TravelStream™ news feed for member thesteeles on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/thesteeles en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:06:30 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thesteeles/western_us-2006/1152373680/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thesteeles/western_us-2006/1152373680/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thesteeles/western_us-2006/1152373680/tpod.html Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:06:30 -0400 The Steele's realize their dream of RVing across America

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Zion, Utah, United States

We started our morning with breakfast at Bumbleberry's on Main Street in Springdale near Zion. I'm still not sure if there really is such a berry, but we had bumbleberry syrup on our french toast. They are two different kinds of berries that grow on giggle bush not near any other bush...so it goes. They're purple and taste much like grape jelly.Keegan and Collin wanted to stop by and see the elk and buffalo one more time before heading on to Zion National Park for a day of hiking and exploring. We arrived at Zion and it was packed with many people from other countries and Connecticut was the most popular state where we met families from.We jumped on the shuttle headed for the museum to watch a movie about the history of Zion. After the informative movie, we rode the shuttle to the Zion Lodge stop where we hiked up to the Tidal Pools. The paths were dirt with cliffs on the right sight and extraordinary views. Keegan and Collin had such a fun time climbing around the huge boulders and playing around the water. On the way back, we passed a deer just 20 feet from our path. We thought it would run when it saw us, but it stood there and walked closer so we could get a photo. These spoiled Zion deer never heard of "hunting season" or gun shots.Our day was filled with hiking, exploring, meeting new friends along our paths, and working on our Jr. Ranger books. As we travelled east leaving Zion, we drove by some of the most amazing rock formations your eyes can imagine. Zion is a must see! I liked it more than the Grand Canyon. The boys loved all the hiking and can't wait to come back with Chris and want to bring some family friends to camp!!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thesteeles/western_us-2006/1186020300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thesteeles/western_us-2006/1186020300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thesteeles/western_us-2006/1186020300/tpod.html Wed, 01 Aug 2007 22:27:35 -0400 The Steele's realize their dream of RVing across America

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Chautauqua, New York, United States

We stayed around the RV park most of the day today. I took the boys fishing for a little bit and then Kelly, Tiffany and I took them to the pool. We swam for a bit and then came back and had lunch. It got pretty warm today, so the boys came in and watched a movie this afternoon. We decided to take a drive to get out for a bit. We drove to a small town close by, Mayville. the boys got ice cream and we came back and went swimming again. Actually, they didn't swim much, I threw them the entire time.Tonight, we cooked out again. Kelly's cousin, Shaun drove over for dinner. The boys and I played football while Kelly, Tiffany and Shaun got caught up. Tiffany and Shaun drove home tonight, Grammy drove in from Virginia.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thesteeles/western_us-2006/1188568920/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thesteeles/western_us-2006/1188568920/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thesteeles/western_us-2006/1188568920/tpod.html Wed, 01 Aug 2007 10:16:05 -0400 The Steele's realize their dream of RVing across America

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Chautauqua, New York, United States

We stopped at the 'Family Sports Complex' in Erie, PA before we left. It's an amazing complex owned by a Christian family that has everything from putt putt,driving range, batting cage, go-carts, water boats and even a fitness center.(for me) The boys got to run off some energy before we got on the road.It took about 45 minutes to get to Chautauqua, NY. It's an hour from Kelly's home town. We are on Chautauqua Lake and close to the institute. Kelly's sister,Tiffany, her 2 boys and Kelly's dad drove over for a cook out. We had a fire after dinner and the boys roasted marshmallows.(they haven't seen each other since Thanksgiving) Tiffany and her boys also brought their bulldog! It was great to see almost all of them.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thesteeles/western_us-2006/1185845400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thesteeles/western_us-2006/1185845400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thesteeles/western_us-2006/1185845400/tpod.html Mon, 30 Jul 2007 21:39:47 -0400 The Steele's realize their dream of RVing across America

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Erie, Pennsylvania, United States

