Lots To See

I found a book on clearance yesterday that makes a good addition to our homeschool reference section and it's called 1001 Historic Sites You Must See Before You Die.

You know the kind.

Anyway, this one seemed particularly useful for all of the amazing photographs (so we can better imagine visiting these places when actually doing so isn't a real possibility) and the great descriptions.  As we study our year in geography and culture this year (and probably next) with H and Z, this book will come in handy so they can actually explore places in each country by way of this book.

Last night, I was flipping through the book myself and I was a little discouraged to find that (as a family) we have only been to ten of the 1001 places!  And four of those were only slow drive-by's.  (Technically, the Hoover Dam was a drive-over, but you get the idea -- we didn't stop and take the tour anyway.)

I started thinking about it and even though we haven't been to 991 places this book thinks we should go, we have been to a lot of places as a family that maybe the authors of this book haven't (it's not like we sit at home all that well).  And they were pretty cool, too.

The fact of the matter is that I continue to be astounded by just how much detail our God put into making this crazy planet.  Think of how many things we have left to see!  Our adventures are just beginning.  I have a long way to go before I start getting bored.

For funzies, here is the list of the ten (from the book) that we have been to so far:

1. Disneyland (twice with the kids, 2009 & 2010)
2. Gateway Arch (drive-by on our move from New England to New Mexico)
3. Golden Gate Bridge (San Francisco, CA)
4. Graumann's Chinese Theater (CA, slow drive-by, because there was no parking)
5. Hoover Dam (drive-over, which they might not allow anymore, so kind of cool)
6. Mormon Temple (Salt Lake City, UT, this was a drive-by a few times while we were in town)
7. Old North Bridge (many times when we lived back East)
8. Sutter's Fort (Sacramento, CA)
9. Virginia City (thanks to my Dad and Mom, who took us all there in 2010)
10. Wright Brothers National Memorial (twice on our trip to North Carolina in 2008)