A memorable stop at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home in Mansfield, Missouri. No pictures are allowed inside the house, but at the end of the tour you get a photo with a Laura Ingalls Wilder cutout.

Our Summer 2021 was our first “big” road trip with our kids, then 3, 5 and 7 that was out of the Carolinas. Our goal was ultimately to see and stay with friends in Northwest Arkansas (Lowell). Along the way, we were able to visit and catch up with more generous friends who let us crash with them. Ultimately, we think trips to see and visit with friends and family make the best trips. Our total distance was 2,400+ miles and we rode 57 hours in the car, without personal screens. Our itenerary was as follows:

Day 1: Rock Hill, South Carolina to Cookeville, Tennessee (336 miles) We drove throught the Carolinas, on the Blue Ridge Parkway into Tennessee. With the Smokies behind us, we drove past Knoxville and into the home of Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville! It reminded us of “dear old” Clemson (University). Lots of cows and farmland. We visited and stayed with our friend, Brandon and also got to visit from Blaine who made the one hour drive down from Nashville. They took us to Red Silo Brewing Company for some good eats and drinks. There was live music on stage and the Pizza Machine Bus was selling pizza out of a converted school bus. We also went to the Lazy Cow Creamery for dessert–very good!

So good to catch up with these guys!

Day 2: Cookeville, TN to Columbia, Missouri (844 miles). We left Cookeville and the drive through the rest of Tennessee was canceled, because of a downed bridge they were repairing in Memphis. So we re-routed through Paducah, Kentucky and went north to Illinois, before it brought us to St. Louis. In St. Louis, we made a stop to visit Gateway Arch National Park. There is a free museum underneath the arch to learn about Missouri history and as you exit the museum, look up! That is that iconic Instagram photo of the arch. We made it to Columbia, home of the University of Missouri, “Mizzou” and to our friends, Paul and Amanda who welcomed us for a night.

The view underneath Gateway Arch
The Gateway to the West Museum

Day 3: Colombia, MO to Lowell, Arkansas (270 miles). We took a lunch break and visited the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home, in Mansfield, Missouri. We decided to ride through Branson Missouri (it feels similar to Gatlinburg, Tennessee or Myrtle Beach, South Carolina) to stop at the Bass Pro Shop. Bass Pro Shop- White River Outpost, is very big here and this one has a big aquarium to look at while you shop. We also rode past Kids Across America Camp- KAA3, in Golden Missouri, where David worked for a summer. We got into Lowell to stay with our friends, the McDonnoughs and they treated us to several days of rest and family fun.

This is Laura Ingalls Wilder’s retirement home where she wrote her memoirs from her book On The Way Home
Outdoors, fish and guns at Bass Pro Shop in Branson

Day 4: Bentonville, Arkansas (near zero day). We hung out with our friends and got to see the sights of Bentonville, home of the original WalMart, J.B. Hunt and Tyson products. We toured the free WalMart Museum, which is the life and legacy of Sam Walton, the founder of WalMart. We also played in downtown Bentonville’s fountain park and when it got too hot, we walked a few blocks to the downtown Splash Pad for water fun and slushies. Then we walked to the Compton Gardens Trail that leads to the prestigious American Art Musuem- Crystal Bridges. They have lots of public art outside of the museum and because we were all wet from water play, we did not ventue past the bathrooms in the lobby.

Compton Gardens Arboretum has lots of public art throughout it

Day 5: Beaver and Eureka Springs, Arkansas (40 miles, or one hour away from Lowell). We did a small travel day and visited the beautiful village of Beaver, Arkansas and had a picnic by the “Little Golden Gate” suspension bridge. Eureka Springs is nearby and feels like a smaller Asheville, North Carolina. Plenty of coffee shops and places to eat and shop, bubbling and trickling springs to find around the town and you drive up to the creepy, Crescent Hotel at the top of the hill for a stay or tour. We enjoyed looking at all the cute “Cape Cod” and “dollhouse” styled houses too. On the way back to Lowell, we also stopped by Thorncrown Chapel, which had a service happening inside.

