I’m really glad I took this trip. Besides the experience of doing something I’ve always wanted to do, I learned a lot about how to take a driving trip with children, and now I think Mark and I both are more open to considering other driving trips (albeit not so long) in the future. Here are my thoughts and tips:
1. I learned we could do it. Before doing this, the general thinking was that the kids would go nuts and drive us nuts. In some cases we did, but kids are incredibly adaptable, and once the routines and entertainment gets figured out, they not only handled it, but also enjoyed themselves for the most part.
2. The kids will get pent up energy from being in the car for a long time and they need a lot of breaks, preferably breaks where they can run around. My big mistake was not stopping at enough parks for picnic lunches. I started out that way, but then caught up in tourist attractions and getting to my next destination. On the days I didn’t make time for the kids to run around and be silly, they found ways to do it anyway, usually embarrassing me in public places. Those were the times when we had the most family strife.
3. Plan to get lost so it doesn’t stress you out so much – especially in crowded places like big cities. Allow extra time, and plan for unexpected things like detours, heavy traffic, car problems, kids getting splinters, and other delays.
4. When I’m alone with the kids I don’t drive at night and I have extra AAA coverage. I also had to learn to do the basic mechanical things that I usually rely on Mark for, like checking the oil and tire pressure.
5. With the kids and just me, it’s fairly comfortable to do a 6 hour driving leg in the day. Typically we do it in two three hour chunks with a nice two hour break for an activity in the middle. This is the activity that should include running around. Then, each three hour leg includes at least one quick bathroom break and at least one movie on the car-powered DVD player. The kids also have other fun activities to do in the car, like Nintendo DS, and their favorite toys. Reading only works if they don’t get car sick. If you can work in time with the kids sleeping, you can do an additional two driving hours or so. And with another adult, like Mark in the car, we can do even more – but it’s not as fun if it’s several days in a row.
6. At least my kids like interactive museums and multi-media entertainment. They also need a frame of reference to care about what they see. For example, the reason the meteor crater was interesting to Justin is he knows a meteor had something to do with the extinction of the dinosaurs. But they weren’t interested at all in things that fascinated Mark and I, like the plane that flew at Kitty Hawk for example.
7. Having friends and family to connected with at various points in the journey makes it really fun. But doing one extreme (all friends and family) or the other extreme (all hotels or camping) can get old if it’s too many days in a row. We loved the balance we had. Our kids had other kids to play with, I had other adults to talk with, and the days I spent with family I was able to take time to do a few loads of laundry, wash the car, and get re-organized and re-calibrated.
8. It’s good to keep even a basic travel journal because by the end of the trip, it’s easy to forget things that happened in the beginning. But even this blog was a little much for me to keep up with – as you’ll note I had to catch up on several entries that I missed. For me what worked best was jotting down in a brief log short notes on the things I wanted to remember, and then later elaborating in a journal or blog when I had the time. Or, alternatively, I could learn to be a more concise writer – and make shorter blog entries!
For now, this entry will wrap up my writing, until I have another family adventure to write about. It might not be a trip – it might be the adventure of finding a babysitter, or balancing life being a mom and running a business. So stay tuned, and I’ll tune in again soon!
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Day 29 – Home Sweet Home
As promised, I let the kids swim at the pool, which didn’t open up until 8am, so we couldn’t get on the road until 9:30am, but then we just had a six hour drive home, and it seemed like nothing in comparison to what we had been doing.
Driving through Arizona was still pretty amazing – with beautiful rock formations, kind of like in Utah. When we crossed into California, we hit the desert big time. I thought New Mexico and Texas were a lot of driving through nothing, but the eastern part of California was the first time I actually wondered if I’d run out of gas before getting to the next station. California doesn’t have these big travel stops like the other states, but the little gas station and Dairy Queen in Ludlow where we stopped for lunch was still well-visited by people returning from Lake Havasu and “The River”.
By the time we hit Barstow, we also started getting more traffic, and after another hour or so – as soon as we crossed the Cajon pass, the endless miles of suburbia that Southern California is known for, began. I just kept watching for how many miles to Riverside, because I knew it would only be an hour from there. We missed most of the Labor Day traffic and were cruising home at a wonderful pace, until we hit the 5 freeway near our house. I had forgotten that the freeway going south to San Diego backs up every Saturday, and we got caught in the car pool lane and couldn’t get over for a good 20 minutes. I realized I have been pretty lucky with traffic on our trip, because I was having an awful time being patient. But maybe it was because we were minutes from home.
The kids insisted on stopping at the school first to see who their teachers are this year, and then we were home. Phew! What a trip!
Driving through Arizona was still pretty amazing – with beautiful rock formations, kind of like in Utah. When we crossed into California, we hit the desert big time. I thought New Mexico and Texas were a lot of driving through nothing, but the eastern part of California was the first time I actually wondered if I’d run out of gas before getting to the next station. California doesn’t have these big travel stops like the other states, but the little gas station and Dairy Queen in Ludlow where we stopped for lunch was still well-visited by people returning from Lake Havasu and “The River”.
By the time we hit Barstow, we also started getting more traffic, and after another hour or so – as soon as we crossed the Cajon pass, the endless miles of suburbia that Southern California is known for, began. I just kept watching for how many miles to Riverside, because I knew it would only be an hour from there. We missed most of the Labor Day traffic and were cruising home at a wonderful pace, until we hit the 5 freeway near our house. I had forgotten that the freeway going south to San Diego backs up every Saturday, and we got caught in the car pool lane and couldn’t get over for a good 20 minutes. I realized I have been pretty lucky with traffic on our trip, because I was having an awful time being patient. But maybe it was because we were minutes from home.
The kids insisted on stopping at the school first to see who their teachers are this year, and then we were home. Phew! What a trip!
Day 28 – Arizona
After a good night’s sleep I decided there is no way I’m missing the Grand Canyon. I’ve never seen it, and this trip needs a grand finale.
Also, as we were driving, we noticed a sign for Meteor Crater, one of the best preserved meteor impact sites in the world. This was something new and exciting to see – and it’s only 6 miles off the main highway. We really enjoyed the hands-on museum. Kaelyn and Justin had fun simulating meteor crashes into various planets by varying the size, density, speed, and angle of impact, although it was quite disturbing to me that Justin enjoyed blowing up our planet. The crater was quite distinct, and it really got us thinking about what would happen if we discovered another big one headed our way. It’s nice to know that people are watching.
With that stop, it took us until afternoon to get to Flagstaff, and I was almost afraid we wouldn’t make it to the Grand Canyon before dusk. But we did and it was worth it. I don’t know what else to say about the Grand Canyon, because you’ve probably seen pictures of it, but the first time you see it live – it is pretty apparent why it’s one of the seven wonders of the world. My first glimpse of the canyon was stunning. I had to re-adjust my eyes and just take it in for awhile. On a clear day you can see the depth in a way that is hard to capture on postcards. I can see how people spend hours camping, hiking, and just enjoying the park for days, but it was actually quite easy to drive in, spend about 20 – 30 minutes looking at the south rim view, and drive back out again. I think this was easy for us because we arrived so late in the afternoon and most people had left for the day.
One thing we did NOT expect was the big fire we saw on the drive in. It looked like there was a fire in the Grand Canyon and maybe we wouldn’t be able to see it. Turns out, they do a lot of controlled burns in that area, and this was one of them. We got to drive by and see the little fires by the road and the firemen monitoring them. I tried to explain the concept of setting fires to prevent fires to the kids, and they seemed to get it because they began to play a game of “bad trees, good trees” as we drove through the park.
I still wanted to get home, so I decided to drive west for awhile. Of course the kids wanted to get to a hotel early enough to swim, but I told them it would be fun to see all the stars in the sky since we were in such a remote area, and I promised if we got to a hotel too late to swim I’d let them swim first thing in the morning. Unfortunately there was a big cloud cover over the sky that night and we couldn’t see any stars. The sunset was absolutely beautiful, but then it was pitch black out, and really hard to take advantage of the higher speed limits. I wanted to stop in a decent sized town, so we went as far as Kingman and found a really nice, clean, motel for our last night.
Also, as we were driving, we noticed a sign for Meteor Crater, one of the best preserved meteor impact sites in the world. This was something new and exciting to see – and it’s only 6 miles off the main highway. We really enjoyed the hands-on museum. Kaelyn and Justin had fun simulating meteor crashes into various planets by varying the size, density, speed, and angle of impact, although it was quite disturbing to me that Justin enjoyed blowing up our planet. The crater was quite distinct, and it really got us thinking about what would happen if we discovered another big one headed our way. It’s nice to know that people are watching.
With that stop, it took us until afternoon to get to Flagstaff, and I was almost afraid we wouldn’t make it to the Grand Canyon before dusk. But we did and it was worth it. I don’t know what else to say about the Grand Canyon, because you’ve probably seen pictures of it, but the first time you see it live – it is pretty apparent why it’s one of the seven wonders of the world. My first glimpse of the canyon was stunning. I had to re-adjust my eyes and just take it in for awhile. On a clear day you can see the depth in a way that is hard to capture on postcards. I can see how people spend hours camping, hiking, and just enjoying the park for days, but it was actually quite easy to drive in, spend about 20 – 30 minutes looking at the south rim view, and drive back out again. I think this was easy for us because we arrived so late in the afternoon and most people had left for the day.
One thing we did NOT expect was the big fire we saw on the drive in. It looked like there was a fire in the Grand Canyon and maybe we wouldn’t be able to see it. Turns out, they do a lot of controlled burns in that area, and this was one of them. We got to drive by and see the little fires by the road and the firemen monitoring them. I tried to explain the concept of setting fires to prevent fires to the kids, and they seemed to get it because they began to play a game of “bad trees, good trees” as we drove through the park.
I still wanted to get home, so I decided to drive west for awhile. Of course the kids wanted to get to a hotel early enough to swim, but I told them it would be fun to see all the stars in the sky since we were in such a remote area, and I promised if we got to a hotel too late to swim I’d let them swim first thing in the morning. Unfortunately there was a big cloud cover over the sky that night and we couldn’t see any stars. The sunset was absolutely beautiful, but then it was pitch black out, and really hard to take advantage of the higher speed limits. I wanted to stop in a decent sized town, so we went as far as Kingman and found a really nice, clean, motel for our last night.
