RoadScholarz

WE HAVE MOVED ON DOWN THE ROAD

2010-06-01T12:13:00.000-07:00

Visit us at our new website at www.theroadscholarz.com. Hope to see you there!

RV trip with kids

2010-01-24T18:45:00.000-08:00

We've been back from our road trip now for a year. Many people have asked for a "how to" guide. Anyone interested?
There are lots of tips on packing, homeschooling, cooking, driving, camping, sight-seeing, reservations, quick repairs etc.

Home schooling with kids in an RV was tons of fun. I would recommend it to anyone!

Home

2008-12-15T11:07:00.000-08:00

Some people have asked that I do my "last entry" on the blog. So here it is...

We've been home now just two weeks. The arrival home even included crossing a bonafide finish line--TP strung across the street by welcoming family and friends. It was the perfect homecoming.

The original plan was that the kids would start back to school in January, giving us some time to finish up our homeschool work etc. But when I went to re-register the kids, the teachers said to come back early since the 4th and 5th grades had these GREAT week-long field trips to Old Town and Balboa Park starting the week of December 15th. Jackson and Lilly were chomping at the bit, and Sammy was very eager to start in her kindergarten class. Today is their first full-day back at Hearst, and they are absolutely thrilled and happy to see all their friends and tell them a little about our adventure. I am happy to have this week before Christmas to get my head above water. There still some RV unloading to do.

It's great to be home. Not surprisingly we've all had some adjusting to do. The big thing is boredom. We all got very used to having so much going on, as far as always being in new places etc., that the kids started to go a little stir crazy just being here. School only took up so much time before they were ready to do something else. That's why it was so nice to have them be able to return early to Hearst.

I think about the trip every day, finding it hard to believe it's come and gone. I learned so much, not just about our country, but all that other stuff that comes to your mind when you allow it to. Time on the road is a great chance to think. The kids made a book while on the trip, and I uploaded it online. We should receive it this week, and I can hardly wait. They did all the illustrations and wrote about the places they'd been. Now if only it could be on Oprah's best seller, or Border's best seller, we'd earn back some of our trip expenses.

We've taken the RV out a few times since we've been home. It kinda feels funny to drive it around town, like we're supposed to head off somewhere again. But the best part is I KNOW WHERE I'M GOING WHEN I'M DRIVING IT AND DON'T HAVE TO TRY AND READ SIGNS, LISTEN TO THE GPS, LOOK AT MAPS ALL AT THE SAME TIME! It's parked out in front of our house, and will be our mobil guest room should anyone come and visit us. I'm sure the neighbors love us.

I'll be looking for work come January. Wouldn't it be great if my new job required some USA travel-with-kids suggestions?! I have some great advise for those looking to replicate this trip!

In the mean time, if anyone knows of P/T work that changes the world in some positive way, has great flexibillity and pays well, just let me know. I'm sure there are a lot of those jobs, eveywhere.

That's it from the RoadScholarz. It was such a great trip, in so many ways. I think we'd all do it again in a NY minute, but we'd have to bring Daddy and the dogs.

Keep on truckin,
10-4
RoadMom

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

2008-11-27T07:02:00.001-08:00

Well, we've made it. We did what we set out to do. I am so proud of the kids. They did an awesome job. Yesterday was one of our best days yet-depsite a day of rain. One might think what do you do in an RV all day long with three kids??? Between school, art, reading, writing, showers, laundry and taking breaks when the rain stopped, the day flew by. The kids (and I) listened to Sound of Music and Christmas songs all day long. I was a big fan of the Sound of Music choice, no big surprise there. It was 10pm by the time we all went to bed.

Last night we had the storms of all storms. At 3am thunder and lightening lit up our sky. It felt like it was right overhead. Jack and I were upstairs and woke right up. When rain hits the RV, it sounds like little pebbles are falling on us. The lightening illuminated the entire campground. It was very exciting. I got down to cover up Lilly who had also awakened. She looked at me and said smiling, "when the dog bites, when the bee stings..." I thought that was pretty clever for 3am.

Mike (and the dogs) left San Diego early this morning and are headed our way. We'll have a memorable Thanksgiving in the RV. On Friday (Jana's birthday!), we'll caravan down to Phoenix where Mike, the kids and the dogs will camp for the night. Jackson has scouted out his last Cabela's and will go there tomorrow. I, on the otherhand, will go to the airport and pick up Heidi and Bertie who will spend a girls weekend with me back in Sedona!! I have a massage booked for Saturday. Boy, does my back need that. MIke and kids will get home Saturday, and Bertie and I will drive home in the MDX on Sunday night.

And that's the end. We are ending on Thanksgiving which is pretty fitting. I think it's safe to say that we are all very grateful for not only doing the trip, but also that we had a safe return. I also think we have a deeper appreciation for all that we have in our country, and we have an enormous amount of respect for those who died not only for our freedom but for theirs. We live in a pretty amazing place. It's a big sense of accomplishment, and if anything, I hope we've learned that YES, WE CAN.

Happy Thanksgiving to all-

Sammy
It's not the end for us three kids because my Mom is not doing it anymore, but my Dad and us three are going to still camp. I liked the trip in genereal because of the hooking up part. I think that may be kinda fun, how you hook up the RV. The trip also has made me think like we got to see a lot of sutff compared to other people. And they don't get to see Mt. Rushmore and the Grand Tetons and White Sands. I am happy we did this trip.

Lilly
I can't beleive we made it to the end, and about the trip, I really liked all of it except Hoover Dam. I really like seeing Mt. Rushmore, Grand Tetons and White Sands. I liked having mornings when we just listened to music and I got to lie in bed.
I think, "Wow, we made it."

Jackson
It was really nice to be able to be mellow in the morning, and not rush, and maybe just go out and play in the rain. It was just a really amazing trip. I am very glad we did this.

Winslow-Sedona

2008-11-25T16:00:00.000-08:00

Standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona... we left the Wigwam this morning and drove *through* Winslow, AZ. I"m not sure if any of us would want to be stuck on that corner for long. But it was fun to see "the corner." The drive from Flagstaff to Sedona was amazing. Flagstaff is like Truckee, a little mountain feeling town, and it smelled just like Tahoe.

Sedona is fabulous. It's great timing that this really is our last stop before home, not counting Phoenix since we've been there. All of us love it here and it's top on the list of favorite places. I found myself consistently saying on this trip, "Wow, it's pretty here," and then the next stop saying the same thing. But Sedona really is spectacular. Our campground is covered with fall, leaves and the mountains shoot up behind us.

We're supposed to get heavy rain Wednesday and Thursday night, so tonight we're walking from our campground around the corner to some resort. There, they will light over 1 millions Christmas tree lights. Just looked at the time-have to run to the lights!

Back in Arizona

2008-11-24T18:11:00.000-08:00

We crossed our last state line (Arizona) before getting home to California. We hit 19 states in all. Tonight we are staying in a wigwam! I thought the kids would get a kick out of staying in a tee-pee. It's pretty classic. Because the walls are slanted, you actually have to look UP into the bathroom mirror. Our "room" is about 15 feet in diameter. Tomorrow is Sedona where we'll be through Thanksgiving, the day Mike meets us. I'm having a hard time believing that this adventure is truly almost over. Anyone else find this hard to believe?

Back to Albuquerque

2008-11-23T18:04:00.000-08:00

From Lilly:
Today we went to see some petroglyphs. Petroglyphs are indian writings on rocks. It was a long hike. I took a lot of pictures. We also went on the longest tram in the world, 2.7 miles. It was a beautiful view. From the top to the bottom is about 15 minutes. After both activities, Jackson, Sammy and I washed the RV. That was fun because we kind of squirted each other with the hose. We played at the park at our campground. We ate dinner and then we had to drop off my grandparents at the airport. I said good-bye and then we left. Now I am going to leave my journal, good-bye.

Jackson
The elevation from the upper terminal is 10,378 feet. At the top it was 32 degrees, and at the bottom it warmed up to 72 degrees. The average number of people per year is 250,000. The distance btwn tower 2 and the summit is 7,720 ft or just over a mile. The petroglyph hike was about 3 miles. It felt good to run around. We had a lot of conversations on the way. It was hard to leave Nana and Poppy.

Sammy
Today we went to a drug store. We got scrunchies and clips from Nana. We had to use a cardboard box cutter to cut them (the packages) in half. I have for the clips red, yellow and green. My scrunchies colors are blue, purple, pink and green. I liked the tram a lot. I really liked the petroglyphs. I walked with Poppy most of the way. Then that's when we went to the drugstore. The tram was really, really fun. I liked it really good. Then we went to the carwash. My Mom and the kids kinda got sprayed. I sprayed my sister and my brother. The End.

More time in Sante Fe

2008-11-22T19:01:00.001-08:00

It was art appreciation day. We toured the Georgia O'Keeffe museum. She was born in 1887 in Wisconsin and died in 1986 in Sante Fe. At the age of 12 she knew she wanted to be an artist. She studied in Chicago and New York but where she felt most at home was in New Mexico. There she painted her passion, nature. It was a great exhibit, and even the kids liked it.

We walked into town and had lunch at our new favorite restaurant. After lunch we took a bus tour around Sante Fe. It was awesome. Sante Fe is the highest state capital in elevation, sells the most art second to New York, and hosts a great number of galleries. In the summer, the temperature gets to 90 degrees, but it's a dry heat. I could handle that. We drove up Canyon Rd. which was basically gallery row. It was so cool.

In the afternoon the kids went in the hot tub, did school and hung out. Mom, Dad and I went back into town to see the luminaries on the plaza lit at night. It was very pretty.

Tomorrow we had back to Albuquerque, and we'll take Nana and Poppy to the airport. It's been so great having them here. We've had so much fun. What a way to round out our trip before being home. Thank you Mom and Dad!

PS-GO BEARS! We beat Stanfurd today in the Big Game!

Taos

2008-11-21T18:56:00.000-08:00

Today we drove and hour and a half to Taos. It was a beautiful drive, along canyons and rivers. Our first stop was Taos Pueblo. The Pueblo is considered to be the oldest continuously inhabited community in the US. Native legend and history trace this indian community life back to the beginning of evolution. The native language is Tiwa and is unwritten (and unrecorded) and will remain so. The details of traditional values, life and language are passed down from generation to generation. Traditional houses are made of adobe brick and adobe ovens are still used to bake bread, cakes, pies and cookies. We tried the bread and it was delicious. If you wanted to take pictues of the native people, you must first ask for permission as the belief is taking pictures takes away from that person's soul.

The church was built in 1850 and is a registered historical landmark. Catholism was introduced to this community by the early Spanish missionaries. Today about 3/4 of the population share in some of the Catholic rituals, while the natives still practice 100% in tradtional tribal rituals. Between 50-100 people currently live in the Pueblo.

After walking the Pueblo, we drove into Taos and had lunch. The town was small, but the surrounding mountains and plains were beautiful. We arrived back into Sante Fe in time for a hot tub, homework and left-over turkey dinner.

Sante Fe

2008-11-20T22:05:00.000-08:00

I could live here. It's awesome. After breakfast with Mom and Dad, we all took a shuttle into downtown, to the Plaza. We strolled around town, did some shopping and had a great, authentic, southwestern lunch, complete with margaritas for Dad and me. It was cold, so we took the shuttle back and spent the afternoon doing school and cooking an early turkey. I had a nap, a real nap, did laundry and went to the gym. The funny part was that the kids came and found me in the gym and stayed to do all the machines etc. I was laughing, and thankfully no one else was there. We ate our Thanksgiving dinner with Nana and Poppy and watched Planet Earth. If you haven't seen this DVD collection, you should. It's fascinating. Tomorrow we'll drive about an hour north to Taos. I can't wait-it's a ski town, so I'm sure we'll all love it. And it feels like it could snow-tonight's temperature is 29 degrees!

this is a test for Poppy

2008-11-20T08:49:00.001-08:00

New passengers

2008-11-19T19:14:00.000-08:00

Well, Rhody and Charlotte left yesterday, and Nana and Poppy arrived today! We left our scanky campground early (even Lilly said the Chevron bathroom was cleaner than the campground bathroom--now that's bad). Once in Albuquerquue, we found Trader Joe's! I was almost giddy doing the shopping. In the same parking lot, there was a bike repair shop. Sammy's bike has needed repairs since ??? Wyoming maybe?? We sat in this parking lot, outside of Bed Bath and Beyond, adjacent to Trader joe's, for four hours. We ate lunch, did school and used the store's bathroom. Lilly and Jack rode bikes in the parking lot. What does this make us? Does one have squatter's rights in a parking lot?

At 2pm, we loaded up and went to the airport to get my parents. Sam's bike wasn't finished yet, so on the way back from the airport we picked that up and continued onto Sante Fe.

Mom and Dad got us our own suite, complete with two bedrooms. Not only do I get my own bed but also my own room. how great is that.

More Dunes pictures

2008-11-18T20:12:00.000-08:00

Had to put a few more pictures up--it was such a cool day.

Eleven Weeks Out!

2008-11-18T18:26:00.000-08:00

WHAT A DAY!! We left our great military base stayover after breakfast, and (with Rhody and Charlotte in tow) we drove to White Sands Nat'l Monument. It was absolutely incredible. The dunes are gypsum. The gypsum that forms the white sand was deposited at the bottom of a shallow sea covering this area 250 million years ago. The water evaporated over time, leaving these gypsum-bearing marine deposits. The deposits were lifted up into a giant dome about 70 million years ago (when the Rocky Mountains were formed). Then, about ten million years ago, the center of the dome started to collapse, and it created this baisn. When the wind blows, the sand is carried downwind and creates what is called ripples, just like ripples on a lake. Eventually the sand blows high enough, creating the dune. The sand acutally feels like Snickerdoodle cookie dough. It wasn't sticky, and the kids LOVED IT. They ran up and down, all over the place. Tonight, they still have sand in their hair.

