Merica Road Trippin ! Chapter 1 Red Solo Cup

 We just got back from a 10-Day road trip.  4,757 miles.  The next few upcoming chapters will highlight our stops along the way.  

When I was a kid, we never took vacations and very rarely went anywhere other than the corner bar.  My parents did take a road trip once to Springfield, Illinois.  All I really remember about that trip was the motel had a swimming pool, it was hot, and it was where I learned how to swim.  

Back in those days, things were different. You drank out of the garden hose, the sliding boards at the park were made out of steel, and you rode your bike wherever you wanted to go as long as you were home by the time the streetlights came on.  You even went swimming by yourself in the motel swimming pool.  

Only problem was I didn't know how to swim!  I made the mistake of jumping into the pool on the deep end.  Panic set in when I realized the water was way over my head and I had gotten in on the wrong end.  Then out of nowhere a hand grabbed me and a voice said It's ok, I got you.  He helped me reach the side of the pool where I could grab onto the edge.  He was a teenager and much older than me.  We spent the day in the pool and with his help I learned how to swim that day.  I only wish I could remember his name.  Without his help, I maybe wouldn't be sitting here writing this today.  I don't think I ever told him thank you.  Perhaps it was some sort of divine intervention.

As an adult, vacations and road trips have always been on the agenda with my kids and grandkids, we have logged a few miles.   

Now that I'm retired, there are a few things that are on the so-called bucket list.  The nice thing about it is since I no longer punch the time clock, we can go about a road trip on our own schedule.

My Daughter-in-law (Kristine) is from Oregon, The plan was to take her and the grandkids Adalynn, Riley, and Lucas and do a Drive-by and Drop-off at her parent house just outside of Portland. Carol and I would then drive back home, hitting some key destinations along the way. So we loaded up the Acadia.  More like stuffed it and set off on a three-day road trip to get Kristine to her parents. Unfortunately, Ryan's (my son) job was keeping him home this year.

Three kids, Three adults, Car seats, Blankets, Snacks, Drinks, Surprises, Luggage, Coolers, Electronics it was kinda like flying coach on Southwest accept in today's travel environment we were probably going to get there sooner!  So I know what you're already thinking it was total mayhem right.  Actually, it went tremendously smooth. Being blessed with diminished hearing, I have always been able to zone out the rear seat.  I told NaNa once, it's like I'm driving one of those old limos where you have a window between you and the passengers.

Flying coach with NaNa & PaPa you get more than just peanuts in flight

So when it comes to Road trips, some things are very important I would probably put the top three as Snacks, Music, Maps

Snacks-What's your number one snack on a Road trip?  Mine would have to be Slim Jim's. Carol also discovered a hard candy she brought this year, It called Honey made by Sweet Gourmet. These will most likely be in the glove box on all future Road trips.(long or short).  For this trip the snack lady had things well stocked, even made homemade cookies, but isn't it funny how when you stop at the gas station they still want something from there?

The next item is Music or Podcast. When I'm cruising in the Corvette and alone, I'm either listening to the sound of the pipes or some classic Rock Like Tom Petty “Runnin Down A Dream”.  

My Co-pilot got hooked on a syndicated Radio program “Lex and Terry” years ago while driving back and forth to her job an hour away.  We often listen to them now on Podcast, but their content isn't kid friendly.  Mike Rowe, Chad Prather and Kathleen Madigan round out the list of Podcast potentials.  When all else fails, some Country music on local FM stations.  On this trip, we had some good Country stations in Wyoming and Idaho that weren't afraid to break away from the top 40 and also play some of the old stuff.

While you're immersed in this blog and the upcoming chapters, I'm going to test your reading comprehension, and we are going to have a little contest on your knowledge of song titles or lines from songs.  Simply comment back on my blog or Facebook and give me the song title or line from a song and the artist that I reference in the blog.  When I complete this series of post, the person that found the most lines from songs or song titles will win a free bag of My Co-pilot's new favorite honey Candy.  In the event of a tie, we'll have to draw a winner.

