Crazy Summer Part Three- A Super Speedy Look at Our Summer Road Trip

Ready for a fast-paced look at our road trip? Here we go!


Destination #1: Atlanta, GA

So we made a quick overnight stop in Atlanta. We visited dad (who was there on a business trip) and the next morning we piled back into the car and we were soon on the road again!

After a couple hours of driving...


Destination #2: Birmingham, AL- Reached

Birmingham watch out! The McLemore family has arrived.

Moving on...

So we spent a wonderful week in Birmingham. We had tons of fun with our grandma (dad's mom), our GG. One of the highlights of the trips was Oak Mountain. And one of the best parts of Oak Mountain? The animals of course.

The barnyard! Cute right. :D

GG loved the baby goats.

I loved the baby goats too.

It's a tractor!

Oak Mountain

While on a fishing expedition at Oak Mountain (sounds important right? it wasn't, trust me.) we also met some new friends. But their identity must remain a mystery until a future post.

Sadly all trips must come to an end. So after a fun filled week we packed up into the car and we were on the road, again!

A couple more hours of driving brought us to our next destination...

It looks strangely familiar...

Destination #3: Atlanta, GA- Reached

So what do you know, we were back in Atlanta. No this was not due to the fact that we are terrible at navigation. We were there for a reason.

The Atlanta Aquarium here we come!

We met some friends at the Atlanta Aquarium and spent a few hours strolling past the massive tanks and getting a taste of the underwater world.


But all to soon it was time to move on. So we said our goodbyes and once again hopped into our trusty mini-van and headed down the interstate toward North Carolina.


Destination #3: Charlotte, NC- Reached

Our trip to Charlotte can't even really be classified as any kind of destination. All we did was make a quick stop at the airport to pick up dad, who had caught a flight up so he could complete the rest of the trip with us.

So we grabbed dad and were soon on the road again. That night we reached a cute little southern town by the name of...


Destination #4: Ellerbe Springs, NC- Reached

A sweet little bed and breakfast awaited us in Ellerbe Springs. Now it was time to camp out for a couple days. We couldn't venture any closer to the real object of our interest, for if we were to do so we would no doubt be spotted. So instead like fugitives we stayed in hiding, a simple fifteen minute drive away from...


Destination #5: Hamlet, NC- At the Moment Unreachable

A surprise birthday party for our grandma (mom's mom), a.k.a. Nannie, had been planned. And our family was a major part of the surprise. So we couldn't venture to close to my mom's small country hometown of Hamlet, NC. But my mom's sister (JJ) had everything under control. On the day of the party she smuggled us in and...

Destination #5: Hamlet, NC- Reached

The party (and the surprise) was a splendid success! Everyone had a great time and I've never seen Nannie that surprised before in my life.

Doesn't she look shocked?

Blowing out the candles! Cake= Yum! :D

Two handsome swordsmen (a.k.a. Graham and our cousin, Braxton).

And the fight had begun! They are so cute. :)

Josh and the lake.

Beautiful. What a fair maiden. :)

My wonderful aunt JJ and uncle Reynolds.

My amazing parents. I love you guys!

And me. Yes I pale in comparison to the rest of these extraordinary people. :D

"I can't believe you managed to keep (this) a secret from me!" Can't you just see it written all over her face? I love you Nannie! (And Grandaddy too.)

Before we new it our brief couple days in Hamlet had passed... our road trip was over. One stop left- home.


Destination #6: Naples, FL- Reached

We did not return empty handed. Along with the wonderful memories of our summer road trip we brought along a carload of family... our summer wasn't over yet! :D


Yes the whole thing is VERY rushed. *faints in shock at the sight* But we must all make due. It was that or nothing.

Crazy Summer Part Two- ROAD TRIP

So our family decided to take a short road trip of sorts.

We decided we would head from our home here in South West Florida up to Atlanta, GA. Then from Atlanta to Birmingham, AL. After Birmingham we headed back to Atlanta. Then up to Charlotte, NC, then down to Ellerbe, NC. Next stop was Hamlet, NC then it was home to FL.

The trip lasted about 2 1/2 weeks and we had an awesome time.

When mom first informed me of the possibility of this trip I was pretty excited. I mean who is not excited about the possibility of a ROAD TRIP! Not to say that I wasn't slightly bummed when I found out we would miss some activities that I had been looking forward to. I tried my best to work it out for the happiness of everyone involved. And failed. Oh well, if I could do it all over again I still wouldn't have stayed home!

Another up side to this trip was all of the opportunities to earn points for the Beyond the Reflection's Edge contest. Everything about my summer so far keeps coming back to that doesn't it? :D

All of the bookstore pictures you spotted in my last post were taken while we were on this trip.




I had the camera out while we were on the road. Hand me a digital camera and live to regret it. :D





The clouds were so pretty. As you can see in the shots above and below.





The problem came when they started to look like that.


