Day 8: Hanover, NH

Today Sam had to go to classes and I took Jenny in to Miller VW in Lebanon to check on that little shake on the left. After chatting cordially with the service manager, the assistant service manager and the mechanic ... Slow day at the VW dealership... I was given a ride back to the hotel by a semi-charming older gentleman driver bent on letting me in on the favorite spots "here 'round". It was a rainy day so I caught up on email and started reading "Broken". Lunch was a delicious pb&j, doritos, hot tea with a divine finish of fudge covered Oreos. (happy smile). The car wasn't supposed to be done until 5:00 (left wheel bearing needed replacing) so imagine my delight when I got a call at 2:30 telling me Jenny was ready to roll. Another ride back to the dealership, this time driven by a young 24 year old Honda car enthusiast, college drop out, living with his girlfriend, hoping to become self supporting so they can move out of his parents home. Oh, yes, he used to work at NPR in Concord.

After another conversation with the assistant manager - who loves motorcycle racing and is sporting a lovely scar, broken ribs, and steel pins and bolts... I am headed out by 3:30 to grab the last tank of gas for the trip.

Total gallons used: 122.9
Total miles traveled: 3226
Average cost per gallon: $3.67

That's a few hours spent at the wheel! One day here in Hanover before I head back to California. Looking forward to seeing "The Importance of Being Earnest" live broadcast from Broadway. They have the best activities at Dartmouth! Good evening to you all.

Day 7: Syracuse, NY to Hanover, NH: 315 miles

Hello everyone, this is Patricia, Sam doesn't yet have wi-fi at her new house for the summer - housemate Katie is remedying the problem. Alleluia! Anyway, there won't be any photos just yet... Sam will probably edit tomorrow.

We slept well, got up a bit late and hit the road at 8:30. It was drizzling and we knew we were in for a wet day. We jumped on I-90 with Sam at the helm, making our way to Oneida, NY for gasoline and Starbucks hot chocolate and an asiago bagel. We had no "gee, look at that" stops today, sigh... I really liked all the odd sights we snapped photos of over the last week. Sam was eager to get to her new place , set up her room, and see her friends. Oh, yeah, and pick up her books for classes that start tomorrow!

We turned off the interstate, headed up NY, crossed VT, lunched in Rutland and came to rest just off campus around 3:00 p.m. There was one little detour up I-89, but we needn't dwell upon that ... Do we??

We got boxes out of storage, lugged them up two flights of stairs and worked up a good sweat. Then it was off to the Sunset Motel to get a room for me, TJMaxx for double bed sheets, Chili's for dinner, ending with a quick trip to meet Ellie Claire and bestow upon her the receiving blankets Sam and I had made for her. She is quite personable and oh, so very, very, very cute. Only 2 months old and holding herself up well. Oh, yes, we did chat with her lovely parents Andy & Jess too. :).

The whole trip seems long and yet so short. I would like to do it again but with more time to wander off the interstates. Thank goodness for the photos, otherwise we'd both have a hard time remembering the order of things. The highlight was probably the Arch in St. Louis. We had a gorgeous day at Niagara Falls; but that giant easel was cool, the Rockies were magnificent, Utah had incredible landscape, Kansas in the bright sunshine made us smile, Indiana, Truckhenge, Illinois, Ohio, a giant gavel, Missouri, New York, Mike the Headless Chicken, Vermont, New Hampshire... I believe we racked up over 3200 miles. We'll get a total tomorrow. WE MADE IT!!! And though we are tired and still slightly vibrating from the continuous hours spent in the car, we are happy. Good night from Hanover.

Day 6: Strongsville, OH to Syracuse, NY: 393 miles

We had a great breakfast at the McPherson's (Aunt Renee, Uncle Rob and Cousin Bailey who just graduated from high school.) and headed out.  We left around 7:30 a.m. and I (quickly) passed out in the car, for about 3 hours. And once I woke up it was a struggle to stay awake - I was a bit narcoleptic. Good thing we were almost to our destination.

