Here's to One More Day Above the Roses

"I miss my home - chimney stacks and cobbled streets I know. Wherever I go, I close my eyes and the memories take me home." - Gaelic Storm

Yesterday, we did absolutely nothing but drive for fourteen hours.  Well, drive and go to a terrible hotel (from our favorite chain, which made it extra disappointing - at least they stood by their 100% satisfaction guarantee and refunded the night). We meant to go to the Gateway Arch, but our 11 hour drive became 14 thanks to construction, so it just wasn't meant - Scott and I even quarreled mildly during a particularly nasty traffic jam right before the hotel, so we were not willing to go back through that traffic to see the arch this morning.

Today was Scott's birthday, so the plan was simple - go to the Dayton Celtic Fest, drink Guinness and cider, and watch Gaelic Storm.  We had a fabulous time - Gaelic Storm may be one of the best live bands ever, and the tent was rocking, as always. Scott especially thought it was one of his best birthdays ever.  The kids abandoned us for seats rather than the dancing crowd near the stage, but quickly discovered that they should have stayed - they declared the people near them "no fun" since no one played along with the bands many sing-alongs, and they couldn't find seats anyway.  Even then, they were laughing about the band's jokes when we met up with them after the concert.

The only problem is that the lines above are only too true.  We miss our home.  We've had fun everywhere we've been.  We've seen amazing things, and had wonderful adventures.  But it's time to go home. Tomorrow, finally, that's what we will do.

There's Always One

"The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain." - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The day started out well.  We stopped in Winslow Arizona (standing on the corner, such a fine sight to see) and took sunny pictures of our first intended Route 66 attraction.  And then we were chased by a nasty thunderstorm all the way to Amarillo.  We never got another opportunity to stop.  No kitchsy roadside attractions, no Cadillac Ranch.  Ah, well. At least we made it safely to Texas.  Tomorrow's trip is even longer!

Quick Stop, Big Drop

"Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or games, are created equal." - George Will

 

The problem with the clever quote above is with me.  I don't like baseball, and I don't like huge canyons dropping away from an edge a breath from my clumsy feet.  So I'll have to turn this blog post over to Scott for an unbiased assessment of today's quick stop at the Grand Canyon.

 

It was another long drive this morning, and it started with the fairly busy San Diego area freeways. Things got interesting as we took California 62 and US 95 through the deserts of Southeast California.  Jenn and I made jokes about aliens and Knight Rider, but mostly we were interested in the new type of scenery.  We were amused by the fact that, unlike other times during this adventure, this area of the country was exactly as we expected.  The high point of the day, literally, would be seeing the temperature on the car dashboard hit 108 F.

We made it to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon right before five o'clock.  Unfortunately, the visitor's center closed at five, which made it fairly useless.  The canyon itself was a majestic site to behold.  We hung out around Mather's Point to take in the sight.  I was surprised to see as much green as I did in the canyon.  We couldn't see the Colorado River.  However, I think I was able to tell where it was.  We didn't stay long as an afternoon monsoon was threatening to ruin our view.

On the way back, we saw a small herd of female elk and a badger along the side of the highway leading back to I-40.  Once we hit Flagstaff, we found our way to a Five Guys for a dinner and a reminder of home and settled in to our hotel room. 

 

Relaxation and Recovery

"How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is quite clearly Ocean." -Arthur C. Clarke

We were too tired to check out the USS Midway today. Too much traffic, too many people.  So we headed for the beach at Coronado.  There were other people there, too, of course, but with such a big, beautiful beach, there was plenty of space for us to wade and relax.  We spent an hour or two there, got some groceries, and are now spending the afternoon at the hotel pool.

We are ready to head home tomorrow.  There are still a few stops along the way, but it has been a long vacation, and we are worried about our cats - my sister and brother-in-law can't find them. We should be home by Saturday, but hopefully they turn up before then.

