Honestly, it stinks having the animals with us. I mean, it literally stinks! Biscuit has his spot on the floor up front, because it's too hot to ride in the back of the truck this time of year. The cats too have their assigned seats. Kukla looks like a dashboard ornament in front of the passenger with her head hanging over the side to catch the air coming out of the vent or to take a swipe at Biscuit when he's not paying attention. Sugar, not a fan of car rides, stays clung to the headrest on the backseat draped over it so that her stomach is squished against said headrest. I guess it's comfortable but it looks weird and is good for a laugh every time I look in the mirror at her.
Now assigned seats are one thing and work really well if everyone follows the system - not in our car, though. If I get out to run in the bathroom somewhere or buy a bag of ice, Biscuit has to jump in my seat! Oh it's just great to have tons of dog hair "sewed" to my cloth seats. And, of course, every time a door is opened, the cats are considering the best way to get out of the car. Consequently, they have both figured this out once. I guess they like being with us though because we were able to catch them.
In addition to the traveling conditions, there is the basic truth that you can't do anything with them in the vehicle - at least not this time of year. It would have been nice to stop in so many places, but we couldn't leave our furry friends behind. So... on another trip "animal free", we will catch up on some sights. I won't even go into how hotels like to gouge every pet owner, what gives? They do this with children, too. They just don't call it a children fee, it's an extra person fee - how PC!
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Nebraska
Well, we've come more than halfway, finally. After a nice, but brief visit with Gramma Rula and Grandpa Mike, we continued on our way. Our dog Biscuit was no big fan of being relegated to his kennel in the backyard and barked just enough to let us know about it. After a day of barking, I headed to Petco for a muzzle. Ahhh! - the silence was bliss, until he figured out he could whine through the muzzle, seriously more annoying than the barking.
So... we crammed all our well-laid plans into a few short days. Like hitting every thrift store in suburban Minneapolis for school clothes (no more uniforms) and some winter duds as well (It gets cold there too).
This is the part where I have to say that I think the only thing I like about Minnesota (other than the thrift stores, and the weird concept of yard sales during the week) is my favorite movie, "Grumpier Old Men". I was joking about the ten million mosquitoes - no joke though. There's got to be a million mosquitoes to every person. We all look like we have chicken pox now. And no offense, you brilliant community developers there, but why would you build great big beautiful McMansions around every scum-filled mosquito breeding pond.
Let me give a plug to New Hampshire here for knowing the difference between the pond you build your house next to and the one you relegate to the furthest point on the property. So having added about five hundred pounds in extra stuff to the cargo bay of our truck (Thanks, folks!), we hit the road. It was just like being back in L.A. again, stop go, stop go, stop go traffic for an hour! Isn't it the greatest living in the city, NOT!! You can keep your conveniences like gas stations, restaurants, shopping - 24 hours a day, all within a block. It took three hours to get out of the city (about ten miles)
So... we crammed all our well-laid plans into a few short days. Like hitting every thrift store in suburban Minneapolis for school clothes (no more uniforms) and some winter duds as well (It gets cold there too).
This is the part where I have to say that I think the only thing I like about Minnesota (other than the thrift stores, and the weird concept of yard sales during the week) is my favorite movie, "Grumpier Old Men". I was joking about the ten million mosquitoes - no joke though. There's got to be a million mosquitoes to every person. We all look like we have chicken pox now. And no offense, you brilliant community developers there, but why would you build great big beautiful McMansions around every scum-filled mosquito breeding pond.
Let me give a plug to New Hampshire here for knowing the difference between the pond you build your house next to and the one you relegate to the furthest point on the property. So having added about five hundred pounds in extra stuff to the cargo bay of our truck (Thanks, folks!), we hit the road. It was just like being back in L.A. again, stop go, stop go, stop go traffic for an hour! Isn't it the greatest living in the city, NOT!! You can keep your conveniences like gas stations, restaurants, shopping - 24 hours a day, all within a block. It took three hours to get out of the city (about ten miles)
Friday, July 12, 2013
Along the Way!
Update: We made it!
I had this big plan to write entries along the way between New Hampshire and Minnesota, NOPE. Reality is never quite what you plan it to be. So I am writing this from Mom's comfy computer room, so no entrenched journalism points for me today, oh well. We made huge strides the first day (Monday), not leaving until about 2 in the afternoon. Trudged right along, leaving behind a great deal of humidity, some thunderstorms and a bug carcass or two thousand as we sped our way across New York.
Our dear friend Ed Madigan told me one time to never stay overnight in New York, if you can help it. Why?... because everything in New York is expensive, even the dang dollar menu at McDonalds doesn't quite seem to be a dollar there. We found a KOA campground in Herkimer, New York at about 7 that evening. A nice young man at the counter suggested we drive on back and take a look at the "sites" before committing to one of their electric tent sites as he told us with a wink that these spots were covered in Goose $#%*.
Okay, so we drove back, and determined that what other option did we have as I need my Darth Vader mask to sleep at night which requires electricity as well as the big clunky box fan that we dragged with us all that way. So no problem, we'll take it. Yuck, yuck, yuck but we set up the tent anyway, threw in all the bags, pumped up the air mattresses, got the animals settled in the crates, decided our gourmet dinner of bologna sandwiches could wait till after the pool and headed on over.
