Bad news bears - August 14, 2015

Well, our good luck streak came to an abrupt halt. Tony got a call around lunch that one of the items for the truck was defective. They were going to search the area and try to find another one, but it would not be until Monday at the earliest before they could get it. We were all deflated pretty much immediately. All of us were wracking our brains to come up with a solution. We all need to get back to reality ASAP. We were so much in denial that everything was going to work out perfectly for us to leave tomorrow morning. It was rather depressing news.

Once it sank it, we realized the only way to remedy the situation was for me and the girls to rent a car and drive back. Tony would have to wait for the truck and drive back alone. It’s not the solution any of us had hoped for, but it is going to work out fairly well considering. All we can hope for is that they’ll get the part quickly and he can get home safely since he’ll have to drive the 22+ hour trip alone.

Once we decided that, we put our minds to enjoying the day. We had already been to Red Rocks Amphitheater and checked out Boulder. We were nearly to Rocky Mountain National Park when he called. There was no sense in letting the bad news ruin our day. We couldn’t do anything to change it anyway.

Just before we got into the park, we saw a group of people crowded alongside the road. We stopped and about 150 feet off the road in a cropping of rocks, a bear was rolling around. He didn’t have a care in the world about all of us gawking at him. A park ranger was there to do crowd control thankfully. We didn’t have any situations like yesterday where someone tried to walk up to it. He threatened some folks with tickets if they didn’t do what he asked. We decided seeing the bear was God’s way of making amends for all the bad luck.

The park is absolutely gorgeous. Of course I took more and more pictures of beautiful mountain tops, trees, and critters. We saw tons of elk, chubby chipmunks, and deer. We were dying to see a moose, but that didn’t happen. When we got to the pinnacle of the park, a rain storm blew it. It then turned to hail. When we left Denver, it was 92 degrees. It got down to 47 on the mountain. Brrr…

The drive down the other side was just as beautiful. We were amazed at all the twists and turns of the road. The little towns we drove through are all quaint and very western-ish. There were also a couple of ski resorts. The roads are very steep and curvy. We had more than a few “hold on to your ass, Fred” moments. Only fans of the movie Smokey and the Bandit will understand that quote, and of course this family is a BIG fan!!

The reality of our situation sunk in when we got back. We emptied out the van that has been our saving grace for the past eleven days. We had to unpack and repack all our suitcases to make sure we had everything we need, but make sure it would fit into the new car. We’re not sure what size it’s going to be, so who knows if some of that repacking will have to happen again.

Tony and I enjoyed the hot tub and pool again for the evening. The girls decided to stay in. Deputy McCann thought she was going to have to serve as back up as there was some altercation across the street. Not entirely sure what was going on there, but the police were looking for someone in an apartment across the road. I shewed them inside to avoid being caught in any gunfire. I guess that’s just some of what I’m going to have to get used to with this career she’s pursuing. UGH!!

We’ve had an amazing vacation, but it’s all about to come to an end. Tomorrow will turn into a job of trying to get home. Cass isn’t allowed to drive, so it will just be me and Jen. I somehow lucked out in the last eleven days and haven’t had to drive much. I’m not looking forward to this drive whatsoever. But home will feel amazing. I’ll keep that in the back of my mind as we hopefully make quick work out of ticking the miles off this 1500+ journey.

Rewind - August 13, 2015

We survived the night at the Snow King in Jackson. We woke up to loud music extremely early. Someone must have complained, because that didn’t last long. Then there was some other buzzing noise that was also short lived (may actually have been Tony snoring now that I think about it). Finally all the folks waking up and moving about forced us to get up. None of us were too eager to get out of bed.

We checked out the town of Jackson for the morning. We had breakfast and then did some window shopping. Jackson has some really cool little shops with very unique (and quite expensive) items. We got to see dead stuffed animals of all the things we had hoped to see in Yellowstone.

The town itself is set up like an old western town. There was a stage coach that rode folks around the main square. The square itself has the four corners marked with an elk horn arch. They are huge! The local boy scouts gather and sell the horns to the town to raise money from the local elk refuge. It’s a very neat idea.

We headed back to Denver and had a fairly long drive ahead of us. None of us were really in the mood to get in the car for such a long journey. But as we drove out, we had the Teton Mountain range on the right side of us and the Rockies on the left. It was a beautiful drive. The wide open spaces of Wyoming are beautiful. We drove nearly the full height and width of it on our return.

The last leg of the trip was the same exact road we had left out on. It was funny how in the short amount of time that we had traveled through there, we already had made funny memories. We passed the McDonald’s that Cass had to eat at. We passed the gas station where we partially filled up because Tony nearly ran us out of gas. We passed the section of land where we argued about plateaus, mesas, and buttes. Good times and good memories.

The thing we kept saying was how impossible it felt that we had accomplished so much in the ten days since we had been on the road going in the other direction. We traveled over 4400 miles, saw 7 national parks, went through seven different states, and saw two major cities. We sea kayaked (but saw no whales), saw quite a lot of different wildlife, and did an Eskimo plunge into a glacier river.  We laughed, ate, drove, and took hundreds of pictures. Fortunately, we also didn’t kill each other.

We made it into Denver and Tony’s sweet Aunt Maxine insisted we stay at her house while she and Uncle Jack went back east for a short trip. We took advantage of their complex’s hot tub and swimming pool after dinner. It felt great to soak in the hot water. We all crashed for the night, knowing we’ll have a busy day tomorrow of more sight seeing.

Disappointment - August 12, 2015

After such a wonderful day yesterday, we were all geared up for animal nation in Yellowstone. As we first drove in the park, we saw a prong horn deer. We just knew it was going to be the day we all hoped for in seeing big game. Boy, were we wrong.