Science and Science Fiction

"Allons-y!" - The Doctor
"Seriously, there's an outrageous amount of running involved." -Donna Noble

Yesterday and today were busy, busy days, with very little time for rest.  We did sleep somewhat late on Saturday, and then headed out to the California Science Center to see the space shuttle Endeavour.  The shuttle itself, and its associated exhibit, were great.  The rest of the center was not too very exciting, though I enjoyed the aquariums in the Ecosystems exhibit and the roses in the garden outside.  We also got to see an iMax film about the Artic which had lovely photography, but a rather heavy handed message about global warming.  However, the generally rude behavior of the other museum guests and the drivers on I-5 left us all with a negative impression of the L.A. area.  We did some laundry, ate dinner, and headed to bed fairly early in anticipation of a very early start the next morning.

At 3AM, we got up, took quick showers, packed the car, and headed to San Diego.  We arrived around 5AM to discover the line for Hall H stretching all the way around the convention center and along the marina in two directions.  We got in line, without much hope of making it in.  I sent the kids and Scott off to the registration table to grab their passes, and held their spot in line.  Unfortunately, while they were gone, Misha Collins from Supernatural jogged by, and I couldn't even get a picture for Kairi - just this blurry shot of the back of his head.

The line moved quite a bit while they were gone, but we were still far away from the convention center when I ran to get my badge.  And then we waited.  And waited. And waited.  The time for the Supernatural panel came and went just as we got into the chute that was next for Hall H.  Then ten people got in, then ten more.  We moved slowly, slowly along the several tents in the chute.  Then Supernatural was over.  Then the Breaking Bad panel was closed.  People were abandoning their places in line.  Seven long hours after we got in line, twenty minutes into the Doctor Who panel we were a mere 15 people from the door.  The line started moving again.  The security person counted heads and closed the chain right behind Kai and Nick and right ahead of Scott and I.  I told them to go, just go, we'd find them later.  The guard noticed my distress and realized the kids were alone.  She said, "One. I can let one of you in."  So I gave Scott a shove and told him to go.  Someone in one of the nearby chutes said "That's motherly love," causing a laugh among everyone in earshot.  I waited another five interminable minutes, and then I got into the panel myself (I missed the trailer premiere, but no harm done).   What annoyed us all a bit after all that anxiety was the fact that there were hundreds of empty seats in the room, and hundreds of fans still stuck outside.

The actual panel was great.  The actors, writers, and directors were funny and entertaining, and the whole panel was hosted by Craig Ferguson, which made it even cooler. 

After the panel, we headed to the exhibit hall.  The kids were a bit disappointed in the remaining items for purchase, but Nick found a few souvenirs.  It was packed elbow to elbow, hard to navigate, and frankly not a lot of fun.  Kai was very disappointed not to find anything to buy, but she didn't want to pay premium prices for things she could find at home or on the internet.

Still, we went to Comic-Con!  And we saw Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman and Steven Moffat and David Bradley and Mark Gatiss, and Misha Collins (sort of).  We met a few really creative cosplayers, and it was definitely an experience.

Tomorrow we are supposed to go to the USS Midway and the beach, but we're making up for the sun in Seattle with rain in San Diego (and Los Angeles yesterday) so we will play it by ear.

I Don't Mean to Alarm You...

“But I don’t want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."
"How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, or you wouldn’t have come here.”  -Lewis Carroll

 

Denizens of Disneyland, I must sadly bring to your attention that something appears to be wrong with your castle.  As Scott said, "Did someone wash that with my red t-shirt and shrink it?"

We've been to Disney World so often that Disneyland just felt weird to us.  It was familiar, but not.  Similar, but not at all the same.  Don't get me wrong, it's a nice place, but Disneyland will never have the magic for us that Disney World does.  I know it's supposed to be Walt's park, but hey, if he thought it was perfect, why did he do it over? Still, we had a very fun day at Disneyland and enjoyed many of the new-to-us attractions and rides. 