The pool closed at nine and by the time we made the mile (not kidding) hike over there, the kids had like 45 minutes to swim. After the hike back we quickly escaped the mosquitoes by zipping ourselves in the tent, wet and all. I'll not go in to too much detail here, but will only say that three wet, hungry, tired kids in a 12x8 tent, not a good combo. But sandwiches were had, Carter falling asleep halfway through his, literally. Then of course we needed a bathroom. Where was the bathroom we mused as we checked out our Disneyland size map. You guessed it, the nearest bath/shower was half a mile away. Thin flip flops plus gravel road plus ouch ouch ouch. Oh and it was dark at this point as well which can only mean one thing for a campground bathroom, fluorescent lighting plus every kind of bug that can get to said bathroom. Who hasn't walked into a camping bathroom and assessed the location of every bug there before dropping your drawers. Then sitting there thinking to yourself, alright if that one moves I'm outta here. Or, "I wonder if that thing can fly"?
I must confess that my hearty country girl Cassy, is a big bug chicken. And yes the irony of the fact that we are moving to the middle of nowhere is not lost on me. I was in no mood on this night though to deal with phobias so we walked right in and I told Cassy to take the stall on the right and Kelly and I shared the big stall next to it. What followed was about thirty seconds of the most hysterical, foot shuffling, squealing and carrying on all witnessed by Kelly and I from the "other stall". We laughed so hard our sides hurt and of course Cassy was so mad at us, she didn't speak to either of us for at least the first quarter mile walk back. Alas, I had no camera though to capture this candid event, but I can tell it to the world here. I hope she sees the humor in this when she reads it.
It was on the walk back though that it dawned on me as well that this campground might be the most absurd place I have ever seen. I am of the mind that the there are two different types of campgrounds. The kind you go to right off the freeway on your way to somewhere else, and the kind that you go to specifically to "camp" But what is camping anyway? Is it going off into the country somewhere and staking out a spot surrounded by nature and know one else? Or is it more like what this place was. Eight miles from the freeway along an overflowing river. Very pretty manicured lawns, every kind of play area you can think of (basketball, horseshoes, mini golf, "fake fishing", bike rental, etc.) Really the silliest part to me though is the closeness of the "campsites" row upon row of trailer, camper, huge RV's, tents etc. But this all seems very normal to the folks we walked past as it occurs to me now that of course this is normal as this is how 99% of the country lives. Right next to one another. None for me thanks.
I must also mention the various types of sleeping quarters that one can now rent at various KOA campgrounds across the country. They start with the one room cabin (very basic, usually comes completes with bare mattresses, one window, and bugs (ants or spiders, you pick). They only get fancier form there though; let's call them the "fill in the blank"camping experience, teepees, vintage airstream trailers, deluxe cabins, astronomers dream with telescopes, solar powered, and I know there are more I just can't think of them right now. What's next, why not go for the whole themed experience with Plymouth Plantation and an Old Western town, wait I might be on to something, forget I mentioned those.
And the kicker for this whole evening - $45 for the privilege of setting my tent up right across from the open dumpster in a goose poo field of not so well manicured lawn (these were the cheap spots after all) and an "outlet" to plug into. Yippee, now let me tell you how fast I got out of New York the next morning. Had the tent packed up, truck loaded and "Driving to the bathroom by 7 am. Showered and hit the nearest Dunkin Donuts for some overpriced doughnuts, thank you Mrs. Caracappa, you're the best!!!!
Kids are back from there walk now and my stolen moments of computer vent time are through but will continue more tomorrow. Thanks to all who are following us, I see that you number in the hundreds at this point which is pretty cool.
God Bless You All,
Michelle
I had this big plan to write entries along the way between New Hampshire and Minnesota, NOPE. Reality is never quite what you plan it to be. So I am writing this from Mom's comfy computer room, so no entrenched journalism points for me today, oh well. We made huge strides the first day (Monday), not leaving until about 2 in the afternoon. Trudged right along, leaving behind a great deal of humidity, some thunderstorms and a bug carcass or two thousand as we sped our way across New York.
Our dear friend Ed Madigan told me one time to never stay overnight in New York, if you can help it. Why?... because everything in New York is expensive, even the dang dollar menu at McDonalds doesn't quite seem to be a dollar there. We found a KOA campground in Herkimer, New York at about 7 that evening. A nice young man at the counter suggested we drive on back and take a look at the "sites" before committing to one of their electric tent sites as he told us with a wink that these spots were covered in Goose $#%*.
Okay, so we drove back, and determined that what other option did we have as I need my Darth Vader mask to sleep at night which requires electricity as well as the big clunky box fan that we dragged with us all that way. So no problem, we'll take it. Yuck, yuck, yuck but we set up the tent anyway, threw in all the bags, pumped up the air mattresses, got the animals settled in the crates, decided our gourmet dinner of bologna sandwiches could wait till after the pool and headed on over.
