Charlottesville, VA

Well as the saying goes, "Where ever you go there you are." and so it is for the 5 Baehrs!

It was a gorgeous drive up here on Monday and we have been learning so much history here. Tuesday we went to the Virginia Frontier Culture Museum www.frontier.virginia.gov and learned some wonderful things about historic farmsites not only of the settlers here but what it was like in 1600 England, 1700 Ireland and 1600 Germany. Just another note about how blessed we are...we showed up at 12:50pm and I asked the attendent how much our AAA discount would be and she said, "Oh everyone is FREE today until 1pm." How wonderful is that?!

I can't go on enough about how wonderful people are. We continue to meet the loveliest souls in our travels. We met 2 sisters and their husbands-one couple was from Olympia, WA and the other from Utica, NY and although we never knew their names the time we all spent talking with them was so wonderful. The kids especially loved their 7 week old cocker spaniel puppy, Dudley.

The entire reason I am able to blog right now is the kindness of campground neighbor, Michelle Sumey who was kind enough to let me borrow her laptop. The children have enjoyed talking with her and her dogs and she has been exceptionally kind to the kids. Thanks Michelle you're a beautiful soul!

Monticello is amazing. Thomas Jefferson was an amazing man and his home and grounds is an American treasure. Mostly I loved the garden and the lady who gave the plantation tour was a joy to listen to and learn about plantation life at Monticello here in Virginia.

The kids also had the opportunity to pick apples right off the trees at the Carter Mountain Orchard which has an amazing view of the area. We highly recommend a trip up the hill to www.cartermountainorchard.com don't miss the apple cider donuts. The apple sweet rolls we made last night were amazing too.

The downtown mall in C'ville as it's called here is great too. The kids got to learn all about the First Amendment and exercise their First Amendment rights too as they have a huge slate wall and chalk there to express whatever you want in a highly public forum. We also had ice cream and shakes from Chap's and fries from 5 Guys Burgers & Fries. We also got to hear O.A.R live as we hung out on the mall.

Today is another adventure and I don't know when I can blog again...The Natural Bridge today and John gets to go too! Saturday the kids and I will be representing www.greenvillagegreen.com at the 12th Annual Vegetarian Festival here in Charlottesville, Va in Lee Park www.cvillevegfest.org

love and light all ways, tricia

Rebecca Claire Photography by Tricia Baehr

I decided we needed some more up to date pics for the 5 Bears Go USA.com web site so I asked Claire Presnall with Rebecca Claire Photography to help us out. She is an amazing capturer (is that a word) of images!! I will soon have them up on the site but until then visit her site
www.rebeccaclaire.com or see our new pics--AMAZING-- on her blog http://rebeccaclaire.wordpress.com/

If you are in need of a photographer for any reason...I highly recommend Claire she is a natural talent as you will be able to see.

Lush Corridors--A Poem by Tricia Baehr

Traveling through lush green corridors
of our oxygen giving brothers as they
wave their branches wildly at us,
we pass through them on a brownish,
gray ribbon of asphalt that winds itself south.

Solid lines and then broken ones in the middle.
Rectangles brightly colored litter the landscape
with symbols begging for attention.

Sleeping passengers breath softly and deeply
as the miles go by.

copyright 2008 Tricia Baehr all rights reserved

Living in the Moment by Tricia Baehr

When you become present in life and find that you are only where you are at each given moment wonderful things happen. Today we rolled in to a beautiful little town and area we never knew existed, Guntersville, AL.
Wanting to find a museum or place of learning for the kids we discovered the Guntersville Museum. Which I would recommend to anyone coming to this area. A beautiful lady, Mrs. Dale Whitaker spent the afternoon with us showing us everything this museum has to offer. She was so warm, welcoming and wonderful. Mrs. Dale even let the kids help her crack pecans. This is definately what southern hospitality is all about. Take time to just be, because just being in the moment can open doors to wonderful experiences that you might otherwise miss out on.

Just Back from MO!! by Tricia

Loving the traveling and the being on the road, still transitioning from the stick house so it's not the complete life we had envisioned...yet! Poplar Bluff, MO is at the "Gateway of the Ozarks" and the afternoon trip we made to the Lake Wappapello area was beautiful. Misty rain and the temperature was in the high 60's- we had a beautiful hike with a view of the lake. John taught science class and the children learned to identify some hardwood trees. They also learned about the rings and how to tell how old a tree is. Why the rings are thicker in some places and thinner in others. The time we had there was very special for all of us.



If you have children and or like to spend time outside of your RV we do not recommend Camelot RV Park and Campground outside of Poplar Bluff, MO...if on the other hand you strictly want a place to park, that is organized, neat and has LOTS of rules then this is the place for you.



Also we separate from John and his employees on the way back through Kentucky because we had seen brown signs (usually indicating something of interest) that said "Patti's 1800's Settlement" www.pattis-settlement.com . Thinking this was some type of educational or historical place we decided to stop for a couple of hours and have a field trip. When we arrived we found that it was mostly a restaurant which I must say the food was very good. Service was good but not very friendly--very formal. Two of the kids had the kids meal hamburger which was very large and they could have shared. I had the "hot brown" which is a Kentucky specialty and the homemade potato chips were so delicious. Also, we couldn't pass up the fried pickles for an appetizer. In addition to the restaurant were MANY gift shops attached, a miniature golf range, and a small playground. If you are looking for a place to stop to have a nice sit down meal, walk around, do some shopping, let the kids get some energy out then this is the perfect place. If you are thinking, like we did that this is an education experience for your children...not really.

We did come across a really great store located in downtown Grand Rivers, KY called, "So Cool" www.socoolonline.com the proprietress was super nice and friendly, great with the kids.