Wednesday, July 16, 2008
July 15, 2008
It’s Dirk’s dad’s birthday!!! We are having steaks and potatoes and cake for dinner to celebrate. It’s a pretty nice birthday when your whole family is there to celebrate.
July 14, 2008
Another tough day of cycling, canoeing, reading, eating, etc.Yuri made dinner tonight: tempura shrimp and vegetables and a lovely soup. It was very tasty. Then we had a bonfire like last night. I stayed inside and read instead of burning stuff. We’ve heard that there’s been another cyclist kicked out of the tour de France, and that it’s not one of the front runners, but nothing else. We’ve heard that there’s been storms in Arizona, but nothing else. Ignorance is bliss!
July 13, 2008
We’ve taken trips on the bikes, we’ve gone canoeing, we’ve written postcards. This must really be vacation now.
Our family is in a room that has two sets of bunks: double beds on the bottom and twin beds on top. Dirk and I get one double, Jenika the other, John’s up above in one twin, and Erika has been sleeping in the other one. Thank God for earplugs!!!! They have really made this trip much more enjoyable. I took my earplugs out this morning and heard snoring from two different quadrants of the room.
Our family is in a room that has two sets of bunks: double beds on the bottom and twin beds on top. Dirk and I get one double, Jenika the other, John’s up above in one twin, and Erika has been sleeping in the other one. Thank God for earplugs!!!! They have really made this trip much more enjoyable. I took my earplugs out this morning and heard snoring from two different quadrants of the room.
July 12, 2008
We made it to Beaver Island! We got to the ferry right on time for the 2:30 crossing. Martin and Yuri got in a little bit after us, and Martin had to run to make it onboard after dropping their car off at the shuttle lot. It was a beautiful crossing—lots of wind. We had fun trying to stand upright without holding on to anything. We walked like drunken sailors—most people were much more mature than we were, sitting it out. Oh well. We are desert-dwellers after all.
Our cabin is about 2 miles from the port. We are right on the lake and there are big windows in the living room so you can see the beautiful scenery just about everywhere in the house. There’s a large deck upstairs that we sit out on and enjoy the view and the weather. There’s 3 quasi-mountain bikes that we’ve ridden. It’s weird how the other half lives—I’m getting used to going 5 mph. If I was on my road bike, I think I would have gone insane in the first ten minutes.
Our cabin is about 2 miles from the port. We are right on the lake and there are big windows in the living room so you can see the beautiful scenery just about everywhere in the house. There’s a large deck upstairs that we sit out on and enjoy the view and the weather. There’s 3 quasi-mountain bikes that we’ve ridden. It’s weird how the other half lives—I’m getting used to going 5 mph. If I was on my road bike, I think I would have gone insane in the first ten minutes.
July 11, 2008
We made it to Grandhaven, MI! We stayed with Dan and Debbie and their kids—right on the beach. It was so beautiful. John, Jenika, and I went body surfing in Lake Michigan before dinner. The water was a little chilly at first, but then we got used to it. We had a lot of fun talking about college days—that was a long time ago! We sure aren’t getting any younger.
July 10, 2008
We made it to Rockford! We stayed at our friends Tim and Kim. Jeff and Chris and their son came over for dinner, and we had a great time reminiscing about Dirk’s early years. We also commiserated over the tribulations and joys of raising kids. We saw a double rainbow after a rain shower that was really bright and distinct.
We slept in a bed that night for the first time all week!!!! Then we went to the Stockholm Inn for Swedish pancakes for breakfast.
We slept in a bed that night for the first time all week!!!! Then we went to the Stockholm Inn for Swedish pancakes for breakfast.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
July 9 Okmulgee to Bennett Spring State Park, MO
This is going to be short because I have a cold and I'm tired.
We broke camp this morning, in wet conditions, put the tent away wet, and headed out. We went to a gun museum in Claremor, MO. Check out this poster I saw:
We also found a place where we felt at home:
We had a fabulous meal at Clayton's in Vinita, OK. Then we drove to Bennett Sprihg State Park in MO. It's beautiful here. We were able to dry out our tent quite a bit--it would be ok with me if we went a night with no rain. Every night so far it's rained at least a little bit.
We ate dinner at the restaurant at the park. It was really good, plus there's free wi-fi here in the room next to the restaurant. Score!!!! The buildings here were one of the last projects built by the CCC. It's beautiful.
We broke camp this morning, in wet conditions, put the tent away wet, and headed out. We went to a gun museum in Claremor, MO. Check out this poster I saw:
We also found a place where we felt at home:
We had a fabulous meal at Clayton's in Vinita, OK. Then we drove to Bennett Sprihg State Park in MO. It's beautiful here. We were able to dry out our tent quite a bit--it would be ok with me if we went a night with no rain. Every night so far it's rained at least a little bit.
