Well we've been home for over a week and we are trying to get back in the routine of being home, work, etc.  Zachs car wasn't driveable when we got home, so I have been driving him to and from work and trying to play catch-up with things around the house and our work.  I posted a few final pictures sent to me by Dennis Meyers, a heart transplant recipient that was out our "coming home" gala with friends and media.  Be sure to check them out as well as our media links.  Thanks again everyone!

I want to thank everyone that we met along the trip and especially those that gave us a place to stay, a home cooked meal, or invited us to meeting where we got to meet some pretty amazing new friends.  If anyone and everyone we met can please send us an email so we can keep in touch, we would greatly appreciate it.  Thanks again for everything. 

As much as I enjoyed our trip, it was amazing to sleep in my own bed last night!  We finally unpacked today, spent some quality time with our pets and did some very necessary laundry.  I was able to finally post our remaining pictures, although I will probably come across more soon. 

We made it back to Wilmington at about 4:30 pm this afternoon and were greeted by two local radio stations, Dawn and Dwain from Carolina Donor Services, two new friends which are local transplant recipients, and a few friends and neighbors.  We are exhausted!  We are sad the trip is over, but are going to take a day or two to absorb everything that has happened....what an incredible experience this has been!  We will post some final thoughts tomorrow as well as additional pictures that we don't have available tonight.  Thanks to everyone that supported us and met us along the way!

Today was the last official day of our trip, with tomorrow being our trip home.  We met Jennifer from the Living Legacy Foundation at the Harriet Lane Childrens Clinic of Johns Hopkins Hospital, along with the media from Channel 2 and Fox 45 news.  It was great to see Dr. Schwarz, since she was the one to diagnose Zach with liver disease nearly 18 years ago at 6 weeks old. Even she was amazed to see how well that tiny sick little baby grew into a tall healthy young man.    She was also kind enough to invite our family to her farm for dinner and to stay for the night.  So here I sit, posting my last blog on the road, eager to get home.  I have alot of wonderful pictures to post, but unfortunately the last several had to be taken on a "regular" camera, so I have to wait until I get home to have them developed and scan them into digitial files.  I will have all them posted by tomorrow night.  Talk to everyone then!

I seemed to be having problems uploading pictures to the site, so I'll have to do that tomorrow. Sorry!

After enjoying 4th of July fireworks in Baltimore, MD we spent the next day (Saturday) touring the downtown Inner Harbor area before heading to Camden Yards Stadium.  Thanks to the generosity of the Living Legacy Foundation, we had amazing suite box seats for the Orioles game Saturday.  Unfortunately they lost to the Texs Ranger 5 to 3, but it was still an awesome experience!  It was the first major league game for Luke and Jake and they really got into it.  Zach actually got to throw out the first pitch at an Orioles game in April, 1996 when he was 5 1/2 years old, although he doesn't remember a whole lot about it.  After the game we headed to Annapolis.  My parents live just south of Annapolis in Edgewater near the South River.  Today we had fun at Six Flags amusement and water park near Washington DC.  We got to spend some time with my parents and sisters family.  I am truly exhausted!  Tomorrow is Zach's doctors appointment at Johns Hopkins Hospital before we head home on Tuesday.  I can't wait to sleep in my own bed!  I actually miss our pets!  Johns mom has been caring for our two dogs, Kala and Kai, while neighbors have been checking in on our house and cats, KitKat, Snickers and Oreo.  Thanks Dave and Jennifer.....and Marayah, too!  Miss you guys! 

We woke up at 5 am this morning, dressed and headed to the NBC studios at Rockefeller Center.  We had our bright green shirts on and signs in tow.  Unfortunately, by the time we had gotten there, there were about 200 other people and when I asked to meet with the lady who told me she would be there to talk to us, she wasn't around.  Seems she took the day off.  I started having cramps from my kidney stone and, hoping I wouldn't end up like the young girl standing next to us that fainted, we chose to leave and get some breakfast.  Due to the holiday, Matt and Meredith weren't around, and most of the shows segments had been taped earlier in the week.  So, needless to say, we, like most of you, were terribly dissapointed!!!  Oh well, we toured the city anyway, letting the kids decide where to go, since John and I had visited the city earlier this year.  Zach enjoyed the hustle and bustle of a big city, especially bargaining with the street vendors in China town.  Luke liked walking around the streets and was awestruck by the enourmous building.  Jake's favorite sites were the big buildings including the three story Toys-R-Us store.  None of us were too happy with the expenses and constant tipping requests, but thats life in a big city.  Now having visited in both the winter and the summer, I would suggest a new visitor come in the late winter or early spring.  I would much rather deal with the chill of winter, than the "ripe" smells of summer!  One plus though, we got alot of attention walking around the city with our matching green shirts!  Getting smiles, nods and comments like "God bless you!"  I think we had a great reception of support.  However, our love of the city was short-lived and rather than pay outrageous prices for another night in a tiny hotel room, we decided to leave after our sight seeing and head to Baltimore, MD to enjoy the fireworks at the Inner Harbor and stay in a more reasonably priced room.  Tomorrow we will tour Baltimore and go to a Baltimore Orioles Baseball game at Camden Yards, compliments of The Living Legacy Foundation.  Then off to Annapolis, Maryland's capital city, where my parents live.  I hope everyone enjoyed some fireworks tonight!

