Kentucky

We spent the first week of October 2020 in Ohio and Kentucky. Originally I hadn't planned to include visiting Kentucky in our big road trip, but since some things were closed last year due to COVID, I decided to include some time in Kentucky on our way back home. The Toyota factory still isn't giving tours, but the kids and Paul were able to do a 2.5 hour, 2.5 mile guided tour inside Mammoth Cave (which included climbing 600 stairs) today, and we're planning to visit the Kentucky Horse Park and Fort Boonesborough State Park tomorrow. 

After we ate a hot breakfast this morning, we drove to Mammoth Cave. I spent about 3.5 hours sitting on a bench in the Visitor's Center. Thankfully they had wi-fi so I could work on Duolingo while they were on the tour. The kids each earned a Junior Ranger badge. I'm very glad that Paul and the kids have had a good time on the vacation. Since I broke my ankle the vacation for me has primarily consisted of being in a hotel bed, sitting in the van, sitting on a bench in Visitor's Center or museum, and eating in a restaurant once a day. I try not to think about it because I'm prone to tears if I do. I really wanted to take this tour of the cave today, for example. 

We had a hard time deciding about our second destination. We considered visiting the General George Patton Museum in Fort Knox. If they hadn't relocated most of the tanks to another state, we would have. Paul was leaning that direction, but since he's been doing all the driving and that was a bit farther away than the other option, we ended up picking Abraham Lincoln's birthplace instead. The kids earned their second Junior Ranger badge of the day. We had dinner at Chili's en route to Georgetown, Kentucky. We drove 184 miles today. The last few hotels we stayed in had outdoor pools. Tonight Paul and the kids were able to swim in an indoor pool. The hotel room does have a chair with wheels, and I was told we will be able to have breakfast tomorrow morning. We plan to spend one night in West Virginia tomorrow night, and then we will be home the next night with Milo and our three guinea pigs. 

Tennessee

We spent a few hours in Tennessee two days ago while exploring the Shiloh Battlefield, and today we spent most of the day in Tennessee. Our first attempted stop was at Krispy Kreme where we thought we would finish off a gift card since the Baymont wasn't offering their usual hot breakfast due to COVID, however even though there was a line in the drive thru, we eventually discovered they weren't actually open. We just ate a little bit of food we had in our van instead.  After we pulled out, I counted five cars in line for the drive-thru! Our actual first stop was a children's museum called Discovery Center. In the past I've included far more children's museums in our itinerary, but with Nadia being 13 years old this was the only one I included on the trip. Thankfully they had several animals, which is always a highlight for Nadia. We got in free with our ASTC membership. We spent more time than originally planned at this stop because the much larger science museum is currently not open on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, and today is Wednesday. Similarly, Andrew Jackson's home, The Hermitage, is also currently not open on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. We did well during the first almost 3 weeks of our trip as far as everything being open, but we've hit several closures this week starting with a National Park closed in Little Rock. In hind sight, I should have come up with one more thing to add into our schedule in Nashville because we ended up eating an early dinner at Cracker Barrel and checking into our hotel in Bowling Green, Kentucky much earlier than usual. I suggested that Paul could take the van to a nearby Walmart Auto Center to get the tires rotated and oil changed, but he said he'd rather do it back at home on Sunday afternoon. As we were driving from Alabama to Tennessee yesterday afternoon, I saw a sign advertising the James K. Polk house and museum. The kids weren't interested because they were hungry and didn't want to delay our arrival at Olive Garden for dinner. Paul was interested, and the kids usually enjoy Presidential house tours, but in light of their hunger and my broken ankle, we decided to skip it. 

Our second stop today was another Civil War battlefield. The rangers at this National Park site were definitely the most hyper sensitive about COVID than any other we've been in over the last 18 months. For example, Ian and Oliver were standing outside the front door petting a dog, I wanted to ask the boys to come inside the Visitor Center. I was told I couldn't open the door to ask them to  come in but rather would have to walk through the building, exit out another door, come around to where the boys were, and then come back in with them. Seriously?! I certainly wasn't about to do all that while hopping on crutches so I resorted to communicating through the glass door with hand gestures to let the boys know it was time to come inside. The park rangers also wouldn't touch the junior ranger booklets the kids did. We left them there, and they said someone will check them tomorrow and then mail the badges to us. This place was NOT at all crowded. There were other parks we have been at on this trip such as Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone, and Zion that were crowded. I can't picture these rangers working at one of those parks. As of today, Nadia has earned 27 Junior Ranger badges on this trip. Ian has earned 22 so far, and Oliver has earned 21. This battlefield tour was much smaller than Shiloh's so Paul didn't feel like he needed more time as he had two days ago. 

Our third stop was a replica of the Parthenon that was built in the late 1800's. I figured since we are studying ancient Greece this year and won't actually be traveling to Greece, why not? They also have a replica of the huge state of Athena. I had considered taking the kids to the Art Institute in Chicago, but we didn't do that this time around so the Parthenon was the closest we came to visiting an art museum on this vacation. Masks had to be worn inside all three attractions today. Paul and the kids didn't spend much time there, which is why I think I probably should have found something else for us to visit in Nashville. Planning a vacation during a pandemic can be challenging at times. I'm also aware that there might be a government shutdown in the near future which would mean the National Park sites would be closed. If that happens, I think the only problem we'll have will be our last stop - Friendship Hill in Pennsylvania. If it ends up being closed again (we tried to visit it last year in October), we'll just pick Milo up earlier. We miss him, and tomorrow is his first birthday! Thankfully he's been doing really well lately at the dog sitter's. 

