The day has finally arrived for us to make our final leg of the trip home to MS. We allowed ourselves to sleep late (7 am) and I started the process of packing up from our hotel room to the car. After everyone was ready, tummies full from breakfast and the room checked at least 3 times we were finally in the car and ready to go.  As we drove out of St. Louis we said goodbye to it.  We really like it here and will most likely come back again for a visit.

This drive was a little more scenic than the KS drive. At least there were hills, rivers and farms not just corn.  As we started our drive it seemed like no one wanted to go home (except for Gretchen, of course). Before we had prayer we discussed how we needed to be thankful for a fun summer and all the things we had done/seen instead of wishing we were still there.  So I did a quick recap of our adventures this summer and here it is: St. Louis Arch, City Museum, Cedar Rapids Iowa, Mall of Americas (Lego Store), Visit with Family in MN,  boat ride down the St Croix River, Bad Lands SD, Rapid City SD, Mt Rushmore, Custer State Park, Helena MT, Helena Science Museum, Suburban Died, Antelope, Moutnain Lions, ACT at Carroll College, Deer, The Carousel, Carnival at the Klefner Ranch, Hiking, YorkFest, Hanneford Street Bible Church, Helena Pool, Big Fork, Flathead Lake, Going to the Sun Road, Glacier National Park, Avalanche Lake/Creek/Falls, Lake MacDonald, St Mary's Lake, Logan's Pass, Hiking in the Snow, BlackFeet Indian Reservation, Helena Forrest Fires, Helena Library, Black Sandy Beach, White Sandy Beach, Canyon Ferry Lake, Helena Farmers Market, KettleCorn, Mt Helena, deer, Helena town BBQ (really its a cookout), Fireworks at a private ranch, MacDonald Pass and Spring Water,  Fishing in the Boulder River, Rimini Ghost Town, Elkhorn Mountains and Ghost Town, Folf, Lime Kiln, Visit from Grandma, St Helena Cathedral, Trolley Ride, Ragtime at the GrandStreet Theatre, Mansion District, Gates of the Mountain,  Bald Eagles and Osprey, Bozeman, Huckleberry Jam, Museum of the Rockies, Montana State University (MSU), Madison Buffalo Jump, Bozeman Farmers Market, Helena Rodeo, The Painted Pot,  Symphony under the Stars, Bannack Ghost Town and Bannack Days, Grand Tetons in WY, Elk, Grizzly Bears, Deer, Yellowstone National Park, Old Faithful, Grand Prizmatic Spring, Boiling River, Firehole Canyon, Mammoth Hot Springs, Mud Volcano's, Dragons Breath Cave, Bison, Coyote, Yellowstone Lake, Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Upper/Lower Falls, Float down the Missouri River (twice), Great Falls, Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center, Deer, Montana History Museum, Wild West Fest at the Klefner Ranch, Flathead Cherries and Flathead Ranier Cherries (yum yum),  Peter and Heather visit, Lewis & Clark Caverns, 7 mile hike, Vigilante Creek, York Bar Burger (again),  Costco Lunches, Youth Group Wipeout and Youth Group Hike, Billings, Little Bighorn Battlefield, Denver, The McCunes, St Louis City Museum (again), BBQ in Memphis. Wow we did more than I thought!!

After a few hours and a couple stops we were in West Memphis and we stopped at Tops BBQ for lunch which was very good.  Our first place we stopped didn't look exactly safe so we found another place to go.  The closer we got we got weird mixed emotions from the kids. Caleb at one point was hugging all his MT stuff (that he had hung from the roof of the car) trying to remember the good times, Rebecca/Sarah kept asking to slow down and not to get there, Christina wanted to get home quicker,  Joshua was kind of in-between, and I had to strap Gretchen in the front seat to keep her from blowing the windows out with all her excitement.  Then the moment came and we turned onto the Natchez Trace Parkway. Caleb breathed a sigh because we were no longer between an elevation of 4200 and 5200 feet but at 300 feet.

Once we got in the house everything seemed to change. Everyone was all about unloading and seeing all the things we left behind and finding the things the Drydens had left accidentally.  The house looked great and was nice and cool. I have to say that the one thing I hated about being back was the humidity. I was sweating as soon as we got out of the car and started unloading.  Jewels, our lovely Golden retriever, was excited to see us and we were excited to see her as well.  I went out after a while and found the girls sitting on the front porch. Rebecca looked up and said "Dad its like MT was a dream we can't even remember what we did last week". 

