Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Not-So-Deep Thought
You know you've had to listen to Charlotte's Web a few too many times in the car when you start to wish that Charlottle had just gone ahead and written "Crunchy" or "Tasty" in her web instead.
What We Missed
As we hit the interstate leading to our house, I asked everybody what they'd missed the most on our trip:
Husband: My car. And orange juice.
Bird: My brown puppy. (oh, she was MAD that I hadn't packed that dog!)
Bug: My bed!!
What did I miss? My house's water filter. Yes, with the exception of Mississippi, the water was drinkable everywhere, but it didn't mean that it wasn't hard. (Although, Kansas? You were really good.) It made my hair IMPOSSIBLE to deal with!
Husband: My car. And orange juice.
Bird: My brown puppy. (oh, she was MAD that I hadn't packed that dog!)
Bug: My bed!!
What did I miss? My house's water filter. Yes, with the exception of Mississippi, the water was drinkable everywhere, but it didn't mean that it wasn't hard. (Although, Kansas? You were really good.) It made my hair IMPOSSIBLE to deal with!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Day 23: HOME
Sunday, June 29
Fast Facts
Starting: Florida
Ending: Florida (HOME!!)
Today's Mileage/Total Mileage: 298 mi /5378 mi
As we coasted towards home, I began mulling over all the things I'd learned on this trip:
* I always knew there was a McDonalds in every town. What I did not realize was that Pizza Hut has similar ambitions - they were everywhere!
* Cooking outside in major heat just plain stinks! We were really good about eating the food we'd packed for breakfast & lunch, but there were only a few places that we even wanted to cook dinner. So yes, we did eat at a few of those Pizza Huts.
Continuing in the cooking vein...
* Spaghetti with honey on it is actually pretty tasty.
* Since the kids are big milk drinkers & we did pack cereal, I thought dry milk was the way to go. Except, the kids wouldn't drink it. However, dry milk + Nesquik = 'chocolate milk', and they couldn't get enough!
Moving on...
* Surprisingly, for the first two weeks of the trip, it was rather chilly at night! We really didn't expect that - temperatures regularly fell as low as 50F (10C). It did make me sad that I had forgotten to pack my pajama pants!! (never, NEVER get distracted while packing your own suitcase!)
* We figured we'd run into quite a few people who were regular campers, and sure enough we did. What we hadn't expected was how many of them were heavy smokers! It just didn't seem to fit with the great outdoors.
* That whole debate between dry heat & wet heat? Pure, unadulterated trash. Yes, the West has a dry heat. It is no less hot than the humidity over here in the East. Over there, it feels like you've just walked into an oven. It's HOT.
* I really CAN drive in the mountains. I was terrified, and I slept really well those nights, but we survived!
* We did spend a lot of time in the car. And no, the kids were not perfect angels the entire time. However, one of the funniest 'games' we played did not even start that way.
Bug: Mommy, I want to get out!
Jaime: (having heard this far too many times in the last 5 minutes): Okay, get out!
Bug: (staring at the back of my seat like lobsters are crawling out of my ears
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Repeat whenever the road gets rough. He & Bird would even say it to each other.
In the end, I'm glad we took this trip. We saw all kinds of new things, met some old friends and have a bazillion pictures to remind us of it all when we're old & senile.
Fast Facts
Starting: Florida
Ending: Florida (HOME!!)
Today's Mileage/Total Mileage: 298 mi /5378 mi
As we coasted towards home, I began mulling over all the things I'd learned on this trip:
* I always knew there was a McDonalds in every town. What I did not realize was that Pizza Hut has similar ambitions - they were everywhere!
* Cooking outside in major heat just plain stinks! We were really good about eating the food we'd packed for breakfast & lunch, but there were only a few places that we even wanted to cook dinner. So yes, we did eat at a few of those Pizza Huts.
Continuing in the cooking vein...
* Spaghetti with honey on it is actually pretty tasty.
