Washington, Oregon and Idaho

We have not been able to blog much, as we have been "boondocking" for 3 days now. I am sneaking a bit of computer time while the generator is running to cook a quick dinner. We will have power tomorrow night, so we will post more then.  Our change of plans turned out nicely.  We spent a night each in Washington (not our favorite), Oregon (super friendly) and tonight, Idaho (very cool).  We found some interesting things to do and met some really nice people.  We have had a few "bumps" in the road with things breaking or not working properly, but so far, no major issues.  Everyone is getting tired and cranky, though, so we are looking forward to a weekend in one place; Willard, Utah.

Will post a lot more tomorrow when we have full power.  We are all feeling particularly sad to be "missing" our annual 4th of July party. Hope everything back home is good and that you all are having a wonderful summer. 

Things we have learned so far...Week One

Google map time estimates are not made for a 14yo RV. Add 2 hours for each 4 Google calls for…more if there is any of your “stimulus money hard at work”.

“Stimulus” money is being used to close off hundreds of miles of highway down to one lane and to make hundreds more rough, bumpy and barely passable, in the name of road “improvements”. 

A GPS and Trip Tiks are very helpful, but cannot begin to calculate for the backups and road issues caused by stupid drivers.

The “easy” route over the Black Hills is not easy.  Makes us shudder to think what the “hard” way is like!

When the signs say, “rough road ahead”, “strong crosswinds ahead” or “rocks on road”, they MEAN it.  And what the West calls, “rough”,” strong” and “rocks”…we in MA would classify as “off road”, “gale force” and “boulders”!

RV tarps whose recoil latches are not firmly affixed will unravel while the RV is traveling down the highway in said, “strong crosswinds”...on a related note, it will take one adult, one teen and one preteen, and all the might they have, to get the tarp rolled back up against the wind.

A 29ft RV can swerve, while traveling 55mph, to miss an end table in the middle of the highway, if it is driven by a VERY accomplished driver.

Do not pack a 6yo a month in advance because if you do, part way through your trip she will begin to outgrow the clothes you packed for her and  you will need to buy more (even though you have plenty of clothes that would fit her at home)….and on a related note, Wal-Mart has great clearance sales which makes replacing those clothes a bit easier to manage…and another related note, do not have the 6yo help you shop because she will fall in love with the most expensive, most impractical clothes she can find, and thus be disappointed and sulky about the practical, inexpensive clothes you buy.

Believe it or not, when your father says, “DO NOT throw up in Wal-Mart. You will WAIT until you get outside!”, you will actually be able to do so!...and on a similar note, throwing up in Wal-Mart parking lot is embarrassing, but not as embarrassing  as doing so in the store…and on another similar note, conveniently, Wal-Mart sells anti-motion sickness pills, which fortunately work quite well. 

RV refrigerators do not run while the RV is being driven and if you don’t stop and put on the propane to run the refrigerator often enough while driving long distances , it turns your cream into the consistency of cottage cheese….and on a similar note, you should check your cream BEFORE it plops into your coffee.

When using a ground level urinal, be very careful not to slip in.

On a related note, it is far more sanitary to read the label on the septic flushing intake BEFORE you try to flush the lines.

If you continually read your brother’s Facebook posts out loud to the whole family, you will find yourself “unfriended”.

Never visit the Sulphur Cauldron at lunchtime, there might be picnic tables there, but it is not a hospitable

Snowball fights in June while wearing shorts and sunglasses are WAY better than having to bundle up to play in the snow.

Five children will make more clothes dirty in 2 days at Yellowstone National Park, than in the 7 days it took to drive there.

Coin operated laundry is stinking EXPENSIVE!

If you are contemplating a trip to Yellowstone National Park, do NOT tell your teenagers that there is no cell phone reception there…and on a similar note, teens who are surprised to find no cell phone reception will go to great lengths, including climbing onto the roof of the RV, to try to get reception, but alas, it will not work.

And on a related  note, teens who find themselves for 2 days without cell phone reception get VERY grumpy…and when “reconnected”, they will act more grateful and relieved than a man rescued from being marooned on a dessert island alone for years.

