Transport

We're going away this weekend. It's a very exotic-like vacation, so don't be too jealous.

You see, we're taking the trailer out. Finally. We used it once last year. Sad, but since I was in Utah the entire summer, we didn't really have the opportunity to use it. Trust me, if I had my choice, I would have loved to have used it every weekend last summer. If only.....

But alas, things change. Mom is gone, and now the trailer can come out of storage. So we're heading out to the Chain O Lakes state park. Yes, it really has the "O" instead of "Of". And they think us Utahan's are rednecks.

Part of the joy of the trailer, is getting everything ready to go. Food, towels, sheets, blankets, propane, putting back in the batteries, emptying out the poopsicle that never got emptied before it froze solid. See, fun stuff like that. But there's also getting the truck ready to haul it. Fuel, car seats, iPod, new U-joints. Wha? Yep. A day before we need to get ready, the truck needs new U-joints. Figures. It's actually about time, but still, car repairs are the worst. Luckily for me, Sugar Daddy is a master at finnagling things, and can fix pretty much any car problem.

He did it. He fixed it all by himself. And it could have cost us $650. Instead, it cost us the price of a one day Metra ticket, since we had to wait a day for the part, requiring him to take the train into work for a day, and then $35 for the actual part. Labor? Totally free. He rules.

So we're getting ready to go. I can't wait. Even though the Chain is about, oh, 5 minutes away from our house, it will still feel like a major getaway, since I've never been there. I love the trailer. I love being with my kids, and seeing how they interact with eachother, and with nature. I'm sure Maggie will be in personal Hell with the bugs and trees and water all around, but she'll survive. I don't think Gretta even remembers the trailer, since it's been a year since we last went. I'm sure she'll love it, too.

I have a good FFF tomorrow, so stay tuned.

Pics

Sorry about the lack of rotation on some of these.

Radio City Music Hall. Right down the street from our hotel. Anyone that knows me, knows that I would love to see the Rockettes Holiday Show. Too bad we were a week too early.

Sean in Central Park. Isn't he so GQ?

This is me on the balcony of our stateroom. It was super sunny, hence the squinty eyes.

Ellis Island. This is the view from our stateroom as we left the Port of New York.

And the Statue of Liberty. Also from our stateroom. I'm glad we picked Starboard just for this reason.

I'll post more pics. Blogger was limiting me to 5.

Sleeping in The City That Never Sleeps

Well, I've returned from my cross country jaunt. I know most of you (GABE) have been sitting around twiddling your thumbs waiting for my next witty post. Well, no more waiting, here it is. I'll try to be brief.

Day 1: Ate at Cheesecake Factory in Lincolnshire at 11:00 PM. Yummy.
Day 2: Met Realtor and looked at 20 homes in 8 hours. Only 3 possibilities.
Dinner with "Boss Man" at Wildwood. Yummy.
Drove to O'Hare and stayed in a sweet suite.
Day 3: Flew to NYC on the tiniest plane ever. I was so brave.
Found Hotel. Hotel was waaaayyyy tiny. But cool.
Took a bus tour starting at Midnight. Finished at 2:00 AM, and there was construction!
Day 4: Walked through Central Park. Took a cab to the Pier, and boarded ship. Took nap.
Day 5: Sea Day. Took nap. Ate food, not so yummy.
Day 6: Arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I was up at 4:00 AM, and the port is beautiful!
Found a coffee shop and drank hot chocolate and at cinnamon rolls.
Realized Canadia has their own funny money.
Watched local glass blowers. Cool.
Went to Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, and saw Titanic exhibit. Very interesting.
Had Seafood Chowder, and fries with vinegar. Weird, but good.
Boarded ship, took nap.
Watched freaky family for entertainment.
Day 7: Arrived in Bar Harbor, Maine. Again, up at 4:00 AM to watch the ship dock.
Realized people talk funny in Maine. Bah Hahbah especially.
Ate crab balls and lobster rolls for lunch. So Yummy!
Took tour of Acadia National Park, very cool. Saw Martha Stewart's home.
Boarded ship. Took nap.
Watched funny comedian for entertainment.
Day 8: Arrived in Boston, Massachusetts. Up at 7:00 AM.
Had Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast. So Yummy!
Followed the red Freedom Trail around to all the tourist sights.
Had a good time talking in British accents.
Ate chili in bread bowls, and Gelato.
Boarded ship. Took nap.
Sang Karaoke. Scary.
Day 9: Arrived in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.
Very, very windy.
Had to tender to shore in 12 foot waves.
Rented car to explore island. Pretty cool island.
Ate the best nachos in a sea side tavern.
Realized a hurricane was headed our way.
Boarded ship. No nap.
Tried to eat dinner, but all fooded out.
Was rocked to sleep by huge waves.
Day 10: Arrived in NYC. Disembarked ship and headed for airport.
Upgraded to first class, and hung out in first class lounge for 6 hours. Niiice.
Flew home.
Home sweet home.

