Days 23 - 28

So yes it has been too long since our last post, but hey we have been having a good time. Also since most of our writing has been while we have been driving, and we haven’t been driving much that also helps our cause!

I am writing this on Day 29. It has been a week since the last post so lots to catch up on. Unfortunately I am going to make this a short-ish post and summarize.

Day 23 – 25 (NYC)

While in NYC we visited some of Mayzie’s old friends, visited the Empire State building, took the ferry to Staten Island (allowing a cheap, but close, view of Lady Liberty), ate proper New York pizza, ate in Chinatown, had decent bagels, showed the kids where Mayzie grew up, visited Coney Island, flew a kite, escaped a sandstorm, visited Times Square, and faced certain death every time we drove! I even heard a story about Mayzie which I will not easily forget. Thanks Allison. ;)

The kids are driving us both nuts. I think 4 weeks should have been the max time we spent travelling. Although in retrospect for having been in the car for 5,000 ish miles they are not doing so bad I suppose. It’s probably more that Mayzie and I have had no break from them. With the exception of the nights we spent in Phoenix, we have all shared the same room/tent as well as the car and obviously meals. We need some time away from them!

Day 26

We left NY and headed to Connecticut to see Mayzie’s old friend Corie. Bloody traffic! Although I have figured out how to tame idiotic California drivers. Put them on the Brooklyn/Queens Expressway. They were more scared than I was, and realized that the road did in fact have a right lane which they were able to use. J Speed limits in NYC are more pointless than most other cities. 55 mph limit in a construction zone and I was the slowest (except the CA drivers) at 75-80! Also, we found out that in heavy traffic, Tim does not bother waiting for the restroom anymore. We have regressed to using pull-ups.

We arrived at Corie’s, did more laundry and relaxed. Who knew pizza with baked ziti on it was an actual menu item? Turns out it is – as we accidentally found out. We were also united with our pre-ordered bumper stickers, although Corie did not realize we had had them delivered to her and called up the company to complain. Luckily for us she didn’t send them back.

Day 27

Thank you Corie for your hospitality!  After leaving CT we headed through Massachusetts where we had some locals waving and commenting on the car. All were positive comments. On through to Vermont with a brief stop in New Hampshire (more positive comments), and on to the camp reunion.  We affixed the final few bumper stickers.

Do people really pick this stuff up?

Only a few people were there at the time we arrived, so we drove up to the “Lean-to’s” (sketchy drive up the hill and through the mowed meadow) and pitched the tent and set-up for the two nights of planned camping. Back down to the meeting venue and on to “Rick’s” for dinner. Here there were more “Hearts Benders” and Mayzie got re-acquainted with her fellow campers/counselors. There was even a non-camper that Mayzie recognized, but still does not know where from. What made this equally weird was this other lady recognized Mayzie too, but no idea where from either.

Since the kids were getting antsy, we left dinner early, and headed to bed.

Day 28

We left the tent, and headed to breakfast at a local bakery. After breakfast we drove into town, picked up some supplies, and headed back to camp via Mayzie’s house which her parents have in VT; in South Newfane. This was also where we lived for a short period of time.  We were also married in S. VT almost 14 years ago.

Unfortunately S. Newfane was ravaged by the floodwaters of tropical storm Irene last year. The roads and river banks were so different than what they were last time we were here. The bridge across the river to Mayzie’s house had only recently been replaced. The road to the house had been washed away so a new one had been driven. The house was, surprisingly still standing, and initially didn’t seem too damaged. However, the floor was all buckled and the whole place stunk of mold. There were dead mice in the house but nothing else in the house seemed affected.

Back to camp we headed, and hung out in the field by the marquee while we waited for more people to return so the festivities (drinking) could begin.

Mayzie went to the car to get something, and on the way back tripped. We ended up here:

And this is why:

(Fractured Ankle)

She will be on crutches for at least 4 weeks. Not looking forward to the airport and flight. Bugger. The little trip to the hospital was actually quite nice as we had left the kids at the camp, and finally had some time together. L We returned to the reunion site and since camping was now no longer a viable option I returned to the tent site and packed up the car, and Mayzie and the kids had some food. We said our goodbyes and headed out.

A message was sent to our friends in Jeffersonville to see if we could arrive a day early. Since we know the Hills, our old neighbors, we kinda figured it wouldn’t be a problem, but were still waiting for a response when we left cell coverage. Having not heard from the Hills by the time we were about halfway we started calling motels and hotels in the general vicinity of where we were going – just in case. NOWHERE had vacancies, and still no response from the Hills. Perhaps they were out for the night?