Kelly and the boys went to the state park today. The boys played on the beach area for a few hours. They swam, collected driftwood and played in the sand. Kelly said they were like "Huck Finn and Tom Sawer." They were exhausted when they got home, so I know they had a good time.I stayed back today to get some work done. I'm working on a mailout and also contacted some other folks I've been trying to reach.This evening, we went back down to the waterfront and had dinner outside at the 'Soggy Duck.' There was a 'classic car show,' so we walked around afterwards and looked at the old cars. The boys are becoming big fans of classic car shows.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thesteeles/western_us-2006/1185762780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thesteeles/western_us-2006/1185762780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thesteeles/western_us-2006/1185762780/tpod.html Sun, 29 Jul 2007 22:41:22 -0400 The Steele's realize their dream of RVing across America

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Erie, Pennsylvania, United States

We visited a great church today, Faith Family Church, and heard an awesome message. It's a bigger church in the area that just bought the old Hoover Vacuum building and is getting ready to move into it.(250,000sqft) The young pastor is Hispanic and talked about being raised Catholic and all the crazy things he did growing up.(drugs,guns...) He gave a great message on how God doesn't want any of us to be in poverty and how some Christians think that's His will for them. He had some very good points. After church, we took our 'mounting' laundry and dropped it off to be washed.(Kelly was very happy) We then headed over to the 'Pro Football Hall of Fame.' It was really cool to see how football started and how far it's come. We all enjoyed seeing some of our favorite teams and players memorabilia.. They had a bunch of the old equipment that was originally worn.(hysterical) Next week is the ceremony for this years inductees. Among them is Thurman Thomas from the 'Bills' and Michael Irvin from the 'Cowboys.' We spent about 2 hours there. After the 'Hall of Fame,' we headed back to the RV. I ran to work out and Kelly and the boys stayed back and ran to Wal Mart.. When I got back, we hooked up and  got on the road to Erie, PA. We got into our park around 8pm and went to 'Cracker Barrel' for dinner.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thesteeles/western_us-2006/1185675720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thesteeles/western_us-2006/1185675720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thesteeles/western_us-2006/1185675720/tpod.html Sun, 29 Jul 2007 22:30:32 -0400 The Steele's realize their dream of RVing across America

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Canton, Ohio, United States

It was a pretty gloomy day for the most part. Our plan was to go to Cleveland for a night or two. We made the drive there, found a place to park the RV and drove down to the 'Waterfront.' Kelly went to a wedding here several years ago and remembered it being a nice area with shops and restaurants. We drove around downtown for almost an hour and I didn't see anything that was that nice. I've never been to Cleveland and I have to say I won't be going back if I can help it. The downtown was really rundown and you could definitely find yourself in trouble if you made a wrong turn. Anyway, we drove back to the RV, which we had left at a park just nth of the city. The boys were begging to play some baseball so we went out on a field and I pitched some to them.(and then chased them) Kelly ran Riley also. All Riley wants to do is fetch her tennis ball. We decided to go on to Canton to visit the 'Pro football Hall of Fame.' We didn't have reservations anywhere, so we went to Wal-Mart. It was in a great spot and it turned out there were about 100 people along the street waiting for some hot air balloons that were supposed to be launched as part of some celebration. The weather hindered the balloons, but there were fireworks later in the evening and we had a front row seat. After we grabbed some dinner Kelly and the boys went to Borders to look for some new books and I went to see a movie. It turned out to be nice day once we left Cleveland.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thesteeles/western_us-2006/1185502800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thesteeles/western_us-2006/1185502800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thesteeles/western_us-2006/1185502800/tpod.html Sat, 28 Jul 2007 12:45:13 -0400 The Steele's realize their dream of RVing across America

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Sandusky, Ohio, United States

We made the hour drive to San Dusky today. It rained most of the day, so we stayed around the RV. This RV park is in the Cedar Point theme park. You actually have to drive right through the park to get to our spot. I hadn't heard of Cedar Point before, but Kelly grew up coming here. This park boasts the most roller coasters of any other theme park. After seeing the park, I don't doubt it. From our RV spot you can hear people scream and actually see the terror on their face.We did run out to dinner this evening, but came back after that. The weather had cleared up, so the boys and I took our fishing poles over to Lake Erie(about 50 yards from our RV) to fish a little. We didn't have any luck, so we came back to the RV and had a pick up game of football with some other kids. Kelly baked some cookies for both teams. We tried to get to bed early because we're heading to the park by 9am.(we get in 1 hr early because we're staying in the park)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thesteeles/western_us-2006/1185293940/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thesteeles/western_us-2006/1185293940/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thesteeles/western_us-2006/1185293940/tpod.html Sat, 28 Jul 2007 12:44:18 -0400 The Steele's realize their dream of RVing across America

