Its Been A Month Already !!!

Can you believe it that its been a month already today since I left Idaho for my summer Journey trip to and from the east coast? They say that time flys when you are having fun and so I can confirm that I am having a blast since I can't believe that its already been a month.

Even though I am really enjoying just hanging out with my only sibling, sister Tammy and her family, and my mom and seeing all of my friends and family again, I am starting to miss my Idaho life. I do know and I am preparing myself for my Idaho life to be different when Sierra and I return towards the end of July. Diana and I talk almost everyday and she is doing a GREAT job "holding down the fort" back there while I am gone. I told her before I left that she would be fine and she has been. Kyle just returned from his football camp in Pocatello Idaho where it sounds like he had a great time and was glad that he attended it. I miss them both.

3 of the 4 Cousins

Loryn, Sierra, and Luke

All of the cousins are having a fun time together. Levi made the All Star baseball team and has been very busy practicing for a couple of hours everyday.

Ocean City, Maryland - part 2

On Monday and after eating breakfast on the boardwalk, we enjoyed more of the beach and looking at some of the sand sculptures done by the beach artists. We hit the arcade again and then we went to the second amusement park off of the boardwalk. This is where Sierra actually got me on the upside down roller coaster. It was fun and I didn't lose anything, including my glasses or lunch. The rest of the day was spent in the pool and enjoying the boardwalk and its many many shops and just being on the Atlantic coast and Sierra and I being together for some quality daddy/daughter time.

I did find the old Steven's restaurant that I used to go to many many years ago but it is now a Burger King on the Boardwalk. That was a bit disappointing but understandable as well.

The weather while we were there was mostly sunny and it was nice and warm. Perfect beach weather.

The evening ended with us relaxing on the balcony and watching the boardwalk nightlife with all its people and lights.

Ocean City, Maryland - part 1

We got to Ocean City (OC) Maryland on Sunday about noon and after checking into our hotel, we hit the boardwalk and beach running, so to speak. The first thing that Sierra wanted to do was go to one of two little amusement parks off of the boardwalk. It was fun and the Ferris wheel was very tall and so it made for a great way to view alot of the OC coastline. For those of you who don't know, I used to live about an hour north of OC in Dover Delaware for about 3 years and so I would spend many many hours walking the Atlantic coast line. It was refreshing and enjoyable to be back there.




Our hotel, the Atlantic Hotel, was perfectly located right off of the boardwalk and beach. It made it so easy for us to just run up to the room when we needed to and the views from its balconies was breathtaking.



We spent the day at the beach, the amusement park, the arcade, walking the boardwalk and shopping, having boardwalk fries, and even checking out the Ripley's Believe It or Not exhibit on the boardwalk. The day was definitely an enjoyable and memorable day spent with Sierra.

Its Summer Solstice, even In Washington D.C

Happy 1st day of Summer. I left Philipsburg Pennsylvania today about 1:30pm and headed south for an uneventful 3 hour and 45 minute drive to Reagan International Airport in Washington DC. I am now sitting in the airport waiting for Sierra's Alaska Airline flight to arrive from Seattle. I am getting excited to see her. Diana called me after Sierra's plane took off in Seattle and told me that they both handled her leaving very well and now Diana is on her way back to Boise, via Portland Oregon. Kyle had Saturday football practice and will be spending the rest of the day with his best friend, Jackson, and his family until Diana makes it back to Nampa Idaho to pick him up.

After Sierra arrives, we are heading east to Annapolis Maryland and will spend the night in a hotel and then tomorrow we head about 2 hours south to Ocean City Maryland for a couple of days enjoying and relaxing on the Atlantic Coast. I reserved a hotel room right on the boardwalk for us for a couple of nights and it will be good to spend some quality daughter/daddy time. She is my beach bum partner and so I am sure that we will have an awesome time.

Career Revelation

One of the goals of this journey is to try and figure out what I am supposed to be doing next with my life and see what I want to really do when I "grow up".

One thing I do know for sure is that it won't be Yard Sale Management. On Thursday and Friday my mom and sister, Tammy, had a yard sale at mom's place. The weather was good and mostly sunny for it and they got rid of alot of things that they no longer needed. Some folks that I haven't seen in a long long time came and "shopped" and it was nice to see them after all these years. I really enjoyed keeping my 9 year old nephew, 8 year old niece, and 4 year old nephew occupied, fed, and entertained while the ladies managed the sale.

