She-Ra, Princess of ???

Happy Veteran's Day!

2011-11-11T11:11:00.001-05:00

11-11-11... a fun date to say and write. :)

Attended a Veteran's Day Prayer service at the school this morning. The kids all wore their scout uniforms (poor Ryan was at least a foot taller than all of the others - even the boys his age!) and lined the aisle for the Marine Corps Honor Guard who presented the colors.

Near the end of the service, they asked the Veterans in attendance to stand. Normally, I am one to just sit quietly, preferring to be anonymous. However, I knew that my kids were there watching and would want to know why I didn't stand up. How can I teach them that it is important to honor and respect veterans while at the same time saying that I don't want to be recognized. Just all the OTHER veterans... So in a moment of Mommy sacrifice, I stood up. I looked around. There were about 10 of us in attendance. I was the youngest by far and the only woman. Sheesh - now I really want to sit down. Those old guys are the real, true veterans. They really sacrificed and served. I stood my ground though, trying to be a good example and hoping my kids were paying attention!

I have decided that I am definitely more comfortable in the support role when it comes Veterans Day and honoring our veterans and active duty armed forces members. I can be the family of one who serves. I can be the strong silent support. I can advocate for those who (have) serve(d) to be recognized. Just don't go eye-balling me! I am but a shadow...

Looking Back again

2011-09-11T13:17:00.002-04:00

Here's a link to my post at the 5-year anniversary of 9-11. I have to say, not much has changed. I still cry every time I think about it. So much loss and tragedy and sadness. I have to change the radio station in the car whenever they have someone on telling what they remember from that day.

Denial... still going strong!

Looking Back

2011-09-10T15:40:00.002-04:00

Soccer today. Currently Felisa appears to be playing as a one-girl team. Where are the rest of the Cheetah Girls? They're on the field but not even moving!

In other news, this place is freezing! We're getting better about dressing in layers and bringing a jacket or sweatshirt. What I think we need now is a blanket or two alwaysin the car for days such as this.

Okay I suppose I should get back to watching the game now...

Day 19

2011-08-05T22:51:00.000-04:00

Day 19 – Friday – August 5, 2011

0500 Wake up. Darby is looking at me. Might as well just forget the alarm and get up now. Once again, the time change helps!

0525 Stop in the lobby to get coffee after walking Darby. The coffee is bad. Over all I am NOT impressed with this hotel.

0540 Sunrise

0545 Shower. Good to have water pressure again.

0600 Wake the kids up.

0629 Leaving hotel. Stop next door at Jack in the Box for breakfast.

0647 Looking for a Grand Canyon sign. We’re lost! You would think they would have better signs for something as famous as the Grand Canyon!

0650 Finally figure out where we’re going. We are the only car on the road at the moment.

0745 Grand Canyon entrance gate

0752 Stop at Mather’s Point overlook and visitor’s center. Walk along the rim trail and take lots of pictures. The lighting isn’t as good as I hoped but the view is amazing! It’s so vast that it’s really hard to tell how big it is – no scale references like at Royal Gorge where you have the bridge over the river and the people walking below. Never less – I have finally seen the Grand Canyon! Woohoo!

0930 Leaving Grand Canyon. Things are getting busy. Good thing we came early!

0944 Horse trailer full of aluminum cans. No horse.

1009 Sheep

1032 Back to I-40 where we started this morning.

1049 Ryan spots a cowboy. A real cowboy – riding a horse – and tending the cattle. Cool!

1155 Kingman, AZ

12:00 p.m. Lunch break at Sonic

12:20 p.m. Gas, $3.39/gallon

1:26 p.m. Stop at the scenic overlook. I thought it was the Colorado River but it was actually Lake Mojave. Almost to Hoover Dam and the new bridge! Current temperature, 103 degrees.

Wait – what was that? Was that the bridge? But I couldn’t see anything! I couldn’t see the bridge or the dam or the river or anything! Waa! I want my money back!!!

Decide to exit and drive across the dam so we can actually see it and see the bridge from below. Cross back to Arizona and then back to Nevada once more.

2:00 p.m. Leaving Hoover Dam.

2:01 p.m. Lake view overlook – Lake Mead. Current temperature, 107 degrees!

2:10 p.m. Boulder City. Driving around and showing the kids my old house, old school, etc.

2:45 p.m. Dairy Queen for ice cream.

3:10 p.m. Holiday Inn Express in Henderson.

5:00 p.m. Can’t go swimming yet – someone had an accident in the pool.

6:30 p.m. Dinner at Sunset Station Casino buffet. Good thing we beat the crowd – the line is long when we leave.

After dinner we go to the pool. It is still very warm out here.

For one last field trip of the day – a drive down the Las Vegas Strip. Lots of lights and oh so many people! It has been a long time since I’ve been here. It seems so much more over the top than before.

10:30 p.m. Back at the hotel. Current temperature, 91 degrees.

Day 18

2011-08-04T21:13:00.000-04:00

Day 18 – Thursday – August 4, 2011

0606 Wake up. Shower. Fold the laundry.

0705 Get the kids up.

Finish packing and loading then take final pictures before we leave. It is one tight squeeze with the addition of another passenger – Grandma Racinez!

0752 Leave. Current temperature is 62 degrees.

0758 National Guard Armory. Tank parked outside.

0807 Rio Grande River in Bernalillo

0814 Twisters for breakfast burritos. Yum!

0816 Starbucks drive-thru for coffee

0837 See a VW bug lowrider. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that before!

0842 I-40 West

0845 Rio Grande River in Albuquerque

0943 Grants, NM. Gas, $3.57/gallon. Some guy comes up begging for money – some sob story about trying to get back to the reservation. He was perfectly polite until I gave him $5. Then he turned tail and practically ran away. I am completely annoyed that he didn’t have the decency to say thank you. I doubt his story was true anyway but sheesh –use your manners! I yelled, “You’re welcome” at his back as he trotted off into the horizon.

0957 Exit the interstate, headed to El Morro National Monument. Lots of black lava rocks along the roadside.

1020 Continental Divide, elevation 7,882 feet

1038 El Morro visitor’s center. Bought our new annual park pass.

1132 Leaving El Morro

12:05 p.m. Zuni Indian Pueblo.

12:21 p.m. Arizona! Time change.

1157 Sanders, AZ – back to I-40

12:10 p.m. Lunch stop –Subway at the gas station in Navajo, AZ. Not much out here and we need to eat before we hit Petrified Forest.

12:47 p.m. Petrified Forest National Park

12:55 p.m. Leaving Petrified Forest/Painted Desert visitor’s center

1:26 p.m. old Route 66 monument

1:35 p.m. Santa Fe Railroad

1:36 p.m. Puerco River

1:46 p.m. Newspaper Rock
1:58 p.m. Agate Bridge

2:05 p.m. Crystal Forest. Darby refuses to get out of the car. I think he’s tired and his feet hurt from the hot ground out here. So we leave him in the car with the windows down while we take a couple quick pictures.

2:24 p.m. Leaving the park.

2:37 p.m. Little Colorado River

2:40 p.m. Holbrook, AZ – back on I-40 again

2:50 p.m. McD’s for iced coffee

2:59 p.m. Cholla Power Plant

3:38 p.m. Canyon Diablo

3:58 p.m. Flagstaff, AZ – looking for a gas station and find Jack in the Box. Stop for a snack.

4:20 p.m. Gas, $3.49/gallon

4:37 p.m. Arizona Divide 7,335 feet

4:51 p.m. Guy on a bike pulling a trailer filled with scrap wood/lumber.

4:53 p.m. Field filled with yellow wildflowers

5:00 p.m. Holiday Inn, Williams, AZ There is something wrong with the wells in town so the water is icky.

5:55 p.m. Dinner at the Singing Pig. Got to sit outside in a covered porch-swing-picnic-table. Live music. Good food. Friendly owners.

Back at the hotel, things are getting busy. We’d better head out early in the morning to beat the crowd!

There were some inconsiderate teens at the pool which made it not much fun. Be aware of your surroundings, people, and have a little consideration for others!!!

Swim then shower then off to bed early. Lights out a 9:15 in my room (not sure about Grandma and the girls) which is even easier to do with the time change today.

Day 17

2011-08-03T23:53:00.000-04:00

Day 17 – Wednesday – August 3, 2011

0645 Darby wakes me up. I didn’t sleep well last night. First I couldn’t fall asleep and then I had crazy dreams.

Coffee.

0700 Bella is up. Ryan and Felisa are sleeping in.

0900 Utility transfer requests for the old house are complete.

0930 I need to quit wasting time and update my blog!

0945 The kids are treasure hunting in the garage again.

0950 Refill Darby’s water again – now we’re having the opposite water problem. He keeps drinking it faster than I can fill it!

0951 Take pictures of the kids with all the spears and swords they found in the garage.

Head into town with Grandma. Stop at Sonic and Starbucks and the bank.

Back home the kids are all still playing.

Raining! Again! It must be monsoon season or something.

Day 16

2011-08-02T23:37:00.001-04:00

Day 16 – Tuesday – August 2, 2011

0630 Wake up. Put Darby out. Felisa is awake already. She never wakes up this early at home… must be because she wants to play with Philip.

Elena and I went on another field trip today. This time we went to Staples for school supplies, Weck’s for brunch (yum!) and then the mall. I went to Barnes and Noble while she went to Sephora. We checked out the new Coach store then it was time to head back.

After lunch, Ryan and I went to see the last Harry Potter movie. The movie was good and the snake only creeped me out a little bit. The previews were worse than the movie by far. Apparently people who go to Harry Potter also like to see creepy scary movies. Ick!

After the movie, we stopped by Walmart to get a birthday present for Seth. We picked out a small cops and robbers lego set which he liked a lot. Felisa and Philip helped him put it together.

For dinner we had Grandma’s noodles – yum! After dinner I surfed Etsy looking for some cool whimsical state maps art. Julie’s travel pictures that she had hanging at her place inspired me to want to do the same. Then I saw a cool map gallery wall online and thought I could maybe combine the two ideas.

Bedtime except that I forgot I had some bills to pay. I got distracted looking at new rustic western furniture online so did that for a long time. Then finally I paid the bills. I probably should have done the bills first because then I would’ve remembered that we have no money for new furniture!

11:45 p.m. Lights out.

Day 15

2011-08-01T21:49:00.000-04:00

Day 15 – Monday – August 1, 2011

0630 Wake up. Let Darby out. The coffee hasn’t been made yet so I go back to bed and read for awhile.

Eventually I get up and get showered. Then Elena and I head out for a field trip to Starbucks and Walmart.

When we get back I hang out with Mark for awhile but then he falls asleep so I have no choice but to go lie down next to him on the bed while he sleeps. I wouldn’t want him to roll off now would I?

1:20 p.m. Vic’s Tree Service calls. I give them my mailing address for the bill. Unfortunately the phone call woke Mark up.

Grandma went to the store. The six biggest kids stayed here with me and Mark went home with Elena while we waited for her to come back.

3:40 p.m. Finally time to hit the pool. It started raining about 30 minutes in. The kids didn’t mind the rain so we stayed until we saw lightning/heard thunder.

4:35 p.m. Stormed out at the pool – heading back home.

7:00 p.m. Finally the barbeque is ready to eat. Yum – I was starving!

After dinner I finished my book.

8:30 p.m. Bedtime. Felisa wants to sleep on the floor for some reason tonight. I found some blankets and pillows for her to use. Darby decided that he wanted to use Felisa’s blanket to sleep on. I told them they had to work it out!

In other news today, Ryan lost 1 ½ teeth. I think that marks the end of his baby teeth. Guess my baby’s not a baby anymore…

Day 14

2011-07-31T22:10:00.000-04:00

Day 14 – Sunday – July 31, 2011

0330 Darby wakes me up. He’s bumping into the closed doors in the dark. Guess he wants to go out. Once we get outside, I can hear coyotes howling. Then they all start yipping and it sounds like they are getting closer. Yikes! I grab Darby and go back inside. Of course now I’m wide awake so I read for awhile.

0500 Finally ready to go back to sleep.

0815 Wake up.

0935 Leaving for mass. Two moms and 7 kids.

1115 Mass is over. That was a really long homily! Interesting, but long.

1140 Back home. Darby doesn’t want to eat or drink today.

12:00 p.m. Pizza leftovers for lunch.

Elena and I hang out all afternoon with Mark and Bella while the other kids play and play.

6:00 p.m. Grandma and Grandpa are finally back. They had to go to Los Alamos again today to finish at the house and turn the keys over to the tenants. Elena made spaghetti for dinner.

After dinner the kids play more.

9:00 p.m. Bedtime. I finished my first book earlier and am starting my second book now.

Day 13

2011-07-30T22:58:00.001-04:00

Day 13 – Saturday – July 30, 2011

0621 Get up. Put Darby out. Start the coffee. Shower. Straighten up the car a bit and get ready to reload.

0805 Wake up Felisa and Ryan. Bella was already awake.

0908 Car is loaded. Pictures are taken. We are ready to go.

0913 The girls are putting dates on their new little calendars. Which reminds me – we missed Seth’s birthday last week. Oops! Guess we’ll get him something when we get there.

0915 Starbucks Drive Thru

0922 Good-bye, Pikes Peak. I’m going to miss you!

0950 Thinking about Brandee… Interesting how people’s lives are often nothing like what you imagine.

1013 Sonic in Pueblo West. Excruciatingly slow service!

1026 Eating my breakfast burrito. Not sure why it took so many years for this inspiration to strike, but putting green chiles on the burrito instead of jalapenos is much yummier! Of course, this won’t work at every Sonic but at least at the locations with green chile cheeseburgers on the menu!

1033 Tie-dye grenade decal on the SUV in front of me. The colors are pretty but not what I would expect to find on a hand grenade. I wonder what the message is exactly.

1039 Evraz billboard. Rocky Mountain Steel company. Which is the logo that was on the Frisbee Dad gave to Bella. Now we know what Evraz is.

1100 Rest stop.

1121 Cows.

1126 Call from Grandma D. Said the yardwork was done and it looks good. Nice to know things are still happening when we are away. She talked to the girls for a while.

1142 A rock formation that looks like a lizard with a spiky back.

1156 Trinidad. Sign warns us to watch for wildlife on the road.

1158 Ron called.

12:11 p.m. New Mexico. Raton Pass. Now for a little social studies lesson, compliments of Wikipedia…
Raton Pass (7834 feet or 2388 meters elevation) is a mountain pass on the Santa Fe Trail along the Colorado-New Mexico border in the United States. Raton Pass is a federally designated National Historic Landmark. Ratón is Spanish for "mouse."
The pass is located on the eastern side of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains between Trinidad, Colorado and Raton, New Mexico, approximately 100 miles (160 km) northeast of Santa Fe. The pass crosses the line of volcanic mesas that extends east from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains along the state line, and furnishes the most direct land route between the valley of the Arkansas River to the north and the upper valley of the Canadian River, leading to Santa Fe, to the south.
12:18 p.m. Capulin Volcano National Monument. Sounds interesting. Maybe we should go there one day.

1219 Traffic jam at Raton exit. Good thing I wasn’t planning to stop here.

12:40 p.m. A flipped car on the highway. Looks very recent. Very scary. Lots of people helping already and I have no special skills to offer. Say a prayer and slowly ease past the scene.

12:51 p.m. Ambulance headed north from Springer. Wonder if it’s headed to the accident scene.

1:13 p.m. Sheep in Wagon Mound.

1:17 p.m. Antelope

1:50 p.m. Las Vegas. Stop at Taco Bell. Darby is going on strike and refuses to get back in the car.

2:00 p.m. Leaving Taco Bell. Darby actually bites at the bag, trying to eat the tacos. Bad dog!

2:02 p.m. Stop next door at Sonic for a cherry limeade. It’s happy hour so my drink is half price!

2:12 p.m. Stop for gas, $3.69/gallon. There are lots of motorcyclists in town today. Buddy is not very happy about this.

2:20 p.m. Darby is still not cooperating. He won’t move all the way into his spot in the middle and is crowding Ryan’s feet and legs. What has gotten into that guy today?

2:36 p.m. Amtrak – passenger train headed north.

2:40 p.m. Pecos River

2:41 p.m. Looks like rain up ahead.

2:47 p.m. Motorcyclists have pulled over to put on rain gear.

2:48 p.m. Lightning and another motorcyclist gearing up.

2:49 p.m. Buddy is in timeout for trying to eat Darby’s food. He’s cheering about being in shotgun so I put him on his head. Then he starts cheering about riding upside-down shotgun. That dog is trouble! Since he’s having too much fun being punished I send him back to Felisa. How’s that for punishment – the fun is over!!!

2:51 p.m. Raining

2:57 p.m. Pecos National Historical Park. Another interesting sounding spot.

3:08 p.m. 63 degrees. It has gone down 20 degrees after the rain. Much more refreshing than the east coast where it usually becomes a sauna after the rain.

3:26 p.m. Back up to 83 degrees. No rain here!

3:38 p.m. Stoneartistas.com stone carving. I’ll have to look that one up but not sure we have room in the van for a giant carved rock!

3:45 p.m. Rio Grande River

4:02 p.m. We’re here but no one is home! All the doors are locked so we go to Elena’s to get a key.

Dinner is pizza from Dion’s. Very yummy.

Lots of thunderstorms roll through in the evening. The cousins are all happy to be together again.

And finally… bedtime!

Day 12

2011-07-29T22:17:00.000-04:00

Day 12 – Friday – July 29, 2011

Breakfast with Brandee, a friend from high school. We brought our youngest girls along so they can entertain each other while we talk.

Next up – errands. We went to the bank to deposit the kids’ piggy bank money (I was going to do it before we left but never got around to it), Costco (why not?), and Smashburger (again!). This time I had the Colorado Dog… delicious!!! Definitely my favorite thing to order there. Yesterday I had a burger, which was good, but this was yummy!

When we got back I walked Darby while the kids continued their mission to turn into Wii-heads.

Dinner at Saltgrass steakhouse. Another friend, Jason, that I had been trying unsuccessfully to meet up with, was heading out while we were waiting for a table so I at least got to see him for a minute!

After dinner we went to Borders to check out the going out of business sale. Each of the kids got a book. Felisa picked out our calendar for next year. I was voting for frogs but we ended up with something else.

9:47 p.m. I have decided that the kids need to go to bed right now!!!

Day 11

2011-07-28T23:49:00.000-04:00

Day 11 – Thursday – July 28, 2011

0615 Wake up.

0730 Coffee. Breakfast. Shower. Kids are playing Wii of course.

1030 Gutter guys are here to fix the downspout.

1134 Dad leaves for his class.

1146 We head out to Smashburger for lunch. Quite delicious, just as we remembered!

12:45 p.m. At Target to get some dog food. Which they do not have. But we did get: Broncos t-shirts for the kids, new goggles for the kids, school uniform gear, a solar lantern for our new porch – all on my ticket. Ryan spent ALL his money to get a new 3DS. Bella used part of her birthday Target card to buy another Selena Gomez CD.

2:30 p.m. Back at the house. Darby needs a walk so we decide to explore the open area behind Grandpa’s house. Ryan got cactus-ed, ouch! And Darby stepped on an ant hill (so we all ran for our lives!!!). Quite the little adventure.

Back at the house it was time for more Wii while I got sucked in by the Oregon Trail game on Facebook and did a few blog updates.

5:20 p.m. Grandpa is home from school. We go out to dinner at TGIFridays.

After dinner, gas for $3.39/gallon.

7:40 p.m. Off to meet Travis for drinks at the Buffalo Wild Wings place. It was pretty loud in there but we did more talking in the parking lot before we left.

10:06 p.m. Home! Made it before the door was locked… The kids got busted. Ryan was still up playing Wii. Claims he didn’t know it was so late… Everyone go to bed right now!!!

Day 10

2011-07-27T22:41:00.000-04:00

Day 10 – Wednesday – July 27, 2011

0610 It’s time to get up. I can’t sleep anymore. The sun is up and my body is still on Central time. I let Darby out to go potty and he comes back with another rawhide!

I drink coffee, check my email, etc. A nice lazy morning.

0710 Dad is up.

0730 The kids are up. They eat breakfast and then are back on the Wii again.

After lazing around for a while it’s time to go on our field trip for the day. I move all the stuff from the front passenger seat into the back where the luggage was so that Dad can ride with us in the same car.

0959 Leave for the chiropractor’s office and our hike.

1013 Oh look – a Schlotsky’s! Maybe we should have lunch before our hike.

1015 Arrive at the chiropractor’s office just on time for Dad’s appointment.

1020 We are all roaming up and down the sidewalk with Darby while we wait for Dad. I suddenly realize that Schlotsky’s might be closed. It is only 1020 – not exactly lunch time. 

1028 Dad is done.

1030 Schlotsky’s is open! They open at 1030 and we are the first customers! Two other guys come in a few minutes after us so clearly I’m not the only crazy person who eats lunch at 1030.

1105 Darby gets to try out the new collapsible water bowl that Dad bought for him. He likes it!

1139 Arrive at Seven Falls.

1242 We are done at the falls. Whew! 185 steps to the eagle’s nest viewing platform (we skipped those and rode the elevator up and back but Ryan ran back down when we were done). The website said that dogs are allowed but I was envisioning stairs not Cliffside ladders. There is no way Darby can go up with us. So I guess that means we won’t be hiking either since the trails start at the top of the 224 stairs that go up along the falls. Darby and Grandpa waited at the bottom. Bella did the first half of the stairs then went back down to wait. Apparently she doesn’t love the water enough to be willing to climb all the way to the top.
Our favorite parts:
Ryan – the stairs. All of them!
Bella- the water
Felisa – the view
Grandpa – the nice cool cave path to the elevator
Sheila – the scenery
Darby – the elevator

On our way back from the falls, we decide to take the scenic route through Garden of the Gods. First we drive through Old Colorado City. Then I make a wrong turn (was it my fault or was it Grandpa’s fault? We may never know!) so we end up going through Manitou Springs as well. The scenic scenic route! Garden of the Gods was pretty busy so no one wanted to stop. Bella had fallen asleep of course anyway. She missed the firemen that we saw arriving to rescue a stranded rock climber. Ryan and Felisa easily noticed the signs that said No Rock Climbing. Guess those climbers don’t know how to read, right? Rock Ledge Ranch was open though so I decided to stop there since we hadn’t done that part of the park before.

1:26 p.m. Rock Ledge Ranch. Part of the ranch has farm animals. Darby was very interested in the pigs and the chickens. A few baby chicks kept coming out from holes in the bottom of the fence but they all went back in rather than running away. The demonstration at the blacksmith shop was interesting too. The men working there had made some cool stuff.

2:37 p.m. Stop at Sonic for a snack.

When we get back there is some loud mountain thunder (it’s just louder out here!) and a little bit of rain. Any guesses what the kids were doing? Did you guess play Wii?

5:10 p.m. Dinner at 3 Margaritas with Shannon and Dana.

After dinner, Dana introduces us to one of her family traditions – ice block sledding. Sounds strange but turned out to be a lot of fun.

After sledding, back to Grandpa’s so the kids could shower off all the dirt and grass stains. I did laundry also – lots of grass to wash out!

10:00 p.m. Update Facebook and then bedtime!

Day 9

2011-07-26T22:08:00.000-04:00

Day 9 – Tuesday – July 26, 2011

0630 Darby wakes me up. Get dressed, walk Darby, get my coffee and check emails, etc.

0740 Wake kids up.

0805 Breakfast

0837 A call from Vic’s Tree Service to see if we still want the cherry tree trimmed.

0843 Leaving the hotel.

0911 A train blasts his horn. Yikes! What is it with these trains trying to give me heart attack?!

0916 A train pulling mostly cars of automobiles.

0924 An ambulance passes us.

0931 A six engine train. The train before this one had one engine and just three cars. There sure are a lot of trains on the tracks today.

