family vacation

Small Miracles

/ L. Ryan Storms / 1 Comment

Day 9: 6/10/24
From: Bryce Canyon, UT
To: Grand Canyon National Park, AZ
Distance: 158 miles

I wake at 5:30, very glad I took my sky photos last night because this morning is all cloud cover. The clouds that have rolled in end up preventing us from seeing sunrise over the hoodoos as we had hoped. We still take a 2 mile hike along the rim regardless, just taking in the scenery. On the way back to our campsite, we spot a raven who decides to have a conversation with us, clacking his beak, cawing, and cooing. Older child caws back. They go on like this for a few minutes in an unexpected interaction that put smiles on all of our faces.

Back to the tent for a nap before we leave Bryce. Later? A short trip to the Grand Canyon. (Short = 3 hours in the car) The naps only last about an hour before we get up and break down camp. And because the sun is now shining (where was it before?!) we take a walk to Sunrise Point again. But Husband wants to visit the lookout point we saw last time we were here, so we head to Sunset Point, where the kids enjoy the same view and become as entranced with the canyon as we are. It takes effort to pull them away and get on the road. How to leave behind those towering orange spires and the ravens that soar among them… it’s oh-so-difficult.

We stop to buy car stickers from a souvenir shop nearby and say hello to the saddled up horses waiting for riders to show up for their trail rides. It takes everything in me not to hop out of the car and pet them.

We make one more stop at a rock shop and an antique place in Orderville, UT before we get into the heavy driving for the day. And we still manage to reach the Grand Canyon by 1 pm because time change. Again. Arizona doesn’t do daylight savings time. Bison greet us shortly after we enter the park. And something we didn’t realize last time (because we’d never seen wild bison before) — these bison are MUCH smaller than the bison in Yellowstone. 

We get to our campsite and set up, but since the tent is in direct sun and will be for hours, we head out to the closest lookout point to take in the view, and get a family photo taken by a French-Canadian from Montreal who just finished hiking 400 miles from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon. My aching joints can’t even comprehend that this is possible.

Kids marvel at how wonderful most fellow campers are/have been over the last few days. Everyone leaves their stuff their campsites and trusts that no one will “mess with it.” In fact, along one hike, we end up talking with other hikers at the lookout point and everyone chimes in on their favorite national parks. The kids agree that the kind of person who camps the National Parks is generally a kindred spirit and we relish that we’ve had pleasant conversations with so many people we’ll never meet again, but who kind-of-sort-of make us like humanity again. 

After a stop by the local store to pick up lunch and taking much needed showers, we play a game of Oregon Trail, where 2/4 of us make it to the end this time. Then we head to the lookout points at the lodge. We opt to take the Angel Point trail, which is generally paved, but is also a very steep grade downward which is tough on my joints, so I bail about halfway to the end, sit on a rock, and take a selfie. Because why not?

The Grand Canyon is as it ever was — large and impressive, its distance almost incomprehensible. I’ve hiked 5 miles today on mostly dirt trails, something I haven’t done in several years, something I haven’t been *able* to do. I am elated. Exhausted, but elated. Having a dynamic disability makes it difficult to plan ahead. Sure, I planned to stop in all these different locations over the course of three weeks, but I had no idea whether or not I’d be able to full enjoy them the way I wanted to. Even now, I still have no idea what the next two weeks will bring. But I am grateful, so, so grateful right now that I have been able to get out and immerse myself in these oh-so-miraculous places that exist on this planet we call home. 5 miles may not be much for most people, but for me? It’s worth celebrating like it’s 500.

As it gets dark, our family heads back to camp. Sadly, Husband is coming down with a cold. At least I know it wasn’t the same one I had right before we left, so I can avoid feeling guilty. But I still feel bad. Maybe this is the real reason behind the terrible snoring?!? One can hope.

Even if it didn’t stop him from hiking Bryce Canyon this morning and the Grand Canyon this evening. Husband even ventures out with me before bed to take a few night sky photos (See? Even sick, he’s still my hero.) and then it’s time for bed. 

Fingers crossed he feels better in the morning! 