For the record, and in writing, my sister has vowed that this will be her last yard sale. (Note: my brother in law can use this blog entry as proof that he has a witness that its her last one.) Love ya sis!

We have left Music City - U.S.A.

On Monday, we left Nashville and headed back to central Pennsylvania. Since it was a long 13 hour drive on the way down, I decided that we were going to go and only drive about half way and stop and spend the night somewhere. We stopped in Columbus Ohio and got some rest and then on Tuesday made the shorter drive the rest of the way back to Philipsburg PA. We took mom's car instead of my van since her vehicle gets better gas mileage and her car did awesome and we had no problems.

Going to Nashville with mom will be a memory that I will cherish and I think mom will do the same thing.

The Newest Grand Ole Opry Duet Stars

On Sunday after a nice BIG breakfast at a Bob Evans restaurant, we drove to downtown Nashville and toured the Grand Ole Opry Hall of Fame and Museum. Inside we got to see Elvis Presley's Gold Plated Cadillac and alot of other country stars, both past and present, memorabilia. Afterwards, we went up the street a couple of blocks and toured the original home of the Grand Ole Opry, which is the Ryman Auditorium. This is where mom and I made our "staged" debut on the actual stage that all the stars, such as Loretta Lynn and many many others got their start. It was an amazing day as well and a trip that I will always remember.

Welcome to the Grand Ole Opry

Saturday night mom and I had a nice evening at the Grand Ole Opry House and enjoyed a nice show watching such stars as Little Jimmy Dickens, Jean Shepperd, Marty Stuart and even Michael Jackson's brother who crossed over into country music, Jermaine Jackson. We also were present when the Southern Blues Band called the Carolina Chocolate Drops made their Nashville debut and they even got a standing ovation. It was a neat experience and they were very good.

Here is mom and I outside the Opry House before the show.

Stopping by "AJ's" house

On Saturday mom and I took a 3 hour tour of the stars homes in the Nashville area. It was amazing to see the homes of some famous people including Dolly Parton, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, George Jones, Minnie Pearl and Carrie Underwood. There was about 40 homes in all that we saw but my favorite was probably the sprawling estate of Alan Jackson.



What do you think? Pretty nice huh?

We have arrived at Music City - Nashville

Mom and I left Philipsburg Pennsylvania at 3:30am and drove 13 hours today, with some stops through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky and arrived at our final destination of Nashville Tennessee. Mom worked last night and got home about 9:30pm and then by the time that she got to bed she said she got about 2 hours of sleep total. I drove the whole time and she doozed off and on. When we got checked in at the Fiddler's Inn here in Nashville, we had a second wind and decided to walk around the area to see whats about.

We found Ernest Tubbs record store and went in and looked at all the sights. Inside the store was a statue of Mr Tubbs himself and one of his tour buses. It was kinda cool for what it was. The following picture is of mom and I in the record store.


We decided to grab a little dinner and drink at The Music City Bar and Grill but did not get to see Little Jimmy Dickens, who is a regular Friday afternoon customer.

We are now relaxing in our room and will get some much needed rest for a busy day tomorrow of Touring the Nashville Stars homes and then spending an evening at the Grand Ole Opry.

For being a Friday the 13th it was a great but long day.

Hugh Hefner, eat your heart out!

These bunnies are hotter than Hugh's will ever be.
Of course, it has been in the 90s here in PA.


Lucky and Cuddles


Thumper and Oreo

Since my sister and her family have been at the Delaware beach all week, I have been keeping these little ones watered and feed and they are starting to grow on me. I bet they will be glad for my niece and nephews to get back cause I haven't taken them out and walked them. Seriously, they go for walks.

Its been a great week visiting with some friends and family and just relaxing and trying to stay cool. Mom is doing really well and her attitude and demeanor is very positive. We are getting along great and having a good time. We will leave early tomorrow morning for our long drive down to Nashville Tennessee. We have tickets for the Grand Ole Opry for Saturday night and I am actually looking forward to going and seeing some of the performers. On that note, I am going to hit the hay so that I can get up about 2:30am to start the drive. Until next time.......

I made it to Pennsylvania!!!

I am now in Pennsylvania and it was a nice drive cross country. The highest I paid for gas along the way was $3.99/gallon. On Friday, I got to spend some time with my sister Tammy and her family and getting reacquainted with my nephews and niece before they headed down to Indian River Inlet in Delaware for their annual week beach vacation. My sister has 4 bunnies that I am assisting with their care. I feel very useful.