By about 8 we were done unloading and filling the house up with all our Helena Stuff.  We finally settled down around 10 for bed. It was nice to be back in our own beds again. Home is where your family is and for 3 months we called Helena home but we are now back to our home in MS. Unfortunately I will be traveling back on Sunday so pray that my travel will taper off and I will be able to be "home" a lot more. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers over the last 3 months. Special thanks for the prayers for the last several days and our 33 hour car ride. This summer has been a wonderful time of togetherness for us as a family and we have gotten to see lots of God's kingdom we didn't know existed before.

This morning we woke up and got packed quickly so that we could get out of town by 8. Our goal today was to get to St Louis by noon so that we could spend 4-5 hours at the City Museum. We went there on our way out in June and the kids loved it so much that we added it to our trip home.  As planned we made it by Noon to our hotel.  Surprisingly our trip today was much more scenic and not as barren as Kansas.

Once at our hotel we checked in quickly, had a quick bite to eat and caught a shuttle to the museum.  This museum is great and it has an excellent set of outdoor activities. When we were here in June it was at night so even though you could do the activities you couldn't really grasp it all. However, in the daylight today it was awesome. Christina and Joshua had not done all the climbing outdoors last time but today they went for it. I even got into some of the climbing.

After about 2 hours outside we moved to the inside activites. Again the kids had a blast. They were climbing and going through tunnels that only little bodies can get through. There are caves, trees, slides, ceiling tunnels and tunnels under the floor. I think they did them all.  Yep they spent another 2 hours inside.

The museum closed at 5 pm. So we caught our shuttle back to the hotel hoping we could get some good St Louis BBQ but the place closest to the hotel was closed. So we just ordered some pizza. Once dinner was over the older kids wanted to do their exercise routine while me and the younger 2 went for a swim in the pool. The older ones went for a swim as well after their exercises.

Again by the time we were back in our room and showered it was time to settle down. So we got people to sleep in age order and settled in for the night. Again God gave us safe travels and a great time in St. Louis. Tomorrow we do our last stretch to MS.

This morning we awoke to the pitter patter of childrens feet and to find Christina gone again playing with the McCune children. Unbeknown to us AnnaBelle (the oldest McCune) had woken all of her siblings so that they could pair up with the Franklin kids and finish a movie they had started last night. The problem was this all happened at 6 am. Then AnnaBelle went to make us  breakfast (butterscotch pancakes) which were wonderful while her mom scrambled some home grown eggs.

After packing and helping get their house back in order we were off about 9 am. Chris had warned us how exciting Kansas was (NOT).  As always he was telling the truth. It was very flat country with lots of corn, wheat and sunflowers.  Our drive today was going to be around 9-9.5 hours and civilization was far and few in between.   We got to drive on the Eisenhower/Truman Parkway which is kind of ironic since one was a democrat and the other was a republican.  If we had more time we would have went to see the Eisenhower Library in Abilene, Kansas and the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri.  That was about the most exciting thing on the trip. Oh there were windmills as well which were not blowing.  We also got to see some of the blades from the windmillls being carried on a trailer down the highway and it gave us a good perspective on how big they really were.

As night grew on we ate in Topeka, Kansas our first really big city for the day.  After a nice dinner we kept moving. We passed through Kansas City, KS and MO. Our last stop was at our hotel in Independence, MO.  We were tired and glad we made it to our destination for the day. 

Finally, we are in the Central Time Zone again after 3 months.  We decided that even though it was only 10 pm MT we would go to bed anyways to get a good nights sleep so that we could get up early in the morning and head off to St. Louis, MO.

We awoke this morning to the chatter of children upstairs.  Joshua and Christina were talking with Samuel and Isaac. Soon after everyone was up and outside playing with the chickens and the guinea pig.  Yes living in downtown Denver our friends have these 8 chickens who rule their backyard.

After the excitement we all went in for breakfast.  Chris was off early to go be an apprentice to a beekeeper.  While he was goneLiz took us on a tour of downtown Denver.  First we went to REI and we are not sure we have ever seen so many fit people.  Afterwards we walked through the park and took a bus to the16th street outdoor mall.  There they have pianos On the sidewalks.  Rebecca And all the kids played.  Gretchen even got to play her favorite song.

