tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86130954457370584242024-03-12T23:41:01.730-04:00Miles Family TripA daily journal of our cross-country road trip.Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10495599965133365336noreply@blogger.comBlogger108125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613095445737058424.post-20435330392260236942009-09-01T20:02:00.001-04:002009-09-01T20:02:18.175-04:00~ the herd left the old and infirm and continued its migration.Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13804835888130580698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613095445737058424.post-35541068932590172162009-09-01T17:20:00.001-04:002009-09-01T17:20:25.957-04:00Home.Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13804835888130580698noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613095445737058424.post-7185852824313310582009-09-01T14:48:00.003-04:002009-09-01T16:15:45.964-04:00Day 69: St. Louis, MO to Port Washington, NYWe managed to hit the road at the reasonable hour of 8:25 this morning. I think we were all oddly excited about this last long day in the car. After about 6 hours or so, Ron and I both voiced the same crazy idea: Let's skip the hotel room in PA and just drive the whole 1,ooo miles to my parents' house on Long Island. After conferring with the kids about sleeping in the car with their sleeping bags for a few hours that night, we were all in agreement that driving through was the best option.<br /><br />Doing this marathon drive meant we had to break my cardinal rule about no fast-food, though. We inhaled dinner at a KFC somewhere in western PA and got back on the road. We settled the kids in their sleeping bags a few hours later and then Ron and I took one more shift each. We finally pulled into the driveway at 2:30 am. A very long day, but we will all be very happy about it when we get home tomorrow afternoon instead of late at night as originally planned.Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10495599965133365336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613095445737058424.post-69387860628643885252009-09-01T14:47:00.003-04:002009-09-01T16:14:50.454-04:00Day 68: St. Louis, MOI was a little behind in updating the blog, so this entry probably seems a little out of order since Ron's real-time posts of our drive from St. Louis appear after this entry. Oh well.<br /><br />Jonah got two of his biggest wishes today. We visited the St. Louis Arch and went to a major league ball game. We'd been thwarted in three previous attempts to attend an MLB game this summer, so he was thrilled that it finally worked out. Busch Stadium is right next to the Arch, too, so we could combine both activities in one trip. The drive to the Arch took a little longer than anticipated, so we had to skip all the museum displays in order to be on time for meeting some more college friends at the Cardinals game. Our stay on top of the Arch was like Clark Griswold viewing the Grand Canyon, but the kids didn't seem to notice. I think they thought everyone sprinted to the front of the line for the descending tram after looking out the windows for 30 seconds. <br /><br />Our speedy visit allowed us to get to the ball game on time where we met up with three more friends from our Virginia days. We couldn't all sit together through the whole game, but we played enough musical seats that we all got to visit. It would have been nice to hang out longer, but there's only so much you can cram into one trip. Jonah seemed to enjoy the game, as did Elli, but she was ready to leave early with Dave when his son, Owen, had had enough. Elli was definitely more interested in playing with Owen than hanging out at the Cardinals game. <br /><br />Dinner was a decidedly relaxed affair which allowed the kids to play as much as possible. The adults enjoyed reminiscing about "the good old days". It's a bit to sad to think that I'm old enough to have "good old days", but there you have it.<br /><br />Tomorrow is going to be a long drive as we try to get as close as possible to my parents' house before crashing at a hotel. It's hard to believe the trip is almost over. We've had so many wonderful experiences and really bonded as a family. I hope the kids will remember all the happy memories and not focus on how long we made them sit in the car.Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10495599965133365336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613095445737058424.post-61400239695944858862009-09-01T00:51:00.001-04:002009-09-01T00:51:03.525-04:00Switching drivers. 91 to go.Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13804835888130580698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613095445737058424.post-64653709321581724132009-09-01T00:23:00.001-04:002009-09-01T00:23:50.330-04:00870 down, 124 to go. Officially our longest day now.Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13804835888130580698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613095445737058424.post-91691345508661982572009-08-31T23:02:00.001-04:002009-08-31T23:02:03.601-04:00Mile 782. Seems Elli just needed a good cry. All quiet on the Eastern front. 211 to go.Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13804835888130580698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613095445737058424.post-84705539914337938402009-08-31T22:55:00.001-04:002009-08-31T22:55:48.567-04:00Mile 780. Taking two Advil for aching back. Anyone know a good masseuse in North Adams?Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13804835888130580698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613095445737058424.post-62130872354663813292009-08-31T22:50:00.001-04:002009-08-31T22:50:08.960-04:00Mile 775. Elli begins losing her metaphorical shit.Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13804835888130580698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613095445737058424.post-91425259556687776672009-08-31T22:13:00.001-04:002009-08-31T22:13:49.357-04:00Attempting to push through from St. Louis to New York today. 736 miles down, 257 to go.Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13804835888130580698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613095445737058424.post-50981992319280961912009-08-31T19:57:00.001-04:002009-08-31T19:57:59.341-04:00In a stunning violation of the no fast food policy, Maria and Jonah have KFC Famous Bowls for dinner.Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13804835888130580698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613095445737058424.post-7940513786378374962009-08-31T15:21:00.001-04:002009-08-31T15:21:41.199-04:00Ohio, So Much to Discover! Yeah, like how long will it take us to get across it.Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13804835888130580698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613095445737058424.post-57164642969420934502009-08-31T12:25:00.001-04:002009-08-31T12:25:39.078-04:00Making the final push to the east coast. PA tonight and home tomorrow.Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13804835888130580698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613095445737058424.post-67653032101474326632009-08-29T22:31:00.001-04:002009-08-29T22:31:08.996-04:00Longest 7/10 of a mile ever.Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13804835888130580698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613095445737058424.post-44941855141246916922009-08-29T20:38:00.001-04:002009-08-29T20:38:43.458-04:00Beautiful sunset behind us as we approach St. Louis from the west.Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13804835888130580698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613095445737058424.post-90250173240209247012009-08-29T12:39:00.006-04:002009-09-01T15:03:37.031-04:00Day 67: Denver, CO to St. Louis, MOWe actually both arose promptly at 5 am this morning, threw our remaining few belongings into bags, finished loading the car, ate a small breakfast, and snuggled the kids into the backseat with their pillows and sleeping bags all in 40 minutes. A very efficient start to the day considering the early hour.<br /><br />A perk of getting on the road so early and driving east was the beautiful sunrise. I honestly don't remember the last time I'd been up for a sunrise (thanks, kids, for being late risers!), so it was actually quite a treat. The sky looked like it was about to burst into flame and then the glowing orange orb of the sun peeked over the horizon. A spectacular sight.<br /><br />We packed a bunch of snacks for the ride and just let the kids eat whatever their little hearts desired. After about 7-8 hours in the car, we arrived in Manhattan, KS where we had a late lunch with a former student of mine, Maura. Maura is a doctoral candidate in I/O Psychology at Kansas State and was able to take a break from prepping her dissertation proposal orals to have a late lunch with us. It was a short, but fun, visit. Hopefully, it won't be another four years before our next one (but maybe not in Kansas).<br /><br />It felt like Kansas was never going to end, but after 424 miles, we finally crossed the border into Missouri. Another few hours and we arrived at Dave and Catherine's house. We all went to college together and hadn't seen each other in a LONG time. We were a little bleary eyed and exhausted when we got there (860 mile drives tend to do that to you), but we rallied enough to visit for a couple of hours before collapsing into bed. Only one more marathon drive to go!Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10495599965133365336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613095445737058424.post-45564966242566303312009-08-29T12:39:00.005-04:002009-08-29T19:31:33.360-04:00Day 66: Denver, CORon really slept in today, so we finally got around to leaving the house around noontime. Cara drove us to Sam's No. 3 in downtown Denver for a fabulous brunch. After stuffing ourselves silly, we waddled back to the car for a shopping trip at REI. I had lost my sunglasses at the park the night before and definitely needed a replacement before the next leg of our journey. We discovered that REI was having a Labor Day sale, so we went a little nuts: camel backs for the kids, biking shorts and sunglasses for me, a new headlamp, a saddle bag for Ron's bike, and a schoolbag for Elli. Saved some money and it all fit easily in the car when we re-packed it!<br /><br />We then attempted to go to the Denver Botanic Gardens, but were surprised to discover it had closed early for a private event that night. Boo! We were able to smooth things over with ice cream and a stop at a playground for the kids, though. The rest of the day was spent hanging out at Cara's, watching tv, eating pizza, and packing up for the second to last long day of driving on our trip. Four more days and we're home!Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10495599965133365336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613095445737058424.post-66168556763268753912009-08-29T12:38:00.002-04:002009-08-29T19:12:21.276-04:00Day 65: Corrales, NM to Denver, COOur day started out well with another fantastic breakfast by Uncle Kent and Aunt Janet, but took a turn for the worse when we tried to track down Ron's wallet at a gas station on our way out of town. After 30 minutes of tearing apart our car and Janet and Kent searching their house back in Corrales, we had to accept that the wallet was gone. As we re-packed our car at the gas station, a considerate police officer approached to ask if everything was okay. He noticed us pulling everything out of the car and Ron abusing his sleeping bag and just wanted to be sure there wasn't a domestic squabble that needed to be handled. He was re-assured that Ron and I were not about to beat the crap out of each other and commiserated about the frustrations of a lost wallet. Not much more he could do.<br /><br />There were no other significant mis-adventures on our drive and we still made pretty good time to my friend Cara's house in Denver. We took a short drive to a beautiful park in downtown Denver where we had a picnic dinner and met up with some of Cara's friends. It was fun relaxing and playing some bocce ball with Jonah, but I started to crash. I had driven all day and started to really feel it. I managed to rally, though, after getting the kids to bed and was able to enjoy visiting with Cara over our vacation photos. So glad we don't have to drive anywhere tomorrow!Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10495599965133365336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613095445737058424.post-81099060021655857192009-08-29T10:27:00.001-04:002009-08-29T10:27:55.354-04:00Currently reaffirming my decision to never move to Kansas.Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13804835888130580698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613095445737058424.post-80611996472340829832009-08-27T15:31:00.001-04:002009-08-27T15:31:04.197-04:00Lost wallet in New Mexico. Pissed.Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13804835888130580698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613095445737058424.post-39839550297061455532009-08-27T01:17:00.006-04:002009-08-29T19:18:07.879-04:00Day 64: Corrales, NMWe had an excellent blueberry pancake breakfast this morning followed by a trip on the Sandia Peak Tramway. The tram travels 4,000 vertical feet in 15 minutes providing an impressive view of the greater Albuquerque area. At the top of the mountain, we took a 3 mile roundtrip hike to a CCC era stone cabin, then a quick lunch at the restaurant at the top because Ron needed to get to a better cell signal for a work conference call. He was a little late, but it all worked out.<br /><br />When we got back to my aunt and uncle's house, the kids had their first rides on a horse! My aunt, Janet, saddled up her horse, Sam, and led Jonah and then Elli around their property on him. I was impressed that neither one of them showed any fear about getting up on such a big horse. I freaked out on the back of a horse when I was seven, so I would've understood a little panic. Ron and I are wondering how soon Elli will be asking for a pony...<br /><br />I had a great time visiting with family here in Corrales, but I'm sorry it was so short. I hadn't seen my cousin Evan since my wedding 12 years ago, so a little family time was definitely warranted. I hope that we'll all get to visit again sometime soon.Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10495599965133365336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613095445737058424.post-92144201219837770962009-08-26T01:52:00.004-04:002009-08-29T18:24:46.611-04:00Day 63: Lake Las Vegas, NV to Corrales, NMWe arose at 7 am this morning for a small room service breakfast and then a relatively quick dip in one of the resort's huge pools. For most of our hour long swim we were the only people in the pool which was a little eerie. I guess mid-week in August is not exactly prime vacation time in Las Vegas. Thankfully, the kids seemed to have their fill of the pool and playground and didn't give us a hard time about hitting the road. <br /><br />After about 10 minutes of driving, we stopped at Hoover Dam on the NV-AZ border which was one of the first sites Jonah said he wanted to visit when we first started planning this trip. I was amazed at how big of an attraction it had become since my first visit in 1993. There was a huge parking structure (and parking fee) and an exorbitant entrance fee to the visitor center. We passed on the visitor center and chose to just walk across the dam. That was impressive enough, so no one was disappointed with that decision. After much picture taking by all four of us, we got back in the car for our drive across Arizona and into New Mexico to visit my aunt, uncle and cousin in Corrales, NM. <br /><br />Today's scenery was much prettier, although the drive was longer. I was very frustrated with all the construction in the last 60 miles of our drive. Just when I'd get into a rhythm with the 75 mph speed limit, we'd come to another stretch of single lane, 55 mph speed limit. So we were pretty exhausted by the time we reached Corrales. We went to bed pretty quickly after a delicious dinner, looking forward to a relaxing day out of the car tomorrow.Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10495599965133365336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613095445737058424.post-62921438889978505052009-08-26T01:51:00.003-04:002009-08-29T18:11:54.899-04:00Day 62: Yosemite to Lake Mead, NVAs if we needed it, we got further evidence that Elli is ready for home. She was very difficult at bedtime and if the campground had been crowded, she probably would've earned us a visit from the park ranger. Thankfully, we all felt better after a pretty good night's sleep. I was pretty surprised that I was the first one up at 8:20. The rest of the family was still dead to the world, so I started breaking camp on my own. I finally roused them at 9 am and we hit the road before 10 am.<br /><br />Our 39 mile drive through Yosemite to the western entrance was just as incredible as the previous day's tour through Yosemite Valley. We found another spectacular view of Half Dome and took a very short hike to snap some more photos. The drive took us over Tioga Pass which topped out at 9,955 feet, our car's highest elevation of the summer. We then started a gradual descent on Rt. 120 through eastern CA. That portion of the drive had us all pretty giddy as the road had lots of ups and downs and dips that made it feel like a roller coaster. The kids were raving about this being the best drive of the trip!<br /><br />If only that elation had continued. As we drove through western Nevada, we felt increasingly deflated. The scenery was rocky, gray and desolate with very little vegetation. The most depressing towns I've ever seen cropped up every 30 miles or so dotting the landscape with dilapidated double wides and yards littered with junk and broken down cars. I didn't see a sign of life in any of the towns, so they may have been deserted for all I know. I almost hope they were deserted because it was hard to envision what kind of existence the residents eked out in such a bleak place.<br /><br />So, maybe we were pre-disposed given our first impressions of Nevada, but we were distinctly underwhelmed by Lake Mead National Recreation Area where we planned to camp for the night. Maybe it was the 100 heat, the dusky lighting, or the poor comparison to Yosemite, but none of us were interested in camping (except for Elli who just really likes her sleeping bag). A web search and a phone call later, we had booked a room at the Loews' Hotel in the Lake Las Vegas resort. It cost about 10 times what camping would have, but the comfy beds and outdoor patio made it worthwhile. Elli gave us trouble again at bedtime, but a couple of beers on the patio helped wipe away that memory.Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10495599965133365336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613095445737058424.post-70938435362890716302009-08-24T20:54:00.003-04:002009-08-24T20:54:45.766-04:00Angel's Ladies Brothel. All Night Truck Parking! Welcome to Nevada.Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13804835888130580698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613095445737058424.post-75762983385767167232009-08-23T11:59:00.003-04:002009-08-29T13:12:47.826-04:00Day 61: Sacramento to Yosemite National ParkOur hotel room was so comfortable, we had a bit of trouble motivating this morning. We weren't too terribly lazy, though, as we made it to Yosemite National Park around lunchtime. After eating lunch and setting up our campsite in Crane Flat, we hit the road to check out the park.<br /><br />Our first stop was the Tuolomne Giant Sequoia Grove. I think we all agreed that the sequoia grove wasn't as impressive as the redwood groves we visited in Northern CA. We also agreed that the 1+ mile hike back up to the car wasn't terribly fun. My legs were still a bit sore and the 6,500 feet of elevation was more than my lungs could easily handle. Ron definitely worked the most as he was a softy and carried Elli on his shoulders for at least half the climb. <br /><br />We then headed for a driving tour of Yosemite Valley which did not disappoint in the least. To the contrary, we wished we had spent more time in the Valley and skipped the sequoia grove. The views of El Capitan and Half Dome and all the other granite monoliths were incredibly majestic and breathtaking. As Ron said, it was like seeing one Devil's Tower after another. Simply astounding.<br /><br />After we finally picked up our jaws from the floor, we drove back to our campground and prepared dinner. We made up for Jonah's backpacking culinary disappointment and roasted hot dogs on the fire and cooked macaroni cheese. Elli abstained from the hot dogs as she was having a vegetarian day (except for the turkey lunch meat she ate earlier in the day). I think the kids favorite part of the evening was lying on their backs looking at all the stars. We have a pretty spectacular night sky in the Berkshires, but it pales in comparison to Yosemite's. Jonah kept pointing out different constellations to Elli which was pretty cute. If I'd paid any attention in my college astronomy course, I could've even told him if he was right.Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10495599965133365336noreply@blogger.com0