2017 ~ Bluff, Utah (2017)

Bluff, Utah (2017)

Whitehorse High School

Under the direction of John Taylor, Silas S. Smith and Danish settler Jens Nielson led about 230 Mormons on expedition to start a farming community in southeastern Utah. After forging about 200 miles (320 kilometers) of their own trail over difficult terrain, the settlers arrived on the site of Bluff in April 1880.^[5] (The trail followed went over and down the "Hole In the Rock", which now opens into one of the tributaries of Lake Powell.) The town was named for the bluffs near the town site.^[6] The town’s population had declined to seventy by 1930^{[citation needed]} but rebounded during a uranium prospecting boom in the 1950s.^[5] With the uranium decline in the 1970s Bluff again declined and now remains a small town with about 300 residents.

sThe Four Corners is a region of the United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. The Four Corners area is named after the quadripoint where the boundaries of the four states meet, where the Four Corners Monument is located. It is the only location in the United States where four states meet. Most of the Four Corners region belongs to semi-autonomous Native American nations, the largest of which is the Navajo Nation, followed by Hopi, Ute, and Zuni tribal reserves and nations. The Four Corners region is part of a larger region known as the Colorado Plateau and is mostly rural, rugged, and arid. In addition to the monument, commonly visited areas within Four Corners include Monument Valley, Mesa Verde National Park, Chaco Canyon, and Canyon de Chelly National Monument. The most populous city in the Four Corners region is Farmington, New Mexico, followed by Durango, Colorado.

2016 ~ Spirit Lake, Iowa

Spirit Lake, Iowa

We left on 7/21/16 and headed for IOWA.  We will stayed in Indiana Thursday night and stopped at the Field Of Dreams movie site on Friday morning.  We checked in to Fillenwarth Beach Resort http://www.fillenwarthbeach.com/ on Friday night and stayed 8 nights.  We are drove the bus and pontoon boat with us to explore the area by water.  We will had family pictures taken by www.joshandjenniferphotography.com when we are there.  Such and incredible trip!  These are always our favorite vacations.

Spirit Lake is a city in Dickinson County, Iowa, United States. The population was 4,840 at the 2010 census. It is thecounty seat of Dickinson County.^[5]  The town is located along the western shore of East Okoboji Lake, in the Iowa Great Lakes region.The Dakota Sioux originated the name of "Spirit Lake" referring to it as "The Lake of The Spirit."^[6] In 1856, three brothers-in-law created the town of Spirit Lake after a visit to the Lakes area piqued their interest.^[6] The three brothers-in-law, O.C. Howe, B.F. Parmenter, and R.U. Wheelock, were soon joined by various other settlers, making homes along the lakes' shores.^[6] These settlers however, did not get along peacefully with the natives, and on March 13, 1857 Chief Inkpaduta of the Sioux led a revolt against the non-native settlers, killing all but four women.^[6]

2015 ~ Kirksville, Missouri

2015 ~ Kirksville, Missouri

We took off on Memorial Day Weekend 2015 and headed towards Big Cedar Lodge and Top of the Rock Golf Course.  We could not believe the beauty of this area.  En route, we stopped in Belleville, Illinois.  This is a town that Jen had spent time in growing up with family.  We stayed at Big Cedar Lodge from Saturday to Wednesday and had an incredible time.  We have every intention of traveling back to this incredible resort!  On Wednesday we left and headed north 4.5 hours to Kirksville, Missouri.  Here we met with the Chamber of Commerce, had dinner at DuKum Inn, stayed in the beautiful Brashear House Bed & Breakfast, toured the AI Stills Museum, walked through the medicinal gardens, engaged in learning from the dummies in the medical lab, toured the campus of Truman University, went tubing on 1000 Hills Lake, at dinner with local author of the Dibbuk Box, Jason Haxton, and visited an Amish farm!  All in 2 days!  We left late Thursday and made it home on Friday.  What an incredible and educational trip!

Kirksville is a city in and the county seat of Adair County, Missouri, United States.^[1] Located in the Benton Township, its population was 17,505 at the 2010 census.^[5] Kirksville is home of Truman State University and A.T. Still University.  

2013 ~ Badger, Minnesota

2013 ~ Badger, Minnesota

We left on June 23, 2013 on a new adventure.  We took our three youngest ~ Boyd (age 5), Ben (age 5) and Elle (age 3) with us in our Winnebago and traveled towards Badger, Minnesota taking in some sights along the way.  

• Madison, WI (slept in a Wal-Mart parking lot)
• Minneapolis, MN (Mall of America) (B)
• Mantrap Lodge (www.mantraplodge.com) for a few days
• Badger, MN (D)
• Zippel Bay Resort (www.zippelbay.com) (E)
• Red Rock, Ontario (F)
• Wawa, Ontario (G)
• Paradise, Michigan (G)
• Grand Rapids, Michigan

Here is what we know about Badger:

As of the census^[2] of 2010, there were 375 people, 181 households, and 103 families residing in the city. The population density was 282.0 inhabitants per square mile (108.9 /km²). There were 235 housing units at an average density of 176.7 per square mile (68.2 /km²). The racial makeup of the city was 93.1% White, 0.3% African American, 1.1% Native American, 2.1%Asian, 1.1% from other races, and 2.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.1% of the population.

http://www.badger.k12.mn.us/site/default.aspx?PageID=1

2014 ~ Antlers, Oklahoma

2014 ~ Antlers, Oklahoma

Antlers is a city in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma. The population was 2,453 at the 2010 census, a 3.9 percent decline from 2,552 at the 2000 census.^[3] It is the county seat of Pushmataha County.^[4]. According to the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, the town was named for a pair of antlers hung on a tree to denote the location of a spring.^[5]The city has two motels and one hotel: Sportsman Inn & Suites, Budget Inn, and Hiway Inn & Suites respectively.