Once everyone finished we got back on the bus and we headed back towards the park.  We got there and had a hot dog for lunch. Then the kids determined they wanted play in this downtown creek/rapids. This sounded like a good idea in the 95degreeheat.  Of course, most of them fell in and rode the rapids.  They had a blast.  We were a,little skeptical od the green moldy water but everyone seems to be alive.

Finally we got them all home and cleaned up.  Chris was back by then as well.  We spent the rest of the afternoon/evening catching up. What a wonderful gift that God has given us with friends.

After a good nights sleep we all got up and headed down to breakfast.  Breakfast is always the kids favorite time in a hotel.

We finally got out of Billings about 8:40 mt this morning.  The weather is beautiful today.  The drive through eastern MT is very different from western MT.  This part of the state is very flat and there are lots of farms or ranches.  So we got to see lots of wheat, beans and hay.  Square bales of hay here are huge compared to back home.

We got a surprise as we drove.  There was a sign for the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. So being the adventurers we are we stopped.  There is a military cemetery there as well.  We got to see a really good film on the battle of Little Bighorn.  It is hard to imagine what our country did to the Indians.

There was a fenced off area that had tombstones tht were facing in lots of directions and it was showing where general Custer and part of his men were laying after the battle.  They had piled their horses around them as a barricade. After about an hour we finally left.

We soon entered WY and when we got to Buffalo we stopped for lunch. Back on the road again headed towards Colorado we went through several WY towns, Casper, Cheyenne etc.  Finally we were in CO.  As we approached Fort Collins our GPS warned us of heavy traffic which would delay us a couple hours.  Thankfully it also gave us an alternate route.

So we got off the interstate and took the alternate route which was better traffic wise.  Of course, we had not even thought about the fact that it was Labor Day weekend and everyone was headed out of time.

Thankfully this new route did save us some time and it also got us a beautiful view of the moon.  We arrived at the McCunes around 8:30 just in time to see their children off to bed. What a delight to get to see our friends and catch up.

Today is our last Thursday in Helena and actually our last day.  Gretchen and I got up early and went on a final date to the bagel shop.  After a nice breakfast we headed over to the U-haul place and picked up our trailer.

When we got home most everyone was up.  I got the boys and we hauled everything down from the garage which entailed a few bike rides.  Then the work of packing the trailer began. It took about 3 hours to get it all packed in.  We are coming home with a few more things then we brought.

After a nice lunch we all piled in the car and headed out of town towards Billings.  one of the roads we travel on (highway 287) has been under construction all summer.  In our travels we have been on it many times.  It is still under construction.  So once again we were on dirt roads.the DOT here is pretty slow.

We finally made it to Billings around dinner time.  The good news is that the hotel we were staying in had a free dinner.  So we ate and then we split up. The older kids decided to get their daily exercise in and the rest went to the pool.  Of course, everyone ended up in the pool before the night was over.

We had a good time and everyone was wore out by the time we went to bed.

This morning we awoke to our last full day in Helena.  The day started with packing.  This included but not limited to: 3 violins,4computers, 2tables, 6 chairs, 5 boxes of books, 2tents, 1 grill, 257 rocks, 6000 pictures, 97 brochures of things to do, 2 deer legs, 5 elk whistle, 7 bikes, 1scooter, 2 rip sticks, 1 skateboard, 6bear posters, 13 new t-shirts, 1 can of bear spray(no bear), 5 bags of food, and a lot more. Thankfully we were only here 3 months. It's almost like Lucy Ricardo coming home from CA.

After lunch Gretchen and the kids went to the post office one last time.  They also stopped by The Painted Pot to pick up the kids newest clay creations (add those 6 to the list).  Then they were off to their last Ride on the carousel and free ice cream.

By the time they got home it was time for the boys to go play at a friends house one last time.  That was a little too much fun for the boys.  They now have lots of new ideas about each person in the house having a dog.

Next on the list was to take Sarah to the church for their fall Wipe Out games like the TV show.  Caleb came with his friend and Gretchen picked up Joshua.

Gretchen, Rebecca, Joshua and Christina came and picked me up at work. We went to CostCo for our last dinner.  It's always fun to feed 5 people for under $15.

We returned home and finished packing.  Then around 9 Gretchen picked up Caleb and Sarah from church and we got to hear all about the games.  They had a blast!!

Well off to bed for our last nights sleep in our temporary home.

