It’s true.  We made it home safe and sound and happy to be here.  Read the kids’ reactions to coming home below.  And thanks for keeping up with us while we journeyed.  Your comments were enjoyed and your prayers were felt and appreciated.  But we missed you, so give us a call.  We’d love to visit.          Karl & Julia

We woke up in Lynnwood and drove for around 1 hour and 58 minutes until . . .there it was, Canada BC 176 Street / Pacific Hwy / Hwy 15. Meanwhile rejoicing, clapping and cheering we drove onto the driveway and . . . worked. I had a great day!

We are home now! I’m so happy! Everything looks so big! I just can’t believe I’m finally home! I can’t wait to see all of my friends! As soon as I got into the truck this morning, I felt a tight feeling in my stomach. I usually get that when I’m excited. We had the Bartram parents over today. It was good to see them again. Jamie-Lynn

We woke up at around 8:00 in the morning already knowing we wouldn’t be making it to church. After about half an hour of getting ready we started the drive home. It was kind of bittersweet to think about it. On the one hand it would be good to be home and to start our lives again. On the other hand the trip of a lifetime, the most amazing experience I would ever have was over. The places I’d been, the sights I’d seen, the people I had met. It was going to be over. It would become a memory and it would no longer be a reality. But all the same, I would be home. I would get to see friends and family, and I would maybe be able to start swimming again. So I enjoyed thinking about being home, but thinking ending the trip was a little harder. It had been an amazing trip, and I would never forget ti but it was for those reasons that I found it hard to think about when it would end. The drive to the border took a little over two hours and during the drive my excitement was building up. It was a very beautiful drive but I hardly noticed any of it. I kept looking for signs that mentioned anything that was familiar to me. We saw signs for Vancouver quite a few times, but when I saw a sign that sayed Peace arch I knew we were very close. Soon after we took an exit and drove through an area that I recognized from our other trips into Washington. I now knew that about a mile directly to our left was home. Now my stomach was quivering with excitement. We turned left and in the distance I saw our hill. The hill that led straight up from our house. We also saw the border crossing pretty much right in front of us. I could barely contain my excitement! We got to the border, we gave the guy our passports, told him where we’d been and then we were in Canada! And of course only a quarter of a mile up 176th st. and we were home!! The first thing we saw was the welcome home sign on the entry-way door. Then we saw the christmas light on, and of course we saw the whole house from the blue garbage can out front to the swing in the backyard. It might’ve been freezing cold, but it was good to be home.

“This is home, I’m finally where I’m belong, where I belong, yeah this is home.” –Switchfoot

That is so true. It feels so good to be back home. Although it is a bittersweet feeling. The trip was amazing, I would never ever regret it, but I couldn’t do it full time. Always moving around for my whole life. I would meet lots of people and see lots of places, but I wouldn’t make any strong lasting friendships, and I would always have to leave them. This is why I’m happy to be home because it is where my heart is and where I feel the best and the most right. Not to mention loved. So I thank God for my experiences and I thank him for bringing me back. Hallelujah, Amen.

 

William Randolph Hearst, Newspaper editor, art collector and lord of a private museum. When he started building in 1919, the plans looked quite different then from what his house looks like now. His architect, Julia Morgan, one of the first female architects, was always changing her plans according to his changing mind. The rose garden that was never actually a rose garden, but was instead substituted for a large outdoor pool. The pool was enlarged and changed three times. And the layout was shifted to accommodate the statues and roman ruins arriving from Europe.

The ranch is situated on the highest most central peak in San Simeon, California. Giving a view of the coast as well as the lighthouse, and anything within 40 kilometres from all directions. Hearst wanted to be able to see all that he owned. Most of the animals in the private zoo roam the land, such as indigenous and foreign grazing animals as well as wild tropical carnivores. A two and a half kilometre pergola hugs the hill and weaves past many of the animal shelters. Beautiful grapevines and fruit trees caress the pergola as well as dot the landscape.

