Trip Answers: Part 2

Continuing, answers to #5-7:

5. TEXAS play - Palo Duro Canyon
The annual family trip to see the outdoor musical about our great state. Somehow we didn't get pictures here; chalk it up to backed up traffic through the canyon and forgetfulness. While we are very observant (and sometimes critical) of every tweak and casting change, this is always a summer highlight.

6. Detroit, MI
A museum of transportation history. A 1920s era village. Hundreds of very modern trucks and even more antique cars. Mom and I ventured to the Ford Factory and Museum in Dearborn for their annual Old Car Festival. So much to see, we did our best to fit it all into one September weekend.





A Classic Mustang

McD's starts the fast food craze.

A vintage downtown.

This Canadian team assembled a Model T in under 10 minutes!

Old car races

Basic car camping

Nostalgic home cooking...yum!

Cruising the town in a Model T.

Hundreds of vintage cars...I think I'll take this one.







7. Atlanta (twice!)
The first trip to Atlanta was planned way in advance. As soon as my friend Liz and I realized we were both lifelong Braves fans, we decide a trip for the last series of the season was a must. It was Bobby Cox weekend, as the noted manager was retiring after 25 years with the Braves. A great experience, topped by a win over the Phillies!


A crazy flight routing sent us through Tennessee, where we stopped at Cracker Barrel for breakfast with Liz's sister Anne and friends.

Bobby Cox day - all of the years which he was associated with the Braves

#10 Chipper Jones speaks for the current Braves players

We saw Homer up close and personal. He gave a fan behind us a shirt for their birthday.

Javy Lopez, great Atlanta catcher, coming from a pre-game show.

Great seats behind home plate.

Braves players celebrating the win.

We beat the Phillies! Braves win the NL Wildcard!

Dwarf Houses were the original Chick-fil-a's, started in the Atlanta area.

Diner counters and the best Chick-fil-a I've eaten!

The second Atlanta trip was just a week later and planned a few hours before the flight. Wildcard winners on the last day of the season, the Braves forced a Game 4 of the NLDS series with the Giants. So, after a weekend of Rangers playoff games, Mom, Dad, and I took a 24 hour trip to attend some October Braves baseball. While the 3-2 loss ended the season, Braves country was quite an exciting place to be.

Trip Answers: Part 1

So, I realized I never updated with the Trip Guessing Game answers. This Fall was a crazy one...and it steamrolled right into Winter! Some of these had quite a few pictures, so I've broken it into two posts. Here are the answers for 1-4:

1. Ghana, Africa - Village of Hope
   In July, I went with a group from Prestoncrest to the Village of Hope, a Children's Home and school in Ghana. While there, we worked in the school, helped paint the medical clinic, visited Elmina Castle and a canopy walkway in Kakum National Park, and mostly, had lots of fun with our Ghanaian friends.
   
   
   
   Hanging out with Eunace and "Rachel"
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Liz gets a lesson in carrying water.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Before any good painting job, lots of scraping!
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   High above the trees on the canopy walk.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Learning new games with new friends.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Another avid reader and Harry Potter fan!
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Iowa State Fair
   Although a bit smaller than the one in Texas, Iowa's annual agricultural exhibition is a notable event in its own right. With some impressive buildings, lots of ag and textile exhibits, and great fair food, Iowa has everything you need for a great state fair. So much so, this was the inspiration for Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical "State Fair."
   
   
   
   Cheese on a Stick outside the Grandstands.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Corn. Lots, and lots, and lots of corn.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Texas does fried food. In Iowa, it is all "on a stick." Including hardboiled eggs!
   
   
   
   
   
   Texas tourism campaign visited the fair, too. We didn't do so bad on the Texas quiz :)
   
   
   
   
3. Corpus Christi, TX
   We joined Diane, Mike, Brenda, Cailyn, and Andrew down in Corpus for a summer beach weekend. Ocean time, playdough fun, and very fresh shrimp made for a great trip. Mom, Dad, and I also explored some of the historic houses in downtown.
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Denver, CO
   SWA girls tackle the Colorado mountains and Rockies baseball! Sarah, Liz and I had a great September weekend in Denver. We stayed with Sarah's friends Matt and Nikki in their awesome mountain house outside of the city. Our adventures included some great pizza in Boulder (location of Colorado School of Mines, aka. the MIT of the West due to its impressive Engineering programs), a trek up Mount Evans- via car :) and a Colorado Rockies game.
   
   
   
   
   We all had a great "Picky Nikki" breakfast - named for Sarah's friend!
   
   
   
   
   
   
   We did hike the few feet from the parking lot to the sign, great views!
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Coors Field and a Rockies win!






#5-7 coming up next!