In between having dinner and arriving at our hotel, we crossed the border from Tennessee to Kentucky. Today was a lighter than average day in terms of driving time as we only drove 112 miles altogether. Our hotel room does have a chair with wheels, and I was assured we would be able to eat a hot breakfast tomorrow morning. We have an office chair with wheels at our house which is normally up in our bedroom. I think I'll use it downstairs in the kitchen and just hop with crutches to the bathroom during the night. I am not looking forward to the idea of needing to crawl up and down a flight of stairs at our home. I think I'll just go up once a day (at night when I am ready for bed), and come down once a day (after I've gotten showered and dressed in the morning). 

During the past 22 days we've driven a total of 6.243 miles, and we've been in 24 states. State #25 will be West Virginia. We started our trip driving west and also north. The farthest north we were on this trip was on September 14 at the Theodore Roosevelt National Park (south unit) in North Dakota, which is in the southwest part of that state. The farthest west we were on this trip was the Grand Canyon in Arizona on September 20. On September 28 when we were in Huntsville, Alabama, we were the farthest south that we went on this trip although Huntsville is in the northern part of that state. We've changed time zones five times so far, and tomorrow will be the sixth time as after we leave Mammoth Cave, we'll return to EDT. 

Shiloh, Helen Keller, and NASA

Yesterday morning after enjoying a hot breakfast we drove over the border into Tennessee for a brief while before we entered Mississippi. Paul and the kids had never been in that state before. We spent about 2.5 hours in Corinth as the kids completed a Junior Ranger badge about the portion of the Battle of Shiloh that was fought in Corinth. Then we drove about 25 minutes north back into Tennessee where we spent about 3 hours learning more about Shiloh. Paul would have loved to have spent an entire day at that battlefield. Because the kids earned both Junior Ranger badges for Shiloh, they were also given an extra pin. Although I never used a wheelchair yesterday, I did go inside both visitor centers and naturally was in the van when we drove around the battlefield driving tour. We got pizza at Papa John's (using a gift card) near our hotel in Alabama. Paul and the kids had never been in Alabama before either. I lived in Birmingham, Alabama in the late '70s when I was in Kindergarten and first grade. I sat by the outdoor pool so the kids could swim while Paul ran to Aldi to buy a few things. It had been a hot day (in the high 80's) so I thought the water temperature would be okay in the outdoor pool, but even Nadia thought it was cold. She was the only one who actually swam.  The hotel didn't have an office chair with wheels, but I'm getting better at hopping around. I was VERY intimidated by even one step or getting up or down a curb. I can get over them easily now on my crutches. During the 207 miles we drove yesterday we were in four different states - Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama.

Shiloh Battlefield

This morning we had a nice hot breakfast at our hotel in Alabama. Our first stop was less than 10 minutes away from the hotel - Helen Keller's birthplace. Paul and the kids had a private, guided tour of the home including the famous water pump, which was where the light bulb went on for Helen in learning sign language. Our next stop was about 90 minutes away in Huntsville - the US Space and Rocket Center which is run by NASA. Paul could have spent MUCH longer in the Saturn V rocket building, but the kids' attention span is much shorter than his when it comes to reading signs in a museum. This was the second time on the trip when if we hadn't had two ASTC memberships, we would have had to pay for one adult and one child (which would have cost $42) because they only allow one adult plus two children in for free with an ASTC membership, but since we have two separate ASTC memberships, they let all five of us in for free. I was able to borrow a wheelchair with the deposit of my driver's license. Many things cost extra such as the planetarium, movies, and a variety of experiences. We let the kids each pick one attraction that we would pay for them to do. Nadia and Ian chose to do a virtual reality of Apollo 11, and Oliver chose a ride on a Hypership. Nadia was wearing flip flops. Had she been wearing closed toed shoes, her first choice would have been to ride the Mulit-Axis Trainer in which she would have tumbled simultaneously through all three axes and rotated, somersaulted, and rolled all at once rapidly. Mostly we've only had to wear masks inside Visitor Centers of National Parks, but today we had to wear them in the Space and Rocket Center.

Shiloh Battlefield

 

After we left Huntsville, we drove north to Murfreesboro, Tennessee. We had dinner at Olive Garden. Nadia and I really love that restaurant, but given how much it cost the 5 of us to eat dinner there, that will need to be a rare treat! Thankfully gift cards covered about 2/3 of the bill. The Olive Garden was close to our hotel. After we checked in, Paul and the kids walked to a nearby miniature golf course. The last time we played miniature golf was the first week of June 2019 in South Carolina with Paul's parents. Given I'm on crutches, I opted to stay in the hotel during the outing albeit I normally enjoy playing miniature golf. Hopefully next year I'll be able to join in on that activity. This hotel room does have a chair with wheels, but sadly due to COVID instead of serving a hot breakfast they aren't giving any breakfast - not even a grab and go. So far on our trip we've had a hot breakfast at seven hotels, a continental breakfast at one hotel, and a grab and go offering at five hotels. Breakfast wasn't included at four other places, but at those places they never offer a free breakfast (one was a cabin and the other three places have a restaurant). This is the first time on our trip that a place that advertised a free hot breakfast isn't giving out anything due to COVID. We have three more hotel stays left in our trip before we return home, sweet home - a Ramada, Best Western Plus, and a Holiday Inn. Here's to hoping the last three will offer either a continental or hot breakfast. A grab and go is better than nothing if they at least include something like a piece of fruit or a yogurt. I wish I had brought along more oatmeal and bowls than I did! We'll be home in four days, Milo!!! I have an appointment to see an orthopedic doctor next Tuesday. Here's to hoping and praying that I don't need surgery or to be splinted, and that it won't be much longer until I'm able to drive a car. I lined up someone to take Nadia and Ian to church next Wednesday night, but I'm in a pickle regarding co-op next Tuesday afternoon. 