I don't know how many of you know my mom. But those of you who do can testify that she will not and above all CAN NOT drive in a storm. Big or small it doesn't matter (though small is better). To bad for us. Because the afternoon thunderstorm we experienced right before we crossed the FL state line was NOT tiny in the least.





It looks dreary over there.




And as the rain starts to come down mom starts to freak out. Look at the view out of my window. This picture was taken shortly before mom decided it was time to stop for lunch. :D




We are on the road again. The sky is clear...enough. And it's not raining!




I take pictures of myself when I'm bored.








Look it's a city!



Destination #1: Reached



Tomorrow I'll post more about our 1st and a little about out 2nd destination. For now I want to leave you with just one of the many experiences we had on the first leg of our journey. As a side note- my dad was not with us on our drive from Naples to Atlanta.

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With a flash a giant bolt of lightning shot across the sky. Booming thunder followed. The noise seemed almost deafening.

"Severe thunderstorms move across certain Florida counties." A jolly voice bellowed from the radio.

"Ho ho ho and a Merry Christmas." My goofy brother mimicked the man from the backseat.

My two youngest siblings seemed oblivious to the potential horror building around us.

"Don't let the rain come. Please don't let the rain come." I mumbled under my breath.

Glancing out of the corner of my eye I watched my mom. With a nervous look on her face she waited while one of the employees of the drive through Starbucks finished ringing up our purchase.

The radio continued to blare details about the approaching storm.

"She's a big one alright. Sheets of rain, massive lightning, and don't let me forget those heart pounding explosions of thunder. This one is turning out to be pretty harsh folks."

The announcer continued to talk, this time naming exact counties.

"Excuse me."

I turned at the sound of my moms voice. She was speaking to the employee.

"What county are we in?"

After receiving an answer my mom was overjoyed to hear it wasn't one of the names listed on the radio. She thanked the girl, grabbed our drinks and sped away. Even as is started to drizzle she kept up her cheery outlook. As she pointed our mini van in the direction of the interstate I was quick to speak up.

"Mom, I don't think we should continue. Why don't we wait out the storm?"

"Oh I think it's fine. This is only a little shower and I think we will move out of the storm after a few miles."

"Are you sure? I don't think we should take any chances."

"Sure I'm sure. It's only rain after all."

Only rain. Oh please. This is not going to be pretty.

Seconds after our car pulled onto the freeway the heavens opened and torrents of huge droplets pelted our windshield making it impossible to see. Mom started shaking, the kids became as still as stones, and I didn't have the heart to say, "I told you so".

At that very moment, mom's cell rang.

I quickly answered it so the noise wouldn't brake her concentration. "Hello."

"Bryce, can I speak to your mom please." Dad's calm voice sounded in my ear.

How can he be calm in the middle of this crisis? By the look on her face that was mom's thought too as she grabbed the phone out of my hand and listen to whatever it was daddy had to say.

Mere moments into the conversation the rain began to pelt the van twice as hard as it had before.

"I'VE GOT TO GO!" Mom screamed before dropping the phone and placing both hands on the steering wheel.

My mother looked on the verge of hysteria.

My brothers and sister stared, wide eyed. Shocked that their mommy would dare go crazy in the middle of such a humongous catastrophe.

As for my dad, who knows what he was thinking.

And me, I was just wondering how I got myself into this mess.

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Remember not to take every word of this account literally. It is from my point of view after all. Just know that the basic story is the truth. :D

And yes we made it out alive. Mom found us a cozy BBQ place and we spent a hour and a half waiting out the storm. Fun.

Check back tomorrow to learn even more about my crazy summer.

Aunt JJ's Comment

I wasn't going to post until tomorrow but after receiving an e-mail from my aunt I just had to post this.

After reading my last blog entry JJ tried to leave a comment. Because she is not a blogger is didn't work. So she sent me an e-mail and quoted her exact comment there. Just thought I'd share it with all of you!

"Hey Bryce, this is your Aunt JJ. I did everything I did because I Love You, no need to thank me. You are an amazing girl and I am glad you won 2nd place. And for all the readers of this blog, Bryce got MOST of the story right, she just left out the parts where she was silly and scared and a "brat" :) :) I LOVE YOU BRYCEE"

Love you too. I guess I deserved that "brat" comment didn't I? :D

Here it is folks. This blogs first ever photo of Jami Sutherland (or JJ). What a model. :D

Crazy Summer Part One- Beyond the Reflection's Edge

The Beyond the Reflection's Edge contest was such fun to participate in! By the time the last week rolled around though, I was ready for it to be over. My family agreed with me. :D


Now I need to give credit where credit is due.

First off I SUPER HUGE thank you goes to my mom. Without her I never would have gotten anywhere in the contest. Worst of all, I would have given up at the end which is where it all played out for me personally.

Next I want to thank the rest of my family. My dad, both sets of grandparents, and my uncle. My aunt JJ gets a special thank you for helping me put up 60+ posters all in one day. She didn't even complain... much. Even though we almost got mugged it was worth it, right? ;)

My friends were so awesome, helping and encouraging me throughout this contest. Jade and Victoria. You both ROCK! Everyone else, I love you all so much!!! :)

Even some friends of my moms that I don't even know went around taking pictures for this contest. Thank you all.