The ranch has 168,000 square feet and is artistically filled with all of Hearst’s most prized possessions, his antiques and art collection. Collecting has been his passion since he was a boy. Tapestries, statues, paintings, Persian carpets, lamps, urns, you name it. An Egyptian statue is slightly out of place, but defiantly antique. It dates back to more than 3500 years ago. The entire residence is the perfect showcase for his renascenc mind.

Hearst certainly knows the meaning of expensive taste, 24-karat gold tiled floor in the indoor pool. Gold gilded ceilings and mouldings in the guesthouses. Guest houses that the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Bob hope, Winston Churchill, and Marilyn Monroe enjoyed, as well as countless others who came to visit during the summer weekends. Even children sometimes came with their famous parents to enjoy his summer home.

Unfortunately, Hearst left his castle, as the locals call it, for the last time. A stroke this past summer forced him to the city hospital. He was insistent on returning. However, another stroke prevented that. The doctors have concluded that it is unsafe to ever return again. All though it has been nearly two decades since Hearst started building, he claims it still unfinished. No doubt it will never be fully satisfactory to Hearst’s ever changing mind.

Another early morning for Mr. Mouse. But of course he would need the extra time if he was going to get all his jobs done perfectly. If only he knew what time it was! However it’s kind of hard to tell the time when your watch is in the hands of hyperactive monkeys that are one 120 times bigger than you.

His jobs were easy (thankgoodness for that) but it was the getting to them that was the hard part. He had 3 main jobs (and no minor jobs). The first and foremost was feeding his family. This was the most fun.

Second on the list was an odd one. He had to be the gorilla’s conscinece for a couple of hours. This one was important because he decided ot take the day off once and the gorilla had a fit. Then after the fit he wouldn’t eat, and he refused to sleep. So Mr. Mouse ended up going out in the middle of the night to be his conscience. He learned his lesson that time.

His third job, though it was still important, he did mostly out of compassion rather than because he had to. This job was to keep the oldest elephant company, and scratch his head. The same day he didn’t do his job with the gorilla, he also didn’t do his third job and the poor elephant got sick and his head became so itchy it swelled up.

Besides his job, he knew only a couple of animals. The monkeys, these were the animals that gave him the hardest time, hence the loss of his watch. Then there was the polar bear. Because he lived so close to the elephants, Mr. Mouse began to get to know him as he made his way past every day.

His nest was in the lion’s cage, which was dangerous, but it was the most natural habitat for him and the lions didn’t know about it. However, today he would have to be extra careful because the male lion was sleeping two feet from the nest.

As Mr. Mouse tiptoed past the lion, he thought of how he was going to keep- the gorilla happy. There were usually only three things on his mind. Food, drink, and weird creatures that walked by staring at him. So Mr. Mouse’s job was to keep his mind on the weird creatures walking by until food came.

He safely made his way through the lion’s cage and out onto the sidewalk where all the weird creatures walked. The creatures wouldn’t come out until an hour from now so Mr. Mouse had safe passage to the gorilla. He passed a couple of birds and a weird rock-jumping animal. He was coming close to the escalator when he passed the sleeping wallabies. He hopped onto the escalator and rose quickly up to the monkey trail. Here he would have to be careful, because the monkeys still knew who he was. He passed an aviary and started out on the monkey trail. The first monkey cage was empty, and the next one the monkeys were fast asleep. The one after that, the one he had to go through, had lively and playing monkeys jumping around.

He crept through the bars and passed through a little bit of underbrush. Then he found himself on the edge of a large clearing right under the largest monkey. He would have to make a break for it. One, two, three! He sprinted (scurried) as fast as he could, but the monkey still caught sight of him. All three monkeys were chasing him now, swinging through the trees as he tried desperately to get to the other side of the cage. Just a little more. And just as one of the monkeys tried to jump him, he made it. Thank goodness.

Because he had run through the monkey cage, he was early for the gorilla and the gorilla was still asleep. So Mr. Mouse just sat and waited, watching the weird creatures slowly trickle in.