Today was our last Tuesday (can you see a theme for the week) in MT.  The closer we get to our last day the more scheduled our days become. The kids have this finite list of things they want to do for the last time before we leave and don't really understand that we can't pack an entire house an hour before pulling out. So the morning started off with everyone getting up and getting dressed and ready to start the day (I know this sounds normal). Then the kids went on a long walk/hike and did what they called a "Photo Shoot".  This was going all the different places they could go on foot and taking pictures of things and of each other at these different locations.  While they were gone it gave Gretchen the time to do more packing without interruption. Rebecca, Caleb, Sarah and Joshua then climbed Mt. Helena for the last time. The kids are amazing hikers!  Then they ran several errands. These errands included going to get free things. When they took the tour train last week with Uncle Peter they got lots of Free coupons. So they went around town collecting those.  They received a free drink at a local restaurant, a free picture at a local store, a free ceramic tile at a local pottery etc. I think the plan is to finish this up tomorrow with a free ride on the carousel and ice cream.

They had been expecting one of the ladies from church to come by to see them in the afternoon. So by the time they got home it was almost time for them to come.  When she came she also brought her 4 kids and another lady friend. In addition, another friend and her 2 boys stopped by at the same time. So for several hours there was a houseful of people. By the time I got home it had dwindled to just the lady and her 2 boys. Shortly afterwards her husband came by to pick up the kayak he had loaned us and we got to visit with him also.  It was such a nice thing for these ladies to make the time to come by and visit on one of our last days. The boys had a great time with their friends. In fact I thought they were going to take Caleb and Joshua home with them.

After everyone left I took the youngest 2 on a truck ride. Then I took both Caleb and Rebecca on driving lessons in my little stick shift truck.  They are improving and this was going to be their last time to do this unless they find someone in MS who will loan them their stick shift to drive. Of course, the whole time I am doing the truck thing the rest of the gang is packing away. My turn will come tomorrow and Thursday morning.

Our thoughts and prayers today have been with everyone back in MS where Hurricane Isaac is starting to hit.  We are praying God will see all those people and the ones in LA through with no damage or loss of life.

P.S.  I was able to see the Photo Shoot pictures last night.  They had a blast doing it and took hundreds of pictures!!!  They did a super job with it.  The shots are super and many different poses, places, black & white, etc...  I was impressed! 

Today is our last Monday in Montana.  I got to go to work while everyone else slept in. Of course, my adventures in hiking over the weekend have me walking pretty stiffly. Naturally I would be stuck in meetings in the basement of our office building which has no elevator so I got to do lots of stairs today.  Our offices in Helena are on Last Chance Gulch which is a street that has been turned into a walking mall. Its name comes from the 4 men who founded Helena. They were looking for gold and they decided that they would look one last time and they struck pay dirt and became millionaires.  In fact, Helena at one time had the most millionaires per capita in the entire country. That was your MT history lesson for the day.

Gretchen was quite excited for today because she officially started packing (which she likes to do anyways). So when I came home there were boxes throughout the house.  I am now worried because everytime we pack like we are moving essential things get packed away.  As the week goes on I will let you know if there are things missing (like utenzils to eat with or someone's underwear). 

This morning Rebecca went for the last time to Hannaford to use their piano and practice her music for POPC covenant choir. When they got there they found that the sanctuary chairs were all stacked up. They ran into the youth minister (Gezer) and he told them that each fall when they kick off their fall activities ( this Wednesday) they bring in all these huge blow up obstacles for the kids. Apparently one of these is like a huge slide as tall as the ceiling. One of Caleb's friends told him its like the show "Wipe Out".   Apparently Gezer never really understood that we were only here for the summer so he had a good conversation with them all.

Afterwards the kids did their normal hikes up the mountain but apparently decided to do them multiple times today so  as to get in extras. There is some quota they are trying to meet by the end of the trip. When they got home the girls had planned to cook some "party" foods for dinner. So we got to have lots of fun foods for dinner and at the same time we are trying to eat everything in the house. So don't be supprised if we come back a little heavier than when we left. All the weight is being put on this week.  For example, if we have half a box of cereal left we are eating it all or if their is meat in the freezer we are cooking it and eating it.  This is all in part to try to reduce what is in the kitchen. We are leaving a few things like the spices for me to use when I travel back here in the fall. I am very thankful we don't have to use all the cinnamon or thyme. That would have been really hard.  We are also giving things away that we just can't eat and don't want to leave.