I feel so blessed having people who care enough about me to run all over creation for what some would call a "silly" contest. Without all of you winning 2nd place wouldn't have been possible. I love you all! Becoming I character in one of Mr. Davis books means so much to me and you all understood that so well. I really don't deserve all of you wonderful people!

Also, I want to thank Mr. Davis. Because it was his contest after all and he worked super hard putting it all together. This was an amazing opportunity for your loving fans. Thanks so much for making this whole thing happen Mr. Davis!

Now I want to share some contest photos with you guys.



Here I am putting up just one of many posters.

The people here in Naples were so nice about letting me hang up my posters in their shops. Thank you all!







All throughout our road trip (which I will go into more detail on in my next post) my AWESOME mom was kind enough to stop at tons of Christian bookstores. All of the LifeWay and Family Christian store employees let me take their pictures. Some thought I was a tad strange but they all complied to my wishes. Thank you all so very much.






For every poster placed in a public place I got 5 points. We visited a lot of public places.

Just thought I'd note. I really like that shirt. :D








For every bookstore photo I received 10 points! We went to a lot of bookstores.










Every poster must have a picture of the book and tell where you can purchase it.










In order to get points for a bookstore picture you must.
* Find I bookstore that sells the book
* Ask the employee if they will take a picture with you
* Hold a copy of the book in your hand
* Write down or remember (if you have a good memory) the first name of the employee
* Write down or remember (if you have a REALLY good memory) the address of the store
* Send the picture along with all of the information to Mr. Davis
* Make sure to remind yourself that this is not as hard as it sounds!





In order to win I had to collect more points than the other participates by the end of the contest.









Besides putting up posters and taking bookstore photos other ways to get points included.

* Getting friends to take bookstore photos and to put up posters for you

* Answer quizzes about the book that Mr. Davis put up on his blog

* Getting friends to join the contest

* Passing out flyers about the book

* Posting positive online reviews about the book




* Buying the book or getting others to buy it (the HUGE point getter above was all because of my grandma, thank you Nannie!)

* And more!



Now I want to leave you with a funny contest experience. Thanks for taking the time to read about my time as a Beyond the Reflection's Edge contest participant. Now go check out some of Bryan Davis's books. :D

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"I wonder what is open at 10:30 pm?" My mom thought out loud. She does that a lot. From her place in the drivers seat she scanned the road ahead.

"Nothings open." My aunt moaned from where she was seated on the passengers side. "Maybe we should just go back home. We've been out for hours and I'm tired."

"Why don't we check that blockbuster over there?" I piped up from the backseat. "The other one earlier today let us put a poster up." Maybe this time they'll listen to me.

"Doesn't look like we have any other options." Mom answered making a u-turn before pulling into the dark parking area.

"This place looks freaky." Aunt JJ whined as my mom pulled up to the curb to let us out. "It's deserted!"

With a shake of my head at her childish behaviour I answered. "No it's not. Look at that man over there."

Walking slowly down the sidewalk about 10 feet away was a dirty looking man. "He looks like he's wearing a Darth Vader mask." I added.

"That's his hair." My mom calmly replied.

"What's that in his hand?" JJ murmured as my mom opened our mini-van's automatic sliding door and we both stepped out.

We were within a few steps of the blockbuster's door when my aunt realized the obvious.

"Look it's a cooler!" She practically shouted.

She had barely gotten the words out of her mouth when the man paused mid-step and spun around. He glared at us with a piercing gaze and seemed to clutch the handle of his bright blue cooler even tighter. We took another step toward the door. He didn't turn away, if anything he seemed to lean closer.

"Bryce," my aunt screamed. "I don't think we should check here."

Without giving me time to reply she turned on her heel and raced back toward the waiting car. Leaving my alone within a few feet of a homeless man who thought my presence threatened his cooler.

I didn't have much choice. As fast as I could I spun around and rushed after her.

We both jumped into the car and my aunt exclaimed. "Drive!"

My mom didn't need an explanation, she had witnessed the whole thing. A moment later she had pressed the "door close" button, put the vehicle in drive, and slammed her foot on the gas petal. We lurched forward. Sadly for me my mom had forgotten one important detail. The van must be in park in order for the door to close.

"Mom my door's not shut!" For once it was me screaming. "MY DOOR IS NOT SHUT!"

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So maybe this versions not entirely accurate. But it's my view of the incident and I'm sticking to it.

The truth of the matter is, yes we did almost get mugged at night while putting up posters for this contest. It happened twice actually, and once outside of blockbuster we were confronted by a homeless guy with a blue cooler. Yes, it was JJ's fault (her voice was just a tad too loud). And no, my aunt is not a whiny stuck up brat. That was just for the fun of the story... or most of it anyway. :D

Be back tomorrow to explore the ups and downs of our ROAD TRIP!