My Summer Vacation Day 3

On the morning of Day 3 I woke up and got ready quickly before having a breakfast of hot oatmeal, scrambled eggs, and sausage patties(I loved this breakfast :D). I helped my Dad carry our luggage out to our van while the rest of my family had breakfast(my Dad had ate with me down in the breakfast area). 

We brought the last of the luggage to our car and drove to Plains, Georgia where President Carter and his wife Rosalynn live :D. We had planned to go to President Carter's church, and surprise my Grandpa ;) (we planned other things to, but you will see about that later. hehehehehe >:) ) 

Isn't the sign just so neat? It's a small town and they seem really proud that a President of the United States came from here :D. 

                                      After we arrived in Plains, we realized that we were earlier than expected, but we headed to to the Maranatha Baptist Church anyway. As we pulled into the driveway of the church, our van got checked by a marine(who was a girl! :D) and a bomb-sniffer dog. Then, as we continued on, we realized that the Carters and the Secret Service were right behind us!!! :D We walked up to the church to have my Mom's bag checked and for the Secret Service to hover metal detectors over us.
                    Taking our sears  in the church, I read the section of the Sunday School pamphlet that was for that day. After that, a lady told us the rules and how the lesson would play out. She told us a funny story about back when she was teaching 4th grade(she had Amy Carter in her class) and this one little boy would act up really bad during class. Since she couldn't get him to behave, she decided to ask one of the Secret Service to help her. At first he said "I don't think I should" and she told him "Do you want me to show the kids what you got on your math test?" (she'd had the Secret Service take tests along with the kids). Since she'd threatened him with that(it must have been bad XD), he went and sat down next to the boy, letting the gun under his jacket show, and said "It needs to stop." And after that, he never caused trouble again(he ended up being a successful business man in town).
                     

   
                               We had a quick prayer and when we looked up, there was Mr. Jimmy Carter(Rosalynn was sitting in a pew). Like the lady had told us, Mr. Carter asked where everyone was from one section of pews at a time(left, center, right) My Mom said which state we were from(we were the only people there from our state). Mr. Carter than got to teaching Sunday School which was completely fascinating. We could have listened to him all day. He talked about virtues, such as justice, wisdom, and that week's lesson on courage, peace, and the different things he's done in his life. It made me want to read his White House Diaries even more. :D
                           From listening to him, I got to know how much he really cared about Egyptian leader Sadat (he said that the second hardest time he'd cried in his life was when Sadat was killed :( ).
                 Another thing I like was that when he was talking about something, Rosalynn piped up from her spot and said "Tell them about(I can't remember what it was about, sadly)". I really like how well they work together, it's really sweet :).
                  Oh, and just so you all know, my Mom got to sit next to a Secret Service guy. :)

After Sunday School, we had the Church service which was very interesting since I've never been to a Baptist service before. I was surprised at the similarities between Baptist and Lutheran worship. The pastor of the church, while still young and not quite grasping of theology and Christianity, had a kind, friendly demeanor which I liked to see(though he did raise his voice in passion during his sermon which I'm not used to in the more reserved setting of my Lutheran church). There were also songs I recognized which I thought was pretty neat. 

                                Once church was over, we got up and got into line for picture taking! :D

                             When it was our turn, I stood by Missus Carter and my sister stood next to Mr. Carter; both put their arms around us. My little brother was nervous at first and didn't know where to stand and Jimmy Carter told him "You can stand wherever you like, son." My brother ended up standing in front of President Carter who put his hand on his shoulder for the pic. It was such an amazing experience! :D As we left, Mrs. Carter smiled at me and said "Come again" and as I passed Mr. Carter, he looked directly at me and said "Thank you for coming." SO COOL!!!! :D
                        We were very excited as we walked back to the car(we are Jimmy Carter fans, as you can tell. XD He's one of my favorite Presidents, in fact, which was really neat!). We then went to the Down Town area of Plains and my Mom took some pictures. After that, we went into a store and we got to try some peanut butter ice cream(which is very good) and roasted peanuts. We bought some peanuts as well some candy for my brother. We talked to the lady that owned the store for awhile(she thought my sister and I were twins *how many times is that now?*) before getting into our car and driving to Jimmy Carter's boyhood home. (we sent an image to my Grandpa saying "Guess who we saw today?"; my Grandpa, as you can tell, is a big fan or President Carter and he thought it was so cool that we got to meet him).
                       

