Here are pictures taken during our trip around the United States in the summer of 2009.  We started in Dallas, Texas, drove to the Northeast then across the United States (more or less using I-80), and finished up with nearly three weeks in California before returning to Dallas.  The text with the photos will guide you through our cross-country experience.  Enjoy!  (Please note: pictures were selected based upon quality and story continuity.  At some of our stops we failed to take any pictures at all, so there are some gaps.)

We began our trip on June 8, four days after our girls' school let out for the summer. We packed ourselves into a Chevy Prizm and hit the road shortly after 8:00am on Monday morning. Our first stop was just outside of Memphis, staying with a family who has housed us since Mark was single. Unfortunately, we failed to pull out our camera, so we have no record of our first night on the road.

June 10: Our second stop was in Blacksburg, Virginia, where Virginia Tech is located. We stayed with a couple who welcomed us into their home last November when we traveled to Mark's mother's house for Thanksgiving. Here, Bonnie is posing with our hostess, Rosemary, at the Virginia Tech gardens.

The girls enjoyed looking at the lily pads at the Virginia Tech gardens.

June 12: After visiting supporters in West Virginia, we arrived at Mark's mother's house in Sparta, New Jersey, on Thursday afternoon. This became our base of operations for trips to Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont.

Christina is blowing bubbles in the yard at grandma's house. Bonnie found bubble soap that stays intact even after the bubble lands on something. It's called "Grab a Bubble". We had lots of fun with it during our trip.

Theresa holding a handful of bubbles!

Dinner with Mark's sister and brother-in-law on his mother's back deck. Mark took the picture - his mother is camera shy.

June 19: One of our regrets with this trip is that we weren't consistent with photography. We failed to take any pictures during our time with our two supporting churches in Milford, MA, and Troy, NY. We did remember the camera when we made a quick trip up to Essex Junction, Vermont, to have lunch with our good friends, Mark and Teresa, and their two children (their daughter is pictured here - their son held the camera). Mark and Mark went to college together.

The drive up to Essex Junction from Troy, NY, took over four hours. We decided to try the Lake Champlain ferry route back to save time. We did shave off half an hour, but, more importantly, the girls had a blast!

Still on the ferry...

June 20: When we visited our supporting church in Troy, NY, we stayed with our good friend and supporter, Debbie, who showed us around the Albany area. Our first stop was Cohoes Falls. We also saw a lock of the Erie Canal and spoke with the lock operator, but we failed to pull out the camera for that.

This is Debbie with the girls at Cohoes Falls overlook.

We left the East on Monday, June 22, and drove across Pennsylvania to Mark's brother's house in North Canton, Ohio. When he came home from work, Christina had to check out his motorcycle.

June 23: We spent an extra day with Mark's family due to road fatigue, and Mark's sister-in-law, Sue, took us to see the McKinley Memorial near Canton. Here Sue and Bonnie are mounting the steps to the memorial where William McKinley and his family are buried.

Almost to the top!

The crypt where President McKinley and his wife are buried. Their two daughters are buried in the wall behind the crypt.

After seeing the memorial, we all went to a nearby park. (Yes, the bench is actually IN the water. The girls thought it was great!)

June 25: After a stop with supporters in Illinois, we drove to Papillion, Nebraska, where Bonnie's sister, Debbie, and her family live. Here the girls pose with four of her six children. We spent three days with them.

June 29: On the road again, staying with friends Bob and Shari in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Shari teaches keyboard playing, and their house was full of electric pianos.

Christina, tapping out a tune on one of their pianos.

Theresa on their organ.

June 30: Lincoln Memorial, I-80 rest area west of Cheyenne. The memorial was placed here because Lincoln championed a road across the U.S. This spot is also the highest point on I-80 at 8,250 feet.

July 1: We spent the evening of June 30 in Bountiful, Utah. The next morning, we drove past the Great Salt Lake and stopped for a photo op. The lake is hard to see, but, if you squint, it's sandwiched between Christina's head and the distant mountain,

The Bonneville Salt Flats, west of Salt Lake City, Utah. It took us at least an hour to cross them. This route was the "short cut" that tripped up the Donner Party on its wagon trek across the U.S. in 1846. (More on them later.)

July 2: After a stay in Carson City, Nevada, we drove across the Sierras to Lake Tahoe and stopped at a public access point on the Nevada side of the lake.

Beautiful Lake Tahoe. We drove all the way around the lake, but this is the closest we got to the water.

Posing at lake side. The water was cool and crystal clear.

Emerald Bay on the southeast corner of Lake Tahoe in California.

Posing at the Donner Memorial in Truckee, CA. Mark was briefly fascinated by the Donner Party tragedy and visited this memorial in 1996. The top of the pedastal is the height the snow reached in 1846 when the Donner Party was trapped in the Sierras on their way to the Sutter ranch in modern-day Sacramento.

July 3: We visited a supporter in Pacific Grove, California, and she treated us to a picnic on the beach at Monterey. This picture was taken of Monterey Bay from the beach. Note the seal on the rock near the middle of the picture. There were several more just to the right.

After our picnic, we drove inland a few miles to meet with one of our prayer warriors, Fr. Paul, at a school near Monterey.

July 4: For the 4th of July, we spent the day with our friend, Cathy, in the high Sierras. After visiting her mountain cabin in Arnold, CA, we took a walk through Calaveras Big Trees State Park and enjoyed the sequoias.