We continued toward Jeffersonville with the mindset of if the Hills were not home we would just camp in the front yard. Fortunately Jessica called us when we were about 20 minutes away, and approved our early arrival. We got the kids to bed, and we were not too far behind.

Days 19 - 22

Again we are falling behind with our posts. Who would have thought writing in the blog wasn’t going to be our priority, but enjoying our trip would be? (There really needs to be a sarcasm font)

Day 19

Well we woke to the noise of people. It kind of made the decision as to whether we should stay another day or not. The decision was finalized when we got out of the tent and our view had gone from this:

 
To this!
 

It looked, and sounded, like the Beverly Hillbillies were moving in. There was an additional tent being pitched too, and they even had two huge box fans with them. Not sure how that was going to work without electricity. Can only assume they were going to also bring in a generator. Definitely time to leave.

We broke out the stove, had oatmeal for breakfast, packed the tent and headed to Niagara. It seems like every time we have to repack the chair which is strapped to the roof of the car, we end up with a whistling/air buffeting noise. We pull over, adjust the chair, perhaps add more tap to the bag, get back on the road and it is fine. Again today we had to stop.  I broke out my penknife, which was a very nice knife and a father’s day gift from the kids. We got back on the highway, all was quiet, and Niagara arrived without further incident.

The falls were great, and the boys had a good time on the Maid of the Mist boat ride which takes you right into the falls. We got wet! It’s been almost 14 years since Mayzie and I were here, our honeymoon. When I think about it it’s a bit weird actually. We visited when we were staying in the USA, and now we are visiting as we leave.

It would have been nice to stay to see the falls lit up at night, but since this was an unscheduled detour anyway, we decided to leave and head to our next destination.

After 30 minutes  or so we stopped for dinner and then drove for another 30 minutes or so and tried to find a cheap motel. With $100 for a cheap hotel we decided to camp. Another 5 minutes and we were pitching the tent for the first time in the dark. Ryan just loved all the bugs which were attracted to the cars headlights! (Where is that sarcasm font?) J

Day 20

Today we go to camp! It’s been 14 years since we were last there. Oh my, what are we thinking? There is much I could say about how the camp has changed, but it wouldn’t mean much to most reading this. It has gotten bigger, there are more activities for the kids to do, but as Mayzie pointed out the kids still look exactly the same (even though they are not the same kids which were our campers).

There are a few of the same counselors still working there from when we were, and some of “our” campers who are now counselors. But for the most part we didn’t recognize anyone. However, we got the distinct feeling that should we decide to return as counselors we would both be welcomed. Not that we have any plans to  again be counselors there, but since we have given ourselves 12-18 months to get settled in the UK before we consider moving back stateside, you never know what might transpire!

The weirdest thing for me was the climbing wall, where I worked for my tenure at camp, has been condemned! The end of an era.  Again. Just like Niagara Falls.

After camp we headed to Monticello to see our friends the Krevats, and their dog Ramsey. What a cutie. Here we rested up and got caught up with our laundry. Also experienced a comfy bed and good working  A/C.

Day 21

After a delightfully long sleep in and some breakfast, we were invited to go with the Krevats to a friend’s house. The house was beautiful and located on a river. We had some BBQ, and then the kids, our two and three belonging to the homeowners, along with myself, Jeremy Krevat and the homeowner were invited on his (the owner) speed boat. It was so nice to be relaxing and feeling like we were on holiday.

After we returned to the Krevats, we were treated to a wonderful home cooked meal, thanks Jeremy, and some continued to play some Texas Hold ‘em. Ryan is actually starting to understand poker I think.

Day 22

Unfortunately we said goodbye to the Krevats, but said hello to New York City. Well we did after we spent 3 hours sat in traffic. Oi vey!

At least we had some rain. With the brief exception in Glenwood Springs, we have had no rain since our adventure began. Unfortunately the car leaked and we all got wet. OK so the car didn’t actually leak. What has happened is I have used some ratchet straps to hold the roof bag down tightly onto the car. We do not have a roof rack and the roof bag attaches to the car via straps which pass through the car. The ratchet straps do not have the same water repellent attributes as the straps which came with the bag do. The water absorbed into the straps and dripped at the low spots, inside the car. Fortunately the shower wasn’t all day, thought Mayzie did get an awfully wet shoulder. :)

We had found a hotel with free parking in Brooklyn, and checked in about 5:30 PM. New York pizza for dinner and we are spending the evening just hanging out in the hotel. The kids need a good night sleep as we have a lot planned for the next 3 days in the “City”.