* Since the kids are big milk drinkers & we did pack cereal, I thought dry milk was the way to go. Except, the kids wouldn't drink it. However, dry milk + Nesquik = 'chocolate milk', and they couldn't get enough!
Moving on...
* Surprisingly, for the first two weeks of the trip, it was rather chilly at night! We really didn't expect that - temperatures regularly fell as low as 50F (10C). It did make me sad that I had forgotten to pack my pajama pants!! (never, NEVER get distracted while packing your own suitcase!)
* We figured we'd run into quite a few people who were regular campers, and sure enough we did. What we hadn't expected was how many of them were heavy smokers! It just didn't seem to fit with the great outdoors.
* That whole debate between dry heat & wet heat? Pure, unadulterated trash. Yes, the West has a dry heat. It is no less hot than the humidity over here in the East. Over there, it feels like you've just walked into an oven. It's HOT.
* I really CAN drive in the mountains. I was terrified, and I slept really well those nights, but we survived!
* We did spend a lot of time in the car. And no, the kids were not perfect angels the entire time. However, one of the funniest 'games' we played did not even start that way.
Bug: Mommy, I want to get out!
Jaime: (having heard this far too many times in the last 5 minutes): Okay, get out!
Bug: (staring at the back of my seat like lobsters are crawling out of my ears
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Repeat whenever the road gets rough. He & Bird would even say it to each other.
In the end, I'm glad we took this trip. We saw all kinds of new things, met some old friends and have a bazillion pictures to remind us of it all when we're old & senile.
Day 22: Crossing Into Florida
Saturday, June 28
Fast Facts
Starting: Mississippi
Ending: Florida
Today's Mileage/Total Mileage: 254 mi (408 km)/5080 mi (8175 km)
WHOOP WHOOP! We really passed the 5000 mile mark today!! (I fixed yesterday's entry. Apparently this trip is getting to me - I can't even read a simple calendar anymore!)
And let me tell you, THIS was a happy occasion!
Since this was to be our last night away from home, Husband & I had pondered the idea of just getting a hotel room instead of camping. It would be nice, we said, to be able to get some of that "trip dirt" off ahead of time - not to mention sleep in real beds with real air conditioning.
But in the end, we're cheap and had already had a few unexpected expenses, so we decided to just stay camping.
We stayed at a place just west of Tallahassee, and kind of regretted it. It was nice enough, but it kind of felt like the place was conspiring against us.
- ALL the roads were dirt. Which meant you were tracking it everywhere.
- the folks to the right were heavy chain smokers (blech!)
- the folks to the left had loud yapper dogs, who were not always leashed
(here I am, stuck in the middle with you!)
- this was one of the few places that was not spraying for bugs
- then, there were the FOUR kittens. I have no idea how the kittens came to be at this camp, but they lived there and the owners were feeding them. no collars (so probably no shots either), and they went where they pleased.
And where they pleased was our site. Making meals very amusing - and not in a funny way. I can't tell you how many times I threw that blasted cat off our table. (and yes, by the end I was throwing the cat. Not like anybody was claiming the stupid thing.) Fortunately, I'd made the kids plenty wary of the things & they wouldn't touch them. But still.... blah....
Strangely enough, the AC did work at this place.
Fast Facts
Starting: Mississippi
Ending: Florida
Today's Mileage/Total Mileage: 254 mi (408 km)/5080 mi (8175 km)
WHOOP WHOOP! We really passed the 5000 mile mark today!! (I fixed yesterday's entry. Apparently this trip is getting to me - I can't even read a simple calendar anymore!)
And let me tell you, THIS was a happy occasion!
Since this was to be our last night away from home, Husband & I had pondered the idea of just getting a hotel room instead of camping. It would be nice, we said, to be able to get some of that "trip dirt" off ahead of time - not to mention sleep in real beds with real air conditioning.
But in the end, we're cheap and had already had a few unexpected expenses, so we decided to just stay camping.