0938 Platte River

0945 Fort Kearny

1039 Leaving Fort Kearny.

1046 A swarm of large bugs flies right into my windshield. Thump, thump, THUMP! Yikes!

1049 Gas, $3.97. I don’t think so! That is not even close to the $3.69 price on the sign so we go to a different gas station.

1051 Lawnmower crossing in the crosswalk.

1053 Stop at Burger King. They do not have the pork sandwich I am looking for but they do still have breakfast food available. The guys working give me directions to find a Caribou Coffee shop nearby.

1102 Boogaarts Food Store. Really? A food store with a name that looks like boogers?

1105 Gas, $3.79/gallon. Clean windows too!

1124 I cannot find the coffee place. I am giving up and going back to the highway.

1126 Found it! It’s next to the gas station and across the street from Boogaarts. So that’s why I missed it the first time – I was distracted by the boogers!

1128 An older couple from out of state parks in the lot next to us. They have a hanging clothes rod in the back seat. I haven’t seen one of those in years. I commented on it and Felisa told me that Grandma Ford has one. I bet it’s the same one I remember from all those years ago!

12:00 p.m. Museum of Military Vehicles. Ryan wants to stop. I told him maybe next time.

12:21 p.m. Arrive at the Sod House Museum

12:50 p.m. Leaving the sod house. 258 miles to Grandpa Ford’s house… Our favorite parts of the museum:
Ryan-barbed wire statues
Felisa – how the walls are made of grass
Bella – the house
Sheila – the house

12:54 p.m. Platte River channel bridge – the water looks pretty high

1:11 p.m. North Platte Visitors Center sign – looks like a good place to visit on future drives.

1:23 p.m. South Platte River

1:25 p.m. Burger King in North Platte – pork sandwich, yum!

1:38 p.m. Felisa tells us that we have to be careful with Grandpa Ford. He’s a trickster grandpa!

1:39 p.m South Platte River

1:40 p.m. Darby ate one of Ryan’s chicken nuggets. Oops! Someone forgot to be careful and someone else got a treat as a result!

1:41 p.m. Truck of pigs pulled over by the police.

1:43 p.m. Haystacks! Very unusual – usually you see the rolls and occasionally the large bales.

1:52 p.m. Old West Vacation Trail… that sounds interesting. Might have to look it up!

2:01 p.m Mountain Time Zone

1:09 p.m. Fur Trade Museum, 170 miles. Apparently a little off our route but maybe something for another time…

1:13 p.m. Kenney Chesney’s bus just passed us going East. I wonder if he was really on board.

1:18 p.m. A news story about how the “Smurfs” are in danger of heatstroke during the movie premier event in New York City.

1:24 p.m. We are off the Oregon Trail.

1:45 p.m. Colorado

2:13 p.m. Thinking about what other stuff we can get rid off as we unpack.

2:36 p.m. I’m craving a wagon train book after all this Oregon trail following and pioneer site visiting.

2:38 p.m. I should call Scott to see if he’ll come down to the springs.

2:59 p.m. Jo recalculated… and on the very first try came up with the route I want to follow rather than trying to get my to u-turn my way back to her original route. Will wonders never cease!

3:01 p.m. No gas for 75 miles!!! Uh oh. Guess we’d better turn around and go back the other way for a couple miles before we get on this highway!

3:06 p.m. Gas, $3.64/gallon. It smells like stinky cows out here in Brush.

3:25 p.m. Big scary truck with an oversize load met us on the 2-lane highway. Yikes!

3:30 p.m. Did I hear that correctly? Is there a new Toby Keith CD coming out?

3:47 p.m. Lightning ahead

3:49 p.m. Last Chance, CO. Last chance for what?

3:52 p.m. Let It Rain is playing on the radio just as we appear to be heading into a rainstorm.

3:54 p.m. Ryan comments on how we are all alone out here in the prairie. No cars ahead of us nor behind.

4:00 p.m. Passing through a windfarm and there is more lightning.

4:11 p.m. There are signs posted that say No Snowplowing 7 p.m. – 5 a.m. I wonder why?

4:14 p.m. It’s raining!

4:22 p.m. Just as I think we are headed out the other side of the rain storm, it starts to rain even harder.

4:24 p.m. Minor flooding on the roads in Limon.

4:28 p.m. A mobile coffee shop trailer for sale. Anyone need a job?

4:29 p.m. Wet cows lined up along the fence, staring at me. What do they want???

4:33 p.m. A llama with a dangling lead rope is roaming the field. That seems dangerous to me. Isn’t he going to get caught on something?

4:43 p.m. Half of Ryan’s tooth fell out. Apparently the other half is still in his mouth, still hanging on.

4:47 p.m. Trucks with red flashing lights are driving on the other side of the highway. They don’t look like police or fire. I wonder why they have red lights. I thought those were only for official business.

4:52 p.m. El Paso County – yay!

5:05 p.m. I can see Pikes Peak – yay! We’re almost there!

5:26 p.m. Dad called. He’s home from school. What’s taking us so long?!

5:31 p.m. News story – about 240 Air Force Academy cadets have been quarantined with the flu. Because basic training isn’t hard enough already…

5:37 p.m. Academy Boulevard. The new Woodman Road overpass is finished – very fancy!

5:42 p.m. Made it to Grandpa’s house.

We were there for less than five minutes when Darby came in from the backyard with a rawhide bone he had found. He seemed quite pleased with himself!

6:21 p.m. I go out to pick up Papa Murphy’s Pizza for dinner. Yummy! For whatever reason, I didn’t get to have any on our trip last summer.

The kids play Wii before and after dinner. Darby continues to find more and more bones but this time they are unidentifiable animal bones. We let him keep the rawhide but confiscate the others.

Time to watch the weekly episode of Scooby Doo (thanks for recording it for us!) and inflate the air mattress to get ready for bed.

10:00 p.m. Bedtime!

Day 8

2011-07-25T23:30:00.000-04:00

Day 8 – Monday – July 25, 2011

0640 Wake up. Take Darby outside. Get dressed.

0705 Wake kids up. Get the car loaded and take our final pictures.

0805 Leaving Grandma’s house.

0806 Stop at the post office to mail the bills. There is fresh oil on the road. Don’t want to drive on that!

0813 See a truck full of pigs headed to you know where.

0818 Foggy out in the cornfields this morning.

0823 Hang a right at the corner of Corn and Soybean.

0824 Why does Jo like to drive the back roads through the corn fields?

0827 Still foggy.

0830 A gravel road? Really, Jo?

0839 Ryan sees a wolf (?)/coyote (?)/some sort of not-a-dog in the field.

0844 Crossing train tracks. See our first cows of the day in the field.

0846 Trivia on the radio… Apparently the average person has 12 different addresses in their life.

0850 See grave diggers working in the cemetery.

0858 Crossing the Mississippi River into Burlington, Iowa. That’s new bridge – very fancy. (a cable-stayed bridge) Burlington is a much bigger city than I was expecting.

0904 Gas, $3.59/gallon

0910 Stop at a very noisy McD’s (construction in the parking lot) for some iced coffee and a breakfast sandwich.

0919 Ethanol plant

0929 Racine Avenue… only one letter missing!

1011 Passed a farmhouse with a dj truck outside.

1015 American Gothic House. It’s a brown sign. I wonder if it means gothic as in architecture or gothic as in spooky.
1017 Darby really wants to help Ryan eat his beef jerky.

1023 Ottumwa, IA

1050 Albia, IA - potty break

1134 Text from Ron – the movers are at the new house and starting to unload.

1141 I am enjoying the rolling hills of Iowa. Very nice to look at.

1148 Pass a barn that has a yellow slide coming out the side.

12:00 p.m. Subway for lunch

12:13 p.m. Pass a daycare center/preschool. Why are all the playgrounds always out in the sun with no grass, no trees, no shade?

12:40 p.m. Searching for the Bridges of Madison County… see a sign for John Wayne’s birthplace.

12:55 p.m. Stop at the birthplace. Got a map of where the covered bridges are. There is one at the city park nearby. Apparently there is also a maze and a tower there at the park.

1:15 p.m. At the park. Take a picture by the bridge then the kids go through the hedge maze while I try to convince Darby to drink some water before he has a heat stroke.

1:40 p.m. We have found Clark Tower. Very cool! We also decided that the windy forested road through the park to the tower would also make a nice hike. While at the park, the kids defend Prince Cookie from the invading Ogre Army. Ryan killed 30 ogres, Bella killed 10, and Felisa killed 20. Now we must journey on to find another fortress for the Prince where the Ogres can’t find us.

1:54 p.m. Leaving the tower. Hot and sweaty but it was a lot of fun. Darby still won’t drink any water. Hopefully he’ll cool off quickly in the air conditioned car.

2:23 p.m. Stop at Hogback Bridge.

2:39 p.m. Call ahead to the hotel to make a reservation. Jo’s ETA to the hotel is 7 p.m.

2:50 p.m. Cow swimming hole

2:55 p.m. On I-80 West… off the back roads and onto the interstate

3:14 p.m. Antique Country Road… which reminds me – I forgot to look up the location of the American Pickers shop so that we could stop by.

3:20 p.m. Happy face water tower- Adair, IA

3:33 p.m. East Nishnabotna Creek… I wonder where that name comes from.

3:44 p.m. I keep feeling like I have driven this way before. And I’m sure I have at some point in my life. But when?

3:57 p.m. Rest Area 1 mile ahead. Then a sign for a Modern Rest Area 14 miles ahead. What’s the difference?

3:58 p.m. Oh, that’s the difference. The first (non-modern!) rest area is for parking only – no facilities.

3:59 p.m. Passed by a minivan from New York also with a roof-box.

4:03 p.m. Oh I think I remember – it must have been the year we went to Mount Rushmore. We drove east across South Dakota then dropped down through Iowa. So I’ve been here before, just headed in the other direction.

4:14 p.m. Union Pacific Railroad Museum – sounds interesting for a future stop.

4:26 p.m. Gas, $3.43/gallon

4:30 p.m. Once again Jo has led me on a wild goose chase where there is NO Starbucks!!! Grr!

4:41 p.m. Nebraska and the Missouri River

4:43 p.m. Oh yay. A traffic jam. Yuck!

4:59 p.m. Paypal offices

5:12 p.m. Platte River

5:14 p.m. I’m hungry. I’m thirsty. And it’s making me feel nauseous.

5:16 p.m. Lady Gaga is on the country radio station. Apparently one of her new songs, You and I, is about Nebraska where she is from.

5:26 p.m. A car with a Broncos sticker. Go Broncos!

5:34 p.m. And now it’s the country version of Lady Gaga’s Born This Way

5:37 p.m. Sonic for dinner. Apparently the carhop is new. At least that’s what the manager told me when I had to go back in for the second time to get more stuff she had left out of our order.

6:01 p.m. Finally leaving Sonic.

6:17 p.m. A sign for the Keg Bar. Happy Hour is 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. That’s a long happy hour!

Driving through downtown Lincoln. It would’ve been much faster to go back the way we came to Sonic than to drive 8 miles across town. Thanks for nothing, Jo.

7:17 p.m. Plainsman Museum sign

7:31 p.m. Platte River

7:47 p.m. Hotel.

Uh oh – no pool at this hotel! But they do take dogs… sorry kids!

I take Darby for a walk while the kids watch tv. I call dad to check in for tomorrow.

9:30 p.m. Tell the kids to go to bed then I take a shower.

After my shower time to update my blog and pictures.

11:31 p.m. Bed time. I’m hungry and it’s late. 

Day 7

2011-07-24T21:32:00.001-04:00

Day 7 – Sunday – July 24, 2011

0630 Darby wakes up. I ignore him until about 650 then I give up and take him outside. Then back downstairs to read until others wake up.

Coffee and breakfast.

Cartoon Network.

A thunderstorm rolls through so no trip to the park. Ron and Naomi don’t answer the phone so not sure if they have Tegan and Briley with them today. So looks like another quiet day around the house.

Lunch is ham salad, corn curls, cheese cubes, and Pringles. Donuts and thin mints for dessert.

I take Darby for a walk before it rains again, though it looks like the storm is headed out.

GSN.

The kids have decided to change Darby’s name to Rover, to see if it makes a difference. He seems to come (or not come!) to both names equally.

Lana came to visit again and brought me an iced coffee from McD’s. Buddy tried to drink it so I told him he would be grounded from pizza and cheeseburgers for a month if he drank my coffee. Then I had to put him in timeout while he settled down a bit.

We went to dinner at the Chinese buffet. Delicious as always. Black pepper chicken – yum! After dinner we went to Kmart. Lana needed more tape for her bandages. Grandma needed more milk (we used it all!). I needed some Kitchen Cooked potato chips (I’m pretty sure I can squeeze two bags into the car). Bella decided she needed a new shirt. Felisa bought a candy bar (couldn’t find any other cute clothes besides what Bella bought). Ryan used his money from Lana to buy some beef jerky for the road.

Once back at the house I straighten and re-arrange the car a bit. Darby gets in because he doesn’t want to get left behind. I told him we weren’t leaving yet but he didn’t believe me. Back inside to pack the bags then more GSN before bed.

Day 6

2011-07-23T23:20:00.000-04:00

Day 6 – Saturday – July 23, 2011

0640 Darby wakes me up. Met the neighbor’s dog, Puddles, out in the backyard. Then back to bed to read while I wait for others to wake up.

0740 Girls are awake so we go upstairs. Coffee and breakfast.
Uncle Neal came by to visit so talked to him for a bit. Just as we are about to head out to the park, Ryan finally wakes up (10 a.m.!). I tell him to meet us there after he eats breakfast and gets dressed.

We only last about half an hour at the park because it is already hot and sticky. We spend the rest of the morning and afternoon inside with the a/c and the tv on.

2 p.m. Grandma goes to pick up Lana and bring her back for a visit. (She can’t drive with bandaged hands!)

Beef and noodles for dinner – yum! Then a little more GSN before Grandma takes Lana back home. Harry Potter is on tv but we’ve all seen it before and there are way too many commercials so we all give up and go to bed.

Day 5

2011-07-22T23:17:00.000-04:00

Day 5 – Friday – July 22, 2011

0530 Wake up. I seriously need to figure out a better way to turn the alarm off on my cell phone. Walk Darby then get ready to go.

0605 Get Ryan up.

0610 Meet Mom and the girls at Bob Evans for breakfast.

0730 The kids go to the IRS building with Mom for a little field trip. I go back to the hotel to load the car and feed Darby.

0826 Leaving the IRS building, all passengers aboard.

0834 McD’s to get an iced coffee for the the road.

0847 See a deer in the bean field eating breakfast.

0904 Driving on Route 66.

0930 Done with our stop in Lincoln, IL. We saw the largest covered wagon (complete with an Abe Lincoln statue driving), the park where Lincoln used to play ball, and the Courthouse where he served as a lawyer.

0947 See a Kitchen Cooked truck. Yum! Can’t wait for some yummy potato chips!

1013 Dead tree- nice one!

1018 In the cornfields again. Almost miss a turn. I think the corn confuses Jo. We were lost in the cornfields last year too!

1022 We get a free car wash from the corn sprinklers! A feature only found on the back roads.

1029 The song about taking the back roads comes on the radio – perfect timing!

1041 Havana, IL – made it back to Hwy 136 and across the Illinois River.

1047 Ran over a giant fuzzy caterpillar. At least, I think that’s what it was.

1111 See two trains side by side on the tracks.

1113 One of the trains honks its horn. Yikes! That scared me!

1124 Interesting program on NPR about ants.

1128 Stop at Burger King in Macomb for lunch.

1145 Grandma’s house!

Darby and Lady are co-existing pretty well. We go to Ponderosa for dinner. Back home we watch America’s Favorite Videos.

9:00 p.m. Bedtime!

Day 4

2011-07-21T23:10:00.001-04:00

Day 4 – Thursday – July 21, 2011

0550 Darby wakes me up. I decide to go ahead and take him out so there are no accidents. Unfortunately the alarm was on and I set it off when I open the door. Oops!
I work on updating my blog while I wait for others to get up. I know they were awake but hopefully they went back to sleep.

0645 Shower time.

Fritz is up and makes coffee and pancakes.

0730 Ryan surprises me by being the first one up.

0800 Ryan wakes up Bella and Felisa.

0849 Car is loaded and we are back on the road. Sadly another short visit but I didn’t want to plan to stay too long with anyone along the way since I wasn’t sure how the dog would behave. Next year we can stay longer.

0931 The car thermometer says it is 91 degrees! Already?!

0932 Detour around an accident on I-55N.

0943 Mississippi River and Arkansas

1010 Darby is stretched out on his side and actually Sleeping! Finally!

1045 Sonic. They have fried pickles on the menu but no one is interested in trying them. Then off to the gas station to fill up. $3.52/gallon. I check the map again to decide which way we should go.

1117 Missouri

12:20 p.m. Stop at a park in Sikestown. It is ridiculously hot (car says 102) and the kids just sit on a bench in the shade. Ron calls to tell me that he broke down in the Mojave Desert, about 35 miles from Barstow. Not good!

12:41 p.m. Stop at Burger King to get lunch for the kids.

12:53 p.m. Finally back to the highway. That park detour was way too long. Bad Jo!

2:52 p.m. St. Louis Arch drive-by. Did not intend to pass this way but I missed my exit so we ended up driving right by. Hope the picture Ryan took turns out!

2:56 p.m. Mississippi River – Illinois

3:15 p.m. Sandy called with our official moving weight. 19,820 pounds. Which means we are over weight and will have to pay the excess.

3:26 p.m. Tractor in the road. We are already on a detour from construction on the highway and now we have to pass a big tractor. I’m getting tired of driving!!!

3:50 p.m. See a sign for the local police station. Tell the kids I’m going to drop them off. When we get off the exit, there is a police cruiser on the side of the road. “Oh look!” I said. “He got my message and is here to pick you up!” So convenient – just open the door, push the kids out, and peel out! Haha. Just kidding. Sure was funny though.

3:52 p.m. Jack in the Box for a snack. Gas, $3.69/gallon. Darby gets a potty break. And it is still crazy hot outside!

4:50 p.m. Ron calls again. He has been towed to a local repair shop. They can get a new axle from the junkyard and fix it in the morning for just $1000. Which is a lot. But cheaper than it would be at the dealer. I am not looking forward to the next few months’ credit card bills. Even though the move is mostly reimbursed, it is still expensive.

4:54 p.m. Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. Maybe we should go to one sometime.

5:14 p.m. Culvers sign. Oh yeah – I forgot about Culvers!

5:29 p.m. Grain elevator museum. The sign is faded. I wonder if it still exists.

5:30 p.m. Smiley Face water tower

5:53 p.m. Hotel. Finally!

Mom comes over and we all go to dinner at Steak-n-Shake. The kids go to swim at Mom’s hotel since she has a bigger pool. The girls spend the night there but Ryan comes back to our room where he can have his own bed. I need to update my blog but I’m just too tired. Maybe I can get caught up at Grandma’s house and then upload at my next internet stop after that. And now it is time to go to bed since we have to wake up early for breakfast tomorrow.

Day 3

2011-07-20T23:11:00.001-04:00

Day 3 – Wednesday – July 20, 2011

0615 Wake up. Take Darby out to go potty.

0630 Julie leaves for work. Walk Darby and give him breakfast.

0730 Wake the tired kids up.

0820 Loading the car. A guy is in the parking garage washing his bike which has created a river behind the car. It is so deep, it gets into the top of my sandal.

0827 Leaving.

0828 Crossing the river by accident. Oops! That’s okay – Jo will help us find our way back.

0831 Crossing back over the Tennessee River. Back on track!

0840 Georgia

0844 Tennessee and central time zone

0750 Crossing the Tennessee River – again! This time it was intentional.

0804 Alabama

0812 First dead armadillo on the side of the road.

0840 Hardees for food. The drink machines are all out of order.

0845 Across the street to Sonic for coffee. We are in Scottsboro, Alabama

0857 Piggly Wiggly – such a funny name for a grocery store

0858 Gas, $3.45/gallon. Miles travelled so far, 683.

0923 Second dead armadillo

0945 Passing the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville. Ryan wants to stop but we can’t. No dogs allowed. Ryan says, “Man, Darby, you’re really holding us back!”

1005 Rhodes Ferry Park in Decatur, AL. Spur of the moment stop for Darby and Bella, my water girl. So here we are again along the Tennessee River!

1051 A patch of trees all broken on the top half. Would a tornado cause that?

1058 Armadillo #3.

1124 McD’s for lunch. Call Lana. She fell into her grill Tuesday night so she won’t be able to watch Darby this weekend. Uh-oh!

1156 Armadillo #4.

1159 Coon Dog Cemetary. Interesting. Is it really a cemetery for dogs or is it just named for a particular location?

12:14 p.m. Mississippi

12:50 p.m. Corinth City Park. Darby needs a break – again! – and Jo found this awesome park for us. It is very hot today but the playground is great. I am surprised to see a lot of people at the park in the hot weather. I guess maybe this is the usual temperature for where we are.

1:09 p.m. Leaving the park.

1:23 p.m. My toe still hurts. I stubbed it on a big rock at the park just as we were headed back to the car.

1:58 p.m. National Bird Dog Museum. Maybe Darby would like to stop there!

2:15 p.m. Tennessee

2:33 p.m. Arrive at the Ruthlings. We are early (they didn’t get my message!) but they are on the way home from the store so we only have a few minutes to wait.
The dogs meet each other. Bailey is not too happy to see another dog but they all settle in pretty well. The kids swim and have a water balloon/water gun fight while the adults chat. Hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner then we take the dogs for a walk. The kids play more while the adults chat more then it is finally time for bed.

Day 2

2011-07-19T23:05:00.002-04:00

Day 2 – Tuesday – July 19, 2011

0700 Wake up. Walk Darby.

0720 Get coffee in the lobby and then check email. Shower then girls wake up.

0807 Ryan is finally awake. Kids get dressed and brush teeth.

0821 Breakfast. This hotel has a cool machine that cooks pancakes for you. Just press the button, wait a couple minutes, then two pancakes pop out the side onto your plate.

0858 Kids and dog are fed. Darby has surprised me this trip by actually eating. Usually when we travel, he won’t hardly eat.

0917 Leaving hotel.

0953 Darby has his head down. Is he asleep? Uh oh. He must have heard me thinking about him because he just lifted his head to look at me. Guess he wasn’t asleep.

0958 Rough road sign. Just after we hit a rough patch of road. Aren’t those signs supposed to be posted before the rough road?

0959 Antiquecabins.com I wonder what that’s all about.

1010 Felisa asks me if we will be stopping at Sonic on this trip. What kind of question is that? Of course we will! It’s like she doesn’t know me at all.

1043 Tennessee state line. Cheers from the back row.

1045 Gas, $3.57/gallon. Miles driven so far, 378

1111 First Sonic sign spotted

1143 Davy Crockett Birth Place State Park. Might be a good place to stop on a
future trip.

1144 Pass a truck weigh station. Which reminds me that we haven’t heard from the moving company yet. Are we over our weight allowance? Perhaps no news is good new.

12:01 p.m. Sonic for lunch. Darby has a big drink of water. Ryan tastes the ocean water (sprite + blue coconut) and says it is good.

12:29 p.m. Back on the highway. Darby is sad that we are eating in front of him again.

12:42 p.m. Billboard for the Titanic at Pigeon Forge. Which really makes me wonder what Pigeon Forge is exactly.

1:21 p.m. Felisa sees a United Van Lines truck. It can’t be ours though – it’s too small.