Cliff

Days 17 - 18

Day 17

Leaving St Louis we tried, again, in vain to obtain a Missouri (MO) bumper sticker. No luck. Today saw us in the car a long time. We drove through Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and about half way through Ohio. After spending numerous wasted trips to gas stations and general stores we have decided to order all of the bumper stickers for all of the remaining states we will be passing through. They are being sent to Corie and we will pick them up in Connecticut. It’s not that we don’t like getting off the highway every 15 miles to search for them, but rather that we feel our time could be better utilized. We will continue to acquire additional stickers as we encounter them.

Two things to notice about the roads and drivers as we head East. Firstly, after the 75mph and occasional 80mph speed limits of the roads West of the Mississippi River, 65 seems SO pedestrian. And, with the exception of California, drivers certainly do get more annoying and less polite the further East you drive, especially after crossing the Mississippi river. THERE ARE THREE LANES FOR A REASON PEOPLE. You don’t have to just sit in the middle lane with your blinders on and your emotionless face staring straight ahead. Use your mirrors, indicator and move out of everyone’s way. Rant over.

I forget the name of the town we sopped in, but it had a sign that showed how many miles to various cities in the country. It read 930 to Denver and 925 to New York City.

We also made the decision to visit the camp Mayzie and I met at 18 years ago. We have contacted the camp and requested visitation. Friday after 2PM is our approved time.

We stopped for a late dinner in Columbus with the intention of driving another 45 miles or so till we stopped for the day. During dinner we discussed and decided to spend the night in Columbus. This will leave us with about 4 hours of driving to Erie tomorrow.

On the way to the motel I drove over a median which I didn’t see. The car took it well, even with low ground clearance on the back wheels. As of the time of writing, there has been no damage noticed or experienced from this maneuver.

Day 18

We had a pretty uneventful drive to Erie today. The campsite we were shooting for we could not make reservations at, Sara’s Campground. The website had stated that they start to fill up on Thursdays. With today being a Wednesday we kept our fingers crossed there would still be some spaces on the beach. There were. This is the view from our tent!

After setting up the tent, and playing in the lake for a little bit, we drove back into town and had some dinner. I think we are past the point of actually wanting to cook out. During dinner I tried to figure out which way the tent was facing. Could it be West? Would we see the sun set over the lake?

A quick stop at a hardware store to buy a bolt to fix Mayzie’s chair (Glad my crescent wrench didn’t sell at the yard sale and I bought it with me). As we returned to the campsite it turned out we would be seeing the sunset from our campsite.

We also had Ryan take a few pictures of Mayzie and I.

Niagara Falls is just 2 short hours from where we are. We are undecided whether we should detour there. Mayzie and I visited Niagara during our honeymoon. But the kids have never been. But it is detouring out of our way, and it would be nice to spend a day on the beach doing nothing. The private beach next to us had a fireworks display as well as lighting off “lanterns” into the sky. We were fortunate enough to be able to view these too. It would have been nice to start a fire on the beach (as some of our fellow campers), and toast some marshmallows. If we end up staying tomorrow I think we will.

Cliff

Days 13 - 16

It's been a while again, probably because we weren't doing much driving and that's when the posts get written.  So, we have days 13 through 16 to catch up on.

Day 12 ended very late with us checking into a cheap motel as soon as we could after leaving Colorado.  It was almost 11pm when we finally got into the room.  We decided that we weren't going to set our alarms since the kids would need to catch up on sleep.  Unfortunately, no one had told the cleaning lady that.  So, at 6:50 in the morning I heard someone trying to get into our room.  I woke Cliff up, who went to investigate.  He couldn't see much through the peephole, and the person wasn't listening to our request to "Go AWAY", so he opened the door to find that it was the cleaning lady for the hotel just trying to do her job.  Unfortunately, me and Cliff were already awake so we decided to start getting ready and were on the road before 9AM - a first for us!