Canyons (x2)

/ L. Ryan Storms / Leave a comment

Day 8: 6/9/24
From: Mesa Verde National Park, CO
To: Bryce Canyon, UT by way of Four Corners National Monument and Antelope Canyon, AZ
Distance: 382 miles

7 a.m. seems to be our regular wake up time. We break down camp and head to The Knife’s Edge Cafe down by the camp office to order breakfast we don’t have to prepare ourselves. Then we’re on the road by 9. Without any reception, we can’t map out our destination, so we head west and figure the phone’s GPS will eventually kick in.

It’s only an hour before we reach Four Corners to take cheesy family photos of the four of us standing in four different states at once. Then we do a little shopping from the Navajo sellers and as much as we’d like to buy lots from every vendor, we have to keep in mind the fact that we have no place to put it in the car.

Older Child wants to know what happens if you’re murdered in 4 states at once. Which authorities get called?

Back on the road to our second stop at Antelope Canyon. Arizona doesn’t do daylight savings time, but this time, I was prepared. We end up arriving two hours early for our tour of Upper Antelope Canyon, which gives us time to grab lunch, frozen yogurt for dessert, and gluten-free cereal for one kid for tomorrow morning.

Then, we’re off on bouncy vans through the desert to the mouth of the canyon with our tour guide Amar. Amar is a wealth of knowledge, funny, and personable, and the kids are as intrigued as the adults on this venture. I am surprised to see much has changed in the canyon since we were last here nine years ago. I shouldn’t be. The canyon floods 9-12 times a year on average from flash floods that occur after major storms. In fact, the entire canyon is about 3 ft deeper than it was a decade ago.

After the tour, we head back to Page, AZ to pick up a few Antelope Canyon stickers for the car and Older Child’s sketchbook. After 3,000+ miles, I *finally* get to take the wheel as Husband is still battling that same lingering headache. It’s 2 1/2 hours to Bryce Canyon and the driving isn’t complicated. The roads are wide open and by the time we’re an hour out from Bryce, there’s almost no one on the road. After all, who drives into a campground at 8 p.m.? Us. Apparently.

We’re set up by 8:30 and then take a quick walk to the rim of the canyon just in time to catch the sun on some of the desert features in the distance, though not on the hoodoos themselves. Dinner is mostly scavenged, but we do get to have a small fire while we eat, which is nice. The last time Husband and I went cross-country, we just didn’t have much time for fires.

We’re ready to collapse into sleeping bags by 10 p.m., but the stars are very tempting and I wonder if I can catch starlight or the Milky Way over the hoodoos. I’m not sure it’s possible, but it’s worth a try, so Husband and I trek to the rim to try. Kids opt to stay put, and I can’t really blame them. A week into our trip and everyone is a bit exhausted.

Husband and I don’t see the Milky Way (mostly obscured by cloud cover), but the view is spectacular nonetheless. Stars and clouds over the hoodoos make for some beautiful night sky photography.

I look forward to sharing the images when I get home and have time to process them! For now, settle for a few daytime shots from our day.

Family Time Across the Centuries

/ L. Ryan Storms / Leave a comment

Day 7: 6/8/24
Mesa Verde National Park, CO
Distance: 30-ish miles?

We wake at 7 am and head to the cliff dwelling viewing areas before the heat and the crowds. It makes for a perfect morning. Our first stop is Cliff Palace. When we get to the viewing platform, our eyes are immediately drawn to a carved out dwelling across the canyon. “Is that it?” Husband asks, prepared to be underwhelmed. “It’s hardly anything,” one of the children chirp.

I turn to my left and before me is the incredible sight that we came for – Cliff Palace, a pueblo dwelling in the canyon walls, the very existence of which seems impossible. “That’s because you’re looking the wrong direction.” I say, and everyone turns to see what I’ve been staring at. It’s enough to take your breath away, this incredible feat. How were such places built? How were such things *possible?* These dwellings are 1000 years old and older. It’s incredible to think how they were made, and how many Indigenous families must have climbed up and down those cliffs with nothing but ladders and hand and footholds? How many families spent hours and days together in these shared rooms, bonding over stories and work and time together?