We stayed at a place just west of Tallahassee, and kind of regretted it. It was nice enough, but it kind of felt like the place was conspiring against us.
- ALL the roads were dirt. Which meant you were tracking it everywhere.
- the folks to the right were heavy chain smokers (blech!)
- the folks to the left had loud yapper dogs, who were not always leashed
(here I am, stuck in the middle with you!)
- this was one of the few places that was not spraying for bugs
- then, there were the FOUR kittens. I have no idea how the kittens came to be at this camp, but they lived there and the owners were feeding them. no collars (so probably no shots either), and they went where they pleased.
And where they pleased was our site. Making meals very amusing - and not in a funny way. I can't tell you how many times I threw that blasted cat off our table. (and yes, by the end I was throwing the cat. Not like anybody was claiming the stupid thing.) Fortunately, I'd made the kids plenty wary of the things & they wouldn't touch them. But still.... blah....
Strangely enough, the AC did work at this place.
Day 21: Fun in Mississippi
Friday, June 27
(Happy Birthday, the Sister!)
Fast Facts
Starting: Louisiana
Ending: Mississippi
Today's Mileage/Total Mileage: 225 mi (362 km)/4826 mi (7766 km)
WHOOP WHOOP - we've returned to the East!! We celebrated by going through Baton Rouge & crossing over the Mississippi River again, putting us officially back on the Eastern Seaboard (more or less!).
The end of our driving today found us in Mississippi - hot & sticky. Campground was nice enough, and had probably one of the nicest swimming pools we'd seen on the entire trip - a third of it was only 2 feet deep, so the kids could run around all they wanted without hanging off of Husband like sea monkeys.
The only icky part about the place was that the water was undrinkable. Okay, THEY said it was perfectly fine, but when I fill a gallon jug and it has a brownish tint.... NOPE!! (Wal-Mart, here we come!!)
Perhaps the nicest surprise occured as we were putting the kids in bed. The campground backup up against a BBQ "restaurant" - I use that term loosely because all I saw was a huge smoker & lots of tables. That night, however, they had live music. Kind of unusual - bluesy/oldies/classic rock all blended together. But it was loud, and we could sit on our porch & listen as we waited for the kids to fall asleep.
(Happy Birthday, the Sister!)
Fast Facts
Starting: Louisiana
Ending: Mississippi
Today's Mileage/Total Mileage: 225 mi (362 km)/4826 mi (7766 km)
WHOOP WHOOP - we've returned to the East!! We celebrated by going through Baton Rouge & crossing over the Mississippi River again, putting us officially back on the Eastern Seaboard (more or less!).
The end of our driving today found us in Mississippi - hot & sticky. Campground was nice enough, and had probably one of the nicest swimming pools we'd seen on the entire trip - a third of it was only 2 feet deep, so the kids could run around all they wanted without hanging off of Husband like sea monkeys.
The only icky part about the place was that the water was undrinkable. Okay, THEY said it was perfectly fine, but when I fill a gallon jug and it has a brownish tint.... NOPE!! (Wal-Mart, here we come!!)
Perhaps the nicest surprise occured as we were putting the kids in bed. The campground backup up against a BBQ "restaurant" - I use that term loosely because all I saw was a huge smoker & lots of tables. That night, however, they had live music. Kind of unusual - bluesy/oldies/classic rock all blended together. But it was loud, and we could sit on our porch & listen as we waited for the kids to fall asleep.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Day 20: Murphy's Law
Thursday, June 26
Fast Facts
Starting: Texas
Ending: Louisiana
Today's Mileage/Total Mileage: 404 mi (650km)/4601 mi (7404 km)
In the end, it's amazing that we broke 400 miles today.
