Day 25 - Lexington, KY to Clarksburg, MD

Day 25 - 504 miles, Lexington, KY to Clarksburg, MD

We made it!  I tried to convince the kids to spend some time at the Lexington Horse Park but they just wanted to see the horses and go!  Everyone slept as we drove through West Virginia (I wanted to stop and get a picture with the Mothman statue but they were all sleeping so soundly). 

When the kids woke up the went through their "Best Of" lists. 

Best Statue:  Winged Angels at the Hoover Dam (their toes are shiny from everyone touching them)

Best Pool:  MGM Grand Lazy River (playing with Miss Crystal all day)

Best Part of San Francisco:  Visiting Ron, Judy, Mark, Oralee, Oliver, Maya, Rainier, and Marky (the kids consider this the best part of the whole trip).  The Golden Gate bridge is in second place.

Coolest Stop:  Grand Canyon Skywalk

Best Landscape:  New Mexico Mesalands or the Painted Desert of Arizona

Coolest Soil:  Death Valley where they discovered magnetic dirt

Best Tour:  Meteor Crater rim tour

Coolest Restaurant:  Nick's at Rockaway Beach in Pacifica, Ca

Best Food:  Silver Moon Cafe on Route 66 in Santa Rosa, NM

Temperatures:  From 52 degrees in SF to 122 degrees in Death Valley

Best Decoration:  10 foot stuffed Grizzly in the lobby of our hotel in Wyoming

Best New Food Discovery:  Tristan loved Trish's Mini-Donuts sold hot by the bag on Fisherman's Wharf

Within 90 seconds of pulling in the driveway Jack was at his best friend's house and Tristan was riding his electric ATV vehicle.  Griffin was excited to ride his new bike (birthday present) and to see my mom and Marty who stopped over for dinner.

Day 24 - Blue Springs, MO to Lexington, KY

Day 24 - 564 miles, Blue Springs, MO to Lexington, KY

We left at about 6:00AM this morning and made it to St. Louis by lunch time to see the Gateway Arch.  We had a hard time getting a picture with the kids and the whole arch.  It is impossible to get a picture up close.  It is just too big.  The heat and humidity were crazy.

 After our Arch stop we pretty much drove straight through to Lexington, KY and passed Louisville Slugger Field.  When I it out to the kids Griffin said "I think that is pronounced 'Lewis-ville' mom". 

 After this long drive we all hit the hot tub and got take out and watched a movie.  The kids are so excited to get home tomorrow they didn't get to sleep until after midnight.  One more long drive.

Day 23 - Westminster, CO to Blue Springs, MO

Day 23 - 647 miles, Westminster, CO to Blue Springs, MO

I can't believe the kids are holding up on these long drives.  They are motivated to get home and see the animals.  I think I might wear out before they do.

Today we drove half of Colorado and the length of Kansas.  We passed the Eisenhower Presidential Library (Jack likes Ike), the Oz Winery, Fort Hays, Oakley, KS (where William Cody won the title of Buffalo Bill--Annie Oakley must have something to do with this town but we didn't see anything), the Monument Rocks (I know...we have seen tons of rocks) the historical marker for Brown Vs. The Board of Education, and lots of prairies straight out of my Little House books.

We made it to Blue Springs, MO which is right next to Independence, MO, home of the Harry S Truman Library.  I hear the "S" stands for his Grandfather Shipp, but that is only what I hear and I am too tired to Wiki.

Tomorrow on towards Lexington, KY.

Day 22 - Evanston, WY to Westminster, CO

Day 22 - 447 miles, Evanston, WY to Westminster, CO

Out hotel in Wyoming had a Grizzly Bear in the lobby. You don't see that every day.

We are pushing towards home but there were a lot of cool little stops to make along the way.  We were driving a lot of the way through what the signs called "Wyoming's Outback" and it looked like the outback.  The Flaming Gorge in Green River was cool, especially the Castle Rock. We were stuck in dead stop traffic in Laramie, Wyoming for over an hour.  Uuggghhh!