If the pictures look like all we did was run from ride to ride all day, that's more or less accurate.  One thing that frustrated us about Disneyland (and maybe we've just been lucky in our many trips to WDW) is that attractions and rides seemed to break down constantly.  We had to walk away from 5 rides and come back later over a two day period due to "technical difficulties".  Indiana Jones seemed the worst of the lot in that regard, as it broke twice as we walked up with fastpasses.  Fortunately, it makes up for it by being a really great ride - entertaining, exciting, and full of great effects.  We all thought it was our favorite in the park.   The Matterhorn was fun (but no Everest, or even Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which was closed for refurbishment - didn't count that in the broken total above), Winnie the Pooh was just weird (you need some bouncing honeypots in that ride, seriously), and Roger Rabbit was just okay (the spinning function didn't seem to work well on our car).  We all thought Mr. Toad was a bit surreal, but fun.  The other dark rides that don't exist in Disney World were pretty cute - Alice, Pinnochio, and the somewhat different Snow White (which doesn't exist any more).  We preferred the Disney World version of Buzz Lightyear, but have to give the edge to Disneyland's Pirates and Small World, and the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage is much better than The Seas with Nemo and Friends.  Most of the other overlapping rides were split decisions between family members or so close as to be indistinguishable.  We rode on about 20 rides, saw Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, did the very sweet Sleeping Beauty castle walkthrough, and visited the Stark Industries Iron Man tech exhibit at Innoventions.  By that time we were again too exhausted to stay for the evening fireworks or Fantasmic! so we bailed and headed back to the hotel.

We did do one other thing, though - Monte Cristo Sandwiches and Mickey-Shaped Beignets at Café Orleans in New Orleans Square.  YUM!!!   

We are supposed to be going to the California Science Center right about now, followed by a trip to the touristy parts of Hollywood.  However, after the schedule we've been keeping, we are too exhausted to get an early start, so everyone is sleeping in while I post this entry.  I'll post later whether we got up the energy to do more than laundry!

Disney Day!

"When you're curious, you find lots of interesting things to do." - Walt Disney

Yesterday, we left bright and early for California Adventure.  As we should be leaving right now for Disneyland, I will have to keep this short, but I promise a more detailed trip report later on the Disboards.

Many of the rides in California Adventure are duplicated in Walt Disney World.  We have been to Disney World many times, so our priority was to get on the rides that are different.  Our biggest priority there was the entire land that Florida is missing - Cars Land.  We hurried in and got a fastpass for the headliner, Radiator Springs Racers.

What can we say?  The theming was amazing, and once we rode Radiator Springs Racers, we had to go back for a second fastpass.  It is definitely my favorite Disney ride in any park, which is a problem, since it is so far away.  Disney, add Cars Land to Florida, please!!

Then we rode on pretty much everything else in the park.  Other than the Silly Symphony Swings (which Kai and Scott thought were too close to the Zephyr, which they had just rode), Mickey's Fun Wheel (which had a long wait and no one really wanted to ride anyway), and the kiddy rides in the Bug's Life section, we rode it all.  Other than Radiator Springs Racers, which was everyone's favorite, Scott and Kai's favorite was California Screaming, and Nick and I loved Tow Mater's Junkyard Jamboree. (Okay, that's back in Cars Land, but that's life!)  The two new to us dark rides, Monsters Inc. and Little Mermaid were cute.  The Aladdin show was funny and really great, especially the special effects, although it would have been nice if the stunt Aladdin and Jasmine looked more like the stage versions.  The park's theming was interesting, but a bit disjointed.  We loved the Animation Academy building - it's much better than Disney World's version.  Plus, we got to draw Steamboat Willie and Phineas and Ferb! Gotta go, Disneyland is calling.

California Drivin'

"I had to stop driving my car for a while... the tires got dizzy." - Steven Wright

I am exhausted, Scott is even more exhausted, and both kids are wide awake.  It probably comes from driving from the top to the bottom of the country in two days.  The adults get stress, the kids get lots of backseat sleeping.  Despite our best efforts, we showed up after dark both days, including the night when we were camping next to the ocean in bear country. Still, we made it, and we did get to see some amazing things.

Yesterday, at the end of a drive that seemed to last forever, we made it to the Redwood National Forest.  We stopped briefly in a pull-out to take some pictures.  Some were standard road trip shots, but most were at the request of my two cosplayers, who thought the giant trees were perfect for pictures of them as Bilbo and the Doctor. 

We also got to see the Pacific Ocean for the first time, albeit briefly.  We hope to spend a day at the beach later in the trip, though.

 Today our only driving break was a quick stop at the Jelly Belly Factory.  The line for the tour was over an hour long, so we just enjoyed the cool decorations and got a few beans for the road.
 