We ate dinner at the restaurant at the park. It was really good, plus there's free wi-fi here in the room next to the restaurant. Score!!!! The buildings here were one of the last projects built by the CCC. It's beautiful.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
7/7 or 7/8
So today has been pretty uneventful. We broke camp at the KOA this morning in Amarillo and drove to Shamrock, TX for breakfast. We had a nice one at a little café attached to a motel. Then it was back in the car for most of the day.
We bought supplies at WalMart to get us through dinner at our campsite. We stopped in Oklahoma at an ice cream place called Braum’s. Then we drove into the town of Okmulgee and found our way out to Okmulgee State Park. It was hot and humid. We set up camp, hiked down by the lake a little bit, then made our beans and franks. It was great! I’m a little afraid of taking a shower here—there is a slight bug issue. But I think I’m going to chance it because I’m sticky from the humidity. It’s cooled down nicely, and I wish you could hear the chorus out here. On a volume level of one to ten, where 10 would be deafening, it’s about a 6. More species of bugs than I care to think about. But it sounds pretty. Tomorrow we’ll break camp pretty early, before the humidity gets really bad, and then set off for Missouri. I’ll let you know then how the shower was tonight.
Ok, it's the next night. The shower wasn't bad at all. I thought it was going to be "refreshing," aka freezing, but it warmed up really nicely. There was no bug issue--a few critters out by the sinks, but the showers were clear.
The fireworks started later that night. We had a massive thunder and lightning storm. It was the weirdest thing, though--there wasn't any wind down at our level. It must have been blowing up higher, but it was really weird having it storm with no noticeable wind. Right when the storm was about to get to us, all those bugs quit making so much noise. It was a pretty incredible night.
So today has been pretty uneventful. We broke camp at the KOA this morning in Amarillo and drove to Shamrock, TX for breakfast. We had a nice one at a little café attached to a motel. Then it was back in the car for most of the day.
We bought supplies at WalMart to get us through dinner at our campsite. We stopped in Oklahoma at an ice cream place called Braum’s. Then we drove into the town of Okmulgee and found our way out to Okmulgee State Park. It was hot and humid. We set up camp, hiked down by the lake a little bit, then made our beans and franks. It was great! I’m a little afraid of taking a shower here—there is a slight bug issue. But I think I’m going to chance it because I’m sticky from the humidity. It’s cooled down nicely, and I wish you could hear the chorus out here. On a volume level of one to ten, where 10 would be deafening, it’s about a 6. More species of bugs than I care to think about. But it sounds pretty. Tomorrow we’ll break camp pretty early, before the humidity gets really bad, and then set off for Missouri. I’ll let you know then how the shower was tonight.
Ok, it's the next night. The shower wasn't bad at all. I thought it was going to be "refreshing," aka freezing, but it warmed up really nicely. There was no bug issue--a few critters out by the sinks, but the showers were clear.
The fireworks started later that night. We had a massive thunder and lightning storm. It was the weirdest thing, though--there wasn't any wind down at our level. It must have been blowing up higher, but it was really weird having it storm with no noticeable wind. Right when the storm was about to get to us, all those bugs quit making so much noise. It was a pretty incredible night.
Monday, July 7, 2008
July 7, 2008
We woke up and found out how beautiful Bluewater State Park really is. We were camped near a canyon through which a river flowed. That’s always exciting for a desert-dweller to see.
We were worried about setting up camp in the dark again, though, so we headed out fairly quickly. We drove into Grants, NM and ate a great breakfast at El Cafecito. They know how to make a breakfast burrito.
We lost an hour the day before (time changes) and an hour this day, also. That makes it harder to pull into a stop early. We didn’t get to Amarillo KOA until 7-ish, and we didn’t even do any hiking or anything. This KOA has the most immaculate bathroom and showers. It’s awesome. I’m laying in our tent using their free wi-fi to type this entry. The wind is blowing a little bit outside, but that just makes it more cozy in here.
Tomorrow we’re going to a State Park in Okmulgee, OK. Hopefully we’ll find a place to charge our laptops, because I’m low on battery. Hopefully also, I’ll be able to upload some pictures.
We were worried about setting up camp in the dark again, though, so we headed out fairly quickly. We drove into Grants, NM and ate a great breakfast at El Cafecito. They know how to make a breakfast burrito.
We lost an hour the day before (time changes) and an hour this day, also. That makes it harder to pull into a stop early. We didn’t get to Amarillo KOA until 7-ish, and we didn’t even do any hiking or anything. This KOA has the most immaculate bathroom and showers. It’s awesome. I’m laying in our tent using their free wi-fi to type this entry. The wind is blowing a little bit outside, but that just makes it more cozy in here.
Tomorrow we’re going to a State Park in Okmulgee, OK. Hopefully we’ll find a place to charge our laptops, because I’m low on battery. Hopefully also, I’ll be able to upload some pictures.