We passed the Continental Divide and then saw the Chimney Rock near Cheyenne.  On a side note: I kept seeing signs to Ogallala which, to my fellow Lonesome Dove readers, was the place that July (Juuu-lie) Johnson's crazy wife kept trying to go.  If  signs to Ogallala were a high point for me then that may well describe the day. 

We applauded when we hit Colorado.  Fort Collins and Denver were beautiful and we finally made it our hotel after a quick trip to the local Albertson's.  Jack was hilarious because they have these rounded conveyors to put your groceries on and every time it moved he jumped, truly startled.  It was a long day!

Day 21 - Reno, NV to Evanston, WY

Day 21 - 602 miles, Reno, NV to Evanston, WY

It was a big car day today.  I am so tired so I will keep it short. 

We hit a rattlesnake...if we were going to meet a rattlesnake I am glad it was in an SUV.

Northwestern Nevada is very windy!  We saw two tractor trailer blown over and tons of dust devils.  Big ones.

The kids were not that impressed by the Great Salt Lake but were very impressed by the Bonneville Salt Flats where the Land Speed Record was set on the Measured Mile and the sound barrier broken.  You can actually see the curvature of the earth.  They also took 1000 pictures of a rainbow of Salt Lake City.

We had dinner in Park City, Utah and that is one nice place. Charming and cool at the same time. We could see the huge ski jump from the restaurant which was awesome.

Day 20 - Rockaway Beach, CA to Reno, NV

Day 20 - 232 miles, Rockaway Beach, CA to Reno, NV

Nick's for breakfast one last time.  We will miss that place.  Since it was Griffin's birthday they brought him an outstanding blueberry muffin with a candle and we sang happy birthday. 

We dropped Jim at the airport in SF and then headed towards Reno.  I had a few stops planned but Tristan didn't feel good.  We made a quick swing by Donner Pass (if you are wondering if I told the kids about the Donner Party, I didn't...Jack did...he  read a book about it in the school library and knew way more than me) and then we charged by Tahoe to the Silver Legacy hotel in Reno. 

Legend has it that Sam Fairchild discovered a deep vein of blue ore where the Silver Legacy stands today.   The hotel has a huge dome that houses Fairchild's 120 foot high automated mining machine produces lightning, thunder and smoke hourly.  Ooooh.  Ahhhh.


We spent the majority of Griff's birthday night at the adjoining Circus Circus Hotel which has an arcade with boardwalk games and circus acts.  A big car show called Hot August Nights was also going on so we saw a lot of cool cars. 

I can't believe Griffin is eight!

Day 19 - Pacifica, San Jose

Day 19 - San Jose

We had breakfast at Nick's on Rockaway Beach again.  I think are in love with this place.  It opened in 1927 and is just a very cool "joint" filled with very cool people.

After breakfast we headed to San Jose to visit Jim's Aunt Judy and Uncle Ron.  What an estate they have above the city in the hills.  We followed paths Uncle Ron put in which lead to the tire swing over the creek, the kids played tennis on their tennis court and swam in their beautiful pool. 

Mark and Oralee and the kids came to stay in the guest house for the night, which was so great.  All the kids played capture the flag and picked cherries and just ran around the grounds having a great time. 

Uncle Ron and Aunt Judy's house has cherry, almond, pecan, olive trees and more.  They grow grapes, carrots, peppers, citrus, avocados...it was incredible.  Aunt Judy made a terrific dinner for the gang and the views became even more amazing by night.  The kids were sad to leave.  Really, really sad :(

Tomorrow (8/5) is Griffin's 8th birthday.  I can't believe he is 8 already.  We can't do our usual cinnamon roll shaped like an eight with a candle to wake him up, but I did stop to get a hostess cinnamon roll for the morning.  It is the best I can do on the road.  Then we drop Jim at the airport and begin the trek home.