That's pretty much it. I'll post photos after I get them uploaded. I've been stuck behind mountains of laundry, so no time for fun, yet!

Off I go!

Well, folks. I'm off. Off to the Windy City, and then to the Big Apple! If I knew any cute names for Boston, Martha's Vineyard, Bar Harbor Maine, or Nova Scotia, I would use them too. Be back in a week or so!

Excellent

Thanks to Napoleon "Snaggletooth" Dynamite for leading us on a not so excellent adventure down the lazy Colorado River. Fun.

See more details of our wicked fun trip here.

Actually, what made my trip was this.

Have you ever needed to use the facilities, like, NOW?

I was in that mode, and at the Maverick, the line for the ladies room was 10 deep. No way was I going to make it! So what do I do? Use the Men's room, of course!

Only come to find out a little too late, the toilet doesn't flush. I'm looking around waiting to be Punk'd. I guess that's Karma kicking my butt for using the Men's room. I put my plumbing expertise to work, and saved my butt. Whew! We all had a good laugh about that!

Moab is a cool place, probably one I will miss quite a bit when we move to the Midwest. :(

The red country

It's off to Moab we go. Hopefully we won't have a repeat of last year.

I'm taking "Knocked Up" to see what that's all about. Sean bought it at Wal-Mart while us gals were in Seattle.

I guess that means he got Knocked Up at Wal-Mart. I'm guessing he's probably not the first.

Home is the most important place in the world

I made it back from the land of the rain and coffee. Seattle is a very cool town! I love how it's very outdoors minded, and they recycle everything. Apparently even people, as homeless people are everywhere. We visited the Space Needle. There is seriously a Starbucks at the top. It's quite a ride up, about 41 seconds, and worth every one at that!


We did the Underground tour. Which is very cool, especially if you come from a construction family. Yes, the eye beams are old, but since they are founded into 36" of concrete, they are stable. And yes, the keystone arch is the strongest form in construction. It will hold for centuries, apparently. Plus we got to see a guy in a kilt. Cool.


This is the lock going from Puget Sound into Lake Washington, which then joins Lake Union. If you look closely you can see the water level we're at, and then behind the lock you can see the level of the lake. The water is let in to the lock via gravity and pipes, and in about 10 minutes, we rose nearly 8 feet. At low tides it can raise a vessel as high as 26 feet.


And this is one of my favorite moments. This is one of the many, many homeless people that come out at night. You can't read his sign, but I was trying to take a picture without him chasing me and asking for money. The sign reads "My father was killed by street ninjas, I need money for karate lessons". I would think teeth or a shower would come first, but that's just me.


And me on our ghetto shuttle to the airport. It actually wasn't that bad. Just a big bus. It rained so hard on Sunday, I was thankful it was our last day. The other days were just right. A little chilly, unless you're Meg, then you freeze, but I didn't think it was bad at all.

Other fun things:

Jill saying "HUH?"
Finding a great store in the mall with blouses for $34!
Giggles getting tickled on the face by a fish butt.
Kelli taking one right in the face!
Me texting Sean about the homeless guy with a sign, and walking into a sign!
A Pikes Market Labradoodle/Wooley Mammoth.
A wiener dog with a cowboy hat on.
Crepes and Limonata!
Mom noticing the plethora of homosexuals. Good eye mom, good eye!

* And how could I have forgotten the funniest, craziest, hilariousest thing ever! Mom hitting innocent little defenseless Gracie in the face with the check from Ruth's Chris in an attempt to foil our plans for paying for her dinner. We got it, thanks to Gracie's sacrifice. Boo-Ya!

Fun weekend, and we need to do it again. Next time, Chicago!

Sleepless in...

Here we come, baby! It's a girls only weekend, and we're going to ROCK IT ALL WEEKEND!'Specially my Mom, who is the BOMB! Harbor tour, Underground tour, nice dinner, and shopping, shopping, shopping! My sweet sisters are my sweet homies. Gotta love 'em.

See you Monday!

Fun times!