July 6, 2008
Munds Park to Bluewater State Park, NM
We got the day off to a great start by going to Munds Park Community Church with my dad. They did an awesome 4th of July service, complete with the choir singing the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force, and Marine fight songs. During each of the songs, people who had served in that branch of the armed forces stood up. Here's a picture of my dad standing up during the Navy song:
Then we had lunch at Mike and Ronda's in Flagstaff--Fabulous food!!!!
After saying goodbye to my dad, we started on the next leg of our journey.
We drove to Petrified National Forest and walked the Long Logs trail. We looked at the agate house, and then drove through the rest of the park. It was hot so we decided to stay in air-conditioned comfort. I still don't really get how silica trapped in a log skeleton can dry out and turn into stone, but oh well.
Then we drove through the Painted Desert. Wow! I might even like it more than the Grand Canyon. It was beautiful.
You know, time seems to get away from us. We still needed to get to a State Park that we weren't totally sure where it was located (Mapquest can give some pretty weird directions sometimes.) And we hadn't had dinner. We stopped in Gallup at a restaurant that had pretty little blue lights hanging from the ceiling. The food was ok--Jenika and I split a BLT, which came as a BL (we think it's because of the tomato recall, but the waitress didn't comment on the fact that they weren't putting tomatoes on their bacon, lettuce, and TOMATO sandwiches.). John devours his food so quickly since his growth spurt that I'm not really sure if anyone knows if it was good or not. Dirk scored with a green chili burro. Jenika ordered rainbow sherbet and got strawberry ice cream, and I ordered a flan, sigh. I wish I hadn't.
Anyway, it took kind of a long time, and the writing was on the wall: we were going to have to put up the tent in the dark, not my favorite thing to do. After a 10-mile detour, we pulled into the dark campground, drove around till we found a place we liked (not that we could really tell, because it was dark.) But we were the only ones on our loop, so that was really nice. We got out of the truck and set up our tent in the dark, oh, and it was raining, too. But we set it up in record time and nothing got really wet. It wasn't raining terribly hard.
Munds Park to Bluewater State Park, NM
We got the day off to a great start by going to Munds Park Community Church with my dad. They did an awesome 4th of July service, complete with the choir singing the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force, and Marine fight songs. During each of the songs, people who had served in that branch of the armed forces stood up. Here's a picture of my dad standing up during the Navy song:
Then we had lunch at Mike and Ronda's in Flagstaff--Fabulous food!!!!
After saying goodbye to my dad, we started on the next leg of our journey.
We drove to Petrified National Forest and walked the Long Logs trail. We looked at the agate house, and then drove through the rest of the park. It was hot so we decided to stay in air-conditioned comfort. I still don't really get how silica trapped in a log skeleton can dry out and turn into stone, but oh well.
Then we drove through the Painted Desert. Wow! I might even like it more than the Grand Canyon. It was beautiful.
You know, time seems to get away from us. We still needed to get to a State Park that we weren't totally sure where it was located (Mapquest can give some pretty weird directions sometimes.) And we hadn't had dinner. We stopped in Gallup at a restaurant that had pretty little blue lights hanging from the ceiling. The food was ok--Jenika and I split a BLT, which came as a BL (we think it's because of the tomato recall, but the waitress didn't comment on the fact that they weren't putting tomatoes on their bacon, lettuce, and TOMATO sandwiches.). John devours his food so quickly since his growth spurt that I'm not really sure if anyone knows if it was good or not. Dirk scored with a green chili burro. Jenika ordered rainbow sherbet and got strawberry ice cream, and I ordered a flan, sigh. I wish I hadn't.
Anyway, it took kind of a long time, and the writing was on the wall: we were going to have to put up the tent in the dark, not my favorite thing to do. After a 10-mile detour, we pulled into the dark campground, drove around till we found a place we liked (not that we could really tell, because it was dark.) But we were the only ones on our loop, so that was really nice. We got out of the truck and set up our tent in the dark, oh, and it was raining, too. But we set it up in record time and nothing got really wet. It wasn't raining terribly hard.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
First day of vacation
Well, actually, that was yesterday. And it was only a half day of vacation, because the first half was spent packing and cleaning. But after that, we drove up to Munds Park where my dad has a "cabin." We went to a 4th of July picnic a couple of blocks away and had great food.
So we are on a 4300 mile journey, from Scottsdale, AZ to Beaver Island, MI, and back again. We are not happy with the price of gas. To lessen the impact, we are camping along the way.
Keep coming back to check on our progress.
So we are on a 4300 mile journey, from Scottsdale, AZ to Beaver Island, MI, and back again. We are not happy with the price of gas. To lessen the impact, we are camping along the way.
Keep coming back to check on our progress.
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