We parted ways with Rhody and Charlottel at the Dunes. They headed south to El Paso, and we drove NW, towards Albuquerque. Our drive across the middle portion of the state was beautiful but very barren. Again, I'm much happier doing those drives in the daytime. I was aiming for a crane wildlife refuge about 80 miles south of Albuquerque. We made it at the perfect time, about an hour before sunset. There were thousands of birds, and the lighting was every photographer's dream. We missed all the bats, but we got birds! We spent an hour driving around the refuge, taking pictures. It very much reminded us of the movie, "Fly Away Home."

We got back on the road to find a place to stay for the night. It was just getting dark, so we had to hurry. It was great having Rhody and Charlotte--thanks so much for coming!

Tomorrow we'll meet my parents, Nana and Poppy, in Albuquerque. We are very lucky to have back-to-back visits with grandparents!

At the end of this trip, I'm going to a spa. It's necessary, as I have aged like a president during his term. Gray hair, more defined "smile lines," and bad skin. I'm hoping the spa people can greatly reverse the damages. I look like hell, but it's been fun.

Carlsbad Caverns

2008-11-17T20:08:00.000-08:00

New Mexico is so beautful. Jack is in 7th heaven being back in the desert climate. Yesterday, in camp, we had a really nice, mellow day. We spent the morning doing school and then the kids worked on our book illustrations (they're writing a little book about the trip and doing all the illustratons). Sammy was working on Hannibal, MO, and decided to be Mark Twain. See picture below. There's also some pictures from the LIving Desert Museum we went to on Saturday.

We were very excited to have Rhody and Charlotte fly into El Paso yesterday and meet us at out KOA yesterday afternoon. The kids jumped for joy when they saw their car pull into the lot. We all ate dinner in the RV, and then Lilly and Sam went back with R and C to their hotel in Carlsbad. Jack was my solo roommate last night. We listened to Harry Potter book on tape. Excellent.

This morning we all drove out to the caves. It was absolutely awesome. I liked it way more than I thought I would. It took about an hour to walk down a narrow, steep (dark) path. Your voice could carry 1/4 of a mile, so you had to whisper. Like the bats in Austin, the Mexcian bats had already migrated. Missed that again! Note to self, bats migrate in October.

We surfaced from 750 below to have lunch in the RV before driving to Alamogoro, NM, about 3 1/2 hours west. The drive was absolutely beautiful. The White Sands Nat'l park is just six miles from where we are staying tonight. Since Rhody is retired military, we are able to stay on the base in a family unit, complete with a small kitchen and sitting room. Dinner was beer, brownies and pizza. Not in that order, but close.

Tomorrow we'll see White Sands, Rhody and Charlotte will drive south to El Paso, and we'll head north towards Albuquerque. It's so fun to have two adults with me. I even had a map reader for part of the drive. And the reader wasn't nine years old.

New Mexico-TLC for the RV

2008-11-15T19:09:00.000-08:00

We are now on central mountain time. When we crossed the state line, we changed, and we are now only one hour ahead of San Diego.

It's beautiful here-desert climate and very cold. We left Ft. Stockton and arrived in Carlsbad in time to wash the RV (got the first of many layers of dirt and dead bugs off), an oil change and vacuumed the RV. We did all that and then had time to visit the Living Desert Museum. It was nice to let the kids run around as Lilly was a complete spaz case. I told her that she could walk ahead of me or behind me but not NEAR me, as I might push her into a cactus.

Our campground is huge and beautiful. It's very cold. Funny to think that 3 nights ago it was near 80 degrees and we were night swimming. I think it will be in the 30s tonight. Great for star gazing.

The intenet is not great here, so I'll probaly check back in once we get to Albuquerque--Tues or Wed. And I can't post pictures either. Maybe next time! We'll visit Carlsbad Caverns tomorrow and/or Monday.

On the road again

2008-11-14T16:44:00.000-08:00

One thing about Texas, it's big enough to be its own country. We drove six hours and we're still in the middle of no where. Thankfully there's this campground adjacent to I-10 in Ft. Stockton. Tomorrow we'll drive to Carlsbad Caverns. Another thing, we have seen so much road kill on this trip, I half regret not keeping a tally, as sick as that sounds. Our connection here isn't strong, so no pictures of this expansive land (or road kill).

Bigger than us

2008-11-13T09:33:00.000-08:00

More interesting than our day of school, camplife and ride downtown is the following link. My sister sent it to me, and it's more important than our trip. Please view.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/27652443#27652443

San Antonio, day 3

2008-11-12T17:21:00.000-08:00

Another great day for the roadscholarz. We had PE this morning which meant swimming until lunch. It's the first campground pool that has been open on our trip since Moab. We did school much of the afternoon, and then I really had to muscle up for a Wal-Mart run. We were pretty much out of groceries, and I ate our last tuna pack. On our way to Wal-Mart, we passed a Costco! In we went, and the kids said, "This is sooo fun!" Seeing all the familiar foods was a BIG deal to them. I"ve stopped reading food labels on this trip, since I've had to let a lot of cooking preferences go along the wayside. But Costco was IT. We made it over to Wal-Mart too, with the walkie talkies, and then the topper was dinner at Chipotle!

One thing the kids have been doing in camp is the Tour de KOA. They take their bikes around this one loop and race eachother. It's pretty classic. No wipe-outs, yet.

Now they are swimming under the full moon, and I'm about to jump in the hot tub. It has a sign on it, very prominently displayed, Adults Only. Rest assured, the pool is 4 feet away, so the umbilical cord can still reach.

Remember the Alamo!

2008-11-11T17:08:00.000-08:00

What a great day. After taking the BUS into town, we went right to the Alamo. As luck would have it, we were there just as a touching Veteran's Day ceremony was starting. It was an honor to be there as the men and women who served our country stepped forward to be recognized. Rhody, the kids all thought of you too.

We began our audio tour and Jack could not get enough. The girls pooped out, claiming that hunger was overwhelming them. I left Jack at Alamo, and the girls and I went for sandwiches. After lunch all of us rejoined and watched a short History Channel movie on the Alamo. Charlotte, it was not the gory one! There was so much to see and learn, we may have to do another day there. It was the site of one of the bloodiest battles for Texas' independence from Mexico. Davey Crockett was there and is one of Jack's idols. In March of 1836, the Alamo fell under the leadership of Santa Ana. All the men fighting for Texas were killed, except for a few slaves.

From Jack:
The Alamo is problbaby going to tie in first for favs for me. It was a sanctuary, shrine, museum, memorial and a sign of Texas independece all at one place. I was looking forward to this for the entire trip. This spot made me happy and very sad. At times I wondered what would happen if I were there, knowing that Santa Ana would attack that morning of March 6, 1836. I was suprised that there are many mysteries and very few remainders of the missions. I loved it. I cannot express how much I loved it. I can't believe I am where I am now. This spot is the earliest spot I know that I have wanted to go to. It was so cool!

GB:
From the Alamo we strolled along the Riverwalk and into the Rivercenter Mall. We decided to catch a movie (not something educational which I have been fairly focused on). We saw Madagascar. I *wish* I had been tired enough to sleep. The kids loved it.

After the movie we walked back down to the Riverwalk and had an early dinner. The bus ride home was exciting as by then it was dark, and I had no idea where we were. Thankfully the bus driver took pity on us and announced our KOA stop.

Tonight is journaling, math and reading. Happy Veteran's Day. Today is our 10th week out. I'm so proud of the kids and how well they are traveling. They're ready to go home, but they don't want to go yet--they're still excited about what's left to do. It's all good.

San Antonio, day 1

2008-11-10T18:09:00.001-08:00

We left Austin this morning but didn't get past the city limits before stopping at Cabela's. Jack was sooo happy. It was a great time to stop as our drive today was only an hour, and we were on no specific schedule. We went in, with walkie-talkies, and the kids roamed the wild indoors of Cabela's.

Once we arrived in San Antonio, we checked into our KOA for the next 3-4 nights. It's 80 degrees, the pool is open, and there's a *bus* that will take us downtown for a dollar each! I'm so happy not to try and drive through another downtown. We stayed in camp and caught up on laundry and school.

Tonight we made a fort and are having a movie night, courtesy of my book club gals. Don't let the smiling faces in the fort picture fool you too much.... true confessions, 2 of them were in tears prior to the fort building. I am not perfect, nor are they, and we've had a lot of togetherness. I'm sure I could of handled the fighting situation a little better than I did. There's a good chance the fort is a by-product of a mother's guilt.

We'll spend all day tomorrow at The Alamo and the Riverwalk, via the bus!

Pictures from Austin

2008-11-09T16:45:00.001-08:00

Here are few shots from Austin. We walked across Congress Bridge and down along the river. We drove around the capitol and found our way to ice cream. We were hoping to see the famous bats that live under Congress Bridge. At dusk, hundreds fly out for their night of hunting. But since they are Mexican bats, they've already migrated south for the winter, so no luck. Our planned BBQ dinner didn't quite work out either, but we found a great place just down the street from our campsite. The restaurant was The Shady Grove, and we were able to eat outside and enjoy the music and lights. Tomorrow we'll drive to San Antonio. Remember the Alamo!

Houston

2008-11-09T09:56:00.000-08:00

HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM

We spent seven hours at the Johnson Space Center. It was awesome. There were all kinds of space exhibits, both interactive and to observe. We were able to take a tram ride out to Mission Control. I loved this, but Lilly thought it was boring. I told her, "think of it this way-how many kids can say they've been to Mission Control, to the *real* deal, and see where they are building *real* rockets?" That helped her a little bit. Jackson thought it was so cool. They all wrote down facts in their journals. Here are a few of their favorites:

1) by the year 2020, NASA plans on having a permanent base on the moon, and by the year 2030, they plan on having a base on Mars.

2) Space travel flies at speeds of 17,500mph, which means, the shuttle can orbit the earth every 90 minutes and can fly five miles per second.

3) The flight Director is the top boss at Mission Control, and he/she even has more power than the president over the crew and the mission.

4) Astronauts live on the space station for months at a time. It is an international space station and has 15 countries working together on it.

5) When the space station is completed in 2010, it will have living quarters about equal to a 5-bedroom home.

The kids' favorite part was playing in this "Kids Matrix" which was a glorified ball pit. It was 4 stories high and had all kinds of space themed toys etc. I had to beg them to leave the Space Center at 6pm. It was dark and I knew we had an hour drive to our campground.

Make that two hours to our campground--traffic was like driving through LA. It was after 8pm when we arrived. I pulled in and went to the "night registration" table (for late arrivals, after the office is closed). I looked on the map and it said that there were no sights available. I had forgotten that it was a Saturday night! This was the first time we've encountered that problem. I logged onto the laptop to find another place to stay. No luck, this was the only one. It took us an hour to drive *to* the Space Center, we spent seven hours there, and then we drove two hours to the campground. I didn't much feel like driving some more. We snooped around in the dark for a bathroom, and then I continued snooping around the park. I found 3 open spots. It was a little like breaking and entering. Goldilocks and the Three Bears working together. "This spot looks just right." We snuck in, (how does an RV sneak in??) and parked. I backed us into the spot in case we had to leave in a hurry. We read by flashlight so not to draw any attention to ourselves. It was the perfect excuse to get to bed early.

At first light, I pulled us right of there and headed to Austin. The kids stayed in their beds. Once we got to Austin, I found another campsite--the first one was soooo scary, I wouldn't have park my broken down car there. Now we're doing school and then we'll head into town and see some sites. Tonight we'll have real Texas BBQ (sorry Krissy!!) and ice cream from "Amy's." (Thank you Steffi!)

SIGNS FROM HOME
Leaving Houston we knew we were getting closer to home. In the Space Center parking lot, we saw our first CA license plate since we left Wyoming. We also saw Macy's and Costco! Three weeks, and we'll be home. I can't believe it.

TGIS
Thank goodness it's Sunday. Navigating through downtown Austin is sooo much easier! Hardly any traffic to speak of, so it's much less stressful.

There are a LOT of pick-up trucks in Texas!!!

$1.95

2008-11-07T12:38:00.000-08:00

The price of gas in Texas is $1.95! How great is that??!!
We left the scanky Inn this morning at 8 and drove to Houston, 3ish hours away. We're at a KOA, not the crowd favorite, but it will suffice for tonight. Kids are playing in the park, we'll do school this afternoon. Tomorrow we'll head to the Space Center. That's about it for today.

The Lonely Star

2008-11-06T17:57:00.000-08:00

What an interesting night we had. At 2am, HUGE raindrops came pounding down on the RV. The wind was howling, and at one point I thought there was hail. I was "upstairs" (what we all call the top bunk), and I was lying there thinking, "I hope the caulk is still good..." It was, and we remained dry. The wind kept whipping around, and I thought we might be like Dorthy and Anutie Em with the RV floating up into the sky. I peaked out of our window and saw all the other RVs still on the ground, so I figured we weren't space bound. The rain finely ceased so sleep could resume.

When we left the campground and headed to Dallas, Sam saw the Texas state flag and said, "Look! There's the Lonely Star!" I thought it was classic. Jackson did correct her and said, "No Sam, it's the LONE Star." Who knows, maybe the Lonely Star will stick.

NEVER have I seen such a maze of freeways than what I witnessed in Dallas. I prepped the kids early on in the day saying, "I will be *very* focused when we drive to the museum, so please no yelling." They complied and we made it to the 6th Floor Museum just fine.