 The most harrowing part of our drive was the final push through I-5 in Los Angeles.  The traffic was terrifying, and the speeds insane.  At one point, a giant bus flew past us with sparks flying from their back tire, swerving and listing dangerously.  A few moments later, a highway patrol car flew up the line of traffic on the right, crossed all the way to the HOV lane (where the bus was), caused everyone (including us) to hit their brakes to avoid him, and then lights flashing, escorted the disabled bus to the shoulder, again causing brake lights everywhere.  As we flew past, we discovered it was actually a sheriff's department bus carrying inmates.  Seriously, are we in LA, or an action movie?

Still, we are here, and installed in what seems to be a decent enough inn near Disneyland, so I'm going to try and get some sleep before a long day of fun at California Adventure!

Slinging Salmon, Starbucks, Ships, and Sunshine?

"It rains 365 days a year, 24/7." -Angie
"Stay away, Bigfoot lives in Seattle." -Jeff

I am starting to think this rain thing may be anti-Seattle tourist propaganda. Either that, or I am a Photoshop genius.  You will have to decide.

We headed across the sound on a very cool ferry this morning.  Jeff, Angie, and Christopher showed us around the Seattle waterfront. We enjoyed the beautiful views, the strange and curious objects in the shops, and Nick got a strong kick out of the first Starbucks.  (It was nice of Jeff and Angie to indulge him there, as they are not fans.  I think Jeff said, "Friends don't let friends drink Starbucks.")

We then headed for Pike Place Market, which was amazing.  The fresh fruit (especially berries) was delicious.  Scott got cinnamon almonds, and I got a dried bouquet of flowers.  It was fun watching them throw fish around. All of the gorgeous flowers were $10 or less a bunch. Then they took us to Golden Age Collectibles, and the kids spent all kinds of souvenir money on fandom related items from Doctor Who to Sherlock to Supernatural.  Scott picked up some Firefly stuff, and even I got an Agent Coulson SHIELD ID badge. We finished the day with a Chinese buffet and are now relaxing before some massive driving scheduled for tomorrow. I just wish we had more time with our family.

Nothing to See Here...

Hi all!  We had a safe and uneventful drive to Bremerton, WA, where we are visiting my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew.  We did some catching up over a delicious dinner.  I think today we are off on adventures in the Bremerton and/or Seattle area, so I will post an update tonight. Have a great Monday - we hope to!

WiFi Free Wilderness

"In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks." - John Muir

We are hanging out in a hotel room in Missoula, Montana.  Awesome room service pizza from Mackenzie River Pizza Company was just delivered, everyone is in PJ's, and we've already hit the pool.  While in Yellowstone, understandably, we were in a wifi free zone, so I haven't had a chance until now to upload photos.  The pictures speak volumes, and I want to spend some time relaxing, but some of the highlights were:

-Seeing a bear digging for grubs on our way out of the park this morning.
-Driving down the road between two halves of a bison herd as they walked among and around the cars.
-Seeing Old Faithful, and one of the other area geysers that erupted unexpectedly while we were waiting.
-The sun coming out after we took a rainy trip to Artist Point.
-Seeing baby elk, bears, and bison.
-Seeing the park bloom - the wildflowers were lovely.
-Hiking up a hill on the Fairy Falls trail for a gorgeous view of Grand Prismatic Spring.
-Seeing the amazing colors of the geothermic pools.

A couple small low lights:
-Oy, are those roads narrow and thousands of thousands of feet in the air.  Nerve wracking to drive!
-The food was overpriced and not very good.

Also, we are now only missing three states in the license plate game.  Guess which ones?

It was amazing, and we're all glad we went.  After 6 days of camping, we're also all glad we're in a hotel room with electricity and wifi and television.  I know, we're pathetic!

Now, for the good stuff - pictures!  Here's some flora and fauna:

Some of the geothermal features:

Other great views:

Mount Rushmore, Continued

"Today was cool; it was like, um..." - Kairi, when asked what the title of this post should be. Nick was campaigning for "Everything is itchy."