We take a stop to check out The House of Many Windows, which we think sounds both like a mystical place and a horror movie — depends on who you ask within our party. The “windows” are actually doors, and only 4 of the original 15 are able to be seen today. Our next stop is Balcony House, which requires a 1.2 mile walk to view from afar. It’s early enough that we see next to no one along the partially-shaded trail. This hike is *much* better than yesterday’s. The Balcony House parking lot is located directly above Balcony House, leading to a lot of confusion among many of the tourists now behind us on their way to view the dwellings, but last night’s ranger talk included instructions on the best way to view some of the sites, so we were prepared.

Then we swing by the museum to see some artifacts once found inside the dwellings and to pick up stickers for the roof box. We’ve been slowly adding as we go and loving the accumulating adventure. Our final stop is a quick view from directly behind the museum — Spruce Tree House. A raven nest sits directly above Spruce Tree House, and the couple are home and keeping their young warm.

We head back to camp for showers, laundry, and internet. A trip to the local town for groceries while the sun is high and hot, then back to the tent for working on photos and art and for maybe (definitely) catching a nap before getting dinner and watching a deer in the meadow beside us.

We pass the evening playing Toasted or Roasted (a game we picked up at the Grand Canyon 9 years ago) and the Oregon Trail card game. Spoiler: Only one of us (Older Child) made it to Oregon. Younger Child died from a rattlesnake bite about 10% of the way into the game. Husband died of dysentery about 40% of the way through. And I died of dysentery 92% of the way into the game.

We laughed and laughed. And we’re really, really glad not to be on the *actual* Oregon Trail. I like our Subaru, thank you very much. It’s been a good trip so far. We may not live in cliff dwellings like the Indigenous people a thousand years ago, but this trip is a treasure for our close-knit family.

Into the Fire

/ L. Ryan Storms / Leave a comment

Day 6: 6/7/24
From: Santa Fe, NM
To: Mesa Verde National Park, CO by way of Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness Area, NM
Distance: 318 miles

Up at 7, but Husband was up half the night with a migraine brought on by the IPA he had with his shrimp tacos last night. Maybe there’s some obscure rule that says we can’t *all* get good sleep at the same time. Because I slept like a baby. It was amazing.

We head to the breakfast buffet at the inn, which is delicious and loaded with an array of southwestern goodies. Pinto beans, mixed veggies, chili, plus your regular fare like eggs, biscuits and gravy, fresh fruit, cereal, pastries, and oatmeal. We eat in the beautiful courtyard where I’ve decided I’d like to set up permanent residence.

Then we’re on the road to Cabela’s for a seamless pickup of the air mat I ordered yesterday. Mat in hand, we head northward to the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness Area, the land changes drastically again. We drive through several reservations which are nothing more than rock, dirt, and scrub brush from the road. Breathtaking and lonesome.

Along the way, we pass someone in the desert who’s riding a bike loaded with supplies. “Where is he going?” I ask. “Where is he *coming* from???” He’s coming from the same whole lot of nowhere we just came from. I can’t imagine riding a bike on a desert highway. We soon figure out he’s heading towards the town of Cuba, NM just a few miles down the road.

By the time we’re 45 minutes from our destination, the surrounding land is low grass and scrub. Younger Child says it’s “Minecraft terrain.” Indeed. A half hour out and we start pointing out angry alien faces in rocks. 

We travel twelve miles down a dirt and gravel road to the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness Area and park, load up on sunscreen and water, and head out into the wilderness in hopes of seeing this:

What we didn’t plan on: Being there at the beginning of the hottest part of the day, there being NO maps at all of the trails, and the distance would would have to travel to see what we were hoping to see. 

So in the end, we didn’t see it. But we still walked 2 miles in blistering heat with no shade and got some cool pictures regardless, plus saw 75 million year old petrified wood. Still, everyone is surely wondering what Mom was thinking putting this one on our list, but when Mom planned this in January, it wasn’t a real feel temperature of 100 degrees.

We get back to the car, down more water, and blast the A/C for the next hour, stopping at lunchtime not to eat lunch, but to eat ice cream at a gas station. Because ice cream is the only food that even remotely sounds good right now. 3/4 of us have heat-related headaches. Older Child says Dad must have played his headache card last night.