Day 13 was spent driving through Kansas.  The road was very flat and very straight.  It was also very boring, though I did notice from the billboards on the side of the road that the cost of dentures got cheaper the closer you got to Kansas City. The first sign I saw said they were $459 for a whole set! After a few hundred miles I saw another sign that said they were $199 a set.  (After we left Kansas, on day 16, I saw a sign that said $99 a set - I hope Kansas folks do their research!)

Yeah, that was about as exciting as our trip got.  There were multiple potty breaks and stops to fix the bag covering the chair on the roof.  Other than that, it was pretty uneventful.

We finally got to my sister's house at around 5PM.  Hah!  Those of you who knew me growing up are now confused!  I have 3 biological half-sisters - they were the reason for the stop in Kansas City. Surprise!  Their names are Melissa, Toshia, & Heather.  We stayed with Melissa (Thanks, Melissa!)Somewhere in Kansas we had gone over another time-zone, which added an hour to the day, so we had really only been driving for about 7 hours including all the stops.

Melissa, Me, Toshia

I didn't get to see one of my half-sisters (Heather) while I was in Kansas City, but at least I got to know the 2 I did see a little bit better.  It's weird having these people you're related to, but know nothing about. 

Days 14 & 15 were spent in Kansas City, spending more time with my sisters.  On day 14 we went bowling with all of the kids (our 2, and 1 from each of my sisters that were there - all boys) and then went to a late lunch at a Chinese Buffet where I marveled at how my nephews could eat such a variety of foods (and so much of it! I hope the poeple who tell me that my kids will eventually eat me out of house and home are right!).

Day 15 was pretty boring.  We had a bunch of errands we had to take care of, so that's what most of the day was.  However, we were able to try some authentic Kansas City BBQ that everybody at home has raved about.  We all went to a place called Jack Stack's.  Either they were off their game that night, or we're just not BBQ people.  Don't get me wrong, the food was good, but we couldn't understand why it had been so hyped up.  After dinner we all went back to Melissa's house where the kids played while the grownups talked until after midnight!

For day 16 we had set our alarms for 9AM.  If we hadn't, we probably could've slept until noon after such a late night.  The kids were not happy when we woke them up only to tell them it was to get in the car for more driving, thankfully day 16's driving was only for 4 and half hours. 

Before leaving Kansas City we had to find a Post Office to mail another box to England so I don't think we actually got on the Interstate until after 11AM.  We had gone through our clothes again and decided we could do without a lot of it so we could make space in the trunk of the car.  Funny, even though we seem to be getting rid of a lot of the stuff we originally had in the trunk, it doesn't seem to be making a bit of difference!

Before leaving Kansas City we also wanted to find a bumper sticker for Kansas since we were going to be crossing the boarder very soon.  Unfortunately, we were not successful - ugh!  I'm really beginning to regret suggesting this bumper sticker business.

We made it to our hotel in St. Louis by 4PM.  Once we got in our room, we decided to veg out for bit and then went to dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe right behind our hotel.  After dinner we walked a little over a mile and a half to see the St. Louis Arch (aka - The Gateway to the West).  It was nice to get out and walk for a bit, even if it was still over 90 degrees and so much more humid than we're used to.  By the time we got back to our hotel we were all dripping with sweat - I'm sure we were quite a sight for the doorman. 

While we were at the Arch, we were able to get a bumper sticker for it.  Unfortunately, they did not have any for just Missouri on it, so when we left the hotel on day 17 we tried looking - no dice!  We're now in Illinois, and are without bumper stickers for Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois.  I'm not hopeful that we'll find any more, but we'll keep looking.  Here's what the car looks like now, with the newly added California and New Mexico stickers that we had sent to Toshia from some place we found online.

That's all for now!

- Mayzie

Days 10-12

Have been busy, and are just now catching up on our posts. Here's 3. Also I'm still having a few camera issues which I hope to resolve when we unload in Kansas City tonight, so there may be additional pictures still to upload.

Day 10

This was an uneventful drive. Driving through Utah was, however, very scenic. Not a whole lot of anything else. We stopped and made sandwiches midway at a scenic overlook and headed to Moab.

As we approached Moab we saw signs for Canyonlands National Park, as well as Arches National Park. Not for the first time we were both saying how we didn’t have enough time to see everything we wanted too. I suppose though at least we were/are able to see more than others.

As the campsite approached we saw the entrance to Arches and decided to make camp and then go for a drive into the National Park.