Once the gorilla showed signs of waking, Mr. Mouse quietly got up and climbed onto the gorilla’s left shoulder (his right ear was deaf). Obviously the first thing the gorilla said was, “Food?” But Mr. Mouse quietly and soothingly said,

“Food does not exist right now.” And the gorilla said,

“Conscience?” So Mr. Mouse said,

“Yes, your conscience is here like always. Here to lead you, to guide you, to where you want to go.”

“Where do I want to go?”Mr. Mouse almost said,

“I don’t know. Its not like I’m in your brain.” But then realized that technically speaking, he’s actaully a part of the gorilla’s brain. So instead he said,

“You want to go where your conscience will lead you.”

“Oh. So where does my conscience want to lead me?” Mr. Mouse had to think about that one.

“It doesn’t matter right now. What matters is how you feel.”

“I’m hungry.”

“Thats not possible. Hunger only exists when food exists, and food does not exist right now, so hunger cannot exist.”

“What?”

“Never mind.”

“I’m thirsty.” the gorilla says. And so the conversation between the gorilla and Mr. Mouse just went on an on like that until finally food came and Mr. Mouse said,

“Your consciensce must go now. Goodbye.” But the gorilla didn’t hear him.

Next stop Mr. Mouse would have to find food for his family. Every day after the Gorilla, he would stop in the employees lunch room for the Janitor’s cheese which he had in his lunch every day. Thankfully the janitor had a low IQ which gave Mr. Mouse the advantage of being able to steal cheese without the Janitor realizing it was being stolen.

Like all his other jobs, getting to them was the hardest job. Sneaking all around made him feel like a detective. First animal he passed, the Zebra’s. Beautiful creatures but kind of boring to look at. Next animal with lots of the wierd creatures crowding around was the hippo. Big feller, but bad manners. And the only view you get is usually his backside. But they’re interesting animals and you could watch them all day. Then there were all sorts of deer.Some of them had wierd names, like the tiny little one called a dik dik. Kinda makes you wonder how he could’ve gotten a name like that.

After passing the quiet, pacing hyenas Mr. Mouse finally reached his second destination. He slipped through the door, scurried across the linoleum and climbed up onto the table where the Janitor’s lunch box sat waiting for him. He opened the latches, climbed in and… no cheese. How could that be?

He climbed out of the lunch box and looked around. There it was! Behind the lunch box with the container’s lid propped open. That must mean must mean the Janitor already started his lunch. Mr. Mouse had to hurry! He quickly grabbed enough pieces for everyone and made his way back down to the floor.

But just as he reached it he heard the sound of rushing water, a door closing and the heavy footsteps of the Janitor. He hurriedly hid behind the nearest garbage can, being careful not to drop any cheese. The Janitor sat down grabbed his crackers, and then saw the cheese.

“Oh no, Gracie forgot to pack me extra cheese.”

‘funny how that seems to happen everyday.’ Mr. Mouse thought. While the Janitor focused on his lunch, Mr. Mouse focused on getting out of the lunch room. once again he crossed the linoleum to the exit where he got back out into the main zoo.

His last job, the elephant. The elephant was really close to the lions, so he could deliver the cheese before his last job. On his way there he passed the reptile house. Ugh! Those green slithery things were creepy. But that was probably because he knew that each and every one of them saw him as a delicious meal. He came up to his friend the polar bear but decided against talking to him when he saw the shredded bone in his teath and blood on his fur.

He ran across the walkway just as one of the big honking tour buses came through. Those things were very loud, but the wierd creatures seemed to be having a good time. He just kept moving until he passed some wierd looking vulture-like birds, and after that he got to the lions where he dropped off his families dinner and enjoyed his own meal. His last job with the elephant would go on until the old guy decided to go to sleep. This could mean he would be home early or late. Recently the elephant had been sending him home quite late and Mr. Mouse hoped he could be home early today.

When finished with supper he said goodnight to his kids and found his way to the elephant. However when he got there he found the elephant on his side fast asleep! Thankgoodness! He quickly ran back home and went to bed. But as he reached up to take off his tie he discovered that it was missing! It must of come off in the monkey cage. Oh no! The monkeys had his tie and his watch now!