1:35 p.m. Tennnessee River

2:07 p.m. Rest stop. Darby had to go! Also, saw a cool bug. Some sort of big moth or butterfly.

3:13 p.m. Georgia

3:16 p.m. Rock City. And just like on the billboard, there’s a big waterfall on the side of the mountain. Wow!

5:11 p.m. D’Arcy calls. Checking in for tomorrow. I’m glad she called because I needed to talk to her but keep forgetting to call when we stop.

5:19 p.m. Leaving Lookout Mountain and Rock City. Our favorite parts:
Bella – everything
Ryan – the view (best view ever!)
Felisa – Fairytale Caverns
Darby – cool caves and water to drink

5:22 Tennessee

5:47 p.m. Arrive at Julie’s house

Once we get in, we decide to walk over to see the fountain and choose Mellow Mushroom for dinner. Best. Pizza. Ever! So good! Then back to Julie’s to watch Scooby Doo and Looney Tunes and wait for the sun to go down behind the mountain. Once it has cooled off a bit, we head out to walk across the Walnut Street Bridge. On the other side the merry-go-round closed before we got across the bridge so the kids played in the fountain at the Coolidge Riverside Park then we walk back across. We finish off the night with ice cream. We finally get back to Julie’s at about 10:30 p.m. and get ready for bed.

Day 1

2011-07-18T23:23:00.000-04:00

Day 1 – Monday – July 18, 2011

0600 Alarm goes off. Wake up just as it gives up and stops beeping.
Fold laundry. Repack suitcases. Shower and get dressed. Wake kids up. Finish loading car.

0845 Help Alexis load Moses in the car for his trip to the vet.
Take pictures outside.

0909 Finally we are ready to leave. Our beginning mileage on the odometer is 86,884. Big Trip 6 has begun.

0912 At the UPS store to drop off the box of cable boxes. The car is so full I almost had to drive with it on my lap!

0916 Gas $3.82/gallon

0935 Leaving McD’s, breakfast and coffee in hand. Darby does not like it when we all eat in front of him in the car but he’s going to have to get used to it!

0950 Stop at the Manassas rest stop so I can figure out exactly where I’m going and get Jo set. I think this is the first time I’ve ever stopped at the Manassas rest stop. Usually just drive right by!

1009 Snack box is cracked open for the first time.

1020 Driving through Warrenton, off my usual path. This place has really been developed a lot!

1033 See a vulture perched atop a dead deer in the median. Guess he’s staking his claim on lunch.

1041 Cows!

1055 Shenandoah National Park

1111 Our first stop on Skyline Drive is the tunnel overlook. Very hazy today so we can’t see clearly in the distance. Still a nice view though.

1118 Pinnacles Overlook.

1137 Elevation 3.680 feet – highest point along the drive

1141 Timber Hollow Overlook. At the overlook there is a sign that says the Appalachian Trail is only 50 yards away. Cool!

1200 Franklin Cliffs Overlook

1210 Big Meadow Visitors Center. The kids see deer as we pull in but I missed it. Other than birds and insects, I have seen no wildlife along the drive today. I was really hoping to see a bear! I let the kids go into the visitor’s center to look around. I tell them to come back in 5 minutes. 15 minutes later I see them finally come out of the exhibit area then go immediately into the gift shop. Another 5 minutes and they finally come back. Another water break for Darby and we’re back on the road.

1253 See deer crossing the road.
It has been so amazingly quiet out here on the drive today. Not a lot of traffic. And when you are driving by with the windows open it is just so peacefully quiet out in the woods.

1:07 p.m. South River overlook – our last stop in the park

1:38 p.m. See the first cornfields.

2:30 p.m. Stop at Hardees for lunch

3:07 p.m. Arrive at Natural Bridge. Tickets are expensive. We walk down the many steps to the path. Already Darby is hot. Hike to the bridge. Hike a little farther to the Monacan Indian Village. Darby won’t drink from the water bottle or from my hands. Afraid he will get heat stroke so we head back without seeing the salt mines or the waterfall. Bridge was cool but not nearly as great as all the billboard hype. Ryan comments that we always look like a bunch of city slickers when we hike on vacation. Gave the kids 5 minutes again but this time also gave them my watch. They arrived back outside just in time!

4:23 p.m. Leaving Natural Bridge.

5:45 p.m. Arrive at hotel. Thank goodness because I am so tired today. Darby drinks a lot of water. Kids watch t.v. while I walk Darby and call Grandma and Mom to confirm plans.

We leave Darby in the room alone while we go across the street for dinner at Shoney’s. I think he stayed awake the whole time we were gone but he was good. We stayed with Darby for a little while then hit the hotel pool. After swimming and showers, we all watch The Incredibles on tv before bed.

292

2011-07-14T20:47:00.002-04:00

292. That's our final box count. 3 women. 2 days. 292 cardboard boxes assembled, packed, sealed, and inventoried.

I hope they are lightweight boxes full of feathers and air. Maybe Harry Potter knows a spell for that which he could share with me?

Now the girls are having a box fort competition to see whose fort is the best with the most boxes and which is the most comfortable.

On one hand, I would like the boxes to be gone so that I could walk through the house again. On the other hand, when the boxes go so do my bed and couch and therefore my comfy sitting spots.

Less than 12 hours until loading begins.

Boxes - Day 2

2011-07-14T12:30:00.004-04:00

The packing continues... yesterday was the bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs as well as the Scrapbooking Pit of Despair etc.

On tap today... the main level of the house (kitchen, dining room, living room, pantry room) and the rest of the basement (media room/storage and laundry room/tool room).

The jury is still out - will we be over weight??? We'll find out (maybe) tomorrow.

Our packing crew of 3 women is very efficient. Nice and friendly as well. Will our driver and movers be good too?

Felisa said that the Minotaur might be living in our house somewhere because the Minotaur lives in a maze. Darby has not reported any Minotaur sightings yet but I'll let you know if we find him.

Live from the front porch

2011-07-10T22:14:00.002-04:00

...it's the National Geographic Channel!

As I was headed out to dump the trash, I saw a praying mantis eating a junebug on the glass door. The porch light was on and made the perfect spotlight for us to watch from the underside as he (she?) enjoyed a nice bedtime snack. It ate the whole thing!

2011-06-18T18:42:00.002-04:00

Cannons rumble in the distance.
The smell of gunsmoke fills the air.

It's the Battle of Vienna!

2011-06-14T18:56:00.003-04:00

A couple interesting things that happened today...

1. The Egyptian busboy at Panera tried to pick me up today. Apparently I have broken his heart by being already married. I did get some free coffee out of the deal though! It has been awhile since a guy has hit on me...

2. Found a dead robin on the porch after school. There have been quite a few birds hitting the window lately. Guess this guy (or gal?) hit it a bit too hard. Luckily I spotted it before I let Darby out so I could remove the body before he tried to eat it. Ick!

*****

In other news...
*We are estimated to be 2,000 lbs overweight for our upcoming move. Looks like I'm not the only one who needs to go on a diet - our house does too! Makes me think of that book "Does this clutter make my butt look big?"

*Only two days left for me at school. We have had the best class on the planet this year (so blessed!) and I am just so sad to see it end. I'm going to miss all my kids and my teacher SO SO much!

*The stress is getting to me. I've cried four times in the past two days. I can only imagine how many more tears there are to come before it's all said and done.

*My sick and dying laptop is scheduled to be ready for pickup by Friday. Hope all my stuff survived! Now I need to get to work on a client digi book right away amongst all the other stuff I have to do.

*I think someone needs to just come and take my kids and my schedule away for the next month so I can focus on the thousands upon thousands of things I have yet to do in preparation for the move. I'm never going to make it!

*I had a bad compost experience today. Made me want to yak! Guess it's time to put the compost crock away until we get to the new place. Neglecting it makes for bad news!

*I'm ready to empty my freezer. Who wants it? (The food, not the freezer!)

Darby's Vocational Future

2011-06-05T20:30:00.001-04:00

Felisa said today, "If Darby worked at a movie theater, he would be the vacuum."

So funny!

Update for April

2011-04-28T13:39:00.002-04:00

So what's up around here these days? House repair projects mostly. Yard sale is done. Sold a bit. The rest is stacked in the carport waiting for charity pickup. The bathroom downstairs has walls again so that's progress. And the dining room also has walls. The drywall finisher is due back any minute for the last step then the ball is back in our court for painting. Waiting for the tile guy to bring my sample so I can pick the paint for the bathroom.

Big scrapbook yard sale coming up on Saturday. I'm really hoping I'll sell most of what I'm bringing up there. It's all quite heavy and I don't really want to load and unload it more times than necessary.

And those are the highlights. Moving is hard on so many levels. Not really enjoying it much at all.

New Levels of Disgusting

2011-03-29T16:28:00.004-04:00

Seriously. If I hadn't seen the evidence with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it. It is so gross I can hardly type the words but I must record it or else I will believe it was just a bad dream. Of course, that may be better than the truth.

Darby just tried to eat Bella's poop out of the toilet. No, really. He did. Makes me nauseous just thinking about it. He licks the floor. Constantly. He eats dirt. All weird and annoying but whatever. But this- this is DISGUSTING!!!

Blech.

Bedknobs and Broomsticks

2011-03-14T07:27:00.002-04:00

Perigee and apogee... do those words sound familiar at all? Aren't they some of the words that are used in Bedknobs and Broomsticks for the magic school spells? (I love that movie, by the way!)

Well, apparently they refer to points in the lunar orbit. Perigee is when the moon is closest to earth and apogee is when it is farthest away.

Fascinating.

Okay, you may now resume your regular daily activities. Thank you for stopping by to "learn something new every day!"

Socks for Sale!

2011-03-13T09:05:00.003-04:00

So I cleaned out my sock drawer this morning... I was looking for a particular pair of socks and couldn't find it. My drawer has been overstuffed and annoying for awhile now (plus it won't close all the way because socks are lost in the back) and I decided that today was the day. Seize the moment! Darby, of course, was wondering why on earth I decided to do this now. After all, couldn't I see that he was positively wasting away? He had been waiting patiently while I showered (which took longer than usual since I was cleaning it a bit as well) and while I got dressed, but really... this was just too much for a dog to survive.

So it's done. A handful of socks to the trash, another large handful to the donation bin, a divider box to hopefully keep those crazy socks organized, and I even pulled the drawer out and rescued the lost socks who had fallen overboard. Oh and I did find the socks I was looking for - on the very bottom in the way back corner of the drawer. So, really, I couldn't have found them any other way!

(Oh and I did finally feed my poor, starving dog...)

On the agenda for today... a menu plan (?), a trip to the grocery store, more laundry (seriously - didn't I just do the laundry?! Where is it all coming from?), and more sorting and packing of photos and other stuff from the pantry room/black hole. Did you know we have a floor in that room? I know! Amazing!!!

Happy Spring Forward everyone!

A little of this, a little of that

2011-02-23T18:26:00.002-05:00

For a split second, I thought Darby had snatched 1/2 of a raw chicken breast from the counter and eaten it while I wasn't looking. I wasn't sure how he had done it without creating some sort of commotion and if he had indeed done it, I wasn't sure why he stopped at one when there were 4 available. Luckily for both of us, two of the halves were double-stacked. Whew!

An actual instruction given to the kids yesterday morning... Be careful! Don't get run over by a snowplow!

A new nephew! Mark was born last Wednesday. Can't wait to visit and get my baby fix. Not sure if I'll make it out there before summer though at which point he may be sitting up already and getting ready to crawl away.

Cub Scouts is almost over! A den meeting this week then bridging rehearsal in two weeks and bridging in three weeks. Whatever will I do with all my extra time? Oh yeah - drive Ryan to his weekly Boy Scout meetings. Oh well. At least I'm hanging up the uniform and "retiring" from a uniformed leader position.

It's official - we're moving to California in July. We've lived in this house for 10 years. So far I have cleaned out one drawer. At this rate I should be ready for the movers by 2015!

Nothing else of interest to post... Just thought the world might like to know that I'm still alive.

Quote

2011-01-26T10:17:00.001-05:00

I don't have issues - I have entire subscriptions!

(stolen from a friend's Facebook wall)

Thanks for the laugh Stephanie! :)

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

2011-01-08T19:10:00.003-05:00

Things are going downhill around here. I'm thinking of posting a sign on the door, "Beware of Germs".

But not to be too negative... let's play Good News, Bad News.

The Bad News- Ryan and Felisa are both sick now as well.
The Good News- well, I'm not sure if there is good news to this one. Family bonding perhaps? Oh wait, there is some good news. Bella is less sick than she was yesterday.

The Bad News- Ryan threw up all over the bedroom floor.
The Good News- Ron's side of the room has now been steam-cleaned. Now there are even fewer dog allergens hiding to attack him upon his return.

The Bad News- Bella has had multiple bloody noses today.
The Good News- I put clean sheets on the bed. Of course, I'll need to do it again before Ron comes back what will all the germs hanging around here. So maybe this one doesn't have such good news either.

The Bad News- I can't find my humidifier. Wanted to set it up, thinking it might help Bella's nose.
The Good News- The carpet is damp from the steam-cleaning. As it dries, it will act as a humidifier for the room.

The Bad News- There is ice on the front porch.
The Good News- most of the 1/2 inch of snow that fell today already melted and I didn't have to shovel a thing.

The Bad News- I'm exhausted.
The Good News- I still have one more day to lie about and rest. I hope. Can someone please tell the kids to behave so I can rest? Thanks!

So there you have it... the good, the bad, and the ugly. Oh wait, I forgot the ugly. Or did I? Haven't you been paying attention? This whole situation is ugly and stinky! Well, not so much stinky. I'm still so congested I can't smell a thing!

Until next time...

Hat Trick

2011-01-07T19:55:00.003-05:00

Or possibly a home run... depending on whether or not I believe the doctor!

I've had a cough so long I can't remember when it started exactly. I didn't really feel bad, per se. It was mostly just a nuisance. But I decided that I would try to really rest and relax over Christmas break so that I could maybe finally get rid of it.

Well, needless to say, that plan didn't work AT ALL! Bella came down with a cold a day or two after Christmas. A week later, I had it. So now, two days before school starts again, I'm feeling worse than when the break started. Fine then. I'll try to actively fight it off now by resting even more (when I can) and taking lots of vitamins and drinking OJ and water and... Still didn't work. Still feel bad.

So... now it's just a few days before Ron returns from his latest business trip and I'd really like to not feel like crap so I call the doctor to make an appointment. Maybe I need antibiotics... it's time for a second opinion anyway.

So that was yesterday afternoon that I finally threw in the towel and called the doctor. Yesterday after school Bella said she had been coughing all day. So I decide to keep an eye on her - maybe her cold is acting up, getting worse. We went to our Brownie meeting but by the end of the meeting, both of us were going downhill fast. Home to put on our jammies and take temperatures. We're both at 99. I call my boss to tell her I won't be at school tomorrow. Bella's breathing a little shallow so I give her a breathing treatment. If the cold has gone to her lungs, this should help. The kids all watch Winter Wipeout then before bed (they've been waiting for this episode for weeks now!) After the show, I check Bella again. She's up to 100. Something tells me this might not just be her cold. Good thing I already called in sick.

Off to bed with all of us. Sleep is my prescription for all! At about 11:30 last night, I woke up with my bad ear just aching like crazy. That is NOT good! I took a sudafed and some advil and put in some homeopathic earache drops and try to go back to sleep. Since it's not even midnight yet, I could be in for a long night.

Bella tossed and turned and moaned all night. I woke up at 4 a.m. with my other ear hurting. More sudafed, more water.

Up for the day at 7:15. Bella's temp is up to 102. I get the other two ready for school and dropped off then I call the doctor to see if I can bump my appointment up to an earlier time. My ears are hurting and I'd hate to have my eardrum rupture AGAIN. I score a 1015 appointment.

So the doctor says... double ear infection but even though there is a little blood in the bad ear he doesn't think it's ruptured (I'm not sure if I agree since my hearing is off even now). He even said, "wow -that must really hurt!" when he was looking in my ears. Also, I have a sinus infection. And wheezing in my lungs so probably a bit of mild bronchitis. Joy! 3 for the price of one! He gave me a prescription for antibiotics and I came home and we went back to bed for the rest of the day.

Bella's fever got pretty high this evening - hope she's feeling better in the morning.

I hope I'm feeling better in the morning too!

My strength

2010-11-30T23:15:00.002-05:00

I did an online test at a Positive Psychology site... these are my top 5 strengths.

Your Top Strength

Kindness and generosity
You are kind and generous to others, and you are never too busy to do a favor. You enjoy doing good deeds for others, even if you do not know them well.

Your Second Strength

Humor and playfulness
You like to laugh and tease. Bringing smiles to other people is important to you. You try to see the light side of all situations.

Your Third Strength

Capacity to love and be loved
You value close relations with others, in particular those in which sharing and caring are reciprocated. The people to whom you feel most close are the same people who feel most close to you.

Your Fourth Strength

Citizenship, teamwork, and loyalty
You excel as a member of a group. You are a loyal and dedicated teammate, you always do your share, and you work hard for the success of your group.

Your Fifth Strength

Forgiveness and mercy
You forgive those who have done you wrong. You always give people a second chance. Your guiding principle is mercy and not revenge.

The Great Grasshopper Uprising

2010-11-17T20:52:00.002-05:00

It's November... time for the annual Cub Scout Bake Off. Ryan's entry - Grasshopper Pie (the under-21 version!)

It's time to go to the meeting... the kids are headed out the door and I'm gathering my keys and purse... I hear Ryan say, with some seriousness, "Uh oh!"

Uh-oh what?

I come to the front door to see Ryan and the front porch covered in minty green grasshopper creme. Greeeaaaaatttt. It's a Grasshopper Mutiny! I take the pie to the kitchen to see if it could be salvaged (luckily it could). Ryan washed his hands and wiped off his clothes then I sent him out to the porch with a big cup of water to try to wash the creme away. It wasn't going away easily so I decided to just leave it as it was and deal with it when we got back. I could let Darby, the very hungry dog, lick it up but think it could give him a tummy ache.

Fast forward an hour or so... we're back from the bake - off with a certificate for the Most Flavorsome. The porch is still a mess. I try again to rinse it off but think I need a broom to scrub or a hose to spray. I think the broom is probably locked in the shed. I check the hose but it has been disconnected for the winter already. And did I mention that it is dark now and most definitely time for bed after another long day? I again consider the option of Darby, the very hungry dog, but I think he would probably lick his tongue raw on the cement and then we'd have to add a vet bill to the disaster cleanup tally!

Also, the weird worms are back. Not as many as the other night. Maybe they like Grasshopper Pie?

I can only hope that they eat it all up before I wake up tomorrow and have to face the mess of the Great Grasshopper Uprising in the light of day...

2010-10-01T08:09:00.003-04:00

Life just isn't fair. It's Pajama Day in Mrs. Pant's class. That part is good. The part that isn't so good is the part where I woke up at 0545 to go work out then walk the dog then take a shower so that I could put my pajamas back on to go to work. When the kids went to pajama day, they always got to sleep in then go to school in the pj's they already had on. Not fair!

In other news... there was apparently a Rubber Duckie Convention in the shower last night. This morning they were all still there. Uncle Sam with his 3 Secret Service Ducks wearing sunglasses. A random duck. And Party Duck. Who apparently had a GREAT time at the convention last night because he was head down in the shower bucket. Ha! For whatever reason, I find that very funny. Maybe that's why I love working in a preschool - it takes so little to entertain me!

So now I'm off to work in my PJ's followed by lunch at Sonic! Woo hoo!

Michael Jackson vs. Elvis

2010-09-15T18:55:00.003-04:00

I was putting some music on Ryan's MP3 player earlier this afternoon. I was checking the James Taylor list of songs to see if there was anything I thought he'd like. Hound Dog was there. Perfect. Ryan was watching over my shoulder. He said, Oh it's his version of Michael Jackson's Hound Dog song. Uh, no. That would be Elvis' Hound Dog song. Oh. I get them confused. They're both dead. And famous! (and singers of course.)

That just cracked me up.

Edited to add:
Ryan's favorite songs, in order, on his MP3 player...
1. Beer for my Horses - Toby Keith
2. 12 Days of Christmas (an a capella version that is quite funny, plus it is his favorite Christmas song in any version)
3. A Boy Named Sue
4. Istanbul, Not Constantinople - They Might Be Giants
5. (aw shucks... I can't remember now what number 5 was)

Watermelon with a death wish

2010-09-06T09:42:00.003-04:00

Why do my baby watermelons have a death wish? Why do they only want to grow ON the driveway and not in the garden boxes next to the driveway? I moved one baby's vine back to the box area the other day. Today I found two more babies growing in the vines still on the driveway. Argh! Oh and don't forget... anyone who grows out into the neighbor's grass on the other side of the garden boxes also has a death wish but seem to prefer death by lawnmower. My neighbor has been very kind and patient with my out-of-control, not hardly producing, vines.

The good news - the garden, it is producing again. Yay! I had chalked it all up as dead or dying already but was too lazy to pull it all out. It seems as though it was merely biding its time, waiting for the weather to drop out of the 90s and 100s. Now I have 3 zucchini growing, a second watermelon well-established (the first - and I thought only - watermelon is waiting to be harvested), and potentially three more watermelon babies (will they survive?). Even the tomatoes (the few that I have) are ripening.

Now if I can just keep all the suicidal fruits and veggies from the Driveway of Doom, I'll have some home-grown produce in a couple weeks. Yay!

Stop the Ride!

2010-08-26T21:30:00.002-04:00

Stop the ride - I want off!!!

Seriously? Neither school nor sports have begun yet and already I'm feeling overwhelmed and behind the curve. Ack! Today I spent several hours and way too much money stocking up on school supplies, new shoes, and new backpacks for the kids. A mid-day break for lunch at Red Robin was the best part of the day.

I just got back from an emergency milk run. How did we get from 2 cartons down to zero cartons in the blink of an eye? I decided to skip the library and postpone the dry cleaners/milk shopping that would normally be done on Wednesday so that I would have time to spend hanging out with Allie and her family as well as time to work on my many administrative to-dos. And looking back at yesterday - I'm not sure how many to-dos I actually to-did. Today was the best day for shopping so that took priority. And then surprise! No milk!

So here's the question - will things get better once school starts or worse? Better would be nice but I'm fearing the latter.

(I told Ron that it was all his fault. He's out of town, therefore I am unable to function properly. Doesn't bode well for next week does it?!?)

My Bucket

2010-08-17T13:13:00.003-04:00

My goals... my values... my bucket of time...

Spending some time today working through this. It's a new year (the fall always seems like a second New Year to me, a chance to start over AGAIN and hopefully get it right this time) and time to think about how I'd like it to go.

My values...
*Home and Family, Love and Friends... these are a source of encouragement, joy, laughter, and support as well as a refuge from the wild and crazy world. I tend to be a home-body. I want to be at home, in my home, surrounded by the people (family AND friends) who love me. Home is comfortable. Home can be relaxing and quiet or it can be filled with laughter and good company. Home is where my heart is. It is where I start from and where I come back to.

*Responsibility... I have a responsibility to fulfill my obligations. I have a responsibility to care for my world and those that are in it. We have a responsibility to each other as human beings to help each other out. We're in this together.

*Flexibility, Patience, Politeness, Helpfulness, and a Sense of Humor... all key ingredients to a successful, harmonious existence on this wild ride known as life.

*Nature... being outside (in non-humid, non-mosquito infested weather!) in the quiet and peace of nature brings peace to my soul. I'm trying my best to tread lightly and to help others to do the same.

