Day 1

I know I have the last few days of leave to catch up on. Today is day one of being separated. We said goodbye and headed off.

Zed had a ten minute drive to whiting and I have a four hour drive to Columbus.

We'll be seeing each other again in a few weeks.

I'll be sure to catch up on the last few days of leave tonight.

Day 53

Took off for Orlando. We stopped at a western store to get new jeans. We saw a pirate dinner show.

A relatively low key day. We're spending the last litter bit of vacation we have together.

Day 52

Thank yous are all finished. We have a few more to address, but that's the easy part.

We also were able to work on fixing the camper up and sorted out Florida residency.

The day was concluded by seeing Ice Age 4...funny movie.

Day 51

We checked out Zed's new base and the surrounding area. He was able to decide which place is best for him.

We also saw the movie Brave and I found a place to stay while my apartment is being set up. Everything is coming together.

Day 50

We continued our journey and ended in Niceville, FL. My first sponsor family lives here. Zed and I were welcomed with open arms and a great lunch.

We unloaded my car and some of Zed's stuff in their attic. We'll be moving it out once my apartment opens up.

We had a good time catching up and enjoying once again to have an air conditioned home to sleep in. Thank you Hendricks!

Day 49

We started the morning off by touring Talladega International Speedway. We were able to see the track and winner's circle. The track is at a 33* bank, we were able to drive up it in our tour bus and feel just how steep that is.

We also toured the Speedway Hall of Fame. There were race cars of all shapes and sizes. There were planes and motorcycles as well. Zed liked looking at all of them and figuring out how they worked.

We drove to Columbus, MS and saw my new home. We stopped by my apartment complex to make sure things were squared away and caught up with some friends.

Ending in Mobile, we drove through a crazy thunderstorm that had lightening the shattered the sky. There were a few times we thought there was a lightening strike right next to the car.

Day 48

We drove a lot again. We say Atlanta and ended up stopping in Talladega. There's not much to say about this day, mostly just driving.

We have made it over 700 honks.

Day 47

Our first day of driving separate cars. We safely made it to Raleigh and in time for the concert. The departure was slightly delayed by a blown camper tire, but we were able to fix it and continue on our way.

Though hot, the concert was a of fun. Brantley Gilbert opened and Toby was a lot of fun to watch. He interacted a lot with the audience and you could tell he just loved to preform.

Pictures Galore

Country Fest

backstage during Kellie Pickler

Meet and Great with Big n Rich and Cowboy Troy

Final night Barrel O Fries

Iron Mine

Bear Ranch

Bear Cubs

Zed at Lake Michigan

Trout Capital of the Nation

Bottle Cap Museum and Cage

Seated Lumberjack

Tridge

Cheese curds in Pinconning, MI

20' tall rocking chair

largest bronze statue of bears in the world

NK Whitney Store

Longest covered bridge in the US

Niagara Falls

random gorilla

only road under the Erie Canal

Moroni Monument

Stacy and Pop Fiddler relaxing at MD reception

Day 46

My mom is up at Dover AFB working this weekend, but the rest of the family is going on a boat ride down the river. This afternoon may be filled with seeing the newest Ice Age movie or going a little farther north and hanging out on the river for a little longer.

We are leaving the good ol Eastern Shore tomorrow and ending in Raleigh, NC where we have our final concert...Toby Keith.

Day 45

Caught up once more.

Yesterday was a fairly relaxing day. We were able to get our insurances put together and we packed Zed's truck with another 1000lbs of stuff. The more weight we can get, the better. More thank yous were also written. I think we are now up to 7 or 8 books of stamps used.

Zed and Abby went and swam at the pool. Zed is still getting ready for Navy training and Abby just enjoys working on her tan.

We had a huge family cookout last night. We stayed up late talking and just enjoying it being a Friday.

Day 45

Beach Day!

We went to Ocean City and walked the boardwalk. We dropped Abby off with family and she enjoyed getting some sun. On the boardwalk you come across all sorts of characters. We ate some ice cream and looked in many of the shops, finding nothing that jumped out and said "BUY ME!"

Zed was introduced to the Shorebirds. It is the hometown minor league team that feeds into the Orioles. It was cheap fun. He also tried Dippin' Dots for the first time. I think he enjoyed them. We left at the 8th inning and the Shorebirds were ahead 3-2.

Day 44

Packing Day!!

We weighed both my car and Zed's truck in the morning. While Zed expertly packed my car, I continued to write thank yous. He was able to fit 700 extra pounds of stuff in and still give me my mirrors to see out of.