Day 27 – Texas and New Mexico
Today I decided I wanted to get home. Driving across the United States with a deadline can get really tiring and now everyone is getting on everyone’s nerves. I decided to see if I could make it to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and we did.
As soon as we hit the Texas border gas prices went up instead of down, but I also think it’s because there is a lot of nothing between service stations. I noticed that in Texas we were no longer in Indian country, but as soon as we hit New Mexico, we were back, except this time it was the Navajo Nation I believe, and several others. And, there were not as many signs as in Oklahoma. It seemed like in Oklahoma the Cherokee Nation was doing a lot to advertise their presence to travelers, but in New Mexico things were much more quiet and we drove for long stretches of nothing but landscape, that was now changing from farmland into more rocky desert. But the rocks were beautiful, and the drive was straight and fast.
Today the kids were getting jumpy, and in New Mexico I saw a sign for a dinosaur museum and thought I’d stop for a diversion. The museum was pretty much deserted – but it was very clean and educational. However, the kids went straight to the kids area, which is a sand dinosaur dig play area, took off their shoes, and soon were running around the museum like maniacs. Lesson learned: when you stop to give the kids a diversion – stop at a place where they can run and play. Also, one dinosaur museum is enough on a trip, unless you have a kid who is passionate about dinosaurs.
In New Mexico, we began to see signs for historic route 66. I told the kids about route 66 and asked them if they remembered it from the Disney movie “Cars”. I was almost tempted to take it for awhile, but put that on the agenda for another trip – because I have no patience for slowness at this point.
Our hotel in Albuquerque was really nice, but the kids got a little nervous swimming in the pool as the wind kicked up. At the Boston science museum they had a lesson on lightening, and I think it made a big impact. At the first sign of thunder they want OUT of the water. Even though I assured them that the sky was clear and this is just a normal gusty desert wind, they got spooked.
We were all tired, but when I looked at the map in the hotel I felt better. With the time change and an extra hour of driving each day, we’ve made enough progress so that it is now possible to get home a day early, on Saturday instead of Sunday, and that sounded good to all of us. Justin has a soccer meeting with his new team Saturday night and liked the idea of making it. We even discussed skipping the Grand Canyon and getting home Friday night – but we’re still 12 hours away from home.
As soon as we hit the Texas border gas prices went up instead of down, but I also think it’s because there is a lot of nothing between service stations. I noticed that in Texas we were no longer in Indian country, but as soon as we hit New Mexico, we were back, except this time it was the Navajo Nation I believe, and several others. And, there were not as many signs as in Oklahoma. It seemed like in Oklahoma the Cherokee Nation was doing a lot to advertise their presence to travelers, but in New Mexico things were much more quiet and we drove for long stretches of nothing but landscape, that was now changing from farmland into more rocky desert. But the rocks were beautiful, and the drive was straight and fast.
Today the kids were getting jumpy, and in New Mexico I saw a sign for a dinosaur museum and thought I’d stop for a diversion. The museum was pretty much deserted – but it was very clean and educational. However, the kids went straight to the kids area, which is a sand dinosaur dig play area, took off their shoes, and soon were running around the museum like maniacs. Lesson learned: when you stop to give the kids a diversion – stop at a place where they can run and play. Also, one dinosaur museum is enough on a trip, unless you have a kid who is passionate about dinosaurs.
In New Mexico, we began to see signs for historic route 66. I told the kids about route 66 and asked them if they remembered it from the Disney movie “Cars”. I was almost tempted to take it for awhile, but put that on the agenda for another trip – because I have no patience for slowness at this point.
Our hotel in Albuquerque was really nice, but the kids got a little nervous swimming in the pool as the wind kicked up. At the Boston science museum they had a lesson on lightening, and I think it made a big impact. At the first sign of thunder they want OUT of the water. Even though I assured them that the sky was clear and this is just a normal gusty desert wind, they got spooked.
We were all tired, but when I looked at the map in the hotel I felt better. With the time change and an extra hour of driving each day, we’ve made enough progress so that it is now possible to get home a day early, on Saturday instead of Sunday, and that sounded good to all of us. Justin has a soccer meeting with his new team Saturday night and liked the idea of making it. We even discussed skipping the Grand Canyon and getting home Friday night – but we’re still 12 hours away from home.
Day 26 – Arkansas and Oklahoma
Today our timing was a little quirky. We got going too late to miss morning rush hour and too early to sit around and wait for the attractions in downtown Memphis to open. So we drove through the city into Arkansas… did you know West Memphis is actually in Arkansas? I didn’t.
The landscape seemed to change with the state line and instead of trees and hills I began to see rolling hills and farmland again. Arkansas is a really pretty state, with plenty of lakes and the Ozark Mountains. I think it’s called “The Natural State” or “The Nature State”. I was really looking forward to seeing the Blanchard Springs Caverns, but I had made a big mistake in that the Caverns themselves were 2 ½ hours northeast of the visitor center address I had in Russleville. (a small town just west of Little Rock). There was no way I was going to take that much of a detour – even to see the beautiful caverns, and the nice lady in the office gave me a few suggestions of other things we could do – like have a picnic by a lake in a beautiful state park just down the way.
It was at that point I realized I had no interest in stopping and neither did the kids really. They were annoyed enough at stopping at the visitor center. They didn’t want to have to interrupt their backseat movie, and they had developed a routine they wanted to repeat at every hotel: play in the pool, take showers, and sit on the bed with popcorn and watch the Disney channel as late as they possibly could before falling asleep. We drove by the lake on the way back to the 40, and the kids looked up for a moment to acknowledge it, and then we got focused and drove all the way to Oklahoma City.
Again, at the border of Arkansas and Oklahoma, I noticed a difference. In Oklahoma we entered the Cherokee Indian Nation. There were signs all along the way to stop and purchase Native American artifacts and souvenirs. We listened to country music from Tulsa on the road, and stayed at a hotel in the center of the city.
One of the big things that the kids noticed on this trip, is that people smoke. In California, we have banned smoking from almost everywhere – to the point that the children don’t see it, and when they do, it horrifies them to the point where they are intolerant. This evening there were three young kids swimming in the hotel pool, and the oldest one, who must have been about 17 or 18, was sitting on the edge smoking a cigarette. This ruined the kids pool experience, as they didn’t want to be anywhere near it. It’s funny how as a parent, I can never think of perfect, clever responses to the kids questions when they have them. I just hope these strong negative opinions about alcohol, drugs and smoking carry them through their teen-age years unscathed.
The landscape seemed to change with the state line and instead of trees and hills I began to see rolling hills and farmland again. Arkansas is a really pretty state, with plenty of lakes and the Ozark Mountains. I think it’s called “The Natural State” or “The Nature State”. I was really looking forward to seeing the Blanchard Springs Caverns, but I had made a big mistake in that the Caverns themselves were 2 ½ hours northeast of the visitor center address I had in Russleville. (a small town just west of Little Rock). There was no way I was going to take that much of a detour – even to see the beautiful caverns, and the nice lady in the office gave me a few suggestions of other things we could do – like have a picnic by a lake in a beautiful state park just down the way.
It was at that point I realized I had no interest in stopping and neither did the kids really. They were annoyed enough at stopping at the visitor center. They didn’t want to have to interrupt their backseat movie, and they had developed a routine they wanted to repeat at every hotel: play in the pool, take showers, and sit on the bed with popcorn and watch the Disney channel as late as they possibly could before falling asleep. We drove by the lake on the way back to the 40, and the kids looked up for a moment to acknowledge it, and then we got focused and drove all the way to Oklahoma City.
Again, at the border of Arkansas and Oklahoma, I noticed a difference. In Oklahoma we entered the Cherokee Indian Nation. There were signs all along the way to stop and purchase Native American artifacts and souvenirs. We listened to country music from Tulsa on the road, and stayed at a hotel in the center of the city.
One of the big things that the kids noticed on this trip, is that people smoke. In California, we have banned smoking from almost everywhere – to the point that the children don’t see it, and when they do, it horrifies them to the point where they are intolerant. This evening there were three young kids swimming in the hotel pool, and the oldest one, who must have been about 17 or 18, was sitting on the edge smoking a cigarette. This ruined the kids pool experience, as they didn’t want to be anywhere near it. It’s funny how as a parent, I can never think of perfect, clever responses to the kids questions when they have them. I just hope these strong negative opinions about alcohol, drugs and smoking carry them through their teen-age years unscathed.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Day 25 – Traveling through Tennessee
Today we had breakfast in Knoxville, lunch in Nashville, and dinner in Memphis. We listened to country music on the radio and heard lots of deep southern accents. I have never really listened to country music before, but I really enjoyed it today.
All the states are slightly different, and the little nuance that shocked me in Tennessee was witnessing at least two vehicles that did NOT appear to be police or government merge onto our side of the highway from dirt paths in the middle area. It was almost as if they were making a U-turn from the other side. Also, the hotels serve biscuits and gravy for breakfast, and Colonel Sanders is at almost every exit.
The other thing that intrigued me is the number of Civil War Battlegrounds. It brought home full force that a war was fought here in the USA on these grounds and people died over keeping our nation together and the slavery issue. I had been completely enamored at the Lincoln Memorial, seeing and hearing all of Lincoln’s speeches and learning about all the other important demonstrations that were held there in the name of equal rights. I thought it would be good to stop and see an actual Civil War battleground.
But I didn’t stop. As usual, I’m torn finding a balance of stopping to experience the places of interest, and getting a couple of days of solid driving in so we can make it home in time to rest for a day before school starts. Today we made ok time despite a morning filled with constant rain, poor visibility, construction detours, and driving by a couple of accidents. This evening, the kids found a stray kitten hiding under our car to get out of the rain. The manager says someone must have abandoned it here a couple of days ago. The kids are begging me to take it home (can you imagine a kitten in the car for 2000 more miles?), or at least find a shelter for it. These are the things they remember about the trip. I asked them if they wanted to see Graceland, or if they knew who Elvis was, or if they wanted to see downtown Memphis, and they were very noncommittal.
None of this stuff opens until 9am tomorrow, so if we do it, that means another slow day without much progress. Tomorrow I want to see the Crystal caves in the Ozarks, so maybe we’ll just do a quick drive downtown in the morning if it’s not still raining.