The campsite was…unimpressive. I think the worst thing was we were back on gravel. We had been spoiled at Beaver with a grass campsite. Beaver was the first night thus far we had been on grass. And we missed it. There also were ants EVERYWHERE. Unfortunately the grasshopper that had hitched a ride in our packed tent from Beaver wasn’t too impressed either. And hopped off.

The sunsets at Arches, indeed all of that area, are supposed to be gorgeous, so we picked up some snack foods, decided we would have a junk food dinner (no restaurants in the park), and headed to the park. It turns out I had broken the kindle when I accidentally closed the trunk lid on it when packing in Beaver.

Wow!

I was expecting to see more Arches. The visitor guide stated there are over 2,500 arches in the park. Of course we weren’t biking, hiking or 4x4’ing, so I suppose you can only expect to see so much from the car. We did take a short hike to the “Windows” but honestly we weren’t planning on going to the park anyway, so what we did see was a pleasant surprise.

To give the park a bit of reference, to those who are familiar with Garden of the Gods. Imagine the Garden on a significantly grander scale. Glad I hadn’t been here before we moved to Colorado Springs as the GOG would have seemed lame by comparison. Like the Grand Canyon the Arches were formed by the erosive power of the Colorado River, (unlike GOG).

The skies were cloudy and we were tired and hot. So a sunset picture was not going to be a choice for us so we headed into town to get dinner anyway (After Ryan proclaimed he wanted something “healthy” to eat) Oatmeal pies and Pringles just didn’t cut it I guess.

Back to the campsite we went. It was still about 95 degrees as the sun was setting. I should have taken the fly sheet off, but chose not to. That was a mistake. We roasted all night.

Day 11

Since it was still so bloody hot, and buggy, we packed ASAP and headed to a diner. I decided on a different route back to the Interstate than we took in to Moab yesterday. It followed the Colorado River. Again, spectacular views.

After rejoining the Interstate, we had a straight shot to Glenwood Springs.

After crossing back into Colorado we stopped for lunch and tried a Best Buy, with no luck, for our older version of the kindle. Guess we will try online, and have it shipped to a future destination. Again we had beautiful scenery, and were even “chased” by a tornado! At least now our car, festooned with bumper stickers, made sense!

(Behind the rocks in the mirror is a thin, dark, vertical line - Tornado!)

I was glad that as we drove through the town of Rifle the mountains were not close to us. As mentioned in a previous post I was a rock climber. When/if you look in climbing magazines (or other magazines for that matter) and you see pictures of people climbing, Rifle, CO is often one of the places these pictures are taken at. I have always been mad at myself for not visiting a climbing mecca when I was climbing, and had I seen the “rocks” as we drove past I feel I would have had similar feeling as I did when we drive through Ouray on day one of our trek.

Our campsite was again gravel. Oh man do I miss being in Beaver! We pitched the tent, found all our dirty laundry, and headed to the Laundromat.

Five loads later, a stop at the grocery store and back to camp. By now it had started raining and the wind had picked up. Mayzie cooked dinner in the rain, and we hung out in the tent till bedtime. First time we've all been cold since we left Colorado.

Day 12

Bacon and eggs was for breakfast. Did some organizing of the clothes and the car, we then headed to the hot springs.

The hot springs pool was huge, stupidly we didn’t take a picture. It was very crowded, and although I prefer the more serene atmosphere at the Cottonwood hot springs, they certainly would not be suitable for our little noisemaker – Tim. The “therapy” pool at 105 degrees was very soothing, and certainly relieved some of the aches and pains. We enjoyed the water till a thunderstorm began rolling in. Even though the pool stays open in all weathers, we decided it would be best to head out. It was about 3:30PM.

Our plan was to spend the night at Glenwood Springs, rise early and try and make Kansas City in a day. Since a storm was rolling in, and we knew what that would entail following last night, and we had visited the hot springs, we decided to head back to camp, pack up and leave early. We would be forgoing our camping fee or the night, but we would ensure we would get to Kansas City Friday afternoon/early evening.

By the time we got the car loaded and headed out it was about 4:45 PM. Mayzie drove first as we headed through the Rocky Mountains. I am still a bit confused however. As we headed down through some of the mountain passes, at some very steep grades, 5% - 6% in places, the river we were driving parallel with was also flowing downhill, but towards us. Yet the river always stayed below us.