My goals...
(compiled via a quick-n-dirty 60-second write-down-the-first-thing-that-comes-to-mind session)

*Lose 10-15 pounds (always a goal of mine, especially at the end of each summer when I have gained lots of road trip vacation weight and haven't been exercising regularly!). Related goals: Training for the Turkey Trot 5k in November. I can't remember the last time I actually went out jogging...

*Create and maintain a clean, workable scrapbook workspace so that I can use it whenever I feel so inspired, rather than dreading it or avoiding it altogether. This one feels particularly daunting and impossible. Very Mount Everest-ish.

*Spend more time on various personal scrapbook projects. There are so many things on my list that I'd love to scrap but never seem to have the time. When I do have the time (or the inspiration), I am thwarted by the Scrapbooking Pit of Despair (see prior goal).

*Create and maintain a more orderly home environment. (Talk about shooting for the moon! This is also a very Mount Everest-ish task in my mind. I'm not the best housekeeper and the clutter has been building up for 10 years now.)

*Spend quality time with myself and with my family without constantly thinking about what else I need to be or should be doing, those undone tasks on my to-do list looming over me. Essentially I think I am looking for BALANCE. I don't wish to give up my activities outside the home (at least not all of them) because they satisfy my need to contribute, to help out, to be involved, and to be with people. But I also need to be at home and be mentally engaged with my family. I think finding a balance that works for me and works for my family will be a tough one.

I need to be more aware of each moment and how I am spending my time. Try to keep in mind where I'm at and where I'm trying to go and whether or not my choices will get me there. Specifically I need to better manage my time alone, my time not spent on household chores and other calendar commitments. I often have difficulty in just getting started as well as difficulty in maintaining forward progress continuously over time. I am an object at rest, that if given a choice, would prefer to stay at rest. Somehow I need to apply force regularly to overcome that inherent inertia. Deadlines help me ultimately finish a job but more specifically, deadlines set by others (rather than by me). Accountability to others. A sense of "we're in this together" and positive encouragement also help.

I want to be able to do it all. But I can't. It's impossible. All I can hope for is the ability to do it better. And so I am hoping by being more conscious of my time and how I am spending it, I will better balance what I have going at the moment without having to give too much up.

Is it hopeless?

[Why I enjoy scrapbooking...
(thought I should expand on this since it is mentioned twice in my goals above)

I enjoy the beauty and asthetics of it - putting together all the pretty papers and colors and accents. I also really enjoy the relationship aspect of it. When I'm working in my scrapbooks, I am also spending time with family and friends and loved ones, via the memories in my mind. It is a form of time together, or at least so it seems to me. An extension of the pleasure I get from spending time hanging out with people and being together with people. Capturing the stories and the memories then being able to share them again each time the books are reviewed. Why I enjoy doing books for others? I want them to have the same opportunity to open a book and share the memories.]

The Age of the Telephone

2010-07-24T11:19:00.001-04:00

Apparently 10 is the age when you start talking on the phone to your friends...

So Ryan was talking to Owen earlier today. He hasn't seen or spoken to him since before we left on our trip.

The beginning of the conversation...

Ryan: "Hi Owen, how are you?"
-very brief pause-
Ryan: "Banana"

That just cracks me up with how random it is!

The last 3 days of Big Trip 5

2010-07-22T10:06:00.000-04:00

Day 29 – Monday – July 19, 2010

0730 Get up. Felisa is up already but Ryan and Bella are sleeping in.

Lana and Mike go to a doctor’s appointment while the kids and I hang out and be lazy. The kids watch TV and I work on blog updates.

Lana is done at the doctor so we head out for errands and lunch at Jack in the Box.

After lunch back home. I remember that I need to pay some bills.

Dinner tonight is chicken and yummy homemade noodles!

Day 30 – Tuesday – July 20, 2010

Wake up. Eat breakfast. Then get ready for our field trip to the South Carolina State Museum.

Our favorite parts:
Felisa – pushing buttons on the displays
Bella – the pirate exhibit
Ryan – the optical illusions
Lana – getting lost and the variety of displays
Sheila – the variety of displays

After the museum, lunch at McD’s.

Back home I work on my scrapbook while the kids watch tv.

Dinner tonight is macaroni and cheese and hot dogs. Yum!

Day 31 –Wednesday – July 21, 2010

0650 Wake up. Get loaded and ready to go.

0737 Leaving.

0750 Gas, $2.39/gallon

0756 Sonic for a breakfast burrito

0813 North Carolina

1024 Virginia

1127 Gas, $2.49/gallon

1134 McD’s drive-thru for lunch and iced coffee

1158 Cows. Mountains. No traffic. Coming back via Highway 29 is pretty good so far.

1127 Waltons Mountain Museum. I wonder if it is any relation to the tv show?

12:30 p.m. Albemarle, VA established in 1744. Wow – that was a long time ago!

2:25 p.m. I-66 from Warrenton. Slow as expected. 

2:46 p.m. Home sweet home! Our total mileage for the trip is 6,972. Wow – if I had realized we were that close to being over 7,000 miles I would’ve gone the long way around just to make it over 7,000! Drat!

Day 28

2010-07-18T22:19:00.000-04:00

Day 28 - Sunday - July 18, 2010

0630 Time to get up. Shower, pack, load. Take pictures with Vacation Mouse.

0810 Leaving Kim's house. Jo is taking a long time to wake up this morning. Come on Jo - I don't know which way I'm going!

0826 See the statue of liberty.

0840 Leeds, AL. Stop at Hardees for one last pork chop biscuit with gravy before the end of the trip. Attempt to go to McD's for an iced coffee but the drive thru line is NOT moving so I give up and leave. Stop for gas, $2.45/gallon then back on the highway.

0915 McD's - let's try this coffee thing again!

0936 Listening to the country Top 40 countdown on the radio. There is an interview with the guy who sings "Pray for You". It helps to have the singer/songwriter's perspective and reasoning but not sure I still won't have to change the station.

0948 Finally - a cop has pulled someone over. The speed limit has been 55 forever with lots of signs about how it is strictly enforced. I'm going more than 55 but people are blowing by me like I'm sitting still. It sure doesn't seem too strictly enforced to me!

1003 - Georgia and Eastern time zone (which makes it 1103 now)

1144 Chattahoochee River

1154 Atlanta. We see the capitol dome and the olympic stadium.

12:09 p.m. Driving in and out of little stripes of rain.

12:31 p.m. Stop at Wendy's for lunch. It is our first Wendy's stop of the trip.

1:11 p.m. We are back to the East Coast traffic volume and population density. I am not glad to be back.

1:51 p.m. South Carolina. Stop at the welcome center. I answered the trivia question correctly (Sassafrass Mountain is the highest point in SC) so the kids all got little beach balls.

2:12 p.m. Driving on the Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway.

2:30 p.m. You can see mountains way off in the distance.

2:48 p.m. The girls are sleeping. And this is NOT a freeway as the lady at the welcome center indicated. Maybe I should've come up from Greenville to cut some of the less scenic western portion off. Or maybe not come this way at all...

2:53 p.m. Keowee River. Finally, something scenic.

3:13 p.m. Pumpkintown.

3:26 p.m. Corn cob mailbox on a cornstalk post.

3:37 p.m. Saw a turkey. Or some other big bird with a long neck.

3:50 p.m. Back to the interstate.

4:11 p.m. Sonic in Spartanburg for a snack. Ron called to report that there is nothing going on at home. Lana texted to find out what we want for dinner. 3 votes for spaghetti. 0 votes for chicken.

4:23 p.m. Gas, $2.36 p.m.

4:45 p.m. Saw the giant peach watertower.

4:47 p.m. Lightning ahead. Will we miss it or will we drive into it before we get off the interstate and head east.

4:54 p.m. Nope. Didn't miss it. Rain hits about 1/2 mile from our exit.

5:38 p.m. Arrive at Lana and Mike's.

Spaghetti for dinner. Disney channel on TV. We finally see the episode of Sonny With A Chance (Sonny with a secret) that has been advertised for the past few weeks. As I suspected, the Mackenzie Falls co-star did it. Jealousy will get you every time!

Early to bed tonight (especially if you figure in the time change today!). I was able to watch Shrek 3 until I got tired.

Day 27

2010-07-17T22:01:00.001-04:00

Day 27 - Saturday - July 17, 2010

0830 Get up. Kim went to tennis so the kids and I hang out at the house. She left me in charge of Cozette. She won't come inside so I leave her out a bit longer. When I go back to get her, I'm able to pick her up (without getting bitten). I put her down inside the door. At which point she walks right over to the stairs and (again, unintentionally) goes down. (Did I mention that she is 16 years old and can't see very well anymore?) She didn't fall but she went rather quickly and against her will. She tops it all off by peeing on the carpet at the bottom of the stairs. Good grief! 16 years later and this is where we're at - cleaning up messes in the house just like when she was a puppy! Being an aunt is hard work sometimes!

12:52 p.m. Leaving for Dalton's birthday party at Oak Mountain State Park. On the way over, there was a Christmas song playing on the radio. It seemed a bit odd but I figured maybe someone had called in to request it. A little later I realize I'm hearing another Christmas song. What is going on?!? Turns out it is Christmas in July and the station is playing Christmas songs all weekend long.

After the party we stop at McD's for an iced coffee. And this McD's has brownie melts! So of course we get some then devour them as soon as we get back to the house. Mmmm.... brownie melts. Good thing they don't sell these in VA - I'd be eating way too many of them!

We let Cozette out when we get back. When it's time to bring her back in again, she has gotten spider webs all over her face from wandering under the chairs. I try to wipe them off with a towel which she does not like at all! I told her she better listen to her aunt if she wants to come back inside before her mom comes home!

5:00 p.m. Folding laundry and watching NCIS. It's a School's Out Marathon. Woo hoo! I love this show! If only they would show more of the episodes I haven't already seen a bajillion times!

5:45 p.m. Kim is back with Dalton and Lacy. Now that we are all together in the same house and no one else is around, the kids are finally playing together. Because it always rains when I come to Alabama, Kim has to grill our burgers in the rain. Heehee. After dinner the boys play one of Dalton's new Wii games and the girls are playing miscellaneous girl stuff.

9:10 p.m. Attempting to get the kids settled down and in bed. The boys are reading. Bella is asleep in no time in my bed. Lacy and Felisa, however, are having a hard time quieting down to sleep together in Lacy's bed. After a few warnings, I put Felisa in my bed to let her fall asleep then move her back after both girls are sleeping.

Kim and I watched the pilot episode of Covert Affairs. It was a pretty good show. I just might have to start watching that one. USA network always has great summer shows!

Bedtime! (Aren't you proud 0f us - we made it to bed before midnight!)

Day 26

2010-07-16T21:17:00.000-04:00

Day 26 – Friday – July 26, 2010

0800 Get up. Shower.

Breakfast this morning is a feast of pancakes, bacon, and fruit. After breakfast the kids played a couple board games then headed upstairs to play video games. I finished packing then still had time to hang out. I can’t believe we’re leaving already – it seems like we just got here!

12:25 p.m. Time to load up.

Pictures with Vacation Mouse before we go…

1:15 p.m. Stop at Sonic. Felisa has decided that she likes the grilled cheese. (This is good since she has been my toughest Sonic customer, hard to please). I decided to give the Chicken Fried Steak sandwich a try (it was not bad).

1:28 p.m. Mississippi (That didn’t take long! The states are much smaller here in the east!)

1:55 p.m. There are clouds but they lack the depth and definition of those in the west. Maybe it’s because the atmosphere is thicker here at the lower elevation? That’s my latest theory.

2:00 p.m. Remember that none of my emails went out in Memphis so Kim never got my reply. Maybe I should give her a call to let her know our status.

2:02 p.m. That Praying for You song is on the radio again. I have to change the station every time it comes on. The guy singing is mad at his ex-girlfriend and so he is praying for bad things to happen to her. I just find it disturbing.

2:04 p.m. See a VW van (just the cab) with another VW van (full van) behind it. I can’t tell if the cab is towing the full van or if they are welded together to create some sort of larger vehicle. Definitely strange.

2:05 p.m. Rain clouds ahead... dark grey and not fluffy at all!

2:08 p.m. I really need to find out if gift cards can be recycled. That is the one downside to the gift card sales program at the elementary school - it encourages people to use more virgin gift cards. (Oh - I think I found one!)

2:17 p.m. Two motorcyclists have stopped under the overpass to put on their rain gear. It is starting to sprinkle.

2:20 p.m. A flash flood warning on the radio for the areas south of Memphis. "Turn around, don't drown!"

2:35 p.m. A new song on the radio about life in the trailerhood. (Oh look - it's a Toby Keith song. I love his music.)

2:40 p.m. Tupelo, MS

2:42 p.m. Natchez Trace Parkway. It has a brown sign so it must be something noteworthy. Maybe I'll have to look it up for a future trip.

2:44 p.m. I'm thinking I should try to give up caffeine and sugar when I get back. The question is, should I do it before camp or after? Or at camp? The sugar will definitely wait until after camp. The coffee though... I'm undecided. (And yes, I know I say this every year. I usually am good for a month or more but always fall off the wagon and end up back on the sugar.)

2:52 p.m. Fawn Grove Road/Dorsey is what the sign said. At first glance, I thought it said Disney, not Dorsey, which made me wonder if this is where Bambi is from.

3:09 p.m. Things I'd like to (or expect to) see while visiting the south - plantations and a Gone With the Wind museum of some sort. Might have to research that a bit more.

3:10 p.m. Alabama

3:24 p.m. Lana called with her work schedule. She's off Sunday at 3 and off Monday and Tuesday.

3:25 p.m. Hamilton, AL. Gas, $2.59/gallon. It has stopped raining for the moment but it looks like there is more ahead.

3:46 p.m. Scufflegrit Road.

3:54 p.m. Rain.

3:56 p.m. Lightning.

3:57 p.m. The deer crossing sign has been modified. The deer now has a red nose. Maybe this is Rudolph's summer home?

4:06 p.m. What is that on the side of the road? It looks like hail or snow or possibly white rocks.

4:30 p.m. Jo took us on a detour through Jasper. I found my way back onto 78 (future I-22) and now we are off of Jo's road and driving through nothing. This must be a new highway.

4:44 p.m. The radio is playing a song with the lyrics "always on my mind". Who is singing this? I think it sounds like Willie Nelson. It was in a creepy movie... what was it? I'm drawing a blank...

4:47 p.m. That's it - Practical Magic! Not a creepy movie, but that song is used in a creepy scene.

4:49 p.m. We are back on the map. Easy Money seems to be doing well in this economy. I have seen two brand new buildings (amidst many old rundown buildings) and a long line inside one of them. Anyone need a payday loan?

5:30 p.m. We have arrived at Kim's house and call for instructions on how to "break in". Cozette is staying for the weekend so I let her outside.

5:55 p.m. Cozy is walking in circles and won't settle down. She is going to be very dizzy before Kim gets home.

5:56 p.m. Cozy is now at the bottom of the stairs. There are no witnesses but we think she probably fell. I don't think she intended to go down there!

6:00 p.m. Kim is home. I go downstairs to greet her and notice the rabbit (Nibbles). The rabbit which I walked past several times already and didn't notice at all. Oops! In my defense, rabbits are small. And quiet.

Dinner was Mexican food. The kids must have been pretty hungry because they ate almost every last bite. Then home to hang out a bit before giving up because we're too old and tired.

Good night!

Day 25

2010-07-15T23:12:00.000-04:00

Day 25 – Thursday – July 15, 2010

Breakfast.

Hanging out at the house today… the girls are playing Polly Pocket and Ryan is trying to find something to do (Logan is away at Tennis camp). Darcy and Fritz and I are talking.

Lunch

Swim time

Merryn has swim practice.

Dinner.

Logan comes home. Everyone is super happy to see each other.

Time for movies. The girls watch one movie (Ice Age Dawn of the Dinosaurs) while the boys watch another (Pink Panther). The grown-ups hang out, looking at my scrapbooks and talking.

And then… another day done… bedtime.

Day 24

2010-07-14T23:10:00.000-04:00

Day 24 – Wednesday – July 14, 2010

0640 Time to get up. Shower and get dressed then head over to the office to get some coffee and bring back breakfast for the kids. Not much there to choose from – end up with a blueberry bagel and some bread and butter.

0730 Wake up the kids.

0755 Leaving the hotel. Stop to take a picture of Buddy in front of the Buddy's Ranch House Café. The camera lens is fogging up in the hot humid air.

0808 Arrive at the Diamond Mine. Current temperatures is 76 degrees but I'm not sure what the heat index is. Ryan asks why it is so hot so early in the morning. Welcome to the South!

0920 Leaving the mine. We are hot, sweaty, dirty, and defeated. All we found were some orange and red rocks. Very nice orange and red rocks mind you. But no diamonds.

My question to the kids as we left (now that we have seen a gold mine and a diamond mine)… Would you like to have lived as a prospector during the gold and silver rush times?

Felisa – No!

Bella – Blech!

Ryan – Wouldn't be too happy

1028 Arkadelphia, AR. Gas, $2.58/gallon

1031 Sonic

1048 "Pigs!" says the sign in the corner of the field… We see what appear to be horses but no pigs. Do the pigs look different in Arkansas than they do everywhere else?

1050 Stop at McD's to get some food for Felisa (she doesn't care for Sonic too much) and to use the bathroom (Sonic didn't have one).

12:25 p.m. I'm tired today. I think it takes me about 3 weeks of road tripping to get to this point – tired and more ready to go home, less interested in stopping to see things along the way.

12:32 p.m. They are out mowing along the highway today. There is a lot of trash out here!

12:35 p.m. A lot of trucks on the road today.

12:47 p.m. Louisiana Purchase State Park. Sounds interesting. Maybe on a future visit…

12:48 p.m. Jo fell off the window. It's been a week since that last happened.

1:02 p.m. Trying to count the number of cars versus the number of trucks. This is actually very difficult to do without a sheet of paper to make tick marks or another person to split up the categories. As best as I can tell, there are about 60% semi-trucks and 40% passenger cars. It seems like there are more trucks than that per car but maybe that's just because they are so big and slow.

1:48 p.m. Mississippi River and Tennessee!

2:21 p.m. Arrive at the Ruthlings' house.

The kids are all very happy to be here. They get to play together a little before Merryn goes to her piano lesson. After piano, the kids all hit the pool for a couple hours. Then dinner, cookies for dessert, and TV time. Darcy and I watched the summer season premier of Psych and the kids played Mario 4.

10:00 p.m. Bedtime. I am so tired…

Day 23

2010-07-13T23:00:00.000-04:00

Day 23 - Tuesday - July 13, 2010

0615 Alarm goes off. Hit the snooze.

0625 Alarm goes off. Have to get up even though I don't really want too.

Shower, pack and load. It is misty out this morning.

0700 Wake the kids up so they can get dressed and get over to the house for breakfast and I can finish packing and loading.

0730 Breakfast.

0838 Clearly I am not in a hurry to get going this morning since we were supposed to leave at 8:00. Go outside for pictures and get ready to hit the road.

0850 Oops - I'm lost. Took a wrong turn somewhere (Jo isn't turned on yet) and now I'm headed for the front gate, not the back gate.

0858 I think this is the wrong gate.

0903 And here we are again, at the same gate. So that means it must be the right gate (I asked Jo how to get out of here). Apparently the back gate is closer to the house than I thought.

0904 Deer crossing the road.

I take a few dead tree pictures as I head out. Not sure if any of them will turn out since it is so cloudy and gray this morning.

0933 Fredericksburg. Gas, $2.59/gallon

1000 Walmart to buy an iPod shuffle charger. For whatever reason, the shuffles refuse to charge on my computer. So we bought the cool plug charger that Dad had for his iPhone. Ron called while we were there. He's going to book us a room in Murfreesboro. As we pull out of the parking lot, Ryan has made himself a granola bar taco. (Betty sent the leftover crunchy taco shells with us as a snack so Ryan put a granola bar inside.) That kid eats the weirdest food sometimes.

1019 Buffalo in a field.

1041 Real live cowboys, on horseback, herding cattle.

1054 Stop at Starbucks in Marble Falls. I'll need caffeine to get me across the rest of Texas.

1115 Stop at the park in Burnet. The headphone splitter has gone missing. Luckily I find it fairly quickly. The park here has some ramps for skateboards, etc. Lots of kids using it today.

12:40 p.m. Arrive at Round Rock Donuts in Temple, TX. It is closed (as in out of business). I had a feeling that this wasn't the right place when I had Jo search for it but it was the only Round Rock Donuts listed in her database. Unfortunately I didn't write down the address when I looked it up online so had no idea where it should be. Turns out, this isn't it. Ryan is a little disappointed but I promise him a visit in the future. Luckily for us, Schlotsky's is right next to the open storefront and is open so we go there for lunch.

1:47 p.m. Texas Ranger Museum in Waco, TX. Our favorite parts:

Felisa - helping Bella find the scavenger hunt clues
Bella - dressing up in costume
Ryan - everything in the first gallery
Sheila - trying out the 5 pound revolver - it was heavy!

4:30 p.m. Jo took us around Dallas on the I20-I635 bypass. Much nicer than driving through downtown. Why haven't we gone this way before?

5:15 p.m. Rush hour (and construction) in Greenville, TX.

5:19 p.m. Jack in the Box for dinner.

5:33 p.m. Gas, $2.46/gallon

6:04 p.m. Construction has me stuck on the frontage road - hope I make it back to the highway soon!

7:22 p.m. Chicken truck - that's a new one. Usually it's cows and pigs headed to the butcher shop...

7:52 p.m. Nash, TN. Stop at Sonic for a snack. Turns out Sonicburgers are half-price on Tuesday nights. Woo hoo! Across the street is a scrapbook store, Scrapbookers Emporium. Too bad it's closed!

8:00 p.m. Texarkana still has construction on the highway. Will it be done by next year?

8:04 p.m. Arkansas - finally!

8:11 p.m. Kana called to talk to Bella.

8:19 p.m. Red River

8:24 p.m. Back to the tunnel of trees that surround every East coast highway. No more open fields where you can see for miles...

8:27 p.m. Jo says it's sunset. We still have one hour until we get to our hotel. Looks like we won't make it before dark.

8:30 p.m. Hope, AR. Clinton's birthplace.

8:34 p.m. FEMA temporary lodging storage. Acres and acres of white box shelters and RV trailers. Wow.

8:41 p.m. Historic Washington State Park - looks interesting. Put it on the list of future possibilities...

8:47 p.m. Ozan, AR. Population 81. Wow - that's a small town! That would be like all of the rising 5th graders in Ryan's class but no one else. Hmm... that could be a good book...

9:20 p.m. Arrive at the hotel. Queen of Diamonds Inn in Murfreesboro, AR.

9:40 p.m. All checked in and at the pool. The pool is very busy tonight (as is the hotel - all the parking spots are full).

The south in the summer is just miserably hot. It is about 80 degrees still and humid. Ick.

9:50 p.m. Killed a mosquito. I wonder how many have already bit me that I missed.

9:54 p.m. It is finally quiet at the pool - no one left but us.

9:58 p.m. Time's up!

Back to the room for showers and Disney channel while falling asleep.

Day 22

2010-07-12T23:03:00.000-04:00

Day 22 – Monday – July 12, 2010

0815 Wake up. Looks like we slept in again today!

Breakfast this morning was Monkey Bread. When we came to the table, Bella said, “I knew it smelled like Christmas!”

After breakfast we drove to Fredericksburg to see the Museum of the Pacific War. We went through the WWII Pacific Island exhibit only. Our favorite parts:

Ryan – the re-enactment area Camp Tarawa

Bella – the PT Boat

Felisa – the hospital in the Quonset hut

Sheila – how authentic it smelled (the airplane display smelled just like a flight deck and the PT boat smelled just like a Navy ship)

After the museum we stopped at HEB to pick up a few groceries. Unfortunately we were having bad checkout-line luck today. We finally made it through in our 3^rd line. This stop definitely took longer than we anticipated.

