Ladies and Gents, for our first post, we want to introduce ourselves to you as some of you may not know the entire cast of characters.  Without further adieu, here is our merry band of travelers. 

Matt - husband of Kati - is a professional student currently in the 25th grade.  He was and is responsible for planning the trip.  Due to an unfortunate genetic makeup, he has planned an itinerary some call "aggressive" and others call "militant."  He maintains, however, the itinerary is temporally and spatially optimized to maximize time-at-activity and "fun."  Matt is most looking forward to the paint pots and the Silurian period geological formations.   

Kati - wife of Matt and sister of Becky - is the only one missing work while on the trip.  She is a former engineer, current accountant, and future farmer.  She works at Harsco rail, and describes it as "probably one of the top 5 or 7 places I've worked."  Kati reports that her garden is flourishing and expects a bumper crop of zucchini.  Kati is most looking forward to Thorngrown Chapel and vast tracts of corn.

Anthony or "Chunk" - husband of Becky - is our union representative in the group.  Chunk is - in a word - "stoic."  Our hope is to get him smile.  Or frown, if that's all we can do.  Chunk is most looking forward to the wildlife in Yellowstone and finding out what yellow-belly marmot tastes like.  

 Becky - wife of Chunk and sister of Kati - is an educator in Brookville, PA.  Her impeccable fashion sense keeps the group honest, and prevents Chunk from wearing the same color shirt and sweatpants.  Partially because of this, however, she is responsible for a plurality of the luggage - a small price to pay for happiness, though.  Becky is most looking forward to the geysers and spotting the semipalmated Sandpiper in its natural habitat. 

Josh - the only one of the group unrelated by blood or marriage - is an educator in Winchester, VA.  He is the most well-travelled of the group with four European vacations under his belt.  In fact, he recently returned from a cruise in the Baltic Sea, where he set a boat record for continuous hours in a hot tub.  Josh is most looking forward to the grand canyon and eating hot dogs with mountains in the background.