Coincidently, the weather today was as beautiful as it was on the assassination, nearly 25 years ago this month. The museum is in a 20th-century warehouse known in 1963 as the Texas School Book Depository. We stood on the 6th floor, looked out the window where Lee Harvey Oswald aim his fatally imposing shot, and imagined the motorcade passing below on Houston and Elm. The original footage that we watched was awesome and very moving. One thing that Sam liked about the museum today was the movies. Jack liked it because it just focused on one event.

From Dallas I navigated our way through the beginnings of rush-hour traffic and headed south towards Houston. I couldn't find a safe place to camp, so we're in some dumpy little Inn for the night. It's nice to at least be an hour closer to Houston for our drive tomorrow, but I can't wait to be out of here, and the sooner the better!

I'm much less clausterphobic today than I was last night with the kids. The RV seems to be getting smaller and smaller... I'm wondering if by the time we get home it will feel like four people riding in a motorcycle side car.

No pictures tonight as photos were not allowed in the museum. Lilly took some shots of Dallas as we drove in, but I didn't download them. You can look at a picture of Dallas on the web....maybe find JR too.

The stars at night, are big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas

2008-11-05T17:53:00.001-08:00

It's true, the starts are bright in Texas! It's funny to think that this morning we were in the south (Mississippi), and tonight we are in the west. We left Mississippi, drove straight across northern Louisiana and continued into Texas. We were making such good time, we just kept going. It's great for our mental health to be in Texas as home seems to be on the horizon now.

Our campground is great-fishing, tennis court, basketball and nice weather. Dallas is about 45 minutes to an hour away which is perfect for tomorrow. Our plan is to tour the 6th floor museum which is all about JFK. It should be fascinating. I'm a little nervous to drive into the city. People have been clear in their suggestions regarding my timing and directions.

Thanksgiving is three weeks from tomorrow which is hard to believe! We really are getting down to the end of things. Tonight the kids talked about all that they have learned and how (in their mind) this trip has changed them. Sammy said she feels stronger, "like I have stronger muscles." Lilly said she felt "more giving" because of the Heifer program. Jackson thinks he has a greater appreciation for the ourdoors. I think he already had that.

We've got some great places to look forward to, but I think we're all starting to look forward to just being home.

An Historic Day

2008-11-04T15:58:00.000-08:00

The irony of touring Vicksburg Military Nat'l Park on the day of an historic election is quite remarkable. Vicksburg was amazing, as this election has been. I hired a guide to drive the park with us for two hours, and what a great idea that was. Gary told us so many stories, and we just listened, enraptured with every detail. The deal was I had to let Gary drive the RV. One might think I was happy to relinquish this duty, but as it turns out, I am more protective of the Turd than I had thought. At one point, I had to potlitely ask Gary to *slow* down, especially on the turns, as I was losing my load! Things were falling all over the place, and Jack and I silently made "Oh my goodness" faces at each other. Gary didn't hear things banging around in the back...had to do a little pick-up after the drive.

Vicksburg was (along with Gettysburg) one of the great wins for the Union. From the start of the Civil War, control of the Mississippi River,south of Cairo, was vitally important to the federal government. Set atop a high bluff overlooking the river, Vicksburg was protected by riverfront artillery, a maze of swamps and a ring of forts. President Lincoln called Vicksburg "the key." He believed "the war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket." Gen. Grant lay siege on Vicksburg for 47 days. It was July 4, 1863 when the Confederates officially surrendered. Over 10,000 men died here and more than 600,000 men in total died in the Civil War, more than any other US war. There is a cemetary where 17,000 men lay in rest. Unknown soldiers make up 13,000 of that total, leaving only 4,000 named soldiers.

The kids very enthusiastically filled out their Jr. Ranger programs and earned another badge to add to their Nat'l Park collection. All in all, we spent four hours touring the park and loved it.

After lunch in the parking lot, we drove through historic downtown and stopped at the Coca-Cola museum where the first coke was bottled in 1894. The kids order "coke floats" and we walked down to the river. We also stopped at an antique doll museum which completely creeped me out. It seemed like the perfect setting for a horror movie where all the dolls come to life. We lasted 10 minutes. Jack was on my side about that one.

From downtown we drove to Wal-Mart. Why don't they sponsor me??? I had to pick up a new battery for the RV and some paper goods. Tomorrow morning my drive-by service guy will come and install it. I love that.

Since it's a big, big night, I'm hoping to see the election with the kids-we'll have to stay up late here to learn about the results. No matter what happens, it will be one for the books, and one that the kids will be sure to remember.

Tomorrow we'll head to Shreveport, LA for the night before hitting Dallas on Thurs.
Happy Election Day!

Roadside service, Mississippi style

2008-11-03T17:20:00.000-08:00

You know, better than the ATM (which rates HI in my book) is roadside RV service. My generator and my propane weren't working which really can limit a gal on the road.

On our drive to Vicksburg today, I decided to try and find some service once we got into town. We checked into a campground right by the Vicksburg Nat'l Cemetary. Driving through the campground, I got pretty creeped out and turned right around and left. My gut said this was not the place for us. We went back to one other campground that I scoped out earlier and parked us there for the night. It is soo much nicer, brighter etc. It is, however, a varitable parking lot. Not bad-flat, which is fun for scooters, and I can do some laps around the park for some exercise.

I called the RV service-on-wheels, and Willie came to my rescue. I have a dead battery (for the generator, not the engine) and he also got my gas going again. I wanted to hug the two guys. Tomorrow I have to go to Wal-Mart and get a new battery. The kids were happy about that bit of news! We'll go after we tour the battle grounds.

Homework and reading for tonight. The other good news is the office here has a TV in the lounge, so tomorrow we can watch some of the election! It's also 80 degrees. Just like home.

Little Rock with Mike

2008-11-02T17:03:00.000-08:00

We had an amazing weekend at the Lake. There was a lot of fishing (we threw them all back, for which I was grateful, since I am lousy at cooking up fish), some napping and school, and your general hanging out time. I was, and I can't believe I am not only admitting it but also putting it in writing, very happy to be in a regular kitchen and cook. The irony is that tonight I discovered that my RV oven/stove is not working. Something must have happened to my gas. Another project.

We left the lake and drove 2 hours back down to Little Rock, stopping at the Old Mill for a picnic lunch. It was just as beautiful as it was the day the kids and I went. From there we drove by Central High, the scene of the Little Rock Nine. Nine black students were trying to attend the school in 1959. Eisenhower had to call in the National Guard to safely escort these kids to class due to all the protests and riots. We stood on the steps, trying to imagine how scared those kids would have been during that time. Jackson, Lilly and Sam asked some great questions. Sammy said her favorite thing was learing about the soldiers walking up the stairs wtih the black kids. Jack said, "I liked how much history the school had behind it, and how it looked--like it was a building that was really important." Lilly said, "I like learning about the nine black kids, and I liked learning how the soldiers were with guns, ready to shoot to protect the kids. I also liked the building because it was so big and pretty."

Our last stop before the airport was the Clinton Library. People say it looks like a trailer (a 5th wheel to be exact, because now I clearly know what a 5th wheel is). It is a beautiful building, and we were able to take a self guided tour. The library had an Oval Office, the Cabinet Room and a small dining room exibit. The Oval Office was an exact replica of what the office looked like when Clinton was there. We also got to watch a short film, full of information. Jack and Mike liked the Secret Service exhibit, Sam liked the area where it showed Mrs. Clinton's party dresses, and Lilly liked the movie and the "pretty party dresses."

We got to the airport and the girls' tears came quickly. We all had a such a nice time being together. The next time Mike will be able to join us is at Thanksgiving in Arizona. I had to kind of pull away quickly so the girls and Jack wouldn't try to fly home with Mike. It was sad to seem him go. We all miss him.

Moods improved with our evening stop at Wal-Mart. I bought a bag of Bordeaux cookies to cheer me up. Kids ran around. Too bad, my walkie-talkies were not charged, so I spent an unexpected 15 minutes of "alone time" waiting to find the kids. Jack was finally paged, so that helped.

Now, we're back at a KOA, we've had our microwaved dinner (since the oven isn't working), and they are doing math and journals. Tomorrow we head south to Vicksburg, MS to see one of the greatest Civil War battle fields. I am really looking forward to that.

We'll sign off saying Happy Birthday to my Dad, Poppy, Tres Pittman and Jack-y-D. Hope you all had a great day, and we hope eveyone else had a great Halloween!

Pictures from Lodi Lodge, Greer's Ferry

2008-11-02T16:52:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures from our great weekend at the Churchill's lakehouse. We left there this morning and bid it a fond farewell.

A slice of Heaven

2008-10-31T09:09:00.000-07:00

We are at one of the most beautiful, peaceful places. After picking up Mike at the airport yesterday (I don't have to write about the tackle the kids gave him at baggage claim), we drove straight to the Churchill Lodge. It feeds all my Tahoe needs. Water, dock, fall, cool, cabin etc. The kids immediately ran down to the dock, and Jack tossed out his fishing line. We don't have cell or internet in the house, so I brought the laptop up to the top of the driveway.

There's no reason to leave, as we have everything we need here, and it's so relaxing. Mike will be here until Sunday late afternoon. You can look for our next post around then. Unfortunately, I can't post pictures. It's a shame as I would love to show you all pictures of this wonderful place.

Yesterday in Little Rock

2008-10-30T04:35:00.000-07:00

Feeling a little more rested this morning and can catch up for yesterday. I'll post pictures from both Tues and Wed.

After all of us sleeping in our *own* beds at the Churchill's, we left right after breakfast and met Kristin, and her son Walter. Walter is in 2nd grade and his class was going to the Heifer Int'l farm. It was a beautiful, fall drive out to the ranch. Once there, we learned how the program helps families in developing countries. The mission of Heifer is the seven M's. Meat, Money, Milk, Materials, Muscle, Motivation, and Manuare. These families are sent a heifer cow, which is a pregnant female who has not had her first calf yet, so that when the mom gives birth, the receiving family can pass the calf along to another family in the village. Also, when the organization ships a heifer, since she is pregnant, they don't have to milk her during the journey.

Not only did the kids and I learn about the program, but we saw all kinds of animals and Jack and Lil got to milk a goat. We saw a donkey, lama, camel, goats, horses, water buffalo, turkeys, chickens, ducks, rabbits, pigs, cows and sheep. It might be as good as San Diego Zoo!

We had a picnic lunch at the ranch and headed home. The kids did some schoolwork back at the Churchill's while I fantasized about a nap. I fixed an early dinner, and when Mrs. Churchill got home from work, we went to Boo at the Zoo for Halloween fun. Krisitn (Kevin Churchill's sister) was there with her two boys, and we had a great time. When the zoo was first mentioned as an activity, I internally had a feeling of panic. I, naturally, pictured us trick-or-treating all around the San Diego Zoo... I thought, "Oh my, are the kids (read MOM) going to be tired, walking all around the zoo for three hours." Kristin put me at ease when she said that the Little Rock Zoo is about 1/16 the size of San Diego. Okay! I can do that!

It was a perfect night to be at the zoo. Lots of little kids all in their costumes-it was really cute. I laughed at myself and have learned a lesson-- most of you know that I am a planner. Shocking, I know. I've learned I can't plan too far ahead. That said, since we will be at the Churchill's lakehouse cabin on Halloween, where it is not condusive to trick-or-treating, I told the kids they could each pick out their OWN bag of candy at Wal-Mart, and they could share amongst themselves. Well, Wal-Mart only had the Costco size bags of candy. Not what I had in mind. So the kids each have one giant bag of candy. Then the Boo at the Zoo came up. Lots of candy there. On the way home last night, I reminded them how nice it is to give candy to the troops. "Maybe we should send some home with Dad and he can drop it off at school!" The RV/sugar combo may put me right over the edge.

After the zoo, Kathy and Spence were good victims. I showed them my trip map and they very patiently listened to all the stories. And then to boot, they reviewed all the directions for their lakehouse, where we will be driving today. We also watched the end of the Rays/Phillies game. What a finish that was.

Mike lands at 230pm today, so we'll pick him up at the airport, and we'll drive back to the Old Mill (because it was so cool). From there we'll continue 2 hours north to Greer's Ferry Lake where we will stay until Sunday.

We have absolutely loved being in Little Rock with the Churchills. Sammy is ready to move into their kids' room. It has been wonderful to be in a warm home with such a nice family. Thank you Churchills!

check back tomorrow...

2008-10-29T20:42:00.001-07:00

too tired to write.

Arkansas

2008-10-28T19:23:00.000-07:00

This is a beautiful state!! And it's cold! At noon today, it was still only 45 degrees! We spent the morning doing our school work while still at the KOA. For lunch we drove to what's called the Old Mill. It's the mill in the opening scene of Gone with the Wind. It was so cool, and the kids loved it. I pulled the RV right up to the water, and we ate lunch on the lake. We spent almost 2 hours just having lunch and doing journals down by the water. From there we went to what the Arkansas locals call "Big Dam Bridge." We rode bikes all along the river and then walked up the span of the bridge for a great view. I can't post pictures tonight, so I'll try tomorrow. It felt so good to walk and walk. Sam rode her scooter and the big kids did the bikes. It was great.

By early evening we arrived at the home of Kevin Churchill's parents in Little Rock. Mr. and Mrs. Churchill opened their home up to us with warm and inviting arms. They had dinner ready for us, and we each got our own place to sleep! I even got my own bed. We had a great dinner with wonderful company. The Churchills feel like old friends already, we may never leave. Thank you so much Kevin, Kathy and Spence. We are in good hands!

Tomorrow promises to be a fabulous day. We are crashing in on their grandson's field trip to the Heiffer farm. It's a program that raises cows (and other farm animals) and gives them to developing countries to help families in need. Sharon, I'm thinking of you! I've wanted to learn more about this program, and have the kids learn too, so this is a great opportunity for us.

