Last Day In Syracuse

These are pictures of our last days with Chris in New York, Sunday and Monday. We went to his school, got his apartment, played black light mini-golf, and pampered ourselves with earwax candles, pedicures, and mud-masks. (Chris participated in all but the nail-painting, hence the picture of his plain toes). Thank for taking the time to check out our pics!

Also, here are some videos of Chris' apartment. He got a studio. It reminds me of the displays in IKEA, where they show you how to live in 400 square feet of space. I hope Chris is not too cramped for the next year!

New Job

Well, this is just a quick note to say that Eric stared his new job today at Coso operating center, the geothermal plant. We are both very excited about it. He is not home yet, so I don't really know how his first day went, but I wanted to say thanks to everyone who was praying for him to find a new job. Even though we are not at Tahoe this year, I am very thankful for how God's plans are working out. He is taking care of us, all the time. Yahoo.

We have kind of done our life backwards, buying a house, having a baby, and then a new job, but it is all working out fine.

Also, pray for us because we are watching all of my mom's dogs, so we now have three dogs for the week! So far it is not too bad, and Schooner likes to have his friends over. He and Lucerne are tug-of-war maniacs, while Visa just barks at them. Fun times.

Baby Olson

Here is the first picture of our baby. It is 11-12 weeks old, and the doctor was unable to tell if it was a boy or a girl yet. One thing the doctor was very sure of is that there is only one baby there. All of you who were hoping for twins, still have something to hope for int he future. At the appointment, the doctor said everything looks normal and healthy, so that is great news.

Eric was able to go with me, and we both saw the baby on the ultrasound. It was very cool to see it moving and hear and see the heartbeat. Cool times.

Home Again, Home Again...

Well, this is just a quick note to say that we are home safe and sound. We did travel by plane, so many of you were correct. We arrived back in Ridgecrest from the airport around 5pm, and were greeted by many happy children and dogs. We went to Chinese dinner together, and are now just relaxing and hanging out together. Thank you everyone who prayed for us and enjoyed the trip through our blog. I loved having a reason to update the blog daily, but I fear that once life is back to normal, I won't have as much exciting things to post about. We do have a few more pictures to post, but I am not going to do it right now...so I guess you will still have to stay tuned.

For Timbra

Well, Timbra and Haley seem to be a little distressed about how we are getting home, but Timbra suggested another poll for everyone to do. Don't be alarmed, we do have a concrete plan for how we are getting home, despite what the poll results are going to be. Happy voting.

Day 5: Getting Wet at the Falls

Day 5: Niagara Falls

So Saturday was the final driving day. We left Erie after three of us slept in. Can you guess who was up with the sun and waiting for the rest of us? We drove to Niagara Falls. We thought that we would just be there for a few hours, but ended up staying all day. We had so much fun. Kelcey really wanted to do some activity that required a rain slicker like she had seen in all of the movies. We got to wear a blue slicker on the Maid of the Mist boat ride under the falls and a yellow slicker on the cave of the winds walking tour(this also came with complimentary Niagara Falls sandals made special for this hike). Needless to say she was very satisfied. We had a great time getting drenched by the waterfall. It is amazing how big they really are. It was a great day. There is not a whole lot more to say about this because the pictures really say it all.

Before we left we decided to catch the showing of the IMAX movie of Niagara Falls. There were too many people in line for us to get in the 7:00 show so we decided to wait for the final show that was at 8:00. We were afraid that we would lose our place in line so we sent a few out for coffees and decks of cards and Kim held our place in line. We played a few hands of Pay me while we were waiting. Finally the doors opened and a puny teenager stood on a chair and started yelling at the whole group that was waiting, that we had better not push them over when we were coming in or they would close the doors and no one would see the movie at all. Then he continued to berate the crowd and said "I don't know who is laughing, but it is not funny, it is not a joke!" Which really set the four of us off. We each were pretty sure that the comments were meant for us. When the movie finally got underway we were very disappointed and a little bit traumatized. In order for you to understand you'll have to see the film, but my advice would be to not take your kids. Here are our favorite parts from the movie.

Kim: Lelawana was going to be forced to marry the oldest man in the tribe who smelled like a bear in the springtime.
Chris: The steamboat Capitan braved the rapids and when he finally reached the bottom he asked the hillbillies that lived on the river there if they had any bailing wire to put his boat back together. They said they thought that the spirits sent him and the Capitan replied " Maybe they did Old Timer, maybe they did."
Kara: Annie Taylor, the first person to go over the falls in a barrel, took a black kitten with her. When they pulled her out at the bottom her kitten had turned white.
Kelcey: Was traumatized by the family that was out boating in the Upper Niagara when they had boat trouble and didn't get their oars out until they were at the Danger sign. The boat tipped over and the dad disappeared, while the kids tried to fasten their life jackets in the water as they were flailing and getting dangerously close to the edge. The daughter was pulled out at the last minute, but the son went over the falls and survived. Horrific!