The single car “Little Golden Gate” bridge in Beaver
Having a snack at Bean Me Up coffeeshop, in Eureka Springs

Day 7: Rodgers, Arkansas (near zero day). We took this day to rest before the drive home. We ate at King Burrito, a local drive-thru Mexican restaurant. How I wish someone would bring this to South Carolina! You would make millions! We also went to downtown Rodgers splash pad to play and also visited Iron Horse Coffee Company for a date. Thanks friends for gifting us that!

Thank you friends!

Day 8: Lowell, Arkansas to Huntsville, Alabama (549 miles). We rode through the University of Arkansas, where we got our “Fayettechill” sticker from. We drove through endless green fields of the Mississippi Delta. We took a detour to Oxford, Mississippi, home of “Ole Miss” the University of Mississippi. Then we briefly stopped to stretch our legs at The Birthplace of Elvis Presley Park, in Tupelo. We made it into Huntville at night, so we saved exploring Huntsville for the morning.

Day 9: Downtown Huntsville and the U.S. Space and Rocket Center (near zero day). We got up early and got an excellent coffee at Honest Coffee Roasters. It is down the street from the famous giant inflatable parrot, Polly Rocket. Once the US Space and Rocket Center opened for the day, we spent the rest of the morning on a tour. We really enjoyed the space-craze exhibit and the Saturn 5 hall. We were also excited to show our kids were US Space Camp meets, if they decide to attend one day. After our 2-3 hour tour, we set off in the direction of home. Huntsville to Rock Hill is 316 miles.

Q and As

What types of accommodations did we stay in?

We are so thankful to our friends in Tennessee, Missouri and Arkansas who graciously accommodated us for 1-3 days! It was great to see you and we are grateful for your friendship and hospitality! When we weren’t staying with friends, we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Huntsville.

If you didn’t have screens for your kids, what on God’s green Earth did you do?

Luckily, our kids don’t have personal screens, so they didn’t miss them. However, there is nothing wrong with having them! We just like traveling like it’s 1980 with no entertainment (except for music, radio and books and toys) and a lot of paper maps. We listened to audiobooks, such as On the Way Home, and Little House on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder. We also got each of the kids a new, smaller toy that they had to wait to play with until our road trip.

What would you have done differently?

If we could have redone this trip, we would have taken a few extra days to see more of Arkansas. We avoided Crater of Diamonds State Park because we had small kids and the reviews said it was hard and hot work to mine for your own diamonds (which you may or not find). We had also wished we had one more dsy to take a boat rental on Lake Catherine and visit Hot Springs Nstional Park.

How much does a trip like this cost?

We could have saved money, not eating out on the road so much or drinking so much coffee, however this was our vacation. I regret nothing. Our trip ended up being around $2,000USD including food, fuel, admission to the museums that cost and souvenirs.

If you have any further questions or comments about our trips, please let us know at: teamcarterfamilyadventures@gmail.com or comment below! Thanks for coming along with us!

South Carolina to the Grand Canyon (or bust!)

On By David CarterIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

In the Summer of 2022, we embarked on the greatest, most epic Summer Road Trip yet! We journeyed over 5,000 miles. That’s 67 hours of driving time, all together in the car. No personal devices. (We don’t judge you if you have them, we just chose not to… we like a 1980s road trip style: with sticky, hot seats and large paper maps!) However, Jen took the last Road Map Atlas book that the Pilot Travel Center had in stock. The clerk said, “No one uses these any more with GPS…” Well worth the $40 laminated travel maps for the entire United States of America.