Playground in Amarillo, Texas

Helen Keller's birthplace

Arkansas

We've been in Arkansas all day today. We started our day in Fort Smith, which is just over the western border of the state, and we've ended the day in West Memphis, which is right before the Mississippi River and Tennessee. Last night Nadia did end up sharing the king size bed with me. She thought we'd bump in to each other, but as I had assured her, that never happened. Oliver slept on the sofa bed in the boys' room while Paul and Ian shared a queen size bed. Paul said Ian did bump into him during the night. Tonight our rooms are they usually are on this trip - two queen size beds in each room which means the only two sharing a bed are Ian and Oliver. The Marriot last night and the Radisson tonight are definitely the fanciest hotels we've stayed in so far on this trip. Some of the other places we stayed seemed worthy of the description "a hole in the wall." Unfortunately the hotel we stayed in last night didn't offer a free breakfast. We stopped at McDonald's this morning on our way to Fort Smith. We have been skipping lunch on this trip which meant we really need to eat breakfast. Thankfully the hotel we're staying in tonight does have a free breakfast, and today is the 5th night in a row that I have had access to an office chair with wheels in the room! Last night they had me in a handicap room, which meant I had a much easier time taking a shower this morning as the shower had many solid bars to hold on to and even a chair in the shower. Usually I love taking a nice hot shower, but when you're standing on one leg, holding on to something with one hand, and shampooing with the other hand, let's just say I've been taking as short of a shower as possible. I was able to have a longer shower this morning. 

Our first stop was Fort Smith. The kids each earned a Junior Ranger badge. Paul was interested in driving to the Pea Ridge Battlefield, but that would have added quite a bit of driving time to our trip. He said he hopes we go there whenever we visit Kansas. Missouri, and Nebraska. Thankfully it wasn't too hot for me as I stayed in the van. Next we drove to Little Rock. We skipped Clinton's Presidential Library. The science museum was on a street named for him. We would have attended the Little Rock Central High School site, but it was closed due to COVID. The kids enjoyed the science museum although it wasn't nearly as impressive as the one in Oklahoma City. After the science museum we had dinner at Denny's and streamed our church's service while we drove the West Memphis. We drove 295 miles today. 

I had chosen to spend the night here because I thought our first stop would be a science museum in Memphis, Tennessee tomorrow morning, but they have recently changed what days they are open, and they aren't open on Mondays. Graceland is probably the most famous place to visit in Memphis, but we haven't ever been fascinated by Elvis. I also considered visiting the National Civil Rights Museum which is located at the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered. However on their website they mentioned that materials in the museum might be frightening to children so I decided we'd skip it. So it seems we're not actually going to do anything in Memphis tomorrow morning. Paul doesn't mind because it means we have more time to spend at Shiloh, which was the place he was most looking forward to visiting on the whole trip. As of today, the kids have done something in 33 states. In the next few days the total should be 36 as we'll add Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi to the list! I think that will be all the progress we'll make in 2021. Hopefully in 2022 we'll add at least two more states to their list - Delaware and Georgia. 

One of the bitter pills for me to swallow the past two weeks it that I've barely taken any pictures. I brought my camera, lenses, cell phone, and stabilizer. The stabilizer hasn't been used at all. My good camera has only been used for a few pictures since I fractured my ankle. I usually give Paul my cell phone when he's off with the kids, but he often forgets to take any, and he has almost no experience with taking pictures. The kids have said things to me like "Daddy doesn't understand about not having us looking into the sun." I really, really love taking pictures so it's been painful to give that up, especially as we'll probably never visit these places together again. When they kids are about to get back in the van and I find out they have taken zero pictures, they sometimes head back and Paul will snap a couple with my phone. I am even more grateful however that we upgraded my cell phone in April. Whew. It would be much worse if all we had were our old cell phone cameras. Hopefully when we go on a family vacation next year I will be able to resume my role as photographer. I knew we'd be in the van more than usual on this trip due to how many miles we were traveling. I didn't picture I'd spend most of the day in the van because I'd be unable to visit the sites the kids and Paul were visiting. We'll be home in six days. There is light at the end of the tunnel! 

Oklahoma

We entered Oklahoma on Friday afternoon and exited Oklahoma Saturday evening. On Friday we drove a total of 295 miles from Amarillo, Texas to Oklahoma City. On Saturday morning we had a nice, hot breakfast at our hotel before we headed to the Oklahoma Memorial and Museum. Nadia earned a Junior Ranger badge and a patch by completing two booklets. The boys each earned one Junior Ranger badge. I got overheated sitting in the van for more than 2 hours while they were in the museum. Paul took my phone with him, but he forgot to take any pictures. Even though it was a National Park site, it definitely wasn't free so we did save some money by me sitting in the van. I felt awful by the time they got back so I decided I wasn't going to sit in the van during any of their other outings that day. 

Our next stop was the Science Museum. This was the first time on our trip it was a benefit that we had two ASTC memberships. I got the second one at the Lowell Observatory so we could have a free tour there while they are still closed for general admission due to COVID. If we had only one membership, they wouldn't have allowed all 5 of us to get in for free. They also gave me a wheelchair to use in exchange for leaving my driver's license at the front desk. The museum was very large and the kids didn't have time to explore all of it. They had spent more time at the first museum than I had anticipated. 

