Vacation ???

I promised to tell you about my cross country trip in my last blog so here we go. I will be leaving the beginning of September in my van with my mom and step-dad for a four week adventure in family research. As family research has been my interest for the last 30 + years I love to get in the car and head across county to meet family I would never have known if I had not taken on this endeavor. An endeavor it is too. If I say to you I am heading out on a vacation you think maybe Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Disneyland or Europe (ok not in the car). You do not think of hours in a van to trample through cemeteries, meet people you do not know in hopes you like them and they like you, hours in a library or historical center when the sun is beautiful outside, driving through towns looking for address that may have changed or homes that may have been torn down, finding county buildings that hold vital records and even tornados. Now that may not be your idea of fun. Don’t get me wrong I love the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Disneyland and Europe. That will all be there for another day but I do love my research. It is like a big puzzle that you are not sure where it will take you. Half the adventure is getting there. As we travel we will see the beautiful United States. Many people travel out of the country never seeing our own. Sometimes you just need to look in your own back yard and see the beauty in it. There are many places we look forward to seeing and enjoying. We will be leaving Washington heading to California – Arizona - New Mexico – Texas – Oklahoma – Louisiana – Mississippi – Arkansas – Tennessee – Iowa – Minnesota - South Dakota - North Dakota and then west home. I will be blogging as we travel so you can watch our progress. My goal each evening is to tell you all about our day; this will depend on internet availability. So please join us on our adventure, even if it is just through our words. I will announce the date here as soon as we decided the exact day we will be leaving. Keep checking back!

Research tip: Now that you have decided to research your family you need to decided which parent / grandparent you want to start with. Pick your mom or dad and then pick their mom or dad. Start slow, do not try to do everyone at one time. It will make you crazy.