The one and only road atlas available at this truck stop

You can watch the condensed, 27 minutes of our 16-day road trip: HERE

You can watch the overview of what we decided to pack in our trusty, Honda Odyssey: HERE

Our itinerary was to see The Grand Canyon and to do it within our budget. As these things go, we went a little over budget staying a few extra days in places! Oops! Sure, we could have done it cheaper by boondocking (tent camping on public lands), but we didn’t want to spend more money renting a camper to do that. Tent camping in July in the desert with 100*F temperatures didn’t sound fun to us. Here is the travel log of our journey:

Day 1- Rock Hill, South Carolina to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (207 miles) We stayed at the Jellystone Family Campground in a cabin. Cabins were minimal, yet functional and perfect for a family. The campground has a playground, jump pad, laundry facilities and is located right behind Dollywood. We could hear the fireworks at night. To see what our cabin looked like, click HERE to watch the video!

Hanging with friends inside our cabin

Day 2 – Spent a day at Dollywood (Pigeon Forge). In nine hours, we rode eight rides. Spent most of the time in the kiddie section of the park. We did not pay for “fast-pass” tickets or for the Dollywood Splash Country. Still felt like we did everything that our small kids in our group of friends wanted to do. Must ride the Black Bear Trail ride! Costumed characters walk around for photo opportunities. The kiddie section also has an indoor playground with dimmed lighting (to simulate playing at sunset, catching lightning bugs in the woods), which is easily our favorite park of the park. Dollywood is very clean and pretty to look at with art installations, live bluegrass music and entertainment, tons of food options and plenty of shade in the park to rest/take breaks with small kids. There is even a steam-locomotive, “The Klondike Katie” that you must ride at least once that takes you around the park! Click HERE to watch our Dollywood adventure!

Dollywood!

Day 3 – Gatlinburg/Greenbriar Swimming Holes with friends. This nearby, FREE recreation area is available for day-use. Swim or fish (with a state of Tennessee fishing license and a daily trout-permit. Children under 12 do not need a license.) Wade in the rapids, swim at your own risk as this is a primitive recreation area. Pack out your trash. We used this as a rest day to recover in the shade and relax before the next part of our trip. To get a closer look at this local spot: click HERE

Day 4 – Pigeon Forge, TN to Starkville, Mississippi (434 miles) We drove through Alabama and visited the University of Alabama. We also drove through Mississippi State (once we arrived in Starkville and ate dinner).

Day 5 – Starkville, MS to Weatherford, Texas (583 miles) Rode the Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi, near Jackson. Drove through Jackson (the capitol). Visited the first Buc-ee’s we came to in Terrell, Texas for dinner. Weatherford is located on the west side of Dallas/Fort Worth (we wanted to avoid traffic the next morning).

Day 6 – Weatherford TX to Roswell, New Mexico (422 miles). Rode through tiny Texas towns and oil fields, rode through the NM desert and drove through Bottomless State Park and downtown Roswell. We visited the UFO Spacewalk Museum/Art Installation. Cheap and great for kids in the air conditioning.

Mile 0, at the border picnicground of Texas and New Mexico

Day 7 – Roswell NM to Flagstaff, Arizona (521 miles) We stopped to see Petrified Forest National Park and Meteor Crater in Winslow, AZ. Made it to Flagstaff and stayed in 2 different AirBnBs.

“Cowboy Rukus” cutouts (artist: John Cerney) on Hwy 285 in Vaughn, New Mexico
The welcoming sign says, “You have made a good decision to come to Petrified Forest National Park.”

Day 8 – REST DAY (close to zero miles). We took time to restock groceries, toured the Lowell Observatory, Wheeler Park and downtown Flagstaff and Northern Arizona University.

Lowell Observatory solstice exhibit

Day 9 – Flagstaff to Grand Canyon National Park and then to Moab, Utah (404 miles). On the way to Moab, we drove through Tuba City, Arizona and the iconic Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. It was surreal to be driving through the Arizona desert! You see it in movies and shows, but to see it in person is indescribably beautiful!