We left Pittsburgh, PA this morning and visited Harrisburg, PA, the State Capital.  There we had lunch at Garrasons Tavern - we purposely stopped there on behalf of John because it has an unusual spelling like our last name....but couldn't find out if they were relatives are not since the original owner sold it some time ago.  From there we went through New Jersey and into New York City.  Since we will do most of our picture taking of New York tomorrow, I will post those pictures tomorrow night.  Everyone make sure to keep an eye on the Today Show tomorrow morning as we plan on being there bright and early!  Take care everyone and have a Happy 4th!!!

When i first heard about the trip I wasnt sure what to think about it, i was a bit skeptic. However as things went on, I liked it. My favorite thing as i go along is listening to peoples stories. It seems where ever we go there is always somebody who wants to tell us their story. From a cab driver we saw in vegas who told us about his nephew who needs a kidney to meeting people outside a hospital, it seems more people than i thought are effected by organ donations. I have heard stories of people that have had transplants and i have heard of people that did make it. At first i thought most transplants where always successful. A couple days ago we got to spend time with my donor Matthew's family in Nebraska.  I had met a few of them before but never really appreciated the magnitude of what had happened. They are very special people that I hope to spend more time with again. If anything this trip has opened my eyes to how lucky i am.

We had a great meeting this morning in South Bend, IN and met some wonderful people...please take a look at the photo gallery to meet them.  After IN we headed to Toledo, OH where we got to meet a few other liver transplant recipients on the campus of Lourdes College.  We finally ended up here in Pittsburgh, PA.  We head to Harrisburg, PA and New York, NY tomorrow.  We getting close to the end of our trip with only 6 days left.  We will be glad to get home, but will miss this amazing journey.

Unfortunately we had to leave Nebraska this morning.  We headed to Des Moines, IA for a morning breakfast meeting with the Iowa Donor Services staff.  Everyone there was wonderful and friendly.  It has been so great meeting all these new people.  It seems just about everyone we meet has some connection to organ donation or transplantation. And those that aren't directly connected, they are receptive to the cause.  Thanks Paul Sodders, Tim Retz, Frank Descousez, Meg Morris, Jen Studley, Tami Brenneman and all the staff at the Iowa Donor services agency for all your generosity!  From Iowa we headed through Illinois into Indiana where we stopped at South Bend to meet new friends there!  Tommorrow we get to meet even more local Indianans (?) to share our experience.

We spent last night in Alliance and headed to West Point today to meet up with Matthew, Tami and Nathan's  grandparents and family on their dad's side. Everyone was so wonderful and kind, taking us into their home as if we were family.  Last night was our first home cooked meal in 11 days and tonight we were spoiled again! I wish we could stay longer.  Tommorrow we head to Des Moines, IA, Chicago, ILL and finally South Bend, IND.  Fours states in one day! Only 8 days to go!

Well, I apologize to anyone who checked the site last night or this morning. We got to Casper, WY last night abuot 8 pm after suffering about 3 hours of pain during the ride there, John called the ambulance to the motel and I spent the night in the hospital.  It seems I have a "trophy" size kidney stone blocking my right tube to the bladder and an infection in the kidney.  They performed emergency surgery this morning to put in a stint in my right kidney to alleviate the flow problem but could not remove the stone for fear of spilling the infection into my blood.  I have to get them zapped when I get home, but hopefully the blockage stone will pass on its on. As painful as that is it will be better than the constant aching!  Well, enough of my sob story....We had to by-pass Mount Rushmore due to time and headed directly to Alliance, NE where we had a wonderful meal prepared by the Oligmuellers family and friends.  Be sure to check out our Nebraska photo gallery for pics!  We are off to West Point, NE on the east side of the state to meet Matthew's(Zach's donor) grandparents and aunts, uncles, brother and cousins.  Now is the time to get a decent nights sleep!