Once back at the ranch, it was lunchtime. After lunch we finally finished our game of Phase 10. Who won? Me! I won! I won! I won! Yippee! Yahoo!

After our card game we took the kids to the pool so they could swim for a bit before dinner.

After swimming, back to the house for dinner with Grandpa and Evelyn.

After dinner, I took the kids out to feed the animals. Mostly sheep tonight with a few deer. The cows down the street weren’t interested at all in our “salad bar” and deer pellets.

Finally, some time spent online trying to figure out our plan for tomorrow. We’re headed for Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas as a stopover on the way to Memphis.

Day 21

2010-07-11T22:16:00.000-04:00

Day 21 – Sunday – July 11, 2010

0720 Wake up. Decide it is too early to get up and go back to sleep.

0800 Wake up again. Time to get up. Get the kids up and dressed to head to the house.

The kids made batter blaster pancakes for breakfast (it’s pancake batter that comes in a can like whipped cream).

After we were cleaned up from breakfast, the kids made the birthday cake (with Betty’s help and supervision of course!). While it was baking, we played Phase 10. We had to take a break from the game to have lunch. After lunch, rest time then cake decorating. We all ate the “test cake” as a snack then played more of our Phase 10 game and watched Mythbusters. The game still wasn’t over but we had to make dinner. Felisa was the assistant chef for Taco Night. After dinner, we ate the birthday cake and opened presents – Tierra Linda t-shirts for the kids and our own copy of Phase 10 to take home with us. And then… a few more hands of Phase 10. Maybe tomorrow we’ll actually finish the game!

Mythbusters before bed in the barn.

Bedtime!

Day 20

2010-07-10T22:16:00.000-04:00

Day 20 – Saturday – July 10, 2010

0700 Alarm goes off. Take a shower and get dressed then unload the sneakers and long pants from the car.

0800 Breakfast. Eggs, bacon and biscuits. Yum!

0830 Change into long pants and sneakers then Ryan, Betty Lou and I head to the stables for our trail ride. I rode Freddy, Ryan rode Baron, and Betty rode Rusty. I really like Freddy. He seemed to have a bit more pep in his step than the typical trail horse.

Lunch with Grandpa and Evelyn.

1:58 p.m. Leave for the airport to drop Ron off. His vacation is over…

2:26 p.m. Stop at Schlotskys for Ron to get a sandwich for later.

2:35 p.m. Sonic for one last yummy cherry limeade.

2:44 p.m. Gas, $2.62/gallon.

3:45 p.m. San Antonio Airport.

5:06 p.m. Back in Kerrville, we meet at Culvers for dinner. The ice cream flavor of the day was cookies and cream – yum, yum, yum! My favorite!

After dinner we went to Hastings to get some used DVDs for the kids and a book for me. The book selection was larger than the NM store but the DVD selection was worse. The DVD prices were better though so we found a couple to buy.

When we got back to the ranch, Betty and the kids played Clue. Then Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was on tv so we watched that until bedtime. The kids had a snack before bed and while Ryan was eating, he lost another tooth!

10:00 p.m. Bedtime!

Day 19

2010-07-09T22:16:00.000-04:00

Day 19 – Friday – July 9, 2010

0430 It’s raining and still very windy.

0700 Wake up. Get dressed, get the kids up, tear down our wet camp. Felisa reports that Ryan lost a tooth while brushing his teeth this morning. Current temperature, 60 degrees.

0805 Loaded up and leaving the campsite. As we are driving out of the park, we see several deer along the road, having breakfast. We were talking about the weather last night and Felisa said, “Every time the wind blew, the tent whacked me in the face.”

Our favorite parts of Big Bend:

Bella – the Texas Ranger program

Felisa – camping

Ryan – the Texas Ranger program

Ron – seeing Mexico

Sheila – the ocotillo trees and the scenery

0853 Leaving Big Bend National Park

0907 See a roadrunner (finally!)

0920 There are lots of big birds perched on the fence posts this morning. Vultures, hawks…

0923 Border Patrol checkpoint. There wasn’t much traffic this morning so the agents asked a few questions. They also had a dog checking the car.

0930 Marathon, TX. Gas, $3.34/gallon. For breakfast we have gas station coffee and hostess mini donuts. We have driven about 300 miles since we left Alpine yesterday. Probably 200 miles just inside the park. Big Bend is a big place, just like the rest of Texas!

0951 No cell phone signal yet and the only radio station is broadcasting a call-in yard sale/classified ads. Has anyone seen that guy’s 3 dogs?

1010 Construction zone has us stopped.

1012 Cell phone service is back.

1014 We are following the pilot car through the construction zone. The signs say Pavement Ends and Rough Road. Those are not good signs!

1036 Stop for brunch at IHOP in Fort Stockton.

1138 After a very slow breakfast, we are back on the road.

1141 Gas, $2.98/gallon

1:22 p.m. Ozona, TX We are looking for the Crockett Memorial but can’t find it so go to the Crockett County Museum instead. Afterwards we go across the street to the park where the memorial is located. This town needs some better signs!

Favorite parts of the museum:

Felisa – the saddle room

Bella – the schoolroom

Ryan – the Alamo scene

Ron – the bank room

Sheila – the pencil collection

2:20 p.m. Make a couple phone calls to check in back home.

4:03 p.m. We are off the highway and headed for the ranch. Ryan tells Felisa to wake up and start looking out the window. He says, “Look for body parts. We might find it early this year!”

4:15 p.m. It appears to be naptime for the cows. There are a whole bunch of them lying down in someone’s front yard.

4:18 p.m. We have arrived!

Shortly after arriving, the latest band of rain hit. Pizza for dinner. The special drink of the year this year is margaritas. Yummy chocolate chip cookies for dessert. James and Betty Lou looked through my scrapbooks from last year’s trip and our Disney trip. The internet is not cooperating so not sure how much I’ll be online while we are here this year.

Bedtime!

Day 18

2010-07-08T23:19:00.000-04:00

Day 18 – Thursday – July 8, 2010

0630 Alarm goes off. Too early! Take a shower and start packing then wake up the kids.

0730 Leaving the hotel.

Stop at Jack in the Box for breakfast. The service is slow and no one really like their food much except me. Oh well.

0813 Betty Lou called to tell me that there is flooding along the Rio Grande and more rain in the forecast.

0858 Pass a semi loaded with pallets of onions.

0909 Border Patrol checkpoint

0937 Time change – now it is 1037

1043 Van Horn, TX. Gas, $2.69/gallon

1132 Ryan Ranch

1134 Looks like a blimp up ahead. It is at an Air Force facility.

Pass through Marfa – Ron takes a few pictures.

12:22 p.m. McD’s in Alpine, TX. Current weather, 73 degrees and cloudy. Gas, $2.74/gallon. We take our lunch to the Railroad Park to eat then visit the book store across the street. On our way to the bookstore, the Amtrak train pulls into town. We missed seeing it at the park by just a few minutes.

1:45 p.m. Back on the road. Ron picked up Subway sandwiches for dinner while the kids and I were at the bookstore. It is 108 miles to Big Bend. Looks pretty cloudy and rainy off that way. Will we get wet today?

2:40 p.m. I keep seeing random RV’s pulled off and set up along the road. Why did they decide to set up there?

3:03 p.m. Arrive at Big Bend National Park. Temperature, 87 degrees. The gate is unattended so we can’t pick up a map. Bummer.

3:47 p.m. Stop at the Castalon Visitor Center. It is closed for the season and will re-open November 1. Exactly the opposite of what is normally considered “the season”.

4:09 p.m. The road is flooded. Eek! That one was deeper than the previous flooded section. And we need a carwash for sure after spraying up all that muddy water!

4:11 p.m. Made it to the Santa Elena canyon overlook. Temperature 93 degrees. We refill all the water bottles before we take off again.

4:20 p.m. Headed for the mountain campground now.

4:24 p.m. Stop at the river access point. We wanted to dip our toes in the river but it is much too muddy. Ron slips on the mud and almost falls in! Looks like we are not dipping our toes in the Rio Grande today.

5:23 p.m. Panther Junction Visitor Center.

5:48 p.m. Just as we are about to leave the visitor center, it starts to pour down rain. We wait for a couple minutes for it to let up then we head out to the car. We get halfway to the car and it starts to pour again. Yikes! Run! That rain is sneaky. Ryan said, “just when you thought it was safe to go outside…” Gotcha! Says the rain. We decide to drive to the Rio Grande Village instead of up the mountain since it is raining on our campground right now. Hopefully it will be dry later.

5:50 p.m. And now the sun is shining…

6:13 p.m. There are vultures hanging out at the picnic/campground area by the river. I don’t think that’s a good sign…

6:48 p.m. Leaving the picnic area. The crows and the ants are already eating our crumbs. While we were here, we walked down to the river. Ron saw something crawl out of the river into the reeds. Are there crocodiles in the Rio Grande river? Then Ron threw a rock across the river. Almost hit Mexico but was a couple feet short. It was still too muddy to get down to the edge of the river. Bella was worried about the javelinas coming to get us (there was a warning sign on the picnic tables) the whole time. Now that the rain has stopped and things are drying up, we need to head back up to the mountain campground and try to get the tent set up before it rains again.

7:22 p.m. Headed up to Chisos Basin, finally. This is quite a large park! The sign says that this is bear and mountain lion territory.

7:37 p.m. We have arrived at the campground and are waiting for Ron to complete his campsite inspections to find the best spot available.

Set up camp and go for a hike. Not too far down the trail is a sign that warns of mountain lions. Do not hike with small children. Do not hike in the evening. Okay then – guess we’ll be heading back to camp! We go to the Ranger program instead. The Park Ranger gave an excellent talk on the history of the Texas Rangers.

10:50 p.m. Back in our tent and all settled in for the night. It is very windy and the big gusts make me wonder if we are going to blow away while we sleep!

Day 17

2010-07-07T22:19:00.000-04:00

Day 17 – Wednesday – July 7, 2010

0645 Wake up. Was having some crazy bad dream.

0820 Still packing and loading. Guess we’re not leaving at 8!

0900 Shower

0935 Talk to Shannon. Gave him an ETA of 4 p.m.

0948 Pictures of all the kids together before we leave. Thomas and Seth both had grumpy faces but only Seth was crying at the “torture” of being in a picture. Thomas was suffering silently.

1001 Leaving Elena’s house in Rio Rancho… Texas here we come!

1020 Stop at Twisters to try out their breakfast burritos. Luckily there was a Starbucks right next door so I was able to grab an iced latte while Ron was getting the burritos.

1114 Horse Motel. Interesting…

12:36 p.m. 2 double horse trailers in a row. Two pickups pulling two trailers each. They were all empty and clean so I’m guessing maybe they were being delivered.

1:00 p.m. Geronimo Springs Museum in Truth or Consequences, NM. A spur of the moment stop.

1:45 p.m. Leaving the museum. Favorite parts:

Bella – the fountain with the head statues
Ryan – the hand-carved wooden figures and the cowboy
hats
Felisa – the log cabin
Ron – the Geronimo exhibit
Sheila – the local flavor (posterboards with class pictures
of each graduating senior in each graduating class and snapshots donated by
locals for example)

1:57 p.m. Gas, $2.89/gallon. I bought Ron a coke and some lottery tickets and a Hershey’s dark chocolate bar for myself

2:00 p.m. Asked the kids what their favorite parts of the trip so far are:

Bella – Colorado (specifically Casa Bonita with Jacob and Daniel) and seeing the cousins

Felisa – when Daddy came and seeing the cousins and hiking

Ryan – New Mexico, seeing the cousins

Ron – driving in the wild west, scenery etc.

Sheila – getting to see lots of different things (I look at a map and want to stop at all of the points of interest!) and the mountain drive in southern Colorado

2:09 p.m. Elephant Butte Lake. I wonder how it got its name.

2:12 p.m. Rio Grande River (again). It is starting to look more substantial, more deserving of the status of “important river”.

2:26 p.m. Hatch, NM. Lots of green chile farms. Current temperature, 93 degrees.

2:33 p.m. Sign for the NM space port

2:56 p.m. Pink Firebird in front of us with Lady Corgan all across the back window. Definitely an attention-catching car.

2:57 p.m. Sonic in Las Cruces for a snack.

3:15 p.m. Pecan orchards

3:18 p.m. Construction traffic jam

3:22 p.m. A feed store with camels, zebras, and I couldn’t see what else in cages in the parking lot.

3:26 p.m. Feed lot cows. L

3:29 p.m. Dust storm! Wow – that was a strong wind!

3:36 p.m. Texas

3:55 p.m. Hotel

4:40 p.m. Arrive at Shannon’s house. The kids play with Harley for a few minutes and the adults spend some time catching up.

5:50 p.m. Headed out to dinner at Rudy’s BBQ.

6:57 p.m. Adventure Zone for a round of mini-golf. The final score had Dana in first place. Ron and Shannon had second and third place (I can’t remember which was which) and I came in 4^th. Luckily I beat the kids but not by much! That course had some crazy water hazards! I fished 3 balls out of water and we ended up losing 2 others completely. It was fun though.

Back at the hotel we had a quick swim then came back to the room for showers and Mythbusters (Duct Tape Myths!) before bed.

Day 16

2010-07-06T22:03:00.003-04:00

Day 16 - Tuesday - July 6, 2010

0700 Wake up. Drink my coffee and read my book (that's #3 if you're counting). Ron watched Tour de France. The kids played.

1024 Load up all the kids but Seth (and he was mighty disappointed to not be going!) and head back up to the Jemez for a hike.

1045 Gas, $2.76/gallon

1:49 p.m. We have survived the hike! The trails from Battleship Rock picnic area were not well marked at all and we were starting to run low on water so didn't go as far as Ron and some of the kids would have liked. At the end we let the kids play in the river. They all got wet but Felisa and Philip were the first ones, as is consistent with their history. The favorite parts ended in a 3-2 split vote.
Bella, Ryan, and Thomas - the river at the end
Felisa and Philip - going up the cliff
Ron - exploring the trails
Sheila - the end (my spirit of adventure is much less than Ron's and I'm always happier when I know where I am and where I'm going)

2:45 p.m. We are back at Elena's.

Ron and I went to town to get the oil changed in the van. We stopped at Hastings. Lots of used video choices but not that great of prices so all I ended up with was one used book. (On Mystic Lake by Krisitin Hannah - Scattered Mom recommended her book Winter Garden which I loved. I picked up True Colors at the bookstore in Colorado last week and loved that one too. So now I'm going to have to keep reading more and more of them. Lucky for me she has written a bunch of books!) Then we stopped at the bike store. Across the parking lot from the bike store was Turtle Mountain Brewing Company so we stopped in for a happy hour snack before heading back up to the house.

Once back at home I finished my book (#3) before dinner. Looks like I'll be starting book #4 before bed tonight!

Dinner... watermelon for dessert... and time to reload the car. The cargo has become quite unruly once more.

Day 15

2010-07-05T22:00:00.000-04:00

Day 15 - Monday - July 5, 2010

The cousins all spent the whole entire day playing with each other.

We grilled hot dogs and burgers for lunch - yummy.

I finished my second book since Saturday evening.

Ron and I went to dinner at El Pinto with Jared and Elena. Good food, good company, and great outdoor seating weather.

Day 14

2010-07-04T22:30:00.000-04:00

Day 14 - July 4, 2010 - Sunday

0815 Get up. Ron has the coffee already made.

Spend some time relaxing, checking my email, and reading while Ron watches the Tour de France.

1000 Leave the Los Alamos house. Meet up at Sonic for breakfast burritos with Scott.

1032 Dad called - he found Ryan's DS charger. Oops! I guess that's why he couldn't find it yesterday afternoon when he was looking for it.

1108 In White Rock, visiting Travis and Leigh.

2:04 p.m. Headed for Albuquerque.

4:30 p.m. At Elena's new house - very nice. The kids are at the pool.

We ate Grandma's barbeque for dinner then ice cream for dessert. Seth was so excited for the fireworks he could hardly wait. Once they finally started they were so tiny the kids quickly lost interest. (We were looking out over the city and could see all the various displays but were too far to even hear them.) And so it is bedtime.

Day 13

2010-07-03T22:25:00.002-04:00

Day 13 - July 3, 2010 - Saturday

0830 Wake up. The kids are playing. Ron has relocated to another room but is sleeping in.

Spend the morning drinking coffee, updating my blog, and eating a breakfast burrito. The kids go with Grandpa R to fly a kite at the park.

Around noon we head over to the reunion picnic.

After the picnic, Scott and Scott & Dar and their kids come over to the house to hang out. The kids are playing the piano which is making me a bit crazy but eventually they move on to other activities.

Grandma and Grandpa load up our kids and take them down to Albuquerque. Ron and I went to the reunion dinner at Hilltop House. After a late night Friday night, we are only too happy to be home by 10 tonight. The house is super quiet without the kids.

Day 12

2010-07-02T23:13:00.001-04:00

Day 12 - July 2, 2010 - Friday

0445 Woken up by a thunderstorm. Bummer - now our tent is going to be wet when we take it down!

0600 Wake up. Ron and Felisa are already awake.

0615 Time to get dressed and get up so I can hike over to the bathroom.

0715 We have cleared the campsite (packed, loaded, took our tent down) and are the early birds at the pancake breakfast at the campground store. A little chilly this morning. After a delicious breakfast of pancakes, sausage, hot chocolate and coffee, we're off!

0748 Headed for Cliff Palace. We have the first tour of the day at 0900. It is 60 degrees.

0753 Ron asks me how far it is to the tour site because we are low on gas. Only 1/4 tank left. Uh oh!

0827 Cliff Palace

1004 We have finished our tour. I'm glad we had the first tour because it wasn't hot yet and because there were no people ahead of us to clutter up our pictures of the dwellings. Our favorite parts:
Bella - the house (all of it)
Felisa - the kivas
Ryan - the ladders
Ron - the view of the far mesa
Sheila - seeing it all before the crowds descended

1016 Horses! I don't they they are fenced in.

1054 We made it back to the main gate.

1106 Stop in Mancos for gas. Regular is out of order. $3.02/gallon for plus.

1115 Jo is back on duty.

1123 Cows in a trailer and dogs in the back of the pickup truck - looks like a full load!

1126 Sign says "I'd rather see a cow than a condo." I completely agree!

1146 Del Taco in Durango. But it's closed and up for sale. Bummer. Guess lunch will be delayed until the next town.

1152 Skunk roadkill. Peeew!

12:02 p.m. We need to refill our water bottles - we're all drying up!

12:03 p.m. An antler tree, made of a wire form in the shape of a Christmas tree covered with antlers.

12:21 p.m. A loose calf running down the side of the highway. He looks scared! Hope he makes it to safety.

12:45 p.m. Sonic for lunch. Gas $2.79/gallon My turn to drive again.

Listening to NPR. We need to go to the McDonald's museum I think. It is in Illinois. Hmm... I'll have to look it up.

1:53 p.m. New Mexico

2:03 p.m. Continental Divide. Darn - I missed it again! Oh well...

2:40 p.m. Ron's turn to drive again. He's bored and needs something to do!

2:41 p.m. Our batteries are dying... the cell phone, the camera, Ryan's MP3 player... they are all barely hanging on!

2:45 p.m. Ron is tired of the music on my MP3 player so we plug his in instead.

2:58 p.m. A truck just lost its wheel as we crested a hill. It was coming right at us but luckily we missed. Yikes! The driver of the (97 Toyota Landcruiser is Ron's guess) is able to stop and pull to the side. The tire appears to be still going as it rolls out of sight...

3:17 p.m. Afternoon rain showers. This will make it hard for us to dry our tent when we get to Los Alamos!

3:19 p.m. 5% oil life! Time for an oil change soon!

3:33 p.m. Espanola, NM

3:35 p.m. We just saw the second car accident in town as well as an ambulance and a police car with lights on. It's dangerous around here! Hope we arrive soon so we can relax.

3:55 p.m. Los Alamos, NM

4:11 p.m. Arrive at Grandma and Grandpa R's house.

Spend some time charging batteries and getting caught up online. Uploading pictures, updating the blog, etc. Then time for a shower before Ron and I head out to his 20-year reunion happy hour. Before I left, a slice of birthday cake for me. Yum! Two cakes and counting... how many more will I get?

I experienced first hand the social life of Friday Night in Los Alamos... not much going on which leads to creativity by the party-ers. We got home at 2 a.m. Everyone else was asleep already.

Day 11

2010-07-01T21:42:00.000-04:00

Day 11 - July 1, 2010 - Thursday

0620 Ron opens the curtains which wakes me up. (He claims that he was closing the curtains because the sunlight woke him up. All I know is that curtains were moving and it woke me up!)

I'm awake so time for email/make plans for the day/hotel breakfast/packing.

0906 On the road. It is raining this morning. Our first stop, a drive through Colorado National Monument.

1000 Stop for pictures at Book Cliff

1005 Visitor's Center

1106 Ute Canyon

1130 Smashburger for lunch. Yum-O!

I get to drive since Ron is still acclimating to the climate (his allergies were bothering him) and the elevation (he has a headache). Delta had nice murals on the walls downtown and Montrose was bigger than I thought it would be.

1:50 p.m. Bighorn sheep sign. Usually we see deer signs. This is a new one!

1:52 p.m. Hooray we made it to Ouray! It reminds me of a European mountain town. Not sure why. But definitely looks like it would be a nice place to visit.

2:22 p.m. Red Mountain overlook. The mountain really is red - wow! Now that I have made it to the top, it is time for Ron the expert to drive us back down. Too scary for me! Actually, all I'm worried about is the brakes. Don't want to burn them up! Temperature at the top of the mountian, 68 degrees with a chilly breeze.

2:26 p.m. Red Mountain Pass, 11, 075 feet.

2:42 p.m. Silverton, CO. Will we make it to the gold mine in time for the tour at 3:00? The town has nice wide streets and cool old buildings.

2:54 p.m. Made it by the hair on our chinny-chin-chins.

4:09 p.m. Leaving the mine. It was cold in there (47 degrees) and wet! Our tour guide was Joe. Our favorite parts:
Felisa - going through the tunnel
Bella - panning for gold
Ryan - dropping his hat
Sheila - seeing all the equipment demos and the mining terminology
Ron - the drills

4:22 p.m. Wyman Hotel. Other cool place names we saw in Silverton - Cow Palace Cafe and Handlebars Saloon (with a picture of a handlebar moustache on the sign).

4:30 p.m. Just realized that I am probably sleepy because of the elevation. We've been pretty high up most of the day!

4:34 p.m. Molas Pass Summit, 10,899 feet

4:49 p.m. Stuck behind a tractor going down the pass. It could be worse - we could be stuck behind a tractor going UP the pass!

4:57 p.m. Purgatory Village and Durango Mountain Ski Resorts

5:15 p.m. Listening to NPR. Apparently onion sandwiches are the secret to Chester Reed's longevity. He retired from the postal service at 95 after 37 years of service.

5:18 p.m. Durango. 6,523 feet. I think this is our lowest elevation since we left the hotel! We eat at Steamworks Brewing Co for dinner. Not very good at all.

6:43 p.m. Animas River

8:04 p.m. Mesa Verde National Park. A long check-in process for our campsite, a long line for our tour tickets, and longer than I thought for our campsite selection.

Once our tent was set up, we went on a little hike.

9:45 p.m. Changed and into our sleeping bags. Everyone was asleep by 10.

Updates

2010-07-01T09:42:00.002-04:00

Spent Monday in Denver with our VA friends - very fun but exhausting.