At the South Rim of The Grand Canyon, outside of El Tovar and Hopi House
Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park scenic drive

Day 10 – REST DAY in Moab, Utah (near zero miles of driving). We played in our AirBnB’s neighborhood pool and restocked groceries and did laundry. We spent most of our day in pyjamas watching movies and then at night, when the temperatures cooled to 102*F, we went after dinner to watch the sunset at Arches National Park. Driving through Arches was incredible and even though it was a hot walk to see Turret Arch and Double Window Arches and the Delicate Arch, it is definitely my favorite highlight of this trip. It’s a short, half a mile walk to see those from your car. After taking in the views at Panoramic Viewpoint, we headed down the road, in between Arches National Park and Moab is Potash Road Dinosaur Tracks and the Petroglyphs of “Wall Street” If you follow Potash Road towards the Poison Spider Jeep Trail, there is a parking area where you can walk 1/4 mile and see actual dinosaur footprints that are highlighted in the rocks. Also, if you are leaving the dinosaur tracks and headed back towards Wall Street, a popular rock climbing pitch, your headlights will easily spot the native petroglyphs, located about 7-9 feet up on the wall. We missed them the first time, as we drove past it in the twilight.

The information signs at the trailhead at Poison Spider Jeep Trails (what you are looking for is the spraypainted, white footprints on the ground, rocks and cliffs on the 200 foot trail)

Day 11 – Moab, UT to Colorado Springs, Colorado (411 miles). We drove past Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, in Montrose Colorado, before continuing on past the Blue Mesa Reservoir and driving over the Colorado Rockies into Colorado Springs.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, view from the first overlook

Day 12 – We decided to spend one more night in Colorado and wanted to see more of this beautiful state. I wouldn’t call it a rest day per se, because it involved hiking 2-3 miles in the heat, but it was worth it to spend time with our friends at Roxborough State Park in Littleton (which, upon their recommendation was “better than over populated Garden of the Gods.”) We agreed. We pretty much had the whole hike to ourselves. Make sure you bring plenty of water for the hike to the summit!

Hiking with friends, having the whole Roxborough State Park to ourselves

Day 13 – Denver Colorado to Hays, Kansas (347 miles). We didn’t think the trip across Kansas was going to really be much, but the differences between Western Kansas and Eastern Kansas are significant! The warm wind is always blowing here and it was neat to check out a wind turbine. Unbeknownst to us, Hays Kansas is in the middle of “Tornado Alley” and we got to experience one 20 miles away from our hotel (but you could see it since it’s so flat here!) We celebrated Jen’s birthday with Billy Simm’s BBQ and a tornado warning. You can see our Kansas adventures HERE.

We feel welcomed, Kansas!

Day 14 – Hays, Kansas to St. Louis, Missouri (514 miles). We wanted to get far away from tornadoes. So we hauled it to St. Louis Missouri and took a trip to the FREE St. Louis Zoo. We paid $15 for daily parking and some of the exhibits, like the robotic dinosaurs cost extra, but this is the prettiest zoo we have been in thus far! Our favorites were the dinosaur exhibit, the penguin house and butterfly enclosure! St. Louis is a very cool, industrial city. We said if we get a free weekend and could fly here for cheap, we want to come back for a Chiefs game and free aquarium visit. We skipped the Gateway Arch National Park and Museum this time, since we stopped by on our Arkansas trip the summer before this one.

The penguin house smells like penguins, but it’s nice and cool in there

Day 15-16 – St. Louis to Rock Hill, South Carolina (712 miles). We got home in the early morning hours so I’m counting it as two days. We didn’t film a lot this day because we really wanted to push ourselves to get home. We stopped for lunch at Frutta Bowls in Paducah, Kentucky. We stopped for dinner in Waynesville, North Carolina. With three hours left and feeling at home in The Smokies, we decided to make it home around 1am. We slept in our own beds and needed the next full day to recover.