Due to time constraints, we only got to make a backwards S through the park. We went down the side that they said had the most bear activity. We even went down a 6 mile dirt road (don’t tell the rental company) that we just knew was going to produce some animal sightings. It didn’t.

So much of the park has had forest fire activity. It’s really difficult to see through the woods as the younger trees coming in are all about eye level from the car. We managed to see a couple of elk, a white tail deer, a couple of herds of buffalo from a long distance, a ground squirrel, and a robin (Tony wanted me to make sure to include that find!).

We managed to see Old Faithful blow her top without any problems. We probably only spent 4 hours in the park total. I couldn’t seem to get the crew motivated this morning. For one, I turned off the alarm at both 6 and 7 a.m. I just couldn’t drag myself up after such a long day in the car yesterday. It set the tone for the rest of the day.

We made our way through to The Grand Tetons and they were as gorgeous as ever. We got there right at sunset and took some beautiful pictures. Jen decided this was her favorite park. It’s somewhat of a strange park. You don’t actually get to drive over to the mountains. You just ride alongside of them and stare in amazement at their rugged beauty.

As we were headed out of the park, two bull elk were right off the road. There were lots of folks out of their cars taking pictures. There was an Asian woman that walked right up to it and nearly touched it. Of course she scared it away and ruined the pictures for everyone else. We were more than annoyed!

That was sort of the theme for the day. Everywhere we went, there were RUDE people. We didn’t even have to get out of the car to interact with these jerks. As we were doing the speed limit through the park trying to enjoy the beauty, cars were passing us left and right. It really is a shame that folks can’t stop and enjoy the beauty of nature. I think they were just hurrying to the next big attraction to take their selfies to post on FB. UGH!

We’ve somehow managed to get a day ahead in the schedule. We’re heading back to Denver tomorrow. It’s a seven hour drive that I’m sure we’ll manage to turn into at least twelve. Let’s just hope Tony doesn’t find a taxidermist this time with a 50% off going out of business sale. Our goal is to go back to Denver and maybe hit Rocky Mountain National Park Friday. That will make a total of 8 national parks this trip if we can manage it. We had only planned on 6 originally, so we’re ahead of the game!

We tried to not be disappointed in Yellowstone today since it was a bonus park. But not seeing the wildlife that we love sure made it hard not to be. With that and being around all the inconsiderate people, it may have slid down the favorite park list a bit. Maybe we’ll have to come back again to give it another shot. I don’t think that will be difficult. I’m always game for exploring national parks.

We’re staying in a rather shady motel in Jackson WY tonight. Again, not planning ahead, all the hotels were full. We feel lucky that we got what we did. We walked downtown after a very late dinner. It has a little bit of the Gatlinburg feel to it. Not really our kind of town, but it will be short lived. We’ll check it out tomorrow in the daylight and be on our way.

Our vacation is winding down, and so are we. We’ve had a wonderful time seeing all the sights, but we’re not as young as we once were. The girls have even reached the point of dreading getting in the car. They really aren’t looking forward to trading the cushy van in for the truck for that trip home. Speaking of, we got a call that it won’t be ready now until Friday evening. Keep your fingers crossed they can make that happen. Else, it’s going to tighten the schedule and cause some problems. We’ve been so lucky for the remainder of the trip after the bumpy start. We don’t want to go backwards!

Cardiac arrest - August 11, 2015

Today was amazing. We stayed at the perfect place last night. It had a train that ran close by that woke us all up at an ok hour. We realized breakfast was over at 9 so we all yanked on clothes and headed to the restaurant. Dinner was much better, but we all found something edible.

We were supposed to wake up at 5:45 to see if the local moose came to the pond outside the restaurant for breakfast. That didn't happen. I woke up, but Tony refused to get up. We still haven't seen any big game while we've been out here. The funny thing is that back home we have to stop and gander at any and every deer we see. It has barely been a blip on Tony's radar at the deer we've seen out here. We hope to remedy that tomorrow at Yellowstone.

We decided to go into Glacier on the east side since we had to travel so far to find a room last night. It was totally the best way to see the park since so many people start from the west side. We ended up turning in too soon but that was a great uh-oh. It routed us back around to where we needed to be. Along the way we got to see a beautiful lake, sheer rock mountains, and a hawk. Gorgeous.

Once we got on the right track, we started seeing burnt forest. We all sat in stunned silence in the car. This was old burn versus what's burning now. It was miles and miles as far as the eye could see of what looked like tooth picks standing. It was a very solemn drive into the park. It almost felt like driving through a graveyard. Tony even likened it to driving through an Indian burial ground.

But the good news is that the new growth is prosperous underneath it. The small pines are probably about a foot tall. The further we drove, the taller it got. In looking at the landscape, I'd say the large majority of the park has burnt at some point. There are so many patches where you can tell it's burned. Some are small areas and others are vast acreage. A natural state for a forest, but still hard to swallow being a tree lover.

We got to the area that is currently burning. We didn't see any flames, but the charred ground and trees still reeked of fire. We did see one small trail of smoke high on one ridge. One whole section of the road into the park had all the pull outs blocked. The trails in those areas were blocked off, too. The smoke on one section was so bad visibility was limited. But it soon cleared and with the trees limbs gone, we saw much more of the park than we would have otherwise.

The views in the park were simply stunning. We ran out of superlatives to describe one ginormous mountain peak from the next. The mountains were layered in valleys of trees at the bottom, to large meadows of wild flowers, to then sheer rock. The rocks are layered in various colors that range get in color from yellow, green, red, pink, white, gray, and black. 