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Dearborn, Ohio, United States

We've met some Michiganders along our travels who said when you're in the Detroit area, don't miss Greenfield Village! Now we know why! The boys and I caught up on life stuff in the morning and headed to Dearborn at noon for an amazing history lesson.Henry Ford in the early 1900's had assembled historic buildings from around the northeast and created a place students could learn from doing. The village included buildings from the Wright Brothers Home and Bicycle Shop, a place Abraham Lincoln practiced law when he was on the traveling circuit court, Webster's home from the dictionary, slave quarters and plantation owner's homes, Thomas Edison's Menlo Lab, and Henry Ford's one room schoolhouse where he went to school...were just a few of our favorites.   The best part were all the costumed interpreters walking around interacting and talking to the kids teaching them real life history. We saw "Thomas Edison" at his press conference announcing his light bulb that stays lit more than a few seconds. There were 21 men before him that worked on the light bulb, but they could only keep it lit for a few seconds. His determination paid off!Besides walking around and looking at all the living history, we took a ride in an authentic 1914 Ford Model T, went to a play about slavery, and the boys played with all the wooden handmade toys like the kids did in the early 1900's on the Village Green. Four and a half hours just wasn't enough. It was much more than we expected and would love to go back to visit. It was similar to Colonial Williamsburg! After Greenfield Village, we went to see the Imax movie Dinosaurs 3D which was a great follow up to the dinosaur dig we witnessed in The Badland National Park. The boys were happy to pick Chris up at the Detroit airport on the way home and get back to the RV park before dark to play some more basketball. -Kelly
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thesteeles/western_us-2006/1185543900/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thesteeles/western_us-2006/1185543900/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thesteeles/western_us-2006/1185543900/tpod.html Sat, 28 Jul 2007 10:08:04 -0400 The Steele's realize their dream of RVing across America

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Sandusky, Ohio, United States

Despite the rainy conditions, we conquered 'Cedar Point.' This theme park has more roller coasters than any other theme park.You've never seen so many crazy roller coasters. This place stays in business thanks to people like...Collin. We finally got to the point where we let him go on rides by himself.(don't tell Grammy) Keegan and I even got in line and walked up to one ride('Mantis), before we chickened out and left.We went on this one ride(before I came to my senses) that swung back and forth and threw you about 400 ft in the air and then let you free fall back down.(I just kept saying, "thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus!!") They have one roller coaster that goes 0-120mph in about 4 seconds, shoots you 420ft in the air and it's all over in about 20 seconds, Yes Collin begged us to go and no we didn't let him.We got to the park in the morning and stayed until around 4pm. We took a break and came back to the RV to swim for a while. It got pretty muggy so we were grateful for a pool. After we had dinner, we went back to the park until almost 10pm.(Kelly wanted to make sure we got our monies worth) When we got back to the RV, the pool was still open so the boys and I swam until it closed at 11pm.... Pretty full day!We had another major thunderstorm in the middle of the night. They're getting caught up on their rain.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thesteeles/western_us-2006/1185415020/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thesteeles/western_us-2006/1185415020/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thesteeles/western_us-2006/1185415020/tpod.html Wed, 25 Jul 2007 22:14:39 -0400 The Steele's realize their dream of RVing across America

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Toledo, Ohio, United States

We packed up this morning and headed south to Toledo area. Kelly found a nice state park for us to go to.(Maumee Bay state park) It wasn't a very nice day weather wise. It rained for most of the drive and drizzled for a while after we got here. The park is beautiful and we almost wish we were staying a couple of nights. When we got in, the boys and I threw the football for a bit.(mostly at each other) We took our fishing poles down to one of the lakes, but the water was too murky and we kept getting snagged in the grass. So, we decided to come back to the RV. We drove into downtown Toledo.(why? I'm not sure) There wasn't much to see. so we ran a few errands and came back to the park.The weather had cleared and we cooked out, threw the ball and the boys met a friend, Sam, and rode bikes with him. Sam's from Ohio and is here with his grandparents for a few days. After dinner, the boys, of course, made smores and then caught fire flies. The weather turned out to be perfect this evening.( mid 60's, no bugs...)
]]>