Mike comes in on Thursday, and we'll have a fun-filled three days with him. Jack just wants to watch baseball and fish. Big surprise!

So long to the Biscontis, and The Ducks

2008-10-27T16:28:00.000-07:00

This morning we chatted with the Peabody Duck Master, Don, before leaving the hotel. He was so kind and let Sam help him roll out the red carpet for the ducks. She, of course, loved it. We all got in the rental car and Dana drove us to our RV. I sort of had a pit in my stomach, thinking it would have been towed. When we came around the corner, there she was, the Turd, in all her glory. And, to boot, she started right up. I am perhaps not giving enough credit to our faithful ride.

We parted ways with the Biscontis- they went to the airport, and we went to Arkansas. We had such a great time with them, and we so apreciated them flying all the way out to meet us. I tried to talk the kids into going to Vicksburg, MS, to see one of the greatest Civil War battle fields. However, they (showing great maturity) chose to get to Little Rock early so they could catch up on school work of all things. I said, "Blow it off, let's go!" But I lost, so here we are at the KOA, and they've all done a bunch of work. Who is the responsible one here??

I did get some more alone time in Wal-Mart today since it's only 3 miles from our campsite. Tomorrow afternoon we will gratefully arrive at the Churchills, Kevin's parents. Kevin's daughter, Emma, is a classmate of Lilly's at Hearst. Kevin volunteered his parents to take us in, and they kindly said they would.

Jazz, Blues and Rock-n-Roll

2008-10-26T19:35:00.000-07:00

Today was music day. We toured the Rock-N-Soul museum, one block off of famous Beale Street. The museum covered music from blacks on the southern plantations, to the blues in Memphis, to Elvis and ended with a blurb on the Beatles. The girls, Annie, Sammy and Lilly, lasted a long time, as they loved listening to the audio tour and the music. After the museum, we crossed the street and toured the Gibson guitar factory. We wore our factory safety goggles and saw how they make the famous guitars.

All the music in the morning gave way to lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. What was really fun was listening to the blues by a live band just playing on Beale Street. It was a little like Telegraph Ave in Berkeley, only better.

In the afternoon we took our rental car and drove around town, stopping to let the kids have a great game of tag in a park. By the time we ate an early dinner and got back to the hotel, it was time for a short movie. Dana and I enjoyed some adult quiet time in the lobby by the duck fountain. Tomorrow the Biscontis leave, and we'll head out of town as well. It has been so much fun to have our friends share in our adventure. Thank you for coming Biscontis!

Memphis

2008-10-25T19:27:00.000-07:00

What an amazing day. After a late breakfast at Denny's, we took the trolley to the Civil Rights Museum. We spent about three hours touring and listening to our audio presentation. There was so much to learn, and all six kids did a really good job of taking it all in. It was a lot to digest, and Sammy got it. After watching a short film we were walking out of the theater. She had a very pouty look on her face. Truthfully, I just thought it was her usual pouty look. When I asked her what was wrong, she replied, "I just feel really sorry for the black man." How true. We read and read and the exhibit ended in the hotel room where Dr. King was shot. What a feeling that was, standing where he did, imagining all that happened. Walking back to the hotel, each of the kids had a chance to talk about their two favorite things about the museum or the two facts that really stuck out in their minds. It was so interesting to listen to their thoughts. All of them were deeply touched and made great comments. This museum will be in their minds for a long time, it was so good.

We finally had a late lunch at 3pm and then spent some down time in the hotel for a bit. Sam and I watched the ducks exit the fountain, walk to the elevator (on their red carpet, accompanied by marching music) and go up to their rooftop home.

We headed back out in the evening and had a carriage ride around town. Since we had arrived, the kids had begged for the ride. Lilly and Sam loved the horse, Joe. Dinner was ice cream. Dana and I were too tired to figure out where to eat that didn't mean burgers and fries. We just decided to skip the fried food altogether and just have ice cream.

We're going to Graceland

2008-10-25T06:08:00.001-07:00

Friday morning we woke up and were joined by the Biscontis for breakfast! It was so great to have our friends arrive. All of us were excited to have a new buddy to talk to, myself included.

We left for Graceland in our rental car that seats eight. I didn't drive!! Graceland was, as one can imagine, very commercialized. We did the self-guided tour with a recorder. Interesting yes, a must-do again, most likely not.

After Graceland, we drove downtown to The Peabody Hotel. In the hotel lobby are internationally famous ducks. They swim in the lobby fountain and twice daily they are escorted by the Duck Master to and from the elevator. It is quite the production, and the lobby is filled with guests. The recently retired Duck Master had the job for fifty years. It's very serious business, and we all got a kick out of it.

Around the corner from our hotel was great Memphis BBQ. We strolled along Beal Street and down to the riverfront walk. The weather yesterday was perfect, sunny and mild temps, so our evening walk was a great way for the kids to burn off some energy.
Dana and I finished the evening having a cup of coffee in the lobby while the kids watched a movie upstairs. LOVE that.

From Sammy:
Hi. We are going on a great big road trip apparently. Graceland is great. We are at the Peabody hotel (she first pronounced the hotel name as "puberty" Hotel), and it's a famous hotel, and also they have ducks that walk on red carpet and go up onto the roof. They were funny! They kept looking over at everybody.

Grand Ol Opry

2008-10-23T18:20:00.000-07:00

This morning we had perfect timing and arrived at the Grand Ol Opry just in time for a backstage tour. With no country music background, the tour was very interesting and provided us with a great window into the history and country music of the Opry. After lunch, we walked back through the Opryland hotel on our way to the RV. We took one last look around and watched
professional rock climbers attach themselves to the atrium ceiling frames. They were hanging more lights and decorations. It was dizzying, as they were up close to 100+ feet.

We stopped at the Nashville replica of the Parthenon where inside was a big statue of Athena, Goddess of Wisdom. Sammy was asleep in the RV by now, so we hit the road and headed to Memphis. By the time we arrived, it was pouring rain. The Bisconits arrive tonight at midnight! We are all very excited to have our good friends join us for what is sure to be one great weekend. We plan to see Graceland and the Civil Rights Museum. Can't wait, the kids are singing like the King already.

Nashville, TN

2008-10-22T18:09:00.000-07:00

We crossed over another state line today. LIlly's favorite thing to say each time we drive over state lines is "Gee, this looks really different."

Tennessee is as beautiful as Kentucky. We only drove an hour from Bowling Green KOA to the Nashville KOA. We checked into the campgound, and as luck would have it, one of the must sees of Nashville is just 2 miles from the KOA. The Opryland Hotel was just around the corner. When I was talking to the KOA lady, I asked, "I know this is a stupid question, but why is the Opryland Hotel famous?" She glanced up, rather annoyed, from the desk and said, "You'll know when you get there." Well, alrighty then.

We drove over, and the KOA lady was absolutely correct and had every reason to be smug in her reply. This hotel is nothing like I've seen before, anywhere. It is the largest (non-gaming) hotel and convention center in the world. The inside is like walking through Disneyland, passing by different parts of the country. There's a Delta boat ride which of course we had to ride. It was the Jungle Cruise minus the spraying elephants and biting aligators. It takes about 10-15 minutes to walk the distance from one end to the other, and that doesn't allow for covering all the off-shoots from the three (3!) main atriums. White lights hang from the atrium ceiling along with decorative Christmas balloons and animals. The pictures that I hope to post do not do justice, but maybe you'll get the idea.

Tomorrow we'll drive by the Grand Ol Opry and then pass by the Partheon on our way to Memphis. This is so cool!

7 weeks out

2008-10-21T16:59:00.000-07:00

Only 5 weeks left on the roadtrip. Hard to believe we've begun our journey back west. We've reached our furthest eastern point, Lexington.

This morning at our Lexington Horse Park campground, we had a great game of tennis baseball after we did school. I'd throw tennis balls and Jack, Sam and Lil would hit them back with raquets and Jack's Louisville Slugger. They took turns smackin' it. We were basically the only ones (certainly the only kids) left at camp, so we had this huge grassy area to ourselves.

We headed towards Mammoth Caves and made stops at Lincoln's boyhood home and museum in Hogenville. For six bucks we all got into the museum. Best price yet. After Lincoln land, we continued south towards Mammoth Cave, which we missed--whoops, so much for that. We are now camped at Bowling Green KOA, an hour north of Nashville, our destination for tomorrow.

Kids love it-there's a pirate ship park, a gross, stagnant pond that Jack thinks is really cool, and the usual KOA attractions, mini golf, fun bikes, and paddle boats. We'll be lucky to make it out of here by noon. The KOAs really are the best way to go. The bathrooms are always clean!

No pictures, blog won't post them. Internet is VERY slow here.

From Sammy:
Today we played at the (Lexington) park and played "ben-ten" (that is baseball and tennis). There has to be more than one person. So one person has a glove, and one person has a tennis racquet. So the person with the glove throws the ball, and the person raquets hits the ball.

from .sammy

spell check

2008-10-20T16:14:00.000-07:00

in the last post, it says "road" when it should say "rode." Just used to roadscholarz I guess-

Alone time in Wal-Mart

2008-10-20T15:51:00.000-07:00

Some of you may be wondering if I get any alone time. When the kids are driving me too crazy, fighting over who gets to hold my hand, who gets to sit next to me, who gets to sleep on the top bunk with me, who gets to eat by me etc (sometimes I think they'd crawl back into the womb if they could), I can go a little NUTS! It's nice to be loved, but I need to be loved a little farther away than the RV permits sometimes. That said, I've become creative with my alone time since it is nearly impossible to get. When the kids and I go to Wal-Mart (which they love), I give them one walkie-talkie, and I take the other. We split up, and I get to shop alone. I call them every now and then to find out where they are and if they are lost. The walkie talkies are the perfect compliment to my shopping experience. They enable my alone time. I used to not like Wal-mart, but now I look forward to finding one. Not only do I get my paper plates there, but I get "Alone Time."

We did school this morning and then went off the the Horse Camp near by. It was a beautiful ranch but a total bust for horse back riding. Jack and Lil road for less than 25 minutes for their trail ride. Sam rode on a pony in a pen the size of a small cul-de-sac. We left sooner than we had planned as I planted the seed, "Wal-Mart." And this is a SUPER Wal-Mart which means it has a grocery store in it. They were all happy to leave, and after shopping we came back to our quiet camp. Not much going on here as the weekend is over. It's very quiet, and I feel like we have the place to ourselves.

We had another successful campfire, and the kids were able to roast hot dogs and marshmellows. I forced carrots into the mix just to make me feel better. And I had a beer to celebrate.

From Lilly:
Today we went to this lame horse park. I went on a 23 minute trail ride, when it was supposed to be 45 minutes. The Wal-Mart was better than the Horse Park, I have to admit. I did a claw machine and won a HSM necklace. It was really fun. When we got back, we played tennis and had a fire. My eyes really hurt because of the smoke. Our fire was going down when I was able to get down our grill. So I said to my Mom, "Do you mind if I put some kinling in the fire?" She said it was fine. I roasted a hot dog and marshmellows. All together Sammy, Jackson and I burnt seven marshmellows. It was a very fun day because of my Mom.

From Sammy:
Today we went to the Kentucky Horse Camp. I was too young for the horse rides. I had to ride on a pony. The ride on the pony was like a block for the three laps. It was a little bit like a block. I got to ride a brown and white one. From, Sammy

Success in Lexington

2008-10-19T17:02:00.000-07:00

Another great day for the RoadScholarz. It was, again, beautiful. We had a COLD night, in the 30s, so in the night I had to get out extra sleeping bags. The day included math, park, mini golf, bikes, a walk (alone!) for me, ping pong and packing up the RV to leave Louisville. We left for Lexington and only had an hour and twenty minute drive. There really are rolling green hills with white fences and horses. It's just like I heard it to be. Our campsite is in Kentucky Horse Park, and our site is right next to tennis courts and a park!! The kids and I played tennis, a first on the trip, did art (which was really fun), and had our second campfire (but our first successful one). We ate dinner outside, and our neighbor, Homer (yes, that is for real his name), came over with more wood for our fire. I *love* talking to the RV park grandparents. I met another grandpa, and he told me (as he was passing by to the bathrooms), that his wife always says to him, "You talk to everyone. You go out to the bathrooms, and it takes you an hour because you talk to everyone." I just loved it. The kids roasted marshmellows, and our "last first" for the day was our first in-house movie, Lassie. I made up one bed, and the kids snuggled down for the night under our Halloween lights. What a great day!! This is sooo fun!!

Louisville with Heidi

2008-10-18T18:04:00.000-07:00

It was so beautiful when we woke up today. Cool, crisp, the perfect fall day. After breakfast, we had recess before school. The kids played, Heidi and I went for a walk around camp, and then we did math until lunch. Heidi was a 4th grade teacher at one time, so she helped Jack and Lil while I did laundry and showered. In the afternoon we drove into town and saw a great IMAX about dolphins. The science museum was across the street from the Lousiville Slugger museum so we popped back into there for a little bit.

Heidi treated us to an early dinner and ice cream. Back at camp we played until the camp hosts put on the outdoor movie for all the kids. A great, old Walt Disney played right in front of our RV. When the kids got cold, they came inside and watched from our windows. Pretty great.

Heidi went back to her hotel, as she has to be at the airport by 7am for her flight. It was so great having the company. We loved it. Tomorrow we head to Lexington in search of horses for Lil and Sam.

A Surprise Visitor!

