Home Sweet Home

I know I promised some profound words to sum up the trip but at this point all I can say is "Wow." It's great to be home but I think we all miss the adventure that each day on the road provided. It all worked out so well that I'm not sure I would change much of anything. Having almost all of our rooms booked for the first 3/4 of the trip worked out very well. However, leaving the last several stops unbooked allowed us some flexibility we would otherwise not have had. The books on CD/tape were great for the kids. For those of you who said we were crazy to do it without a DVD player all I can say is "neener, neener, nee-ner." We were right, it was uncessary and would have been more of a distraction. One of the books on CD they listened to was 7 1/2 hours long. Hard to find a DVD to match that unless they are gonna watch Roots. I wish I had done a better job tracking the cash I spent. The only problem with the fact that I did not is that I don't know what we spent on food/souvenirs/entrance fees, etc. All the gas and hotels were on the credit card so they are easier to track. All in all it only cost us a little more than the 6 days/5 nights we spent at DisneyWorld last year. And this time every thing we saw was real, not a recreation of something real. A pretty good deal I think and a far better value. Thanks to all for following along with us and for all your comments on the blog.

Day 23 - Another change in plans

This morning we got out of the hotel just before 10am and were at Oceans of Fun, KC's water park, by 11. What a blast! We spent over two hours on the slides, in the pools, you name it, getting wet! By a little after 1 we left and went for lunch. Coulda ate at Gates BBQ (if you know - you know) but the kids vetoed. Since I'd eaten Q twice the day before I gave in. Bummer. Especially since we then spent nearly an hour driving around, stopping at a AAA recommendation that had closed. Even though we had returned to the highway and taken another exit we ended up looping back by Gates! Eventually we stoppedat an A&W. The kids got their burger and dog (Miles, Emma respectively) and Eve and I had some double cheesburgers. Only our 3rd fast food stop in 23 days. A Burger King in Idaho and an In and Out Burger in Nevada.
If you will recall from yesterday's installment we had still not found a room in St Louis. And that was still the case just after 3pm today, finishing lunch at the A&W on the outskirts of Kansas City. At this point we had a family discussion and agreed to skip St. Louis and make the 9 hour drive to Yellow Springs. I'm sure a trip up the arch would have been fun but after all that we had seen and experienced over the previous 3 weeks we decided it could wait until another time. Eve drove the day shift and I the night. We pulled in about 2:16am EDT. First appearance in this time zone in 22 days. Miles slept the last 4 1/2 hours or so. Emma the last 20 minutes! They are all snug in their own beds right now and I'm sitting here at the computer, typing away, with a Westmalle Tripel. After over 6,380 miles I was ready for it.
After a good nights sleep I'll probably put up another post with some more reflections on the trip. Check it out 'cause I'm sure I'll throw in some "lessons learned" elements. Handy for sure when you decide to do the same thing. If you dare. ;-) But mainly just a few thoughts on the experience. To give you a hint I'll tell you this - I think it will go down as a trip to remember, and I mean that in the best way. I'm pretty sure it will not go down as "The Trip From Hell!"
On the way back I started planning the Southern Loop tour, coming to a city near you (Thatis, if y'all might live in the Virginas, Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and maybe even back to Missouri to visit St Louis). Or perhaps we'll take the Northeast by storm. But, I think we'll need to rest first.

Tha' be some f-i-i-i-i-i-i-ne Bar-B-Que!

Well, as expected, my motion for touring the Oklahoma National Stockyards went down to an overwhelming defeat. Instead we drove through the old Bricktown nieghborhood and saw their very nice minor league ballpark as we drove by. Then it was up to Lincoln Park to visit the Science Museum at the Omniplex. It was a very cool, hands on, science museum where we saw optical illusions, mirror tricks, balancing tests, color experiments and many other fascinating wonders. We split the museum at 1pm to head for KCMO, aka Kansas City, Missouri. On the way out of Oklahoma we saw a single sign for Oklahoma’s Best BBQ. One sign, just before the exit. We thought that was a good sign (as opposed to some places that put out literally hundreds of signs, probably because their food sucks!) and although suspicious of such lofty claims we decided to check it out. Not for all of us to go in because it wasn’t really “mealtime.” But how can you pass that up? I went it and checked out the menu. Instantly, the place had a good feel about it. They had a pulled pork sandwich but this is beef country so I opted for a sliced brisket sandwich with a side of hot and a side of mild and fries. It was to-go so I grabbed it, got in the car and we hit the road. Oh my. Oh my oh my oh my. This is some fiiiiiiiine BBQ. Emma, Eve and myself shared the brisket and we were all just blown away by how good it was, especially with the sauce. What a find! I think the place was called Johnny’s Original Rib House or something like that. I’ll be looking into it later. One reason we only got one sandwich was a) it was not meal time and b) a major part of the days plan was a visit to the world famous Arthur Bryant’s BBQ in Kansas City. Still, it left us yearning for more. But it was of to KC. We arrived here about 6:30pm and drove straight to Bryant’s. Yummm. Sliced pork for me, and Eve and the kids split some sausage and a long end of ribs. All was fantastic. The kids were less than thrilled with the place but ate OK. The sausage was interesting as it was sliced in long segments. Very tasty though. The place was moderately busy and we were in and out in 45 minutes or so. Our room tonight is pretty high end, the Hyatt Crown Center. I booked it this morning from Oklahoma City. Was going to book St. Louis tonight but it looks like the hotels are filled up. Time for Plan B. Any suggestions?
BTW I'm not posting pics tonight but I'll try and get some up tomorrow.

