I am starting this blog so family and friends can follow Bob and my two month California vacation trip (and because I told Tricia McNally I was going to do a blog of the trip). Since Bob retired at the end of 2008, he figured, "Why stay in the crazy snow and cold of the midwest for the entire winter?" He was right! We had quite enough "winter" during November, December and January!!! This picture was the view out of Lauren's bedroom window at the front of our house. Yes, the window is wet!
So, one week ago today Bob and I and Sparky and Bailey (two of the luckiest dogs EVER) set out to drive from St. Charles, Illinois to La Quinta, California. Mapquest.com estimated a distance of 1999.85 miles and 29 hours 53 minutes driving time!
When our kiddies were small, we sometimes drove long distances for vacations. I remember one trip in March, 1996 to Destin, Florida shortly after Hurricane Andrew when we were unable to get a condo directly on the gulf because they told us "there are none available" -- which when we arrived actually translated to "the condos on the gulf were destroyed by the hurricane" -- it looked like a war zone! They were afraid to tell us that for fear we wouldn't come. But we were living in cold, snowy western (daily 2-3 inch lake-effect snow) Michigan at the time and couldn't wait to get anywhere warm, even a hurricane ravaged warmth!
Another long trip with the kiddies was a trip from our home in Mequon, Wisconsin to Denver, Colorado to visit Bob's sister Mary, her husband Mike and their kids Kelsey and Kevin on June 17, 1994. It just happened to be the night of the O.J. Simpson low speed chase. While most of America watched on TV, we listened to the play-by-play on the radio. Very weird!!!
So, anyway, what I am getting at here is that during those long-drive vacations we learned that driving through the night was a great way to travel -- Bob and I took turns driving/sleeping (Bob drove 5 hours for every 2 I drove and I knew it was my turn when he starting playing country-western music on the radio -- he hates country-western music, but it keeps him awake), the kids slept (less bathroom stops and less, "Are we there yet?"), and there was much less traffic!!! So that was our plan for this trip . . .
I can't believe Jazz made the trip...the car must have smelled horrible!!!
ReplyDeleteNo smell . . . Jazz is just ashes in a box. Her dyeing wish was to see the California desert. Just trying to make her happy!
ReplyDeleteThis blog is so cool. It's fun to see all of your adventures. I'm sorry I made you miss the rain Katie. I know that seeing rain is a special event down there. Were there 2 or 3 drops? The temp here is actually supposed to get up to 63 degrees tomorrow. There are spots where we can see the ground now. Everyone is so excited. Keep us posted.
ReplyDeleteAll I want to know is what the retired do on Valentine's Day? Once you retire does that mean all Holidays are optional?
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteGreat question! I can't answer for ALL retirees, but Bob and I had a discussion about this and decided since Valentine's Day fell on a Saturday and we did not want to fight the crowds on that day, we would move "our" Valentine's Day to February 12 (Thursday). We went out for a lovely dinner at a wonderful restaurant that was only moderately busy. So actually, holidays are NOT optional at all but retirement gives you the power to move any holiday to work better in your schedule!!!