Its unseasonably hot here and has been in the low 90s everyday so far. I am staying at my mom's house and she is doing good. Her house doesn't have central air but yesterday I found her window air conditioner and got it put in the front window for her. With it going and the two window fans upstairs, the place is liveable. I notice that I am drinking alot of water and sweating alot more. Hopefully this will be good for my overall health and weight. Ha, Ha.

Until next time...............

Welcome to Hoosier Country

On Monday, June 2nd, I left Weeping Water, Nebraska and made the loooooooooong drive through the flatlands of Iowa, through Illionis past Chicago, and into northeastern Indiana to my best friend Jerry's place. Total time that day was about 14 hours, with stops. All of this driving was also done without the use of cruise control. Turns out that a recall notice was issued by Chrysler on a lock spring in the steering wheel area that if and WHEN it failed the airbag light would stay on and the horn and cruise control would not work. I was able to validate that recall and so while I was still in Iowa, I made an appointment to get it fixed in Indiana when I got there. The appointment was for Tuesday and since the part had to be brought in from Chicago, the van was ready for pickup on Wednesday and everything works perfect once again.

The Bauers ~ Conner, Jill, Jerry, and Chandler


Jerry, his wife Jill, and their son's Chandler and Conner spoiled me while I was there. Jerry took a few days off and since the boys were already out of school we spent our days by the pool, sitting around the fire pit, going fishing but only catching frogs, and just enjoying the time hanging out together and talking.

The Indiana weather called for at least a 70% chance of rain and storms everyday while I was there but it held off until I got to Pennsylvania. Life and the weather was definitely good while I was there. Huntington Indiana is about an hour and half north of Indianapolis and to the best of my knowledge they haven't been hit with any of the flooding issues up their way.

I look forward to seeing them all again in July when Sierra and I make our way back to Idaho.

I am not in Kansas anymore Toto!!!!

Sunday morning, June 1st, I left Wichita amongst the black clouds and rainy weather and after running to Wal-Mart and buying a new headlight bulb and replacing it in the store parking lot, I headed north to Weeping Water Nebraska, south of Omaha to spend the rest of the day and evening with the best man at Diana and I's wedding, Ed, and his family.

Ed is now a retired Master Sergeant in the United States Air Force and is living his dream of being a farmer, while having the security right now of working as a civilian out at Offutt Air Force Base. He and his family live on almost 5 acres in a nice setting on a dead end street. Its a perfect location. When I arrived, Ed was clearing some brush and trees and doing his "farmer" chores. After a nice and relaxing dinner prepared by Robyn outside under one of the walnut or locust trees we got things cleaned up and then Ed gave me the grand tour of the farm. The 20 plus chickens weren't impressed by my presence but soon ignored me just the same. It was nice to see all of the gardens that Ed has planted and listen to his vision of what he wants to someday soon do fulltime in the farming industry. He is well on his way and with Ed's determination and drive I know he will reach his goals and be very successful at his business. Its good to see that someone knows what he is supposed to be doing. Hence, the reason for my journey...........



Robyn home schools their three children; twins Megan and Madeline and their son Joshua and is an awesome pianist. In fact, Robyn played all the music at Diana and I's wedding. I didn't get a chance to hear Robyn play her baby grand piano but hope too in July when I come through Nebraska again on the way back to Idaho. The time Ed and I had talking about old times over a few beers in the barn was a nice and relaxing ending to a great day.


The Milligans ~ Megan, Ed, Joshua, Madeline, and Robyn

The Kansas Cousins

While in Wichita I stayed with my cousin Mary and her family. Mary is married to Marcus and together they run a pest control business. Marcus has been driving Volkswagon Beetles for many, many years and even drives a new style yellow beetle bug now and so I think that "bugs" are in his blood. Mary and Marcus have two sons, Nathan and Thomas. Its been about 11 and a half years since I have seen Mary and it was so nice to spend some time with them.

Time Flies When You Are Having Fun

And I am having a fun time. Can you tell by the lack of posts since Colorado? I plan on getting caught up on posting this weekend. I haven't tried too hard to get access to internet much. Its been two weeks today since my last official day at Micron.

Thanks to everyone for their hospitality along my travels and for the kind thoughts and prayers that are sent along the way.

Stay tuned............