We did it!! Check out all of our past trips and stay tuned for more adventures on “Team Carter Family Adventures” on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook and Apple/Spotify Podcasts

Q & As

What types of accommodations did we stay in?

We were fortunate to have friends to stay with in Colorado Springs (thanks Carrie and Mark!). Although we experienced Days 1-3 in Pigeon Forge with friends, each family booked their own cabin at Jellystone Family Campground. We stayed in several Hilton Holiday Inn Expresses (perfectly functional and comfortable) in Starkville and St. Louis. We stayed one night closer to Denver, Colorado in a Home2 Suites (nicer!) because it was located in the parking lot where we were having gelato with our friends after hiking. We stayed in a La Quinta hotel in Weatherford, which we liked that it was right off the interstate. We liked the family hotels because David could take the kids to the pool while I made dinner and washed laundry. Most hotels have laundry facilities, so we didn’t need to travel with trash bags of dirty clothes. We stayed in a total of 3 AirBnBs, but they were a mixed bag. The two in Flagstaff were adequate, but one experienced a septic issue and the other was very hot at night to sleep in. In hindsight, we could have stayed at hotels. The one in Moab was very nice and allowed us to really take a much needed respite. Also, we stayed in the charming and affordable, Roswell Inn. Keep in mind, that one is a motel. We were pleasantly surprised that even if you don’t have a reservation months in advance, in all the places we traveled you could get a room as a walk-up guest, or call them a few hours away and there was availability.

Aliens and humans welcome!

This trip was so much fun and we packed so much into each day, but really we drove too much, for too many straight days. There was so much we wanted to do: Arizona and New Mexico you could easily spend a month in each of those states, but driving for seven to eight hours a day turns into ten to twelve hours with small kids! We would have liked to have only driven three to four hours in a day, but our time was also limited to the number of days for this vacation.

If we could do this trip over, what would we do differently?

If we had a do-over, we would have done everything that we wanted to do on the first leg of our trip. Once we hit the pinnacle of The Grand Canyon and Arches National Parks, we were ready to be home. It was hard to be motivated to see or do anything except drive non-stop on the way home.

We wish we could have seen Oklahoma. Because we were leaving from the Denver side, we took I-70 through Kansas, instead of I-40 (through Oklahoma) so we missed that state completely. We did see Kansas though.

Next time we want to go to the desert, we will fly 🙂

If you didn’t have screens for your kids, what on God’s green Earth did you do?

What did you do in the 80’s kid? We listened to a lot of music and audiobooks in the car. You can find some of the songs on our road trip playlist HERE. We listened to the Wingfeather series audiobooks 1, 2 and 3. We listened to a read aloud of The Hobbit. We got out of the car every two hours or so to stretch our legs. We let each kid take a turn with the road map atlas and “tell us where to go.” We played car games: Find a Car Rainbow (every color of the rainbow passing by), the License Plate Game, I Spy…you name it.

How much does a trip like this cost?

For our family, we had a starting off budget of $5,000 USD. We tried to make this trip as affordable as possible, to fit our family’s needs. I don’t mind cooking, so we bought a lot of groceries and snacks for the road. For us, it made sense to take our already paid for car, compared to the cost of flying for five people or renting a camper and driving it. The purpose of this trip was that we wanted to see things along the way of interest. We also wanted to stop wherever and whenever we wanted to. In actuality, we went over our initial budget and had to spend closer to $6,000 USD on the whole 16 day trip. We underestimated the cost of fuel and the number of hotels we would need, when needing an extra night or needing to switch out accommodations. There are cheaper options to travel (such as a bus or train, but we declined with small kids.) Also, after the good BBQ in Kansas, we ate out more fast food on the way home. A lot more Taco Bell, a lot less groceries. It adds up.

If you have further questions or discussions, or are thinking of doing this road trip with your own family, please write to us at: teamcarterfamilyadventures@gmail.com or comment below. Thanks for coming along with us!

What Tunes are On Deck for a Team Carter Adventure?

