US Map Wall Art

I had so many pictures of the kids around the house, that I felt like I needed to add something a little different. One thing we always seem to talk about with new people we meet are the places we've traveled. I have thousands of pictures from each of the places we have visited, so I decided I would print some and hang them on my wall. My OCD forced me to pull them together in some common way and thus the idea of the USA Map was born. My first step was to print a poster size map on my home printer. I used that map to trace my outline onto a piece of wood. Once I had the outline traced, I used a jigsaw (yes, this was my first attempt at power tools) to cut along the outline. The next step was to sand some of the rough edges. *tip - I used youtube and found an instructional video to prepare myself for the use of the jigsaw. Next, I painted the wood with black chalkboard paint. I balanced it on 2 or 3 drinking cups so that the surfaced was raised and I could paint the edges at the same time. Once the paint was dry, I cut each of the states one at a time from my formerly printed map. I traced each one (immediately after I cut it) with a white paint marker. After that, I used different color chalks to shade in each of the states that we have been to. I used picture hangers on the back of the map and hung it on the wall. Then, I purchased varying size frames to fill the area surrounding the map. Once I got the frames home, I took the inserts out and used painters tape to position them on the wall until I was satisfied with the placement. This helped to insure that my last step would require little effort and I wouldn't have tons of unused prints because I would change my mind about the sizes if I didn't yet have a frame. Lastly, I ordered prints in the sizes of my frames on the wall, and placed them in the frames after they arrived in the mail. I have received so many compliments on this little project and it took about 4 hours of my time, plus time waiting for photos to arrive. Not only does it allow us a stroll down our vacation memory lane, but it is a great conversation piece allowing us to share our stories.

Back in the 50's Again!

My daily photo challenge has really been a challenge! I have been so busy outside my normal routine that I haven't taken the time to focus much on it. This picture is from our recent VBS (vacation bible school) at church. Our theme this year was a road trip. We focused on learning what our destination was and how the places we visited in our imagination compared to valuable lessons we learn from God's word. This 50's diner was our 'roadside cafe'. The first night, the kids visited Washington D.C. while learning about the original journey to the King (the wisemen's visit to see the newborn King). The kids learned that they could choose to worship. The second night, the kids traveled to Chicago, IL, while they learned about 10 lepers of which only one was thankful. On the third night, we went to Lebanon, KS. I know, you're thinking "Why Lebanon, Kansas, and where is that?" Not to worry my friend, I had the exact same reaction. But like the kids, I learned that Lebanon is in the most central part of the continental U.S. and that tied to our bible lesson about salvation and making God the center of our lives! We had 2 children saved that night. The fourth night, we traveled to Yellowstone National Park, and discovered that we could believe, that we didn't have to be a doubting Thomas! The kids also learned that Yellowstone is a stinky place because of all the sulphur, and that sin stinks that same way. We had two additional kids saved this night. On our last day, the kids traveled to Knottsberry Farm and learned a lesson in obedience. Just like we have to follow the rules there, we must follow God's rule thru His word! We ended our week on Independence Day with a ceremony, songs, issuing certificates and even a little 4th of July meal complete with watermelon. We had one more child saved on Sunday.

We had a blast on our vacation, my only regret is that it was over way to soon. We were gone nine days in all, but when you are blessed with the goodness of God's hand, you just don't want to leave it.
As soon as we returned I began working on VBS stuff. I'll save that for another entry. For now I want to share a little from my travel journal with you.

We made it to the park about 5:30 pm CST. We stopped at Wal-mart in Broomfield on our way to the park to buy food and other things that we needed for our stay. We got the tent and the canopy set up shortly after arrival. Upon entrance to the campsites, we saw 2 bull elk drinking from the brook. While the tent and canopy were being set up, an elk was close enough to our campsite that the kids and I walked up to it within 20 feet. It was the first of many elk and other animals that we saw while here at the park. While driving down the road, we had to stop to allow 3 mountain goats to clear the roadway, and another time we just missed some elk that had crossed the road ahead of us. We have seen mule deer, and been close enough to feed a chipmunk. We have enjoyed seeing the various wildlife that are indigenous to this area.
I think my favorite part though has been the view. It is amazing and breathtaking. I try to capture it's beauty with my camera, but I just don't think a picture can really do justice to what the eye can see in this case. I love the sound of the nearby rushing water. While in the tent at night, it is especially soothing to fall asleep by.
On the first full day we were here, we went for a drive around the park. Last time, we only drove to the hiking trail heads. But this year, we decided we would see what else was around here. As you drive along the road, you gradually increase in elevation. You get to a point where you are atop the mountains and you can look down into the valleys. It can be a scary drive if you let it. There are no room for driving mistakes. Most of the roads are on the edges of the mountains, yielding a wonderful view, but dangerous drive. There are several areas along the roads that you can pull off, park, and just take it all in. We stopped on the side of the road in one place where the snow was higher than the van on one side of the road and the terrain was green on the other side.
Continuing on a little further, we pulled off at Forest Canyon and we were able to play in the snow. The kids built a tiny snowman. They had snowball fights, and we all enjoyed a little laugh at papa's expense. He stepped out into the snow, lost his balance, and went down face first up to his shoulders into the snow. It was only funny because he wasn't hurt, and his reaction would have even made a humorless person laugh.
After enjoying some of the scenery, we came back to the campsite and ate. The kids were out playing in the empty field area next to the campsite when the Park Rangers asked them if they wanted to be Junior Rangers. They gave the kids an information booklet that includes the instructions for obtaining a Junior Ranger badge. I went over the park rules and some of the things they had to do in order to earn their badge.
Needing to do a little laundry and to take a shower, we decided to drive down into Estes Park to a laundromat. We washed clothes and took showers (at the same place). Then we went into Loveland, to Wal-mart, for some things that we had forgotten. We made it back to the campsite at nearly dark. The kids had just enough time to write about the events of the day in there trip journals.
On Wednesday, we had pigs in a blanket for breakfast. A little charred on the bottom, but still edible. As soon as breakfast was over, Gary put on a stew in the dutch oven. Papa sat with it while Gary, the kids and I played. We tried to teach them to jump rope. They lack a good bit of coordination. I'm still not sure that they ever figured it out really. Then we got the flyer (fancy frisbee) out and tossed it back and forth to each other. At one point, I took the kite out and put it together and then flew it for a little while. I guess the kids are still a little to young to grasp just how to fly a kite. It was the first time I had ever flown one, and I really didn't know how to teach them to fly it. One of the kids went and got the ball so that we could play kick ball, but it started raining. That's when I decided to take this moment and record some of the memories from the trip so far. Currently, I have taken 420 photographs since we crossed the Colorado border.
This is only a portion of our trip. There was no internet connection there, so I just saved it into a file and added to it as I could. I ended up with over 1,000 photos in all for the whole trip. Some of them are very similar to each other. I have decided that I am going to have to create a book for this trip alone, and just take a few of the highlights and add them to our annual scrapbook album. I may post a photo here periodically from our vacation, so check back often.