There were mountains that formed a single, pointy, rocky peak, some that formed a ridge of multiple mountain rocky peaks, and others that were a solid rock plateau. There were so many beautiful water falls and rivers gushing down the crevices we lost count. 

At Logan's Pass, which is the pinnacle of the mountain range, we dropped over to the other side. A sign said it was an eleven mile descent to the bottom. Crazy gorgeous doesn't cover it. We also decided having the monster truck in that park would have been a very bad idea. The roads were pretty narrow. We also discussed how bad it would be to have car problems on the road. It wasn't mush later that we saw a car with a flat tire blocking traffic. Fortunately there was a park ranger there helping them. We were glad it wasn't us!

We stopped at numerous pull outs along the way for photo opps. The girls hate that phrase. We're taking pictures at break neck speeds. I just pass the camera to whomever has the best view point and say "Photo opp"! The biggest problem is two windows have to go down to stop that gosh awful air pressure imbalance in the car. Wind whips through the car for a bit, and then all is well. We've gotten some beautiful shots for sure.

At the bottom of the mountain, we were following a river that got bigger and stronger as we went because of all the glaciers melting into it. We stopped for the obvious photo opp. Jen found a trail down to it. We had not hiked all day and felt we couldn't really say we'd been to the park unless we did, so we went for it. Once we got down there we realized just how beautiful it was. It was crystal clear. It had a bluish tint to it from all the glacier water. We could see each and every little pebble in the bottom. 

As I looked down on it, I got this strange urge to jump. I asked Jen if she'd do it, she agreed immediately. We then looked at Cass to see if she'd go. At first she refused. I had to sell it to her that we had clothes and towels in the car. The hard part for her was she had big hiking boots on. I knew she'd need them on to climb out of the water that was lined with rock walls. She finally caved, and said she'd go. 

We were going to go one at a time, but then decided to all go together. Cass then chickened out of that proposition. Jen and I said we're out of here, and at the count of three, jumped. It felt a tiny bit like Thelma and Louise. My adrenaline was pumping up to the point I was airborne. It was about that time I remembered what the feeling of falling felt like. The bottom of my courage fell out, but I was shit out of luck in backing out. 

The next shock was hitting the frigid water. As soon as I hit the water I thought maybe I was wrong to be so eager to take the plunge. It was damn cold. I popped up and immediately wanted the ejection button. I looked at Jen and saw the same look on her face. Our original plan was a bit flawed from the start. We were to swim back up stream to get out. Problem was, it was at a white water drop. We swam, but we didn't get anywhere. I gave up pretty quickly and started for the closest rock. 

It's amazing what frigid water temperature does to a body. I think my heart may have stopped on initial impact. Then my brain seemed to stop working. Cass jumped in right after we did. I sort of remember her jumping in, but all my brain could think about was survival. Getting out of that water was first priority. I'm glad Tony caught it on camera, because my memory of it is extremely foggy. 

Once we hauled ourselves out, we started warming up quickly. We then had to figure out how to cross back over. We decided to go down the river and see if it got more shallow so we could cross. We had to boulder a few places, but we found a spot. The bad thing was the water was moving very swiftly through some big rocks. We decided to back up a bit and cross in the water. 

It's amazing how quickly the brain forgets sometimes. It didn't look like it was that far to cross in the water. I hopped right in the water without thinking. Again, the the water took my breath. We scurried across and felt like bosses when it was all over. 

My skin tingled for the better part of an hour after our excursion. I kept saying I wish we could do it again. For me, it was the highlight of the trip so far. Everyone loved Glacier Park. It will be hard to top for the remainder of what we're going to see.

Tonight we drove into Bozeman, Montana to stay before heading to Yellowstone. We saw that park on our last trip. We loved it best with of all of the critters we saw. Since we haven't seen any so far this trip, it may still take the cake if we can score some big game sightings there.

As the trip is coming to a close, we're finding it more and more difficult to stay in the car for long stretches of time. I had to beg everyone to continue on to Bozeman tonight to make tomorrow's trip to Yellowstone shorter. When we're in the parks, riding is no problem. It's just the long distances in between them that are so tiring. Yellowstone is a HUGE park and will take a long time to get through. We're planning to stay in Jackson tomorrow night. We're all looking forward to it and The Grand Tetons. After that, it's back to Denver.

The warranty company approved about 75% of the costs of fixing the truck. They're supposed to be working on it and have it ready for us to pick up on Friday. We're mostly in denial that there will be any issues with that schedule. We're just thinking positive. We've had enough heart issues for one trip!!

Glacier, August 10, 2015

This road trip is starting to take its toll on everyone. We got in fairly late to Spokane and no one wanted to get up early to head for Glacier.  I had set an alarm for 6:00, just laid back down. We all slowly got moving and finally headed out around 9:30.

We sat downstairs for a bit watching people as they came in for breakfast. There was one couple that had 4 or 5 kids that were having an argument. There was a woman that came rushing in asking for a locksmith. She had locked their keys in the car and had a plane to catch. As we were leaving, we saw them finally getting into their car. She started crying once they got into their car, and I so knew what she was feeling!

We’ve had a lot of evidence that our Mom’s are watching out for us. We think they worried too much in our initial shenanigans they’re doing their best to keep the rest of our trip uneventful. We’ve had near misses with car accidents, I nearly lost Tony’s cell phone today when I hopped out to get a picture and it was in my lap (fortunately I had left the door open and Tony saw it on the ground), and we’ve been able to find lodging even at peak season out here without reservations.

If there’s one piece of advice I’d give anyone traveling out here, it would be to make sure you have reservations. We’ve spent a considerable amount of time calling places and dropping in to find that everywhere is booked. Even though I had planned 6 places where we’d need reservations, I never made them. After the rocky start, I didn’t want to jinx us by making reservations that we may not be able to keep if we had any further problems. But like I said, we’ve always managed.