We broke camp around 9:30 and hit the road. Our plans today were rather open. We did have a reservation in Beaumont, Texas (city motto: the last place of civilization in Texas), but it was at a place where we had to use our tent. Since that was impossible, we'd cancelled the reservation. Which kind of left us lacking in options, as there were no campgrounds in that area with any kind of cabins, or any other cities in any kind of proximity.
After consulting the books, we discovered a campground about 100 miles into Louisiana. So, we figured we could go to Beaumont & get a hotel room, or we could drive all the way to LA, and get the standard cabin we were used to - and have a bit shorter drive the next day.
As we were coasting into Houston (city motto: If you can see it off the freeway and wanted to go there, you should have gotten off at the last exit. Stinks to be you.) the skies completely opened up.
Now, we are from Florida. We are used to heavy rainstorms. This ranked right up there with the bad ones - the ones where you can barely see the lines on the road in front of you. For a while, we were okay; we'd be in it for a while, but then we'd drive back into the sunshine.
Except, Houston traffic being what it is, the storm would catch us everytime we slowed down. Kind of annoying. And then we heard the little voice from the backseat:
"Mommy, I have to go potty."
Bug is not prone to exaggeration. Or advance warning.
So now, in addition to crazy drivers & blinding rain, we needed to find an (indoor) restroom. And then somehow manever through all the construction to actually FIND the exit ramp. Finally, we noticed a Target & a shopping mall that not only had restrooms but a Chick-fil-a (meaning we are now near the East Coast again!).
We let the kids "play" (read: without the quarters) in the arcade for quite awhile too as we waited for the storm to let up. One of their favorites was this horse-riding game.
Anyways, around 2:30 we decided that we really needed to go. The rain was quieter, and we definitely wanted to be out of there before rush hour.
After breaking out of Houston, we were merrily cruising along amongst the sprinkles when
CLUNK
a rock smashed into the windshield.
It was a little rock, but it was loud and managed to chip the windshield. Immediately, all the horror stories I'd ever heard about a chip spreading & your windshield turning into powder began running through my head. We were close to Beaumont, so we knew we really did need to stop to repair it, but where? Wait, Husband said, we have AAA - call them!
I swear I am not making up the following conversation.
After maneuvering through several voice prompts, one of which asked me to input my membership number, I finally got ahold of a real person:
Jaime: Hi, I'm driving down I-10, just west of Beaumont Texas, and our windshield is cracked. I was hoping for a glass-repair...
AAA person: (interrupting, I might add) I have to transfer you over to Claims.
** cue hold music **
AAA person: This is ****. What seems to be the problem?
Jaime: Hi, I'm in Beaumont, TX, and our windshield is cracked. I was hoping to get a recommendation for a glass-repair shop.
AAA: I'll need your card number before we can do anything
J: Oh, I entered it earlier on the voice prompts...
AAA: There's nothing here on the screen. Are you going to tell me what it is or not?
J: It's 429 -
AAA: (cutting me off) That's your membership number. I need your insurance number.
J: We don't have insurance with you.
AAA: Then I can't help you.
J: But doesn't AAA make a list of recommended service providers available to their members?
AAA: Only to our members with insurance.
J: (silent)
AAA: You might as well just go look in the yellow pages.
J: I really don't want to do that - I have no idea who would be legitamate in a strange town.
AAA: Well, that's the best you're going to get from this phone call.
J: (eyes about falling out of my head) ???!!!
AAA: You can always call your ACTUAL insurance provider and have them recommend someone.
J: Well, that would have been the better answer earlier!
Which is what we did. And the lovely representative figured out where we were (because we've been driving this entire time), called around to find a place that was open and could take us then.
Around 4:30, car fixed, we jumped right back on the road.... into a traffic jam. Thankfully we'd just put the DVD player in, so the kids were entertained for the next hour and a half.
Finally (!!) we reached the campground in Louisiana at 7:30 - just minutes before they closed. We settled in amongst the crickets & mosquitos and crashed.