Day 21 - Cadillac Ranch

Today we left Albuquerque for Oklahoma City. Our last really big drive of the trip, nearly 8 hours long. Despite that we still didn't leave Bob and Kay's until 11am. I'll just have to chalk that up to the fact that they are such wonderful hosts! Despite the late departure AND losing an hour crossing into CDT, we still made it to the Western edge of Oklahoma City about 9:15pm local time. And I attribute the short commute to some of the most boring and attraction free landscape we have seen to date. New Mexico wasn't bad and Oklahoma was suprisingly rather attractive. But the Texas panhandle is a vast expanse of nothingness as far as the eye can see and that's pretty damn far! It did however provide us with a single, world famous roadside attraction, the Cadillac Ranch, just west of Amarillo, TX. Exit #60 to the service road, and walk out into the dirt field to see 10 Cadillacs ranging from a 1949 Club Coupe to a 1963 Sedan half buried in the dirt. I just learned today that in 1997 it was moved about two miles west of it's original location to avoid the sprawl around Amarillo. Tomorrow we hope to take in an attraction or two in downtown Oklahoma City. Unfortunately my vote of a tour of the Oklahoma National Stockyards will probably not make the cut. Stay tuned!

Day 20 - Father's Day in Albuquerue

Opting not to drive on Father's Day we extended our stay in Albuquerque to spend Father's Day at Bob & Kay's. Eve and the kids gave me this very cool rock coaster. After meeting their daughter Deb, her husband Sean and their daughter Allie we all headed out to take the tram to the top of Sandia Peaks at 10,378 feet above sea level. We all survived without incident! After that we returned to their home for an excellent dinner. We all hit the hay a little early (around midnight!) to prepare ourselves for the 8 hour drive to Oklahoma City on Monday.

Day 19 - Santa Fe

This morning we awoke well rested in Albuquerque and after a nice breakfast on Bob and Kay's patio we drove into downtown Albuquerque. There we had "second breakfast" at the Frontier Restaurant, a place that Eve used to frequent during her stay in Albuquerque some 25 years ago. After that we visited a movie memoribilia shop operated by one of Eve's old boyfriends from Gallup. I think he was a little surprised! At the store I came across a VHS copy of Carnival of Souls and Eve got it for me as an early Father's Day present. Can't wait to watch it! Then we drove up to Sante Fe. Sante Fe, the capital of New Mexico, is one of the oldest cities in the US and contains the oldest known house in the US. It is very arts oriented and the main square downtown, over 400 years old, is surrounded by a myriad of art galleries, restaurants and gift shops. We took all of that in and then had a great little meal at the Blue Corn Cafe. After that it was back to Albuquerque where I sit now, trying to catch up on blogging.

Day 18 - Grand Canyon to Albuquerque

We slept in a little so we just took the bus back to Yavapai Observation Point to see the canyon from the same physical point but at a different time of day. As you might expect, it looked somewhat different. Then it was back to the lodge to pack up and hit the road. The drive to Albuquerque was a little over six and a half hours, farther than we had driven in one day for quite a while. And to add to that we added a little bit of a scenic route to see a portion of the Painted Desert. That proved to be worthwhile as the two major attraction of the day were on that route. The first was the Tusayan Ruins and museum about 22 miles east of the park entrance. There was a small museum and a short hike to see the ruins of a village inhabited by Anasazi Indians in the 1100's. It was about a 20 minute stop and Eve spotted a 3 or 4 foot gopher snake in the ruins. See picture. Down the road from there was stopped at Desert View where there was a 70 foot watchtower built in 1930 to mimic the towers built by the Anasazi. We climbed to the top where were were treated to a spectacular view of the Grand Canyon on one side and the Painted Desert on the other. From there we began the long drive to Albuquerque where we would meet, for the first time, our first cousins once removed, Bob and Kay Sturm. We arrived around 9pm, a little behind schedule, to a very warm welcome from Bob and Kay. We all sat around for a while before Eve and the kids went to bed and I sat up for another hour or so with Bob and Kay. On the way through Arizona we saw this really cool arrowhead cloud pointing our way Albuquerque.