On By David CarterIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Listed in no particular order of favorites. We like them all:

“Take Me Home, Country Roads” by John Denver, “Shine on Me” by Dan Auerbach, “I’m On Fire” by Bruce Springsteen, “Kick Drum Heart” by The Avett Brothers, “D Bag Rag” by The Avett Brothers, “Laundry Room” by The Avett Brothers, “The Traveling Song” by The Avett Brothers, “Oh Bany” by LCD Soundsystem, “The Goodness of God” by Bethel Music/Jenn Johnson, “Home” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, “River” by Leon Bridges, “Rivers and Roads” by The Head and The Heart, “For Emma, Forever Ago” by Bon Iver, “Re:Stacks” by Bon Iver and guest appearance by The Staves, “Galway Girl” (sung in an Irish airport version) by Daoiri Farrell, “Livin’ Thing” by Electronic Light Orchestra, “Humours of Whiskey” by Hozir, “Little Boxes” and “Which Side Are You On Boys?” and “The Big Rock Candy Mountain” by Pete Seeger, “Waterfall” by United Pursuit, “Praise Is The Breakthrough” by Kelanie Gloeckler Webb, “Skeleton Bones” and “Carbon Ribs” by John Mark McMillan, “You Know My Name” by Tasha Cobbs Leonard, “Revival’s In The Air” by Melissa Helser/Bethel Music, “Love Is Something (Magic Penny)” by Malvina Reynolds, “Bob Fudge” and “Saskatchewan 1881” by Colter Wall, “Jolene” and “Coat of Many Colors” by Dolly Parton, “Jolene” by Ray LaMontagne and then play the same version of “Jolene” by Ray LaMontagne and The Staves, “Maggie May” by Rod Stewart, “The Bird Hunters” by Turnpike Troubadours, “Way of the Triune God” and “Matthew” by Tyler Childers, “I Ride An Old Paint” by Carl Sandburg, “I’ve Been Everywhere” by Johnny Cash, “Me and Bobby McGee” by Janis Joplin, “Atlantic City” by Bruce Springsteen, “Greasy Coat” by Hilary Klug, “Aequilibrium” by Andrey Vinogradov, “Cigarettes and Coffee” by Otis Redding, “Electronic Pow Wow” and “Sisters” by A Tribe Called Red (now The Halluci Nation), “The Mountain” (original by Steve Earle, but the Benjamin Todd version), “Wildwood Flower” by Chet Atkins, “King of the Road” by Rodger Miller, “This Land Is Your Land” by Woodie Gutherie

What songs did we miss? Do you have a favorite?

He is the Potter, I am the Clay

On By Team Carter FamilyIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Last night, I had a dream: that I was creating pottery. The shape of the clay wasn’t holding and at one point David commented that “it’s no good. Look, there’s a hole in it.” My attitude was one of “try, try, again” because of course a pot, or a cup is of no use with a hole in it. So I started over.

Have you ever thrown pottery? Have you ever worked with clay?

It takes a lot of time. It’s messy. You don’t throw once to make a perfect product. You will make mistakes and have to correct them. You will have to start over a lot. You make a lot of adjustments. Patience and persistence is needed. And if you are a master artist, you are also the one having “the most fun” while doing it.

For me, a beginner, I’ve thrown pottery on a wheel once. Once, I visited artist Karen DeLoach’s house (https://www.karendeloachart.com/) with friends and she coached us one-by-one how to make a bowl in her pottery studio. Let’s be honest, Karen was actually shaping the bowl, by cupping her hands over mine and giving instructions on how to shape it, hold it, keep it wet, etc. all while quoting Jeremiah 18.