Fast Facts
Starting: Texas
Ending: Louisiana
Today's Mileage/Total Mileage: 404 mi (650km)/4601 mi (7404 km)
In the end, it's amazing that we broke 400 miles today.
We broke camp around 9:30 and hit the road. Our plans today were rather open. We did have a reservation in Beaumont, Texas (city motto: the last place of civilization in Texas), but it was at a place where we had to use our tent. Since that was impossible, we'd cancelled the reservation. Which kind of left us lacking in options, as there were no campgrounds in that area with any kind of cabins, or any other cities in any kind of proximity.
After consulting the books, we discovered a campground about 100 miles into Louisiana. So, we figured we could go to Beaumont & get a hotel room, or we could drive all the way to LA, and get the standard cabin we were used to - and have a bit shorter drive the next day.
As we were coasting into Houston (city motto: If you can see it off the freeway and wanted to go there, you should have gotten off at the last exit. Stinks to be you.) the skies completely opened up.
Now, we are from Florida. We are used to heavy rainstorms. This ranked right up there with the bad ones - the ones where you can barely see the lines on the road in front of you. For a while, we were okay; we'd be in it for a while, but then we'd drive back into the sunshine.
Except, Houston traffic being what it is, the storm would catch us everytime we slowed down. Kind of annoying. And then we heard the little voice from the backseat:
"Mommy, I have to go potty."
Bug is not prone to exaggeration. Or advance warning.
So now, in addition to crazy drivers & blinding rain, we needed to find an (indoor) restroom. And then somehow manever through all the construction to actually FIND the exit ramp. Finally, we noticed a Target & a shopping mall that not only had restrooms but a Chick-fil-a (meaning we are now near the East Coast again!).
We let the kids "play" (read: without the quarters) in the arcade for quite awhile too as we waited for the storm to let up. One of their favorites was this horse-riding game.
Anyways, around 2:30 we decided that we really needed to go. The rain was quieter, and we definitely wanted to be out of there before rush hour.
After breaking out of Houston, we were merrily cruising along amongst the sprinkles when
CLUNK
a rock smashed into the windshield.
It was a little rock, but it was loud and managed to chip the windshield. Immediately, all the horror stories I'd ever heard about a chip spreading & your windshield turning into powder began running through my head. We were close to Beaumont, so we knew we really did need to stop to repair it, but where? Wait, Husband said, we have AAA - call them!
I swear I am not making up the following conversation.
After maneuvering through several voice prompts, one of which asked me to input my membership number, I finally got ahold of a real person:
Jaime: Hi, I'm driving down I-10, just west of Beaumont Texas, and our windshield is cracked. I was hoping for a glass-repair...
AAA person: (interrupting, I might add) I have to transfer you over to Claims.
** cue hold music **
AAA person: This is ****. What seems to be the problem?
Jaime: Hi, I'm in Beaumont, TX, and our windshield is cracked. I was hoping to get a recommendation for a glass-repair shop.
AAA: I'll need your card number before we can do anything
J: Oh, I entered it earlier on the voice prompts...
AAA: There's nothing here on the screen. Are you going to tell me what it is or not?
J: It's 429 -
AAA: (cutting me off) That's your membership number. I need your insurance number.
J: We don't have insurance with you.
AAA: Then I can't help you.
J: But doesn't AAA make a list of recommended service providers available to their members?
AAA: Only to our members with insurance.
J: (silent)
AAA: You might as well just go look in the yellow pages.
J: I really don't want to do that - I have no idea who would be legitamate in a strange town.
AAA: Well, that's the best you're going to get from this phone call.
J: (eyes about falling out of my head) ???!!!
AAA: You can always call your ACTUAL insurance provider and have them recommend someone.
J: Well, that would have been the better answer earlier!
Which is what we did. And the lovely representative figured out where we were (because we've been driving this entire time), called around to find a place that was open and could take us then.
Around 4:30, car fixed, we jumped right back on the road.... into a traffic jam. Thankfully we'd just put the DVD player in, so the kids were entertained for the next hour and a half.