Zed was introduced to the Wicomico Yacht Club. He met everyone. They all wanted to see who he was and find out all about the ranch. I grew up working at the club for about 6 years so they are all slightly protective. It was a fun night which ended with showing Zed the yachts members owned.

Day 43

We ran a ton of errands this day. I am officially a Davies according to the government and we spent almost all of our Bed Bath and Beyond gift cards. We got some sheets, mattress topper, bowls, and flatware. We appreciate everyone who gave us those gift cards.

We got my oil changed and also finalized an apartment for me to live in. It will be a 2 bedroom 2 bath on the second floor and it's about 10min away from base. I will have plenty of room for company or a room for Zed to study in when he comes to visit.

We finished the day with a family dinner at Granny and Pop Fiddler's house where we ate some of Granny's famous Sheppard's Pie.

Day 42

We finished taking down things from the party and the rental people collected the tables. We did more things around the house to help out my parents and started packing stuff up in preparation to leave.

The majority of the day was consumed with writing tons of thank you cards. We finished 3/4 of them and mailed them off. I think we have gone through 6 books of stamps so far.

We also went over to an Allen patrons house and visited. Ms. Colb was very excited to have some company and figure out just who Zed was.

Sorry, it was kind of a slow news days.

Day 41

Zed took his parents to the nearby beaches to show them the wild ponies and the crazy tourists. They were able to get some ice cream and fudge.

We all then met up at the Crab House and showed Stacy how to pick crabs like a true Eastern Shorer...no knives or mallets, just your hands. Stacy did resort to eating a little chicken because the crabs weren't filling enough. Once Rachael, my cousin, started giving him the claws he was able to fill up a little better.

We said goodbye to Elaine and Stacy and the rest of us headed back to Allen.

Day 40

Party Day!

We all woke up early and got to work. We had to arrange the tables, set up the chairs and decorate. We were able to finish a little early and enjoy the air conditioning of the house before the ceremony and reception began.

The temperature was 115* and in our wedding clothes we could feel it. The ceremony was short and very well written. My grandfather is known for his prayers so we asked him to officiate the ceremony. He did an amazing job writing it and keeping it short but extremely meaningful.

We quickly changed into cooler clothes and spent the evening talking to people and eventually dancing once it cooled down. My parents can throw a great party and we greatly appreciate all the family and friends that came.

Now that we're in one place for a little bit, I promise to get some much needed pictures up. Try to stay cool and look for today's post later tonight.

Day 39

We took a road trip to West Virginia where we spent the day with a friend of Zed's from the mission. Pete Duff is a super nice guy who is a rising senior at West Point.

We were able to go to the driving range and teach both Zed and I how to drive a ball. By the end we were doing pretty well.

At 4:30 we picked up Zed's parents from the airport in Baltimore and drove back to the good ol Eastern Shore. We ate some amazing homemade Mac n Cheese and spent more time with family who drove in for the big party.

Day 38

We arrived in Allen around 10 in the morning. We got the camper hooked up to power, started up the AC and took a swim in the pool. We then headed over to my house and helped set up for the reception. We had fun spending time with family and tried to avoid the heat as much as possible.

We had a big family dinner underneath the circus tent that was rented and got to bed. A pretty uneventful day, but it was nice to finally unhook the camper and relax for a few days.

Day 37

Happy Belated 4th of July!

Sorry posts haven't been coming. We've been in my home town enjoying the final reception. For fourth of July we started off by getting Zed an ice cream at 9am. He loves his soft serve.

We went through the publishing site of the first order of the Book of Mormon. It was neat to see the process of how a book in general was made back then. But to realize they ordered 5,000 copies and all the work that took was astounding. We then went to Hill Cumorah and visited the Moroni monument.

We drove to the Peter Whitmer farm and saw where the Book of Mormon was completed being translated. We also learned that conference was held there in 1980.

The rest of the day was a lot of driving. We saw a mini statue of liberty in the middle of the Susquehanna River and attempted to find gravity hill. We had some difficulty getting the camper there so we never got to roll backwards up hill.

We saw about 20 different firework shows as we continued driving throughout the night. We finally stopped in Dover, DE for the night. We attempted to make it back to Allen, but just got too tired.

Day 36

Yesterday was quite a bit of driving. We saw a pink elephant pulling a giant wine barrel in Portland, NY to start of the day. We drove and saw Niagara Falls. Once we went in for lunch a horrible rain storm came along and all those people who had waited for seats outside in order to see the falls were soon running inside with plates of drenched food.

We drove along the Erie Canal and saw the only road that goes under it. With the camper we're too tall, but we did walk under it.

We then drove to Palmyra, NY where we toured the Smith farm and walked through the sacred grove. We finished the day with a session at the Palmyra temple.