The pool closed at nine and by the time we made the mile (not kidding) hike over there, the kids had like 45 minutes to swim. After the hike back we quickly escaped the mosquitoes by zipping ourselves in the tent, wet and all. I'll not go in to too much detail here, but will only say that three wet, hungry, tired kids in a 12x8 tent, not a good combo. But sandwiches were had, Carter falling asleep halfway through his, literally. Then of course we needed a bathroom. Where was the bathroom we mused as we checked out our Disneyland size map. You guessed it, the nearest bath/shower was half a mile away. Thin flip flops plus gravel road plus ouch ouch ouch. Oh and it was dark at this point as well which can only mean one thing for a campground bathroom, fluorescent lighting plus every kind of bug that can get to said bathroom. Who hasn't walked into a camping bathroom and assessed the location of every bug there before dropping your drawers. Then sitting there thinking to yourself, alright if that one moves I'm outta here. Or, "I wonder if that thing can fly"?
I must confess that my hearty country girl Cassy, is a big bug chicken. And yes the irony of the fact that we are moving to the middle of nowhere is not lost on me. I was in no mood on this night though to deal with phobias so we walked right in and I told Cassy to take the stall on the right and Kelly and I shared the big stall next to it. What followed was about thirty seconds of the most hysterical, foot shuffling, squealing and carrying on all witnessed by Kelly and I from the "other stall". We laughed so hard our sides hurt and of course Cassy was so mad at us, she didn't speak to either of us for at least the first quarter mile walk back. Alas, I had no camera though to capture this candid event, but I can tell it to the world here. I hope she sees the humor in this when she reads it.
It was on the walk back though that it dawned on me as well that this campground might be the most absurd place I have ever seen. I am of the mind that the there are two different types of campgrounds. The kind you go to right off the freeway on your way to somewhere else, and the kind that you go to specifically to "camp" But what is camping anyway? Is it going off into the country somewhere and staking out a spot surrounded by nature and know one else? Or is it more like what this place was. Eight miles from the freeway along an overflowing river. Very pretty manicured lawns, every kind of play area you can think of (basketball, horseshoes, mini golf, "fake fishing", bike rental, etc.) Really the silliest part to me though is the closeness of the "campsites" row upon row of trailer, camper, huge RV's, tents etc. But this all seems very normal to the folks we walked past as it occurs to me now that of course this is normal as this is how 99% of the country lives. Right next to one another. None for me thanks.
I must also mention the various types of sleeping quarters that one can now rent at various KOA campgrounds across the country. They start with the one room cabin (very basic, usually comes completes with bare mattresses, one window, and bugs (ants or spiders, you pick). They only get fancier form there though; let's call them the "fill in the blank"camping experience, teepees, vintage airstream trailers, deluxe cabins, astronomers dream with telescopes, solar powered, and I know there are more I just can't think of them right now. What's next, why not go for the whole themed experience with Plymouth Plantation and an Old Western town, wait I might be on to something, forget I mentioned those.
And the kicker for this whole evening - $45 for the privilege of setting my tent up right across from the open dumpster in a goose poo field of not so well manicured lawn (these were the cheap spots after all) and an "outlet" to plug into. Yippee, now let me tell you how fast I got out of New York the next morning. Had the tent packed up, truck loaded and "Driving to the bathroom by 7 am. Showered and hit the nearest Dunkin Donuts for some overpriced doughnuts, thank you Mrs. Caracappa, you're the best!!!!
Kids are back from there walk now and my stolen moments of computer vent time are through but will continue more tomorrow. Thanks to all who are following us, I see that you number in the hundreds at this point which is pretty cool.
God Bless You All,
Michelle
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Ready...Set....Go!
Everyone keeps asking and yes we finally have a departure date. We are driving away early on the morning of Monday, July 8th. After much back and forth, I have decided to wait on the camper. So we'll brave the wind and rain, things that crawl, and things that fly.......in a tent!
With a herd of kids, a dog and two cats, motel rooms are a premium if we can even find one that would take us. So a tenting we will go.
Faith has been in Arizona for the last month visiting with the folks out there, livin it up in a Starbucks loving, Target shopping, Panda Express eating, Mall cruising, Museum visiting world. But not for long as she will return to us the first week of August.
We returned from Idaho last summer in weather conditions almost identical to the miserable hot and humid business we are experiencing now. So the animals, the cooler and anything else we don't want to melt will ride up front with us as we make our way across the country.
Three days to Gram and Gramps in Minnesota.
10,000 lakes and 10 million mosquitos,
HERE WE COME!
With a herd of kids, a dog and two cats, motel rooms are a premium if we can even find one that would take us. So a tenting we will go.
Faith has been in Arizona for the last month visiting with the folks out there, livin it up in a Starbucks loving, Target shopping, Panda Express eating, Mall cruising, Museum visiting world. But not for long as she will return to us the first week of August.
We returned from Idaho last summer in weather conditions almost identical to the miserable hot and humid business we are experiencing now. So the animals, the cooler and anything else we don't want to melt will ride up front with us as we make our way across the country.
Three days to Gram and Gramps in Minnesota.
10,000 lakes and 10 million mosquitos,
HERE WE COME!
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