Wow, it has been an exhausting two days.  We got into Las Vegas yesterday about 5 pm but by the time we got registered, took bags to our rooms and ate dinner it was 9 pm.  We went for a stroll on the strip and went to bed!  This morning we headed to Salt Lake City, Utah where we met up with Dixie Madsen from the "Yes, Utah!" Organ Procurement agency.  They had a BBQ at Liberty Park for us where we got to meet Garret Bons and Eric Shelby, two unicyclists that help promote Utah's organ donation awareness efforts as well as Dixies daughters, Britney & Heidi.  Sheila Baxter was there as both a representative of Utah's OPO and as a donor mom.  Several others were there including Alex and Madeline McDonald, Heidi Ashdown, Megan Schultz, Debra Jones, Rocio Mejia and her son Jose Hugo Mejia. We were also happy to meet Ryan Tripp and Shannon Evans. Ryan rode his lawnmower across America in 1997 to help promote organ donation awareness and raise money for a local girl waiting for a transplant.  He drove over 4000 miles at about 10 miles per hour!  And I thought our trip was crazy! Tomorrow we get to participate in their annual Lehi Round Up Parade in Lehi, Utah.  Be sure to check out the pictures in our photo gallery!  Thanks everyone from Utah for your gracious hospitality!

We made it California!  There is a sign in Barstow showing "Wilmington, NC 2554 miles!"  I never knew how mountanous southern California is!  Our trip from the Arizona border to the outskirts of LA was either desert or mountain, not much in between.  We unfortunately didn't make it to the Pacific Ocean until just after sunset.  I was very disappointed to not get better pictures, but we had a rough start this morning.  We almost lost our sleeping bags on I40 in Arizona three times before getting tied down properly.  But we made it to Barstow, LA and the ocean....pretty cool.

I think the Grand Canyon was one of our most anticipated stops yet....and it proved to be worth it.  Breathtaking is the most descriptive word I can find.  We got back a couple hours ago and looked at all of our pictures.  Even the kids were blown away by the sheer beauty and immenseness of the place. The pictures, while incredible, do not do it justice. They look like painted backdrops.  The magnitude of the depth and size of the canyons are beyond what anyone could imagine.  It was late in the day but the range of colors in the layers of earth were gorgeous ranging from earthy beiges to red and orange clay, yellow rock and green moss all against a crystal clear blue sky.  Take a look at the pictures, but I will also be posting a video we took as well spanning the panoramic view from the south.  Tomorrow we end our Route 40 portion of the trip in Barstow, California.

Well we made it to Albuquerque, New Mexico.  The scenery was beautiful, but it seems so barren. Not many trees, especially tall ones like we are used to at home.  But what it lacks in greenery it makes up in mountains and canyons.  The native American influence out west is impressive.  We visited the Indian Pueblo Cultural Museum and the Old Town area.  Tomorrow we cross the Rio Grande and head toward Arizona and the Grand Canyon! The kids really seem to be enjoying themselves and seeing all of the amazing sites.  They keep comparing the landscape to home, how its the same and how its different.  Thank goodness they haven't asked "are we almost there?"

Actually we are more in the top hat of Texas.  They certainly do things in a big way here in Texas.  We are staying at the reknown Big Texas Steak Ranch and Motel. Home of the famous 72 ounce, eat-it-all and its FREE steak.  It seems as if the earth is sinking the further west we go.  We went from the mountains of Tennesse to the rolling hills of Arkansas to the flat plains of Oklahoma, and now to the canyons of Texas.  I heard the canyons just get deeper the more west we go until we reach the Grand Canyon! Can't wait.  We are looking forward to meeting some more Organ procurement agency representatives in the next states....hopefully they will be able to come through!  Tomorrow, as Bugs Bunny used to say, we are heading to Albuquerque!

Well, its Sunday morning and we camped out in Oklahoma last night, just west of El Reno and Oklahoma City.  Unfortunately it is right next to I-40 so we got to hear all the trucks passing by all night.  We were in Little Rock, AR yesterday morning and visited their downtown Farmer's Market.  There was a great array of beautiful homegrown fruits and vegetables, as well as entertainment such as mimes and a pair of banjo players, all by their beautiful Riverwalk Park along the Arkansas River.  At the end of that same road lies the William Clinton Presidential Library, a beautiful building.  We arrived late in the day to Oklahoma City where we toured the Oklahoma Memorial site left from the bombing there in April, 1995.  Please take a look at the pictures in our photo gallery.  From there we came to our campsite.  Long day!  Today we head to Amarillo, TX. Yee-hah!!!