All the states are slightly different, and the little nuance that shocked me in Tennessee was witnessing at least two vehicles that did NOT appear to be police or government merge onto our side of the highway from dirt paths in the middle area. It was almost as if they were making a U-turn from the other side. Also, the hotels serve biscuits and gravy for breakfast, and Colonel Sanders is at almost every exit.
The other thing that intrigued me is the number of Civil War Battlegrounds. It brought home full force that a war was fought here in the USA on these grounds and people died over keeping our nation together and the slavery issue. I had been completely enamored at the Lincoln Memorial, seeing and hearing all of Lincoln’s speeches and learning about all the other important demonstrations that were held there in the name of equal rights. I thought it would be good to stop and see an actual Civil War battleground.
But I didn’t stop. As usual, I’m torn finding a balance of stopping to experience the places of interest, and getting a couple of days of solid driving in so we can make it home in time to rest for a day before school starts. Today we made ok time despite a morning filled with constant rain, poor visibility, construction detours, and driving by a couple of accidents. This evening, the kids found a stray kitten hiding under our car to get out of the rain. The manager says someone must have abandoned it here a couple of days ago. The kids are begging me to take it home (can you imagine a kitten in the car for 2000 more miles?), or at least find a shelter for it. These are the things they remember about the trip. I asked them if they wanted to see Graceland, or if they knew who Elvis was, or if they wanted to see downtown Memphis, and they were very noncommittal.
None of this stuff opens until 9am tomorrow, so if we do it, that means another slow day without much progress. Tomorrow I want to see the Crystal caves in the Ozarks, so maybe we’ll just do a quick drive downtown in the morning if it’s not still raining.
Day 24 – Leaving North Carolina
Wow- North Carolina is a beautiful – and BIG state!
Today we left my sister’s house very early in the morning, as my nieces caught their busses for the first day of school. I have a friend living in Greensboro who was my roommate for several years in California, so we stopped and visited her. We had always talked about living in the same neighborhood when we were older and having our kids play together while we sat and talked. Today we got to experience it, if only for a few hours.
After lunch we got back on the road, and I guess I thought I’d make it through the state quickly, but it took the rest of the day. The drive was really amazing. We went through the Great Smoky Mountains – and they were gorgeous. We were surrounded with layer upon layer of hills covered with trees, and some of the leaves were already changing color. Even though we were on curvy roads, they were paved well and we could easily drive more than 60 miles per hour.
Many of the locals told us how beautiful the town of Asheville in West North Carolina is, and suggested that if we had time to get out and hike we should. As I drove I thought of all the places we are passing by without experiencing, and estimated that in order to do everything right we would need at least 6 months for this journey. But it’s still pretty amazing to drive and see the different cities and states even when we don’t stop.
Today we left my sister’s house very early in the morning, as my nieces caught their busses for the first day of school. I have a friend living in Greensboro who was my roommate for several years in California, so we stopped and visited her. We had always talked about living in the same neighborhood when we were older and having our kids play together while we sat and talked. Today we got to experience it, if only for a few hours.
After lunch we got back on the road, and I guess I thought I’d make it through the state quickly, but it took the rest of the day. The drive was really amazing. We went through the Great Smoky Mountains – and they were gorgeous. We were surrounded with layer upon layer of hills covered with trees, and some of the leaves were already changing color. Even though we were on curvy roads, they were paved well and we could easily drive more than 60 miles per hour.
Many of the locals told us how beautiful the town of Asheville in West North Carolina is, and suggested that if we had time to get out and hike we should. As I drove I thought of all the places we are passing by without experiencing, and estimated that in order to do everything right we would need at least 6 months for this journey. But it’s still pretty amazing to drive and see the different cities and states even when we don’t stop.
Day 22 and 23 – Virginia and North Carolina
Early in the morning we dropped Mark off at Dulles airport and headed down to North Carolina, through the state of Virginia. In Virginia, the first thing I noticed is that everyone actually drives 55, and the cops are watching. Also, the traffic on the interstate is horrible – it’s almost like everyone in DC takes off going south on the weekends, so Saturday morning at 9am, rush hour starts.
But it did get me thinking about the patterns of how people have settled over the country. Most of the biggest cities are in places where a traversable body of water meets land, and they all seem to have slightly different personalities. Meanwhile, people balance their desire to be in the midst of all the action (in the cities) and their desire to be with nature, in open spaces. The thing that struck me is that I’m probably experiencing the last of our current configuration of people. People have congregated in cities because they’ve needed to be near the jobs and the stores and the schools and the people they work with. Only some people have moved out into nature, and many have made these separate vacation homes or stayed within a reasonable commute to a nearby city. But with the advent of the Internet, more and more people can telecommute. In fact, on this trip, I learned that for the most part, had I been on my own, I could have run 75% of my business from the road. The only parts that would have been a problem are the in person meetings and speaking engagements, the networking events, and handling incoming “snail mail”. It makes me feel like I’m seeing the last of an era, and that humans will spread out over the world in a completely different pattern within the next few decades. It’s actually quite intriguing to me to imagine that I could at some point pick anywhere to live, as my home base, and it could be fairly remote as long as I could easily travel for in person work engagements. But that’s still a long way off. Because even though I’m enjoying this trip – regular travel is a completely different story. We’ll definitely stay in California for the next ten years or so.
My sister and her daughters live in North Carolina, so we spent two final days with them before beginning our long trek back to California. As usual, the cousins loved spending time together. We hung out at the pool, did laundry, grilled out and my sister and I got a couple of nights of good talking in as we caught up on each other’s lives. We joked about the journey back. They had seen a sign at Wilmington, North Carolina, on the I-40 that said something like 2700 miles to Barstow California. That’s one thing that’s going to make driving the southern route home easy. One freeway that you can catch a few minutes from my sister’s house in North Carolina, goes all the way to a small city a few hours from my house, in California. It’s going to be a long drive home - but at least it will be pretty hard to get lost. Here goes – the last big long week!
But it did get me thinking about the patterns of how people have settled over the country. Most of the biggest cities are in places where a traversable body of water meets land, and they all seem to have slightly different personalities. Meanwhile, people balance their desire to be in the midst of all the action (in the cities) and their desire to be with nature, in open spaces. The thing that struck me is that I’m probably experiencing the last of our current configuration of people. People have congregated in cities because they’ve needed to be near the jobs and the stores and the schools and the people they work with. Only some people have moved out into nature, and many have made these separate vacation homes or stayed within a reasonable commute to a nearby city. But with the advent of the Internet, more and more people can telecommute. In fact, on this trip, I learned that for the most part, had I been on my own, I could have run 75% of my business from the road. The only parts that would have been a problem are the in person meetings and speaking engagements, the networking events, and handling incoming “snail mail”. It makes me feel like I’m seeing the last of an era, and that humans will spread out over the world in a completely different pattern within the next few decades. It’s actually quite intriguing to me to imagine that I could at some point pick anywhere to live, as my home base, and it could be fairly remote as long as I could easily travel for in person work engagements. But that’s still a long way off. Because even though I’m enjoying this trip – regular travel is a completely different story. We’ll definitely stay in California for the next ten years or so.
My sister and her daughters live in North Carolina, so we spent two final days with them before beginning our long trek back to California. As usual, the cousins loved spending time together. We hung out at the pool, did laundry, grilled out and my sister and I got a couple of nights of good talking in as we caught up on each other’s lives. We joked about the journey back. They had seen a sign at Wilmington, North Carolina, on the I-40 that said something like 2700 miles to Barstow California. That’s one thing that’s going to make driving the southern route home easy. One freeway that you can catch a few minutes from my sister’s house in North Carolina, goes all the way to a small city a few hours from my house, in California. It’s going to be a long drive home - but at least it will be pretty hard to get lost. Here goes – the last big long week!
Days 20 – 21 - Washington DC
After staying the night in Maryland, we drove to Washington DC. We picked a downtown hotel, hoping that we’d get free parking so we could explore the city without worrying about our car. We were right that we had downtown parking, but it did cost quite a bit.
We decided to get around by taking “the Metro”, DC’s subway and train system, but while we were told it went by “every” point of interest in DC, we soon learned that meant “give or take 10 blocks or so”. We got off at the closest stop to the White House, and walked to the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and all the way back home to our hotel. I guess for security reasons they don’t make it very easy to take public transportation close to those sights – OR we chose the wrong form of transportation. But, despite our confusion and learning curve, exploring Washington DC was really fun.
On Friday we decided to go to the Smithsonian. For some reason, I had always imagined the Smithsonian to be one HUGE museum, kind of like the Louvre in Paris. What I found out is that the Smithsonian is actually a whole slew of different museums, many of them close together, and all of them spectacular. Even better, they are all free. We saw the Natural History Museum, the National Art Museum, the Air and Space Museum, and even a little bit of the Zoo before the day was over. We could have stayed for a week and still not seen everything. But I did have a bit of a problem with the kids. Although a few of the exhibits mildly intrigued them, they were still high from their experience at the Boston Science Museum and they kept asking me if we could go to a “to do” museum instead of a “to see” museum. I thought that was an interesting way of putting it. They are so used to learning interactively, that looking and reading about things is simply boring. They need to touch, feel, experience, and what’s more, run around. Even by the end of the night, when Mark and I were both practically limping back to the hotel with swollen knees and burning feet, the kids were giggling, running, jumping, and goofing off.
The only big problem we had in DC was mosquito bites. We never thought to bring bug repellent with us sightseeing; yet when it cooled down in the evening we were still out there, and so were the mosquitoes! The itching since then has been awful, but the ability to walk around the city in the evening and actually experience it was really fun – I wish we could have stayed longer.
We decided to get around by taking “the Metro”, DC’s subway and train system, but while we were told it went by “every” point of interest in DC, we soon learned that meant “give or take 10 blocks or so”. We got off at the closest stop to the White House, and walked to the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and all the way back home to our hotel. I guess for security reasons they don’t make it very easy to take public transportation close to those sights – OR we chose the wrong form of transportation. But, despite our confusion and learning curve, exploring Washington DC was really fun.