Glacier National Park gets snow even through July, which is awesome, except when snow removal is such that most of the park’s roads are not passable and the shuttle bus is not running, meaning anyone with an RV, effectively cannot visit the park.  L

In the mind of a 6yo, “Everyone” in MT has a horse and every girl NEEDS a pink cowboy hats with silver trim that lights up.

There are friendly, kind and caring people all across this great country.

“Road Schooling” is an AWESOME way to learn all sorts of new things!

Itinerary revamp

We were doing quite nicely, staying on schedule without too much overload for anyone...when the snow in northern MT prevented us from going to Glacier National Park.  We were disappointed, but undaunted.  We moved up our reservations in St. Regis, MT a day and planned an alternative route through Idaho, Washington and Oregon, into Utah, where we will spend next weekend.   The change means we get to spend a night in each of these states and makes our daily drives a bit shorter.  Everyone is gettting a bit cranky with the tight quarters, but overall everything is going quite well.  We will stay in St. Regis until checkout (11am) so that everyone can get in a bit more exercise, playing,  alone time...and, yes, one last load of laundry.  Have a great day everyone.

Scribe's Log Stardate 6.27.11

Finally, we have internet! Well to catch everyone up, on Friday (the 24th) we left SD and at 1:04p.m. entered Wyoming. Wyoming is my favorite state so far! We drove all day through the hills of Wyoming. At 8:00 we had dinner at Pizza Hut and we continued driving until 11:13p.m. when we reached Cody, Wyoming. Although we only slept in Cody, it was really cool. It had a rodeo and a lot of other attractions. I hope to go back to visit it someday. On Saturday (the 25th), we were up early again (730) and we shopped at Wal-Mart where I bought an amazing cowgirl hat. At 9,we departed Cody and by 11 we were at Yllowstone. Except for the loss of cell phone coverage, we all loved Yellowstone. We saw boiling mud, geysers, single bison, herds of bison, elk, (but no bears), a waterfall, beautiful mountains and snow. I didn't like the snow because it caused lots of trouble. For starters, my mother and siblings decided snowball fights were much enhanced if I became the sole target (even if I wasnt participating at all because I didnt want to get wet). Also, my brothers decided that aming snowballs at my butt when I was in my only jeans was histerical. Last, it made everything cold and it is hard to sleep when you are freezing and your hands are numb. On Sunday, we got up and had a pancake breakfast. Then, Mom and Dad had some alone time while I went for a run (cross country it coming up fast) and the other kids played tag. Then, we departed and went to church. It was weird to have a basketball hoop instead of  a crucifix, and to be sitting on a gym floor, but it was great to have something normal and predictable since everything else out West is different. Then, we explored Yellowstone some more and departed. Unfortunately, on the way out we were informed most of Glacier park was closed. Further investigation proved it impossible for RV entrance. Thus, we re-routed to West Montana. Sunday night we stayed in Butte (b-U-t, which we preferred to pronounce butt or booty). We had a not so yummy (or edible) store bought dinner that was reprieved only by not-so-good brownies and a trivial pursuit game. That brings me to today, we woke up still with frozen toes and numb fingers after sleep broken my traffic and cold and shopped Wal-Mart while the RV received a much needed check-up and oil change. Then we departed Butte, Montana and waved to the huge statue of Mary on the rocky mountains. Oh, did you know Montana allows gambling/casinos and has no sales tax?! Anyways, we drove until we hit our campground at 2ish o'clock. We swam and Mom did 100 loads of laundry and I ran and had ice cream. Then we had dinner and S'mores. Now, it is 10:21 and the sun hasnt even started to set. It feels like 4 or 5. Well, I am done writing and will post some pictures. We miss you all!

Scribe's Log Stardate 6.23.11

Even with the multiple time changes moving time back, it is late here in SD. I'd just like to give directions to the photos I uploaded. You must scroll down to the bottom of the page for pictures. Unlike posts, pictures do not appear at the top of the page and new pictures do not appear first. However, they are there and I will add more when possible. Now I am going to join the rest of my family in sleep so tomorrow I can be wide awake in the hunt for buffalo because the only one who has seen buffalo is Elena. Everytime we pass a heard f cows she screams "Look buffalo!". And I must read some more Hamlet, on out way to Yellowstone. Hopefully, the water is warmer there than here in South Dakota. I know I only get to live once but seriously Elena swimming with you in a pool in California would keep us safe from sharks AND keep me from turing into a popsicle. Well, I'm really going to bed now. Goodnight everyone whose in the Mountain or Pacific or the other time zone we just left the name of which is escaping me. And good morning all of you in New England!