“Then I went down to the potter’s house, and saw that he was working at the wheel. But the vessel that he was making from clay was spoiled by the potter’s hand; so he made it over, reworking it and making it into another pot that seemed good to him. Then the word of the Lord came to me: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does? says the Lord. Look carefully as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.” -Jeremiah 18:3-5- (Amplified version)

I found that clay is harder to manipulate than I originally thought. (We are stubborn like that aren’t we?) You have to press down and in with your thumbs pretty hard. You have to make deliberate choices with your hands and press into it for it to take shape. It’s not as easy as that Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze scene in the movie “Ghost” makes it appear. Perhaps you can “go with the flow” and not have a vision for your end creation in mind and “just see what happens.” This attitude sounds so freeing and liberating at first, but really might become frustrating for you. I was realizing that, if you don’t have balance and have even pressure on the clay you are working with, it will quickly become lumpy and uneven on one side. If you don’t correct it quickly (more clay and water), then it it becomes off-center on the spinning wheel. Now you are in trouble. Likewise, if you don’t press in enough with your hands, the clay piece won’t take shape. It can’t function like it’s supposed to function, for it’s end purpose. But, if you use too much force and just plow into it with too much pressure, you will make it crack, or worse; a hole in the bottom. Then, congratulations, you “ruined” it. Your piece must be restarted from the beginning. You have to rework it into a ball and throw it on the wheel again to start over. How many times do you have to do this to achieve what you want?

We are learning this lesson a lot. My daughter was gifted a kid’s mini pottery wheel for an early Christmas present this year. She asked for one and the grandparent’s delivered. God bless the grandparents! It is, however one thing to know how to do something. It’s an entirely different thing to not have a clue what you are doing and try to teach that to your kids. 🙂 We are humbly learning together while we make a mess on our clothes and in the kitchen. We have to start over and over again. Sometimes we “need to step away from the wheel” and come back later to try again. We have to clean up our messes. We need to keep persisting to “get it right.” We gave up on shaping with the “fancy tools” it comes with and starting free-shaping with our hands. And the kids version of this pottery is made to “air-dry.” You leave it alone overnight and it hardens, no firing required!

If you Google, “how to fire clay” you will learn about the 3-steps to firing it. Step 1: The clay must be set aside to “bone-dry” to be ready for firing. If it is slightly damp when placed into a kiln to fire, it WILL explode. You can start a “candling” process to fire your pottery on low-heat to “dry it out” before firing to ensure it is dry. This process takes a few hours to overnight. Step 2: Bisque-firing. This turns the clay into ceramic. The kiln must be heated to a minimum of 1832*F/1000*C to make it hard, but porous. This is considered a “low-firing.” Depending on the type of clay you are working with, your pottery piece may “be starting it’s process to become mature.” Step 3: Glaze-firing. This is when pottery gets decorated with different finishes, textures and colors to serve it’s function. The glaze makes it waterproof. Normally pottery needs several layers. This firing is done at a slightly lower temperature than the bisque-firing to avoid impurities/imperfections to the glaze layer. Thanks Google. I also read how you can “single-fire” raw clay, but this is considered a “master technique.” It saves time and energy, but it not recommended for beginners.

I think about where this year has taken our family. Bit by bit “chunks” of life: Where are we in this “process”? Sometimes the mundane feels like we are just “spinning around and around.” Are we making any “progress forward?” Times of hardship and transition feel like a “firing.” Is this a first-firing or second? How long is this going to last? “How long must I endure this ____?”

But the heat/pressure/firing is necessary. It might be unfathomably hard to go through or imagine, but it’s necessary. There will be another side. We will be more mature and suited to our purpose and creation on the other side of it. There is going to be purpose and life ahead on the “other side.” God is The Master Potter. He has us in his hands. He’s got this! (So you don’t have to have it all figured out! Yay!). Time is irrelevant and different on His timing. He cares so much for us in the careful and deliberate process. He will not let us move ahead in any of the steps when we are not ready because He knows our intended purpose. We are not mistakes. Have you been inside a pottery shop? The ending creations are all unique and slightly different. It’s the corrected flaws and styles and slight imperfections that make each piece one-of-a-kind.