We did get to see some horses in the wilderness area. Wild? Or Navajo owned? We don’t know. And without cell service, we can’t find out…

Older Child and I drank several bottles of water to try to get rid of the heat headaches…and found out later we both desperately had to visit a restroom but there’s nothing nearby. It was a fun hour.

We got to Morefield Campground in Mesa Verde National Park and were immediately greeted with stunning 360 degree views. There is no direction that isn’t incredible.

A short time later, we set up camp in a beautiful site with sun and shade and trees. A gust of wind tries to take our tent away before we have it staked down, but we hold on.

Minutes after we arrive, both kids are approached by a kid from another camp site who asks if they want to play tag with him. They help us finish setting up and then head over to play for a half hour before dinner. Older Child jokes they want to play snake tag, where you run around in the grass with no shoes on and see who gets bitten by a snake first. Yes, my kids are weird. They ended up not playing any kind of tag, snake or otherwise. Instead, they played Mancala and lost twice to an 11-year-old named Caleb.

A quick camp meal and some local exploring for Husband and kids, while I play with photos on my computer at the camp picnic table and receive a visit from a sweet black-tailed doe. At 9, we head to the amphitheater for a presentation by a park ranger about some of the animals in the park.

When we get back to our campsite, Mom makes another *very* bad decision. Older child is concerned about a noise in the grass and trees behind our tent so I take a flashlight behind to look and then fake freaking out at a bear. The kids *lose* it and it’s a mixture of laughter and tears for the next hour as adrenaline clears system. I am an awful mother. This is the kind of prank their dad would pull, not me… I may never get over feeling guilty over this one.

To try to ease the tension, I pull out my camera and show the kids the earth’s rotation by focusing on the North Star and keeping the shutter open to create star trails. They are intrigued and we agree we’ll try it again tomorrow night with a little more preparation beforehand.

For now, bed. An early wake up so we can head out to see the Pueblo dwellings along the mountain in the morning. Animals are also most active early in the morning, so who knows? If we’re lucky, maybe we’ll see a bear on the way…

Bound for Santa Fe

/ L. Ryan Storms / Leave a comment

Day 5: 6/6/24
From: Aspen, Colorado (Difficult Campground)
To: Santa Fe, NM
Distance: 300 miles

I’m up at 4 am. Why am I up at 4 am? Because my body is not used to camping. I made the executive decision somewhere in the blackness of night that I would flip my sleeping position so I could try to escape Husband’s snores, my head now at everyone else’s feet. It worked for the most part, but I’m generally a light sleeper and so I still wake with every shift of sleeping bags. The cold forest air has my head stuffy this morning, so allergy meds were my first go-to. (I thought about taking a Sudafed, but as we’re camping at an elevation of 8,000 ft, I’d rather not make my heart explode. It’s already working double time to keep up as it is.)

Up and out of the campground by 8 am, but not before first admiring a mule deer at a camp site next to us. It turns out Independence Pass isn’t as bad when driving the other direction. Or maybe it’s that we’re fresh off a night of sleep and haven’t been driving for 6 hours before getting to it this time. Who can say?

We make a quick stop in the teeny “town” of Twin Peaks so Husband can grab a coffee from a van and get to see an awesome magpie who lives nearby. They are big, gorgeous, incredibly smart birds in the raven family and I’m so glad I had the chance to see one live!

Before we head to Santa Fe, we need to find a Cabela’s. Husband cannot sleep on this creaky air mat again. It kept everyone waking every time he moved last night. A quick trip to Albuquerque tomorrow on our way to Mesa Verde National Park only adds 20 minutes to our drive, and there, we’ll find an air mat like mine waiting at curbside pickup at Cabela’s because the internet is a wonderful thing and I ordered one as soon as I had reception again.

On the way to New Mexico, we encounter a dust devil in southern Colorado. Fun! (And much better than encountering a tornado.)

We arrive in Santa Fe at a lovely inn in the middle of town around 2:30 pm, but check in isn’t until 4, so we walk the street and peruse the shops until our room is ready. There are so many vendors both outdoors and in with an array of beautiful artwork, pottery, jewelry, clothing, and so much more. You could easily spend a week shopping and half a year’s salary here.