While we were eating party food Gretchen went to dinner with my co-worker Jean to the Mediteranean Grill. She will have to give you the review. Its a great restaurant downtown close to my office.

It was another beautiful day in Helena (Minus a short rainstorm this afternoon).  As we were looking through some pictures tonight we realized  just how fortunate and blessed we have been over the summer. 

...... Dinner with Jean was really fun!  She has joined our family a few times on outings this summer or for dinner in our home.  Her one son is grown and she enjoyes kids so she has been glad to have some company with us this summer.  She travels here from Virginia to work on the project tony is leading.  She and I had  a great time talking and the food was delicious!!!  I wish we had gone out a few other times this summer.  There are several restaurants downtown that I never went to.  I don't want to stay here longer though to go to them. :)  I am excited about coming home!

At 7 am this morning we hear a knock on our bedroom door and it is Christina fully dressed in long sleeves and pants raring and ready to go do something. At first I had to process what day it was and be thankful that it was not 6 am. Since the rest of the house was still sleeping I took her and we went and picked up donuts from "The Donut Hole" which is a small donut shop in Helena (it's only real donut shop).  The thing I hadn't counted on was that when I went out to leave I had to come back and get a long sleeve shirt because it was 45 degrees.  I still haven't quite made the shift that it is quickly becoming fall/winter here.

After we got home she and I had a kind of mini date just the two of us in the kitchen and then everyone else started creeping in slowly one by one.  This is our last Sunday here so we all got ready for church and headed out to Hannaford Street Bible Church for the last time.  We made sure we were a few minutes early so that we could visit and hear the pre-worship music.  As always the music was great.  John, their associate minister, preached this morning and had a good message on what our walk with the Lord should look like and how our walk should be different and recognizable by non-Christians. They should see a reflection of Jesus and his love in our walk. Once church was over we ended up spending more time than usual visiting with our new found friends and saying good bye. We had a hard time finding Christina because she  and one of her friends were playing hide and seek and somehow didn't tell us we were the ones that were suppose to be looking for her. We found her and were on our way.

Once we got home we had a delicious meal and then the real work for the day began. If not once but a hundred times we were given lots of things we could do on our last Sunday and lots of suggestions from the kids.  After a brief rest period we decided to head out towards Vigilante to possibly hike and play in Trout Creek.  Oddly enough this is one of the first things we did in the summer so it is fitting that we end it that way as well.  So we piled all our stuff in the car and headed out. 

Just like we left it in June, the place was still beautiful with towering mountains and a nice canyon to explore.  We got out of the car and headed down the trail that led into the canyon.  The one thing I haven't mentioned is that our 7 mile hike from yesterday has taken its toll on my legs and feet. I can walk but not without pain. Still I was willing to do a short hike. I didn't realize that on this trail it took several hundred yards before we actually saw the official trail head (where there was a kiosk for information).  At that point I deteremined that maybe we should just play in the creek so we turned around and headed toward the creek.

Now this is a picturesque creek running through the mountains and apparently filled with snow melt from the feel of it.  After standing in it for a few minutes you would get out and your feet and legs would be red and numb.  Of course, that made no difference to the kids. We spent a little over an hour in the creek and had a grand time.  We finally got everyone out and washed off.

Our plan was to meet my co-worker Jean at the York Bar for dinner (to get one last really good burger).  So we ended up there about 5:30. As we approached we could see someone talking to her as she sat in her truck and it was another one of my co-workers Joel.  This whole state is very small.  We cracked up that we could run into someone at this little spot in the road restaurant in the middle of nowhere.  As always the hamburgers were delicious and we got to eat them on the deck outside which made it even better.  As we finished up Joshua and Caleb ran across the street to hike up one of the steep trails they have in York. It was  fun to watch them come down and praying that they wouldn't fall because if they did they would have rolled to the bottom.  Of course, that made Christina want to go and I made Joshua promise to only take her to a point where she could get down. He kept his promise and she got down safely.

As we went to leave the girls really wanted Gretchen to climb up part of the mountain because there were some fake bears up there and they wanted just one more picture of her with the bears. So she and all the kids climbed up and I got their picture.

Once again we are so thankful to have had the opportunity to come here and see such wonderful sites that God has created and enjoy them.