On Friday we decided to go to the Smithsonian. For some reason, I had always imagined the Smithsonian to be one HUGE museum, kind of like the Louvre in Paris. What I found out is that the Smithsonian is actually a whole slew of different museums, many of them close together, and all of them spectacular. Even better, they are all free. We saw the Natural History Museum, the National Art Museum, the Air and Space Museum, and even a little bit of the Zoo before the day was over. We could have stayed for a week and still not seen everything. But I did have a bit of a problem with the kids. Although a few of the exhibits mildly intrigued them, they were still high from their experience at the Boston Science Museum and they kept asking me if we could go to a “to do” museum instead of a “to see” museum. I thought that was an interesting way of putting it. They are so used to learning interactively, that looking and reading about things is simply boring. They need to touch, feel, experience, and what’s more, run around. Even by the end of the night, when Mark and I were both practically limping back to the hotel with swollen knees and burning feet, the kids were giggling, running, jumping, and goofing off.
The only big problem we had in DC was mosquito bites. We never thought to bring bug repellent with us sightseeing; yet when it cooled down in the evening we were still out there, and so were the mosquitoes! The itching since then has been awful, but the ability to walk around the city in the evening and actually experience it was really fun – I wish we could have stayed longer.
Day 19 – Connecticut and New York City
We had some neighbors in California with kids the same age as ours, and they moved to Connecticut a few years ago, so on Tuesday night we drove out to see them. It was late when we got there, but the kids had a fun sleepover, and it was great to catch up with our old friends, even for a little while. My friend Stephanie had to leave very early Weds morning for a business trip, but her husband Tim and their two children decided to join us for our adventure to see the Statue of Liberty on Wednesday.
My kids had only two requests related to places they wanted to visit on our trip: the Statue of Liberty and the White House. Really, those were the only things they know about so far in school. We had planned on skipping New York City and just focusing on Boston and DC, but I really wanted to find a way to work the Statue in, and so this adventure began. I was trying to accommodate both the kids request to see Lady Liberty and my husband’s request to NOT drive in down town Manhattan, so my original plan was to visit from the New Jersey side. But as it turned out, our directions would have taken us through New York to get to New Jersey anyway, and as predicted, even with the GPS system on loan from our friends, we missed our turn, got stuck going over a bridge we didn’t want to go over, had to pay toll twice to get turned around and were stressed out of our minds trying to find a place to park once we finally found Battery Park.
But after that, New York was really cool. We found one of those little markets that are half grocery store, half take-out restaurant, with chairs and tables upstairs, and had lunch pretty much like the locals. There were some people eating lunch and playing cards at the neighboring tables, and of course everyone we asked for a place to eat had sent us to the expensive Italian dining restaurant in the park. So we felt pretty good finding the market on our own. Everything seemed to work out perfect for us when we didn’t have the car to worry about. The line for the ferry was awful, but once we finished lunch it had gone down to nothing. It was a nice boat ride over to Liberty Island with amazing views, and I spent a good 30 minutes just sitting and taking in the New York skyline from the grass in front of the statue. The kids were really bummed that we couldn’t go inside – you had to make reservations in advance for that – but all in all it was a wonderful time.
Even though it’s been six years since 9/11, we couldn’t go to New York without thinking about it. On Liberty Island they have a memorial of trees and a plaque where you would normally have seen the twin towers, and I was surprised at how quickly the emotions came back just being there. We found out we could walk just a few blocks to visit ground zero once we got back to Manhattan, so we decided to do that before leaving. It was a huge construction site and you couldn’t make out much, but there were quite a few memorials already up on the walls in the viewing area.
We read what we could read, stopped at another local market for ice cream, and made our way back along the beautiful stretch of sidewalk along the water back towards our parking place. Once we got back in the car, we immediately got lost again and completely stressed out trying to drive and find the tunnel to New Jersey. So we’ve now learned the lesson of not driving in downtown Manhattan about three times over.
By the time we got out of New York and into New Jersey, Mark and I decided to drive for awhile and get moving down towards our next stop – Washington DC. I did have a cousin in Philadelphia, but with everything going on, we had to bypass that great city as well this time around. One thing about trips like this – you can’t think of it as a “once in a lifetime” experience, or you’ll drive yourself crazy trying to do everything. I keep thinking of course there will be a next time, and now I’ll know better what I want to see and do. But for now, I’ll take in whatever I can take in. Mark and I drove all the way through New Jersey and got a hotel either in Delaware or Maryland. Although we couldn’t see much at night, it became very apparent that there is SO much more to see on the east coast. We passed over the Chesapeake Bay, and I honestly think we’ve passed seven or eight presidential museums or homes.
My kids had only two requests related to places they wanted to visit on our trip: the Statue of Liberty and the White House. Really, those were the only things they know about so far in school. We had planned on skipping New York City and just focusing on Boston and DC, but I really wanted to find a way to work the Statue in, and so this adventure began. I was trying to accommodate both the kids request to see Lady Liberty and my husband’s request to NOT drive in down town Manhattan, so my original plan was to visit from the New Jersey side. But as it turned out, our directions would have taken us through New York to get to New Jersey anyway, and as predicted, even with the GPS system on loan from our friends, we missed our turn, got stuck going over a bridge we didn’t want to go over, had to pay toll twice to get turned around and were stressed out of our minds trying to find a place to park once we finally found Battery Park.
But after that, New York was really cool. We found one of those little markets that are half grocery store, half take-out restaurant, with chairs and tables upstairs, and had lunch pretty much like the locals. There were some people eating lunch and playing cards at the neighboring tables, and of course everyone we asked for a place to eat had sent us to the expensive Italian dining restaurant in the park. So we felt pretty good finding the market on our own. Everything seemed to work out perfect for us when we didn’t have the car to worry about. The line for the ferry was awful, but once we finished lunch it had gone down to nothing. It was a nice boat ride over to Liberty Island with amazing views, and I spent a good 30 minutes just sitting and taking in the New York skyline from the grass in front of the statue. The kids were really bummed that we couldn’t go inside – you had to make reservations in advance for that – but all in all it was a wonderful time.
Even though it’s been six years since 9/11, we couldn’t go to New York without thinking about it. On Liberty Island they have a memorial of trees and a plaque where you would normally have seen the twin towers, and I was surprised at how quickly the emotions came back just being there. We found out we could walk just a few blocks to visit ground zero once we got back to Manhattan, so we decided to do that before leaving. It was a huge construction site and you couldn’t make out much, but there were quite a few memorials already up on the walls in the viewing area.
We read what we could read, stopped at another local market for ice cream, and made our way back along the beautiful stretch of sidewalk along the water back towards our parking place. Once we got back in the car, we immediately got lost again and completely stressed out trying to drive and find the tunnel to New Jersey. So we’ve now learned the lesson of not driving in downtown Manhattan about three times over.
By the time we got out of New York and into New Jersey, Mark and I decided to drive for awhile and get moving down towards our next stop – Washington DC. I did have a cousin in Philadelphia, but with everything going on, we had to bypass that great city as well this time around. One thing about trips like this – you can’t think of it as a “once in a lifetime” experience, or you’ll drive yourself crazy trying to do everything. I keep thinking of course there will be a next time, and now I’ll know better what I want to see and do. But for now, I’ll take in whatever I can take in. Mark and I drove all the way through New Jersey and got a hotel either in Delaware or Maryland. Although we couldn’t see much at night, it became very apparent that there is SO much more to see on the east coast. We passed over the Chesapeake Bay, and I honestly think we’ve passed seven or eight presidential museums or homes.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Days 17 & 18 - Boston, Massachusetts
On Monday, August 18th, we packed our bags and headed down to Boston, where my brother Ali lives. We have never seen his house before, but he lives right downtown, within walking distance of almost everything. Monday afternoon we walked right out his front door to the Boston Commons and Public Gardens, and made our way through Fanueil Hall down to the Wharf for a nice dinner at the Chart House. On the way back we went to Newberry street and stopped for Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Newberry street is "the" shopping district, and it almost reminded me of walking in Paris at night.
On Tuesday we got up early and went to the Boston Science Museum. We took a "duck tour", which is a tour of the city in a World War II amphibius vehicle that can go from land to water and back. We drove around the city and then right into the Charles River for some additional sightseeing before we returned to the museum. There was so much to do at the museum, from witnessing a lightening show, to doing puzzles, playing with hollograms, seeing live animals, building things with weights and pulleys, to seeing planatarium shows, and a butterfly garden, that we could have spent several days just hanging out there. As it was we had to tear the kids away in the afternoon so we could head out for the next leg of our journey. Note to self: reserve three or four days for each city I care about next time.
On Tuesday we got up early and went to the Boston Science Museum. We took a "duck tour", which is a tour of the city in a World War II amphibius vehicle that can go from land to water and back. We drove around the city and then right into the Charles River for some additional sightseeing before we returned to the museum. There was so much to do at the museum, from witnessing a lightening show, to doing puzzles, playing with hollograms, seeing live animals, building things with weights and pulleys, to seeing planatarium shows, and a butterfly garden, that we could have spent several days just hanging out there. As it was we had to tear the kids away in the afternoon so we could head out for the next leg of our journey. Note to self: reserve three or four days for each city I care about next time.
Days 14 - 16 - New Hampshire and the Big Race
In New Hampshire, us "non-competitors" had a chance to relax and play, while the athletes prepared for their big day. Kaelyn and Justin were thrilled to see their cousins. There was a nice sandy lake beach a short walk from the hotel, and it had a big raft after the drop off that the kids could swim out to and jump off of. Growing up in Michigan, I had played on these big rafts before, but it was a first for my kids and they loved it. The athletes donned wetsuits and got a feel for swimming in the lake water while the rest of us enjoyed the beach, and later the hotel pools. Our hotel suite had a full kitchen, so we bought groceries and cooked real meals.
Sunday, August 17th we all got up before dawn for the Timberman 70.3, which is half of an Iron Man. The swim is over a mile, the bike is over 50 miles, and the run is more than 14 miles. My sister organized this race and rallied together her triathlete friends and half her family as well. They even came up with a team name and had everyone wear the same jerseys, and brought extras for those of us cheering on the sidelines. I took pictures of over 15 "growling geckos", most of them from North Carolina where my sister lives, a few from Boston where my brother lives, and one from California (my husband). It was a hot day, and almost everyone made it, with varying degrees of success, but it was a long tiring day, and we didn't get back to the hotel until evening.