Some places have been nicer than some. Tonight we nearly had to stay in a complete hole in the wall. We’re not entirely sure what it was, but it looked like a small trailer converted into a hotel. You couldn’t even open the door to the place without bumping into one of the beds. You had to close the door and shimmy around the bed to get to the little bathroom. Cassidi who is our picky hotel queen refused to stay!

We went on down the road and found a really cool place that is a cabin. It is part of a complex of cabins out in the middle of nowhere. We had a wonderful dinner in the restaurant that overlooks a small pond/lake. I asked if wildlife ever came up. They told us a moose usually does. We waited, but no moose. We’re supposed to get up super early to go look for him. I’ll be surprised if Mr. McCann ventures out that early.

We’re in the final push through Glacier tomorrow and then we’ll head south. We hope to hit Yellowstone before we get back to Denver. I think everyone is ready for some rest, quiet/alone time, and to not sit in a car for hours. We’ve done reasonably well with tolerating each other. No homicides have been committed just yet. We still have a week to go, however.

We’re hoping Glacier is fully open due to all the wildfires. We saw a bit of it this evening before we decided we better head out to find a place to stay. We had hoped to stay in the park, but everything there was booked, including the campsites. We saw a place that looks like it was recently damaged by the fires. It’s sad to see, but we realize it’s a necessary evil in nature. I just wish they could be controlled burns instead of these crazy blazes.

Tomorrow will most likely be another slow moving day. I’ve grown weary of being the vacation nazi and am fine with whatever. They all just have to suffer the consequences of losing sleep when we have to be somewhere in order to stay on schedule to get back to Denver. I knew it would come to this, but there wasn’t a thing I could do about it. Some things in life are just a given. And whirlwind vacation trips are exhausting… perod!

Pacific NorthWest - August 9, 2015

Today we reached the furthest point west on our trip. We got up extremely early to do a sea kayaking trip in search of orcas. After we were on the water, our guide told us he’d been in WA for 4 months guiding and hadn’t seen a whale as yet. It would have been nice had he told us that before we paddled around an island for 3 hours! Oh well. We saw an eagle, harbor porpoise, and a couple of seals. We felt successful because no one fell out of their kayak.

When we finished, we headed to the little town of Anacortes for lunch. They were having an art festival so we got the added bonus of seeing street performers and local art. We wandered around for quite a while before we decided to get back in the car to head for the North Cascades park.

The park was another drive through park. It had numerous snow caps and amazing rivers and lakes. Actually, there are three dams in the park. The water is an emerald color. Simply gorgeous. We have taken picture after picture along this journey and not a single one captures the true beauty. We keep taking them though.

We decided to continue on to Spokane this evening to hopefully get some time in Glacier tomorrow afternoon. We rode through a little place that looked like an old west town. It would have been nice to find a place to stay and spend the evening there. But one draw back was that too many people were there. It was sort of a mini Gatlinburg.

It’s been another long night of driving. Fortunately Jennifer has done the majority of the driving in the last two days. Tony had another dud day for some reason. We’re all laughing at him as he’s the one usually making fun of us for dragging. I can only imagine the shock his body is in after all his London travels on top of all this driving. He hurt his back just before the trip and no amount of massage, stretching, or ibuprofen seems to be helping him. He just needs rest. Maybe in a week or so.

We have moments of crabbiness and then moments of belly laughter. We’re making new memories that one day will be reviewed in much the same manner as we’re rehashing our old memories now. The girls never remember much about our first west trip. All their memories are our memories regurgitated or pictures we took. Hopefully with them being older this time, they’ll remember.

We are all in need of some rest. I don’t think we’ll be getting any of that in the very near future. The schedule is quickening in pace it seems. We’re expecting to be back in Denver this Friday to pick up the truck. We haven’t heard from the guy on the progress at this point. I’m sure we’ll hear something tomorrow. We’ve mostly been in denial about those first 72 hours of the trip. These last few days we’ve managed to enjoy without incident. We continue to knock on wood hoping our good luck will hold out.

We’ve had a great time in the Pacific NorthWest. The parks are gorgeous, the people have been nice, the cities held different surprises, the ferry ride from one corner to the other was interesting, the weather has been beautiful, and we’ve crammed every day full of activity from sun up to sun down. I don’t think we could have seen or done anything more than what we have. But we have left some things undone so we’ll have to return. Later… much later.

On schedule, August 8, 2015

Last night we decided to sleep in until 8:00 today. Jennifer said it’s the first time she’s ever considered getting up at 8:00 as sleeping in. Last night wore us to a frazzle. "Mr. I can sleep when I die" spent the day in the back seat sleeping the majority of the day. I think we’ve found his Achilles heel. He drove the large majority of our first week. Jennifer took over the wheel today. I’ve pretty much decided that every time I drive, I do something I shouldn’t. I’ll just let them drive.

We went to breakfast today at a really nice diner in Port Angeles. It’s a beautiful little town at the top of the Washington peninsula. Olympic National Park was just south of the little town. We decided on a route that would hopefully let us see a good bit of the important sites of the park but still make the ferry we had scheduled in Port Townsend. We saw the rainforest, the beach front, and the mountains from afar. Cass was unhappy that we didn’t make it to the visitor center where you could view Mount Olympus. But the weather was rainy and cloudy and we wouldn’t have been able to see the top of the mountain anyway.

Port Townsend was also a neat looking place. We didn’t get to even drive through it. We made it to the ferry with about 45 minutes to spare. We got in line and headed across the water. We didn’t see any whales or critters other than seagulls. It only took about 30 minutes to cross. On the other side, we saw beautiful farm land and rainbows everywhere. Simply gorgeous.