Our third stop was Riversport. Paul and the kids went white water rafting during the first hour. The rapids were more intense than their first experience in June. Paul didn't get any pictures or videos of the white water rafting, tubing, or stand up paddle boarding. We did get some videos of the kids attempting to do some surfing. Unfortunately, due to a lack of staffing (another sort of pandemic plaguing our country), all of the dry activities were closed (zip lining, ropes course, etc.). However, it was a hot day and we only spent about 3.5 hours there which really wouldn't have allowed time to do the water AND dry activities.

We stopped at McDonald's for dinner even though we ran out of gift cards for that place because we wanted to get to the hotel in Fort Smith, Arkansas early enough for Paul to do some laundry. We decided to go for a drive-thru instead of a sit down restaurant. We drove 205 miles today. We are in Fort Smith, Arkansas which is very close to the Oklahoma border. Because the kids had just been in the water for a few hours, we didn't attempt to swim in the outdoor pool. The hotel again has chairs with wheels in the rooms - four days in a row. Woo hoo! To be honest, I am very, very ready for this vacation to be over. It's hard to have skip all these fun activities. I would have loved to go white water rafting today, for example.  Tonight we're staying at a Courtyard Marriot, which is definitely the plushest hotel we've stayed in so far this trip, but I wish I had picked a different one because #1 breakfast isn't included and #2 our rooms didn't have two queen beds. I'm not sure if I made a mistake, Priceline made a mistake, or the hotel made a mistake because I had attempted to book rooms with two queen beds and a free breakfast. In the boys room Paul slept on a sofa bed. We shall see if Nadia sleeps on the floor or shares the king size bed with me.

Tomorrow's plans have already been altered because I found out today that the Little Rock Central High School site operated by the National Park service has been closed again because of COVID. Similarly, a science museum that we planned to visit on Monday in Memphis has modified their hours due to COVID, and one of the days they are closed is Monday. This happened a lot when we were on vacation the first week of October 2020. I wouldn't have guessed at that point that almost exactly one year later we'd be in the same boat. Will the same be true if we go on vacation in September 2022? I thought for sure once the vaccine came out that it wouldn't take long after that for things to improve. I was wrong. Now I'm starting how many more years it will take for life to be back to normal. Well just seven more days until we see Milo again. We can't wait!!!

Rattlesnake!

We had dinner in New Mexico on Tuesday when we were driving from Arizona to Colorado. We returned to New Mexico on Wednesday night as we spent a night in Albuquerque. We had a very nice hot breakfast Thursday morning. Our first stop was to hike the Rinconada Trail which is 2.2 miles round trip. Paul and the kids saw hundreds of petroglyphs and as an added bonus they also saw a rattlesnake who rattled at them! They turned in their Junior Ranger booklets at the Petroglyph National Monument. The two states we've been in so far on this trip that have reinstated a mask mandate are Illinois and New Mexico. It didn't bother me much in Chicago because I was walking on two legs. Let me say that hopping on one leg while wearing a mask is a very challenging combination for me. I feel like I can't breathe. I'm hoping we don't encounter any more mask mandates through the last nine days of our trip. 

Our second stop was Explora, which is a science museum. The kids had a blast there and wished we could have stayed longer. We got in for free with our ASTC membership. The Natural History Museum of New Mexico was right next to Explora, and we could have also gotten into that museum for free, but the kids aren't big fans of natural history museums although it looked like a nice one as it included a planetarium. Prior to our third stop, Paul took a detour to drive past one of the places he worked and one of his apartments from when he lived there 25 years ago. Our third stop was The National Museum of Nuclear Science and History. There was a wheelchair for me to use at that museum which was greatly appreciated. Obviously there were other places it would have been nice to see in New Mexico. Paul would have liked to have gone to the science museum in Los Alamos. I would have liked for the kids to have been able to tour Carlsbad Caverns, but they were too far out of the way, and our trip is already very long. My maternal grandparents lived in New Mexico for several years so I have been to this state multiple times. After having an early dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (probably the only time we'll go there as a family as wow we had to use a lot of gift card money to cover that meal), we drove to Amarillo, Texas. We drove a total of 312 miles (which happened to be the exact number of miles we also drove the previous day!). For the second night in a row our hotel room had an office chair with wheels. We lost an hour when we crossed the border into Texas.

Yesterday morning the Days Inn in Amarillo only offered honey buns and coffee for breakfast. I had oatmeal instead. We didn't leave our hotel until 9:30 as we were literally one mile away from our first stop, which was a science museum. The kids spent some time inside the museum and also outside on the playground. Oliver is obsessed with playgrounds and hates driving by them and not getting to spend time playing on them. Although we are counting Texas as one of the states the kids have now done something in, we do hope to return to Texas in the future (Houston and San Antonio to be specific) on the trip they will also visit Louisiana for the first time. 

After we made it across the panhandle, we entered Oklahoma. Our second stop was at the Washita Battlefield, where the kids each earned a Junior Ranger Badge. We were able to watch the movie in the Visitor Center and the kids could touch things. They were definitely more relaxed about COVID at that National Park site than any others we've visited over the last 18 months. The third stop was the Stafford Air and Space Museum. We couldn't get into that one for free, but it was very inexpensive. I sat in the lobby, but it cost about $8 for Paul and the kids to visit the museum because we arrived in the last hour they were open (half off). That museum was the highlight of Paul's day. Nadia and Ian enjoyed using the flight simulators. 

