Not quite settled in....

We got here on Sunday and as of Wednesday we still aren't settled in, yet.

Our carpets were covered with cleaning powder.  So on Monday they had the carpet cleaners come out.  Which meant we couldn't unload until Tuesday evening so the carpets could dry.
We have been letting the apartment air out these past few days as well...my eyes and nostrils have been burning from the cleaning powder they used.

So we spent our time cleaning and trying to get acquainted with our new area.  Rose has been enjoying the very cold pool.  And here she is in the media room at the clubhouse.

I did some work on the netbook while she watched  a cute cartoon called Adventures from the Book of Virtues

So Tuesday night our stuff got unload....and this is what our place looks like now.

I was planning on starting school on Monday....but I am having my doubts that our home will be organized, our school stuff organized, prepped and ready by then.  ....we will see!

I will soon post about what we will be using for school this year.

PS- did you know that Nevada has more mountain ranges than any other state?
Someone on facebook posted a link to 'What Is Your State Good At?' that showed a couple of interesting facts about each state.  Nevada's said "Nevada is #1 in teen pregnancies, home foreclosures, and meth use, but it also has more mountain ranges than any other state."
So I will focus on the positive and enjoy the fact that it has so many mountain ranges.  We saw a lot of them on our drive here.
And Mt. Rose which is by Lake Tahoe, but we can see from here, still has some snow on it.  .....quite beautiful.

Drive Across America...Day Nine

Today we were in Nevada.

We drove 479 miles and this is the route we took:

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We listened to 'The Last Battle'.  So we listened to all 7 Chronicles of Narnia books and a couple of Lamplighter books during our trip.


We did get up early today since today was going to be our longest drive.

Rose and I hanging out in the lobby while daddy loads and pulls the van around.

 It was raining when we drove through Vegas...

 Scenes from my window....

Lunch....I think Chad was hoping we could avoid McD....but it sure did please one little girl

This is beautiful Walker Lake.  It was gorgeous, even though you can not see it well in this photo.

These mountains were on one side of us while the huge beautiful lake was on the other.

I even tried reading a little while...

 The I-Trans bands worked wonderfully.  Some days I could go an hour or two before turning it back on.  It is a totally different experience riding without being so sick the whole way!  I did on occasion get a headache.  At those times, I would rub the essential oils behind my ears and turn the band back on and it would go away within 30 minutes, usually sooner.  I am very pleased and think it is worth a try to any one who sufferes from motion sickness.

If you don't get car sick but your child does,  I urge you to please be sensitive to that; it can be very very miserable and it hurts to talk or move even in the slightest. And it can come across as just being grumpy.  Being still, keeping the temperature low, and not being crowded also make a difference.

We came up on this little town that was green!  It was music for my eyes...

a great little traveler!

almost there...

 We made it....

Chad and Rose in front of the clubhouse

waiting for the keys to our apartment

the little kitchen

living room

Rose coloring in her new room

We used one of our recently acquired Reno Groupons for supper at a Thia restaurant close by

Well, we made it!  Our drive across America has come to an end.  We had so much fun seeing the sights and enjoying each others company. 
Your comments were very encouraging to me, thanks!  And I especially appreciate those who have been praying for us.

We visited 12 states. 
Which is a great kick off to our homeschool year coming up, since we will be studying U.S. geography.  What fun!

I hope you enjoyed following along as we moved from Atlanta, Ga to Reno, NV.  It is a big change for us. 

Please feel free to keep following along as I will continue to share....

Drive Across America...Day Eight

Today we were in:
Arizona
Nevada

We drove 234 miles and this is the route we took:

View Larger Map
We finished listening to The Silver Cup.

In the morning Rose and Chad had time to go swimming before breakfast.  We enjoyed our breakfast out on the patio.  It was a beautiful morning.

 From my window...

We made it to our New home state

 We visited Hoover Dam. 

The Hoover Dam...picture taken from the new bridge

on the bridge

The dam's power plant creates electricity for the surrounding states.

A picture of the bridge from the dam.

From on top of the dam, looking out at Lake Meade.

We decided to take a tour of the Power Plant

Learning more inside the Exhibit Hall

 We could have spent a lot more time at Hoover Dam.  We drove across the bridge, walked across the bridge.  We drove across the dam, walked across the dam.  We went into the dam and through the tunnels.  We saw the power plant and the exhibits.
It was very hot.  I suggest visiting in a different month :0)  But it was all very interesting.  Rose enjoyed learning all about it.

We veered off of the interstate for our stay for the night.  We stayed at the 4 star Loews Resort at Las Vegas Lake in Henderson, NV.  (We used Priceline)

It was very nice.

They had a couple of pools, a water slide, a beach to the lake....

We had a fun time in the pools.

We thought the resort restaurants were too expensive, so we went into Henderson and had LJS.

We enjoyed today a lot.  If it had been cooler we probably would have stayed at Hoover Dam a little longer than we did.  But we enjoyed having extra time to enjoy the resort pools, as well.

I finally changed my wrist watch from EST to PST.  For some reason, that was a big deal to me.  It was symbol of us not going back to Atlanta.

Everywhere we go, people ask were we live.  We say Atlanta, GA.  But for the past few days...it almost feels like we are lying saying Atlanta, now.  But we are not yet 'from' Reno, as we have not got there yet.  Rose thinks we should say 'our van', since that is our current only constant.  :0)