We’re finding that this country that we’re living in is vast, beautiful, and holds its own unique qualities every mile that we travel. While some things may look the same as the next, there is always something that separates it from everything else. Today I had a wish that I could store every site I’m seeing like the pictures that I’m taking. There are just so many views to take in. And pictures simply don’t do them justice.

We got into our hotel this evening earlier than we have to any along the way. Our energizer bunnies are running low on umph! Tomorrow is going to be another busy day of seeing what the next bend in the road holds. It will be the last day that we’ll stay on schedule with what we planned before. From here on out, we’ll have to fast forward things a bit. We’re not entirely sure how we’re going to do it, but as always, we’ll get it done. It may just be a little more painful than we expected.

It’s hard to believe we’ve only been at this a week. I’ve gotten to the point where I’ve forgotten some of what we’ve already seen. We’ve been so focused on moving forward, reviewing hasn’t crossed out minds. I’m grateful for all the pictures and the words of these blogs. One day I’ll be able to look back and appreciate all we’ve done. However, right now, I could go for a 24 hour nap!

Nearly Heaven, August 7, 2015

It was another get up bright and early and travel until the wee hours of the day kinda day. We saw Mount Rainier and had to drag ourselves away to get to the next destination. What an amazing mountain. We had binoculars with us and someone pointed out the hikers going up the glacier. They were the size of ants but we could make out their snow trail. We had to be as close to Heaven as we've ever been before.

It was another day of taking pictures on the approach only to keep out doing each shot. We'd constantly be craning around in our seats looking for the mountain. The contrast in all the colors of green was beautiful. The deep hunter green was nearly black. The pencil thin pines that were bare of branches on one side and thick on the other were quite intriguing.

The glaciers on the mountain just didn't look real. We're going to have to find a documentary on Rainier and watch it. It's truly a majestic place. We didn't see a single critter though. Tony loves wild critters. It's a big park and full of beauty. We walked out to a water fall and it was a much longer hike than we expected. Jennifer saw a snake (well I guess we saw one wild critter), and I had to hold Tony back from picking it up and playing with it. He went after it for sure!

We finally realized we had to get out of there to head for Seattle. We drove right to the space needle and parked. It was a two and a half hour delay until we could go up or we could buy a blast pass to go right up. Of course that was the more pricey option. Because of the 2.5 hour trip North we had to take for the night for the next day's activities, we spent the additional money. The view from above was amazing.

Seattle is a very pretty and vibrant city. It wasn't as busy as I expected down by the space needle, but then again it was Friday night. I'd say Saturday is busier. . It's a really neat area of entertainment and businesses. It's also very clean and safe. There was an outdoor concert going on that was playing groovy hip music. Again, no one wanted to leave.

Because we've had so many problems finding places to stay, I had made a reservation at a park outside Olympic Park north of Seattle. All day long I kept reminding everyone of the time necessary to get there. No one wanted to listen. We are still on the road to the hotel at 11:30. We're not due in until 12:10. Another super long day. 

Tomorrow morning we see Olympic Park. We have decided to sleep in - a whopping 8:00. We have some hard decisions tomorrow because the park is 454 miles round trip. We'll have about 7 hours to see it. We made reservations for the ferry and another hotel  further North for sea kayaking for tomorrow night. Looks like I'll be vacation Nazi tomorrow, too.

The crazy train vacation won out even though I begged for a single park and some relaxation. But as Tony says, we can sleep when we're dead. At this chaotic rate, that may not be far off! We've put 2200 miles on the rental in 4 days. And don't forget the 1500 from Fancy Gap to Denver. Right now we've stayed on track with the spreadsheet I created. That's all going to have to change somehow in the next few days. We're running out of days and have to go back to Denver. We'll deal with that later. Right now, all we can think about is some sleep for tonight. Soon...

Just plain tired - August 6, 2015

It has been quite the day. We woke up at 6:00 a.m. to get it going. We had breakfast that was less than stellar at our roach coach hotel. It wasn't quite that bad, but definitely not worth $160 for a night's sleep. These west coast prices are pretty over priced!

First on the agenda was Crater Lake. It was an hour and a half drive. We ooh'ed and awh'ed from simply driving into the beginning of the park. We got out and took pictures of the deep canyon with the river at the bottom, the gorgeous Ponderosa pines, and the narrow road leading into the park surrounded by beautiful nature. By the time we actually got to the lake, we were enamored. The color of that crystal clear blue water is unimaginable!

We rode around the rim stopping at each point to take a few bazillion pictures from each vantage point. We are still amazed at how you can take a picture from one direction of something and think it's the very best only to change locations and find one that's better. Sorting through the pictures is quite laborious. But the pictures do not do the scenery justice.

After that we headed for Portland. We saw Mt. Hood from a distance as we searched for our pit stop to see Multnomah Falls just east of Portland. 610 feet of water crashing down from the top of a mountain. So beautiful. The girls wanted to climb to the top, but time just got away from us. We went into the city to get pictures of the girls. Jen wants to move west and we think maybe she found a new home in Portland. Cass says she's going to follow. We'll see. I told them if they do move, they're going to have to find a surrogate grandmother for their kids because I am NOT moving to Portland. It's far too much city for me!

We are staying in Kelso WA which is about 45 minutes from Mt. Ranier where our first destination is tomorrow. I'd really love to sleep in for the whole day tomorrow, but that's not going to happen. It will be another early to rise kind of day for the McCanns. I'm running on fumes, that's for sure. I think everyone else is, also.