As we drove toward Oklahoma City, we stopped at a Domino's for pizza. We also stopped at an Auntie Anne's near our hotel for pretzels. I sat in the swimming pool area so the kids could use the indoor pool while Paul went to Walmart to buy a few things including laundry detergent. He planned to do the laundry last night, but given what time it was when he got back from Walmart, he's now planning to do

the laundry tonight. We've stayed at time share resorts for two decades, and they always provide you with some detergent so I didn't think to pack any. Hopefully I'll remember in the future! For the third day in a row the hotel room had a chair with wheels! Yahoo! We'll be spending the day in Oklahoma City today and then driving to Arkansas.

An item of praise would be that Margie has received great news from her CT scan, bone scan, and lymph node biopsy - the cancer hadn't spread anywhere! Also, Milo continues to do well even though he misses us, and we miss him too! Just one more week, Milo! A prayer request would be for my ankle. The swelling has finally almost totally gone away, but it's still painful, and I'm still concerned about my ability to walk and drive once we're back at home. 

Colorado

Originally I had planned for us to visit Arches National Park in Utah, which is on the eastern side of the state, but somewhere along the line I deleted Arches and added Bryce Canyon and Zion. I also had intended for us to visit Four Corners Monument which again would have put us closer to Mesa Verde in Colorado. Even though it added some extra driving time to visit Colorado (just as was the case when we added North Dakota), I think everyone thinks it was worth it because #1 we added another state to the list and #2 we had a good day in Colorado. The hotel we stayed at offered a grab and go breakfast, but at least theirs included options like yogurt and an apple which was better than the hotel we stayed at in Michigan. Originally I had hoped we would visit two sites that were close to Cortez, but due to COVID Canyons of the Ancients is only open certain days of the week, and Wednesday isn't one of them. At Mesa Verde I had planned to have us drive to the Wetherill Mesa section to take a self-guided tour of Step House and a guided tour of Long House. Since I goofed up and we didn't have tickets to our the Long House, we instead drove to the Chapin Mesa section. We hoped to take a self-guided tour of one house there, but it was closed due to a rock slide. Paul and the kids got out multiple times to see sites such as pit house and a sun temple, and we also could see the Cliff Palace at some of the overlooks. The kids earned a Junior Ranger badge. Nadia has earned 18 so far on the trip, Ian has earned 15, and Oliver has earned 14 so far. 

Our second stop was supposed to be a science museum in Durango. I had checked their website the day before do make sure their hours hadn't changed. They hadn't posted it on their website, but they were closed for two weeks for some renovations. Thankfully we hadn't driven much out of the way to go to this museum as what was supposed to be our third stop was less than 2 miles from the science museum. When I found out that we couldn't visit Canyons of the Ancients, I tried to find something else to do in Durango. I presented the kids with a few options (one was zip lining), and they chose the Durango Community Recreation Center (like a YMCA). The rock wall was closed due to COVID, but the swimming pool area was pretty amazing for a community pool. It included a 2 story water slide, a lazy river, water cannons, see saw in the pool, etc. Nadia and Ian spent almost the whole time in the lazy river. Oliver went off the diving board and used many of the other features.

We had dinner at Applebee's in Durango and then drove 3.5 hours to Albuquerque. We drove 312 total miles yesterday. During our drives we haven't listened to music that much. Either we're talking, listening to an audiobook, or the kids are having screen time. Ian uses the Switch, Nadia uses our newer iPad, and Oliver uses the old iPad. Some of the books we've listened to from start to finish on this trip include: River Secrets by Shannon Hale, Magician's Nephew by C. S. Lewis, The Shining Company by Rosemary Sutcliff, and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. We're currently in the middle of The Horse and His Boy and Book of a Thousand Days. The indoor pool was closed due to COVID, but they had an office chair with wheels in the room, which is so helpful for me. We had adjoining rooms for the second time on the trip. Paul lived in Albuquerque from 1994-1996 (right before I met him in Pennsylvania). We're spending the day doing things in and around Albuquerque, and then we're driving to Amarillo, Texas, which means we'll lose another hour tonight as we move back to CDT. 

29 States.

When we started our trip, the kids had done at least one activity in seventeen states (plus DC and Ontario). As of today, they're at twenty-nine states, and by the end of this vacation they should be at thirty-six states. Some days on this trip we have followed the schedule I had made, and other times we've made changes. On Monday night while Paul and the kids were at the Lowell Observatory, I made some changes to yesterday's itinerary. We decided to visit Walnut Canyon as our first stop of the day instead of visiting Four Corners Monument later in the day, which also meant that we changed our dinner plans to eating at a Denny's in Gallup, New Mexico instead of a Denny's in Durango, Colorado. Thankfully the hotel we stayed at Monday night in Flagstaff had an office chair with wheels. I love it when I have a wheelchair! We didn't have time to swim in the indoor pool. I knew that the cabin and the motel near Bryce didn't offer a breakfast, but it turned out this Days Inn also doesn't offer a free breakfast because they have a restaurant. Oops! I had oatmeal for breakfast. We planned to use a gift card to get breakfast burritos at Taco Bell for those who wanted one, but we arrived at 8:40 and found out they don't open until 9:00. So we used our credit card and coupons to get breakfast sandwiches for Paul and the kids at Wendy's instead. The kids earned Junior Ranger badges at Walnut Canyon National Park where they walked down a trail to see some cliff dwellings. I brought two books for the trip. Had I known I'd spend so much time in the van by myself while Paul and the kids were doing things like horseback ria ding and walking on trails, I'd have brought more books! I read Miss Buncle's Book, which I had gotten through ILL. It was a fun read. I also read a parenting book that was very thought provoking that a small group I'm joining when we return started discussing together on September 8. 