Day 18 - San Francisco

Day 18 - San Francisco

This morning we all slept in and then literally stumbled upon Nick's Restaurant across from our hotel for breakfast.  What a treat!  Great view of the Pacific, great staff, great food.  Jim and I had to split their famous Grilled Tomato and Crab sandwich with avocado...so good.

After a very quick dip in the hotel pool (50 degrees quick :) we headed into San Fran for a Hop On, Hop Off bus tour and saw the city.  The kids loved going over the Golden Gate on the top, open air deck of the bus.  It was cold, even with hooded sweatshirts, but they learned to sit in the front and the windshield blocked the wind.  From 122 degrees in Death Valley to a balmy 52 degrees a few days later in Fog City.  You've got to love road trips!

The tour took us everywhere and we learned a lot.  It ended at Fisherman's Wharf where we grabbed a snack at the Hard Rock Cafe and then the kids did the trampoline bounce.  We had our first Mini-Donuts which were great and a lot like funnel cake but less messy. Jack and Griffin were pretty dissapointed in the sign advising them not to climb on the Big Noodle at Pier 39.

Day 17 - Sebastopol

The kids insisted on another day to play in Sebastopol, not that Jim and I needed any convincing.  The kids are all so good together and so happy.  Our big group of four adults and seven kids hung out at Johnson Beach on the nearby Russian River.  Mark and Jim took the kids out in rented canoes and then Oliver and Jack went out solo and did great!  Johnson Beach was so cool with its concession stand complete with music that sounded like it was straight from the Victrola.  Mark took Jim and I on a great tour of Sonoma to boot.  We all loved the day spent with family we don't see nearly enough.  Thanks again Mark and Oralee!

Day 16 - Berkeley, Sebastopol

We met Mark at Bette's Oceanview Diner in Berkeley for a phenomenal breakfast (those scones are so good!)  After breakfast we toured Berkeley but just couldn't find a way to fit a foot-long Top Dog after Bette's...sorry Tara and Sammy.

From Berkeley we moved on to Mt. Tamalpais and Muir Woods.  I am starting to feel like we are doing the Percy Jackson tour of America.  We went to Dylan's Candy Bar in NYC at the beginning of the summer...site of a big book battle.  We saw Vegas (another important book scene), the Hoover Dam winged angel statues that flew Percy to safety, and now Mt. Tam, the Titans home base where Atlas shrugged.  The kids are loving seeing these things from the book series we spent half the the year reading.

We were all amazed by the clouds rushing over Mt. Tam (and us) that we could reach out and touch.  The Muir Woods redwoods were incredible and Jim and the kids did a portion of the Hillside Trail to Stinson Beach. 

For the afternoon we drove to Sebastopol to see Jim's cousin Orlaee, her husband Mark, and their four kids.  Sebastopol is such a charming wine country town and I can say for sure that of all the things the kids have done on this trip, playing with Oliver, Maya, Rainier, and Marky is by far the top of their list.  What a great group of kids! 

Day 14 and 15 - Panamint Springs, CA to Modesto, CA to Berkeley, CA

Day 14 and 15 - 407 miles, Panamint Springs, CA to Modesto, CA to Berkeley, CA

We had breakfast in Lone Pine, CA.  The town is so cool and was the filming location for many westerns.  Then we drove up through Mamouth Lakes and took the Tioga Pass through Yosemite.  Waterfalls, redwoods, snow, and burned out wildfire sections were all breath taking.  We were planning to camp, and I wish we had, but we hit a snag.

Remember how we drove on 20 or so miles of unpaved, ungraded roads to get to the Grand Canyon Skywalk.  Then we drove another 20 miles on those roads back.  That combined with today's drive through Yosemite's back roads worked over our right wheel assembly pretty well and Jim wanted to push forward and have it checked.  Good call.  We stopped in Modesto for the night and it was in bad, bad shape.  We had it replaced and moved on to the Berkeley area.