We made it to Niagara Falls, (NY side, as Sam forgot her passport at school...sigh) around noon - parked, walked over to the falls, jumped on the Maid of the Mist (no wait, and the boat was pretty empty). Got wet- went down to the Cave of the Wind (no cave, but a lot of wind, many stairs) got even more wet, (those yellow rain coats should be a bit longer... my shorts were soaked to mid-thigh - just thought I'd mention that since, no doubt, there are marketing/PR people following this blog who will remedy this oversight...ha ah.  Also, could we work on a little more fashion tailoring for upcoming seasons of Maid of the Mist rain gear?  Just sayin' they could be just a LITTLE more figure flattering) got ice cream, walked back to the car, got some souvenirs on the way and drove to Syracuse. We took the longest toll road in America in NY (I-90) and stopped for some great  pizza. (Isn't it amazing how scrumptious a food can be when you're in the right mood?)

We checked into our last hotel, transferred the ice chest for the next to the last time and enjoyed complimentary warm chocolate chip cookies in our room.  We Skyped with home (miss the boys), watched a re-run of NCIS, reviewed the photos from the day...ahhh,  can life be better?  I submit that it cannot.  Only five and a half hours more on this cross country trip... it doesn't seem like it was that long ago we drove out of our driveway in Ventura.  But 2900 miles have already passed under out behinds.  Whew! Good Ride.
Hanover tomorrow!!

Day 5: Indianapolis, IN to Strongsville, OH: 306 miles

The day started out absolutely crazy! As we left the hotel to drive around downtown Indianapolis, it started to pour. Actually, pouring is an understatement. I don't know that I have ever been in rain that crazy. Plus we saw lightening every 10 seconds, many of which were directly followed by thunder. We got on the interstate and it didn't let up for a good three hours. It was a bit scary and I'm glad Mom was driving. It was really hard to see our the windshield and the wipers were goin full speed.


We made a few stops in Columbus - Largest Mortarboard and Largest Gavel

Then made it to Strongsville to visit my dad's brother and his family. It was good catching up - had a great dinner and dessert. Took a walk around the block and sat out on the porch. The rain cleared up and it was a beautiful evening.

2 more days! Niagara Falls tomorrow and then spending the night in Syracuse, then onto Hanover!

Day 4: Kansas City, MO to Indianapolis, IN: 525 miles

Whew! We're getting close!

We left Kansas City this morning around 7:30 am and drove straight to Saint Louis, MO. We got there at 11:30 and found a GREAT parking spot - so great that it is worth mentioning here haha We spent 2 hours in Saint Louis all at Jefferson Western Expansion Memorial National Park. The arch was pretty amazing, we spent some time in the visitor center/gift shop/museum that is located under the arch and then took the north elevator up and the south elevator down. The elevator system was installed in the 70s and consists of a string of little (literally, 4ft tall and 4ft wide) 5 person pods that are able to go up the curved sides of the arch. The view from the top was gorgeous as well. To mom's pleasure, I completed the Junior Ranger badge. I had to explain myself slightly to the rangers, as 13 is the highest listed age, but after saying that I've been doing them since I was 10, they were happy to give me a badge.




We drove from Saint Louis to Indianapolis with only a few stops. We saw a large Dinosaur that breathed fire, the world's largest cross in Effingham, IL (the crossroads of America) and a large bowling pin in Terre Haute, IL and ended our day in  Indianapolis, IN where we had the best dinner.






So, today we crossed 2 more state lines, crossed yet another (and final) time zone, crossed the Missouri River (twice) and the Mississippi (both of which have an insane amount of water in them). On to Strongsville, OH tomorrow to visit my aunt, uncle and cousin!

Also: I was driving when we came to this intersection. Can anyone tell me - I wanted to take the I-70 East. Tell me which way I should have gone! I still cannot figure this out!!