I was quite testy with the front desk clerk as we checked in tonight. Another night of expensive hotel costs for less than 8 hours of stay. And they refused to give us a AAA discount, because they have so few rooms left for the night. We checked in at 11:00 p.m.!! The final straw was when I wanted to pay cash and was told it would be a $250 deposit because we may damage the room and they couldn't recover the costs. I'm sure we looked like the punk rocker party types as we strolled in at 11:00 p.m. with our hineys dragging. UGH!! Whatever.... Maybe a night's rest will give me a new attitude. Cass said maybe we need to institute a 24 hour quiet game because I was being so grumpy. Maybe so....

Boring is good - August 5, 2015

I've heard from numerous clients, friends, and family on our trip. Everyone is enjoying the entertainment of our various fiascos. Now that things have calmed down, our motto is boring is good! So far, the last two days have been completely uneventful. We've had a couple of close calls, but so far, so good.

Yesterday Tony decided that we needed to wait to get gas until we could find a town with a McDonald's because Cass was hungry. I was driving and should have listened to myself to just stop, but was too easily coaxed into his madness. Cass did some quick google searching to find that we were 68 miles from the next place with a McDonald's. We have a car with the miles until empty feature. It was 69 miles. I immediately started fussing and more research found that there wasn't another gas station until the McDonald's. Needless to say there was more aggressive fussing in the car. Fortunately for Tony, there was a gas station with about 20 miles to go in the tank. Mischief managed!

Today we spent the entire day in the car. We stopped numerous times throughout the day to stretch our legs, check out little towns, gaze upon beautiful views, and drive. We found out early on that we would not be able to stay at Crater Lake. I did some calling around and found a place that is about an hour and a half's drive away. The more we stopped, the longer the estimated time of arrival became. Cass was getting ansy because she wanted to do laundry. We really didn't know if the place we'd be staying had laundry services anyway. Once we got here, it does, so she's losing sleeping time tonight to have clean clothes. Mind you, we're only 5 days in!

On the last leg here, we were driving along with no real issues. Tony was actually doing really well and not struggling to stay awake or anything. Jen was in the back seat and has had a few harsh words for Tony and me about being back seat drivers. But fortunately she was filling the role and screamed "Bambi - Bambi" in time for us to look up and see a deer in the road ahead. We were all so discombobulated we didn't really pay attention to the deer as we drove by it. Later when we were reviewing it, we realized it was much bigger than a normal deer. It may have been an elk with no horns. Not really sure, but it was a pretty daggone big deer that could have done a LOT of damage. Again, mischief managed.

We're in for the night (well sort of - Cass' is still doing laundry). Tomorrow is a busy day of going to see Crater Lake, Portland, and then head toward Mt. Rainier. It's hard to believe we're actually putting this plan together. The sights we're seeing are unbelievable. The pictures do not do them justice. The tales we're reviewing from the last RV adventure are pretty hilarious. While this is a trip to see the NorthWest, it is also time to share with our girls. They're pretty amazing kids and we're doing our best to create new stories and memories for the next trip whenever that may be.

Good byes and Hellos - August 4, 2015

We were able to get a mini-van as a rental for the next leg of our trip. The girls said they were actually happy the truck broke down because it's so comfy. Each has a bucket seat in the back that reclines and each has a shade that pulls up on the window to block out the sun. Spoiled doesn't begin to describe them!

When we got in it, the first thing that popped up on the menu was an error message "Maintenance Required". All I could think was "par for the course!" We had to go back to the rental place to get Aunt Maxine's car, so while we were there, we asked about the error message. They said it was due to the oil change that was required and completed before we got it. The error message just hadn't been reset. We googled it, but just haven't reset it as yet ourselves. Fortunately there are other menus you can scroll through to take it off. It does however still have a yellow warning light on it. We'll just ignore that for now!

It was hard to say goodbye to the Aunts and Uncles today. But knowing we'll see them again in about 10 days makes it more tolerable. They're just the sweetest. They took such good care of us while in Denver, and did a great job of keeping us positive while we rode out the bumpy ride of the truck. It's never easy leaving them.

We headed out for Park City UT for Jen to see one of her good friends over night. We traveled through Wyoming the majority of the way. It is gorgeous country for sure. The flat plains are amazing. You can see forever. It then transitions into rocky plateaus and buttes. It then further changes into what looks like the formations we saw in the Badlands. Simply breath taking.

We had a huge challenge finding a place to stay tonight. There is some sort of bicycle event this weekend that they are preparing for. I'm sure if we had googled Park City, we'd have read about it. We weren't really planning on Park City, but more Salt Lake which is just up the road. Oh well, we have a place to stay. But true to our black cloud form, Cass asked for a double room and we were told we got the last room they had. When we opened the door, it's a single double bed. When I went back up front to ask, they said "Oh no, we're sorry. The handicap rooms only have a single double bed, and that's all we have." Needless to say, she's sleeping on a roll away tonight.

Tomorrow we climb in the car to head for Crater Lake. As soon as we get on the road, we'll be trying to coordinate a place to sleep. It's somewhat out in the boonies, so I'm not really sure what we'll find. It's a 12 hour trip from where we are now, so it's going to be another long day in the car.

We're meeting Jen's friend and eating breakfast with her in the morning. They had a short hello/goodbye exchange, but a little bit of friendship time is better than none! They had met when Jen worked out here as a wilderness counselor. Oh the stories that job inspired. The best one was when the camper decided the best way to get to go home was to injure a staffer. One guess on which staffer she chose to injure?? Yup, you guessed it - Jennifer! She threw a baseball sized rock at Jen's head on her very first trip out on her new job. Fortunately she wasn't injured, but that's a story we NEVER told Eleanor about until after she came home from Utah. She'd have insisted that we go get Jen and bring her home ASAP. Just one of Jen's black could events. There are numerous to tell, but that's another blog/book!