Tomorrow we are thinking of Napa, Sausilito, Muir Woods or Stinson Beach.  We are starting the day by meeting Jim's cousin (in-law) Mark at Bette's Oceanview Diner in Berkeley for breakfast.  Maybe we will grab a Top Dog for lunch.  I remember grabbing a hot dog there years ago with Tara Jane.  I think we went to Stinson Beach too.

Day 13 - Las Vegas, NV to Panamint Springs, CA

Day 13 - 187 miles, Las Vegas, NV to Panamint Springs, CA

We had to take a few last hours at the MGM Grand Lazy River before leaving Vegas and heading to Death Valley. 

At the Death Valley Sand Dunes we hit 122 degrees and had to pull Jack back from hiking away with his camera. Signs told us to pull off the blacktop if stopping the car and to turn off the A/C to avoid overheating.  Man is 122 degrees HOT!

We camped at Panamint Springs on the edge of Death Valley and the registration office warned us to wear shoes at all times because of Mojave Red and Mojave Green rattlesnakes and gold and red scorpions.  We bought some firewood from campground patrol guy and he told the kids some stories about the snakes and scorpions in that area.  He let us know that the desert critters generally run at people, not away from them.  They are not more afraid of you then you are of them.  Luckily we didn't meet up with any but we were dive bombed by a few bats.

Outside was alright but it was REALLY hot in the tent.  Still, having been given the local wildlife rundown the hot tent did not seem so bad.  We had hot dogs and made s'mores and all drank a ton of water.  It was fun but we were packed up and ready to go by 7:00AM.  Ahhhhh, sweet A/C!

Day 12 - Grand Canyon and the Freemont Experience

Day 12 - Grand Canyon and the Freemont Experience

Since we had spent the entire day yesterday at the MGM Grand pool complex we never booked a tour to the Grand Canyon...so we had to drive ourselves.  It was cool to go back over the Hoover Dam, with Jim this time, and through Joshua Tree State Park.  The 20 or so miles of unpaved, ungraded roads were not as cool, but we made it to the Skywalk which was really, really awesome.  The Skywalk hangs over the Grand Canyon and has a glass bottom so you can see right below your feet.  It took the kids (and adults) a few minutes to relax and walk normal.  No cameras allowed but we did buy a picture to post later.

After the Skywalk the free shuttle took us to Guano Point (also breathtaking) and then the Hualapai Ranch for dinner, which was really good and included in our entry price.  Bonus. 

The Grand Canyon West is on Hualapai Nation land and the ranch had all sorts of displays and activities, wigwams, roping practice, horseshoes, and horse rides.

On the way back to the hotel we went by Freemont Street and the Golden Nugget to see the slide through the shark tank.  It was a lot of fun but now everyone is asleep except me and I need to pack.  We camp in Death Valley tomorrow.

Day 10 and Day 11 - Las Vegas

The Eagle has landed!  After the kids and I spent the day at the MGM Grand pool's huge Lazy River we picked Jim up at the airport at about 10:45PM Pacific Time.  The temperature was 104.

The Lazy River was so much fun the first day that the kids wanted to go back with Jim.  We rented rafts and ended up there from 10 to 5 with premium seats right on the river.  A fun day all around made even better because Crystal, who is in town visiting her family, spent the day with us.  Crystal played with the kids for hours and must have gone around the 10 minute river with them 25 times...and they LOVED it!  It was so great to see her after almost a month!

Tomorrow the Grand Canyon!

Day 9 - Winslow, AZ to Las Vegas, NV

Day 9 - 320 miles, Winslow, AZ to Las Vegas, NV

Jack was so funny.  He chatted his way all around La Posada talking to the dog owners.  Tristan and I watched trains at the on-site station and Jack and Griffin played chess.

We stopped at Standin on the Corner park to "Take It Easy" and then headed to the Meteor Crater, which was way cool!