Our second stop was Meteor Crater, which was something Paul had asked that I add to our itinerary back when I was planning the vacation a few months ago. We get into the National Parks for free, but that place isn't a National Park so we paid to see it. I watched one of the two movies and also hoofed it to see a view from the room. I skipped the other parts because I was nauseous from the pain. I also might have been dehydrated. I haven't been drinking very much water because going to the bathroom is such an ordeal hopping on one leg. 

Our third stop was the Petrified Forest which also includes the Painted Desert. The kids earned a second Junior Ranger badge. We spent about 2.5 hours in the park. There are only two times in our vacation where we're driving through a state, going to another state, and then returning to a state we've already been in (aside from Pennsylvania of course). Yesterday was one of the two times (Tennessee will be the other time). As we entered New Mexico, the time changed back to MDT meaning we lost an hour. We had a late dinner at Denny's and then drove to Colorado where we spent the night at a Days Inn in Cortez. The room I had intended for our family had three beds so the boys didn't have to share beds last night. The room that was supposed to be Pop Pop's room had one king size bed. Nadia didn't want to share a bed with me so she opted to sleep on the floor. That should be the only time this vacation she sleeps on the floor aside from the two nights with her cousins in Chicago. We're spending the day in Colorado today, and then we're driving to Albuquerque where we'll spend the night. It would have involved less driving if we had just driven from the Petrified Forest to Albuquerque, but this way the kids get to add another state to their list (Colorado) and thankfully Mesa Verde is in the southwest part of Colorado. I remember that Mesa Verde was one of my most favorite things we did when I was a child and we had a big road trip out west. Unfortunately I screwed up with the tour. You can only book it 14 days in advance. I had it in my calendar to book our tour on September 8, which was the first day of our vacation, but I didn't see it on my calendar that day. And by the time I remembered (several days later) there weren't any tours available. I have checked umpteen times since then. One time yesterday there were tickets available at 1:30, but that was too late for us as we want to be driving to Durango at that point. I feel very badly, but there's nothing I can do about it. I'm human and make mistakes.

Zion, Horseshoe Bend, and the Grand Canyon

We are now half-way through our vacation. We miss Milo and wish there was a way to let him know we'll be home in 12 days. Thankfully he was much better the past five days than he was the first seven days Yesterday was our last day in Utah. The motel we stayed at after touring Bryce Canyon never offers a free breakfast because they have a café. We listened to part of our church's 9:00 service as we drove to Zion National Park. We didn't hear the entire sermon because there were sections of our drive where we didn't have any cell service. We entered the park via a very, very scenic road that included a 1 mile long tunnel built almost 100 years ago. The parking lot at the Visitor Center was filled so we drove into the town of Springdale as they offer a free shuttle from the town to the Visitor Center. It was even a challenge to find a parking spot somewhere in the town! We took the shuttle to the Visitor Center. I sat on a bench near the shuttle stop as Paul went to get a wheelchair for me and get Junior Ranger booklets for the kids. The Ranger ended up giving him a pass which enabled us to drive on the routes that usually only the shuttle buses can drive. Paul had to take the shuttle back into Springdale and drive the van back into the park to pick

the kids and I up. We drove around the park, and the kids and Paul did one hike (Riverside Walk). At the end of our time there we drove back to the Visitor Center so the kids could hear a Ranger talk, which was one of the requirements for earning a badge. The Visitor Center parking lot was still full. So we dropped the kids off and Paul circled around a bit trying to find a car that was leaving its space. We found one, but he let someone else have it (I wouldn't have been as generous as he was). In the end I ended up driving for the first time in a week as I circled around the lot with my left foot ready to use the brake if necessary. I finally opted to keep the car near where the 15 minute parking spots were, and as soon as one opened up I pulled into the spot and turned off the van. We went over the 15 minute limit just a little bit.

We drove to Kanab, Utah and had an early dinner at Wendy's. Paul and the kids were signed up for a private tour of a slot canyon. I thought they were going to go out there via an ATV, but they actually went out in a pick-up truck. I sat in the van for three hours while they were on this adventure. Touring a slot canyon had been one of the top five things I was looking forward to on the trip. Time will tell if I'm ever near a slot canyon again at

some point in my life. After the tour, Paul drove us to Page, Arizona, which meant we gained another hour because they don't follow DST in Arizona except on the land owned by tribes. We got there early enough that there was plenty of time to go swimming, but the outdoor pool had been closed for the season. The kids haven't been able to swim much on this trip even though almost all of the hotels have had swimming pools. Part of the reason has been because we arrive at the hotel too late, and partly it's been because of my broken ankle. I don't want to walk to the pool, and Paul is sometimes too tired to go swimming. Hopefully they will get to swim at least a few times over the remaining days of our trip. The hotel we stayed at in Page wasn't that nice. We drove a total of 171 miles yesterday and the kids earned one Junior Ranger badge.