Since tomorrow is a long day, I'll close here. We had an interesting day of arguing in the car over silly things, farting/burping contests, and picture taking at 85 mph. We made good memories vs. broken down car horror stories. Here's to hoping tomorrow holds the same!

Griswalds ain't got nutin' on the McCanns! August 3, 2015

Fifty five hours into our vacation, and we've had quite the ride. The first phone call we got from the dealership about the car was reasonably good news. The electrical issues we were having was caused by the alternator. Tony had just replaced it Friday before we left. He bought it from a local auto store, so it not being the best quality was understandable. All they had to do was replace the alternator and that was fixed. They started diagnosing the other issues from there.

Around 4:30 we got the call. In Tony's discussion with the guy that called, Tony asked him how he was doing. They guy answered "Better than your truck". We knew it wasn't going to be a pleasant call. The list of necessary repairs was long, but worse yet, was going to take a considerable amount of time to fix. The head gasket is blown, the turbo is out, and the pinion seal is leaking. It will take anywhere between 10 days to two weeks to repair.

We purchased a warranty on the truck a while back that had a mileage cap on it. At the end of this trip, that mileage cap would have been met. Since we had this issue now, the costs associated with the large majority of the repairs will be covered. That's about the only good news to come out of all these challenges. Tony will be driving a nearly brand new truck home when it all gets done.

We will be renting a car for the next phase of the vacation. We were supposed to leave at 8 in the morning for Salt Lake. That won't be happening. The repairs have to be validated with the warranty company before they'll approve the repairs and our rental car. Not entirely sure when that will take place. We're hoping it's tomorrow, but then again with the way these things seem to go, it could take longer. It's a good thing we love spending time with the Aunts!

The interesting piece of this whole nightmare is that before we left Friday, I looked at Tony and said, "Ok, you replaced all this stuff and added in all this new things, so what could possibly go wrong with it?" Never, and I mean NEVER, ask those sorts of stupid questions. The answers are sure to follow.

While the gas issue I had didn't have anything to do with these problems we're having now, I think it served a great purpose. When I was the one to cause the gas issue, everyone in the car said a prayer of thanks that it wasn't them that did it. I have a fairly fiery temper and sharp tongue to go with it. I truly believe that God was teaching me to hold my temper because shit happens and many times there is nothing that can be done about it. It's not anyone in particular's fault or responsibility. The gas issue was just the calm before the storm. I learned my lesson and have held it together fairly well through these mechanical issues.

I'm about to start looking at the plan to start developing plan B. The entire trip we'll have the looming question of when the truck will be ready. Cassidi starts back to school August 19th. She has to be back by then. If all else fails, she'll catch a plane back. Jennifer and I are supposed to be back for work on the 18th. I guess if worse comes to worse, we can create some wiggle room there. I told Tony that we'd three catch a plane back and he could drive back when it's ready. He didn't like that plan. The only thing I can think to do is just let go of the "what ifs" and do our best to enjoy the "right now". This trip sure has put my stress management and yoga skills to the test. Deep breaths... One foot in front of the other... Find the happy place...

If you want coke, ask for coke! August 2, 2015

Today has been a much better day. For one, being out of that truck has been glorious!! We didn't have to check on battery warning lights, drive without a speedometer, or worry if we had the right gas. We didn't have to adjust our pillows and blankets trying to find just the right spot to catch a few minutes of shut eye. We didn't have to drive aimlessly for hours on end!

Today was a day for enjoying family and catching up with Tony's sweet Aunts. Aunts Maxine and Earnesteen are some pretty cool people. And of course, so are Uncles Jack and Fred. It's always great catching up with them and seeing how life has been treating them since the last time we were together.

Being Irish, alcohol runs in their veins and we had to have cocktail hour. They offered Cass her choice, and she decided on rum and coke. Aunt Maxine doesn't believe in doing anything half way and the rum may have outweighed the coke by a bit. Cass cringed slightly when taking the first swig and immediately was told "If you want coke, ask for coke!" We all died laughing. That's Aunt Maxine - no holds barred. Love that woman!!

We have come up with a plan of Tony taking the truck to the Ford dealership here early tomorrow morning. We're hoping for nothing but good news! It did run fine around the city today, albeit we only went a total of 20 miles or so. Maybe all the kinks worked themselves out over night and tomorrow will be nothing but smiles and high fives.

The crew is exhausted. They were all in bed sleeping by 9:15. I thought I better get caught up on blogs while I had a chance. Tomorrow is another day of rest, and we'll gladly take it. We're going to need to play some catch up as Tuesday we get back to the mad dash vacation.

Disaster strikes - August 1, 2015

(I wrote this after getting back on the road)

Well, as luck would have it, the wheels on the bus came off our trip about 3:30 a.m. We were just outside of St. Louis when I stopped to get gas before our MO pic (the girls decided to take a body letter making pic for each state sign) and switching drivers. As fate churned, I mistakenly put regular gas into the diesel truck. I had three signs I had the right pump, but in hindsight, I also had three that it wasn't. Bottom line, it was the wrong thing, and I unknowingly killed the truck. Nine hours and $600 later, we're back on the road. We're doing our best to make up ground and stay on track, but that's to be seen. MidAdventure McCanns - that is our family motto!

(update)

Tony had asked us to start a journal that stays in his truck to document the trip. We all laughed a bit because he was so excited about it. The funny part is that it's a journal that he made out of leather. He's a leather nut, but the look of excitement on his face when he told us was priceless. He didn't like us laughing at him, so I agreed to update it.