                                    My Dad and I talked to the guard standing outside for a little bit and he seemed really nice(I know, random, but I like talking to nice people). Then, once everyone was ready, we headed over to the Carter's house as well as over homes nearby.

                                Outhouse

                           The Carter's house from the back.                              

                          My little brother standing in the hallway with his Power Rangers umbrella. For some reason, I could imagine him living here.

                     Mr. Carter's bed room as a child. Look at all the books on his book shelf.

                                                   The food all looked so good, even if it was fake.

                              The Carter's house from the front. They had a pretty nice house. :)

                                My little brother(I think it looks like he's going inside after a fun day of playing)

     
                                                           General store from the outside

                                                      General store from the inside.

       
                                      We have one of these at my Nana and Grandpa's house.

The house of some people who worked for Jimmy's father(the man who lived here pretty much ran the different things that went on). The family that lived here were among the most important in Jimmy's life and they had a great impact on his character.  

Garden

Secret Service's house.

After we left, we drove by the Carter's current home, which has fences and a place for the Secret Service to live. 

                                           Jimmy Carter's Presidential Campaign Headquarters! :D

                                         Peanut plants(I think)

                               We got lost yet again(or momentarily disoriented), but we soon figured out where we were supposed to be going. We stopped at Wendy's for lunch and I got a chicken sandwich. We drove for many hours, and during that time I read "The Sweet Far Thing" and listened to Wild Space. It was dark when we finally reached our destination of Charleston, South Carolina(or to be more specific, the Isle of Palms) and it took us even longer to find our hotel, which was called "Seaside Inn". As the name implies, we were on the beach(the air definitely had a salty tinge to it).
                          We checked in and made quick dinners for ourselves(I had Cajin Rice and Beans) before taking showers and going to bed. The room and bathroom were really small and it wasn't something I liked at all. :p But it was a good day and probably one of my favorite parts of the vacation. :D

Hope you enjoyed my second post. May the Force be with you and have a good night :D
Jedi Shena Tokala signing off

My Summer Vacation Day 1 and 2

So, as you know, I have been gone for the last two weeks on Vacation. It was such a fun experience. Of course there were the long car rides and everyone getting annoyed at each other, but the whole it was AWESOME!!!, with CVI being the highlight of the entire trip(for me, anyway XD).

Before I continue on, I'd like to post a memorial to the first man to land of the moon who died last week. :(
RIP Neil Armstrong; you inspired a generation of people to reach for the stars and beyond. Rest in the peace and May the Force and the stars watch over you :(  I dedicate this post to you.

We got up at around 3:00 A.M.-ish and packed up everything into the van, leaving home at about 4:30.
We drove for hours and during that time my brother watched two movies(which my sister and I joked about (SO MUCH FUN!), I listened to Wild Space(which I've already read, but listening to it is just as cool!), and read some of "The Sweet Far Thing"(such a good book!).
    My family and I met up with my Nana and Grandpa at a gas station where we took a bathroom break and talked for a bit before leaving. My brother took a nap and my sister and I watched "Revenge of the Sith".
Later, we took another bathroom break and had a lunch of crackers with ham and cheese(I only had ham), strawberries, grapes, and carrots.

We kept driving until we reached Birmingham, Alabama where the hotel we were staying at, the Microtel, was located. When we got to our room we found a pair of woman's jeans hanging up in the closet and a half-eaten avocado in the fridge and the room was not clean and the bed was mussed up. We reported it and we got a much better room. I had a dinner of chicken noodle soup and went to sleep, glad the long drive, filled with sneezing, was over(though this drive wasn't all that bad).

                             I got up the next morning, got ready, and went down stairs to have breakfast. I got two boiled eggs and a fruit cup. However, I got squirted with juice which didn't make me happy at all(luckily, I got to it with a wipe and it went away) :p. We put what we'd brought into the hotel back into the van and began our drive to Atlanta, Georgia. I read on the way as well as listened to my audio book which I enjoyed very much. However, my parents weren't having as good a time since we kept getting lost! XP. AHHHHGGH!
      When we finally reached our destination, we were later than we wanted to be and my mom wasn't happy that we might have to rush through the things we wanted to see that day.