This morning we had a grab 'n go breakfast. Although we prefer a continental or hot breakfast, at least this place did include an apple and a yogurt in the bag not just a muffin. Our first stop was Horseshoe Bend, which was only 20 minutes from our hotel, and also

one of the top five things I was really looking forward to on this vacation. I cried a little as we entered the parking lot. It's SO hard to be SO close and yet not able to walk out and see it. Next we drove to the Grand Canyon. We entered the South Rim via the Eastern Entrance. At our first stop, a Ranger again gave us a pass so we could drive where usually only the shuttle buses are allowed to drive. The kids and Paul walked out to the rim at that Desert View Watchtower stop. We got out a few other times along the way, and actually remembered to hand a camera or phone to someone else so we could get a picture of all five of us together, which never happened in all of 2020 and hadn't happened yet in 2021. I don't think we'd had a family photo (even an informal one) since June 2019. The kids and Paul started to do the Bright Angel Trail together. They came back sooner than expected because Paul didn't feel Oliver could do it safely. He hung out in the van with me while Paul took Nadia and Ian back down partially into the Canyon. The plan had been for them to do a 3 mile roundtrip trail, but they ended up only doing 1.5 miles round trip. Then we drove all along Hermit Road and

got out at some of the viewpoints. I had toyed with the idea of seeing the IMAX movie, but we ended up skipping it, which saved us some money as that isn't a cheap thing to do especially considering it only lasts about 30 minutes.

We drove about 90 minutes to Flagstaff where we had dinner at Texas Roadhouse and then checked into our hotel. The indoor pool is open, but the kids won't be able to swim because Paul and the kids are touring Lowell Observatory right now. I opted to sit in the hotel room rather than sit in the van this time. They're on a two hour tour. We drove 245 miles today. Nadia earned 3 Junior Ranger badges as I had printed out the ones for Glen Canyon and Rainbow Bridge. Horseshoe Bend is part of Glen Canyon. I'll have to mail those two in for her as we couldn't turn them in in person due to COVID. The boys each earned one Junior Range badge today. 

I know I sound like a broken record, but I haven't had time to even look at all the pictures that Paul, Nadia, and I took much less sift through them. Eventually I'll have time to do so!

Snowbird, Horses, and Bryce Canyon

 Friday we spent the whole day in Utah. The plan had been to first tour Timpanogos Cave. I scheduled our tour for 7:45 because I thought the kids would want to have more time at Snowbird. Paul didn't sleep with a pillow on Wednesday night, and he wasn't feeling well on Thursday. Because of this and the fact that I can't drive, I cancelled our cave tour. There weren't tickets available to switch the time. So we had a very leisurely morning as we didn't leave the hotel until 10am. It was a grab and go breakfast so I just ate some oatmeal that I had brought from home. The only thing I was able to ride was the tram to the top of the mountain as I could ride that via wheelchair. I spent the rest of the day sitting in a wheelchair watching Paul and the kids do various things like a mountain coaster, a slide that reminded Paul and I of one we rode down the Great Wall when we were in China in 2006, a ropes course, bungee trampoline, etc. Paul didn't participate in everything, but he did most of the activities. Oliver was very proud of the fact he climbed a little higher than Paul did on the tree climbing apparatus. Ian was the only one of our three who did flips on the bungee trampoline. All four of them also rode a Peruvian chairlift to the top of the mountain which was a 40 minute round trip ride. After we left Snowbird we first tried to have dinner at a Cheesecake Factory, but their was a very long wait for a table (up to 1.75 hours). We had dinner at a Longhorn Steakhouse instead and will try to go to Cheesecake Factory in Albuquerque instead. This was the first time in our vacation that we were told we'd have to wait for a table at a restaurant. The last time the kids and I were with my brother, we ate dinner with him at a Texas Roadhouse near his apartment in Philadelphia in November 2018. After dinner we drove to a hotel closer to Bryce Canyon. The employee at the registration desk switched my room to one one on the first floor after he saw me come in with crutches and a boot.  He gave me a hard time that I hadn't noted that in the comments section when I made the reservation. I tried to explain that I made the reservation a long time before I broke my ankle. We drove a total of 263 miles that day and didn't visit any National Parks. 

We also spent the whole day in Utah on Saturday. We had a hot breakfast at the hotel and then drove to Kodachrome State Park. Paul and the kids rode horses through the park for 2 hours while I sat in the van. Their horses names were Comanche (Oliver's), Oreo (Nadia's), Zeke (Ian's), and Annie May (Paul's). I love horseback riding, and the last time I went was in August 2001 in St. Lucia on our honeymoon. Yesterday was Paul's second time horseback riding in his life because our ride in 2001 was his first time. The kids hadn't gone horseback riding since 2019. Aside from a little bit of rain when we were at Effigy Mounds in Iowa, we have had sunny weather our whole trip until yesterday. The weather forecast for most of the morning and afternoon was showing around 50% chance or rain. Thankfully, it didn't rain while we were in Kodachrome. It was a bit warmer than they forecasted. I was rather toasty sitting in the van in a long sleeve shirt and pants. However, I was thankful for the long sleeves at our second stop, Bryce Canyon. When I was a child, Bryce Canyon was one of my favorite places we visited out west. We watched the movie in the Visitor Center and the kids worked on their Junior Ranger booklets while it was raining. We took a shuttle to the Visitor Center. We stayed there a bit to wait for it to stop raining. We rode the shuttle through the park. However we didn't get off at all the stops I had planned in light of the fact that getting off and on the bus was challenging for me as it involved going up and down several stairs. It also started raining while Paul and the kids were exploring the second stop a bit. We then returned to the Visitor Center so the kids could turn in their booklets for badges. By the time we left, it was sunny again. We stopped at Mossy Cave on the way out of the park. I stayed in the van and Paul and the kids hiked to a waterfall. We had dinner at a non chain restaurant, which meant we didn't use a gift card. We ate at The Pizza Place, and the kids and Paul really, really liked the pizza! Then we drove about 30 minutes to a little hole in what we are wall motel, and the sad thing is that it cost more than what we paid almost every other night of the trip. We had one room, but it had three beds. We got to the hotel earlier than usual. They didn't have a pool so the kids watched some tv before we went to bed. We drove a total of 174 miles that day, which is definitely less than usual on this trip.  We haven't made any progress on our license plate game lately. We're still looking for Rhode Island!

