Wise Verson of the National Lampoons trip to VA/DC

Okay, So the trip begins. 3:58p.m. August 1st. We are all loaded and PACKED into
the TRUCK! Yes, I said truck. We are loaded from front to back. We are also
pulling Dusty's brothers Car. I am so excited about this trip I have never been
to Virginia nor Washington D.C before. I can't wait to see what is in store for
all of us.

It is now 5:39 p.m. and everything is going great! The kids are doing okay and I
am so excited about my news of going to Africa in November that I can not even
think about being in a TRUCK. I am pondering of how I will raise the money to
go to Africa. Man, God is so great. If you seek with all your heart, and simply
ask it of God with a pure intention it will happen in His time. I have waited
almost 2 years! And I am so excited for this opportunity.

7:12 p.m. We have stopped and gotten dinner (to go of course) at Chick-fil-a.
Everyone is doing great! Praise God! Once again "ask and you shall receive".We
are making amazing time, considering we are in a TRUCK and pulling a car behind
us. I believe we are about to watch a movie and chill out for a little while. I
am going to try and stay awake during the movie, I am sure it should not be
hard considering there will be 4 of us in the back seat (Dusty, Christian,
Emma, and myself).
9:10 (8:10 Mississippi Time) we are in Atlanta, GA. I am beginning to reach the
point of "ok I just want to get out of this vehicle". FYI the movie we were
going to watch last time I wrote, we couldn't the inverter would not fit into
the lighter in the truck. That stinks. Oh well, who needs TV anyway? It only
takes time away from family. We are going to drive until about 11:45 (10:45
sippi time) and stop for the night in Greenville, North Carolina....

10:33 (9:33 sippi time) I am completely ready to get the crap out of this
TRUCK!!! I am tried and ready to be free, and have room to stretch out. We just
stopped at a rest stop and Al (Dusty's dad) started driving off with me not
even in the truck. ugh. Where oh Where is Greenville South Carolina? It's not
coming up fast enough. Thank goodness I have this computer so I can get back
some what of some sanity. well, i am so so so so so so tired. with 60 yes 60
miles left.

FINALLY... FINALLY... one more time FINALLY!!!! 11:35 (10:35 ms time) we are
here!!! I am so tired, and oh so ready for bed. Christian is staying with Dusty
and I while Emma is staying with Nana and Pops. This trip so far has been
great. The best trip BY FAR with our niece and nephew. They have been such
great troopers. Christian and Dusty just love to be with each other. It so
sweet. Christan LOVES him, and the same in return from Dusty. ok GOOD
NIGHT!!!!!!

Saturday Morning, starts EARLY!! We woke up at 6:20 (5:20 MS time) we only had
time to get up and change clothes run down for breakfast and get out and on the
road. It is now 7:30 (6:30), As we were leaving the hotel, Christian noticed
that he forgot his computer and cell phone, meanwhile I had already packed and
loaded it. When we left I asked Christian if he had an amazing aunt, he said
"NO",then I showed him his computer and said what about now, he said "yes". So
as of now we are sitting at a gas station pumping diesel. Everyone is happy and
ready to be there, esp. ME! I can't wait, the second day is always the
toughest. Al and Laney have been so great. Al is so passive and nothing bothers
him unless he thinks we were not going to leave on time, then he kinda get
squirmy. Laney is just chillin like a villain.

9:39 a.m. (8:39) I have fell asleep and now I am awake. Christian fell asleep on
me and now he is asleep on Laney. I woke up with a numb arm and a cracking
neck. Al is still driving. Dusty has offered several times but Al just wont
budge. Little E (Emma) has stayed awake the WHOLE time, I am telling you these
kids have been awesome troopers. When I was there age I was going crazy by now,
but no they are doing just fine. I have no idea as to where we are right at
this point but on the radio it says Charlotte,NC. Dusty just informed me that
we have already gone through it though. I think we are going to stop again
sometime soon, Laney has requested a bathroom break. I don't see how she has
enough to pee out but ya know "to each his own". All we have seen are a bunch
of trees and I caught myself thinking I thought it was supposed to be a
beautiful country and all I see is trees. Then I thought HELLO REBECCA THIS IS
BEAUTIFUL!!! GOD MADE EVERYTHING BEAUTIFUL. I am should be glad that God made
the trees and that there are not just tons of buildings everywhere. So yes, I
am thankful to be able to eyes to see and air to breathe. It is amazing how God
can revel Himself to you through even the simplest of things. I am tasting
asphalt, which is a bit nasty, and thats thanks to iron pills. ok enough for
now will write in a little bit. I am loving keeping this journal! By the way
Christian is still asleep.

10:20 a.m. (9:20) We stopped for a bathroom break. Dusty and Laney switched
seats so now it's AL, Emma and Laney in the front, and Dusty, Christian, and
myself in the back seat. It is a LOT more peaceful with Dusty and Christian
separated. But, this gives them a chance to be together. We are now in
Greensboro, North Carolina. We are still making good time. Peedee (the GPS)
says we will arrive at 2:02 p.m. Life is good and loving it!

11:51 a.m. (10:51) Now I am ready to get out. My butt is extremely numb. I think
I lost feeling about 45 minutes ago. I have been playing spider on the computer
to try as pass the time the only problem with that is the computer will
eventually die. We are going to stop soon to get lunch! we are all in need of
of break.