It is nearly impossible to get a decent picture of a sequoia, but here is my attempt. I (Mark) can't get enough of these trees.

Here is the bottom of one of the sequoias with the girls alongside for contrast.

July 7: After speaking at Brownsville Lutheran Church in the Sierras, we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge on our way south to Santa Maria, our next stop in California.

While we were in California's Central Coast region, we stayed with Joe and Carol, old friends of Mark's from when he served in the USAF at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Joe and Carol were instrumental in arranging a meeting with the missions committee at Orcutt Presbyterian Church that led to this church taking us on as new missionaries.

July 9: We drove back and forth between Santa Maria and Lompoc to visit several friends. One of our stops was at La Purisima, a California mission restored by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930's. This is the only California mission owned by the state.

The girls enjoyed petting the donkeys at La Purisima. The mission keeps a selection of farm animals that were part of the mission culture back when it was established in the 1700's.

A bull at La Purisima. The girls didn't pet this guy.

A replica of a Chumash Indian hut at La Purisima. The Chumash Indians were native to the Central Coast of California. This mission was established primarily to confer upon them the benefits of European civilization, but, in the end, disease and secular government policies nearly wiped them out.

Christina with horse, La Purisima Mission. Christina loves horses, and this one was very obliging.

La Purisima Mission, entrance to the cemetary. The mission is a popular subject for local artists because of the extraordinary colors of sky and building.

The bell tower, La Purisima Mission. The last time I took this picture was in February 2005, and the grass was a beautiful green. This is what it looks like after four months of no rain.

Flower fields, Lompoc. The Lompoc valley used to be a patchwork quilt of multi-colored flower fields back in the days when three different seed companies grew flowers there. Now, there are very few fields still cultivated for flowers.

Flower fields, Lompoc. We drove all over the valley looking for fields, and we found a few. Mostly, we saw lots of broccoli and other green vegetables.

Blue lupines, Lompoc, CA

Posing with friends Dick and Joan at their home in Lompoc.

July 10: While Joe and Carol were watching our girls, we celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary at A.J. Spurs, Santa Maria.

July 13: Our next stop after leaving Santa Maria was Santa Barbara. While killing time before a dinner engagement, we stopped at the wharf and looked around. Here are Bonnie and the girls posing at the dolphin fountain at the entrance to the wharf.

Seagull, Santa Barbara wharf. I love birds. More to follow.

At the end of the Santa Barbara wharf, watching a large boat leave the harbor. It was a perfect day.

The girls spent an hour playing on the beach to the left of the wharf. The ocean was cold, but they didn't seem to mind. Another family with similar-aged children came up next to us, and, in striking up a conversation with them, it turned out that one of our workmates serving with Wycliffe in Cameroon is a member of their church. Small world!

After playing in the water, we walked down the beach and saw pelicans, seagulls, and other shore birds hanging out at a little estuary.

A flock of black skimmers were part of the bird gathering. They're only supposed to winter here.

After our fun on the beach, we got back in the car and drove up State Street in Santa Barbara, taking a detour to see the Mission. This one is owned and run by the Catholic Church. Part has been converted into a museum and is open to the public, but mass is still held in the chapel.

We ended the day having taco salad with suppporters Dick and Nan at their home in Goleta, CA. Afterward, we spent the night in Ventura on our way to our next stop, La Crescenta.

July 14: For our last full week in California, we stayed with Will and Jane and their four children in La Crescenta, a northern suburb of Los Angeles. Here our girls are playing dress up with the two daughters. We had several people to see in the L.A. basin, and Will and Jane's house made an excellent home base. We've stayed with them many times.

July 15: The campus at Cal Poly in Pasadena. The television series "Numbers" does location shooting here. The supporters who gave us our laptop computer treated us to a wonderful meal at the Athenaeum dining club on campus.

July 14: A supporter in Glendale, California, played the harp for us during our visit.

Christina as seen through the harp strings.

July 18: On Friday, our friend, Linda, provided us with passes to see the Los Angeles zoo.

We saw a lion...

... and giraffes...

... and gorillas...

... and a peacock that even spread its tail for us (just seconds before this photo was taken. Really.)

Christina and an orangutan had a staring contest.

We even saw an armadillo. We had to drive all the way from Dallas to Los Angeles to see one, even though they are native in Texas.

The girls got to pet a snake. We also saw koualas, kangaroos, cuckaburras, a hornbill, gazelles, flamingos, an alligator, and lots of other creatures that didn't photograph as well. Overall, despite the length of time we spent on the road and staying in strange homes, the girls kept occupied and had an enjoyable time. This was an answer to prayer!

July 19: Our last speaking engagement was at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Ventura, California. Fr. Jerry welcomed us warmly and invited us to speak at both services and the Adult Forum. We were well received.

During the Adult Forum, we used a map of Cameroon to point out where translation work was taking place. This photo was taken by Don Anderson, a member of St. Paul's who took many pictures and a video to record our visit.

July 21: Troy and Vivian put us up at their home in El Paso on our last night away. They have eight children (and one on the way!)

Just before we left El Paso for our last drive of the trip, the girls had a bounce on the trampoline with some of the children we were staying with. A good ending to a good trip around the U.S.