This one was just threatening

Patricia's comments:  Last night was CRAZY with lightening, thunder, rain and wind.... thought we were going to have to park ourselves in Kansas City as there was no way I was going to challenge that kind of chaos.  All Praise to the various gods who convened during the early morning hours to clear the skies so we could enjoy a beautiful day in St. Louis.  (burnt offerings to follow) Our hotel tonight is practically attached to IUPUI - love Priceline, but this location is downright odd...  We lost yet ANOTHER hour to shifting time zones and found ourselves checking in at 8:30 pm and while Sam was ok, I was in dire need of food.... NOW.  How fortunate the hotel had a little bar/grill that had killer food! Fish tacos to die for!!  AND we got to watch The Miss USA Pageant.... ("my favorite past times are manicures, space exploration, rifle shooting, shuffleboard .... and world peace...") pahahaha   Have we mentioned that we're getting 29-30 mpg!?

We did see flooding of many fields throughout IL and IN. The Mississippi was flooding near the park that the arch is on. There was quite a bit that was underwater (steps, docks etc).  More rain and thunderstorms coming this way - I just ache for the losses these folks are experiencing.  Looking forward to seeing Rob, Renee and Bailey tomorrow... I think we've got the World's Largest Mortarboard to see also!  Goodnight all and thanks for keeping us in your thoughts.

Day 3: Limon, CO to Kansas City, MO: 542 miles

Sorry for the short message yesterday - we were both tired and just headed to bed- all the time zone crossing has us a bit off.

Today's been my favorite day thus far - Kansas is absolutely gorgeous! We stopped and saw the world's largest easel (with Van Gogh's Sunflowers displayed). (plm: I daresay they give the original a run for it's money... haha) Our next stop wasn't until Topeka - where we saw Fire Hydrant Garden and Truckhenge (which was closed - bummer- but we got the idea)

We continued on to Kansas City, MO which was AWESOME. This is my favorite city, possibly ever (after Ventura and Hanover of course). The downtown was gorgeous, a big city but not overwhelming - gonna do some research on it, definitely a post grad option? We will see... Sights to behold there were the Kansas City library that is painted to look like a shelf of books. plm: Phenomenal - great titles listed, quite highbrow.  Of course we HAD to see the World's Largest Shuttlecocks (badminton birdies) at the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum... pop art at its finest.  Service, anyone?

We had dinner at Fritz's- there you order your food by the phone which is in the booth and then a model train carries your food in a basket above the tables and then the food delivered to your table- it was very entertaining. plm: Actually the most entertaining part was watching the table of 7 kids aged 5-8 watching every train, sighing when it wasn't theirs and then cheering when their order arrived... super smile producing.

We crossed 2 more state lines (bring the total to 6), crossed into another time zone and we're almost over the Mississippi River! Tomorrow is Saint Louis ,MO and the Arch and then onto Indianapolis. plm: we are making great headway in completing our list of license plates... got one today I've never seen: Guam! Sam only "lost" one thing in the car today... items over the last few days have included: my camera, her camera, my iPod, her phone, the charging cord, etc... you get the idea, eh?  Not really lost, but, um, misplaced temporarily.

Day 2: Richfield, UT to Limon, CO 556 miles

Hello everyone, this is Patricia... Sam is still looking up sights to see for our foray into the Land of Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz (Kansas for those of you not catching the heavy handed literary allusion). Our day started out chilly but clear; we headed out towards Denver. We stopped to see the Tale of Mike the Headless Chicken in Fruita, alas we discovered only a metal sculpture... We documented that. We DID find a really cool Dinosaur Van (see photo)and that made us smile.

Next up we viewed the Salt Flats... Idiots, uh, brave pioneers settled and eked out a bare existence there before wising up and moving along to arable parts of the country. We found the buffalo sculpture made out of chrome car bumpers in Grand Junction, CO.... Would like to spend some time there. We ate out of our well stocked cooler - turkey and provolone, chips and pickles. Yum.