2008-10-17T16:18:00.000-07:00

What a fun surprise. Heidi flew in late last night (midnight), stayed at a hotel near the airport, rented a car, and surprised us at the KOA this morning! She brought Peet's AND homemade chocolate cookies. I don't have to say how excited we all were to have her here. The kids spent the whole morning showing her around the campground, including the catfish pond and the park. Since she had a rental car, we drove that into town and spent the afternoon at Churchill Downs. It was GREAT not to 1) be in the RV in town and 2) not to be the one driving. Churchill Downs was amazing. The first Kentucky Derby was in the 1800s, and every year, on the first Saturday in May, the big race is held. Next door to the racetrack was the Kentucky Derby Museum. That was fabulous, and we learned all about the horses, the race and the history behind the track.

Back at the campground we made dinner, and Heidi read with Sam. Jack and Lil ran off to the park, and I think having the company is so nice.

Louisville KOA

2008-10-16T18:14:00.000-07:00

I could not get out of the Days Inn soon enough this morning. I started making noise early in the a.m. to wake the kids. We left, grabbed some coffee at Starbuck's across the street (I'm out of Peet's!), picked up some groceries and successfully navigated our way across town to the KOA, in the rain to boot! The kids said, "This is the GREATEST campground!!" Again, we are right by park, there's a nature walk that leads down to a cave and a beautiful river, and there's a catfish pond. The hosts are really kind, and one is from San Diego.

By 11am we were doing school work and did that just about all day. I love these rainy days, not only because I love the rain, but it makes doing school work much easier. It was also 20 degrees cooler, so we enjoyed the 60s temperature. And a moment of boasting---the RV doesn't leak in the rain. I am so proud of the Big Broken Down Turd.

At night, we watched the moon rise and read.

From Lilly:
When we got to the KOA, the park was really fun. There is this bouncey pillow thing that is inflated with air. Jackson, Sammy and I ran around and played tag on it, only because it was so fun. It's about the size of a swimming pool. Thanks for listening.

Sammy:
We are in Louisville, KY, and at the KOA Kentucky Louisville place, there's a big kind of bouncey thing. The colors that were on it are red, blue and yellow, green and that's all. We bounced on it and played tag. We played in our socks, so we slipped a lot, and then the other time we were barefoot. And the KOA has an arcade.

Louisville Slugger

2008-10-15T17:33:00.000-07:00

When I woke up this morning at Sonal's, we watched leaves faling like they were rain drops. The whole driveway was covered. It was so pretty. After packing up and saying our goodbyes, we headed towards Louisville, KY. We only had a 2-hour drive to the Louisville Slugger Museum. Jack's eyes about fell out of his head. He got to hold bats that belonged to Honus Wagner, Jackie Robinson and Babe Ruth. We toured the factory and learned all aobut how they make the bats. At the end, they gave us all souvenir bats which was great.

The museum was downtown, like being in downtown San Francisco, so I had no idea where to take the RV. I decided to head south, out of the city, hoping to find a little more room to roam. We happily found a Buca di Beppo, about which I was thrilled. Dinner, a glass of wine and an hour later, we found the Days Inn just down the road. I couldn't find a campground, and I really wanted to watch thre debate.

I pulled up to the Days Inn and saw someone bbq-ing in the parking lot. I knew I was amongst my people... a little scary too!
The hotel is lousy. In fact, I'd rather sleep in the RV! But it has a TV and we all showered. Tomorrow we'll look for a campground. I think they are cleaner than this place.

Post from kids about Springfield

2008-10-14T18:19:00.000-07:00

From Jackson:
The Springfield kids were super nice and always asking if we could play. The campground was really pretty and there's a wild kitten in the woods. We had a great time. It was awesome learning about Lincoln.

From Lilly:
I really like the Springfield friends. I played with Kassidy the most. Her birthday was the day after I got back from Hannibal. It was really fun playing on the bikes with Haley and Kassidy.

Go Hoosiers! We're 1/2 there...

2008-10-14T17:50:00.000-07:00

I find it very hard to believe that today marks our 1/2 way point, 6
weeks on the road, and only 6 weeks left to go! It's flying by, and I
imagine it will only go faster and faster.
No one would believe how beautiful it is here in Bloomington, Indiana.
When we drove from Springfield yesterday, we came in on this country
road, lined with trees full of red, yellow and orange leaves. I have
not see fall colors like this since I was in Vermont 20 plus years ago.
My mind is telling me it should be cold with all the fall around us,
but it's close to 80 degrees, despite rain showers. Where did the cold
go?!
We arrived at Mike's co-worker's home, Sonal, and her husband, Ross,
just in time for homemade, deep dish pizza. Ross could put every pizza
restaurant to shame with his own signature dish. It was so good, I am
still thinking about it. And, if I knew them better, I would have
inhaled the whole thing, but I was trying not to scare them. Sonal and
Ross live on 2 acres with a creek full of geodes (rocks with crystals
inside). They also live in a real log cabin. The kids went crazy. I'll
be lucky to get them back in the RV. Lilly LOVES rocks and gems, so she
and Jack went straight to the creek. Sam was happy playing (read
scaring) Sonal and Ross' two black cats, Minx and Jinx.
After sleeping in the RV, we woke up to the sound of chirping crickets.
We ate a quick breakfast and made our way up to Indiana State
University. It was beautiful, like the campus of Boulder a little bit.
From there we drove 20 miles to a little town called Nashville for
lunch. Again, our route took us over rolling country roads lined with
miles of fall colors.
In the afternoon the kids hammered away at their rocks and played in
the creek. We actually got some homework done before dinner with Ross
and Sonal. Tomorrow we head to Louisville, KY. Blogger gave the chance
post a video, so I will try and put one from the Tina concert. Hope you
can see it!

Back to Springfield

2008-10-12T15:07:00.000-07:00

Well, the kids were pretty ready to leave our campgound this morning. After a breakfast of pancakes, we drove back towards downtown Hannibal, about 3 miles, and stopped at "Lovers Leap." Story goes that an Indian Princess fell in love with an Indian brave from an opposing tribe. They were found together, chased up this bluff, and the brave was about to be killed by other warrior indians. Rather than live without him, the princess chose to jump off the bluff with her indian brave to their deaths. The kids said, "they did what?" The view was spectacular. That's the picture on the blog.

From there we toured Mark Twain's home, drove by "unsinkable Molly Brown's" home and got GAS! GAS was the cheapest I've found on the trip. Only $2.87 gallon! I felt so good!

Once back in Springfield, I needed to stop at some remblance of civilization. A mall sufficed. The kids said, "Mom, you never let us go to Toys R Us!" So we went. They brought all their money and shopped. Then Lilly wanted to see animals at Petco, and the kids all got haircuts, which they definitely needed. I can know see their faces again. We ended our shopping day at Wal-Mart. A mere 3 1/2 hours later, we drove the last 5 miles to our campground.

I found this grocery store in town too-one that actually has an organic section. I was sooo happy to shop there! I stocked up; microwaveable organic dinners for one are my new favorite meal. i think Mike is having the same meal service at home.

Meals have become certainly one of the easier parts, as I have lowered my expectations to a level I didn't know existed. Much harder than meals are keeping the RV clean and organized (this is by far the #1 challenge, and it's CONSISTENT!). The other challenges are keeping the kids on task with school work. Finding the time between everything else is difficult. My other hot button is trying to remain calm at 9pm when they are wound up, and I am beyond exhausted. I think I've only said "shut-up" one night, gave myself a time out two other times, and average losing my cool (elevated voice with direct eye contact) about every 4th or 5th day. I don't think that's too bad. And, they are now very versed in "if MOM is happy, WE are happy." Call it a mantra if you want.

whoops-look like the picture can't be posted on the blog. Just use your imagination and think of the Mississippi River.

I fogot to post--The Poser at Hancock Tower

2008-10-12T05:34:00.000-07:00

Imagine our surprise when we got to the top of the Hancock Tower in Chicago and there was a big photo shoot going on! We didn't get autographs, but the took the model home with us.

And for the Tina Turner picture, the backup gals in the back ARE clothed, scantily clad albeit, but clothed nonetheless...

Hannibal but with Chicago pictures

2008-10-11T18:16:00.000-07:00

Now that I can post pictures, you can see a little bit more of what we've done over the last week. Today we drove from Springfield, Il to Hannibal, MO. It was only a 2 hour drive which gave us all afternoon to be tourists. We played at "Sawyer Creek" which was a little mini golf/bumper boat (lame) place for kids. From there we ate lunch and boarded the Mark Twain River Boat for an hour cruise on the Mississippi. It was a beautiful day, and the kids and I are wimps with the bugs. There's hardly any to speak of if you're a local. Jackson has sometihing like 19 bites, Sammy has about 8, and LIlly and I come in last with less than four. The locals think nothing of them. Such southern California wimps.

After the boat, we drove by Mark Twain's home (we'll tour it tomorrow) and came back to our campground where the Mark Twain Cave is. That was the crowd favorite. The kids really enjoyed the cave tour. It was a hideout for Jesse James at one point, and it's over 100 million years old.

Since our campground is at the entance of the cave, we moved right in. It's a distant second to our beloved KOA in Springfield. But I got us hooked up and fed, math done and that is all good. Tomorrow we'll go back to Springfield for one last night before continuing east to Indiana.

Pictures, finally-Chicago, Springfield, Hannibal

2008-10-11T18:03:00.000-07:00

Springfield, From Jackson

2008-10-10T18:57:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,
Springfiled has been amazing. It's totally focused on Lincoln. It's been really interesing learing about the Lincoln and the Civil War. At the campground is a bunch of new friends that we made. They are really nice. Everyone in Springfield has been kind. It's really kid-friendly. I like the way the Lincoln's home museum was displayed. I learned a great deal more about Lincoln. That's pretty much it.
From, Jackson

From GB:
Just a side note- so you all know, the spellcheck on this thing sux. And usually I'm too tired to proof read anything. So forgive the mis-spellings, or poor word choice, like in the last post- meant to write FAT Tire, not Fire Tire. But beer is beer. And it's Krissy's birthday-Happy Birthday to you!

We celebrate small successes

2008-10-10T16:43:00.000-07:00

From Sammy:

What I think my favorite place is going to be is, it might be Chicago. It was pretty fun because I got to go to the American Girl Store. Don't make me start and American Girl story. Okay, I will. The Amercian Girl store is a store that has all these dolls, and they like clothing and dogs and stuff like that. They have shoes, they have a bed and hair stuff. They even have ear piercing and a hair salon. And what else would you like me to tell about Chicago? My brother and my Dad, they went to Wrigely Field while my Mom and my sister went to the American Girl store. And right now we are in Springfield. That's the Lincoln place where Lincoln grew up as a man. Lincoln is a president. He wanted the black man from the slavery to be free. He thought slavery was not a good idea beacuae the white man and the black man should have the same priviledges. And the black man should have the same priviledges as the white man. And I think it's a good idea. Lincoln, he was very famous guy. We saw him at Mt. Rushmore. At Chicago we saw lots of smokers but we just walked by, so I dont' want to live in Chicago, that's for sure, because I am not a smoker person. And that will be it for today. Thanks a lot, bye!

From Lilly:

HI! I have been having a wonderful time. We saw Wicked, and I loved it. At the KOA (in Springfield) we met some new friends. I like them a lot.
From, Lilly

Jackson would write, but he's out tending the fire. That's one of the small successes. I find that I am celebrating the little things. Today, for example, I got laundry done, homework accomplished, and dinner made. Not a dinner of culinary prowess, but one that used both the stove and the burners, and nothing caught on fire. That all warrented a Fire Tire no less. The kids loved it. I also, for the first time in almost 6 weeks, sat down in the late afternoon and read my book. The kids were so happy playing in the park, I acutally took time to read which was a treat. We were supposed to drive to Hannibal today, but I didn't have the energy. Instead we have our first campfire (other places have not allowed them), and the stars are out. Tomorrow we'll pack up and leave. There's still dishes to do, and I think my fire just went out. Maybe I should have waited to celebrate that success.

Land of Lincoln, Springfield, Il

2008-10-09T16:26:00.000-07:00

What a great past couple of days. Yesterday, Wednesday, we spent the whole day at the campground. There was plenty to keep us busy with school work. Recess was playing in the park across from the RV. There are quite a few kids here, some live here full-time, so the kids have all made a bunch of new friends. It was nice to stay put for the day, catching up on school, laundry etc. Today we drove back into town and saw Lincoln's tomb (very beautiful), the Illinois State Museum in downtown Springfield, and then the highlight was seeing Lincoln's home in Springfield. He lived here for close to 25 years. He and his wife, Mary Todd, were married here, had four children, and are burried here with the exception of their only child who lived to be an adult, Robert. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetary. Mary saw three of her children die, her husband murdered, and was later in life commited by her son Robert. They think she went crazy with grief.

I have to keep this short, there's much to do still tonight. Dinner, reading, more laundry and packing up for tomorrow. We will drive to Hannibal, MO, tomorrow and learn all about Mark Twain. Tonight we'll finish reading Tom Sawyer. I still can't seem to post any pictures, so maybe over the weekend that will happen.

Chicago, Part 1

2008-10-08T06:44:00.000-07:00

WE HAD SO MUCH FUN IN THE WINDY CITY! I'm ruined for a couple of reasons. One, the bed at the Westin is going to be hard to leave. Litterally, as I pulled out of the driveway, I was a bit wistful leaving our Chicago base. Sleeping back in the RV is not the same! Two, I had to leave guaranteed good pizza and a great breakfast every day.

Mike came in and all 5 of us spent the weekend seeing the sites. Everything from Jack's bday at Wrigley Field, Hancock, tower, American Girl, pizza, The Grand Lux Cafe (we never orderd a meal, we just ate dessert!), Michigan Ave, Millenium Park, architect tour (and according to Lilly it was better than the Hoover Dam--her low point on the trip so far), Wicked and the grand finale, TINA TURNER live. She was amazing, and as we entered the arena, the ticket checker commented, "Wow, I think you guys are the youngest here. Guess your Mom dragged you out here, didn't she?!" Sammy almost fell asleep, but Tina's closer was Proud Mary. The kids stood up and danced and sang and loved every minute. It was absolutely fabulous.