                                 We all hurried over to the Martin Luther King Jr Center where we walked through a garden that was infront of the building. Near the building was a statue of Gandhi as well as footprints of notable people who had come to visit.

                                  My family and I went across the street to the church where Martin Luther King Jr had co-preached with his father. We looked downstairs first before going up to the sanctuary were we looked around and took pictures. We went back down stairs to the fellowship hall where a man gave a history lesson on MLKJ and performed the "I Have a Dream" speech in the style of Martin Luther King Jr himself which I thought was really cool. It's a really good speech! :D

After leaving the church, we walked over to his burial place which is on steps of water with a white coffin at the center. Nearby is the Eternal Flame. When we were finished looking at that, we walked over to his boyhood home(while we were walking, I got some awesome ideas for my book!). We looked at the outside of his house(you can't go inside), took pictures, and then headed back to the museum.

We looked around at the museum and watched some of the videos they were playing, looked at pictures, and read blocks of text. There was this place where they had fake people standing and it could be like you were walking in the march along with them too. :D

We got back into the car and had a quick lunch of crackers and ham, grapes, strawberries, and carrots, before driving to The Carter Center which was really close. 

I had been to the Carter Center back when I was six(we had stopped there on my trip to Disney) but now this time I actually knew more about President Carter so it was so much cooler. The Carter Center is a really neat place. It has a pretty garden area, with a pond and Doric style columns. Before you go down into the place with the buildings, there is a circle of flags which we thought was pretty neat looking. 

                                        Once we were finished looking at the outside, we went inside to look around at the museum which was awesome! :D We watched videos and read snippets of President Carter's history. Since President Jimmy Carter is one of my favorite Presidents, it was really cool to look at everything inside. He is a very inspiring individual :). Soon, I will be listening to "Jimmy Carter's White House Diaries" which, according to my Mom and Grandpa, is really good. I can't wait to start it! :D

                                    My sister and I reading about Jimmy as a child. In the picture, he is holding a small alligator.

                                       A replica of what the Oval Office looked like during President Jimmy Carter's term. It was really cool to look at and see what sort of things he had in there.

 
                                          Me in the Oval Office :D

                                                     
                                                               Presidential Seal :)

                                        Look at what they had at the Carter Center!!! :D Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope came out during Jimmy Carter's presidency which I think is just so cool!!! :D I was very excited to see that! :D
Besides Star Wars, the Voyager Space Probes were sent out during his Presidency. He's a quote he said about space exploration that I thought was extremely awesome :D

We hope someday, having solved the problems we face, to join a community of galactic civilizations.

— President Jimmy Carter, part of the English language message on the 'golden record' attached to Voyager 1, the first man-made machine to leave the Solar System, 1977

                                         
                                                 During World War II The Crown of St. Stephen had been given to the United States by Hungary to keep it safe from the Soviets. Since the Cold War was getting closer and closer to being over, President Jimmy Carter returned the crown to Hungary and was given a replica of the crown (pictured above) as a thank you.

                                 
                                                          Really cool picture! :D Look at how his body is made of a city.

The Carters with Captain America!!! :D

                                               
                                                    My little brother looking at an interactive information thing. It was pretty neat :)

                                                  Here's a set up for Rosalynn (Rose- uh - lynn) Carter :)

                                   
                                 

President Carter's Nobel Peace Prize! :D

                                                      President Carter's achievements

                         When we reached the end of the museum, we all wrote notes for peace. Since a mean person had wrote a mean note, I put mine over it. 

                               Afterwards, we went out to the back and looked at the back ground. So beautiful!

MOOSE!!!!

We then left and began our drive to Americus, looking forward to the next day where we would have a surprise for my Grandpa >:). We stopped and had dinner at Arby's (I got a chicken sandwich) and then got lost AGAIN. We finally made it to Hampton Inn and went to bed, excited for the morrow. 

Hope you enjoyed reading about my first two days of vacation. 

Have a good rest of your night and May the Force be with you! :D