As we drove past the exits for Aspen, Vail, Breckenridge, and Ski Cooper (Where I learned to snowboard) I started to feel the realization of what we will be leaving behind. Sure we have seen lots of great and beautiful places on our road trip, but that has kind of felt like a vacation. But now, as we leave behind places we have known about and visited for the past 13ish years, this saddens me.

We changed drivers after a quick gas fill up and drive through for dinner. Through the Eisenhower tunnel and down into Denver. We had discussed whether we should detour through Colorado Springs, so we could sleep for free in our house, but decided it would be too emotional, so we just kept heading East.  

As we left Denver and the Rocky Mountains behind us it really hit me that we are leaving. I again had that feeling of we are not just on a vacation. Not that we would have, but if we had decided to abandon our plans and stay in the USA all we had to do was continue on our journey till we reached Colorado Springs. But now we would have to turn around. I think we just reached another crossroads. And kept going.

My goal was to leave Colorado. Partly so we would only have a 7 or so hour drive in the morrow, but also a psychological one. Somehow leaving Colorado helped. Maybe these emotions will return again when we reach New York City and Jeffersonville, as we have lived there prior, but till then we will continue to enjoy our vacation.

Cliff

Day 9

Leaving Vegas was pretty uneventful.  We packed up our stuff in the hotel room, played $5 at a slot machine on the way to finding our car, and left the hotel.  We had to find a Target so we could refill some prescriptions, but that was pretty easy too.  Once we arrived at our campsite in Beaver, UT (Beaver, UT – known for their best tasting water in all of the country! (it actually was REALLY good)), Cliff set-up the tent and then we all went for a swim in the pool.  It very refreshing!  We don’t have any pictures from today, there just wasn’t anything too interesting to look at.  We’re heading east from now on, so that should change.

This road trip is going better than I expected.  I think I expected the kids to hate being in the car every day, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.  I expected to hear a lot of “are we there yet” and “I’m bored”.  The only time I’ve heard “are we there yet”, was from Ryan after being in the car for 15 minutes on the day we left Colorado Springs!  I don’t think I’ve heard “I’m bored” out of either of them.  Hopefully neither one of those will change, but we have a long drive coming up on Friday so I’m not hoping too hard.

Packing the car after camping doesn’t appear to be getting any easier, though Cliff is doing most of it so I’ll let him tell you if that’s an accurate statement.

I think we’ve found the solution to all of Tim’s horrible behavior – feed him.  Apparently, he needs to be eating at all times, otherwise he turns into a grumpy monster.  It’s almost guaranteed that Tim will be buckled into his car seat after eating a large meal, and no more than 10 minutes later will declare that he’s hungry.  He’s back there right now chowing down on a bag of grapes after having 3 pancakes for breakfast!  I’m pretty sure he’s grown 2 inches in height since we left the Springs.

Today we’re headed to Moab.  We should get there by mid-afternoon (just when it’s hottest!).  I’ve heard that the sunsets there are gorgeous, so we have plenty of time to do other stuff before that happens.  Hopefully it cools down once the sun goes down there like it has been at our other campsites.

I can’t believe it’s only been 10 days, it feels like much longer.  Not because the trip is so unbearable it feels like time has gone slower.  Quite the opposite.  We’ve seen so much in the last week and a half, it doesn’t seem possible.  Hey, at least we’re not ready to kill each other.  Yet.  : )

-          Mayzie

Days 7 and 8

Day 7

Ryan slept for 11 hours. I guess playing in the ocean wore him out. We had breakfast, and had a little hike.

The hike made me realize how out of shape I really am. True it was hot, and a little humid. But certainly not enough to be a viable excuse. After the hike we headed toward the beach and stopped for lunch. During lunch I remembered I had left the backpack with the laptop, Ipad, kindle, my wallet and some spare cash in the tent. Not wanting to tempt fate we went back to the campsite, fortunately only about a 30 minute round trip, and then returned to the beach. On the way we noticed a “Souvenir” shop, figured it would be a good place to pick up a CA bumper sticker, and perhaps a Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) one too. It was also near a few Mexican restaurants so we figured we would stop by after dinner and get our sticker(s).

Also saw a Fisker Karma. Which if you’re interested is an expensive electric car.

We arrived at the beach, a different one than yesterday, and Ryan was suddenly afraid to go in the water. It wasn’t the boogie board he was afraid of, but the seaweed. His fear of bugs is spreading. After a while, and with Mayzie assisting, he got in, (between patches of seaweed) and did a pretty good job with his board.