This weekend we went on the Ward campout with my parents Ward. The good old Riverton 7th. Times have certainly changed, some of the people have changed, but it's still the same, fun loving, crazy Ward that I grew up in.

Little G doing her famous "drooly face". Don't you just want to eat her up? This is the position she assumes when she wants to be picked up. How can you resist?

Madison, Emma, and Maggie singing songs with the primary at the camp out. We love having Madison along, she is such a nice girl. She and Emma are the cutest girls, and they play so nicely together. We just don't have to worry when she's around, because we know that together, they are probably more responsible than most of the adults. We had a small "gasoline on the fire" moment, but nothing too bad.

And here they are singing "We are Children Holding Hands Around the World". Despite the picture, that paper on the right is not on fire. It was dusk, and I had no tripod, so lay off. The folding chair was the best I could do on such short notice. It held fairly still, but apparently not enough.

It was a fun time away, short and sweet. It was cool up there in Spanish Fork Canyon, we had to use our jackets at night. Unless you're Meg, then you have to use a jacket all the time. We had sloppy joes and potluck salads and desserts, with dutch oven cheesy potatoes thanks to Brent Hales. He knows his way around a potato. The evening was topped off by the primary singing, a few of the young women singing "Princess Pat", and then s'mores. Breakfast was early the next morning, and after being up all night with a stuffy baby, I slept right through it. I heard it was yummy. All in all, it was a great weekend.

Update on the Maze.

Meg and I had so much fun in Logan on Saturday that we've decided to go back, this time for an extended weekend. The Maze is pretty darn cool, and we were both surprised that more people don't know about it. We also decided it would be a wayyy cool date, ahem, Spencer.

The drive to Logan was about as frustrating as you can imagine. A normal 1 1/2 hour drive turned into 4 hours, plus an hour stop for dinner and pee. After arriving in Logan at 10:00 PM, and Sean getting things situated despite the rain, we settled in to watch Zodiac. A good, long, interesting movie, probably better suited to be watched in the earlier evening hours. At 2:00 AM, we nestled in to sleep. Just as we start to doze off, the loudest crash of thunder I have ever heard breaks the silence. Instantly I'm upright in bed, and Sean just lays there laughing. Gretta promptly awakens, and Meg has to comfort her until I get my wits about me enough to get up and rock her myself. It was so loud, it set off car alarms. The rains came down, but only for a few minutes. We had a restless night of sleep after that, as you can imagine.

We launched at 8:00 AM in chilly, breezy, weather, with a small threat of a storm hovering above us. After Meg stopped to pee, we started upstream, and followed the buoys marking the main channel. It wasn't long, however, that Meg said she had to pee. We didn't plan on going too many miles up, so I told her she could go when we turned around and paddled by the ramp. A few minutes later, Meg informs me that she indeed has to pee. There was a sense of urgency in her voice. I told her I would hold her kayak while she dangled her butt off the side to pee. I was hoping she would accept my offer of "help", because I kinda wanted to see her fall in. But she said she could wait. A few minutes more, and Meg informs me she has to pee...NOW! She was indeed desperate. Meg immediately beaches the kayak, and heads off into a cattle field. Have you ever heard a mad cow? We have, and it's not a pretty sound. She did her thing, and off we went, no near drownings to speak of.

We continued on, and a short time later, I hear Meg from behind shouting "Alligator!" Um, what? I look back and Meg is stranded on a sandbar, and water is splashing on her from each side of the kayak. What the ? Turns out the Catfish beach themselves on the sandbar, and she must have landed right in the middle of their little pow wow. Although I think she's still convinced there was an Alligator. Understandably, we turned around at that point and headed back downstream.

As we paddled past the ramp, I asked Meg if she had to pee.

Nope.

We paddled a few more strokes, and I asked Meg if she had to pee.

Nope.

So we head North, and just as we are about to go under the road, Meg informs me that she does indeed have to pee. Back to the ramp we go.

Is anyone keeping score? Meg=3 pees, Keli=0 pees.

Anywhoo, you can see why we need an extended weekend next time. And maybe a catheter. But we did get to see some pretty cool sights.

A bunch of beached Catfish.
Mad cows.
Several Great Blue Herons.
Several Ibis'.
A redneck catching the biggest freakin' Carp I've ever seen.
Sean nearly capsizing a kayak because he can't be outpaddled by a woman.

Needless to say, we had a good time. We always do with Meg. She's quite a woman. Any guy would be lucky to have her. I'm just glad I have her no matter what.

*Next on the docket, tennis this week, camping this weekend, and then perhaps a paddle around Causey reservoir.