June 23, 2011...again.

Mount Rushmore was nice.  Elena was ver excited to earn her Junior "Roger" badge. (most of us would say, Ranger).  She was disappointed to find out she could not climb up to the sculpture and "sit in his ear".  I had no idea where she got the idea...the heads don't even HAVE ears.  James said she saw it on the Bernstain Bears.  It never ceases to amaze me the things kids come up with.

Tom says it is unfair that he has to do all the driving and has had dishes twice this week.  I say that I had to carry his 5 children for 9 1/2 months each.....so he pretty much owes me all the driving I want and all the dishes I make for LIFE! 

One might think from these interactions that we are getting on each other's nerves, but we are not....OK, well maybe a little.  But we are also having a great time just plain having a lot of fun family time.  

We are also enjoying the free internet access at Kemp's Kamp.  Which is in Keystone (not Custer as we posted earlier).  Have a great night everyone!

June 23, 2011

Ok, so this trip is not boring.  It was only the driving that was boring.  The Badlands were BEAUTIFUL and AMAZING!  And now there are military convoys driving by us.  They are going East, but who knows to where?   - Joseph

It is a fun trip today.  We are going to Mount Rushmore and a campground in Custer.  I am going to swim when we get there.  We learned that animals used to live in the Badlands and we saw the Corn Palace.  It had samples of popcorn. We had a tour.  I got a slushy in Minnisota.  I was the first one up today.  - Elena

We are on the road now and it is boring.  - James

Tom does not want to post....he says he is praying for a gas station, as we have less than 1/8th of a tank left.  There are many miles between service areas in these parts.  Oh, now he is happy to note that he just saw a sign for Exxon at the next exit, 6 miles away.  The kids are glad, too, as they did not want to have to push the RV to the next exit.  :)

The Badlands National Park is just awe inspiring.  I can't find the words to explain how beautiful and unique a landscape it is.  The Praire is also very different to look at.  There are virtually no trees.  Just miles and miles of flat grasslands.  This is the first time in our trip that the land around us looks different enough so as to make it clear that we are NOT in Massachusetts, nor anywhere thereabouts.  - Christina

June 22, 2011

"No offense, but this trip has been boring so far." 

Scribe's Log Stardate 6.22.11

Sunday night we found electricity (and a Panera Bread) at an Ohio rest stop. Monday, we again woke up way too early and drove through Michigan and Indiana. Then, we crossed time zones. By the time we arrived in Ilinois for a yummy dinner (thanks Dad) we exghausted.
Tuesday was much bettered. Bulked up with Drammamine and Advil we took off from Illinois and entered Wisconsin. Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and Indiana all look the same - lots of corn fields and lots of mosquitoes. Tuesday afternoon we saw the Mississippi River. Some of us (not me) got covered in mud. I wrote in the thick mud with my fingers, sat on the rocks right on the edge of the water and took some self portraits for proof that I actually came on the trip. Then, we drove to the Field of Dreams. I ran the bases and took lots of pictures. Well, we're off again!

"No offense, but this trip has been boring so far" - Joseph

Contrary to Joseph's assertion, yesterday was a fun day.  As we entered Dubuque, IA and crossed the Mississippi River.  Guess what?  It is BIG and MUDDY.  We saw (from the bridge) a park along the river and stopped to make lunch.  We decided (despite the "No Wading or Swimming" sign...come on, you only live once!) to go put our hands/feet in the water.  The mud was SO thick and DEEP.  Most of us (Tom and Laurinda were party poopers) took off shoes off and walked to the edge of the water, in ankle deep mud!  It was squishy and awesome!   While sitting by the river we got to see a huge barge ship....and (as you might expect) a Mississippi River Boat.

From Dubuque, we drove to Dyersville, IA to the "Field of Dreams".  It looks JUST like the movie!  The kids ran the bases and played a "baseball" game while Tom and I sst on the benches soaking up the evening sun.  We spent the night at the George Wyth State Park in Cedar Rapids, IA.  We are off this morning to South Dakota.  Our destination is Keystone, SD, but as that is over 10hrs from here, we will be making an overnight stop, hopefully in Mitchell, SD. 

