Day 20 - The Aquarium

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Posted from: Long Beach, CA

Miles driven: 27

Total trip miles: 3,547

Mom had to work one more day, so Dad and the kids took off for the aquarium. 

They went to the Pacific Ocean Aquarium. It was a bit pricey, but they spent over five hours there and said it was worth it. 

They were amazed by the huge whale and baby whale hanging from the ceiling when you walk in. The aquarium had exhibits for endangered species, jellyfish, sting rays, migration, and marine life. 

The electric jellyfish and baby tiny jellyfish were favorites.

At the outdoor exhibits they met sea lions, seals, lots of sharks, and sting rays.

They were even allowed to touch a shark!!

One of the sting rays was as big as Dad!

They had many interactive areas. 

This guy was feeding the fish while taking to the audience. 

This is an anemone that the kids could touch. They said it felt very weird and almost suctioned to your fingers. 

The kids also learned about the area of the aquarium where they help injured animals. I also heard a lot about little baby alligators the length of a pencil. The word "cute" was used a lot.

Cameron touching a sting ray. "Don't worry, Mom. They took out the stinger." 

They came back to the house and we went swimming. Our friends had a puppy named Halle who was super sweet. Even though Caleb is very allergic to dogs, he was able to spend lots of time with Halle as long as she was wet and they were outside. These two became really good buddies. 

After an hour of Caleb throwing the ball and Halle swimming after it, it was time for a rest. 

That evening, we left Grace in charge of the kids while the adults went to a brewery meet up. (Thus the name tags. If your name wasn't Matt or Dave, they pretty much snubbed you. Thank goodness we had two Matts and a Dave...and the other guy in the picture is also Dave.)

We had a good time with lots and lots of laughs. We closed the place down...at 8:00. It was a brewery and not an actual bar, so it is required to stop serving at 8:00. 

We went home and continued to have a great night while Matt and Matt attempted to repair our tire rim that was giving us problems and caused the flat in Las Vegas. We sat in the garage and talked until late. We have really missed how much fun we have hanging out with these guys. 

Day 19 - The USS Iowa

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Posted from: Long Beach, CA

Miles driven: 56

Total trip miles: 3,520

Today started out a lot like yesterday. Mom was up early to work, while Matt and the kids caught up on sleep. 

Fresh squeezed orange juice was delivered to my desk. (I'm getting used to this.)

But then Matt suggested to the kids that they go tour the USS Iowa. It was very close and if you show an Iowa drivers license, you get on the boat for free! I would have liked to go, but needed to work and didn't want them to sit around and wait for me, so they took off. 

On the way to the USS Iowa they saw the ports with the big cranes and big ships. They were amazed at the genius thinking it must have taken to build the logistics involved in a process like this. They all recommended that, if you haven't watched this process, you should stop and take the time to watch if you are ever close enough. Cameron and Caleb imagined that there were lots of crates with our name on them full of Legos. It would be delivered to our house so we could rebuild it out of Legos. They also discussed that their stuffed animals probably floated over on these ships. 

They finally arrived at the USS Iowa. When they boarded, they were handed an activity sheet with instructions to find pictures of Vicky, the dog. Vicky was owned by one of the captains of the ship. He brought her aboard because his wife told him he had to take the dog with him when he sailed or it wouldn't be at home when he got back. 

They also learned that the ship is so deep and heavy that it doesn't move when all guns are fired. It flattens the water instead. It is apparently quite impressive. (There are YouTube videos of this that are well worth watching.)

Each of the kids got to hold an anti-air ammunition shell used for shooting planes that would attempt to attack the ship. 

In 1989 the canon blew up and 47 people were killed. Shortly after this, it was docked at this port and turned into a museum, though it was fully repaired and updated after the explosion. Most of the funding to repair the ship and get it in working order came from individual contributors from Iowa. (Maybe that's why we get to board for free!)

After the ship, they met up with Dave and went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch. It was taco Tuesday after all! 

This is a picture of Caleb holding a giant chip. 

After tacos, Dave recommended they try out a new cookies and ice cream place called Monster. They enjoyed cookies and ice cream. (Let the record show that they didn't bring Mom any. This is noted in the mom-logbook and will be brought up on an as needed basis when mom needs them to do something for her.)

That evening we left the kids with little 2 1/2 year old Parker and his dad, Matt, while we went to dinner with another friend of ours, Damien, from Iowa who lived in the area. (I think we all know who was in charge of this crew...the two year old.)

Parker was so thrilled to have kids to play baseball with him.

They also watched baseball on TV during breaks in the game. 

Damien took us to a place called Parker's Lighthouse. It was right on the water and so beautiful. Matt and I were hoping to spend at least one evening near the water while we were here, and this was perfect. We had fun catching up with a good friend we haven't seen in awhile, we enjoyed a nice bottle of wine he brought, and we enjoyed a great view.

Evenings like this don't happen every day. 