To the North

Meg and I are heading North to Logan this weekend. Should be fun. We'll be using our newly found kayaking expertise to navigate the Wetlands Maze of Cutler Marsh. Hopefully we don't get lost. Hopefully there are no bugs, eww. Or other wildlife, eek. Or too much grass and goop in the water, gross. Do we sound like hard-core or what? Wish me luck!

Yellowstone, day 8

Saturday we left Canyon, and toured Old Faithful on our way out of the park. My niece, Madison, nephew Gabe, and Emma decided to do the "Young Scientist" project that would take them on a trek all around the Old Faithful geyser basin. They had to find out if geysers and hot springs were alive or not alive, follow a map to a mystery location, and then talk to a Ranger about what they learned. It's all very serious work. The Rangers do not take this lightly. They go through the booklet page by page, and make sure the kids fully understand what they have learned about. It's a nice way to teach them about the geology of such a unique place.

Here are Madison, Gabe, Maggie, and Emma in front of the sign for Old Faithful. This was the last day in the park, but certainly one of the funnest!

Madison and Emma showing off their "Young Scientist" booklets. They worked very hard for the key chain they received for completing it. Maggie and my littler nephew Eli also did a worksheet about animals they spotted while in the park, and received a "police badge", as Maggie likes to call it. So cute.

Yellowstone, day 7

Friday we headed north to Mammoth Hot Springs. Not my favorite part of Yellowstone due to the lack of trees and water. As I kid I remember Mammoth overflowing with water, but now it's pretty much bone dry, save a few small hot springs. However, despite my telling Emma repeatedly how it was not worth the hiking of countless steps, she insisted on finding out for herself. A quality I choose not to squash. But Maggie has little 3 year-old legs, not designed for hiking countless steps, and with a storm approaching, she and I decided to stay behind and enjoy some Raspberry Sherbet ice cream.

We had to hurry back to Canyon for our BBQ with Troy and Kelli and their kids that evening, so Mammoth was a quick trip. However, on the way back we were treated to a viewing of a Mamma Grizzly bear with 2 cubs. They were visible, just "bearly", through the binoculars, so a picture would have been futile. Besides, with my fear of bears, she was plenty close. The BBQ was great fun, the kids got filthy in the dirt, and no one was set on fire. A bonus, for sure.

Yellowstone, day 6

Thursday was pretty uneventful, as Yellowstone goes. We saw some wildlife, had a little rain storm, and hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone to see the Lower Falls. This year the road to the parking lot of the Lower Falls was closed for repairs, so really the only good way to see the falls was to hike down. It was a beautiful hike, especially after the rain.


After the hike down, we hung out for a bit in the mist of the falls and from the sky. The hike up was much, much harder, as you can imagine. After we got to the top, the skies opened up and we were treated to a real downpour. I'm glad we didn't get stuck in it on the trail!

Now on to the elaboration of Sean's fire starting skills. Raise of hands: Who knows that fire will ignite gasoline fumes? Everyone? That's what I thought. After starting a small fire in our pit, Sean was dissatisfied with the size. So brilliantly, he decided to go get the gas can. 6 gallons, my friends. Just as he's about to pour the gas on the fire, I pipe up telling him that it will ignite the can. Ha! I was no boyscout, but I do know what's up with fire. Well, on goes the gasoline, and up go the flames. Up to the can. Fire spewing out the nozzle. He tips the gas can over, and now there's fire all over the ground. He grabs a bottle of water off the picnic table, and it only had but a teaspoon of water in it! Finally, after what seemed like hours, He was able to stomp the fire out. But only after a futile yet hilarious attempt of blowing out the flames. Remember the fires of '88? Me too. Now we know not to use a gas can to "motivate" a fire. We should be satisfied with the size of our fire.

Yellowstone, day 5

Water Wednesday!

Wednesday we rented a boat on Yellowstone Lake. Of all the years we've been there, we've never seen Yellowstone from the water. It's a beautiful, if cold, lake, with lots of birds and wildlife and fish. Maggie was the first one in the boat, she loved every minute of it. Emma, not so much. She though for sure the boat would tip over if she so much as moved the wrong way. Gretta fell sound asleep as soon as the life jacket was zipped up. It was a little chilly, but not bad, just right for zooming around.

We have no idea who these girls are. We do know that after hours of driving around on the lake on their day off, suddenly the boat wouldn't start. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that they had several "mugs" full of who knows what, and it wasn't the waves making them walk all crazy. As you see, the driver could barely keep her cookies as we towed them to the marina. They all work at Old Faithful as servers and bus girls and the like. I guess they just needed to blow off some steam. Ha ha ha. I guess it gave us the opportunity to do service to others. Lucky us.