We left there about 9pm and drove the rest of the way to Syracuse. We had a hard time finding a hotel because of the big car show(featuring Henry Winkler and Penny Marshall), but the John Milton Inn had one room left. We tried to ignore the smell of rotten eggs and went to sleep. We went to sleep wondering: "Is this the smell of a bear in the springtime?"

This morning we packed up and moved to our final hotel for this trip. We found a church to worship with this morning and great for us they were having their 3rd Sunday fellowship meal. It was hard to remember how to make normal conversation. Chris said that we have "Shipwreck syndrome" meaning we've been isolated from civilization for way too long only spending time with each other. It was good to be able to visit with them all and when one sweet lady found out that Chris was a sailor she assured us that she would take great care of him, because her husband had been a sailor too. She then ran right over to Chris and gave him a big hug. We told Kim absolutely no picture taking at church, so sorry no pictures here.

Today we checked into our new hotel (where we are so excited to get to stay for 2 nights in a row!) We relaxed today, watched movies, painted our toenails(not Chris though), swam, ordered pizza by the pool and are now playing a game of 10,000. We were just enjoying not being in the car. Tomorrow we will have more of the same I think, although Chris has to check in with the recruiter and get the keys to his apartment. It is the end of another good day.

Day 4: The Need for Speed, revised

Day 3: Revised version

Day 4: Results Revealed

Hello again to all the faithful few. Thanks for traveling along with us and sorry about not being able to post yesterday. The hotel we were staying in had technical difficulties, but it was the cheapest place we could find in Erie (and it was still the most expensive stay of this trip.)

For everyone who hasn’t figured it out, the ticket was (in fact) bestowed upon Kim Rush. We enlisted help to police a comment from Jason Harris this morning saying that he zoomed in on a photo and could see the name Rush on the ticket. It is fun for us that you guys were so into it, but we did not want the votes to get spoiled. The tears in Kelcey’s eyes were still there from the first pictures we tried to take when she could not stop laughing. (She is the worst at keeping a straight face under pressure. Has anyone ever played “Honey, if you love me. . . give me a great big smile” with her?) Kim was pretty shocked to get busted, and for the record this is her first ticket in the USA . . . so the only one provable. No tears or anything, but she did appear to be bribing the cop at first when she tried to give him her debit card. In her defense again (by the way, who do you suppose is writing the post tonight?) her picture is on her debit card and she never uses any of the cards in Mexico. Kara adds . . . “She just pays cash.” No comment.

So anyway, how about a report from yesterday? We were trying to cover a lot of ground at an appropriate speed. Not much happened until Kim was driving again and we zoomed past a huge, speedy go-kart track. We thought it would be a safe and cheaper alternative to exercise the lead feet we inherited from our mom, so we turned around and took our break speeding around the track. This was not very fun for Kara, who was already feeling worse yesterday (puke count up to a total of 11 plus it would not have been safe for Kumquat.) Needless to say she was pit crew and groupie all in one. This stop was especially for Chris, since we girls hijacked his trip.

Kelcey and Kim were feeling increasingly nervous after signing their lives away and watching the other racers speed past the pit. When it was our turn to go, Chris took the lead and almost immediately spun out off the track. The first real curve was a hairpin turn and these babies could fly. Kim heard herself squeal like a grandma and Kelcey’s stomach flip-flopped as she did a double-take flying by . . . “Was that Chris?” . . . followed by. . . “Could that be me?” In spite of the spin out, Chris managed to lap us both twice. By the end, we were at least not afraid to open it up on the straight-aways and had passed one another a couple of times. Kara was a really good sport. (To flash forward, we are happy to announce that she is feeling much better today. She is very tired, but really a trooper.)

The other highlight of the day was that we completed the black-out of our travel Bingo game when we spotted a hot air balloon basket in the back of a pick-up. We are five away from finding a license plate from every state. Mostly we have just enjoyed spending time together. There has been a lot of laughing and remembering of events that could have gone long forgotten had we not been able to put our heads together on this extended party. We are having so much fun. A special thank you again to our parents for keeping our kids, our husbands for letting us come and Chris for letting us all tag along.

Tomorrow we will add about today (Niagara Falls), but for now we wanted to let you know that we are safe in our destination of Syracuse, NY and have clocked in at a total of 2, 920 miles.

Ticket Teasers

Make sure to vote in the poll box to the right there.

We considered sharing some interesting tid-bits on the ticket. All of the following facts are true and happened exactly as I am reporting them here. The offender attempted to bribe the officer by first pulling out their debit card. Chris took out his (unsightly) earrings, in an attempt to "blend in " and then had the gall to ask the officer for a candid photo passing in the ticket. Kara actually got out of the car and threw up (probably from the stress). We think that is what brought out the second squad car. Kelcey repositioned her shoulder strap to go over her arm, livin' on the edge. Kim took the picture of the two squad cars through the back window.