There four schools, total: Brantly Elementary (Grades K-3, Vegher Intermediate (Grades 4-5), Obuch Middle School (Grades 6-8), and Antlers High School (9-12).

Until 2008, Antlers was home to the only red light in Pushmataha County. Even now, it has the only two traffic signals in the entire county. [This is only partly true. Before 1958 Antlers had two traffic signals. In about 1960 a big truck ran under the light and knocked it down. Instead of replacing the light they just put up a 4-way stop. And now, some 50 years later, Antlers once again has two traffic lights. In 1958 the Lu Lodge Motel and Log Cabin Cafe were located on the southeast corner, Jimmy Maple's Chevrolet dealearship was on the northeast corner, and the Mobil station was on the northwest corner.]

Fox & Friends Appearance

In April 2012, Fox & Friends flew Bob & I out to their live studio in NYC.  They put us up at "The Stay" on a Friday and we were at the studio at 6 am on Saturday.  Below are a few photos from the show:

The Skay Family Dart Vacation ~ After the Trip

Hello Westerfields! :o)

We hope you have all settled back into the “normal” routine well and that you had a safe trip home. We just wanted to take the opportunity to send an email to let you know how much your generosity and kindness meant to us. It’s hard to put into words how we feel about what your family did for ours. We had such a great time and it was amazing getting to know you and the kids. You are all such wonderful people and we feel like we have made friends for life. Because of your generosity we were able to take Dylan on a vacation that we would never have been able to provide for him on our own. He absolutely loved every minute of it and I know he will remember it always, as we will too! He’s come such a long way in a relatively short period of time and to share his amazing recovery with others makes us more thankful and happy every time we do it. He’s such an inspiration to us and we love to share his story with others. I know he’s thankful that he has met and made friends with all of you as well. Back when we first started talking via email and telephone we never would have dreamed that this experience would have turned out as fabulous as it did and there are no words for how much that has affected our family. We are truly better people for having met you. Your strong faith has inspired us to attend our church again, it has been a long time since we’ve been there, and we are really looking forward to getting back to our faith. We are also volunteering with a local church to help do the Sunday morning breakfast and prayer service for the local homeless. I think it will help us appreciate more what we have been blessed with and also provide much needed help to those who are less fortunate. We are very excited to start this “new” chapter in our lives and really have you all to thank for that!! Have a wonderful day!

Love,

Keri, Dan and Dylan :o)

Receiving this Thank You note was such a gift!

What a joy to read how God has used us to give this family a renewed hunger for Christ and service!

Their trip in review:

The Skay Family (Dan, Dylan & Keri Skay flew into Orlando on Thursday August 17th, 2012)

The Sheraton Vistana Villages (Orlando, Florida)

Epcot Center (Orlando, Florida)

The Animal Kingdom (Orlando, Florida)

The Magic Kingdom (Orlando, Florida)

                                                                              Swamp Boat Tour (Florida)

                                                             Daytona International Speedway (Daytona, Florida)

The United States Astronaut Hall of Fame (Florida)

On Sunday, August 20th 2012 our family met the Skays at a condo in Palm Coast, Florida.  

This was the view from our balcomy!   

We spent the first full day together at the beach.  What a blast watching Dylan get "therapy" standing in the waves as we helped hold him up!

On Tuesday, we all drove to Callahan and Hilliard, Florida (where the dart landed) to share with the Skay's what the Dart Vacation was all about.

At the old train depot we were given a grand welcome!  

On the drive to Hilliard, we had to stop and meet the Tow Mater!

This is one of my favorite photos ~ Elle and Dylan at the Mansion in Hilliard.

Hilliard was a great place!  We met up with a councilman and toured the city building.  He then set us up to tour the Federal Aviation center where we crossed high security (thus no photos) to see how our air space is controlled.  This center is a major employer in Hilliard and it was fascinating to spend time there!  We did our best to volunteer in Hilliard, but you have to take classes before volunteering.  Instead we plan to donate to a few of the recommended causes in Hilliard that they gave us information on.

We stopped in Fernandina Beach, Florida on our way back to Palm Coast for a lovely dinner.

A perfect day!  Complete with rides by Dylan!  The boys really love him!

Keri and I bonded as we discovered that we both had lost sons before they were born; Kaiden Skay (2008) and Tyler Westerfield (2012).  Blue butterflies are meaningful to us both.  With Dylan's diabetes that played a large role in us coming together in this way, this ornament at a Christmas Shop in Fernandina Beach was picture worthy to say the least.

Marineland (Palm Coast, Florida)

On our last night together we all walked down to the beach.  Dylan and I sat on the beach together for a long while.  I was so joyful for our time together.  Dylan is an amazing kid having endured so much!  I'm so excited to see the man he will become and the work he will do for the Lord.  He survived that lengthy coma for a purpose!  Jeremiah 29:11 

Dylan and I exchanged shells and promised to think of our wonderful vacation together whenever we see it.

We had an emotional goodbye in Daytona Beach, Florida

Until we meet again....