The trip to Vegas took us over the Hoover Dam and we were flagged for search by security (it was either the roof carrier or the look of this shady bunch).  Then we got the MGM Grand (just) in time for our reservation at the Rainforest Cafe for dinner.

Tomorrow night Jim flies in and the kids are super excited to see him!!!

Day 8 - Santa Rosa, NM to Winslow, AZ

Day 8 - 385 miles (but they felt long), Santa Rosa to Winslow

So driving through the Sandia mountains in New Mexico the temperature went down to 60 and the kids asked me to turn on the heat.  I was thinking of everyone sweltering in DC.

I had booked a room at the La Posada Hotel in Winslow, AZ because it has two train stations attached (for Tristan), Amtrak and the Santa Fe Railway.  It allows well-behaved children and pets only, so I was a little nervous.  It is a lovely hotel and gardens with wood floors and native decorations...the kids could not believe there was no pool and only a small TV.  I think the giant wooden chess board and all the trains won them over though.  Also, dogs are walking around everywhere, which is cool.

We made very short stops at the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert and then accidentally ate in the "finest restaurant in the Four Corners area."  They told me when we checked in the the hotel restaurant might be tough because the hotel was full and so they made a reservation for me.  They didn't tell me it was called the Turquoise Room.  The kids actually enjoyed it though and Griffin tried the Squash and Chili Blossoms and liked them.

The tooth fairy visited Griffin last night!  We head to Vegas today and plan to stop in downtown Winslow and then Meteor Crater on our way.  Still a five hour drive!  I am ready for a few days without driving.

Day 7 - Shamrock, TX to Santa Rosa, NM

Day 7 - 305 miles, Shamrock, TX to Santa Rosa, NM

First let me say that the salsa they serve with chips in New Mexico is not the same as on the East Coast, so don't dig in like Jack and I did unless you want to taste fire.

We did A LOT today and I am beat.  So here are the stops...

1)  The Devil's Rope (Barbed Wire) Museum...we all liked it a lot.  It was big and interesting and fun.

2)  Groom Leaning Water Tower...photo op but that's about all.

3)  Largest Cross in the Western Hemisphere...pretty impressive.

4)  The Bug Farm...a gaggle of VW bugs face planted in the dirt.  Stop and sign a bug...we did.  A very nice biker group gave the kids a paint marker and they went to town.  They signed and signed and signed.

5) The Big Texan Steak House...we loved this!!!  No one ate a 72 oz. steak but Jack ate an impressive steak and they gave the kids nice cowboy hats.  There was a shooting gallery, a creepy, haunted hallway, and everything was BIG.

6)  Cadillac Ranch...my first thought...thank goodness we didn't bring spray paint.  My second thought..how did Jack find a full can of spray paint!  My third thought...how did Jack climb to the top of that Cadillac so fast.

7)  Mesalands...New Mexico has great scenery and dinosaur fossils and we drove through another big storm.

8)  Santa Rosa, NM and dinner at the Silver Moon Cafe on Old Route 66.  Really excellent New Mexican food.  We are beat but it was a good day and we hit the pool to unwind.  The kids miss Dad and are excited to see him soon in Vegas!

Day 6 - Fort Smith, AR to Shamrock, TX

Day 6 - 407 miles, Fort Smith, AR to Shamrock, TX

It was a fun car day.  Just as we hit Oklahoma City Tristan said, "Mom, I'm starting to be a little bored on our trip."  This was the first time he mentioned being bored.  He is so good. 

Jack was in information gathering mode.  He ended most questions with "If you don't know the answer then tell me what you think, Mom, and why." 

Griffin plans out what he will do in the car each day and checks each thing off as he goes.  Read to Tristan.  Check.  Play DSi. Check.  Make new checklist.  Check.

We stopped at the Route 66 Museum and visited the smallest diner I've ever seen.  So ready for bed!