Everyone is hanging around watching me write this blog post, so it's a bit disjointed.  We are hopefully headed to bed soon because we need an early start for Yellowstone.  Today gave us an opportunity to recover from the endless driving.  After our all-you-can eat pancake breakfast ($2.50 a person!) we headed back to Rushmore to check out the museum.  The lighting was better so I couldn't resist a few more shots of the sculpture, and then I spotted a mom and baby goat climbing the rock fall beneath the presidents.  At first, no one else could see them, but I have photographic evidence that I was not hallucinating goats. As Kai says, that would be a problem.  Meanwhile, Scott got to meet one of the drillers on the sculpture.  He said he worked on Roosevelt and Lincoln.

We headed to Rapid City to get some turkey for dinner and stopped at the National Presidential Wax Museum on the way.  Nick says it was creepy, but there was a lot of attention to detail in the statues and scenes.  It was free because we are guests of the KOA.

When we got back, Kai, Nick and Scott went for a swim, then Kai, Nick and I jumped on the bounce pillow, which was really fun and quite slippery.  I loved the shots I got of the kids - they look like they are floating.

We cooked dinner over the campfire and the kids bought a packet of fire coloring that turned the flames different colors, mostly green.  I think it was a Slytherin packet.

It was a nice, relaxing day. (For the most part, says Nick.  Do you see why I don't write by committee?)

Amazing Adventures - Minnesota to the Black Hills

"Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to thee - how great thou art!" - Carl Boberg

I had moments yesterday where I started to think this trip was crazy.  The hours and hours we spent on the road definitely took their toll.  But the amazing beauty of God's creation here in the Black Hills has completely lifted my spirits.  I think it's lucky I have so many ties to Pennsylvania, or I might never leave.

I need to recap quickly, because as soon as Nick gets out of the shower, we're off to the pancake tent.

As I said in my last post, we stopped at Sioux Falls for lunch.  Here's some better pictures:

Then we drove, and we drove, and we drove.  I honestly never appreciated just how crazy the pioneers were until now! Finally, we entered the Badlands and stopped at an overlook to stretch.

We were all so tired by that point we weren't even going to stop at Rushmore.  We were just going to check in at the campsite and come back later.  But then we saw it from the road, and we couldn't go by.  It was more awesome than I expected, but smaller than Kairi thought it would be.

Finally, we headed for our campsite and were pleasantly surprised to discover how lovely and amazing it was.  The mountains are stunning (and scary, Nick says), the trees are gorgeous, the air is crisp, our cabin is adorable, and the view from our porch swing (in the bottom left photo of the collage) is the backside of Mount Rushmore. The stars were absolutely beautiful but now the sun is up and adventure is calling!

Bluffs, Bites, Breakfast, and Beauty

"What do they eat when they can't get hobbit?" -Merry Brandybuck

We stayed in Chicago perhaps longer than we should. And we had to stop in Wisconsin for frozen custard and Packers apparel. So we arrived at our campsite on the bluffs of the Mississippi after dark. If you've never driven seventy (the speed limit, and the speed of traffic) in the dark, on a curvy cliff face over a gigantic river, you probably shouldn't.

By the time we arrived at our campsite, we seriously considered sleeping in the car, but that would have been extremely uncomfortable, so we hustled out to set up our tent and got bitten by about six million mosquitos. Add to that there were no rangers around, the campsite was angled and nearly deserted and our only neighbors had a big dog and foul mouths, it wasn't easy to get to sleep. All too soon our alarm was going off and it was time to fight another swarm of mosquitos to pack up. There were 15 trapped in the car alone after we were done. Oddly, the bathrooms were really nice, so that helped a bit.

Since it's my birthday, we stopped for breakfast at Perkins for my free meal. The manager was extremely nice, and breakfast was tasty.

A few hundred miles put us at Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The falls are gorgeous, the walkways are lovely, and we all loved it. I will post some good shots of the park later, and just send the one I took with my phone now. Next stop, Rushmore!

Our Kind of Town

“Do not be angry with the rain; it simply does not know how to fall upwards.” ― Vladimir Nabokov

The thunderstorms and rain when we arrived in Chicago couldn't dampen our spirits. It is lowering for a Packers fan to admit, but Chicago is truly awesome. We had to drag Scott out of every exhibit at the Adler planetarium, and the Field Museum was far too epic to squeeze into the few short hours we had available.