Spent Tuesday hanging around in Colo. Springs. Saw a couple friends and the Olympic Training Center.

Wednesday drove over the mountains to Grand Junction. Picked up Ron at the airport. Took Ron a whopping 6 hours to get here. I think it took me 6 hours to get to Ohio.

Today we are headed south to Silverton, Durango and Mesa Verde. Hope to be in Los Alamos by Friday night, at which point I may actually update my blog for real.

Until then...

Day 10

2010-06-30T22:43:00.000-04:00

Day 10 – June 30, 2010 – Wednesday

0615 Penny has woken me up one last time.

0715 Get the kids up so they can get changed. Once they are changed I can finish packing then get the car reloaded.

0823 On the road.

0827 See Jiffy Lube. Check my oil life. We’re at 20%. I think we can make it to NM before we need an oil change.

0831 Stop at Whole Foods to buy some stye eye drops for Bella. Styes stink is what she says and I absolutely agree with her.

0839 Oops – forgot to get Jo turned on and programmed for the day.

0942 See a sign on a car for mappedtrails.com

0954 Buffalo! I guess I should have stopped at the Buffalo Herd overlook after all. I had read online that they are not always visible from that location so I didn’t bother to stop. Oh well. Maybe next time…

1015 Burger King. I did not eat breakfast so I’m starving. And I drank coffee so I needed to use the bathroom.

1034 Snow on the mountains.

1038 Dead trees. A lot of dead trees. More dead ones than live ones here. I wonder why. Mistletoe maybe?

1040 Eisenhower Tunnel, 11,013 feet

1042 Continental Divide. I had hoped to take a picture at the Continental Divide sign but apparently we are crossing it while in the tunnel. I just happened to glimpse the tiny blue highway sign marking the divide as we drove by. Darn. Guess next time I'll have to take the scenic route on 6 instead.

1043 Avalanche area! Ryan doesn't think we are in danger though.

1045 The scenery has been absolutely breathtaking today. We stop at a roadside stream and dip our toes and just relax for a few minutes.

1120 Copper Mountain exit. Not a lot of food choices and gas is expensive so we keep going. I think it's fun to look at the chair lifts and ski slopes without the snow. It looks a lot different in green!

1127 Nice bike trail between the sides of the interstate.

1129 Vail Pass Summit. 10,662 feet

1155 Burger King in Avon. These roundabouts are making me dizzy and totally lost!

12:22 p.m. Western Slope is much dryer and more desert like.

12:34 p.m. Colorado River

12:37 p.m. Glenwood Canyon. Gorgeous black rock in the canyon walls.

12:51 p.m. NoName, CO

12:53 p.m. Oil life is now at 15%

1:02 p.m. BIG traffic jam headed the opposite direction because of construction. I am so glad we are not going that way!

2:18 p.m. Dinosaur Journey museum in Fruita, CO. Our favorite parts:

Bella- The spitting dinosaur
Felisa - all the moving robotic dinosaurs
Ryan - the earthquake simulator
Sheila - the earthquake simulator

3:30 p.m. Gas, $2.75/gallon

3:40 p.m. Mike the Headless Chicken! I found out last night that this is Mike's hometown so I surprised Ryan with a visit to the statue in town. We also walked over to the Rec Center to buy a tshirt for Ryan. Before we left, I got a coffee from Aspen Street Coffee Co.

4:20 p.m. Stop at Cabela's and Mesa Mall in Grand Junction. I almost bought a copy of the Disney movie The Ugly Dachsund but decided it was a want not a need and put it back. I wasn't going to buy anything for the kids, why should I buy something for myself?

5:17 p.m. Leaving the mall.

5:29 p.m. We are stuck in rush hour traffic in Grand Junction. I see an old car that has broken down or run out of gas. Who stopped to help? The driver of another old car. All of us stuck up newer car drivers didn't do a thing.

6:40 p.m. Finally made it across town and to the hotel. Ron booked us a room at the Doubletree. We are on the top floor and have quite a view! Now we are headed back downtown for dinner (we ate at Rockslide Brewery, quite delicious, and we walked around to see all the sculptures that are part of Art on the Corner)

8:28 p.m. Back at the hotel once more. Hit the pool then showered. Ryan was sad that there was no Discovery channel at the hotel so he missed Mythbusters.

10:20 p.m. Leave for the airport to pick up Ron

10:55 p.m. Back at the hotel. Bed time!

Day 9

2010-06-29T22:42:00.000-04:00

Day 9 – June 29, 2010 – Tuesday

0645 The phone is ringing which wakes me up. Once I figure out what it is, I go back to sleep. I find out later that it was Dad calling to tell anyone who was awake that there was a hot air balloon flying low across the house. Too bad we missed it!

0800 Wake up Felisa. The other kids are already awake. Shower and get dressed.

0856 Leave for my coffee date. Realise I forgot my phone and go back to get it. After I have the phone and have driven halfway to Starbucks, I realize that even though I had plugged it in last night, for some reason it didn’t charge.

Coffee at Starbucks with Margo, aka Mrs. McCoy.

1123 Back at Dad’s. I could have run away since I had no phone and no kids but decided I should stick around.

We have lunch then head out for the afternoon.

12:20 p.m. Shopping and haircuts at the Chapel Hills Mall. The kids did not ask to play in the play area. I think that it has lost its appeal a bit now that they are so much bigger than the toddlers who typically play there. The haircuts weren’t that great but at least we can see their eyes again and I found a necklace to wear with my outfit for Ron’s reunion dinner.

After the mall we went down to the Olympic Training Center. Neither Dad nor I had ever been there to see it.

Our last stop is dinner at It’z. It’s basically like Chuck E. Cheese but for an older age group. Bella played Deal or No Deal almost the entire time and ended up with lots of prize tickets. (I guess all those episodes on GSN at Grandma’s house paid off!) Ryan chose 13 plastic robots, 3 paratroopers, and a candy watch. Felisa chose a couple silly bandz and a candy necklace. Then they both donated their extra tickets so that Bella would have enough to get the Hannah Montana plush guitar.

Once we got back home, my friend Travis came over and we were able to hang out for a couple hours, mostly sans children. I hadn’t seen him in a couple years so it was nice to reconnect.

Day 8

2010-06-28T22:42:00.000-04:00

Day 8 – June 28, 2010 – Monday

0555 Penny is barking. That dog needs to learn to sleep in!

0630 The kids are awake and playing very loudly. Those kids need to learn to sleep in!

0640 Get up and tell kids to be quiet.

0753 Leave for Denver.

0803 Schlotsky’s sign. Oh yeah – I forgot about Schlotsky’s. Hope I get to eat there sometime.

0806 Sonic

0820 My burrito is falling apart. Must’ve been a new guy in the kitchen this morning. Will I be able to finish is without making a total mess in the car?

0829 There is a Transportation Dept truck pulled over on the side of the highway. One of the workers is dragging a dead deer over to be thrown into the woods where nature can take care of it and no one driving by has to see it. How would you like to be in the deer body disposal business?

0832 Coal train heading south

0834 Another train heading south

0854 Wrong address. This is not a hotel. This is an industrial park. I must have switched the numbers on the street address when I entered it into the GPS.

0858 Made it to the hotel!

0925 Leaving hotel with a full car. Onboard with us today – the Kohls Family (minus Kurt who had to go to his conference downtown).

0932 As we are making a u-turn, the minivan from Texas (complete with a roof box!) who was behind us is doing the same thing. We laugh and wave to each other!

1008 Arrive at Red Rocks Amphitheater.

12:40 p.m. We have seen the amphitheater and gone on a long, hot, dusty hike. 1.4 miles with only two bottles of water for all of us. Thankfully Lynne had water and sunscreen to share. She was thankful I picked up a map at the Trading Post so we knew where we were going! Between us, we’ve got it together. Haha! Felisa and I were wearing flip-flops and Bella had on crocs. Not the best choice of footwear for such a hike but we made it. I guess next time I’ll be more prepared even if I think I’m only going just a little ways down the trail then coming back to the car.

1:00 – 3:20 p.m. Casa Bonita, or as Lynne called it, “The House of Stimulus”. The kids had fun and the adults even giggled a bit as well.

3:51 p.m. Arrive back at the hotel. The kids get changed and we head out to the pool for some swimming.

6:47 p.m. On our way to dinner at Sonic. This will be the first time for the Kohls and, believe it or not, the first time for me so far on this trip. Can you believe I made it all the way to Colorado before stopping at Sonic? Unheard of!

7:41 p.m. Done with dinner. Time to drop the Kohls family back at the hotel so they can get settled in for the night. Time for me to drive back to Colorado Springs. Maybe I can make it most of the way back before it gets dark.

7:58 p.m. Leaving the hotel.

8:15 p.m. Stop for gas in Castle Rock. $2.65/gallon

8:23 p.m. Beautiful sunset clouds tonight!

Make it back just after dark. Cannot get Bella to wake up so she can get out of the car. All of the kids go straight to bed. I think maybe they are tired tonight!

Day 7

2010-06-27T23:54:00.002-04:00

Day 7 - Sunday - June 27, 2010

0715 Penny is barking which wakes me up. I'm sure the kids are probably awake as well so I go ahead and get up.

It turns out, the kids are not awake yet. I think this is the latest they have slept so far. Dad made breakfast of bacon, eggs, and sausage. Felisa ate a banana while the rest of us ate the good stuff. After my shower I went out to Best Buy to get Ryan a new MP3 player. His popcorn player is officially dead and cannot be resuscitated.

1135 Everyone is loaded into the car and headed for the Denver Aquarium.

We decide to stop for a snack before the aquarium so the kids don't get too hungry while we're there (especially since we haven't fed them since breakfast!). The Taco Bell that Jo tried to take us to was invisible to we wandered a bit and ended up finding a Burger King, overlooking the Denver Broncos Invesco Field.

The aquarium was nice (and I just realized we forgot to do favorite parts - oh no!). Then we headed over to Red Robin for dinner with Walt and Kristin. It was so great to see them, especially Kristin who I hadn't seen in a few years. We had a lovely dinner then left just as it started to rain. It was raining pretty heavily and eventually we got into some hail. Very noisy hail hitting the car!

Made it back home with no problems. I checked out some audiobooks for Ryan then uploaded his new "Red Razor". Fully charged and ready to listen to hours and hours of stories!

On tap for tomorrow... another day trip to Denver. Which reminds me, I should check to make sure I have gas before we get too far down the road tomorrow!

Day 6

2010-06-26T23:39:00.002-04:00

Day 6 - Saturday - June 26, 2010

0545 Wake up. Check the time. Go back to sleep.

0615 Ryan knocks the clock off the bedside table with a huge crash. I get up to look at my cell phone to see what time it is. Ryan asks for the remote control and turns on the TV to watch. All of this wakes Bella up.

0620 Go down to the car to get the camera cords I forgot last night. So refreshing out here this morning!

Back in the room, the girls are awake watching TV and Ryan has gone back to sleep. I take a shower and get dressed.

0715 Time for the kids to get dressed.

0738 Head downstairs for breakfast. It is exactly the insanity I would expect to find on a summer Saturday morning in a completely booked hotel.

0745 Back upstairs in our room to eat breakfast. I sync the podcasts that I missed last time and add a new one that I have just downloaded.

0809 Leave the room, checking out.

0815 Loaded in the car and ready to go. This went much more smoothly than our last hotel departure.

0821 Stop to see the World's Largest Easel before we leave town.

0851 Colorado!

0854 Car Talk is just ending. It was rather funny this morning.

0955 Bypassing the Wonder Tower. Perhaps we will stop on a future trip.

0956 Finishing the Legos podcast from Stuff You Should Know (and How Things Work). Thanks to Shani for the recommendation!

1000 Ryan is whispering "sweet nothings" to his mp3 player, trying to get it to keep working.

1005 Gas in Limon, CO. $2.83/gallon. It is very busy here in Limon today. I wash the bugs off my windshield (AGAIN!) and then hit the McD's drive-thru next door for an iced coffee.

1033 See a herd of antelope lying in the grass right next to a herd of cows lying in the grass in the same field.

1036 Coyote!

1133 See the Space Shuttle mailbox - we must be going the right way!

1135 Arrive at Dad and Roseanne's place.

What follows is a nice relaxing afternoon and evening... The kids play outside, play Wii, eat lunch. I force Dad to look at my scrapbooks. We had grilled burgers and hot dogs for dinner then yummy chocolate birthday cake for dessert!

Day 5

2010-06-25T23:07:00.002-04:00

Day 5 - Friday - June 25, 2010

0600 Alarm goes off. Hit the snooze. The alarm on my new phone is nicer than my old phone - not too loud and obnoxious.

0610 Alarm goes off again. Time to get up.

0700 Still loading. Guess we're not leaving at 7 after all.

0710 All loaded. Pictures taken. Leaving Good Hope. Jo tells us that our map data is more than a year old and we should go online to have it updated. No kidding she's out of date. We've seen a couple examples on this trip already!

0739 Felisa says her Ipod acts like it isn't charged. Except that I just charged them yesterday (or so I thought). This is not good. We have a lot of driving to do today!

0825 Quincy, IL. Score a surprise Starbucks Drive-Thru. Yay! Way better than the McD's coffee I was headed for right next to it.

0828 Papa Murphy's. Wow - who knew Quincy was such a happenin' place to have all these yummy food options.

0831 Stop at Hardees for some breakfast. Everything on the breakfast menu looked so good when we stopped the other day I had to come back and try something else. Today it is the loaded breakfast burrito.

0846 Mississippi River and Missouri

1008 Macon, MO. Gas, $2.57/gallon. It smells like dead fish out here. But on the bright side - the gas station had a 4-stall women's bathroom. No waiting in line! Woo hoo!

1147 Billboard ad for the billboard company... "Making heavy traffic bearable." Huh? What heavy traffic?

12:00 p.m. Ryan's MP3 player is dying a slow and painful death. Might be time to buy him a new one. He earned this one as a prize for selling Cub Scout Popcorn which is great. But I think it is reaching the end of its life expectancy.

12:01 p.m. See a mailbox in the shape of a hammer

12:11 p.m. Burger King for lunch and a bathroom break, just outside St. Joseph. I have to have one more pork sandwich before I leave the midwest!

12:29 p.m. Missouri River and Kansas. There is a rotating drawbridge downstream.

12:44 p.m. See a sign for the Lewis and Clark Auto Tour. That sounds interesting. Maybe we should see some Lewis and Clark stuff on one of our upcoming trips.

2:36 p.m. Bella and Felisa told me they saw a deer.

2:40 p.m. Bella: "This looks nice." when we are stopped for a road construction one-lane road section. It is currently one more hour until our planned stop in Lebanon, KS to see the geographic center of the US.

2:44 p.m. This is taking longer than I thought.

2:47 p.m. Finally it is our turn to pass through the single lane.

2:53 p.m. We have reached the other end of the construction zone and see a long line of cars waiting to head back to the east.

3:12 p.m. Spur of the moment detour to see the Pawnee Indian Village Museum.

3:19 p.m. Sign for the museum points us down a dirt road. Okay...

3:28 p.m. Arrive in Republic, KS. No museum in site. Has Jo led us astray once more? I check the map. The museum seems to be a bit more southwest of where we are now so I backtrack to the road that had the most recent sign on it and follow that road a little farther. The kids are asking about Jo and the museum. I told them I would have to find it the old-fashioned way, using maps and signs!

3:34 p.m. One lane truss bridge across a river

3:38 p.m. We found it! Woo hoo!

4:11 p.m. Done at the museum. Our favorite parts:
Felisa - Staring at all the purple flowers she could find
Bella - the tiny model of the house
Ryan - the original floor of the house inside
Sheila - that we found it

It is very pretty out here but I think the constant gusting wind would just drive me batty!

The trip away from the museum is much easier since a paved highway leads right into it. Grrr - Jo!

4:40 p.m. Mankato, KS for gas. $2.69/gallon. Get a bottle of water out of the cooler for Ryan.

5:09 p.m. Geographic center of the 48 contiguous United States!

5:47 p.m. World's Largest Ball of Twine in Cawker City, KS. As we drove up, one of the kids said, "That sucker is huge!"

6:02 p.m. Leaving Cawker City. We took pictures of the twine then followed the painted Yellow Twine Road up and down the 3 blocks of town to see all of the twine-inspired art in the windows. Bella needs to go to the bathroom but everything is closed so we get in the car and head west to the next town.

6:06 p.m. See a long-horn cow in the field. Does the cow ever get tired of holding those giant heavy horns up? And does it bump into things all the time? I sure would if I had big ol' horns sticking out like that, getting in the way.

6:08 p.m. Bathroom stop in Downs, KS.

7:32 p.m. Pizza Hut in Hill City, KS. We tried the local specialty of BBQ Beef pizza. It was pretty good. We took the leftovers with us so the kids can have a snack after swimming at the hotel later (if we ever get there!).

8:15 p.m. Leaving Pizza Hut

8:23 p.m. Kids turn on a movie.

8:36 p.m. I have now used up all the podcasts I downloaded before I left. Now what am I going to do? Just listen to music?

8:44 p.m. Hoxie, KS

8:53 p.m. Lightning ahead. What is it about Colby and lightning? I seem to recall there being a lightning storm a few years ago when we drove into Colby after a long day in Kansas.

8:55 p.m. There is lightning to my left and the setting sun is blinding me to the right. In the middle, rain on my windshield.

8:57 p.m. Windy out here - the dust from the dirt road is blowing out onto the highway.

8:58 p.m. Rainbow behind us and to the left. It's a very bright one!

8:59 p.m. Now a double rainbow.

9:01 p.m. Why do birds keep flying in front of me? Do they want me to hit them?

9:04 p.m. Buffalo! A herd of buffalo along the side of the road. I almost missed them because I thought they were just more cows.

9:06 p.m. Maybe all this excitement at the end of the day is our reward for surviving a long day on the road.

9:25 p.m. There is a strange orange spot up in the middle of all the rain clouds. I'm sure it's the moon but seems unbelievable to be able to see half of the moon in the midst of a storm.

9:26 p.m. I-70 - back on the interstate and catching the back end of the storm. I thought we might miss it but don't think so anymore.

9:34 p.m. RAIN! Also, there is a police car on the other side of the highway. Its lights are on and it is facing the wrong way. I wonder how many drivers are confused by his headlights shining on them.

9:35 p.m. Mountain Time Zone

8:37 p.m. Out of the rain and the temperature is 65 degrees now. I wonder if it's humid outside? It was 98 degrees earlier today.

8:56 p.m. At the hotel. There are no vacancies. Good thing we had Ron call ahead and get us a reservation! The room is nice but we are facing the front of the hotel and have a view of the drop-off roof. I go back out to the car to get the rest of the stuff and stop to take some pictures of the lightning.

9:40 p.m. Headed to the pool.

10:30 p.m. Back in the room. Showers, snacks, and finally - bed time!

Day 4

2010-06-24T23:36:00.000-04:00

Day 4 – Thursday – June 24, 2010

0640 Felisa is up. Too early again! Of course I'm not really surprised since she fell asleep early last night. So I get up and go upstairs with her. Grandma is already up since she forgot to put the trash out last night.

Breakfast – coffee- shower

0940 Arrive at the town square. The book store doesn't open until 10 so we walk around the farmers market while we wait. We bought cinnamon rolls, beef sticks, bison sticks, grape jelly, and kettle corn. Couldn't buy anything else since we're on the road. We ate some of the kettle corn and cinnamon rolls while we wait.

At the book store, I dropped off some books for trade. The children's book selection was not bad for older kids but there wasn't really anything for Felisa. I found one book that I have been wanting to read but isn't available at the library (Your Money or Your Life). I think that I have enough trade credit to last a few years at this store. I don't really understand their system but oh well. Fewer books in my house is a good thing regardless. And maybe some kids here will be very happy to find the books we left.

Stop at Hyvee to buy milk and potato chips. There is a sign on the door that the grocery store is a wifi hotspot. I almost brought my computer to town just in case I found a hotspot but I didn't. I certainly wasn't expecting to find it at the grocery store either!

1100 Back at Grandma's and waiting for lunch. Chicken salad today – yum!

After lunch we watched more Game Show Network while we waited for Stacy to come by with Ben. Donna stopped by and so did Ron. Ron's not sure if Tegan will be around this evening or not to play.

Stacy came with Ben – such a cutie! I got my baby fix. So sweet!

Time for dinner…. This time the Asian Buffet. What is it about buffets in general and Chinese food in particular that incite us to eat soooooooo much more than we should? It was good and definitely filling!

After dinner we headed over to Ron and Naomi's to let the kids play with Tegan and Briley. They all had a great time. Uncle Randy came over with Dakota to visit for a few minutes too.

Finally, time to head back to Grandma's and get ready for bed. A little before-bed GSN and foot baths in the sink. Then, bed time!

Day 3

2010-06-23T23:34:00.000-04:00

Day 3 – Wednesday – June 23, 2010

0615 Bella is up.

0630 Ryan is up.

0645 Felisa is up and they have all gone upstairs where I am sure Grandma is still asleep so I guess that means I have to get up and make sure they stay quiet. Apparently they are not very tired and they haven't adapted to the new time zone yet. I tell them to look at the scrapbooks quietly while they wait for Grandma to wake up.

When Grandma gets up she gives me my birthday present – a card and some new jammies. Felisa gave me the card she made at home and brought with her. Breakfast is Count Chocula for the kids and Multi-Grain Cheerios for me. Then the kids disappear downstairs for a while. I'm on my way down to get dressed when Felisa tells me I have to stay upstairs.

A bit later Felisa comes back to get Grandma and I for the unveiling of my present… A re-creation of Big Trip with Lincoln Logs, Thingamajigs, and plastic cowboys and Indians. At the end of the trip there is even a scrapbook a la Etch-A-Sketch. I love it – very creative!

0830 Time to get dressed.

0859 Leave for our day trip to see the Lincoln site at New Salem.

0900 Jo wants us to cut the corner through Bushnell but after yesterday's cornfield adventures, I'm a bit worried about flooded roads. We'll go through town instead.

0940 Ryan is testing out the cinnamon jolly rancher candy we bought at Hersheypark on Saturday. He says it is very good.

0951 Crossing the Illinois River. The water is definitely high.

0953 Stop at Hardees for a snack. Ryan must be in a growth spurt because he has been eating non-stop so far this trip. Maybe a more substantial snack will hold him for awhile. We can save the snacks in the snack box for cornfield emergencies!

1004 See a lady on a riding mower wearing a pioneer bonnet.

1019 Sangamon River. This one is high also.

1040 Arrive at New Salem Historical Site.

12:28 p.m. Done with our tour. It was a nice place but the heat has definitely set in for the day. Hot, hot, hot!

Our favorite parts…

Felisa – Bay (the horse)

Ryan – watching the person chiseling the bowl

Bella – the small boat in the museum

Sheila – coming here again (I came here on a 5^th grade field trip as a kid)

12:42 p.m. Lots of bugs hitting the windshield today.

1:03 p.m. The "water on road" sign is almost underwater.

1:10 p.m. Hit the McD's drive-thru for lunch. See Herbie the Love Bug in the parking lot.

1:14 p.m. Bella's chicken wasn't in the bag so we stop at Hardees before we cross the river to get her some chicken.

1:17 p.m. Illinois River

1:26 p.m. Felisa says she needs to go to the bathroom. Why didn't she tell me when we were in town? Hope she can hold it – not sure how far the next gas station is.

1:36 p.m. Stop for gas in Ipava. $2.70/gallon. It was one of those "we're not from around here" type of stops. I love how friendly everyone is but hate feeling like I stick out like a sore thumb sometimes. It's like that sign we saw in Texas… City dogs go to one side and country dogs go to the other. I'm definitely a city dog around here and do not blend in very well.