Day 18 - Relax and play ball!

Monday, June 27, 2016

Posted from: Long Beach, CA

Miles driven: 24

Total trip miles: 3,464

At this point we have been on the road for over two weeks, so it felt really great to do a whole lot of not much today. 

I got up early to begin my work day. I have a few days while on the road where I will be working full days. The idea of these days was to give me a chance to check in at work, give Matt a break from driving, and give the kids a break from the busyness of travel. I am working my normal Central time zone hours, so it gives me time in the afternoon and evening to spend time with Matt and the kids and our friends. 

The kids slept in a bit then got up and decided it would be fun to make orange juice with all of the oranges in the tree. So they began picking and squeezing. It was really really good orange juice! 

They also made lemonade later in the day with the gigantic lemon Caleb picked.

We also did some laundry, and took our first non-camping showers... You know, the kind in a real house with real plumbing. No 5 minute timer, no flip flops while showering, no line of strangers outside the door waiting. So amazing. 

We made use of the pool...a lot! It started at 3ft and went to 10ft. The older kids loved diving in the deep end for rings. 

Our friends suggested we go to an Angels game. The tickets were inexpensive and it wasn't far away, so we all headed to the stadium. We were way up in the stands, but who cares?! It was a good time.

Here is the whole crew. Little Parker knows more about baseball than most people in the stands...just sayin'. You could see our family coming from a mile away... We were the only ones not wearing red. #outoftowners 

This was the kids' first Major League Baseball game. (They aren't as cheap back home!) They thought it was cool to watch the wave go all the way around the stadium again and again. And again. 

The guys (Matt and Matt) enjoyed paying $14 for a beer. (Us ladies were much too sensible for that...actually we just helped them drink theirs.) 

Grace, Parker and Cameron laughing at something silly. 

On the way home we stopped to fill up. Let's just say California fuel prices literally snuck up on us. You can sort of see the $2.80 diesel price hiding in the grass down there. Nice. Before this trip, we had plans to help pay for the kids' college education. That plan may be in jeopardy. 

Day 17 - California, we need to talk

Sunday, June 26, 2016

Posted from: Long Beach, CA

Miles driven: 272

Total trip miles: 3,440

We woke up to temperatures in the 90's. We packed up and hooked up the trailer. As Matt was doing a walk around to make sure everything looked okay, he noticed that a trailer tire was low. Really low. We needed to get on the road and have two full size spares with us, so Matt changed the tire and we got on the road.

It wasn't long before we hit California going-home-from-Vegas Sunday traffic. It was a long slow hot road. 

We finally made it to California. What is the deal with California's speed limit laws?! You have two types of vehicles sharing the road going two different speeds! Common sense would tell you that it is not safe. It is a simple concept called "flow of traffic". So if you are towing something (even a little jet ski trailer), you cannot drive over 55mph in this state. Say what?! Everyone around you is going 70/75. 

This guy feels rediculous driving 55 pulling his little jet ski among the semis. 

This was the first day that we let the kids watch movies while traveling. 

While the kids were absorbed in their movie, Matt and I may have gone a little insane between Baker and Barstow. I mean we were hilarious in that had-to-be-there sort of way. We laughed so hard about just about anything. Every song was funny...and if it wasn't we made up new words for the song. All other travelers were the subjects of jokes. Matt talked using weird voices. I think he even screamed a few times...it kind of sounded like Julia Child (or how I imagine she would scream anyway). Wait, maybe this is what delirium is...hmm..I'll have to think about that.  The kids's movie ended, and they started talking in their I'm-totally-scared voices, so we snapped back into reasonable parent mode...mostly.

At one point we came upon a semi pulling a double trailer that was swerving all over the road. 

Matt told me to close my eyes as we passed. 

Emily upon opening eyes: Are we in heaven?

Matt (in a very frustrated voice): No. We are nowhere near Iowa.

We finally made it to the LA area! Matt was not amused:

Our PSA for today goes something like this:

When you pull your Prius or Porche out in front of a truck pulling a trailer... Wait, what am I saying?! DONT pull out in front of a truck pulling a trailer! We can't stop quickly, and it's going to hurt you more than it hurts us...maybe. 

And finally around dinner time we arrived at our good friend's house in Long Beach. Yeah!!! It was beautiful! We were surrounded by orange, lemon, peach and plum trees. I could get used to this. Best. Campground. Ever. (Except for maybe the 12.5% grade tight curve coming down their street. They chose to wait until we got there to break that little tidbit of news. Ha! Good thing Matt is really good at maneuvering the trailer!)

We arrived in time to celebrate Milissa's birthday! 

It was a beautiful evening with wonderful weather. (Wait. What am I saying? The weather is always amazing here!) We had a great time catching up with good friends we haven't seen in a long time. The kids swam in the pool, and we had s'mores. How could it be more perfect? All thoughts of our frustrating travel day had vanished. 