Ok, so this is a bit of a selfish ploy on my part to see how many people I can get to respond to my blog. While I do enjoy sharing my thoughts. I sometime doubt my abilities for the written word. It's my life, my heart is like an open highway.  The other reason is that FB limits how many friends get to see this, the more comments the more they open it up to others.

So last on the list was Maps.  Remember the day when your road trip was planned out on the old Rand McNally?  We would even copy the pages and then use a highlighter to mark the route.  We would save the map in a file for future use.  If I looked in the file cabinet, I would probably still find some old maps in there today.  Gonna have to get around to purging that file cabinet one of these days!  Today in our electronic world.  You can have the map on your phone and on your dashboard.  Life has sure gotten easier.  Only annoyance is when you decide you're going to alter the route, and you have to listen to “In 1/4 mile make a U-turn” for about 6 miles until the lady decides to recalculate the route. 

While the trip up to Oregon was going smooth, things back home not so much.  On the day we left, a major storm hit which knocked out the power, took down a few trees and ripped off the shade sail over our koi pond.  Then on Wednesday, the koi decided to Let's Get it On and do the big nasty. They spawned in the pond.  They have never spawned in the new pond before, but of course we are gone, so why not make a mess.  Thanks, Ryan, for going over and cleaning up the funk while we were away.

Contest Hint:  “Let's Get It On” - Marvin Gaye  

Storm on July 1st Takes out shade sail

Fish Eggs in the pond skimmer basket

If you're traveling on I-80 in Wyoming, You must stop at the Bitter Creek Rest Stop.  The kids loved seeing the Prairie dogs.

Hey PETE!

WHAT HARRY?

  

WE GOT INCOMING!

WHO LET THE DOGS OUT

If your travelling with small kids, NaNa found a great item to help the little ones that are stuck in a carseat.  Its called "NapUp".  When the little ones fall asleep, they inevitably end up with their head slumped forward.  This item helps support their head upright, so they can sleep more comfortably.

After some initial adjustments, this worked well for Lucas.  There was a period he was out for a long nap. We are in the middle of nowhere also known as Idaho. Nothing around for miles, the shoulder on the road was not very wide.  Lucas usually doesn't wake up well from his naps. If he doesn't know where he is at he gets upset till Mommy calms him down.  

Well this was the case, so we thought until we realize he woke up with the urgent need to pee.  You know, we've all been there at some point in our life.  So here we are middle of nowhere no facilities in sight, no shoulder to safely pull off the road. A desperate little guy that does not want to wet himself.  What will we do?  

NaNa to the Rescue.  Red Solo Cup, I'll fill you up.  Lucas wasn't a fan of the idea at first, but desperate times call for desperate measures.  Mommy helped him get out of his seat and soon a calm came over the entire car with only the sound of trickling water.  Mission accomplished, well sorta.

So now we have a full cup and I don't know about you, but the only thing I'm drinking out of a Red solo cup is beer, and it better be cold.  So NaNa is patiently holding the cup and luckily about a mile down the road there's an exit.  You know a ranch exit no facilities nothing around but hey it's a safe place to make a deposit.  Deposit made and Kristine has to get out and come around to Lucas side of the vehicle to get him buckled back in his car seat. As she gets out of the car, total Armageddon breaks out.  It just so happens that the day before, a swarm of Grasshoppers decides to invade Idaho, and apparently we stopped in the middle of it. I do believe Kristine set a new record for buckling Lucas in his car seat.  I won't admit I was laughing, at least not out loud.  I'm pretty sure a few of those grasshoppers hung onto the car until we got to Oregon.

We made it to Oregon on schedule.  The plan was to spend the fourth in Oregon to visit with Kristine's family, and then leave on the 5th on our scenic road trip home.  It was good visiting with Kristine's family.  I enjoyed watching how Adalynn, Riley and Lucas's Aunts and Uncle were so invested in spending time with the kids.

Gettin ready to blow some stuff up!

We're taking the scenic route home starting on the 5th of July with a few stops along the way including Glacier National Park.  Stay tune!  We are going to cover some gorgeous country.