So you do the math here, people. As the four musketeers, we disavow all knowledge of these actions. (Well, until tonight when you can check in for the big reveal. Sorry, this is as exciting as it gets.)

Eat your checkers!

Despite any misadventure today, we still are enjoying the trip.

We're Not in Kansas Anymore, Toto! - Day 3

So, this morning we left Colby, KS around 8:00am and we were making really great time until about 10:15 when we were nabbed by the Kansas State Trooper. While a polite man, he declined a comment for the blog and refused to be photographed for our memories sake. One of us got a ticket today, but it is up to you to vote on who you think it was. (Actual results will be revealed in tomorrow's post).

For lunch we stopped at the Cracker Barrel, where Kara and Kelcey cheated their way through a checkers game.

I am way more tired tonight that I was yesterday, thus this post is not as detailed or as funny.

We ended up in St. Louis, MS, after crossing into Illinois several times in an attempt to park by the arch. We watched the Cardinals game and the sunset from the top of the arch. (Ok, so we know it doesn't really count n the way of watching the game, but we did stand outside the stadium while the Cards won and fireworks were shot off). We hunted for an open Starbucks, but apparently, downtown St. Louis closes at 8pm, so we missed them all. For Eli's sake, we did photograph a St. Louis City mug through the window while the two workers inside just laughed at us.

We are now about 45 miles into Illinois, at an Econolodge, trying the rapidly finish this post so we can hit the sack. Good night, and good luck guessing who got nabbed.

Also, we have about 836 miles left to go until Syracuse, and we have over 2000 miles under our belts.

Road Trip

BLACHLY KIDS ROAD TRIP - Day 2

So we planned on clocking in all of our driving time, we got as far as Chris' first beginning time, 8:45 am on Tuesday, but never wrote down his ending time. I guess this trip is shaping up to be a classic Blachly trip!

We didn't plan out anything: not our stops for the night, not our fun detours, and we are open to suggestions, but sorry Timbra, 5 hours was a little to much out of the way this time.

Tonight we are staying in Colby, KS. Kara and Kelcey beat Kim and Chris in a race to the swimming pool! Yahoo! We have traveled a total of 1,342.5 miles, and 1,494 have miles left to go.



Some highlights from our trip so far include, taking tons of pictures in Zion National Park, and then that night not being able to upload any of the pictures, and today having to go to Geek Squad in Denver for some help. (Where we also learned my hard drive is doomed and on its deathbed! Maybe tomorrow, maybe next year, or maybe never!) Also, crossing 4 lanes of traffic to go see Buffalo Bill's grave, after singing the entire soundtrack to the best of our recollection, (acappella style) to Cabbage Patch Kids Adventure tape. We tossed money on the grave and got souvenirs for some the kids and a pressed penny for me.

Our side trip for yesterday was Zion Park; today was Buffalo Bill's grave, and who knows, tomorrow it might be the five legged steer, the World's largest prairie dog, or the badger petting zoo!

This morning, Green River, UT (where we stayed last night) received negative points for the local news, KJZZ Cafe, the headline stories included a Bear that broke into the Circuit City to steal an IPhone, which the played the security footage at least 10 times, over and over. Then they proceeded to zoom in on the newspaper's headlines for today's other top stories. But e ow know that one neighborhood is extremely upset that a crematorium went in in the field behind their homes.

While there are many more factoids we could include about the trip, I will wrap it up with an official stall count so far in Chris' manual transmission car:
Kelcey: 2
Kim: 1
Chris: 1*
Kara: 0

*Chris says, "I don't think mine should count. If we'd hit the guy, I wouldn't have stalled!"

In lieu of stalls, there is a puke count for Kara, which includes 3 from yesterday, and 0 for today! I didn't even wear my Sea bands today.

Our plan is to get up early to start another day of driving...St. Louis maybe?

BLACHLY KIDS ROAD TRIP - Day 1

So as you may have heard...the Chris is moving to New York for photography school. He was going to be traveling back there and his three sisters invited themselves to come along. Chris graciously allowed us to sign on for the trip. Yesterday was our first day of traveling we left Ridgecrest at about 8:45 am. Kim and Kelcey said goodbye to their kids as mom took them to the park so that no one would be sad as we left. We finished loading the car, posed for some pictures from our dad and then were off. We sang favorite songs, laughed and had a great time. We veered off course to see Zion National Park, and then back on the road. We made it to Green River, UT, just an hour and a half or so away from Grand Junction,CO, our intended destination for the night. We are trying to get out of our hotel and on the road this morning so this post is going to be short and sweet. We wanted to share the good time with you all.