(Ryan is in about the middle of the screen as the video starts)

Tim and I didn’t even get our feet wet. I have decided I don’t like the beach. When I told Mayzie that she proclaimed “Then I can’t be married to you” So I have now decided I don’t like the sand. Sand everywhere. I did, however, spend most of the afternoon looking at the ocean and wishing I was in one of the sailing boats. I used to love sailing. And although I haven’t been in one for probably 15 years, I still miss it. I think I will take up sailing when we get settled in the UK. I am also seriously considering building my own boat. I really enjoyed building the bunk beds (see earlier post) and figure I can combine the two activities. Or maybe I just watch too much NCIS.

After the beach we headed to dinner. We were told the wait would be about 20 minutes. Just enough time to get our bumper sticker. Alas no. The store was closed. Not to worry though we were confident a gas station would have one, maybe not of the PCH, but at least a CA sticker. At least dinner was a success..

After a quick stop for oatmeal and firewood, and back to the campsite, we started a campfire. The boys were excited and happy. When we get more time I am going to show Ryan how to start a fire. I think he will be fine. We shall see.

We have also heard from Becky that our mattress has sold. Yay. And also that the wildfire in Colorado Springs, whilst not “out” has moved from the city so much that most of those that were evacuated have been allowed to return. Unfortunately 350+ homes were lost, but it could have been MUCH worse.

Clif

PS. I have lost the cable needed to get some of the pictures off of the camera. I will update when I have found it.

Day 8.

We are now officially headed East. Although our car won’t make complete sense to the un-educated till we drive back through CO.

Today we head to Las Vegas. We set our alarms and got up at 7. By the time we packed, woke the kids, ate, packed some more and got on the road, the day already seemed like it was half over.

Our route to Vegas took us awfully close to the souvenir shop we saw yesterday, so we figured we would try that again, and if they did't have any stickers then we needed some gas anyway and we could pick them up then. Store was closed. Oh well.

Off to Vegas we headed. We stopped at a Golden Arches to use the restroom, but we made PB&J and Nutella sandwiches for lunch. We have actually done pretty well about not eating junk food. The amount of smog that was just everywhere was such a shame. The mountains did look like they would make for a nice view though.

As we got near the border of CA/NV we came across a town with a plethora of gas stations. We were successful in getting a Nevada (NV) bumper sticker, but no CA. I think we will just order one online (along with New Mexico) and have it shipped to one of the people we are visiting in Kansas.  It might seem like cheating, but we have been trying. So leave us alone.

As we entered NV Mayzie noticed that again no “Welcome to” sign. I don’t actually remember seeing any. Glad we didn’t decide to stop and photograph ourselves along the way. Perhaps they have removed the signs because of all the idiot tourists stopping and taking photographs? :)

As we approached Las Vegas we saw our hotel in the distance. The Stratosphere. The hotel was easy to get too, especially when I turned SIRI off who was inept. I think the firmware update Mayzie did a few days ago has scrambled her pixels. (SIRI’s not Mayzie’s :))

Pulled in to valet parking. Checked in to the room (what a zoo) and found the room. I had grandiose visions of what the room would be. I was mistaken. We got what we paid for. Two beds and a bathroom. It was certainly nice, but not the extravagance I was expecting. Too much TV and movies for me.

We had dinner at a typical diner, and then took a taxi to “Circus Circus.”  The kids had a good time is about all I can say about that. We did take a goofy picture of all 4 of us in a photo both. Unfortunately we don’t have a scanner to upload. Then sun was starting to set by this time so we took another taxi back to the Stratosphere, retrieved our car and took a drive down the strip.

I really am amazed at how big the movies make Las Vegas appear. Don’t get me wrong, many of the hotels and buildings are big, it’s just that the city as a whole doesn’t seem as grandiose as the movies make it out to be.

We parked at the Bellagio, and walked to see the dancing fountains. Pretty cool. Also saw the Eiffel Tower, Bert and Ernie and two Flamingo dancers in their full get-up strolling along the road!

I don’t know if the Casino’s pumping oxygen into the casinos is a myth or not, but it was either that or the efficient A/C that made me have extremely dry eyes, and Mayzie feel really dizzy. Vegas seemed full of kids. Perhaps that’s because we have kids and went to the kid friendly places. My advice would be if you’re going to go, go without the little ones. We did no gambling, and got to bed.

Cliff