2:20 p.m. Finally make it back to Grandma's.

We watch TV for a while – Game Show Network – then the girls convince me to take them all to the park even though it's hot outside. In the shade, with the breeze, it's bearable. After the park, more TV then dinner. Beef and Noodles – yum! While we were eating a thunderstorm blew in. Thunder, lightning, and more rain! After dinner, Mythbusters on tv and a few birthday phone calls for me before bed.

Day 2

2010-06-22T23:33:00.000-04:00

Day 2 – Tuesday – June 22, 2010

0545 Wake up. See daylight. Check the clock. Decide it is too early to get up and go back to sleep.

0715 Wake up. Bella is awake. It is time to get up. Maybe if I hurry I can get a quick shower and we can be out of the room by 8:00.

0810 Headed down for a delicious breakfast of hotel eggs and what is that?!? Is this a cheez whiz omelette? Ick. Guess I'll stick with the sausage patty and a cup of coffee.

0840 Done with breakfast and leaving the hotel room to check out. Clearly my 8 am departure was overly optimistic.

0854 Car is loaded back up. We are so out of practice – this is taking forever!

0858 Went back to the front desk to check our room bill. Should've been paid with points, not the credit card. All fixed now. Time to hit the road.

0912 Traffic is moving very slowly this morning. No one seems to be in a hurry at all. On a different note, the new seating arrangement seems to be working out for the kids but it's a bit louder for me. Bella and Felisa talk and laugh (and occasionally argue) all day long in the back seat. So far they seem to be sleeping less in the car since they can play together instead of being one in front of the other. Ryan gets pestered a bit more since he's stuck in the middle row and ends up as the middle-man, passing things and messages back and forth. But he seems happy enough.

0913 Look – a Sonic! And I'm not even stopping. Aren't you all proud of me? Such restraint…

0917 Great Dane puppies for sale. Shall we stop and pick one up?

0920 Johnny Appleseed Roadside Park

0954 Felisa wants to stop for lunch.

1003 Raindrops.

1011 Columbus. Finally. I am feeling very behind this morning. Not sure why. Maybe it's because we usually make it at least to Columbus on the first day and this year we didn't. That's what the scenic route will get you – behind schedule!

1106 Mad River

1115 Gas, $2.85/gallon and lunch at Taco Bell. Apparently we won. We are victorious over the tacos! Back in the car, I get my laptop out to charge Ryan's MP3 player while we drive. I was hoping the USB car charger that works for the DS would work for the MP3 player also but it didn't. In hindsight, it would have been better to go back out to the car last night to get the charging cord. Oh well!

1153 Great Miami River. Why are there so many Miami things here in Ohio? Miami of Ohio University and the Great Miami River. I wonder if it's related to the Miami in Florida.

1154 Jets on the overpass in Dayton and a space-themed relief mural on the retaining wall. Cool!

12:14 p.m. Leaving Kroger and Starbucks. The girls want to watch a movie. Amazingly enough they asked at a good time. We are stopped and I can get all the cords out and get things set up. Everything seems to be working fine.

12:25 p.m. Having a hard time finding my way back to the highway. Ryan is messing with the DVD player, trying to get another set of headphones hooked up (which is distracting) and there is policeman following me which is making me nervous. I have no idea what the speed limit is in this town and don't see any signs around.

12:26 p.m. On the on-ramp, another policeman has someone pulled over. They're everywhere!

12:48 p.m. Indiana. Finally! See what I mean about being in slow-motion today.

12:49 p.m. Oh yeah. Now I remember the RV billboards lining the highway in Indiana, just across the border from Ohio. I think there is actually an RV factory or museum or something in Indiana somewhere.

1:10 p.m. Wilber Wright Road. Maybe we should plan to stop one of these years and check out the Wilber Wright museum.

1:11 p.m. A huge bunch of sunflowers lining the highway.

1:17 p.m. Thinking of things to see on our trips… maybe we should check out the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs this year since the Olympics are fresh on our minds from the winter. I've never seen it myself either.

1:28 p.m. Nameless Creek

1:48 p.m. Passing the Mammography Mobile. I thought it was a blood drive van at first but it's not.

1:49 p.m. Another construction warning sign, this time for 65N. I already opted for the downtown route rather than the loop which I had planned to take because of construction warnings for the loop. I may never make it through Indianapolis.

1:54 p.m. A red light. Which everyone is treating as a stop sign. They stop, look for traffic, then turn left. On a red light. Oh, I just now got it… maybe it was because it was onto a one-way street? Is that why everyone was doing it? I did it also but only because I didn't want to cause an accident or road rage but not following the local customs! And to tell you the truth, I can't remember if it was a one-way street or not. Hmm…

2:08 p.m. Finally made it through Indianapolis. This is one of my least favorite cities to drive through. It always seems like such a hassle and such an obstacle. There is always tons of traffic around here too.

2:10 p.m. Water going over a dam.

2:18 p.m. Ryan is reading his Boys Life issue for July. Apparently July is National Hot Dog Month. Yummy!

2:23 p.m. Felisa is asking how much longer. She is not impressed at all with my tirade about how it is still 3 hours (she had just asked less than 30 minutes ago) and how we are still in Indiana and how once we finally get to Illinois, we still have to drive all the way across it to the other side.

2:45 p.m. Stop at Burger King for a snack. Or is it a second lunch? They have a new pork tenderloin sandwich so I give it a try. Not bad. Felisa asks again how much long and I tell her Jo says it is about 2 hours and 45 minutes. Fill up with gas also before we get back on the highway. $2.85/gallon. Hopefully this will be our last stop before Grandma's house.

3:04 p.m. Back on the road again. I am starting to think we are never going to get there. Maybe that's why Felisa keeps asking –she can sense my hopelessness.

3:18 p.m. A couple guys are hanging off the Hanging Rock billboard. It looks like they are trying to get it hung up but it's pretty windy here. They fit right in though – maybe they should stay there. Just like the cows on the Chik-Fil-A signs.

3:27 p.m. A billboard of farm animals smoking. "It looks just as stupid when you do it."

3:34 p.m. Illinois! (and time zone change – oops, forgot about that)

2:39 p.m. Felisa asks how much farther . I tell her 3 hours and wait for the reaction. Jo forgot to remind us of the time change when she asked earlier. She takes it pretty well, considering.

2:52 p.m. Cows in a truck, on their way to the slaughterhouse I'm sure. Bella and Felisa tell me that they "saw a cow's butt". Great. I wonder if the butt obsession will last for the entire trip because I've noticed a recurring theme already, listening to them play.

3:49 p.m. Market report on the radio… soybeans, etc. Must be in farm country!

3:57 p.m. Listening to an NPR story about drive-in movies. That would be fun, as long as it's not too hot and there aren't any mosquitos!

4:03 p.m. News report of wildfires in Colorado. Uh oh. Hope it doesn't affect our time in Durango and Mesa Verde.

4:23 p.m. Illinois River

4:25 p.m. See a gigantic windmill blade on the back of a semi, on its way to be installed.

4:36 p.m. Caterpillar Factory

5:16 p.m. The fields and ditches have all been very wet today and there is a flood watch in effect for Peoria and the Illinois River. Guess they've had a bit of rain lately!

5:20 p.m. Road closed. Uh oh! Sure hope Jo can find us an alternate route.

First she finds a dead end road – Cucumber Hollow. Looks like it used to go through but doesn't anymore. Hit the detour button. End up following some back gravel roads between cornfields.

5:30 p.m. Pass a donkey and some cows and now we're back to a paved road. And the road closed sign. Ack!!! Press the detour button again and hope for better results.

5:37 p.m. Orange construction sign for a one-lane road ahead. Will we ever make it to Grandma's house?

5:54 p.m. See the checked flag on the screen – we're almost there! The kids are all clapping in the back.

5:58 p.m. We're here! I open the door and Ryan jumps out and breaks into a run. Excess energy from a day spent in the car perhaps?!

Grandma takes us to dinner at Ponderosa buffet. Yum. Then back home for a little tv and relaxation then bed.

Good night!

Day 1

2010-06-21T23:49:00.004-04:00

Big Trip 5... Wow. I can't believe this is my fifth time touring the country with 3 kids in a minivan!

Day 1 - Monday - June 21, 2010

Woke up around 0645 after staying up entirely too late last night. That does not bode well for the driving today! I was able to upload my client's digi book (phew) without any technical difficulties this morning. Then time to get the kids' wardrobe for the next month set then get those kids off to school for their last day. A quick stop at Parkwood to get Mrs. K's email address and say good-bye to a couple other teachers. Back home to finish the packing and start loading the car (Ron loaded the camping gear yesterday after he put the roof-box on).

Noon and I think I'm pretty much ready. Remembered that I needed to register the brownie troop for next year (oops - forgot that one on my to-do list!). Attempted to do it real quick before I went to school to pick up the kids. No can do. Technical difficulties galore. Oh well. So much for early-bird registration. Guess we'll do regular registration sometime later in the summer.

Drop off teacher gifts and pick up the kids. Back home to dump the school stuff and pick up our fun trip bags. Last minute items into the car (almost forgot my cell phone charger!) and a photo with Vacation Mouse. Finally, it is time to hit the road.

1:53 p.m. Loaded and ready to go. Temperature, a sunny, steamy 87 degrees. Beginning mileage on the car = 70,049 (aren't you impressed that I actually remembered to write that down?!)

1:57 p.m. Jo (a.k.a. Joette, a.k.a. GPS Lady) is mad at me already. Recalculating... Little did we know that this was just the beginning of Jo's bad day...

2:10 p.m. Mom called to talk to the kids.

2:51 p.m. These kids are killing me with the snacks! I can smell slim jims and brownies and it's making me hungry!

3:13 p.m. West Virginia

3:17 p.m. Our first cow sighting of the trip. Yay!

3:23 p.m. We're off the road and Jo is lost! Guess they built a new highway here recently that's not on her map.

3:25 p.m. Crossing the Lost River. But we can't see it. That's because it's lost. Get it - the LOST river?!?

3:26 p.m. Felisa is taking pictures for me of all the nice scenery. Also, crazy pictures of Bella. Can't wait to see what comes out. Haha!

3:45 p.m. McD's in Moorefield, WV. Bathroom break and grab some food. We're all hungry! Check the map (since Jo doesn't want us to go this way I need to know which way I'm trying to go rather than relying on her instructions. Did I mention Jo is having a bad day? Recalculating...)

4:00 p.m. Leaving McD's. Stuck behind a big, slow truck.

4:20 p.m. Oh look - a nice park with a playground next to a river. Let's stop! This is the South Branch of the Potomac River. The kids run off to the playground first. I see Ryan sliding down the slide, standing up, sliding down backwards. Yikes! That looks dangerous! And I have no idea where the nearest hospital is. Tell the kids they can go down to the river. We take our shoes off and wade in the warm shallow water for a few minutes.

4:46 p.m. Leaving the park. A nice break but we'd better get going or we'll never make it to Ohio tonight!

5:12 p.m. Champe Rocks - cool looking.

5:18 p.m. Seneca Rocks. Another cool looking place. But no time to stop!

5:26 p.m. Pass a semi on a switchback. We're headed up and he's headed down. His brakes are smoking!

5:28 p.m. Made it to the top! Allegheny Mountain, 3295 feet, Eastern Continental Divide. The sign says there is a 9% grade going down the other side. No wonder that truck's brakes were smoking! We also see our first sheep grazing at the pass.

5:42 p.m. Middle Mountain, 3190 feet.

5:44 p.m. Cones in the road. I wonder why. Oh I see now - a broken down RV on the side of the road.

5:45 p.m. And now we're passing a tractor hauling two hay bales - one on the front and one on the back.

5:55 p.m. Cheat Mountain (missed the elevation on this one)

5:59 p.m. Elkins, WV We saw a cool old building and a statue of Henry Cassaway Davis.

6:41 p.m. See goats and more farmers loading hay. Must be hay-harvesting season.

6:45 p.m. Mom called again to talk to Felisa (the signal dropped during her earlier call) but Felisa is asleep in the back.

7:02 p.m. Clarksburg, WV. Gas, $2.74/gallon. A treat - stop at A&W for a snack. I'm happy to eat there since we hardly ever get to go to A&W but the girls opt out and just refill their water bottles. Ryan gets a hot dog with mustard and a root beer. I hope there's no caffeine in that root beer!

7:23 p.m. Finally getting back on the road from this stop.
Jo -"Continue 76 miles."
Me - "76 miles!?! We'll never make it."
Felisa - "That's not true. We'll make it."

8:11 p.m. Bella is teaching Felisa the cardinal directions chant. "N-E-S-W that's the way my body's going." This goes on for a surprising long time.

8:19 p.m. Well, I'm certainly tired of driving for today. And I think Ryan was feeling a bit carsick earlier from all the curvy mountain roads. But the advantage of taking this route is that there is hardly any traffic out here at all. And lots of great scenery.

8:31 p.m. First Sonic sign!

8:34 p.m. We're stuck in WV!!! The highway signs tell us to go one way. Jo tells us to go another way. We're driving off the map and in circles! Help us! We just want to cross the river into Ohio!!! The girls are in the back, cheering Jo on - "Here we go Jo-ette, here we go!" Ryan says that he is about to lose faith in Jo for today when we finally get headed in the right direction.

8:41 p.m. Ohio!!! But we're on Business Route 50, not regular Route 50. Why, Jo, why?!?

8:47 p.m. See a sign - Barns in stock, ready for delivery. Great! Maybe I'll order one. But how do they deliver a big ol' barn?

8:57 p.m. Must be sunset. Jo has switched to night mode.

9:01 p.m. Ryan is impressed that it is still light outside this late. It's the summer solstice and we are racing the sun to the hotel. Will we make it before dark?

9:04 p.m. See a tractor working in the field with headlights. I don't think I've ever seen a tractor with headlights. Maybe I just don't go out after dark.

9:10 p.m. So I'm driving at 60 mph. How fast is the sun moving away from me? How fast is the earth spinning? (A quick internet search comes up with 700 mph. Hmm. Guess the sun just might win this race!)

9:25 p.m. Made it to the hotel. The sun won. But barely!

Get checked in and changed for swimming. Head to the pool at 9:50. Our room key doesn't work at the pool. Finally get in around 10. Something tells me we're going to be up late tonight...

10:50 p.m. Finally headed back to the room. Showers and pj's for the kids. As I'm helping Bella with her swimsuit, she accidentally bumps me. Then she says, "Sorry but I don't have eyes in the back of my head like you do." How funny is that!

And now everyone is hungry so I head out to the car to grab some snacks from the snack box. I'm missing my nightly before-bed glass of milk tonight. It'll take a few days to get out of that routine so that I'm not missing it as much.

11:30 p.m. Change the channel to something boring (the local weather radar) and force the children to go to bed. After all, they need to get plenty of rest so they will be ready to ride in the car all day tomorrow! Haha!

Tomorrow... 500 miles to Grandma's house!

Rollercoasters!

2010-06-20T10:12:00.004-04:00

Ryan on roller coasters...

Ryan - "Whenever there is an ascent, there is also a descent."
Me - "So you mean what goes up, must come down?"
Ryan - "Yeah. And..."
(and he continues to stick with the ascent/descent theme for a while, completely disregarding my perfectly good cliche.)

Bella rode the Wildcat with Ryan while I sat out with Felisa (she's not tall enough). That Aerosmith ride at Disney with Ron must have made her tough enough to ride more rollercoasters.

Felisa went on a rollercoaster that went upside down! The Super Dooper Looper. The name implies and upside-down loop. But I didn't think she was big enough to ride a rollercoaster that goes upside down. Apparently, I was wrong! The line was super short so we rode twice in a row. Whee!

Day at the Beach

2010-05-30T21:30:00.002-04:00

Ron took Melissa and the kids to Ocean City today. I got to stay home and clean, clean, clean. I have to admit, I was glad to see them finally come home so that I could stop cleaning and not feel guilty for stopping!

They went through a mirror maze while on the boardwalk. Apparently there was a guy inside who told them that he is paid $5/hour to confuse the people in the maze. It worked, they said. Also, Bella and Felisa both said that's the job they want to have when they get older. Too funny!

It sounds like they had a good day. Spent four hours on the beach and came home with varying amounts of sunburn. I think that much time in the sun would have killed me. Very thankful to have been home.

I have challenged the kids to keep the house clean until they go back to school on Tuesday. Can we do it?

2010-05-25T13:40:00.003-04:00

It's supposed to be a challenge... it's a shortcut. If it was easy, it would be The Way.

-from the movie Road Trip

Bits and Pieces

2010-05-18T08:36:00.002-04:00

*Miracle of all miracles - Ryan is voluntarily practicing his cello. It's the first time in months he's played it outside of school! I hate to break it up but it's almost time to go - to school!

*My new dryer is here! I was the lucky winner of the 7-9 a.m. delivery window and they were in and out before 8:15. It fits perfectly in the spot and doesn't look like it will be eating my clothes like the last one was! Since it's raining today, I might just have to give it a test drive with a few loads of laundry instead of hanging them to dry. Thanks Mom and Dad Racinez for the dryer! We love you!

*My hero, Ron, bought me a new laptop. It was a very rush-rush last minute affair. I found out on Saturday morning that the motherboard on my old laptop was the problem and it's not worth it to repair. So he had about 24 hours to find me a new one so that I can get busy on my client's project (the client asked me about it Friday afternoon and so I could delay no longer).

*I put out a donation for Purple Heart today. I really hope they come pick it up. I also really hope it stays dry in those black garbage bags since today is another rainy day.

*I'm going to pick up a new bread machine on Freecycle today. Yay! My old one bit the dust last week and I was the winner of the one offered over the weekend. This is good since all the bread machine money (and then some!) went to the new laptop.

And now we have to go or we'll be late for school!

Ryan and Felisa

2010-05-10T18:03:00.001-04:00

Felisa to Ryan: You're going to be 11 soon. And pretty soon you are going to move out of this house. (she counts from 10 to 16 to demonstrate)

Ryan to Felisa: That's still a lot of years!

Bella

2010-05-10T16:16:00.002-04:00

The part needed to fix my laptop screen has arrived. Yay! Now I just need to set a time to turn it in for repair. Then I will have my laptop back to use as a laptop again. Woo hoo! I can take it up to my room and lie in bed while I work. I'm so happy about that! I'm getting rather behind on all of my scrapping/blogging projects as you may have noticed by my lack of follow-up to my week in the life project (among other absences).

Bella's First Communion was this weekend. Ron's parents were here as was Dad. A nice visit all around.

I am cleaning out the kids' craft area this afternoon. I found this written on a paper. Since it is all about Bella and this weekend was all about Bella, it seemed like a great time to post it.

Eye color: Brown
Body color: Peach
Favorite Accessory: Care Bear
Likes: Frisbee
Dislikes: Fevers
Favorite Food: hot dog from Foster's Grille
Most likely to say: No

Other than the frisbee answer, it sums her up exactly in my opinion. And Frisbee may have been her "thing of the moment" when she wrote this.

Now I'm going to put this in her special stuff drawer in her room then get back to work downstairs.

Monday

2010-04-19T22:21:00.000-04:00

Up around 0545 or so...

0600 I'm dressed and ready to go work out. Grab my Luna Bar and water bottle to head out. Notice that Bella is no longer sleeping on the couch (she came down last night while Kim and I were talking) so I make sure she is back in her bed, not out wandering the streets somewhere.

0710 Home from working out. Get Darby up and out. Get a cup of coffee.

0715 Check email... chess club this week! Add it to the calendar.

0723 Empty the dishwasher.

0730 Put away the dry dishes that have been in the dish drainer for too long. Organize the empty jars and put them away. The dishwasher has water left in the bottom so I start the Drain Cycle.

0748 Wake up Ryan and Felisa (Bella is already up)

0750 Ron leaves for work.

0800 Kim tells me that the hair dryer from the kids' bathroom isn't working. Turns on and heats up but no air is blowing. Gets very hot very fast! Executive decision - that one is going in the trash right now!

0802 Time to make breakfast.

0808 Breakfast is served. Oatmeal and Corn Pops. Ryan asks me why I am taking so many pictures today. I tell him that it is Week In The Life week.

0815 Eleanor stops by to say good morning to the kids.

0819 Tell the kids to get dressed. Weather Report is long pants today.

0823 Zoe is here. Her dad dropped her off.

0831 Throw in a load of laundry before we head out.

0834 Leaving the house. Only a few minutes behind schedule!

0842 Drop Kim at the Metro Kiss and Ride. She is headed to DC for some meetings then flying back home to AL tonight.

0845 Drop the kids off at the school Kiss and Ride.

0849 Back home. Move the deer antler out of the driveway and back into the garden. Broke a couple tips off when I backed over it but it's still mostly intact (minus the squirrel tooth marks!).

0851 Feed Darby. He's glad I didn't forget him. I think he was probably nervous when we all left the house and he hadn't been fed yet!

0857 Dentist office called to remind me of my appointment tomorrow. Guess that means the card I found in my purse last week was a current one. I have been known to call the office about my appointment time/date because I wasn't sure if the card was from this year or some other past year. Patty was laughing at me when I told her I had done it again!

0900 - 0939 Paying bills.

0942 Laundry

0945 Grab my MP3 player and take Darby out for a walk.

1009 Back from the walk. Check emails.

1018 I'm too hungry to think. Grab a slice of bologna out of the frig.

1020 Need to make the menu plan for this week.

1023 Still too hungry to think. Warm up a slice of leftover pizza to eat.

1045 A menu plan is somewhat done. I have figured out that I do not need to go to the store today so now I can move on to other things.

1049 and then some... Email two potential clients to set up appointments for this week. Remember that I never activated the Presto Pay for the PTA's gift card orders. Oops! Get that done. Watch the online registration tutorial for the Girl Scouts. Update my calendar with my to do's for the week. Check in on the Simplify 101 message boards. Attempt to clean my desk. Right away I find Christmas cards that need addresses and were never sent. Shani calls so we talk for a bit, catching up on our weekend happenings.

12:35 p.m. School's almost out - better hit McD's for lunch before I pick them up.

1:00 p.m. At school. A bunch of Teacher Wish Lists for gift cards were there -yay!

1:30 p.m. Home again. Homework time. Look up latin roots for Ryan. Address the last two Christmas cards for 2009 now that I have received the updated addresses. I need to clean out/purge/organize the homework basket but that may have to wait until another day. Assorted laundry tasks, email, clutter control etc.

3:00 p.m. Take the girls to Grandma's house but no one is home. Maybe they went for a walk.

3:30 p.m. Picked weeds outside when I got back from Grandma's and Felisa watered the flowers. Now it's time to make dinner and take a shower before baseball.

3:45 p.m. Carlin from the school office called. Bella borrowed lunch money from the office last month but it was never paid back. Got it in an envelope to go back tomorrow.

4:15 p.m. Grandma D is here. Bella goes with her. Felisa stays because it is her turn to play with Ryan on the PS2.

4:35 p.m. Dinner is in the oven. Cheese and sausage are cut and packed to bring to the game for snack. Shower time!

5:15 Leave for baseball.

6:40 p.m. Ron arrives at the game on his way home from work. Gets a chili dog from the snack bar. Then he heads home to be there when the girls come back.

7:45 p.m. or so... the game is finally over. Ryan is upset because he was in the outfield all game except the inning he played catcher (which he doesn't like) and he struck out twice.

Talk to Ron about the game when I got home. Then Jacob stopped by to bring Ryan a snowcone from the snack bar to cheer him up. Such a nice friend!

Check emails. I can hear the kids playing together on the PS2. They are laughing and having a great time. I hate to disrupt the fun but it is getting to be bedtime.

