Oct 8th, 2015
Today was quite uneventful. We drove from Middleboro, Massachusetts to Sussex, New Jersey. We stopped for gas and a red box but that’s about it. Our camp site has some animals that I took the boys to see. There are goats, sheep, ducks, and some mini ponies. The best thing that happened yesterday was that Amanda joined us! She’ll be blogging for us a few times over the next days.
-Grace
October 7, 2015
Yesterday we spent the day in Boston, Massachusetts. Our friends from home, Mary Lisa and Sarah have a cousin that lives in Massachusetts that we connected with and she so graciously took us on the “Freedom Trail” and more. We started our tour in The Common with the “Make Way for Duckling” statues. We have ordered the book now, and can’t wait to read about the reason for the Mother Duck and her Ducklings to be a fixture of the Park.
The Freedom Trail is a brick line path that leads through the city of Boston. It has historical sites all along the way which tell the story of how our Nation was started back in the American Revolution. There is something pretty honorable about being able to walk the path of the Revolutionary period in American history.
While on the trail we saw the Massachusetts State House.
And Park Street Church.
And the Granary Burying Grounds where some of Ben Franklin’s family is buried as well as others like Samuel Adams and the victims of the Boston Massacre.
We saw King’s Chapel.
We saw the Benjamin Franklin Statue and the Boston Latin School.
We did a scavenger hunt in Old South Meeting House.
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Old State House was fun to see with the Unicorn and the Lion displayed on the front of the brick building.
This is a picture of us standing the the site of the Boston Massacre.
We also saw Faneuil Hall and the house that Paul Revere lived in as well as Old North Church. It was fun to sit in a pew box in Old North Church and ponder the lanterns hanging in the bell tower… “One if by land, Two if by sea”.
In the Old North Garden we saw these dog tags on display honoring fallen soldiers from the Iraq – Afghanistan war.
Our tummy’s were never hungry. We ate a scrumptious Italian lunch and we got to experience a authentic Boston cannoli. So good!
These 6 glass towers are a Holocaust Memorial.
Our last stop on the freedom trail was the USS Constitution. It was really neat to be standing on not only one of the 6 first ships that were commissioned and that started the US Navy but the only ship of those 6 still remaining. It is also the oldest sea worthy war ship left in the world and is scheduled to sail again in 2017. We got in a piece of the “Ironside” history from an active duty US Sailor. The USS Constitution got it’s name because the sides of the ship was constructed with 7″ of white oak next to 7″ of live oak and 7″ of white oak. When the ship was in battle the cannon balls that were hitting it either stuck in the sides of the ship or bounced off. The US Sailor shared the story of making the USS Constitution and it’s first battle against the British in 1812. Ironside has a 33 – 0 record.
On the USS Constitution, the kids hoisted an American Flag up. We will proudly fly Old Glory at home and remember our day on “the Ironside”.
We the met up with Chadyn’s husband Paul and went to get dinner. It was so good and so fun! We love new experiences! We ate Shabu-Shabu in Chinatown.
So, we left Boston today with a heart full of respect for the history that was made so many years ago right there where we walked. And a thankfulness for new friends. Thank you Paul and Chadyn!
Here is a video that Grace put together of our days in Massachusetts. We really are so proud to be an American. We love this land. God Bless the USA.
Yesterday we did a lot of shopping. There where cute stores in Kennebunkport, ME and Portsmouth, NH. It was also my moms birthday so we went out to eat at Ri Ra (an Irish Pub) I made my mom a bracelet with beads and a little stone. The stone was her birth stone. I also bought her some black licorice. Over all it was a pretty fun day! Even though we seem to all be getting a cold. This video is a few clips that we have taken over the past few days.
-Grace
Yesterday we drove to Dubuque, Iowa. When we got there we went to Fenelon Place Elevator Company. It was super cool. It is a trolley that a man built because it took him an hour and a half to get home from work. The trolley goes up a large hill. What we didn’t know is that your supposed to ride the trolley up then back down. So we walked up the hill until we got to the top. When we got there we then realized that we had to go over one block from our RV to get onto the trolley. So we rode the trolley down. When we got to the bottom we went out to get some ice cream and then went to a cute little store. We then rode back up and walked back down the hill. The way down was much better.
After that adventure we went to “Matter”. It was in the same town. It was really fun. It is a place that has pottery and giant legos and lots of cool things to play with. Us girls did pottery while the boys played. Hannah, Greta and I made some mugs and my mom made a super cool bowl.
