Route 66 to Nouvelle Vie

We left Ontario, CA June 14th and followed Route 66 most of the way to Mt Sterling, IL.  Since we just came from Cars Land in Disney's California Adventure I could picture how this route and landscape inspired filmmaker John Lasseter.  Our first stop was Flagstaff where we took the afternoon and visited the Grand Canyon.

We walked the South Rim and finally found the lodges and the restaurant.  We were hungry!  We had hamburgers, visited the gift shop, took pictures and admired the historic lodges.  The girls bought souvenirs: hats, t-shirts, keychains, and postcards.  I actually received my souvenir today, on Father's Day, from Zoie.  A Grand Canyon travel mug!  I love it!  We stayed to watch the sunset and then traveled back to Flagstaff seeing multiple elk on the way home.  We traveled to Tucumcari, NM the next night and then through Texas, the Panhandle of Oklahoma, to Wichita Kansas for our last night at a hotel for awhile.  We rated our hotel experience based on the bed and breakfast experience so far its...

1.  Ayres - Ontario, CA
2.  Holiday Inn, Wichita, KS
3.  Rodeway Inn Tumcumcari, NM
4.  Days Inn - Flagstaff, AZ
5.  Ramada - Redding, CA

On Wednesday we crossed the Missouri and Mississippi River and arrived in the small town of Mt. Sterling, IL to visit Grandma and Grandpa Bunfill.  Lonnie and Sherri, April's folks, were also visiting.  It was a great time seeing the old homestead and farms where Lonnie grew up and Lonnie and Sherri's first home.  I found myself thankful that they took a faith trip across country to Oregon when they were young unless April and I may never have found each other.  Good food and great conversations with Grandma and Grandpa.  We felt very loved.  We had lunch on Friday on the flooded Illinois River at the Boatel.  Lonnie even sprung for the frog legs!  Not bad, tastes like chicken.

On Saturday we drove to Winona Lake, Indiana to join the crew of the movie Nouvelle Vie.  Cheri Murphy, an associate producer, and her friend Lynn greeted us on the porch overlooking the canal of Winona Lake.  They were as excited as we were to show us the house.  They decorated, furnished and supplied it themselves!  New towels, comforters, recliners etc.  They even had friends donate toys for the playroom.  They even bought new DVDs for the girls.  It feels like a vacation house on the lake.  It's been three weeks since we moved out of our house and this is our first place that is our home.  It may be for only four weeks but it's ours and we are excited to serve the crew of Nouvelle Vie with our talents and skills.  Next week stay tuned for my video of Week #1 Behind the Scenes of Nouvelle Vie!

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