We stop by the Loretto Chapel, but don’t go in since we’ve already gotten a call that our room is ready. But locals tell us about the “miraculous staircase,” so I make a point to find out more online. Neat? Yes. But we’re not terribly sad we missed viewing the inside in person. It’s plenty gorgeous from the outside.

Our room at the inn is lovely and inviting with a fireplace we almost certainly won’t use, and a walled porch with a gate that leads to a courtyard garden that separates the guest rooms from each other.

After hot showers and a rest, Husband and Older Child go out for dinner with promises to bring back food for me and Younger Child, who are just too beat to keep going today. I update the blog with all of yesterday’s activity, since we had zero reception for much of our adventures in the Rocky Mountains.

Aaaaand, by 9 pm we realize our air conditioning is broken. I figured we’d be sweltering during this trip. I just didn’t figure it would be while in an adorable inn in the middle of Santa Fe. I kind of figured it would be later when we were camping and hiking in the desert. Maintenance leaves at 8, so a poor security guard who doesn’t know anything about A/C repair is sent to our room. He does his very best to make it manageable. (It was getting rough when outside seemed cool at 80 degrees…) A few minutes later, he returns with a standing fan to help move the air in the room. We are very grateful.

Within a half hour, the room is tolerable and we are finally ready to get to bed. It’s been a low key night watching television after so much activity over the last few days.

Tomorrow, we head *back* to Colorado. But nowhere near Aspen this time, so we will NOT be heading over Independence Pass. Whew!

Moving Up in the World

/ L. Ryan Storms / Leave a comment

Day 4: 6/5/24
From: Cedar Bluff State Park, KS
To: Aspen, CO (Difficult Campground)
Distance: 528 miles

Up at 6 and out the door by 7:30 with a quick stop for groceries at Malay’s Market in WaKeeney, KS, Christmas City of the High Plains. There are three checkout lanes; This One, That One, and The Middle One. I love the humor. And friends. They bring your groceries to the car FOR you, even if you just have three bags. Hey, Kansans, I do have one question though. What is chewable nugget ice and why?

Halfway to the next stop and the kids marvel at the number of bugs splattered on the windshield. I’d forgotten about this part. Eastern Colorado is much like Kansas, but with ever-so-slightly barely rolling hills that prevent you from seeing very far.

But we spot the Rocky Mountains off in the distance to our left and that brings promise that the land will change drastically not long from now. We expect the heat of the day to give way to a chilly evening tenting at a campground not far from Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness where cell reception is spotty. So if you don’t see this post until later, that’s why…

The Rockies are in sight for so long that it’s almost a shock when we’re finally close enough to really see the features. (Especially after so much flat.) I can’t help but think about what pioneers much have thought as they traveled the continent on horses and in wagons when they saw these massive looming snowcapped mountains in front of them. I’ve come to understand that I will never possess the kind of fortitude it takes to uproot your family and immigrate to a new and wild place.

We take a quick lunch break at a scenic overlook just outside of Golden, Colorado where we meet up with this little fella, who didn’t seem to mind at all that we were there.

Up into the Rockies, we go, into the Arapaho National Forest. Younger Child is amazed by the signs to beware of elk and bighorn sheep. But we don’t see any right away. Then, just as Husband is mentioning how he’s usually pretty good at spotting wildlife, we round a corner to a small herd of bighorn sheep eating grass *right* next to the white line of the road. He really IS good.

The temperature has dropped from 87 degrees F to 59, and our car A/C has switched to heat. A small stop in the town of Silverthorne for fuel and nausea relief from the curving, twisting mountain roads. Being in Silverthorne is a bit like being in the middle of the Austrian Alps. Here’s a town. And here are large, snowy peaks surrounding the town on all sides. (Not like the Alps? Here are a bunch of fast food restaurants and gas stations.)

We opt to take Independence Pass again and I have to wonder what we were thinking. By the time we pass Arkansas Headwaters, Younger Child and I keep the windows open to keep from letting the windy roads get the better of us. I remind myself that this was the hardest drive of our cross-country trip last time. These roads are tough! After this, it should be easy sailing by comparison!