Yellowstone and Teton

Wednesday morning we started our day in Montana. After a delicious hot breakfast, we drove to Yellowstone National Park. We stopped at Krispy Kreme to get donuts for our breakfast the next day and entered the park near the Mammoth Hot Springs. Shortly after entering the park we crossed the border from Montana into Wyoming. There were several elk walking around near the Visitor Center as we were leaving after buying 3 Junior Ranger booklets. Usually they are free, but they did give us three nice patches at the same time that we bought the booklets. Shortly after leaving the Visitor Center, we saw a car with a Hawaii license plate! I saw SO many different state's license plates inside Yellowstone. I think we saw almost every state that day. As far as finding all of the license plates, we've seen 49 states (all but Rhode Island), DC, and three Canadian provinces. Most of the time I stayed in the van when Paul and the kids went on short hikes to see various thermal features around the park. I did hop out to see Old Faithful. The feature I MOST wanted to see was Grand Prismatic Spring. It was too far of a walk for me on crutches. That had been one of the things I most wanted to see on this trip so it was heartbreaking to be SO close (sitting on a bench near the path) and yet not able to actually see it. Of the things that had been the top five I was most looking forward to, I think Mount Rushmore will end up being the only one I'm actually going to get to experience. I just keep reminding myself that at least Paul, Nadia, Ian, and Oliver are able to see and experience them. Since I couldn't do the hikes, the highlight for me in Yellowstone was seeing elk, a coyote, and LOTS of bison. We saw bison many different times throughout the day. Nadia's favorite part of the day was the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone which features a waterfall. We drove a total of 341 miles that day. For almost all of our meals on this trip we're eating a free breakfast at a hotel, eating food we've packed for lunch, and using a gift card obtained through credit card points for our dinners. Our dinner in Yellowstone was the first meal on this trip that we paid for with a credit card rather than a gift card. We got food from the cafeteria near Old Faithful. 

That night we stayed at a cabin in between Yellowstone and Grand Teton. Each cabin had a double size bunk bed and a desk. I had brought two flashlights for our stay in the cabin, but it turned out those weren't necessary as there was a battery operated lantern in each room. Nadia had the top bunk in our cabin, and the boys shared the top bunk in the boys' cabin. No bedding was provided. We had brought 3 pillows and 5 sleeping bags from home. There were two pillows in the cabin Nadia and I stayed in. I used one for my head the the other for my foot. I didn't know Paul didn't have any pillows in their cabin. This was a big mistake as sleeping without a pillow really messed Paul up physically. Since it's challenging to fit everything in our trunk, we left the two sleeping bags I had bought for this trip for Paul and I in the cabin. When we went to check out the next morning, I went to the bathroom in the building where you check out while I thought Paul was checking out. We discovered later that morning that Paul had forgotten to check out. Usually I am the one who handles checking in and out on vacations. I'm going to put their keys in the mail to them at some point. I called them and explained that we accidentally left without checking out. The biggest downside to staying at the cabin was the fact that it was a decent walk to the bathroom, which was out of the question for me. Although naturally I haven't taken anywhere near as many pictures as I would have if I hadn't broken my ankle, between Paul, Nadia, and myself we have gotten some pictures and videos through my old camera (which is now Nadia's camera), my cell phone, and my camera. I just haven't had much time yet to upload or weed through them yet. 

The best thing that happened on Thursday when we were at Grand Teton was getting a text that Milo was doing much better. The first week had NOT gone well for him at the dog sitter's, which was also hard on them. Thankfully he's done well the past 3.5 days. I had picked a variety of hikes for us to do at Grand Teton and also had planned for us to take a shuttle boat ride across Jenny Lake. Because of my broken ankle, we skipped most of the hikes. We drove to the top of Signal Mountain (elevation 7,720). A park ranger told us where moose (in rut) had been seen that morning. Unfortunately they weren't there when we drove in that area. We did see a pronghorn, and Ian immediately commented that we just saw the fastest land animal in North America. The two animals we hoped to see but didn't in Yellowstone or Grand Teton were bears and moose. After we left Grand Teton we drove through Idaho on our way to a hotel in Utah. We stopped a place that was advertising free samples of buffalo and elk jerky. Paul and the kids each tried six different types of jerky, and then he bought two kinds. Nadia had selected a Teriyaki flavored salmon jerky. We didn't bring much cash with us on the trip so we decided from now on to ignore signs for free samples as after they give us samples we feel obligated to make a purchase. Our two other stops in Idaho were first for the kids to swim in lava hot springs mineral water and then for dinner at Subway. I usually *love* jacuzzi tubs so I was bummed to stay in the van during that adventure. Thankfully the hotel in Utah also had office chairs with wheels in the room which I again used as my wheelchair. We drove a total of 336 miles that day as we spent time in Wyoming, Idaho, and Utah. The kids earned one Junior Ranger badge, which was their 8th on the trip so far.