Finally (!!) we reached the campground in Louisiana at 7:30 - just minutes before they closed. We settled in amongst the crickets & mosquitos and crashed.
Day 19: Remember the Alamo!!
Wednesday, June 25
Fast Facts
Starting: Texas
Ending: Texas (am starting to wonder if we will ever LEAVE Texas!!)
Today's Mileage/Total Mileage: 123 mi (197 km)/4197 mi (6754 km)
We didn't have very far to go today because we'd planned on spending the day in San Antonio. Looking back, we should have just sucked it up yesterday & spent 2 nights in San Antionio in order to avoid all the "excitement" of Junction, but oh well.
Now, I can say I will remember the Alamo.
This is pretty much the only picture you can take of it, because they ban cameras inside the (really tiny) building. And I didn't feel like testing the guys in red vests - they looked hot & cranky & ready to use those bayonets. (Okay I'm kidding. But only about the bayonets.)
Outside in the garden they have lots of cannons on display. Bird thought they looked like wonderful horses.
Once we'd exhausted all that the Alamo had to offer (including a 15 minute film in an air conditioned room & checking out all the weird things made from chili peppers that you can buy in the gift shop), we walked down the street a bit until we went down into the Riverwalk.
The concept is a little hard to explain, but what you do is head down the street towards the river, and then go down a staircase. You will find yourself at the river's edge, in amongst all sorts of shops, hotels and restaurants.
Perhaps the main touristy thing to do is ride the riverboats. And we did. It takes you all around the river, and your guide points out things he hopes you will be interested in, all the while making really bad jokes.
I might have liked it better, had we not made the mistake of going immediately after getting there - around 3:30 pm. And it was still HOT!!!
Bug & Bird agreed.
Fortunately, there is a shopping mall right around there (because apparently it's not a civilied place without a shopping mall??) where we could spend some time drinking their cold filtered water & soaking up their lovely air conditioning.
We did have dinner on the Walk before returning back to the campground, where the kids spent quite a bit of time splashing around in the pool before bedtime.
Fast Facts
Starting: Texas
Ending: Texas (am starting to wonder if we will ever LEAVE Texas!!)
Today's Mileage/Total Mileage: 123 mi (197 km)/4197 mi (6754 km)
We didn't have very far to go today because we'd planned on spending the day in San Antonio. Looking back, we should have just sucked it up yesterday & spent 2 nights in San Antionio in order to avoid all the "excitement" of Junction, but oh well.
Now, I can say I will remember the Alamo.
This is pretty much the only picture you can take of it, because they ban cameras inside the (really tiny) building. And I didn't feel like testing the guys in red vests - they looked hot & cranky & ready to use those bayonets. (Okay I'm kidding. But only about the bayonets.)
Outside in the garden they have lots of cannons on display. Bird thought they looked like wonderful horses.
Once we'd exhausted all that the Alamo had to offer (including a 15 minute film in an air conditioned room & checking out all the weird things made from chili peppers that you can buy in the gift shop), we walked down the street a bit until we went down into the Riverwalk.
The concept is a little hard to explain, but what you do is head down the street towards the river, and then go down a staircase. You will find yourself at the river's edge, in amongst all sorts of shops, hotels and restaurants.
Perhaps the main touristy thing to do is ride the riverboats. And we did. It takes you all around the river, and your guide points out things he hopes you will be interested in, all the while making really bad jokes.
I might have liked it better, had we not made the mistake of going immediately after getting there - around 3:30 pm. And it was still HOT!!!
Bug & Bird agreed.
Fortunately, there is a shopping mall right around there (because apparently it's not a civilied place without a shopping mall??) where we could spend some time drinking their cold filtered water & soaking up their lovely air conditioning.
We did have dinner on the Walk before returning back to the campground, where the kids spent quite a bit of time splashing around in the pool before bedtime.
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