Yellowstone, day 4

Tuesday we had to change campgrounds, from Bridge Bay, to Fishing Bridge, just 4 miles up the road. After hooking all the trailer necessities up, Sean decided to ride his bike from Bridge Bay Marina to West Thumb Junction, about 19 miles away. This left us in a sort-of situation. I don't mind driving around with the trailer hooked up, but I'm not great at backing it in to tight camp spots. I can do it, I just don't love it. So, the girls and I decided we'd give Sean a few minutes head start, and catch up with him just before West Thumb. This way, I didn't have to park the trailer, and we could get some good Mom/Daughter time. Well, we ended up catching Sean about 10 miles in to his ride, so we had some time to kill. At this point, I saw a nice pull-out right on the beach, with a little sandbar to keep the water calm. A perfect way to kill some time. Or so I thought.
Welcome to Leach Beach. Emma found a "cute little inchworm" crawling across her hand. When we tried to pull it off, it was firmly stuck. We found one a while later on Maggie's hand that was significantly larger, and full of her blood! When it came off, it left a big glob of blood on her hand! Gross! Surprisingly, my kids didn't freak out too bad. And after a good outdoor shower to make sure all the little suckers were gone, we went on our merry way.

We went on to explore West Thumb that day, and then proceeded on to Fishing Bridge, where we took part in the Ranger Campfire Program about the fires of 1988. After nearly 20 years, and visiting the Park every year since, I can say that this year the growth is the most noticeable. The trees are beautiful, and are just high enough to hide the rest of the barren landscape, making it seem like "normal". I remember the fire of 1988 so clearly. We were water skiing on Jackson Lake that summer, and could see so much smoke even from 100 miles away. I can't believe it's been 19 years. My how time flies.

Yellowstone, day 3

What's this? A what? A buffalo? A bison? What's the difference?

Monday morning we awoke to this. A buffalo, (or buttalow, as Maggie says), in our campground. In our camp site. Well, nearly. It was right next door!

We spent most of Monday sleeping in, and later, driving to Old Faithful.

This is the only photo of actual "Old Faithful", and I'm not really sure who that hoochie mamma is in the background. But Sean was in charge of the camera at this point, so I'm sure we can all speculate what he was really taking pictures of.

We walked all through the Old Faithful Basin to see the various hot pots and geysers. We got a lot of strange looks due to Gretta's helmet situation, and we all got a little bit sunburned. It was over 90 degrees, a heat wave for that neck of the Caldera.

Yellowstone, day 2

Sunday we drove to the park from Jacob and Amy's house. It's only about an hour and a half, so not too far. But the part that takes forever is actually driving through the park. 12 miles can take an hour or more, thanks to Buffalo and Elk jams.


We found our campsite, and to my chagrin, (does that word make sense here?) our next-site-neighbors had 2 German Shepherds, and get this, a Pit Bull! At a CAMPGROUND! Duh. So we had to find a new site, not an easy task when it's full. But luckily the reservations lady understood my plight.

After we hooked up the generators and set out chairs, we took to making S'Mores. Yummy! We also saw a shooting star, and a satellite go by. The girls were having a great time by the fire, and that includes Gretta, who thinks fire is a good friend to chat with.

Sean is a great fire starter. More on that later.

Missed me?

Sorry to leave you all hanging. A week is a long time to be gone. Yellowstone was a blast, as always, and never disappoints. After seeing that I had taken 143 pictures, I've decided to do an 8 days of Yellowstone tribute, with an overlap for tomorrows SPT, of course. So count today's post for day 1.

A special thanks to Jake and Amy for letting us crash at their pad for a night. They have quite the "little" farm going on up there in Idaho Falls. My kids pretty much walked in the front door, and ran downstairs to play. We didn't see them for the next 6 hours. Excellent. Amy and I had an adventure to Wal-Mart to buy baby Tylenol and trash mags. She's not such a good back seat driver. Left, no right. No, left! Good times. We'll definitely be heading their way again. Amy cooked dinner and breakfast for us, and as you can see on her blog, Sean and I got to scope out their property on the 4-wheeler. Unfortunately, there are no pictures of our nights stay. I just couldn't bear to put the one we took up on the blog. 3 chins isn't flattering for anyone, especially me, and it's my blog!

Stay tuned for tomorrow's day 2, and for SPT, embrace your geekness.