Tuesday we drove to Springfield, Ill., the state capitol. We drove down in the rain, grabbed some lunch and then toured the Lincoln Museum. I think it was our favorite museum so far, and we may have to go back before leaving this great city. We found our campground, had a dinner of peanut butter and crackers, and re-grouped a bit in the RV. I have, again, lost all my food, found out my kitchen sink leaks, and there is mold in the fridge since I couldn't plug it in in Chicago. Looks like I know what I'll be working on today! At our campground, we're directly across from the park and the mini golf. The kids love it. We are having an all-day school day to catch up on a few things. School continues to be my greatest challege. Time is so hard to come by, and when I'm driving, I can't help them etc. The other great challenge is keeping the RV in some sort of order so I don't go nuts.

I'm about ready to give up on the fridge and just buy crackers and cheese as we go! I'm having a hard time posting pictures, so I'll try and do it in another blog...stay tuned.

True Confessions and Many Thanks

2008-10-02T15:45:00.000-07:00

We made it to our FABULOUS hotel right outside of Chicago. Thank you
Jeff! When the kids and I gathered our things to "move in," I came
across the Boredom Bag. I had put it in a very safe place, one that was
not in direct reach of the kids, and a little out of sight for
protection. It is fitting that today I pull it out, seeing that we've
been on the road for one month. Truthfully, I haven't had a chance to
get bored, but today I was able to go through all the wonderful cards,
notes, games, gifts etc. I am very sorry for not thanking you all so
much sooner. It was like Christmas to open the bag and see all the nice
surprises. Thank you all so much. I was so touched by everyone's
thoughtfulness.
So now we are awaiting Mike's arrival late tonight. We are hunkered
down with "Dances With Wolves," as we just drove through that part of
the country in S. Dakota. It's hard for the kids to understand, as the
sub-titles can't be seen on our little DVD player. Tomorrow we'll
celebrate Jack's birthday. Since Mike doesn't get in until midnight,
all 3 of them are convinced they can wait up for him. If they do, most
of you can guess how tomorrow will go!
Again, thank you so much for your generousity. Not only will we never
get bored, but we are well cared for in many ways.

Sammy took some video at Field of Dreams. When I do these posts, I am not always given the icon to attach a video. Hope it works.

More pictures from Iowa

2008-10-01T19:10:00.001-07:00

Some pictures from today didn't make the last post.. here they are

We love Iowa

2008-10-01T18:43:00.000-07:00

The day started out SLOW--kids slept late, Lilly woke up at 9am! By the time we left the Days Inn, it was 1045. Not the early morning risers we once were. The RV still smells like burnt pizza, and as I backed up to leave, I hit a parked car. But, no damage to either party, however, it was very embarassing since I did it in front of a picnic table full of people. All their eyes were wide, and my head was low, so I peeled on out of there! Like I can actually peel out at all.

We drove one hour to the Field of Dreams. It was awesome. We ran the bases, sat on the bleechers, took pictures, walked in the corn and Jack and I had a catch. Typical me, I got all sappy reading about baseball, the simplicity of life, and living your dream. I'm such a sap. It was pretty cool to think about being in the same place as James Earl Jones and Kevin Costner. Since it was cold, not like San Diego right now, we were just about the only people there. It was so fun.

From Field of Dreams, we drove into Dubuque, had lunch, and per request, we went to Wal-Mart so the kids could use their gift cards from Amy. Thank you Amy! Something about Wal-Mart, you just want to buy crap since it seems so cheap.

We finally got out and drove to downtown Dubuque which sits right on the Mississippi River. Across the river is Illinois and Wisconsin. We went up "the steepest outside elevator in the US" for 50 cents and had a great view. We all thought it was great.

But what is really fun is our campsite. We are litterally camped on the banks of the MIssissippi River, watching the paddle boats go up and down river. There's a pirate ship park behind the RV, and it's peaceful here. I just think this is about the coolest thing. Feels very Huck Finn/Tom Sawyer.

I put in a picture of Crazy Horse since it didn't seem to work on the post last night--that was the memorial near Mt. Rushmore.

Jackson:
The Mississippi is amazing. Field of Dreams is beyond words. It's everything I thougth it would be, unique amazing and totally the best movie idea ever. It's heaven for any boy that likes baseball as much as I do.

Lilly:
Today I liked riding in the shortest, steepest elevator ever. Field of Dreams was fun because I like standing in the corn yelling, "I'm melting!" The Mississippi River is very cool. From, Lilly

Sam is sleeping... maybe we can get something from her tomorrow.

IOWA

2008-09-30T17:12:00.000-07:00

The past two days have been quite a lot. Time goes so quickly, and yesterday seems like a month ago. It's a strange feeling. So, Monday morning we woke up and drove once more past Mt. Rushmore towards Crazy Horse. His memorial will be about 5 times the size of Mt. Rushmore. Since it's privately funded, it's been a work in progress for over 50 years. Crazy Horse was a warrior at the Battle of Little Bighorn. One family has been working on it the whole time. It was very impressive, and if I ever hit it big, I will donate to the cause.

From Crazy Horse, we stopped at Jackson's favorite store, Cabela's. It's like Wild Animal Park, only stuffed. From there we drove east to Wall, SD. Wall Drug has become a well-known stop on I-90. Story is that a husband and wife were trying to make their little pharmacy successful. They weren't doing well. On one hot summer day, the wife thought to put up a billboard advertising "free ice water." People came in from everywhere. Today, an average of 20,000 people stop on any summer day. It was pretty fun, and the kids loved it.

After Wall Drug, we moved on to Mitchell, SD, home of the Corn Palace. As you may have guessed, it's made of corn husks. It was sunset, and the Palace was closed. I had a hard time hiding my relief. No gift shop shopping for us, thank goodness.

Now with the new time change, it was already dinner and well past 8pm. We were supposed to make it to Sioux Falls, but we called it a day and found a KOA for the night.

Today (my brother's 50th birthday!), we drove across 3 state lines; S Dakota to Minnesota to Iowa. The kids were troopers and kept wanting to drive on. So we did. Nine hours later, we ended up in Cedar Falls, IA. I couldn't find a campground anywhere, so I found a Days Inn. I was trying to save some of the food in the fridge, so I used the lobby micro to heat lasagne for dinner. While I got the kids set up in the room, I "cooked" a pizza in the RV stove. Well, that didn't go so well. When I got back from the room to get the pizza out of the RV, it was basically on fire. Forgetting that the broiler unit is MUCH closer to the over rack, the pizza was a mass of black charred crust. The entire RV was full of smoke. As I opened the doors and windows, people in the parking lot came over to see if I was okay. Kind of embarassing to say, "no, I just burnt the pizza." Is it a bad thing to make dinner in an RV in a hotel parking lot?? I threw out the pizza, grabbed my last beer, the toaster oven and went up to the room.

Dinner was lasagne, kiwi and toasted bagels. And beer. Now we are watching "Field of Dreams" since tomorrow we go Dubuque, IA to see where the movie was filmed. It's nice to have a movie night, the first of our trip. That's it!

Mt. Rushmore Day 2

2008-09-28T20:50:00.000-07:00

What a nice day. Since we are definitely at the end of the season here, most everything is closed. That is a good thing for me as there was no option to do the Alpine Slide, Pee-Wee golf, Helicopter ride or cave exploration. All we could do was SCHOOL! It was good to get some solid hours of work done. At lunch we walked around town which meant walking down one block and up the other side. Even the kids commented, "wow, there seems to be a lot of junk here that is pretty expensive." Apparently the entire town of Keystone (which is about the size of Kensington) closes down in October for six months. There is only one other RV in our campground, and we are adjacent to the Travel Lodge, which runs our RV park. So, we may not have many neighbors, but we are right in the middle of things.

After having lunch back in the RV, we drove back up the 2 mile hill to the memorial. The kids had ice cream and we took another walk about. It was a beautiful day, warm enough for shorts, and the leaves have all begun to turn.

Back in camp we did more school, laundry and took showers. I thought it would be nice to have dinner up at the cafe at the memorial. Turns out the Governor of S. Dakota was there, so there was a big, private dinner for him. We ended up having tuna, PB&J, mango, tomatoes and carrots in the RV parking lot.

Both nights we have been up to see the "retiring of the colors," and both nights have moved me to tears. There's a short talk in their outdoor amphitheater by a park ranger, followed by a film about the 4 presidents. After the film, all present day and veteran service men and women are asked to go down on stage to help retire the flag. They introduce themselves, state what branch of service they were in and honor anyone who has died in Iraq. By the end of the introductions, I was a mess. Tears coming down, with the kids asking, "Mom, are you alright?" It didn't matter if you were Rep or Dem; it was nationalism at its best. And then we all cheered for the service men and women, sang the National Anthem, and then the memorial was lit by lights shining through the trees. It still gives me goosebumps. Rhody, I think you would have really enjoyed it. Lilly wanted to go down on stage in your honor, just so you know.

Tomorrow we'll drive to the Crazy Horse memorial before hitting Cabela's (Jack can't wait!), Wall Drug and then The Corn Palace. Final desination for tomorrow is Sioux City. Making our way across the Northern Plains. We are counting down to Chicago which we should hit Oct 2nd. The kids can't wait, and Jack is very excited about his birthday this Friday.

Mt. Rushmore

2008-09-27T16:47:00.000-07:00

Well, grab yourself a cup of coffee, beer or wine, because this could get lengthy as there is much to catch up on...

Let's go back to last Thursday when something quite remarkable happened on our trip. I GOT A BABYSITTER AND WENT OUT TO DINNER WITH TWO ADULTS! Tara secured her usual wonderful babysitter so that she, Brynn and I got to eat out at a gret local restaurant. It was so much fun, and the company was quite delightful. The kids were happy back at Tara's house watching a movie and singing Wicked with Amira. We said all our good-byes to our old and new Montana friends Thursday night, since we would be leaving early Friday morning. It was really wonderful to spend time with Tara and her family. They took good care of us, as we basically moved in for 4 nights.

Friday morning we took Brynn and Ri to the airport. They had an early flight, so we slept in the RV so I could drive with them still in bed. It was so much fun to have company this past week. It helped grately to have another adult to bounce off ideas and things. And the kids so enjoyed have cousin time with Riley.

After leaving Brynn and Ri at the airport, we made our way east towards Sheridan, WY. Now, it is hard not to tawlk like a cowboy when your in this part of the county. It is B-yute-TEE-ful, and 'dem chitlins are gettin purty tired of 'der Mom acting like crazzy cow wawlkin' circles in a yard with no egg-SIT. When Brynnie was here, the two of would go off, so much so that the kids had absolutley no idea what to make of us.

The highlight on Friday was litterally stumbling into the Battle of Little Bighorn. We spent over 2 hours at this national monument. There is a beautiful (or B-yute-TE-ful for ya'll cowboys) native american monument, and a memorial to Custer and all his men who died in the battle. Crazy Horse and Sittlng Bull were the main characters on the warrior side, and over 200 soldiers died. It is unclear how many indians died since their bodies were retreived by their individual tribes. There were a total of three tribes involved in the battle.

We moved on from Bighorn and got into Sheridan around dinner time. The lady at the KAO campground said we must go see the King's Ropes and Sadles in town. So we did. Now, I had to stop my cowboy tawlk because downtown Sheridan gave me the feeling that I could very well have my head blown clean off if I was to act up at all. So I kept my mouth shut like a new jar of jam with a tight lid. Jackson was in 7th heaven in the rope store. Lilly just pouted with jealousy bemoaning the fact she still doesn't have a real horse.

We left the rope store, got back to camp and I promptly ordered a real western dinner of Domino's pizza. Now there were two men in camp that kinda scared me. The first one was in the camp store when I registered. He went on and on, telling me he'd "bin all over lookin' for this fly SWAT-ar, and that he'd bin usin' his G-un to shoot dem flies, but that just left too many holes in his wall!" Okay, so I'm thinking to myslef, "is this guy playing my cowboy game with me???" No, he was for real, so I quite like a rabbit got out of that store and went back to the safety of my RV. Only that wasn't complete safe neither... Man number two comes strolling on over asking, "I seen you on the road. I recognize all dem bikes on the back of your rig. What part of California you from? Figures you from California and ordered Dominos." I say, "San Diego," and he says "well, what part? (real snotty). MIssion Valley, La Jolla, Ocean Beach??" I reply, "near SDSU (now go away)... You seem to know a lot about the area. Did you live there?" "Yes, I was stationed there." "Oh, where were you?" "WELL WHICH TIME ARE YOU TAWLKING ABOUT??" Now, it's pretty obvious to me that I 1) don't care to talk to him, and 2) HOW AM I TO KNOW YOU LIVED THERE MORE THAN ONCE?!!" So I told the kids that the bees are coming to eat their pizza so time to MOVE IN THE RV! The man left. Go figure.

We read some Tom Sawyer, showered, brush teeth and went to bed. During the night we were sarenaded by the lovely sounds of a train near by! And the train wistles lull (and wake) me all night long. One might think that in order to count the cars on a train, a game the kids play when we see them from the road, you would actually have to SEE the train. Not true. Last night I could count the cars just by hearing the click-click, click-click as each car rolled over the track.

Jack and I were up and ready to go by 7. We left the camp, and 'dem strange cowboys, with the girls still sleeping in their beds. Our destination for today, Mt. Rushmore! It was SO windy driving, that it definitley required both hands on the wheel, not one with a beer, for example.