12:57 (11:57) We have just eaten lunch. Dusty is now driving, which makes me
extremely nervous because he does not pull trailers often and when he does it
is a smaller trailer without a antique car on it. You can tell that everyone is
beginning to get quite touchy. Everyone is ready to be there. I can't believe
we have made it this far and we are all still alive. Another Praise to God! Our
ETA is 2:42 now. oh I am so so so ready to be there. It is now Dusty, Christian
and I upfront and Laney, Al, and Emma in the back.

2:35 (1:35) OK... UGH... UGHHHHHH this is me screaming!!!! We were doing just
fine, oh but that was not good enough! See just when you get comfortable God
throws a detour in your way to remind you that He is in control. Well, for us
we just had to take a detour because the traffic was getting to heavy. Dusty
also gets very nervous with cars all away around him. With our detour we added
11 minutes to our trip. Are you kidding me? I know this has got to be a joke,
but oh no its not. I mean We were so close and now we have an extra 11 minutes.
I mean what do you do but smile. Stay quite and smile when needed. I am even
more in need of getting there.

Well today is Sunday. We arrived yesterday about 3:01 (2:01)! After unloading
the car, and unloading the luggage we set off to tour Colonial Williamsburg. It
was pretty neat, all the old historical places, houses, people dressed up like
the original people would have been. Really neat. Once again today is Sunday,
we Went to church with Robbie and Danna at KingsWay Church. A little different,
but whatever. After church we came home and ate lunch then just about everyone
took a nap then we woke up and went to tour Jamestown but when we (Robbie,
Danna, Selena, Al, Dusty, and myself) got there it was about 15 minutes until
they closed so we were unable to go on a tour. Instead we went to Yorktown
Victory center and saw the monument that is there and took a few pictures
around the neat little town. I am having a blast. The kids are still doing
wonderful besides just the "kid actions", but all together GREAT with a capital
G!

Today (Monday) we spent ALL day at Busch Gardens. We had an amazing time there.
Christian and Emma would not ride anything. It was pretty sad. I was a bit
upset with them because it cost so much to get in and then all they did was sit
around. Oh well, their loss. Today was very hot and I am ready for bed.
Goodnight

WOW!!!! Is all I have to say about today. AL, Robbie, Diane, Dusty, and myself
went to Washington D.C. it was amazing. We walked some 900 miles (not really
but it sure seemed that way I mean at least 20). It was great. The first thing
we did was ride the Sub to the Arlington Cem. While we were there we were
able to see the Tomb of the unknown solider and the changing of the guards.
Both were really neat. We also saw J.F.K's graveside as well as his family
buried beside him. It was amazing to see all the crosses that went on for
miles and miles. There was also a funeral going on while we were there. My
heart was sad for the family. I believe that it was a General or something, but
don't know for sure. Then after leaving Arlington Cem. we WALKED to the
Lincoln Memorial and the Mall, then WALKED to the Vietnam Memorial then the
Washington Memorial, then WWII Memorial then we walked to the Smithsonian castle
(Robbie and I were the only ones that went in this, the others sat on the grass
to rest). After the Smithsonian Castle we went to the Capital Building for a
tour, on our way there we saw some police so of course I had to get a picture
with them for my dad. The tour was amazing. Our tour guide was from
Coolsprings, MS her name was Haley this fall she will be a senior at Ole Miss.
We all thought at one point she would get us kicked out of the Capital for
arguing with a police officer. We got to view lots of cool things, and see
where the United States began. Our entertainment was watching the "walk" and
"don't walk" signs and waiting for them to go out. As we approached them we
could see that they were about to run out so we would say "run" and all of us
would start running across the street (I am sure we did not look like we
weren't from there) then another thing that was funny is when we were leaving
Washington trying to get on the Subway, Al told us we needed to get on one Sub,
so all 5 of us get on then when we are on we realize we are on the wrong one so
Al says for us all to get off, and this decision was made in like 5 seconds
because the door does not stay open very long. So funny. We had a wonderful day
and I am so glad that the weather was so beautiful. Thank you Lord.

So today is Wednesday, We drove to Richmond to visit some of Al and Laney's old
friends. They adopted one of their foster babies. After leaving there we drove
back to Williamsburg and went to the Yankee Candle Company, this was really
neat. Then we all went to CheeBurger CheeBurger for lunch. I got a horrible
bloody nose then we left and forgot about Arlon. We all walked out and were
about to split into our different cars then Laney said "Where's Arlon" we all
realized that we had left him and everyone laughed. After lunch we went to the
candy store (everything was expired) then Dusty, Laney, Diane and myself went
to a few thrift shops. That was okay, but their thrift shops are not good like
the ones in Memphis, but it was fun anyway. When everyone got home we all kinda
chilled out some and ate dinner at home. The boys went to a near by pond that
is almost completely dried up and came back to the house extremely muddy. It
was a "boys will be boys" moment. Great day.

Today we go home. It is Thursday and we are heading home. We got in the truck at
8:07a.m. And Al was doing a wonderful job of driving me crazy, he was rush,
rush, rush. But I was not interested in hurrying. The more he mentioned it the
more I wanted to slow down. Now we are all in the truck and no one is talking
to anyone. Christian is so tired and Al is upset we left 7 minutes late, Laney
is chilling, Dusty is texting, and I am writing. I am so ready to get back
home. I want to go somewhere tomorrow since Dusty will be gone, but don't know
if I will or not. Enough for now.

It is now 9:30 p.m. and we have arrived home! HOORAY!! I have never been so excited to see my house before. The trailer that we were pulling had a light out so there was a dinging noise almost the whole ride back, which was only adding to Laney making noises with her mouth, Emma and Christian ready to get out of the truck and copying what Laney did. I was ready. Thank God we had a great time and made it home safely. This is our story through my eyes.