THE END

Black, white and grey
Orca and bottlenose,
Leaping, walking, splashing
eager to please.

Black, white and yellow
Empire, king and macaroni
Waddling, diving, swimming
Squabbling.

Black, white and ivory
Sea lion, beluga and polar bear
Sleeping, resting, lumbering
Gigantic.

Black, white and grey
Commerson’s dolphin and shark
Shy, playful, dangerous,
Ominous.

Red and yellow, black and white
They are precious in His sight
How I love all the animals in the sea.

Although I can’t complain much about our beachfront location, the reason for our being here is a little unhappy.  We pulled out of our overnight accomodation (a truck stop) this morning and the brake light came on, indicating we had a brake problem.  We immediately pulled over and Karl saw that we were low on brake fluid, so he added the little bit that he had and we turned into town to find a brake shop.  Fortunately we were near a fairly large town and found a Midas shop easily.  The one hour inspection took nearly two and we were told we had a ruptured brake line  (steel) and would need a new one fabricated (the local GM dealership doesn’t even carry it).  So we kicked our BCAA coverage into gear to get our trailer towed to a campsite and rent a minivan so we can still get around.   It turned into one of those, pay now and hope they reimburse you later situations.  Whether they will or not is dicey since they are willing to tow your trailer if they also have to tow your motor vehicle, but since we drove it to the mechanic ourselves . . .who knows for sure.  I did point out to them that we saved them a tow bill, but nevertheless, we are a little on pins & needles about it.  The rental car & camping fee should be covered since we have trip interruption coverage, but those little loopholes drive me nuts.  And are the main reason which I prefer to avoid insurance unless necessary.  In this case, since we regularly lock our keys in the car, leave the dome lights on or run out of gas, BCAA is necessary for us. 

But while researching our BCAA coverage (thanks for the help, Hester), I realized that our travel medical insurance for this trip ran out at the end of November.  Oops.  In order to get it extended after it expired, we have to get special approval and then endure a 48 hour waiting period, by which time we’ll be home, so until we get home we are without medical coverage!  EEK!  So please pray for us that nothing terrible happens and we arrive home without any incidents which would require medical treatment.

Oh and, later this afternoon, the mechanic called and said that the other brake line is about to go so he has to replace both.  Better now than discover it while driving!  God has been very good in making sure we discover problems before they become endangering, so we need to be thankful for that.  The bill for the brake lines is much smaller than we anticipated we might spend if we dropped an engine or transmission on this trip, so thats something to be thankful for as well. 

At this point, now, though, we are eager to get home.  We have nothing much planned for the next 3 days except to drive, so we just kind of want to get it over with.  So hopefully we’ll be on our way tomorrow.

You are reading the Arizona Bestseller Grand Canyon report! The Grand canyon scientists have dug up some new pieces of information and it is our job to keep you updated on everything they find out, so now you are reading the Arizona bestseller!
The Grand Canyon was formed by the Colorado river, if you’ve heard of the Colarado river you might also have heard that it is one of the fastest rivers in the world because it drops up to 10 ft per mile.
To make the Grand Canyon, the Colarado river cut through some rock and, as it did that, the sides fell in and got washed away by the Colarado making the Canyon bigger every year. As of right now the Grand Canyon is 10 miles wide at the rim and around 3000 ft deep. William never thought we could see past 10 miles! We stopped at some view pionts along a 30 mile stretch, and we probably hadn’t even seen half of it!
The North rim erodes more than the south rim because it is angled towards the Canyon and it has a higher annual rainfall.
There were lots of animals including, Mice, Lizards, Mountain Goats, Mountain Lions, Elk and Birds. I didn’t think I’d ever see a mountain goat, let alone 4! William didn’t think there would be mountain animals and Lizards in the area. We didn’t see any Mountain Lions. We only saw a sign that they were in the area.
And last but not least we shall describe what the Grand Canyon looks like.It is a hole with mountains, hills, cliffs, caves, and the Colarado river at the bottom. I can’t think of any other way to describe it, but it really was cool. by roving reporters, Jamie-Lynn & William