When we stopped in at the MO welcome center, I decided to correct the bad luck we were having by finding a four leaf clover. I've always been able to find them and have had fairly good luck in life. I even have one tattooed on my foot with all of our initials in each leaf. I'm a firm believer in their luck generating capabilities!

No sooner did I finish the journal entry and put the four leaf clover in the back of the journal, and I looked up to see traffic at a dead stop ahead of us. Tony was somewhat of a zombie from lack of sleep from our interesting night and wasn't paying attention. I let out a screech and he fortunately was able to lock down the breaks in time without hitting them. My heart was pounding, and I had more than my tired body could take. Everyone in the car was discussing their reaction to the near accident. It was somewhat funny (for example Cass said she thought she crapped her pants), but no humor could stave off the meltdown that burst out of my body.

I think the lack of sleep, peri-menopausal PMS, and just too many things going wrong in too short of a period of time mounted into a full on sobfest for me. I had cried the night before when Tony wasn't as kind as he could have been initially when I killed the truck. But this was a whole new level of tears gushing from my eyeballs. I couldn't stop them. And then I just wanted it to be over. The WHOLE TRIP!! I begged them to just stop and put me on a plane home. I had endured enough and just wanted OUT of that truck.

Fortunately, I came to my senses, moved to the back seat, and got in a nap. I woke up with a better frame of mind and didn't insist on the plane ride home. I didn't return to the front seat again until the very last leg of the trip last night coming into Denver. The truck started experiencing some electrical difficulties after the gas situation was corrected. The dashboard would just lose power and all the gauges would drop to zero and the battery light came on. Tony messed around with it a bit and we diagnosed the problem as being all the gadgets we had plugged in pulling too much electricity off the battery. We did various things to try and correct it, but each time it would happen again. When we pulled in to the hotel, there was a horrible smell coming from the engine. We had no idea what that was, but decided to sleep on it.

In my planning, I had allocated 26 hours for a 22 hour google map estimate. It only took us 36! The fortunate piece is that our plan may not have to change if we can get the truck issues resolved. We'll see how that goes come Monday. Our hope is that every bad piece of luck seems to have struck in this 36 hours. We're hoping it's done with us! Maybe I'll just go out and pick every dang four leaf clover in Denver to make sure of it.

NorthWest Adventure - July 31, 2015

(I wrote this in a journal Friday evening as we were heading out)

Our trip originated as Jen's 30th birthday celebration. Well, before that it was about picking up Aunt Maxine's moose collection she gave Tony. I made Jen pick the route and attractions that we'd visit. She took a chapter out of the over achieving sampler tour we took in 2003. We crammed in more than was imaginable that trip. I think we may just out do even that crazy feat.

The logistics of scheduling this trip were a tad more challenging this time. Jen was 17 and Cass 8 then. We only had Tony and my work to consider. This time, we had to take into account Tony's London travels, Jen's work, Cass' college, and my new business. Picking a date proved rather difficult. We settled on the end of July into August. Jen kept waffling on the date to leave, but we finally got it settled.

In trying to determine what vehicle to take on the trip, I knew immediately we would NOT be buying or renting an RV like last time. We looked into renting a van, but they wouldn't let Cass drive due to her age. None of those options worked out, so we decided on taking the truck. Of course Tony needed to "tune up" lots of things - in addition to buying new gadgets like a back up camera. He always makes sure to collect a few toys on these adventures. Let's hope there is no need for any new tools on this trip however!

While the monster truck is rather large, we knew space was going to be an issue. Especially when Cassidi takes three bags to spend one night. We quickly came up with a bag limit, of which we knew she'd break anyway. The girls wanted to take camping gear and again I immediately said no way! We definitely won't have time to find a site, set up, and break down each day. Plus driving non-stop is going to make our bodies feel like crap. Sleeping in a soft bed and having a hot shower the next morning is going to feel much better than the hard ground. I haven't made all the reservations as yet, but I know which locations need hotels.

I did break out the anal retentive, vacation Nazi and created a spreadsheet for our travels. I wanted everyone to sign it like a contract to commit to the plan and not waver half way through. I know my clan well. We'll get to the top corner of WA and they'll poop out. Needless to say, no one signed it!

All the planning and packing and scheduling has come to a close. If we forgot it, we'll just have to buy it new - whatever that may be. The first leg is visiting the Aunts in Denver (and picking up the moose collection!) We're driving straight through. We're only 3.5 hours in, and I'm ready to be there already. Should be a blast!!

Deputy McCann

To start our vacation off with a bang, we headed to Richmond to see Cassidi graduate from the 9 week Sheriff's Academy she participated in this summer. She did things like weapons week, chemical day, physical training, and defensive driving. She learned a significant amount of information and gained numerous skills.

She's now read to work in the jails of Henrico County. She'll be doing two 12 hour shifts a week. It will be interesting to see how all of that works out with her school schedule. I'm thinking she's going to be grumpy for a few years! She's definitely a person that needs her sleep. But she should be able to save enough money to pay for her second year of her masters program. That's the goal anyway!

In addition to this 40 hour a week program, she took three full credit college classes, of which she made three As. She was on a roll this summer and filled her weekends becoming a raft guide on the James River. We're super proud of her hard work and tenacity to survive such a grueling couple of months.

The drive to Richmond is 9 hours round trip. It was an extremely late night in which we didn't get home until 3:00 am. It wasn't the best plan to tie our vacation so closely with her graduation, but we only had a brief window of opportunity before her fall semester. It's hard to believe she'll be finished with her undergraduate degree in the spring. Time simply flies.

We're ready to enjoy some down time with her. It is very funny to hear the things coming out of her mouth related to law enforcement. We are going to have to get used to the fact she's growing up and will one day be able to arrest us! 

Day one of our vacation was pretty successful.