The beautiful layout of the museums along Lake Shore Drive was picturesque even in rain, but by the time we got out of the museums, we got to catch the skyline in sunlight, too.

Even better? After getting slightly lost, we headed back out and are now in Wisconsin, which was my home for many years. It still feels like home. We are debating a hotel because it took us too long to get out of Chicago and our campground has rain predicted again, but we will decide after we get tired. Right now, we are revved.

Day One Highlights

- 599.5 miles driven.
- The tent doesn't leak! (Yup. Rained on our s'mores...)
- Everyone is smiling.
- Chipmunks are cute, in the forest where they belong. (Just for you, mom - I know they drive you crazy at your bird feeders!)
- We have provided sustenance to many starving creatures. Mosquitoes, mostly.
- Did I mention we're having fun? Headed to bed soon, as I got far too little sleep last night. Tomorrow morning, Chicago!

Pokagon Money Making Racket

"And they can't afford better bathrooms..."  - Nick

Pokagon State Park in Indiana seems to have quite the money making racket going. We got here about 3:30, and set up camp. We had already paid for our campsite, but turns out you need to pay for entrance to the park, too. Fine, okay, some parks do that, but it wasn't mentioned on my reservation. I was probably a bit cranky after Ohio charged me $15 to pass through their state, so I chalked my mild annoyance up to a super tiring day. But then we found out we had to buy our firewood from them, and we were legally obligated to buy a firestarter because dead and fallen branches were not permitted to be used as kindling. Nice.

On the plus side, we enjoyed the little nature center. Scott and I liked a window that allowed us to watch woodland animals and birds without startling them. Kai and Nick had fun watching the turtles and snakes. We all liked the view of the lake from the beach, but we arrived too late for watersport. The hike back up from the beach was pretty steep so we all decided it was dinner time. Starting a fire with logs and one commercial firestarter was an adventure, but the kids are roasting hot dogs now, so I better get in line before they're all gone!

Westward, Ho!

"A destructive summer vacation for you and your angry family is to visit the Rocky Cupcakes in Colorado." -Mad Libs on the Road

I was first up for driving this morning, so we're already well on our way. We just stopped for lunch at an Ohio rest area and had tasty sandwiches and fruit. Unfortunately, there were no picnic tables and it was sprinkling, so our first vacation food was in the car. Still, since we left home 6.5 hours ago, we were happy to eat wherever.  So far, we have gone 388 miles, watched one movie, listened to three hours of music, found 21 license plates, and crossed one lousy state border. Why is Pennsylvania so long? We are all still laughing though, and that is a good start!

4 Days and Counting

“What are you doing with all those books anyway?" Ron asked.
Just trying to decide which ones to take with us," said Hermione. When we're looking for the Horcruxes."
Oh, of course," said Ron, clapping a hand to his forehead. "I forgot we'll be hunting down Voldemort in a mobile library.”  -J.K. Rowling

Fortunately, I have a Kindle app.  Otherwise, I'm sure Scott and I would be having the same conversation as Ron and Hermione later this evening.  I'm spending the day doing laundry (which is rather normal for summer) but I'm almost happy about it (not at all normal) because half of the laundry is being piled on the dining room table, ready to be added to suitcases.  My sister wrote me yesterday to say how excited she is for our visit, and we're all pretty excited to get going, too!

Unfortunately, I don't have an Undetectable Extension Charm, or TARDIS technology, so our suitcases, bags, tent, sleeping bags, and totes are defnitely NOT bigger on the inside.  We are trying to take as little as possible, but we need supplies for camping, clothes, food, comic-con costumes - the list goes on, and every time I think I've got it figured out, I find something else we'll need.  For example, I told everyone NOT to pack 21 days of clothes, we'd do laundry.  But that means taking laundry soap and bags.  We wanted to use our Sam's club membership to grab breakfast muffins, granola bars, and snacks, but have you SEEN the size of those club packs?  Maybe what we really need is a car that is bigger on the inside.  Hermione? Doctor?