My back is tired from my workout this morning plus my two hours spent sitting on the bleachers. I miss my laptop... I want to take my computer upstairs and lie down! Do the dishes again, give the kids their allergy meds, and fetch some clean pj pants from the basement for Ryan.

9:38 p.m. Put Darby out one last time. Get my snack of cheesy pretzels and milk. It is finally bedtime! Ron is watching 24. Apparently there are only 6 hours left. My thoughts are that a lot can go wrong in 6 hours. How many more times will Jack Bauer almost die? Ultimately the good guys will win, of course. After 24, the 10:00 news. I watch the weather and the latest on the volcano in Iceland and the ash cloud over Europe. Then I'm asleep. Such a long day today!

2010-04-18T17:19:00.000-04:00

So it would seem I have been MIA for a bit... sorry about that! Things are getting busier and busier as we get deeper into the spring season of sports and activities.

I'm doing A Week In The Life this week. Follow along as I make note of the nitty gritty daily doings of me and my family.

Julie, Julia, and Sheila

2010-02-26T14:41:00.003-05:00

I finally got to watch Julie and Julia today. And of course I had to multi-task. To just sit and (only) watch a movie just doesn't happen. Appropriately (I think), I chose to cook while watching. I made a Haitian cake (mini cupcakes actually) for Thinking Day tonight. And peeled apples for a batch of applesauce. I picked up my farm food today and included in this month's share - 15 pounds of apples!!! We won't talk about how I hadn't touched the peck of apples from last month. But now I have 5 left from last month and a batch of applesauce simmering away.

I enjoyed the movie. Even though I enjoy cooking, I don't think I could stand up to a year of intense cooking like that!

In other news:
*It looks like we dodged the snow bullet this time. I have to admit though that a tiny bit of me is sorry we didn't get another big storm. I must be crazy to want more snow drama.

*The kids have become my boot police. Each of them on separate occasions have said to me, "Aren't you supposed to be wearing your boot?" My standard reply... "I'll put it on later after I take my shower and get dressed." I like to think of it as ankle exercise to walk around bootless in my pj's in the mornings. I go back next Tuesday for a checkup. Hope it's good news! And in case you're wondering, I'm not wearing my boot right now either. I went out to the compost bin in the back and though most of the mud is frozen, I still needed to give my boot a bath when I came back inside. I promise I'll put it on before I go to school to get the kids!

Sorry!

2010-02-24T07:23:00.003-05:00

So there in my email inbox is a note from the National Weather Service... Winter Storm Watch. 5 inches or more. Huh. I think the jury is still out - lots of weather reports are showing the snow as being farther north again this time.

Fast forward a little... I went downstairs to hang the latest load of laundry to dry. I had washed all the towels that had been on the floor catching snowy boots, mittens, etc. I didn't need them anymore so decided to wash them and put them away. Oh so efficient. And then it hit me... It's going to snow. No doubt about it. This is just like when I wash the kids' sheets and then that very night, someone has an accident. Wash the snow towels - a snowstorm comes riding in.

Also, the dentist called yesterday. The kids have an appointment Thursday afternoon. It always snows or rains when we go to the dentist. So that pretty much seals the deal, I think.

So I'd like to apologize in advance to all my snow-weary friends out there... Sorry!

It's history: Winter 2009-2010 snowiest on record - Capital Weather Gang

2010-02-10T22:05:00.000-05:00

It's history: Winter 2009-2010 snowiest on record - Capital Weather Gang: "...PRELIMINARY ALL-TIME SEASONAL SNOWFALL RECORDS SET AT THE THREE MAJOR CLIMATE SITES IN THE BALTIMORE-WASHINGTON AREA...
AS OF 2 PM TODAY...WITH THE 9.8 INCH TWO-DAY SNOWFALL TOTAL MEASURED AT RONALD REAGAN WASHINGTON NATIONAL AIRPORT...THE SEASONAL SNOWFALL TOTAL IN WASHINGTON DC STANDS AT 54.9 INCHES. THIS WOULD BREAK THE PREVIOUS ALL-TIME SEASONAL SNOWFALL RECORD FOR WASHINGTON DC OF 54.4 INCHES SET IN THE WINTER OF 1898-99. OFFICIAL SNOWFALL RECORDS FOR WASHINGTON DC DATE BACK 126 YEARS TO 1884.
AS OF 1 PM TODAY...WITH THE 11.9 INCH TWO-DAY SNOWFALL TOTAL MEASURED AT BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON INTERNATIONAL THURGOOD MARSHALL AIRPORT...THE SEASONAL SNOWFALL TOTAL IN BALTIMORE STANDS AT 72.3 INCHES. THIS WOULD BREAK THE PREVIOUS ALL-TIME SEASONAL SNOWFALL RECORD FOR BALTIMORE OF 62.5 INCHES SET IN THE WINTER OF 1995-96. OFFICIAL SNOWFALL RECORDS FOR BALTIMORE DATE BACK 118 YEARS TO 1893.
FINALLY...AS OF YESTERDAY...THIS YEARS SEASONAL SNOWFALL TOTAL AT DULLES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT STOOD AT 63.5 INCHES. THIS WOULD BREAK THE PREVIOUS SEASONAL SNOWFALL RECORD OF 61.9 INCHES SET IN 1995-96. AS OF 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON...THE TWO-DAY SNOWFALL TOTAL AT DULLES IS 8.5 INCHES...WHICH WOULD MAKE THIS YEARS SEASONAL SNOWFALL TOTAL 72.0 INCHES. OFFICIAL SNOWFALL RECORDS FOR DULLES DATE BACK 48 YEARS TO 1962.
THESE PRELIMINARY STORM TOTALS ARE AS OF THIS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON 10 FEB 2010...AND WILL BE UPDATED AFTER THE CURRENT SNOW HAS ENDED."

I got the boot!

2010-02-09T15:03:00.003-05:00

{background theme song playing... "I fought the stairs and the stairs won"}

So late Saturday afternoon, after a few hours of shoveling insane amounts of snow and continuously commenting in amazement about the insane amounts of snow, I went inside to defrost and rest. Then I made dinner and did the dishes. Next on the list of things to do... take a shower and get ready to go schlepping through the snow to scrap with my buddy. Unfortunately I'm a bit of a clutz by nature so when I decided to go close the curtain on the back door, instead I missed the step, twisted my ankle as I fell and screamed bloody murder (and lots of obscenities) while I lie writhing in pain on the floor trying to catch my breath. The curtain remained open. After a few minutes I gathered myself together and crawled back up the steps (there are only two steps there - a very dangerous two steps down which many people have fallen over the years though all with less pain and injury), through the kitchen to the living room. Pulled myself up onto the couch, put my leg up on the back of the couch and watched Ron outside clearing off the car. (The kids had all gone up the street to Grandma D's house so only Darby was a witness to my fall.) Debated whether or not to knock on the window and ask for help. Decided I might need the car to get to the emergency room so left him alone to work. Then my scrap buddy called me back to see if all was okay (okay, so maybe there was one other witness to at least the verbal portion of my fall!). I gave her the bad news that I would NOT in fact be going to her house that night. Then I crawled back to the kitchen (did I mention that I heard a snap when I fell? I could bear weight but didn't want to make anything worse than it already was), pulled myself up, turned off the stove, covered the soup, made myself and ice pack and then hopped/crawled my way upstairs to my room. Propped it up with ice and waited for Ron to discover my predicament.

Dr. Google said it might be broken, might be a sprain. Recommended RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) of which I was already doing 3 of the 4. Had Ron wrap my foot/ankle with an ace bandage. Popped a few Motrin. Decided to sleep on it and decide whether or not I wanted to go to the ER on Sunday. (Remember the 2+ feet of snow and barely-plowed roads?)

Sunday I talked to some friends and emailed Dr. Julie (sometimes it pays to have a college friend who becomes a pediatric orthopedic surgeon!) who was nice enough to humor me and give me an email consultation. She recommended staying OFF the foot because if it was broken, it could be made worse by walking on it, potentially even bad enough to need surgery. I had seen that exact same thing happen to someone else a year or so ago so I was already paranoid about that and definitely staying off my foot. Ron brought the crutches up from the basement so I could crutch around more and hop less. I decided to just wait until Monday to see the doctor because if it was broken, the ER wouldn't cast me and would just send me to the ortho anyway. Saving time and money and stress by staying in bed another day seemed like a perfectly good option to me.

Monday morning... there is still way too much snow outside. All the schools and even the federal government are closed. And so are the first 3 doctor's offices I call. Finally I call the doctor that mom had used. He was doing surgeries on Monday but had an opening Tuesday morning. I took it! And then spent another entire day in bed. The good news though is that I got the last few monthes worth of digital pictures backed up onto the external hard drive and I am almost completely done with the digital album of our trip to Disney last January.

And now... I have been to see the doctor. My ankle is not broken just sprained. I have a walking boot and go back in 3 weeks for a follow-up. And my "vacation" is over. Oh and that trip down the long icy driveway this morning was a bit nerve-wracking. If my ankle wasn't already broken, I thought for sure it might be by the time I got to the doctor's office! Also, my ankle actually hurts more now that I'm walking on it with my boot. So I must remember to take frequent breaks and rest my foot - not get too drunk on this re-found freedom! All the fun of my housework is just too much to resist sometimes. ha ha.

This experience has allowed me to recognize a few blessings in my life.
*My children took excellent care of me - brought me breakfast in bed twice. And when they remembered to, came up to check on me periodically. Also, if they could hear my yelling, they would come running to help me with whatever I needed (usually a glass of water).
*Ron got the crutches out for me. Did pretty much all of the shoveling. And generally held the fort down while I was out of commission. I know being snowed in for days is not his favorite thing and having a broken wife on top of it is even worse, but he handled it all very well.
*I have lots of friends who care about me and who will keep me company over the phone while I convalesce. They also offered to cook or chauffeur or whatever I need. I love my village!
*While I am not in fabulous shape, I am thankful for how fit I *am*. Getting around on crutches is hard and I'm sore. I can't even imagine how impossible it would have been to crutch and to jump up stairs and to balance on one leg if I hadn't been going to my exercise class (fairly) regularly over the past 4 years.
*I can walk!

32 inches

2010-02-06T21:10:00.003-05:00

The snow total at Dulles... 32 inches. That's A LOT of snow! Especially for this area.

edited to include this list of nicknames (thanks, Mapi)...
Snowapalooza
Snowmageddon
Snowpocalypse
The Snowtorious BIG

and of course the much less exciting name, the one used by all the newscasters, Blizzard of 2010.

I think we ended up with the #4 biggest snowfall of all (recorded) time. Not sure how we're stacking up on the total winter snowfall tally.

#501

2010-02-05T11:10:00.003-05:00

Just now, when I signed in to Blogger, I noticed that I have made 500 posts. That's a lot. Who knew I had so much to say?!

And now here is post #501, full of randomness...

*Who stole my measuring spoons? I have two sets. One is missing. I recently reorganized my silverware drawer so they shouldn't be lost. They should be even easier to find! So if anyone sees my spoons out wandering the streets, please send them home! I need them to properly prepare nourishment for my family during the Blizzard of 2010.

*I set the mouse trap today. Not sure if the evidence I saw is old or new. Guess time will tell...

*I love sharp pencils. While working at the preschool yesterday, one of my jobs was the sharpen the colored pencils that the kids were using. That was one awesome electric pencil sharpener! Normally I'm a fan of the old fashioned ones that were screwed to the walls in elementary school. But this one was pretty nice. I wonder what the lifespan is of that particular model. Because that's one of my complaints about electric sharpeners - they never seem to last more than a year, even with minimal use. On a related note... pencils are more environmentally friendly than plastic inkpens that are thrown away rather than refilled.

*I am currently loving the red white and bleu potato salad from Safeway and the Mediterranean Feta salsa from Whole Foods.

*Latest snow forecast... 20-30 inches! Yikes! That's a lot of snow! Potentially rivaling the historic Knickerbocker storm in 1922.

Recycling!

2010-01-14T20:31:00.002-05:00

I love those "how it's made" shows. For some reason I am fascinated by how things are made. No idea why. I just am.

So "Factory Made" was on tonight when I turned the TV on. Did you know that railroad ties can be made out of recycled plastic and recycled tires? How cool is that!

Quote

2010-01-11T19:13:00.000-05:00

A year from now you will wish you had started today.

-Karen Lamb

My Vacuum Threw Up!

2010-01-08T15:13:00.003-05:00

So last night while I was at Brownies and Cub Scouts, Felisa threw up on the bed. Just a coughing fit gone bad... Ron changed the sheets and washed the dirty one.

Fast forward to today... Darby just got home from his walk with Grandma D. He promptly threw up on the rug in the entryway. So I had to pick up the rug to be washed, revealing all the dirt underneath. Which means I had to vacuum it all up. No big deal - the vacuum is already out and plugged in from earlier when I was cleaning up after the Christmas tree. Then I decided that I should probably empty the canister, as it was getting quite full.

I should mention that this is a new vacuum that Grandma R bought for us in November. Ron had emptied the canister the first few times so this was my first opportunity to do so.

First... I pushed the button that said "Push". So far, so good. Then I lifted the lever that said "Lift to empty".

Then... the vacuum threw up all over my clean living room floor.

I was expecting to pull the lever, and lift something up and out that I could then dump into the trash can.

Instead, the bottom dropped out and so did a giant pile of dust, dirt, and dog hair! Ack!

Note to self... next time, hold the cannister over a trash can BEFORE pulling the lever!!!

(also, I hope this is the end of the throw up for awhile...)

A small act of kindness

2010-01-05T21:53:00.004-05:00

After school today Felisa noticed her friend had forgotten to take her backpack and lunchbox home. She very much wanted to go back to the classroom to get them for her friend. I didn't think it was that big a deal but decided to let her do it anyway. We waited a few minutes for Bella to come down from her class, then walked together back to the Kindergarten rooms. While there Felisa also found another child's forgotten lunchbox. Back through the halls to the lobby then outside to the Kiss-n-Ride shack. Felisa's friend was thrilled to see her backpack and had in fact been crying because she had forgotten it. So a small, thoughtful, helpful gesture turns out to be a ray of sunshine for another girl, an act much larger than I imagined. It warmed my heart. Unfortunately the second child was not in the shack so we had to return his lunchbox to the classroom but that is a small sacrifice compared to the joy of Felisa's friend. I'm not sure Felisa even realized what a terrific thing she had done.

*****

In other news...

After dinner, Felisa and Bella enjoyed a nice game of dreidel. I'm pretty sure I never played dreidel as a kid.

Ryan is doing a report on Powhatan Indians and Jamestown. While helping him research the Indian children's clothing, I learned that Powhatan children under the age of 12 generally did not wear any clothes at all, except in very cold weather.

Reportedly, Ryan and his classmates are not allowed to bring their math notebooks home. So all the notes about how to do the homework problems are at school, not at home. Makes no sense to me. So instead, I must google whatever the question of the day is so that I can figure out how to do the problem then explain it to him. Today we learned about vertical, opposite, and adjacent angles.

Ron... Ron... Ron...
(he thinks I'm blogging about him so I couldn't very well leave him out now could I?)

Once in a blue moon

2009-12-31T21:14:00.002-05:00

I like that expression. Not sure why. May be connected to our Full Moon adventures.

So apparently tonight is a blue moon. Felisa and I noticed the moon Monday night and talked about how it was almost full. I noticed it again last night when I put Darby out - nice and bright though I couldn't actually see the moon since it was behind the trees.

According to the internet, a New Year's Eve Blue Moon only comes once every couple decades.

So... Happy New (Blue) Year everyone!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T20:06:00.002-05:00

The rain is coming down now, melting all the snow. But at least it didn't start raining until late afternoon so it was a White Christmas for most of the day!

Is it because I'm selfish?

2009-12-24T14:23:00.002-05:00

So Mom's not coming tonight. Or tomorrow. I'm sure it's because I decided that it would be better if we had a quiet Christmas morning, just the 5 of us, before she and other people came over for the afternoon and Christmas dinner and after we are all together tonight for dinner and church.

I thought it was because that would make Ron happy. But now I'm wondering if it's really because then I don't have to stress about whether or not Ron is grumpy and whether or not Mom is feeling slighted because my husband is being anti-social. Which means it's really about me. It's quite possible neither Ron nor Mom feel that way. I'm making assumptions and I'm making decisions designed to make my life easier without completely considering others. Which on a regular day is okay but when it comes to family things and holidays, well, that's selfish behavior.

So, I guess I'd better go apologize to Mom.

Opposites

2009-12-23T08:07:00.003-05:00

So here I sit, in bed, drinking coffee, surfing the net, and dreading the endless list of tasks to complete in the next two days before Christmas. Beside me sits Felisa. Except she's not actually sitting, per se. It's more of a bounce, kind of like Tigger. She's so happy, so excited about Christmas coming, so full of energy. She's counting the days until Christmas. She said that she wishes she was born on a holiday. She has even started planning her birthday party, telling me who to invite and what to write on the invitation. "Come to my party and bring your favorite webkinz. Webkinz, yea!"

The complete opposite of me! yawn... Guess I'd better get up and get the show on the road!

Serious Snow!

2009-12-19T12:16:00.002-05:00

Wow - now that's some serious snow!

The Blizzard of 2009 is underway. We're at about a foot of snow already and it continues to snow and blow. Ron bundled up the kids, packed a bag of emergency supplies, and took the kids and a sled and headed up the street for a snow adventure. I'm sure they'll be having a great time. While they're gone, I need to keep working on household chores and Christmas projects. It'll be hot chocolate time when they get back!

In other news...

Wednesday night was pie-throwing night at the Pack meeting. I had two whipped cream pies thrown at me by my cubs. Ryan and Owen each got me with one. Very sticky! The first one ended up down my shirt and the second one was smeared in my hair! Unfortunately, I was so distracted by the sticky mess when I got home that I forgot to take my cell phone out of my pocket. It went through the wash Thursday afternoon. It's alive. Sort of. But barely. Hope Santa brings me a new one in my stocking because it doesn't look good for the long-term recovery.

Last night was Ryan's Friday Funday. Owen, Jacob, Winslow, Claire, and Zoe came over to hang out, eat pizza, ice cream cake, and watch a movie (Night at the Museum, Battle of the Smithsonian). Santa came by on the firetruck. Unfortunately he ran out of gas at the corner. The kids all thought that was funny. But then they got cold so went back in to finish the movie. It was snowing already at 10 when I was driving the kids home. Then I went out in search of gas to fill up the cars. Only one station in town was open with gas to sell. Yikes!

A Decade

2009-12-10T09:53:00.002-05:00

I have been a Mother now for a decade. 10 years! I still have no idea what I'm doing - I just make it up as I go along. It has been a wild ride at times but enjoyable all the same.

Happy 10th Birthday, Ryan!

*******

In other news...

The poor tooth fairy just can't catch a break in this house. She forgets to stop here sometimes. She has been set up (Ryan decided to test her once). And most recently, her generous tooth offering was blown away and given to the wrong child. She left $2 (I'm sure it was to help Bella overcome the suffering of having to go to the dentist and have the tooth pulled). But it was paper money and it must have blown off the tooth dish when the door was opened. Ryan found it on the radio. Asked Bella about it. Bella said it must be Felisa's because Felisa usually forgets to put her money in the piggy bank. So Ryan gave it to Felisa. Then Bella complained to Grandma Duffield that the tooth fairy didn't come. Seriously! What does a tooth fairy have to do?!?

Over the river and through the woods

2009-11-25T06:19:00.002-05:00

to grandmother's house we go...

Time for a mini Thanksgiving road trip!

0856 Drop kids at school

0910 Arrive at the bank to get signature cards for the Brownie bank account

0950 Arrive at another bank to deposit my checks

1010 Home to pack

1106 I've got most of our stuff gathered. Now it's time to load the car.

12:12 p.m. Half of the pile of stuff is loaded. The mail has arrived and I have spoken to the dental insurance company about the big bill that just arrived. Dishes are done. GPS Lady has been programmed. Making good progress.

12:13 p.m. We are officially out of paper towels. There are none in the car and none on the shelf. I have to leave the roll in the kitchen for Mom to use while we're gone. Looks like I have to make a quick stop at the store before we leave.

12:21 p.m. Broke a nail already. Happens every time. Good thing I packed the nail clippers!

12:41 p.m. Ready! Off I go...

12:43 p.m. Drop off a house key with Christy.

12:54 p.m. A traffic jam already! So much for a quick trip to the store!

1:10 p.m. Done at Safeway. Got my iced latte and paper towels.

1:30 p.m. Kids are loaded. Leaving school and officially on the road. Pretty much on schedule so that's good. Now I hope there's not too much traffic headed out of town.

1:43 p.m. Ugh. Traffic ahead in Tyson's corner.

1:56 p.m. Maryland!

2:34 p.m. Our first mountain... Braddock Mountain, 985 ft.

2:37 p.m. Listening to the news on the radio. An airline kept people on the tarmac for 6 hours overnight because the airport wouldn't open after they were redirected due to weather. Yikes - that's a long time to be trapped on a plane. Also, a man who was thought to be in a coma for 15 years was actually coherent the whole time but unable to move or communicate. Double yikes!

2:40 p.m. Passed by the Medina Sherriff. With Ohio plates. And a prisoner in the back. So is it really a prisoner being extradited? Or his he mad at his family and making them ride in the back behind bars?

2:46 p.m Cows! It's officially a road trip now - we've seen our first cows.

2:50 p.m. Sheep too

3:18 p.m. Signs for Western MD Rail Trail. Sounds interesting. Like it might be a place to bring scouts to hike.

3:21 p.m. See a Herbie look-alike being towed behind an RV. It looks just like him but without the number 53

3:50 p.m. Cumberland, MD - stop at Taco Bell. This place reminds me of Trinidad, CO. It's a town in the mountains, below the highway, and with lots of old brick buildings. Cool.

And now I have to wake up the kids so we can get on the road for Day 2... looks like you'll have to wait until we get back to read the rest of the story!

2009-11-17T10:44:00.003-05:00

*I just read someone's post on Freecycle for a Spanish/English dictionary. Which reminded me that I wanted to get a dictionary. Just a small one to keep somewhere so that I can look up words... Wait - was that a dream? I think it was just a dream about needing a dictionary. I also dreamed about a vacation to Disney World. But then I remembered that we had already banked our points for the year and couldn't actually go until next year. Which was okay because I had no money anyway. Hmm... maybe I should put "restful sleep without crazy dreams" on my Christmas list this year!

*I don't like defending my parenting decisions. I'm sure no one does. But I did feel a tiny bit of satisfaction when Bella woke up with her temperature down to 99 this morning. See - no trip to the doctor necessary. Tylenol every 4-6 hours, not necessary. Just a bit of vitamins, immune system boosting, and lots of rest. One dose of Tylenol before bed each night to get her started on some restful sleep without totally cancelling the fever that is fighting the germs. So far she's still hanging in the 99 range. Hope she stays there.

*Ryan is half sick. It hurts to cough and one side of his body has a fever. The other side is just fine, thank you very much. Funny, huh! So far he is not as sick as Bella was and hopefully will stay that way and get better fast.

*We leave in one week for our drive to Illinois. Thanksgiving at Grandma's this year. I'll miss my friends here but I've missed the Thanksgiving that I had almost every year growing up. This year is the year. So all you germs hanging around my house better be gone by then!

*Darby peed on Bella's bed. Again. Second day in a row. Seriously - what is it with that dog?!?! Yesterday I was wondering whether I would rather have the known dog problems that we have now or the unknown problems our next dog will bring. Then again, we could always just not have a dog... Felisa would never stand for it though. Of course, I'd be willing to trade a dog for a horse or two... Maybe I should put that on my Christmas list too!