Mt. Rushmore was AMAZING. We were all soo impressed. The memorial was built by 400 workers from 1927-1941. The four chosen presidents are Washington (for the Birth of our nation), Jeffereson (for the Expansion of our nation-Lousiana Purchase), T. Roosevelt (for the Conservation/Development of our nation), and Lincoln (for the Preservation of our nation). Dynamite was used to carve out about 90% of the memorial, and the sculptor was Gutzon Borglum. He worked on the carving for the last 14 years of his life. Each face is 60 feet tall, each eye is 11 feet wide, and the noses are 20 feet long, except Washington's which is 21 feet long.

We spent 3 hours at the park and are going back tonight to retire the colors and light the memorial. After Tuesday, they won't be doing that, so we didn't want to miss it.

So, you should be up to speed. One more thing-I made dinner in the RV and each time I get that pilot light lit (or empty the sewer tank), I feel like POWER WOMAN WHO CAN DO ANYTHING! I swear, each time I light that pilot, I half expect to blow us all up. So far, so good!

Jackson's favorite thing for today:
"My favorite thing about today was learning about the presidents and seeing a mountain goat."

Lilly's:
"My favorite thing today was seeing the rock faces, also called Mt. Rushmore! I also like seeing the mountain goat and making friendship bracelets. But what i didn't like about today was hurting my knee, sliding down a rail."

Sam's:
"My favorite thing was seeing Mt. Rushmore and making freindship bracelets."

Leaving Bozeman/Arrv Sheridan WY

2008-09-26T20:06:00.000-07:00

From Sammy:

We left from Bozeman and we dropped Brynnie and Riley at the airport. And then we got on the road. It wasn't that fun. Would you like to know why? Because we really didn't get to do very much stuff besides

And a day of rest

2008-09-24T20:09:00.000-07:00

Not much to report today which is a good thing! We all slept late, had an amazing breakfast of Brynn's famous french toast, did school work all morning and into the afternoon, and played in the park. But most notable is Brynn and I had naps! I posted a few more pictures from our time in Yellowstone. And that's about it.

Leaving Yellowstone, Arriving Bozeman, MT

2008-09-23T20:20:00.000-07:00

There's much to catch up on since the past few days have gone by quickly-

On Sunday morning, the kids and I enjoyed a beautiful last walk around the gysers and Old Faithful. We had breakfast and watched one last eruption before continuing north through Yellowstone to meet Brynn and Riley. As I drove, Jack listened on the iPod to a "story on tape" from Audible.com. Listening and watching for wildlife made driving very easy!

By the time we met Brynn and Ri in Mammoth Hot Springs, the northern most part of the park, we had seen bison, elk, bald eagles and even the top of a grizzly head (Jack saw it, I didn't). There are a bunch of elk in Mammoth, and as luck would hve it, the BIG BUCK decided it was time to check out the ladies. As he mated, the kids all asked, "what is he DOING???" Not only did we get a front row seat of elk mating, Jackson was also the one to ask at a ranger program in the Grand Tetons, "what does Teton mean?" A very good question, most would agree. The answer is "nipple or tit," named by a frenchman. Poor Jack, his face turned bright red. So, not only do we get the nipple invovled, we also get elk mating. We've covered it all. And Jack actually got a picture of the Buck and his lady friend, but I'm not putting it on the blog. The Buck's name was Lawrence. Get it, Lawrence Elk?

We were thrilled to pick up our fellow passengers and decided to leave Mammoth and drive Brynn and Ri back south to camp at Fishing Bridge. We made dinner and fell asleep with the six of us in the camper laughing. Jack "camped" in the camper and slept on the floor, quite happily, he wanted me to add. Four people fit better than six, but it sure was funny!

It was DARK in the campground, and we were in the forest. After having seen all the wildlife that day, the kids were kind of spooked. Lilly kept thinking a bison or a bear was going to come into the camper. And it was COLD. The low was about 23 degrees, the high was about 45-50 degrees. On Monday morning, they asked if we could go to Bozeman. Brynnie and I didn't mind since the two of us were up on the top bunk and we both could not sleep past 230am. The thought of a bed sounded good to us! We got the weather report and learned that snow showers were expected. "LET'S GO TO BOZEMAN!" was confirmed. The kids all listened to another Audible story while we made pancakes, cleaned up and got ready to drive north.

We arrived at Brynn's very dear friend's house, Tara Bishop. She and her husband, Greg Mortensen (Three Cups of Tea author) have two kids, Amira (12) and Khyber (8). Jackson, Lilly, Sam, Riley, Khyber and Amira all played and played. By the time we were getting to bed, it started to rain. And then it started to thunder and lighening. And then came the hail. I had the kids in the RV, and I was getting ready for bed too when I found that there was another leak in the RV, this time over the cab bed. As I was attempting to stop the leak with all-purpose duct tape, Brynn and Amira came out and insisted we go inside to sleep.

Once again, we were lucky to be with friends when the Big Broken Down Turd sprung a leak. We all crashed on the floor in Tara's living room, grateful to be dry.

Today we woke up to say "have a good day at school Khyber and Amira!," and then the six of us went to the Rockies Museum, which was just a short walk through Montana State University, 8 blocks from Tara's house. It was a great museum, and the kids learned all about Lewis and Clark, dinosaurs (Montana boast the highest number of dinosaur fossils in the US), and how insects help sovle crime scenes. Maggots were a big part of that exhibit, and I was about to vomit. The kids loved it.

We walked home from the museum, ate lunch and did some journaling. Tomorrow I'll get to the hardware store and caulk the leak. It won't be pretty, but it should do the trick.

Thanks for all the calls and emails. I really appreciate the "check-ins" as it doesn't make us feel like we're out floating in space.

Yellowstone!

2008-09-20T20:12:00.000-07:00

What a day. I included more pictures since last night I was unable to get them posted.

Jackson and I woke up and ran down to the lake to watch the sunrise on the mountains. It was a cold, crisp, wet morning, and it smelled like Christmas outside. Our plan to see the sunrise was foiled as it was overcast and cloudy. While we didn't see a pink sky, we did see the mountains sticking out of the clouds which was pretty awesome. We got back to the RV as the girls were waking up. Only then did the rain start, for which I was very grateful. Rain gives us the chance to play catch up. We sat in the RV, snuggled in our blankets, ate a little breakfast and spent the morning doing the Jr. Ranger programs. By the time we turned them into the visitor center (and the kids did one last look at the gift shop) it was already noon.

Driving north through the park, we crossed into Yellowstone. It is one big park. Two hours of driving, and we arrived at the Yellowstone Inn and Lodge area. I was told if we go to Yellowstone, we must spend one night at the Inn. Since it was still kind of a rainy day, we grabbed lunch at the cafeteria and from the comfort of our window table, saw Old Faithful go off right on schedule. And then the rain came down! Everyone ran inside and the kids and I went back to the RV. Lunch was at the Lodge, but our room was at the Inn, so we drove over there.

Before going to our room, we walked all along the gysers and saw Old Faithful erupt again. The dark clouds moved in again, and before we knew it, it was a total downpour. Thunder and lightening, hail, all of it! It was fabulous. I told the kids, "now THIS is a night to be staying at an Inn, NOT in our RV!!" They agreed.

The lobby of this historic Inn is breathtaking. It looks a little like The Swiss Family Robinson Tree House. Old, wood log steps wind way up into the rafters, five flights! Guests are only allowed to go up to the 3rd floor. There are huge comfy chairs with a giant fireplace and views all around. We ran through the rain back to the RV to gather our belongings, including school work. Shlepping it up to the 3rd floor, we found a great, big table and spread everything out. For those of you CAL folks, it was like being at that old, cool library with the long tables, which I now can't remember the name.

Anyway, we spent over 2 1/2 hours doing some work and met lots of nice people, including another homeschool family. The girls quickly made friends with their girls and swapped all kinds of stories. Before I knew it, it was 8pm, and we hadn't had dinner. Thankfullly we picked up some sandwiches and brought them back to the room.

Each day we see some amazing sights. And each day I think it can't get better, but it does. Today Sammy said, "Mom, I didn't think I would like this place, but I love it. Thanks so much for bringing us here. I think I want to live here." It doesn't get much better than that.

Grand Teton National Park

2008-09-19T20:39:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning to find that it was my favorite kind of morning outside... very cool and crisp, the perfect fall day. Kids slept in, and we ate breakfast kind of late. After shopping around town, we drove into Teton park.

Words do not do this park justice. It is one of the most beautiful
places I've been, and I think is now my favorite of our trip. As we
entered the park and viewed the mountains for the first time, Iliterally
gasped and got goosebumps. The colors are changing, so the all the
yellow is quite a nice contrast with the blue skies and the mountains.

The kids and I leisurely drove through the park, stopping to take pictures
of any animals. Once in our campground, we ate a late lunch in the RV,
took off our bikes and rode all around. We walked down to the lake,
which is cold like Tahoe, and stopped at the visitor center.

After dinner (mac-n-cheese and broccoli!), we walked down to the ranger
campfire program. By the end, Sam was just about asleep in my lap, and
the big kids crawled easily into bed. Will try and add pictures later--blog thing not working, and I'm done for now.

Wyoming, finally

2008-09-18T20:40:00.000-07:00

I'm pooped, so here's the cliff note version of the last 36 hours...kids are sleeping or I'd make them write!
We left Denver yesterday and happily stopped one more time in Evergreen to see an old friend of ours, Julie Antenucci. She and her husband, Ted, were a big part of our moving to Evergreen 10 years ago, so it was great to catch up.

We left Evergreen and drove to Steamboat, smelling burning brakes most of the way. We stopped for lunch in Steamboat (I even cooked lunch in the Big-Broken-down-Turd in the City Market parking lot!), and I called the shop guys. They assured me all was fine with the new brakes, despite the horrible smell and haze.

After lunch we drove to Strawberry Hot Springs which was amazing!! We all had a ball, and it was beautiful. We left Steamboat and 5pm and began driving towards Rock Springs, WY, my layover spot before Jackson Hole. Long story short, we got so lost, on some county road that turned into a dirt road. And when the sun went down, and I didn't have cell coverage, and I had no FU&^%$#@?+@##ING idea where I was going since the road on THE MAP looked just fine, and no one knew WHERE I was, and there was not a soul or a light around for miles, I turned back. I knew how much gas I would need, and how many miles I had gone, so that was that. Half scared out of my mind, we got back to Craig, CO and spent the night.

Today, to make up for lost time, we had to drive 8 hours to Jackson Hole. It was soo worth it. We love it here, and are safe and sound. We went to Town Square and all had a chance to swim and hot tub. Tomorrow we'll have some time in town again before heading into Teton Park. Saturday we head to Yellowstone and meet Brynn and Riley! Can't wait.

Going to bed-

Good New, Bad News

2008-09-17T05:20:00.000-07:00

So, it's been an interesting past couple of days. Sunday night we dropped Mike at the airport. The plan was we'd get back the RV on Monday by noon and drive to Steamboat. Well, I got a call Sunday night that the director of Pennies for Peace, Christiane, had to fly out of town on Monday and would not be abble to meet us until Tues. When the kids woke up on Monday, we took a vote. They decided to stay one more night in Denver and go to Evergreen on Tuesday morning. Lilly really wanted to meet her. Swimming and playing with the Pittman kids was a great alternative. Plus it did give me time to get to Costco and restock/clean the RV. I got the RV back Monday afternoon, ready to go, so we thought...

Tuesday morning I wake the kids up and get ready to leave Denver. We say our good-byes and head to Evergreen, CO by 830am to meet P4P director, Christiane. Evergreen is only about 40 minutes from Denver, and it's UP a very steep grade. When I pull off at our meeting place, my left front brake is smoking so badly, that a man in the parking lot comes over to see if we are okay. Clouds of smoke and horrible burning brake smell is coming out of the tire well. But I just have to leave it and meet Christiane.

Christiane was fabulous, and the work she does for Pennies for Peace is so exciting. Lilly, sadly, wasn't feeling well and spent most of the meeting with her head in my lap. But by the end, she was good enough to take a picture with Christiane and Pennies for Peace.

After coffee, I called my RV shop in Denver and asked if they had any ideas as to why my brakes were smoking after going UP hill. They suggested I take it right to a shop and have it looked at. I did, and the consensus was to drive it back down to Denver, straight to the shop. The kids might be done with the "it's just part of the adventure!" line I use when "minor repairs" happen. I'm calling them minor repairs instead of breaking down to make myself feel better...

Krissy came to our rescue, again, and picked us up at the shop. We were hoping to get it by 3, but it wasn't until 5 that it was ready. By the time I could get a ride back over to the shop, load the kids, get gas, it would have been 630pm. It's almost a 4 hour drive to Steamboat, over passes, and in the dark. We elected to be like relatives that never leave, and stay another night in Denver. Doesn't fish stink after 3 days?? Isn't there something like that for house guests?

Here's another funny part--when Krissy took me to the RV, I had told the guys to lock the keys in it as I had a spare. Well, you know where this is going. I got there, found my spare and went to unlock the door. My spare key is for the back door only, different from the passenger and driver door. There are 2 locks on the backdoor. One lock I don't even have a key for. Guess which lock was locked?? Here comes AAA to let me in!

If anyone has seen the movie "RV," the kids in the movie call the RV "the big rolling turd." We are now thinking of changing our name from White Lightening to "the big BROKEN DOWN turd."

If we're lucky, we will make it out of Colorado today. I will drive the kids through Steamboat, stopping for lunch, and then continuing on to Rock Springs, WY.

Could you all just cross your fingers please?

