Family Reviews: The Final Entry

This trip was sure a great experience for the entire family. Here's what each of us thought...

Dad: Cross Country Caboodle! Cross Country Caboodle...I'm not even sure I knew what that meant before the trip but now I have a whole new appreciation for our country, traveling across it in a car, and most importantly the "caboodle" defined as a "collection of items" namely the six members of the Olson family! Prior to embarking on the journey my thoughts were consumed with where we might go, what we might see, what it would cost, what to pack and other very mechanical concepts. What I experienced was far beyond the mechanical! I saw my kids developing closer friendships with each other, learning about history and simply enjoying life wherever they were. We grew closer as a family and at times laughed so hard we had to pull over to the side of the road. Many years from now when this family reminisces about that "crazy summer road trip of 2010," I'm sure we will look past the mechanical, past the big cities, past the attractions, and remember the priceless moments that we shared as a ...caboodle.

Lori: "From the mountains, to the prairies, to the oceans white with foam. God Bless America, our home sweet home!" Those words have much more meaning to our whole family now. God has truly blessed us. Thanks to the prayers of so many, we were protected from the seen and unseen dangers on this trip, with not even ONE to report...that is a blessing! I have an amazing husband who loves to dream big, and if it weren't for him, this trip would not have come together. I'm blessed with 4 great kids who were amazing "troopers" during our 10,000 mile journey. Of course, we all had our moments of irritability, but for the most part everyone got along, never complained and grew much closer along the way. We saw so much of the country on our journey that it is hard to pick a favorite destination. (although Niagra Falls, Cape Cod, and the Carolina's were some of the highlights for me)...I truly enjoyed every minute of the trip! The moments I will never forget are the little "inside" jokes that developed, the laughter, the "oohs and ahhs," the hugs from the girls and the times when the boys would walk up beside me and slide their hands into mine. On our wall at home we have the sayings "We do not remember the days, we remember the moments" and "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away." As the years pass and we recall the memories of our 2010 road trip, we won't remember the 45 days, I'm sure we will remember the moments...the ones that took our breath away!

Me: This trip was a fantastic experience for us all. It was great to see New York, DC, Florida and those major places but the trip was too long in my opinion. I did have fun though. My favorite place that we went was Nashville, Tennessee. That was my town(: My least favorite place was probably New York, as crazy as it sounds. It was a great place to see but the hustle and bustle of the city was something I didn't enjoy as much. I would love to go visit some of those places and maybe even live in some in the future. The trip gave me a lot of insight on places i could go to college. Overall, I enjoyed this trip, but its good to be home(:

Alise: This trip has been the adventure of a lifetime, the time of my life...awesome! It really makes me think about how valuable family really is and all you really need is family along with the Lord's blessing. God has been amazing! I don't regret anything about this trip. Every inch of it was filled with fun and was a new experience. Chicago and Tennessee were complete opposites but both favorites of mine. I could see myself living in Chicago someday. I only wish we could have driven through Flippin, Arkansas! :)

Connor: Out of all of the things we did I think I liked Tennessee the most because there was a lot of music and instruments. We also got to see the Grand Ole Opry with Diamond Rio, Eric Church, Little Jimmy Dickens, Carrie Underwood and more. They were all really good. I love music. I also liked seeing the White House and the sculpture gardens in Washington D.C.

Evan: The trip was incredibly fun! We all got a break from chores and we saw a lot of the country. I wish we could do more of Disney World. I had a lot of fun at Legoland Chigaco, Hershey World in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and at the Coke Museum in Atlanta, Georgia. The concerts were cool and we saw, I say, too much history! :) I would want to do this whole trip all over again.


Thanks for traveling along with us on our Summer Road Trip 2010! Thanks for praying for our safety, protection and for lifetime memories to be made. God answered our prayers!

Jerrol, Lori, Karissa, Alise, Connor and Evan Olson