The triathlete life seems to be kind of addictive. Mark had a hard race, with his hamstrings cramping up so bad he had to stop and stretch quite a few times on his bike. My sister had a hard race with her feet hurting so bad she had to take off her shoes and try to run in her socks. One of the other members of the group felt too squeezed to get air in her wetsuit and had to stop on the swim. We watched people collapse from the heat, and watched a girl crawl to the finish line because her legs were so cramped up. Yet, afterwards I watched Mark in conversations with my brother about bike drills he could do to help him prepare for steep hills, and many others in the group planning their next big race.
I don't want to plan all of our vacations around these races, and I'm not the thriathlete type, but it is definitely inspiring to see how much this lifestyle helps adults stay healthy and balanced. My sister said for her it's always been having that goal that has kept her in Iron Man training, and then she naturally burns calories through her training, so that takes care of keeping her weight under control. It also seems to provide a natural social outlet, as all her friends are triathletes too.
We have now reached the Northeast point in our Journey, and are ready to drive down the east coast - hitting some of the big historical cities on the way. First stop - Boston, Massachusetts.
Sunday, August 17th we all got up before dawn for the Timberman 70.3, which is half of an Iron Man. The swim is over a mile, the bike is over 50 miles, and the run is more than 14 miles. My sister organized this race and rallied together her triathlete friends and half her family as well. They even came up with a team name and had everyone wear the same jerseys, and brought extras for those of us cheering on the sidelines. I took pictures of over 15 "growling geckos", most of them from North Carolina where my sister lives, a few from Boston where my brother lives, and one from California (my husband). It was a hot day, and almost everyone made it, with varying degrees of success, but it was a long tiring day, and we didn't get back to the hotel until evening.
The triathlete life seems to be kind of addictive. Mark had a hard race, with his hamstrings cramping up so bad he had to stop and stretch quite a few times on his bike. My sister had a hard race with her feet hurting so bad she had to take off her shoes and try to run in her socks. One of the other members of the group felt too squeezed to get air in her wetsuit and had to stop on the swim. We watched people collapse from the heat, and watched a girl crawl to the finish line because her legs were so cramped up. Yet, afterwards I watched Mark in conversations with my brother about bike drills he could do to help him prepare for steep hills, and many others in the group planning their next big race.
I don't want to plan all of our vacations around these races, and I'm not the thriathlete type, but it is definitely inspiring to see how much this lifestyle helps adults stay healthy and balanced. My sister said for her it's always been having that goal that has kept her in Iron Man training, and then she naturally burns calories through her training, so that takes care of keeping her weight under control. It also seems to provide a natural social outlet, as all her friends are triathletes too.
We have now reached the Northeast point in our Journey, and are ready to drive down the east coast - hitting some of the big historical cities on the way. First stop - Boston, Massachusetts.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Day 13 - New York and Vermont
Our trip through New York was only notable in that we were on a toll road and got acquainted with toll road service plazas, which offer gas and an indoor food court of sorts, with three or four restaurants, a newstand / gift shop, restrooms, ATM machines, and tables and chairs with wifi. We were SO hungry and wet after Niagara Falls that we were hoping to eat at a nice restaurant, so we were actually disappointed when we found it to be more of a food court. But at the same time the idea of getting OFF the tollroad, paying toll, finding a restaurant, and getting back on seemed cumbersome. So we went with the food court.
We did learn how HUGE the state of New York is, and we got a strong sense of where upstate New York was compared to "mid" New York, and how crazy it is that New York City is on kind of a wierd little corner of the state, so stretched away from the natural state boundaries that it might as well not be in New York at all. We got quick peaks at Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany, and then we headed into Vermont - which may as well have been a completely different country.
Vermont seems to be mostly trees, mountains, and quaint little towns where all the eateries are little country diners in what looked like old New England style houses. The food was surprisingly expensive, and it was all home-made, which is good if you are used to home-made food. My kids loved the hot chocolate, and the processed food, but they didn't eat the mac and cheese, which was made from a rather lumpy cheesy white sauce, or the bread and butter which used "real" butter, or the home-made french fries that actually tasted like real potatoes in strips with a crispy outside.
Vermont reminded me mostly of Colorado, because everywhere I looked there was a bubbling brook or stream with little whitewater rapids. It was the only state other than Colorado where we saw hitchhikers and hikers, and we stopped in quite a few places to look at beautiful landscape views of the mountains. You could see the ski resorts as well.
We only spent a few hours driving through Vermont before heading into New Hampshire and looking for our hotel. Even though the states are right next to each other, New Hampshire seemed quite different from Vermont. We listened to Boston radio stations, and Mark and I immediately noticed the license plate tagline "Live Free or Die." We also noticed that the seat belt law seemed to only apply to kids under 18. Both states seemed "free-spirited", but Vermont more in a quaint, welcoming, outdoorsy type way, and New Hamphire just a little more in your face, with hard core fisherman and signs that say "This is not Burger King - you don't get your burger your way, you get it my way or you don't get it".
We finally found our hotel and got familiar with the Lake area. New Hampshire has a whole part of the state that is called the "Lake Region", and the big lake we will be staying at: Lake Winnippesaukee, is only one of several in the area.
We did learn how HUGE the state of New York is, and we got a strong sense of where upstate New York was compared to "mid" New York, and how crazy it is that New York City is on kind of a wierd little corner of the state, so stretched away from the natural state boundaries that it might as well not be in New York at all. We got quick peaks at Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany, and then we headed into Vermont - which may as well have been a completely different country.
Vermont seems to be mostly trees, mountains, and quaint little towns where all the eateries are little country diners in what looked like old New England style houses. The food was surprisingly expensive, and it was all home-made, which is good if you are used to home-made food. My kids loved the hot chocolate, and the processed food, but they didn't eat the mac and cheese, which was made from a rather lumpy cheesy white sauce, or the bread and butter which used "real" butter, or the home-made french fries that actually tasted like real potatoes in strips with a crispy outside.
Vermont reminded me mostly of Colorado, because everywhere I looked there was a bubbling brook or stream with little whitewater rapids. It was the only state other than Colorado where we saw hitchhikers and hikers, and we stopped in quite a few places to look at beautiful landscape views of the mountains. You could see the ski resorts as well.
We only spent a few hours driving through Vermont before heading into New Hampshire and looking for our hotel. Even though the states are right next to each other, New Hampshire seemed quite different from Vermont. We listened to Boston radio stations, and Mark and I immediately noticed the license plate tagline "Live Free or Die." We also noticed that the seat belt law seemed to only apply to kids under 18. Both states seemed "free-spirited", but Vermont more in a quaint, welcoming, outdoorsy type way, and New Hamphire just a little more in your face, with hard core fisherman and signs that say "This is not Burger King - you don't get your burger your way, you get it my way or you don't get it".
We finally found our hotel and got familiar with the Lake area. New Hampshire has a whole part of the state that is called the "Lake Region", and the big lake we will be staying at: Lake Winnippesaukee, is only one of several in the area.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Day 12 - Canada and Niagara Falls
One thing that struck me as we began to drive into "great lakes" territory was the clouds. All the way accross the country the sky was clear and blue, but as soon as we got into Indiana, close to Lake Michigan, I noticed big puffy white clouds in the sky - lots of them. The sky was still quite blue, but I was struck by how many clouds there were. I assume it's from the water on the lakes. I also thought it might be just a coincidence in the weather. But after five days I'm thinking it must be the lakes.
We drove into Canada at Port Huron and had a long drive through green landscapes to Niagara Falls. It was fun listening to the canadian radio jockeys joking about the summer Olympics and referring to us as "states". It was nice hearing French on the radio, and I noticed even more clouds in the sky.
Except this time it turned out to be thunderstorm clouds. By the time we got close to Niagara we were in a blinding thunderstorm and we were worried we wouldn't even be able to see the Falls. Thankfully, they give you plastic ponchos for your ride on the "Maid of the Mist" boats that take you right up to the falls. So even though we got drenched, we were somewhat protected after that tour.
The falls were amazing, even on a cloudy day in the rain, and I definitely recommend taking the boat tour. On the New York side there was no wait and the boats weren't too crowded, but on the Canadian side they were very crowded. Luckily we had decided to view the falls from New York, so we were able to enjoy the experience, get our fill, and drive on to Syracuse afterwards.
The kids have been remarkably well behaved in the car. I think it is tiring and boring for them sometimes, but we've made a habit of letting them swim in the pool when we get to the hotel, and they seem to do much better when they can nap, and we take the trip in chunks.
Tonight we are relaxing and watching the Olympics in our hotel in Syracuse. Tomorrow, we head to Lake Winneppesauki in New Hamphire, where Mark, along with my sister and brother, will race in the Timberman - a half Iron Man. I've never been there but the area looks beautiful. It's only 6 hours away, so we'll have plenty of time tomorrow to take it easy and check out the area.
We drove into Canada at Port Huron and had a long drive through green landscapes to Niagara Falls. It was fun listening to the canadian radio jockeys joking about the summer Olympics and referring to us as "states". It was nice hearing French on the radio, and I noticed even more clouds in the sky.
Except this time it turned out to be thunderstorm clouds. By the time we got close to Niagara we were in a blinding thunderstorm and we were worried we wouldn't even be able to see the Falls. Thankfully, they give you plastic ponchos for your ride on the "Maid of the Mist" boats that take you right up to the falls. So even though we got drenched, we were somewhat protected after that tour.
The falls were amazing, even on a cloudy day in the rain, and I definitely recommend taking the boat tour. On the New York side there was no wait and the boats weren't too crowded, but on the Canadian side they were very crowded. Luckily we had decided to view the falls from New York, so we were able to enjoy the experience, get our fill, and drive on to Syracuse afterwards.
The kids have been remarkably well behaved in the car. I think it is tiring and boring for them sometimes, but we've made a habit of letting them swim in the pool when we get to the hotel, and they seem to do much better when they can nap, and we take the trip in chunks.