Day 16 - Las Vegas!!

Saturday, June 25, 2016

Posted From: The Oasis RV Resort in Las Vegas, NV

Miles driven: 324

Total trip miles: 3,168

Total national parks visited: 9 (unless Vegas counts...we did see a lot of wildlife)

We gave ourselves a bit of whiplash today. We started out very early with a hike down into the Grand Canyon. Then we drove on historic Route 66 for 85 miles, saw the Hoover Dam, and walked the Vegas strip. It was a little crazy, but a lot fun!

It is true what they say: Start your hike into the Grand Canyon early. It gets hotter as you go down...and there is no breeze...at all. It turned out to be untrue (at least for us) that it takes twice as long to come back up as it does to go down. We planned to spend 90 minutes hiking, so we walked down for 30 minutes, but then somehow managed to walk back up in 15-20 minutes. Huh. Oh well, it was fun and we probably needed to get on the road anyway. We had to make it to Las Vegas!  

Here we are taking a little break in the shade. It starts to get very steep after you go a quarter mile or so.

When we made it back up towards the top, the kids stopped to rest by the tunnel. By the time we got to this point, the temperature is cooler and there is a breeze.

We returned to the campground, packed up and headed toward Nevada. The trip was going well, and uneventful, but then we saw that we were near stretches of the old Route 66. Hmm...so we exited I40 at Seligman and drove the 84 miles to Kingman. Sure it took extra time, but it was fun! We listened and sang to "Life is a Highway" by Rascal Flatts.

Some of the old signs are still along the road. Parts of the road were either full of tourists or deserted.

And then we pulled off on the side of the road in Valentine and took this picture. We had talked about taking this picture at some point. Our tribute to the Griswolds on our epic family vacation. We used the timer on the camera and our 6 ft ladder that we carry with us. It was hot as we were in the desert. We all had our roles to play:
Dad - Good ol' lost Clark
Mom - The bad navigator with the map
Grace - The snotty teenager not caring about what is going on around her, listening to her music while texting. (No she isn't really like this, but she had fun with it!)
Cameron - The little boy holding the leash tied to the bumper
Caleb - The little guy sitting in the window, wondering what is going on

After our picture, we drove on to the Hoover Dam. Turns out that it is not a very friendly place to stop if you are pulling a camper. You have to park on the Arizona side a significant distance away from the dam and visitor center. Naturally it was 114 degrees. We debated how much we really wanted to see this, but then decided we would probably not be back this way for a long long time, if ever. So we parked on a hill and hiked through the desert.

We obviously did okay. We don't look too worse for the wear.

We all wanted nothing more than to jump in this water at this point. It was such a pretty blue-green color.

We walked across the dam, and went down the escalator into the visitor center. This is where you basically go through airport security. It was intense. My bag was scanned first and the guy commented that I had food in my bag, which was a no no. Then he scanned Matt's bag and said that he had a knife. Um, so we were kicked out of the visitor center. There was absolutely no way we were hiking back up that hill in this heat to drop off our stuff and come back. Nope. In our defense, that morning we had hiked down into the Grand Canyon and had our packs stocked accordingly. I guess we never unpacked. Matt always carries a multi-tool in his Camel-back, and I always carry trail mix. As we were riding the escalator back up, we cheerfully declared that now we have an extra $50 to spend on something else. Woo hoo!! 

We look like we are falling down in this picture. And though it certainly was hot enough to melt into the pavement. It was actually more a matter of camera operator error...mom. 

You are supposed to rub the toes of the statues for good fortune.

This picture is actually a game called, "Find the Camper." You probably aren't looking high enough or far enough into the distance. It is at an angle on the far hill in the background. Matt (the best dad and husband EVER) walked back up the hill to get it when we left. He pulled up to the visitor center and picked us up.

This might look like a picture of a cool yellow car, but it is actually a picture of the truck and camper crossing the Hoover Dam. The car just got in the way.

We finally arrived at our campground in Las Vegas, and all I can say is, "We aren't in Kansas anymore Toto." This was not your typical campground. It was more like a fancy hotel, where people stayed in their campers instead of rooms. It had a couple restaurants, shopping, swimming with separate adult and family pools (this basically means that one pool has more pee in it than the other...I'm just not sure which one.) This was us leaving the campground when we drove to the strip.

There are lots of amazing things on the strip, but we decided to take the kids to the Bellagio. The water show is so impressive.

The kids loved the hand blown glass ceiling at the Bellagio.

Caleb could not stop looking.

This was also the first time the kids had ever been on a moving walkway. I couldn't capture his amazing moves in a picture, but Matt took it upon himself to show the kids how to dance on the moving walkway. He drew some looks for sure.The guy can move!

The kids loved the lights and excitement of the strip, but Caleb was so tired. This picture caught him mid-yawn. He did great and kept up the whole time, but was snoring before we left the parking lot.

Party animals.