What a weekend

2008-09-14T20:46:00.001-07:00

It was an action-packed weekend for us in Denver. Mike flew in on Saturday morning, we had a chance to swim and play Saturday afternoon, took a great walk with the whole group, Saturday night was the Rockies game, Sunday we spent 4 hours at the Nature and Science Museum, we watched a little of the Broncos/Chargers game (go Chargers-we lost), and then Mike flew out tonight. Thankfully, there was a round of kareoke going at Mike's departure time which help to aliviate a few tears. Mike went to say good-bye to Sam and asked if she wanted to walk out to the car with him. She replied, "well Daddy, I would, but it is my turn next to sing." So there you have it. Jackson and I drove Mike out to DIA leaving enough time for Jack to visit his favorite stop, The Great OutDoors Bass store. Quite the hunting/camping/fishing mecca.

It was so nice to be at the Pittmans. They were such kind and generous hosts, and the kids loved being here. They've fed us and helped stock us up for our next leg of the trip. Tomorrow, if the RV is ready, we'll head to Steamboat Springs for two nights. On our way we hope to stop at Pennies for Peace and also see our old house in Evergreen. It was a fabulous time in Denver. THANK YOU PITTMANS!

TGIF!

2008-09-12T15:41:00.001-07:00

Well, thank goodness we slept in Krissy and Ray's house last night. We woke up after a night of pouring rain to find that one of the windows in the RV leaks, and it leaks quite a bit. The entire left side of the dinette bench was soaked. Water had leaked in, soaked the seat and even the storage space underneath was very wet. We were lucky it wasn't our bed that night.

The kids and I had a 9am tour reservation at the Denver Mint, so Krissy lent us her car, and off we went, leaving the puddle of water behind.

The Mint was great. We were amazed to learn that at the Denver Mint produces about 2 1/2 million dollars in coins a day! And, the state quarter collection was the most popular collection ever. It was raining as we left the tour, so we ran back to the car and headed back to Krissy's.

I was glad to have a rainy day schedule. It provided just the opportunity to catch up on school. We brought out the books and did some catch up. I was also able to get the RV into a repair shop. Not only is Steve, the nice RV man, fixing my propane problem, but he's also fixing my leak, taking care of my fuel hoses, and changing a number of my fluids. We'll be back on the road (safely) on Monday.

It was also the perfect day to restock the cookie dough. Made quite the batch, I may add. Kids are downstairs singing their hearts away on the karoake. We may just stay in Denver, skip the rest of our trip and super impose pictures on the blog. That was Krissy's idea.

Raining in Denver

2008-09-12T05:18:00.001-07:00

We had a great time in Vail yesterday. I tried to coax the kids to do a hike on the mountain, but they wanted to shop. How surprising! We did get our bikes off the RV and rode around town which was fun. On our way out from Vail, we stopped at the Betty Ford Alpine Garden. It was absoultely beautiful. Mom, you would have loved it, and it also made me think of Toni. At 8000 feet, the garden has the highest collection of alpine flowers. There's even a little meditation garden--I tried to get zen there. Next to the garden was the greatest play stucture, even better than the one at Legoland. It was time for motor skill development class.

We loaded up and got over Vail pass just as some rain began to fall. We made one stop in Silverthorne to see an old friend of mine, Jillian, and her husband. Jillian came to the Denver hospital when Jack was born, so it was quite shocking to see how big he is now!

Pulling the RV into the Pittman's driveway in Denver, one would have thought we'd received free passes to Disneyland. The kids were beyond excited to see our dear friends, Ray, Krissy, Lizzie, Jacqui and Tres.

This morning we are going on the Denver Mint Tour which has had great reviews. The kids are all sleeping (in the house!), and it's a little rainy out, which I love. Mike comes tomorrow!!

Leaving UT, arriving CO

2008-09-11T06:36:00.000-07:00

On our way out from Moab, we stopped at Utah State Park, Dead Horse Pt. Mike's brother, Dave, suggested we go there, and it was well worth the time. It was an amazing outlook. Legend has it a group of old cowboys coraled a heard of horsed out to this small, precarious point. Then they selected the horses they wanted, blocked the remaining horses out on this point (the narrow pass is only 30 yards wide, 2000 feet down), and left. The horses left behind died of thirst, starring down at the Colorado River, 2000 feet below. The girls both asked, "WHY WOULD COWBOYS DO THAT??!!" Jackson just remained silent...

We made our best time yet driving to Vail. It was so nice to get here, as it is a bit of home for me. Not only did Mike and I live in Colorado, but 17 (??) years ago, Heidi and I lived in Vail. It was close to dinner when we arrived. It feels like fall here, cool and crisp, my favorite weather. Sam said it smells like Christmas trees.

The only campground in town was closed for the season... so we ended up at the Vail Holiday Inn. I tried to convince the kids to sleep in a parking lot, but turns out Vail is not at all RV friendly!!

But we're happy, clean bed, bath tub and a little time with cartoons.

Last night in Moab

2008-09-09T19:06:00.000-07:00

From Jackson:
this trip has been a great experrience for me. But so far I htink Moab is going to be the best. I think it's the best because out of everything, there is arches, hummer tours, bike rides, hiking, and at this campground, fishing for minnows. the Grand Canyon was pretty spectacular but Moab, overall, has been more exciting.

Today we visited Arches. if you're thinking about a family trip, go there. You can climb on most of the arches and see where Indiana Jones was filmed. If you go to the movie about Arches (in the Visitor Center), you'll hear that old bank robber gangs and train thieves would hide out in Canyonlands. The hid there because the marshalls and sheriffs weren't familiar with the area. And the bank robbers knew the area so could hide really well.

The slick rock hummer tour would be any kids favorite moment on a vacation. Teh history of Moab and Arches and Canyonland is so big, it's hard to take it all in at once. The End.

From Sammy:
H,i I am Sammy, and this is our big adventure. We're going around the US and we're going to go to 16 states and 1 country. And my Mom, Gretchen, is homeschooling us for 3 months. We are going around the US in an RV. It's going to be very fun. Except the homework isn't that fun. But that's how it's going to be. My favorite state has been I think Utah. It has been the most fun. And I'll tell you all the stuff that we have been doing. It is swimming, seeing our babysitter, her name is Liana, and then we saw Hoover Dam and we saw this most great campground. The name is Portal RV. It's in Moab. Also we catched minnows and we caught a frog.
From, Sammy

Arches Nat'l Park

2008-09-09T17:13:00.000-07:00

From Lilly:
By the pond near our campsite, there are frogs and minnows. I caught a frog in a bucket except it jumped out. The frog was brown and very small. Okay, that's all.

from RoadMom:
Besides trying to catch frogs and minnows, we did go and see Arches Nat'l Park. It was awesome and the kids were very impressed by the size of it all. We had some overcast skies and some wind which made it more exciting. We were in the park for about 4 hours, then drove into town for lunch and more shopping--they can't seem to get enough. Back in camp, we ordered Dominos, did some school work, and headed back out to catch frogs and minnows. They might be as impressive as the arches.

Moab part 2

2008-09-08T20:19:00.003-07:00

Had some technical difficulties adding some pictures to the last post... here are a few from today.

Moab

2008-09-08T19:57:00.000-07:00

From Sammy:
I liked the hummer tour that we went on. And I liked swimming at our new campground. My favorite thing about Moab is we got to go and see a real dinosaur footprint, and we saw petroglyphs. Those are back in the old days when indians wrote on rocks. First they burnt the rock, and I think they used rocks to make the pictures. Thank you, from Sammy ( I am five and a half).

From Lilly:
I had a bunch of fun in the hummer today. The instructor was really nice. We got to go fast and it was really fun. I learned that we were under water, that Moab was covered by the ocean. It was really cool seeing the dinosaur footprints. When we got back, we went to the the swimming hole and to the pool. I was trying to catch frogs at the pond. That's all.

We love Zion!

2008-09-06T20:21:00.000-07:00

Not too much time to post tonight--kids wanted to but they are writing in their journals.
We had an amazing day today, hiking in Zion park in a place call the Narrows. It's a river walk, and the kids loved it.

It's 80 degrees tonight, and we're sitting at our campground picnic table, doing a little school time before bed. Sam had us all in giggles while riding the Zion shuttle tonight. I think the whole bus was amused.

Tomorrow we leave for Moab. It should take us about 6 hours. The kids will try and post while I drive. Jack just said, "can I go to bed? I am soo tired!" Ah, the sign of a good day!

Loving Zion

2008-09-06T08:28:00.000-07:00

After leaving St. George, we drove about 3 hours to our next stop. We had an absolutely amazing time at the Grand Canyon, North Rim. Because we broke down and lost one night, we maximized our time at the canyon. Once we got the campground, we quickly unloaded the bikes and rode down the the Grand Canyon Lodge and Rim. We walked along a pretty precarious trail out to the view point. The kids were awe struck by the size, as was I. We stopped at the visitor center and picked up the Jr. Ranger booklets for the kids and rode back to the RV. Speaking of the RV...

I think we incurred some other damages to the RV from our tow in St. George. I seem to be without propane gas and my fridge went out. No more food that is good to eat in the fridge! The greatest loss was the cookie dough... have to restock on that in Denver.

We spent our one night at the canyon listening to a great ranger program. The kids all filled out their booklets and became "Jr. Rangers," taking a pledge and all.

In the morning, I drove them (still in their beds) down to the Rim 545am. I thought we should all watch the sunrise. They were very happy to do it, and it took our breath away.

After breakfast we drove to another rim view, Cape Royal, for one last visit. It was even more amazing than what we had seen earlier.

We are now in Zion and have decided to stay 2 nights instead of one. The pace of just 'one night stands' is a bit much for us all. We'll be in Moab tomorrow and will stay 3 nights. We've decided to change course and skip southern Col. for now. From Moab we'll hit Vail and then into Denver.

Kids will post this afternoon. They are doing great, shopping in the gift shop. We haven't had internet or cell coverage since the canyon, so we'll update when we can.

Happy Trails!

Well, the inevitable has happened!

2008-09-03T16:48:00.000-07:00

We had a great morning at Hoover Dam. It is an amazing site. There's enough concrete in the dam to build a 4ft. wide sidewalk around the equator of the earth. And it weighs about the same as 18 Empire St. Buildings!

From Hoover, we headed N. on Interestate 15 towards the Grand Canyon. We made it over this steep grade and began going down into St. George, UT. Coming down, I lost power and couldn't accelerate. I was losing speed and was able to coast down far enough to reach a safe spot to pull over. It was a bit scary, as I had to get over and cut off a semi to do it. Kids jumped into action, were buckled up, and took it as well as I could.

We got a tow to St. George, only about 6 miles. Looks like it's the fuel pump, and we hope to be on the road tomorrow. The good news is it happened going down the grade and not up. The tow truck came right away, the guys at the shop were very nice, the Days Inn only cost $50, AND there's a Denny's across the street to boot! We'll post pictures tomorrow, as my camera is locked in the RV at the shop.

My take is this was bound to happen and now it has. Should be smooth sailing from here on out!

Okay, off to dinner at Denny's. Then we all get a clean shower. Also a bonus!

We did it!

2008-09-03T05:30:00.000-07:00

Day 1 is under our belt, we were very excited! After an amazing send-off party at the Fortunes, we spent our last night in San Diego having an RV picnic dinner with Mike at Lake Murray. We finished all our packing and left on Tuesday morning at 10. The drive to Vegas went pretty smoothly. My favorite part of the day was glancing back over my shoulder to see that Lilly and Sam had put the couch down, snuggled back with their pillows and were reading books. Jackson was sitting at the dinette reading his homework. Pretty great! We sang songs, watched 4 very long trains go by, and arrived at our friend's, Liana, house seven hours later. Using some of our gas gift cards, (thanks everyone!!) we made it in just one gas stop. Liana and Bradon prepared a great dinner for us, and the kids and I slept in the RV parked on the street. It was a great first day.

1/2 Way to Sponsorship!!

2008-08-31T07:40:00.000-07:00

We are THRILLED to be able to advertise on our RV... we have been given permission to put on the Pennies for Peace logo (check out penniesforpeace.org). This just came in the week before we are schedule to leave, so we are very excited. However, since P4P is a not-for-profit organization, RoadScholarz is doing the promo, pro-bono.. But it's all good!! We will meet the P4P director in Evergreen, CO (where Mike and I coincidentally lived for 3 1/2 years). And we will also go to Bozeman, MT where CAI is headquartered. The funny part is our sign is magnetic. Turns out, the RV isn't. We had planned to put it on the back of the RV, so looks like for now it's on the door! Plan B, industrial velcro...

Less than a week to go!

2008-08-27T14:08:00.000-07:00

With only 6 days to go until we leave, the packing has begun! I also went to the dentist office 4 times in 3 days to get all last minute fillings and cleanings done. The kids are VERY excited, and we are looking forward to beginning our adventure. Thanks for all your calls and support!

Mike will be glad to get the living room back to normal... check out the "what to pack" picture!

Maiden Voyage

2008-08-01T10:52:00.000-07:00

The kids and I just did two nights at Santee Lakes to work out all the kinks. We learned a lot and met some great people who helped me learn the ropes.

Still working on getting sponsorships. See the link below to view our latest attempt!

2008-07-17T07:41:00.000-07:00

July 15, 2008

We stopped in Scotts Valley on our drive home from the Lair to pick up our new (used) RV! Rick, the RV guy, was very nice and is a mechanic of 19 years. He took exceptional care of the motorhome, so I feel safe with the kids. We are still trying to come up with a name for the motorhome. Sammy wants to call it MoHawk.

Mike drove the minivan, and the kids and I took the RV. We drove from Scotts Valley south to my brother's house off the 101 in LA. It was a good first trip in the rig, and the kids had a blast. By the time we reached LA, the kids were asleep in their beds!

Now we're home and we've "camped" in the RV parked in front of our house. It's been a playroom, a guestroom and an additional room for entertaining neighbors. Already we're getting some good use out of it.