Day 35

Some quick notes from the previous day: we passed a lady riding on the back of a motorcycle and reading a nook...it started raining shortly after and she hid it. We stopped at the 2nd largest Cabela's in the nation. There was also a crazy storm that hit as soon as we parked. The hail ranged from pea sized to grape size...no damage on the truck or camper thankfully.

We spent the majority of the day going on every ride possible in the park. We got early enter since we slept at the resort and that helped out a lot. Zed was not fond of the lines or humidity, but still had fun. We finished around 130 and went to Pink's for lunch. It's a hot dog place that originated in LA.

We drove to Kirtland, OH and saw the LDS sites there. We saw the first temple the saints built and the famous Newel K Whitney store where many sections of the Doctrine and Covenants were revealed.

We also took a picture at a 20ft tall rocking chair and the longest covered bridge in the US. We stopped for the night at a truck stop in Conneaut, OH.

I promise there will be a picture post once we get to Maryland. There was no internet at Cedar Point.

Catch Up

Sorry it's been so long. We wanted to surprise my dad parents in Michigan and knew they were constantly checking the blog. Now...time to catch you all up.

Day 28
We entered into the upper peninsula of Michigan this day. We toured an iron mine and drove around what used to be Sawyer air force base. Some of the buildings are now being used by the logging companies but the majority of the buildings are just standing empty. It was an erie sight to see, they just left and all left behind was the shell.

We went to Pictured Rocks national park. In the pictures that will be coming later today you'll see what that was like. We pulled over in Newberry, MI for the night.

Day 29
We started off our day at Oswald Bear Ranch. We were able to feed them and watch the cubs play. If you're ever in that area, it's worth a stop.

We then drove up to the border to Sault St Marie. We watched ships use the locks to go between lakes superior and huron. There is a 21 foot difference between the two.

Crossing the Mackinac Bridge was uneventful. A mile above the water, clear sky, and no wind. Zed had no issues pulling it over.

We walked around Sleeping Bear Dunes and finished the day east of Traverse City.

This day We drove through the bear and moose capitals of Michigan and the trout capital of the nation.

Day 30
Our first stop was the Fisherman's shrine. It was A fountain with a giant trout in it. We also stopped to see a giant sitting lumberjack.

We had breakfast at Dawson's cafe. It is an old fashioned diner that has coke things everywhere. It is also a bottle cap museum.

We continued east and stopped at a cheese factory in Pinconning. Zed was finally able to introduce me to cheese curds, they're not too bad.

We went and saw a tridge in midland and then set off for the Detroit temple. We dropped the camper first in Bay City at the state park. We did a session at the temple and then got to bed so we could wake up early and surprise the family.

Day 31
We got to Grannie and Pop-Pop Berthiaume's house around 1030. As we rang the door bell Aunt Cheryl walked up and didn't realize we were trying to get into her house. They were all very surprised when Zed and I showed up a day early.

We spent the day hanging out with them and getting Zed caught up on that side of the family.We finished the day by eating at a steak house and then returning to the campground.

Day 32
We went back to the grandparents house the next morning and spent more time catching up. My dad and sister came in and then we took everyone to check out the camper. We had a fun day and picked my mom up from the airport that night.

Zed and I went back to the camper and sat around the camp fire with my cousins who camped next to us. I went to bed early and Zed stayed up late with the guys hearing stories about my dad when he was younger.
Day 33
This day was reception number 2. It was a great time and I saw a lot of family I hadn't seen for about 6 years. Zed tried to keep up with names and how everyone was related and did a pretty good job at it.

While the adults relaxed we all went to the pool. One of my cousins taught Zed how to tread water and how to better do strokes to last longer. He's trying to get ready for survival training.

We spent more time at my grandparents house and headed back to the state park and sat around the fire again. We appreciate all the family who came to the reception, it was to see you all.

Day 34
Well, I'm caught up. It's today! We got the camper ready to pull out and went to spend some last hours with the grandparents, my aunt, and my uncle.

Zed and my dad were trying to fix their fence and during my grandfather lost the fight with the hose. Zed had to drive him to the hospital to get a few stitches. He's doing fine, but will get a cool scar out of the deal.

While at the hospital my dad got a call to grab me and go back to the camper. The local news was out there and wanted to hear about our travels and life as a new married couple. I picked Zed up from the hospital and we went to be interviewed.

After we hooked up and drove off. We're currently outside Ann Arbor and on our way to Sandusky, OH. We're going to Cedar Point, an amusement park, tomorrow.

When we park tonight, we should have internet and I'll post pictures from the past week.