Tonight we are relaxing and watching the Olympics in our hotel in Syracuse. Tomorrow, we head to Lake Winneppesauki in New Hamphire, where Mark, along with my sister and brother, will race in the Timberman - a half Iron Man. I've never been there but the area looks beautiful. It's only 6 hours away, so we'll have plenty of time tomorrow to take it easy and check out the area.
Days 8-11 - Hanging out on Gun Lake
Saturday night we picked up Mark at the airport and then Sunday morning we headed for "The Cottage." The cottage is a little summer house on Gun Lake that my grandparents owned and sold to my parents. When I was young we spent every summer at the cottage. It sits right on the lake. Back then it was more like camping than living in a house. We washed our hair in bowls of lake water, hiked through woods to the state park beach, sat by the fire at night, and fell asleep on the porch listening to crickets and the waves lapping up on the shore. Currently the cottage is under construction. For years the little house sat while neighboring properties added on to their homes and winterized them, and now mom and dad have embarked on an improvement project, adding real bedrooms and bathrooms, and even a spot for laundry hook up. As with all construction projects, it has taken much more time and money than originally anticipated, and for this trip the project looked about 60% done. We had bedrooms and bathrooms but no kitchen, living room or dining room. But for cottage living, it was actually quite nice.
My cousin Bill keeps his pontoon boat at the dock and allows us to use it. The kids got to ride in a tube on the back of the boat, go fishing, dig a fire pit and roast hot dogs and make s'mores. Even though we slept in a real bedroom, the sliding glass door still looked right out on the lake, and the crickets were as loud as ever. Justin was so excited to catch his first three fish, and both kids wanted to stay much longer. I remember the lake being quite crowded the last few times I've visited, but this week for some reason it felt like we had the lake to ourselves. Mark was even able to do a swim accross the bay Monday morning with no boats coming anywhere near.
Tuesday, we finally needed to drive back to West Bloomfield to prepare for the last leg of our journey. Our time was filled with doing laundry, running to the library to access high speed internet and catch up on e-mail, getting packed, and even watching a little bit of the Olympics. Next leg - off through Canada through Niagara Falls.
My cousin Bill keeps his pontoon boat at the dock and allows us to use it. The kids got to ride in a tube on the back of the boat, go fishing, dig a fire pit and roast hot dogs and make s'mores. Even though we slept in a real bedroom, the sliding glass door still looked right out on the lake, and the crickets were as loud as ever. Justin was so excited to catch his first three fish, and both kids wanted to stay much longer. I remember the lake being quite crowded the last few times I've visited, but this week for some reason it felt like we had the lake to ourselves. Mark was even able to do a swim accross the bay Monday morning with no boats coming anywhere near.
Tuesday, we finally needed to drive back to West Bloomfield to prepare for the last leg of our journey. Our time was filled with doing laundry, running to the library to access high speed internet and catch up on e-mail, getting packed, and even watching a little bit of the Olympics. Next leg - off through Canada through Niagara Falls.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Day 7 – Minor Misadventures in Michigan
Every trip has its misadventures, and I've been pretty lucky so far. The drive through Michigan was my closest to frustrating, and I was glad it was the last long drive for awhile. We got up early to take off, with the usual plan of not eating much for breakfast and having the kids sleep the first two hours. But this time they didn't because they were too excited to get to grandma and grandpa's. That meant several spurts of arguing and "Mom! It's not fair" from the backseat.
We drove through Indiana and along the coast of Lake Michigan into Michigan for the first hour or so before turning eastward to cut through the state to the other side. You can't see the lake from the highway, and I got this great idea that the kids would love to see Lake Michigan and play awhile on the beach, so I stopped at the welcome center to find out what the most efficient way to do that might be.
It turned out that we needed to get off the freeway and head to this cute little town on the coast called St. Joseph. But it took me about an hour to actually find it and figure out how to get down to the beach. You would think it would be obvious, but construction blocked some of the roads, there were small communities with only one street going in and coming out, and Michigan has lots of trees, so it is not readily apparent which of the little streets off the main highway actually winds itself down to the beach. I got directions from some really nice people, but they all failed to be specific in one or two critical places with vague statements like "take the highway four miles and you'll run right into it" (which you don't – the highway does not end – you have to pick the right turn off.). Or, "just take the road and it curves around…" (did not specify which road), or "take a right, and another right, and another right, and another right (except that the first right lead to a dead end and the only right you could take from there headed into a parking lot). I was just about to give up when I stumbled upon it – and I realized that all they had to say was "take the road by the Silver Beach Motel to get to Silver Beach."
But I wonder when tourists stop me in Laguna Niguel for directions to Dana Point Harbor, if my friendly effort is just as ineffective?
On the way out of St. Joseph we were starving and I thought I'd stop and get some gas. I made the mistake of running in for a soda and the gas pump did NOT stop automatically, pouring gas all over my car and the pavement, and earning me a reprimand both from the shopkeeper and my husband for not standing right by the pump at all times. This also hiked my gas bill up by about $20 with today's prices, required me to make the choice between driving with the smell of gas for several miles or trying to find a car wash, and it turned out later when I stopped for lunch I could have just gotten a combo and wouldn't have needed that darn soda.
Luckily, the drive across Michigan is not that far – only 3-4 hours. Unluckily there was enough traffic including big huge trucks to make the two lane highway kind of stressful to drive. In Utah there was NO ONE on the roads and there was this sense of tremendous freedom and joy taking in the scenery and speeding along. It seems like the further east I get the more crowded it gets. To make matters worse, I started getting sleepy for the first time after only a couple more hours of driving. I drank diet pepsi, ate sugar, and slapped my face – the latter being quite effective. THEN, I stopped at a rest area and on the way back to my car noticed a lot of fluid coming out of the bottom, creating a large puddle. I wasn't sure if I had a leak or it was the air conditioning, but it made me nervous enough to wake up. Turned out it was just the air conditioning and we had nothing to fight but traffic the rest of the way.
It's funny how the little things can pile up on top of each other. As long as I was mad about the gas incident it kept feeling like everything was wrong, but as soon as I forgave myself (again) and moved into a place of gratitude thinking of all the things that COULD have gone wrong but didn't, I began to enjoy myself again.
You may notice that this is actually being posted on Day 9. Mom and Dad have a dial up modem and no wireless networks exist anywhere around their house. Today is Sunday, and we are going to the cottage for a couple of days – no wireless there either. Not even a television to watch the Olympics on. And no cell phone reception. But lots of wilderness and relaxation. Will probably tune in again sometime around Day 13.
We drove through Indiana and along the coast of Lake Michigan into Michigan for the first hour or so before turning eastward to cut through the state to the other side. You can't see the lake from the highway, and I got this great idea that the kids would love to see Lake Michigan and play awhile on the beach, so I stopped at the welcome center to find out what the most efficient way to do that might be.
It turned out that we needed to get off the freeway and head to this cute little town on the coast called St. Joseph. But it took me about an hour to actually find it and figure out how to get down to the beach. You would think it would be obvious, but construction blocked some of the roads, there were small communities with only one street going in and coming out, and Michigan has lots of trees, so it is not readily apparent which of the little streets off the main highway actually winds itself down to the beach. I got directions from some really nice people, but they all failed to be specific in one or two critical places with vague statements like "take the highway four miles and you'll run right into it" (which you don't – the highway does not end – you have to pick the right turn off.). Or, "just take the road and it curves around…" (did not specify which road), or "take a right, and another right, and another right, and another right (except that the first right lead to a dead end and the only right you could take from there headed into a parking lot). I was just about to give up when I stumbled upon it – and I realized that all they had to say was "take the road by the Silver Beach Motel to get to Silver Beach."
But I wonder when tourists stop me in Laguna Niguel for directions to Dana Point Harbor, if my friendly effort is just as ineffective?
On the way out of St. Joseph we were starving and I thought I'd stop and get some gas. I made the mistake of running in for a soda and the gas pump did NOT stop automatically, pouring gas all over my car and the pavement, and earning me a reprimand both from the shopkeeper and my husband for not standing right by the pump at all times. This also hiked my gas bill up by about $20 with today's prices, required me to make the choice between driving with the smell of gas for several miles or trying to find a car wash, and it turned out later when I stopped for lunch I could have just gotten a combo and wouldn't have needed that darn soda.
Luckily, the drive across Michigan is not that far – only 3-4 hours. Unluckily there was enough traffic including big huge trucks to make the two lane highway kind of stressful to drive. In Utah there was NO ONE on the roads and there was this sense of tremendous freedom and joy taking in the scenery and speeding along. It seems like the further east I get the more crowded it gets. To make matters worse, I started getting sleepy for the first time after only a couple more hours of driving. I drank diet pepsi, ate sugar, and slapped my face – the latter being quite effective. THEN, I stopped at a rest area and on the way back to my car noticed a lot of fluid coming out of the bottom, creating a large puddle. I wasn't sure if I had a leak or it was the air conditioning, but it made me nervous enough to wake up. Turned out it was just the air conditioning and we had nothing to fight but traffic the rest of the way.
It's funny how the little things can pile up on top of each other. As long as I was mad about the gas incident it kept feeling like everything was wrong, but as soon as I forgave myself (again) and moved into a place of gratitude thinking of all the things that COULD have gone wrong but didn't, I began to enjoy myself again.
You may notice that this is actually being posted on Day 9. Mom and Dad have a dial up modem and no wireless networks exist anywhere around their house. Today is Sunday, and we are going to the cottage for a couple of days – no wireless there either. Not even a television to watch the Olympics on. And no cell phone reception. But lots of wilderness and relaxation. Will probably tune in again sometime around Day 13.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Day 6 - Illinois
Let's see... Cornfields, cornfields, more cornfields, and noticeably more green in between, but for the most part, today we drove through Iowa and Illinois without stopping to do much touring. The one thing that struck me was the motorcyclists that weren't wearing helmets. I guess Illinois doesn't have a helmet law. We also endured our first traffic jam. Not much else happened today that was notable. I think we are getting a little tired of the road and just want to drive on to the next place. Currently we are staying at a hotel at Tinley Park near Chicago. But even though Chicago is a cool city, and we are on schedule, we had no desire to stop and check it out. Tomorrow we will hit the bottom of Lake Michigan, and drive up the Michigan coast for awhile before cutting across to Grandma and Grandpa's house near Detroit. The kids are really excited to see their grandparents and uncle. They are still doing remarkably well on the drive, alternating between taking naps and watching movies on the DVD player. Kaelyn either has a cold or terrible allergies. We think it's allergies, and has probably contributed to her ability to nap more in the car. Justin gets really wired after sitting for so long, so it was nice to stop early tonight and get some swimming in before dinner. I didn't take any pictures on this leg.