We pushed on through the Rockies (Sam driving) in the rain, construction, lots of 18 wheelers and broken down vehicles. She saw the Continental Divide, I was taking a nap. We stopped to get a quick peek at Buffalo Bill Cody's grave and then into Denver for quick pics of Mile High Stadium and the Capitol Building. I was a spoilsport and we didn't get out to wander around... Will hear about that for many a year I've no doubt. Sorry Sam

The rain persisted in an unrelenting and most inhospitable manner dogging us until we came to rest here in Limon. We are beat and are hitting the hay to prepare for our day tomorrow. Will add photos another day... They'll be worth the wait. That buffalo is really shiny and cool. Good Night all!

Day 1: Ventura to Richfield, UT: 11 hrs, 611 miles

The longest day is over! We got Jenny (my car) all packed up and left Ventura at 8:30am and headed to Las Vegas. Mom drove the first 300 miles (of which I only slept for 2 hrs) and I drove the second 300 miles. We arrived in Fairfield, UT at 830pm (Mountain Time)

We made it to Vegas without stopping and filled up with gas- Mom drover her 300 miles on 10 gallons! I was impressed, I am not that consistent of a driver. We switched drivers after we got outside of Vegas

We passed the World's Largest Thermometer in Baker, CA and a pair of Prospecting Twins in Jean, NV. From there we traveled the world as we drove down the Las Vegas Strip (including my favorite- M&M world).

We continued on and waved at the Virgin River in Mesquite, NV, a hotel that will always be near and dear to our hearts. We stayed there on our way to and from Lake Powell for many summers. We drove through the Virgin River Gorge which had a fair amount of water in it for this time of the year. Next, in Cedar City, UT we saw a landlocked lighthouse. 

We then swung by Southern Utah Univ and found a cool rotunda dedicated to great historical figures. I'm pictured with my man- Socrates (Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventures anyone?). We stopped around 6:30 for diner in Beaver, UT. Mom said no chain restaurants so we ate at Timberland Cafe which turned out to be very good and not expensive. Mom had a french dip and I had, an always delicious, queso.




As we arrived at the hotel- look who pulled up!! Just for you Dad :)

11 hours, 611 miles, 4 states and from 50 degrees to 107 degrees - we made it! To our first hotel that is...

Tomorrow is a shorter day- drivin' from here to Denver, CO for some sight seeing and then onto Limon, CO where we'll stay the night. It's only a 550 mile day...

Till then!

Pat's comments: As previously noted, I was good, so I get to make some additions to the blog (gleeful smile) Ah, roadtrip!  Loving the adventure and the company.  I'm thoroughly caught up on all Glee songs and mashups :) I loved watching the familiar landscape go by, tomorrow will bring new territory for Sam and I.  Right now, quite frankly, my body is still vibrating from the long hours of road travel on 4 hours of sleep ... think of those lovely hours after an all-night term paper writing session - eh?  Looking forward to a long sleep in an nice cool room - I have direly warned Sam against the ill advised sin of snoring. I believe I can rely on her good sense of courtesy. Absolutely loved the lighthouse in the middle of nowhere and the rotunda - who knew there was culture in southern Utah?!?! pahaha

Getting Ready

Wooo! We leave tomorrow! We've been busily checking the car, planning out our route, looking at odd things to see along the way and searching for deals on hotels. I wanted to stay at KOA's in cabins but Mom insisted on staying on hotels. I think she said something about wanting a hot shower and a comfy bed?

We're starting the morning of Thursday, June 16th and driving about 600 miles the first day to Richfield, UT. It's a road we've taken many times. As Dad likes to point out, we usually sleep the whole way. So we're going to get some miles out of the way from the beginning.

We're armed with books and maps, flares and traffic triangles, extended AAA towing and a first aid kit. As Dad likes to say (well to be fair, I think he said it once or twice) Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance. I learned how to work a car jack and change a tire as well as a review on how to check the oil and jump-start a car.

We're both really excited! Still have a lot of packing to do (food and clothes)

More to come later!