This Christmas, know that you are one-of-a-kind! Rest knowing that you are not forgotten or lost in the process! He has the finished creation of you in mind!

Thank you Lord for restarts, encouragement, correction and timing and all of it! We know that we can trust you! We know that you see the beginning, the process and the end. You will leave us better and more beautiful than we could imagine! You know that we will be prepared for what is coming. We know that we will be better on the other side of hard things. You see your work and you know that it is good. You are the good Father who lovingly shapes us! We can trust you!

We used a National Geographic Pottery Wheel for Kids. It was about $20. It came with plastic shaping tools (which we found were hard to use). We focused on keeping the clay wet with the included sponge. This set came with two packages of air-dry clay (no firing required). Great for a few uses and we decided that we like free-throwing the clay, instead of trying to use all of the included tools. (We are not being paid for this review, just our honest, initial thoughts.)

New Podcast is Up!

On By David CarterIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Click on the episode links to your right-screen that will show you a list of our newest podcasts and content. 🙂

If I haven’t mentioned it before, we have a podcast on Spotify, Anchor and YouTube now up and running: “Team Carter Family Adventures” where we talk about pretty much everything, unscripted.

Have a listen and share in the conversation. We have special guests sometimes. Please email any comments or suggestions to teamcarterfamilyadventures@gmail.com.

Thank you for listening, liking, and subscribing!

A New Thing:

On By David CarterIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

We are starting a podcast! David and I (and sometimes the kids) talk about our family adventures, our day-to-day life, dreams, musings, failures and such. We hope that you feel as though you were/are sitting on our couch in our living room with us, having a conversation. As always, we appreciate you being with us and hope that you click the link below to have a listen! Thanks, Team Carter Family

https://open.spotify.com/show/0EoAjTHUgMbApBYAHArUbL?si=L5WQ8SsuQAG0R-wQWvEiKg

We Are Building Something

On By David CarterIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

We are in the process of building something great! I can’t fully articulate what that something is, but I can feel it! We can only see little pieces of the puzzle, but sometimes that is how God works. He only gives me “small bites” at a time. I will have to wait to get the bigger picture.

It was our dream to build a family together. We are doing it! It was our dream to work hard with our hands and to build a business. We (David) are doing it! My husband works so hard to provide for our family so that we can also fulfill a dream of me being able to stay at home with the kids. We are doing it! We also dreamed of being able to travel and go places as a family. Today we are doing it, together!

All we can say is “THANK YOU LORD!” Partnering with God will cost you something. It sometimes means laying down your own “good ideas.” Without God in your plans, they may just be good ideas. God saw our plans and dreams in mind when we got married 11 years ago. He wasn’t worried about changing our plans. They have looked a lot different than we ever could have planned. We trusted Him. We prayed A LOT. We made lots of sacrifices. We continued to follow His voice and obeyed what He told us to do, sometimes when it didn’t even seem logical. Example: we surrendered moving to a city where we knew we would have 1. a job already in place, 2. friends who moved there, 3. a church family and 4. nostalgia for the area (it wouldn’t be a “fresh move”, BUT God said “no.” So we didn’t. Because He told us to go somewhere else. And we followed.

And THAT decision friends, has been THE BEST decision for us! We have seen God bless that decision and give us favor upon favor for trusting Him. Thank you Lord!

What is God calling you to do today? For tomorrow? Can you trust Him? Absolutely, do it!

Praying for you that as you see how He begins to move in your life and confirm over and over again with what He is saying to you and your family, this year in 2021, that you would boldly follow wherever and however He leads you!

“Now may God, the fountain of hope, fill you to overflowing with uncontainable joy and perfect peace as you trust in him. And may the power of the Holy Spirit continually surround your life with his super-abundance until you radiate with hope!”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭15:13‬ ‭TPT‬‬

Honored to be at the JCRE Mid-Year Awards Banquet