It's funny how we started out thinking we would just "take it easy" and do some touring along the way, but then goals take over. I actually had one moment today where I got this wave of feeling lost in the middle of nowhere, and what pulled me out of it was picking a target town to stay in. As soon as I had a destination, I had a comfortable feeling of being somewhere tangible, even if it was just 75 miles to our arbitrary hotel. But then my tendency to focus on the goal took over, and I'd get antsy if we took too many breaks and "wasted" too much time. I would make up a time that I expected we would arrive and suddenly this arbitrary deadline began pulling at me. I wonder what it would be like not to have any place to go or anyone to meet for several months. Would that make me feel more free to delve into all of the places of interest that I pass by and really immerse myself in them? And, if so, then what am I doing now - a race around the country? For example, we passed a Herbert Hoover museum, the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln, the birth city of Ronald Reagan, and we crossed the Mississippi River. And now we're passing Chicago. But I'm not feeling like visiting. Very interesting....
It's funny how we started out thinking we would just "take it easy" and do some touring along the way, but then goals take over. I actually had one moment today where I got this wave of feeling lost in the middle of nowhere, and what pulled me out of it was picking a target town to stay in. As soon as I had a destination, I had a comfortable feeling of being somewhere tangible, even if it was just 75 miles to our arbitrary hotel. But then my tendency to focus on the goal took over, and I'd get antsy if we took too many breaks and "wasted" too much time. I would make up a time that I expected we would arrive and suddenly this arbitrary deadline began pulling at me. I wonder what it would be like not to have any place to go or anyone to meet for several months. Would that make me feel more free to delve into all of the places of interest that I pass by and really immerse myself in them? And, if so, then what am I doing now - a race around the country? For example, we passed a Herbert Hoover museum, the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln, the birth city of Ronald Reagan, and we crossed the Mississippi River. And now we're passing Chicago. But I'm not feeling like visiting. Very interesting....
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Day 5 - Hanging out in Iowa
Here is the cornfield in the back of my friend Donna's house. Corn is MUCH taller when you are close up than when you see it from the highway. It was really nice to have a day with no driving. We had nice home-cooked meals, including Omaha steaks, fresh sweet corn, watermelon, and home-made apple pie for dinner.
The kids played in the pool, went to a park and fed the geese, rented paddleboats for a ride on a small lake, and got rides on the four-wheeler at night. They loved playing with Donna's kids. Justin was so excited to have a baby to play with and wanted a baby brother. He asked Donna if we could take baby Max with us. Kaelyn loved the kids too - but really made friends with the dogs. She played with them all day, and even made friends with the dog at the boat rental place.
Kaelyn really wants to get a dog when we get home. We promised we'd think about it after this big long trip was over - maybe around Christmas time.
Donna and I had a wonderful time catching up. I think it's actually been a few years since we've seen each other, but we always pick up as if it were just yesterday. Now time has flown and we are packed and ready to get "on the road again", starting early tomorrow morning.
We have kept a marker trail of our journey on a big USA map -- it's looking pretty impressive so far... over 1500 miles.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Day 4 - Nebraska
I expected the Nebraska drive to be long and boring, but actually, with an early start and flat freeways, we cruised through quite quickly. It was really fun to drive straight from one city to another. We stopped at the Archway Museum in Kearney. Ft. Kearney is the halfway point between Boston and San Francisco - 1733 miles each way.
We crossed the Missouri river at Omaha, and are now in a small town in Iowa called Underwood, (pop. 688), where my friend Donna lives. She has a cornfield in her backyard, and a post office the size of a classroom. The town is so small and cute it reminds me of the little towns in Michigan my mom used to show us from when she grew up.
I will be tuning out for a couple of days while I catch up with my friend. On Thursday, we will leave on our next leg to Michigan to see Grandma and Grandpa and reunite with Mark.
So far the kids have traveled quite well, and even though it is only Day 4, we are beginning to contemplate other trips we might take together. (This thinking may change by the end of the month). For now, the kids are having fun playing in a real house with other kids and dogs. They have the best sunsets here and we caught a glimpse. We'll do that again tomorrow. It's pretty rare to actually be able to see the horizon from someone's backyard.
We're going to see if we can find some fireflies tonight to surprise our kids with. So long for now!
We crossed the Missouri river at Omaha, and are now in a small town in Iowa called Underwood, (pop. 688), where my friend Donna lives. She has a cornfield in her backyard, and a post office the size of a classroom. The town is so small and cute it reminds me of the little towns in Michigan my mom used to show us from when she grew up.
I will be tuning out for a couple of days while I catch up with my friend. On Thursday, we will leave on our next leg to Michigan to see Grandma and Grandpa and reunite with Mark.
So far the kids have traveled quite well, and even though it is only Day 4, we are beginning to contemplate other trips we might take together. (This thinking may change by the end of the month). For now, the kids are having fun playing in a real house with other kids and dogs. They have the best sunsets here and we caught a glimpse. We'll do that again tomorrow. It's pretty rare to actually be able to see the horizon from someone's backyard.
We're going to see if we can find some fireflies tonight to surprise our kids with. So long for now!
Monday, August 4, 2008
Day 3 - Colorado
Well, the camera worked! Here is the first picture of our entrance to the Rocky Mountains. Colorado is another beautiful state, and it was fun to drive through. My favorite town driving through the mountains was called Glennwood Springs. We saw river rafters, bikers, and just a few nice houses and buildings nestled among the hills.We also drove through some of the big ski resorts, stopped at a dinosaur museum, and had our first experience with rain and fog in the mountains. That surprised me - I think I suspected it to be hot and dry the whole way.
The only disappointing thing with this leg of the journey is we got SUCH a late start and took SO long to get to Denver, that by the time we got there we decided to drive right through and now we are at a small inn in Fort Morgan, just east. It's so funny driving out of the mountains and experiencing the sudden change from constant hills and beauty to complete flat nothingness. Someone told me if I like the horizon I'll like this next leg of the journey. I told the kids there wouldn't be much to see so it could be a movie marathon.
Tonight, I really want to get my 8 hours of sleep, so will cut it short and tune in again soon!
Personality Styles and Vacations
Just before leaving on this trip, I spent two days in a Kiersey temperment style training course which was very interesting. The most interesting part for me is really "getting" that in this model, all people loosely fall into four basic temperments and that the key motivators for each temperment are extremely different. In general, we have:
Guardians - who pursue social respectability and security
Artisans - who pursue fun and want to make an impact
Idealists - who pursue personal growth and self-discovery
Rationals - who pursue knowledge and intellectual superiority
We all tend to think everyone gets the same "meaning" from life that we do. But they don't. They are completely driven by different things. I simplified the motivational drivers - so if you don't see yourself neatly in a category don't panic. (I'll write more about this model in my other blog - once I get back to thinking work).
So, you may have guessed that I'm an idealist, and I always am looking for deep insights about the meaning of life and all that stuff. And, up until now, I've assumed that most people seek these similar things and need to feel a sense of inner meaning and purpose to feel happy. But now I see that they don't.
This was eye-opening, and allowed me to appreciate those close to me and see them more in terms of what would give them a sense of personal fulfillment, instead of what would give me that same sense of fulfillment if I were in their shoes.
There are also many aspects of personality I don't believe this model covers and two of them are impacting me right now, on this trip. One of them is goal setting. Another is how the brain functions.
We had this great "rational" in our training group who had done a lot of reading on how the brain works and one insight he shared was why we need 8 hours of sleep. He said it takes that long for the brain to process everything that happened the following day and get it all organized and sorted. When we wake up fuzzy in the morning, it's because our brain hasn't had the chance to do all that sorting.
The first thing I noticed when I got up yesterday, after eight good hours of sleep, was how incredibly clear my head felt, and I remembered what he said. The first thing I noticed this morning when I got up after about 5 hours of sleep is that my brain is fuzzy, and I don't like that feeling as much as the clear brain. I've known a few brilliant people who thrive just fine on about 5 hours of sleep and I wonder if they've just trained their brains to sort faster.
The other thing I noticed this morning is my inner conflict. I want to get on the road and go go go, so I can make it to my friend Donna's house in Iowa and hang out with her for a couple of days before having to get on the road again. So I have goals of getting to point X by such and such time and point Y by another time, and I get anxious if I'm "behind schedule". But at the same time I keep telling myself I'm on vacation, and to relax.
So we'll see how that balance pans out.
Guardians - who pursue social respectability and security
Artisans - who pursue fun and want to make an impact
Idealists - who pursue personal growth and self-discovery
Rationals - who pursue knowledge and intellectual superiority
We all tend to think everyone gets the same "meaning" from life that we do. But they don't. They are completely driven by different things. I simplified the motivational drivers - so if you don't see yourself neatly in a category don't panic. (I'll write more about this model in my other blog - once I get back to thinking work).
So, you may have guessed that I'm an idealist, and I always am looking for deep insights about the meaning of life and all that stuff. And, up until now, I've assumed that most people seek these similar things and need to feel a sense of inner meaning and purpose to feel happy. But now I see that they don't.
This was eye-opening, and allowed me to appreciate those close to me and see them more in terms of what would give them a sense of personal fulfillment, instead of what would give me that same sense of fulfillment if I were in their shoes.
There are also many aspects of personality I don't believe this model covers and two of them are impacting me right now, on this trip. One of them is goal setting. Another is how the brain functions.
We had this great "rational" in our training group who had done a lot of reading on how the brain works and one insight he shared was why we need 8 hours of sleep. He said it takes that long for the brain to process everything that happened the following day and get it all organized and sorted. When we wake up fuzzy in the morning, it's because our brain hasn't had the chance to do all that sorting.
The first thing I noticed when I got up yesterday, after eight good hours of sleep, was how incredibly clear my head felt, and I remembered what he said. The first thing I noticed this morning when I got up after about 5 hours of sleep is that my brain is fuzzy, and I don't like that feeling as much as the clear brain. I've known a few brilliant people who thrive just fine on about 5 hours of sleep and I wonder if they've just trained their brains to sort faster.