I start to get excited as we near the top, though, as the birch trees have begun to show up. Aspen, soon! But first, a snowball fight at 12,095 feet. In shorts, t-shirts, and sandals. Ah, that’s right. *That’s* why we took Independence Pass! 

View from the tent

We arrive at the campground with the help of a downloaded offline map and get ourselves set up by 4 pm. (Kids are less than impressed with the campground pit toilets. This is their first encounter with them and they are underwhelmed to say the least.) But there’s just one problem when it comes to figuring out where to head next. Maroon Lake isn’t on my map and I can’t use the internet to find it. 

So we head to Aspen for dinner (and cell service) to discover that Maroon Lake is actually an hour away. Which…just isn’t in the cards after an 8 hour drive that included Independence Pass today.

We’ll have to be content shopping in Aspen and hanging at the campground this evening. And when I say “shopping,” know that I mean dinner at the Silverpeak Grill and gelato from the Paradise Bakery. Plus a couple of souvenir stickers. Certainly, we didn’t pick up goods from Prada, Ralph Lauren, Dior, Gucci, or any of the other posh stores we can’t afford. It turned out to be a good afternoon despite having to reroute  our original plans.

Older Child is a little disappointed about missing Maroon Bells, but they don’t really want to spend another 2 hours driving there and back. No one does. When we get back to the campground, Husband and Older Child head out for a hike in the day use area of the White River National Forest while Younger Child and I relax in the tent. Sleep will hit hard tonight.

Oh. 

And did I mention we need to drive back over Independence Pass again tomorrow on our way to New Mexico?

<sobs>

Magic Meadows

/ L. Ryan Storms / Leave a comment

Day 3: 6/4/24
From: St. Louis, MO
To: Cedar Bluff State Park, KS
Distance: 561 miles

New rule: Don’t book an interior room that overlooks the gym. You *will* be woken up by weightlifters with every rep they finish…at 5 am.

thunk * thunk * thunk

Anyway, guess I’m up early. I’m ready to hit the road by 7 am. If only the kids were awake.

We nab a quick hotel breakfast before getting on the road, knowing the drive today will be a slog as we are pretty much on I-70 for 500+ miles through all of Missouri and most of Kansas.

The weather stays mostly pleasant, though thunderstorms threaten on the horizon for much of our drive through Kansas, which makes for dramatic sky photos, at least. Husband is a trooper, still acting as the sole driver even after 3 days, despite my offers to relieve him. 

Children have reacted to Missouri and Kansas with the expected observations. “There is nothing here!” And “Why would people want to live here?” They agreed it all made more sense when you take into account the fact that the farming here is really good, so farmers want to live here, despite the constant threat of rain, tornadoes, and snowstorms.

On that, why don’t we read more about the European settlers’ reactions to seeing tornadoes for the first time? Can you imagine what the first European thought upon seeing one? How were they not terrified out their minds? How did they not turn around and run straight back to the east coast? Anyway. Welcome to my random thoughts as we travel the state of Kansas.

About an hour from our destination, we’re all starting to feel a little loopy. A quick bathroom break leads to a conversation with someone driving eastbound who inquires about the weather. He’s worried about the possibility of hail damage on his pretty orange Dodge Challenger.

I can’t blame him. We thought we’d hit the storm since so many pockets of rain kept forming south of I-70 and drifting northeast, but miraculously, the storm separated around us and we haven’t hit rain since leaving St. Louis.

“Most exciting thing in Kansas so far,” says Older Child about a long train loaded down with coal that traveled beside the highway. They’re not wrong.

The land has become so flat that even the billboards are at ground level because they don’t need to be elevated to be seen. But the oil pumps are staggered across the ground now and we all agree they look a bit like terrifying, angry iron horses.

Another two hours and we finally arrive at Cedar Bluff State Park in Middle-of-Nowhere Kansas. And oh, the sounds of Western meadowlarks, American goldfinch, Orchard orioles, and Northern bobwhites! That subtle hush of the wind across the plains! I’m in love. Again.

The evening brings a long slow sunset from the porch of our cabin for me and Younger Child while Husband and Older Child go to the nearby pond. After finding a discarded lure and some trashed fishing line, they make their own rod with a stick. Did they catch a fish? Of course. A bass. Because Husband can fish anywhere with anything. Including junk.