Have a great day everyone! 

Tuesday June 21st

So, it turns out our USB drive was defective, so posting was near impossible.  We got a new one today and it clearly works!  Thanks to Mai, whose generous gift of "mad money" made the purchase possible.  And how cool is it that I am 41 and my grandmother is STILL spoiling me?!

We spent last night in a lovely campground in Illinois.  The kids got to swim and play in the club house.   I got laundry done and we had dinner cooked over the fire...yum!  Today we are driving through Wisconsin (on a small country road rolling through miles and miles of farms.  It is beautiful!

So far our trip has been a lot of driving, but it has not been boring!  We had our first RV "incident" when the turn signal lights stopped working.  Tom checked every fuse to no avail.  On the advice of our mechanic, Tom banged the steering wheel hard a few times...and it worked! 

Elena had a melt down from being so tired, right while we were trying to manuever ourselves through the stop and go traffic caused by a car accident just north of Cleveland.  (She is protesting my posting of her meltdown.  I assure that tired 6 year olds are expected to have meltdowns from time to time.)  After that accident, we saw 3 more, including an RV with its front end into the jersey barrier.  We hit Chicago at rush hour but believe it or not, it was not so bad.  We drove right by O"Hare airport and could see planes practically landing in front of us. 

These first few days have been a lot of driving.  We slow down a bit after we cross the Mississippi.  We know, though, from the (lack) of time we are making on the road, that we are going to have to cut back our planned itinerary, but we are OK with that.  We are trying to focus on and enjoy the Journey itself.

Personally, I am enjoying sitting with the idea that we have "no where" to be and no one to answer to for 5 weeks.  It is an amazing feeling...I could get REALLY used to it.  :)

Scribe's Log Stardate 6.19.11

I am Laurinda, and I will be your Scribe for this five week mission. The R.V. Enterprise started departure at 10:19p.m. last night. After some wonderful pictures for starfleet command, we left the driveway at 10:27p.m.
At 11p.m. we stopped for the night in Blanford, Ma. Very, very, very early this Father's Day morning we awoke (and were woken) for breakfast before we departed at 7:21a.m.    Today, we entered NY at 8:57, and now are at a rest stop in Little Falls. Now, the R.V. Enterprise must ENGAGE....to it's next stop.

Yeah! We FINALLY found a "hotspot"....

Hi everyone,  

We are on our way!  We left our house last night.  Our awesome neighbors were gracious enough to come over and snap a few "group shots", just before we "hit the road".  It had been a long day, with a visit from Nana and Papa, two recitals (the girls danced wonderfully!) and lots of last minute packing and goodbyes, so we did not drive far.  We slept at a rest stop just outside of the Berkshires.  The western part of MA is so beautiful.  We got an early start this morning.  We had eaten breakfast and were on the road by 6am. 

We are now making our way through across NY (we are currently in Little Falls heading toward Buffalo and the PA boarder) and were thrilled to find out that NY offers free WiFi at all its rest areas!  We will post some pics, as soon as we can figure out how to do that from the blackberry. 

Happy Father's Day to all the dads.  Have a great day!

Hi!  Tomorrow is our trip.  I am getting really, really excited and a litte scared for our trip.  My job on the trip is Quartermaster.  This means I am in charge of checking and ordering food and supplies.  I know where all the food and the supplies are kept in the RV.  That means that my brothers and sisters better be nice to me, because I know where all the "goodies" are. 

Nearly on our way....

We have been very busy with all sorts of trip preparations.  We have been so blessed with wonderful friends, who are taking care of our house and our animals.  The best part of this week has been seeing our friends.  The hardest part has been saying so many goodbyes.  Our diet this week has been quite interesting as we try to eat the odd assortment of foods from the back of the freezer and pantry shelves...PB+J on hotdog rolls, rice crackers with canned apple sauce, anyone?!  I think for the most part we have been too busy too excited, but the reality of the trip being so close is never too far from our thoughts.  Thank you everyone for the well wishes and prayers for a safe journey.  We know that your thoughts and prayers are of immeasurable value!