My favorite part was playing with the cars because I like racing – Buche
My favorite part was racing the cars too. We smashed them and it was super fun. – Burka
-grace
We spent the weekend in Minnesota with some awesome family and friends watching Gracie and Abby at the State 4H horse show. It was a weekend of learning and growing. It was a weekend loaded with fun! It is amazing to watch my girl and her horse! Here are some things that Grace had to say about the weekend…
It was so fun to be able to ride in the colosseum and meet new people. I can’t wait to have more practice and hopefully get another trip next year. Abby did so good and I am excited to work with her more when we get back. I miss her already. Thanks to everyone who came down to watch us. Special thanks to Jackie, Jamie, and Janelle for getting Abby ready and helping me with my patterns. Also a huge thanks to Grandpa Dennis and Grandma Linda for bringing abby down and to Grandpa Dennis for hanging out and helping me in the barn. Another thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Pete and Virginia for coming down to watch. One last one to all of my siblings for coming and supporting me. – Grace
Yesterday we spent the day at Huntington Beach, my moms favorite place in the country! It was one of the most fun days that we have had so far. We started out driving there in the van for what seemed to be forever. When we did arrive we went to go eat some pizza. When all of us were full we got to go down to the ocean.
We all changed into our suits and went for a swim! It was so fun watching all of the surfers. Next time I go back I am definitely going to do that! When we where swimming we saw fish riding on top of the waves. After we where done swimming it was starting to get dark so we took a walk along the Pier. We stopped along some shops and got a few bracelets and souvenirs. When we where done on the pier we walked downtown and went shopping a little more. We then got gelato, and made our way back to the car. Because our last video was such a hit I made another one at the beach.
We did not get much school done yesterday so we have extra to do today. We fly out back to Minnesota tonight. We will be there for the weekend because it is the state 4-h horse show. Then we will fly back out Monday night.
If you would like to follow our trips on our instagrams here they are:
Ryan- rjmccleary (he doesn’t post much)
Hannah- hannah_mccleary
Grace- Grace.mcc
Greta- Gretamccleary2
I would also like to say thanks to all of you for nearly 900 followers on our blog.
-Grace
Sunday Sept 13th, 2015
Yesterday we went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium where we had the opportunity to see sharks, fish, jellyfish, seals, and much more. My favorite part was watching the seals underwater! We also learned a lot about ship wrecks and fish. There was a part of the Aquarium that you walked through and all around you, including underneath in some spots, was a huge tank all around us. It had many different types of fish, including sharks! There where also some puffins (a type of bird) that had colorful beaks.
Here is a video I took of the Jelly Fish we saw!
After we left the Aquarium we drove Highway 101, the Pacific Coast Highway along the coast. We saw the sun set over the Pacific Ocean. It was beautiful!
Then for the state sign pictures! Here’s what we have folks. We left Oregon in the dark and entered California in the dark.
Love, Grace
The first day was very fun, but very overwhelming as well. We started in North Dakota, where we went to the Enchanted Highway and we saw the worlds largest holstein, Salem Sue. Next was South Dakota where we stopped and ate lunch at a park. It was good to get some fresh air. Then we where headed to Devils Tower in Wyoming. Although, we did get lost on the way. It was a 60 mile gravel road “shortcut” that we had no intentions of taking. We crossed Montana somewhere along that “shortcut” and had to stop for a picture. We will hopefully be visiting Montana more tomorrow! Here our the pictures by the signs. I guess selfie sticks actually are kind of helpful.
We managed the first day! The one good thing about being in a RV is that it makes you get school done out of boredom. My favorite part of the day was climbing on the rocks at Devil’s Tower. My least favorite part of the day was waking up early in the morning to everything bouncing around as we where going on the road. I guess I’m just going to have to get used to that.
Love, Grace
Everybody is posting their back to school pictures, so here is ours.
Our first day of school was not like yours. We headed out on our 48 state adventure. We are now in North Dakota and we’re planning on going to the badlands today. We have not been able so see much yet because when we started driving last night it was already dark.
This morning we took the time to organize our school so we can work on the road. All of our clothes and most of our stuff is under the RV so we will have to stop when we need anything. Last night we slept in a Walmart parking lot in Jamestown, North Dakota. That will most likely be where we sleep a lot of the nights.
We will be missing my brother and sister to start out with, but we are looking forward for them to join us along the way! We are excited to share with you guys!
Love, The McClearys
Hello everyone! Welcome to a page full of adventure. On this site you will read all about the McCleary family road trip. As we travel the country we will be posting and sharing with all of you! Seven of Nine will be posting on the road including, Ryan, Rachael, Hannah, Grace, Greta, Burka, and Buche, we will be missing Zach and Amanda. Hope you look forward to seeing all of our stories. We are very excited to get on the road. Our plan is to leave in September! Share this site with all of your friends. We will be looking forward to sharing with all of our family and friends.
Love, the Mccleary Family!
McCleary Kids 