They also come back with this guy, who happened to be crossing the road as they were driving back. Since they didn’t want him to get smushed, they bring him to the cabin and release him into the meadow. Not long after, Husband catches sight of a whitetail deer dashing through the high grass. By this point, I’m fairly convinced the meadow is pure magic.

We enjoy the evening from the porch, eagerly awaiting the appearance of the first stars. A little stargazing and then we’ll call it a day. But wait, what’s that we hear? Coyotes! A pack howling and yipping somewhere in the distance. How exciting! What a way to end the day. 

Tomorrow? We’ll bid farewell to the plains and head for the mountains and the trees.

Kentucky, Illinois, and Manmade Wonders

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Day 2: 6/3/24
From: Pigeon Forge, TN
To: St. Louis, MO
Distance: 517 miles

A later start today, leaving at 10 am, but the best pancakes for breakfast. Yum! Flapjack’s Pancake Cabin comes highly recommended (by us). Bonus? Everything can be made gluten-free. (Which is a major plus when you spent an hour the night before trying to figure out what your kid can eat that’s safe!)

4 hours into our drive and Younger Child announces the’ve got to find a way to get rid of time. (Which I think means they’re planning to sleep.) Not a bad idea considering none of us slept super well in a hotel room with so much snoring and coughing as I’m still getting over last week’s cold…

We hit Kentucky today, the idea of which seemed more interesting before we got there. I hated missing out on it last time (thanks to Hurricane Bill), so I was glad to check it off my list this time around. Pretty! But also? Long. So long.

Southwestern Kentucky

As we drive, the land around us starts to change, flattening, expanding into long straight stretches with no views thanks to thick foliage along the road. The rocks, mostly slate back home in Pennsylvania, are now changing too, from giant chunks of limestone to sandstone slabs.

And then…

It changes back again as we head into Illinois. Which. May be the country’s most boring state. We drove through Chicago last time, so it somehow seemed more exciting. Not so much when it comes to the southern part of the state.

But wait. What *is* that noise? Cicadas! By the thousands! We can hear them even over the road noise of the car. And yes, a few unfortunate souls made some very big splats on the windshield. 

We finally make it to St. Louis, but not without the kind of weather that makes us a little nervous. We’re east coasters. We don’t do tornadoes. Thankfully, no tornadoes in sight, but the skies didn’t really look all that happy regardless, and we pulled into St. Louis in the pouring rain.

Older Child once again got to meet up with a longtime friend from the internet, who drove 2 1/2 hours with their mom to meet us for the evening. The terrible weather moved out, leaving us with a spectacular views we got to enjoy from the top of the Gateway Arch.

Dinner at Carmine’s Steak House, where the husband enjoyed a(nother) chocolate martini. I think I might have seen this picture somewhere once before…

Day 2 down. More adventures to come.

The Storms Take America Part 2

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Day 1: 6/2/24
From: Reading, PA
To: Pigeon Forge, TN
Distance: 610 miles

After nine long years, we’re doing it again! We’re going cross-country. This time with four of us in the car. Did I mention it’s a smaller car than last time? Never mind that. We’re going anyway!

Up bright and early. Out of the house by 7:30. The fam was in good spirits despite having two teens intent on sleeping most of the drive.  And they did. They really did. The time they didn’t sleep was filled with laughter, so that’s a win, right?

10 hours later, we arrived at Pigeon Forge, TN. A mashup of Niagara Falls (minus the waterfall) and Las Vegas (minus the casinos) set against a backdrop of the beautiful Smoky Mountains. (Seriously. The photos say it all.) This place? You could spend a week here and not do everything there is to do or see everything there is to see. You would, however, probably be broke after all that.

The highlight of our destination? Alcatraz East Crime Museum, at the request of Younger Child. I dreaded the visit, but it ended up being an exceptionally interesting experience. See also: bizarre, fascinating, sad, and very, very disturbing. Older Child got to meet up with a longtime online friend who drove four hours from Alabama to meet them, which made the day that much more special.

For Day 1, we’ll call this a success! Happy kids, happy family. We’re ready to make this trip as wonderful as our first trip from 2015.