The other thing I noticed this morning is my inner conflict. I want to get on the road and go go go, so I can make it to my friend Donna's house in Iowa and hang out with her for a couple of days before having to get on the road again. So I have goals of getting to point X by such and such time and point Y by another time, and I get anxious if I'm "behind schedule". But at the same time I keep telling myself I'm on vacation, and to relax.
So we'll see how that balance pans out.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Day 2 - Utah
Wow - Utah is beautiful. I have never seen such open space - mountains, canyons, amazing rock formations. I began to feel the like I could breathe again away from the crowds! Tonight we are staying in a motel in Green River, Utah, which I think is about an hour or so east of the Colorado border. The drive has been amazing, and the kids did pretty well, as long as they had access to the DVD player and endless movies. Even they were amazed when we drove through Virgin Canyon, which I think was in Arizona near the Grand Canyon. Justin and Kaelyn both want to come back and live here, or at least show their dad. We stopped at several scenic view points along the way, and the kids were in "rock heaven". I don't know what compels Justin to want to pick up rocks and throw them, but he had fun doing that. Kaelyn, the adventurer, wanted to climb on the rocks and she always scares me because she thinks if the 20 year old tourists are up there climbing that means it's safe for her too. Luckily, I had the diving incident in my pocket to remind her that I have a right to be a neurotic mom and require that they stay well back from the cliffs.
We stopped in Cedar City, Utah for our afternoon break and went to this really cute park called the Discovery Park, which was designed by the families in the community. It had so many interesting things to climb in and on, that I would love to share a picture. Our camera never did start working, so I ended up buying a new one today, but that one wasn't charged yet. Do you know google images does not have a picture of that park? That's how small the towns are here - it's actually possible to find something interesting that someone has not taken a picture of yet and posted on the internet. Or at least not in a way that I could easily find it.
The picture at the top of this entry is one I found on the internet. Now, imagine seeing at least 50 spectacular views like this throughout the day almost everywhere you turn. I've never seen rocks this cool!
Tomorrow, we are off to Denver, and I believe we will be driving through the Rockies. Never been there either - so we are looking forward to the fun!
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Day 1 - Nevada
Well, I'm glad I wasn't attached to any pre-conceived notions about how this trip would go, because our Lake Mead leg didn't turn out anything like I had hoped. But it wasn't too bad either.
I invited Mark to come with us since it was the weekend, and the idea was we'd leave super early Saturday morning, play on the lake all day and go our separate ways Sunday morning. He was torn at first, but then decided to by a new bimini (cover) for his boat so we could have shade on the lake, and decided it would be fun.
I hadn't given myself much time to pack on Friday since I had been in a training all day, and even though I had a fairly thorough list and most of the clothes washed, things took much longer than I expected, and before we knew it we were still trying to do last minute stuff at 10pm when we were planning on getting up around 4am. So at some point I had to let go of my dream of leaving a perfectly complete to do list, a perfectly clean and organized house, and trust Mark to take care of the loose ends when he returns after the weekend.
The drive itself wasn't too bad, and I figured it would be an easy start for the kids. Only about 4-5 hours the first day, each of them in a different vehicle with the entire back seat to stretch out in. But when you took into consideration the slower drive with the boat, a few extra stops for bathroom breaks, and not knowing exactly where we were going when we got to the lake, it was already after noon before we managed to get the boat into the water.
And then we had one little surprise after another. The boat ramp was shallow, the parking was on gravel with very deep pits and potholes, the temperature was well over 100 degrees, the wind was strong and gusty, the marina was crowded and didn't rent the inner tubes we had wanted, our fruit and some snacks didn't handle the heat, and neither did we. I was afraid the kids were getting heat stroke and kept trying to get them to sip water. Kaelyn started getting sea sick, and by the time I got sunscreen on everyone, our faces at least were already burned.
Finally we got the boat cover up, which gave us a little shade, and we got out on the open water. Since we were so hot, we went to find a cove immediately so we could swim. It was really nice getting into the cold water and it looked like everyone was going to have fun, but then the headaches hit, and then I got seasick. Funny thing is - I had brought wristbands for me and Kaelyn just in case we needed them to drive through the mountains, but it never occured to me that we would need them on the lake, and I didn't bring them onto the boat. We always take them with us when we go out on the ocean, but since I've never gotten sick on a lake - even a rough one, it was the last thing I thought of here.
Instead of the calm, peaceful, desert lake I had imagined, we were contantly being hit with waves or wind from all sides. And no matter how much we drank, the sun found a way to dehydrate us. The mountains around the lake didn't look as beautiful as I'd expected. The one thing I noticed was how low the water was compared to the water lines on the land. It kind of gave me the feeling that the poor lake was evaporating to death. I had planned to just relax on the boat and notice the landscape, but we just kept getting tossed around. Finally, after it became apparent that I wasn't going to get better until I could lay down in a cool, still place for an hour or so, we finally decided to leave the lake and find a hotel. Thankfully, we had decided not to camp, because pulling together all that extra equipment would have taken too much time. And we wouldn't have done it anyway. The car registered 130 degrees when we finally left. Ugg!
Despite all of this, there were lots of nice things that happened. Like the fact that the hotel we had been thinking of staying at simply showed up on the road within minutes of leaving the marina. It had a beautiful view of the lake, and free wireless internet! After getting off the churning water, it only took me about an hour to recover, and we were all showered and on our way to dinner. We got to see the Las Vegas skyline on the way back, and now everyone is asleep. But me.
Tomorrow, our goal is to reach Grand Junction, Colorado. If we could make it all the way to Denver that would be really awesome. But I've scrapped the idea of making an early start. Although I want to get to my friend Donna's in Iowa by early Tuesday, the whole point of this trip was NOT to stress out. And so far, it's been kind of stressful. So we're just going to wake up when we wake up and get ready when we get ready, and go when we go.
By the way, another surprise for us today was the camera not working. It had worked fine the prior night, but when I got the kids all set up to take our first picture, it kept trying to get itself oriented, and asking us to turn the power on and off again. Neither Mark nor I could figure out what was going on. So there will be no pictures for our first day. I'm recharging the battery as we speak, so perhaps that will do the trick and we'll have some pics by tomorrow.
I invited Mark to come with us since it was the weekend, and the idea was we'd leave super early Saturday morning, play on the lake all day and go our separate ways Sunday morning. He was torn at first, but then decided to by a new bimini (cover) for his boat so we could have shade on the lake, and decided it would be fun.
I hadn't given myself much time to pack on Friday since I had been in a training all day, and even though I had a fairly thorough list and most of the clothes washed, things took much longer than I expected, and before we knew it we were still trying to do last minute stuff at 10pm when we were planning on getting up around 4am. So at some point I had to let go of my dream of leaving a perfectly complete to do list, a perfectly clean and organized house, and trust Mark to take care of the loose ends when he returns after the weekend.
The drive itself wasn't too bad, and I figured it would be an easy start for the kids. Only about 4-5 hours the first day, each of them in a different vehicle with the entire back seat to stretch out in. But when you took into consideration the slower drive with the boat, a few extra stops for bathroom breaks, and not knowing exactly where we were going when we got to the lake, it was already after noon before we managed to get the boat into the water.
And then we had one little surprise after another. The boat ramp was shallow, the parking was on gravel with very deep pits and potholes, the temperature was well over 100 degrees, the wind was strong and gusty, the marina was crowded and didn't rent the inner tubes we had wanted, our fruit and some snacks didn't handle the heat, and neither did we. I was afraid the kids were getting heat stroke and kept trying to get them to sip water. Kaelyn started getting sea sick, and by the time I got sunscreen on everyone, our faces at least were already burned.
Finally we got the boat cover up, which gave us a little shade, and we got out on the open water. Since we were so hot, we went to find a cove immediately so we could swim. It was really nice getting into the cold water and it looked like everyone was going to have fun, but then the headaches hit, and then I got seasick. Funny thing is - I had brought wristbands for me and Kaelyn just in case we needed them to drive through the mountains, but it never occured to me that we would need them on the lake, and I didn't bring them onto the boat. We always take them with us when we go out on the ocean, but since I've never gotten sick on a lake - even a rough one, it was the last thing I thought of here.
Instead of the calm, peaceful, desert lake I had imagined, we were contantly being hit with waves or wind from all sides. And no matter how much we drank, the sun found a way to dehydrate us. The mountains around the lake didn't look as beautiful as I'd expected. The one thing I noticed was how low the water was compared to the water lines on the land. It kind of gave me the feeling that the poor lake was evaporating to death. I had planned to just relax on the boat and notice the landscape, but we just kept getting tossed around. Finally, after it became apparent that I wasn't going to get better until I could lay down in a cool, still place for an hour or so, we finally decided to leave the lake and find a hotel. Thankfully, we had decided not to camp, because pulling together all that extra equipment would have taken too much time. And we wouldn't have done it anyway. The car registered 130 degrees when we finally left. Ugg!
Despite all of this, there were lots of nice things that happened. Like the fact that the hotel we had been thinking of staying at simply showed up on the road within minutes of leaving the marina. It had a beautiful view of the lake, and free wireless internet! After getting off the churning water, it only took me about an hour to recover, and we were all showered and on our way to dinner. We got to see the Las Vegas skyline on the way back, and now everyone is asleep. But me.
Tomorrow, our goal is to reach Grand Junction, Colorado. If we could make it all the way to Denver that would be really awesome. But I've scrapped the idea of making an early start. Although I want to get to my friend Donna's in Iowa by early Tuesday, the whole point of this trip was NOT to stress out. And so far, it's been kind of stressful. So we're just going to wake up when we wake up and get ready when we get ready, and go when we go.
By the way, another surprise for us today was the camera not working. It had worked fine the prior night, but when I got the kids all set up to take our first picture, it kept trying to get itself oriented, and asking us to turn the power on and off again. Neither Mark nor I could figure out what was going on. So there will be no pictures for our first day. I'm recharging the battery as we speak, so perhaps that will do the trick and we'll have some pics by tomorrow.
My goal tomorrow will be to divide the trip into 2-3 hour segments and see if we can have fun with it.
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