I've got the whole road trip in my hands!

Dare we?

No, we daren't. We walked a 1.1 mile path down to the water and when we got there these guys decided to jump in. I told Holly I would watch her stuff for her while she jumped, but she declined. The water was a steamy few-degrees-above-freezing. It was cold. But it was worth the walk down there, even though the walk back up was the equivalent of walking up 150 flights of stairs (that's what the informational sign told me).

And no worries brother, we got some good photos for you. I think Holly's wide angle lens did the trick.

This equals 1,000 words:

Caulk the wagon and float it? Or hire an Indian guide?

Oregon is beautiful! We made it to Bend with time to stop at the Farmer's Marker and visit the river. We ate dinner at a local microbrewery overlooking the river and then we were off to find our cabin!

Who knew that Lapine State Park was home to the "Largest Ponderosa Pine Tree" in Oregon? It was named "Big Pine" and we made it just in time to bask in his glory. Our cabin for the night was as cute as could be! I made friends with our neighbors and we got to share their fire while we roasted s'mores! We woke up this morning and it had to be about 35 degrees in our room . . we love these nice crisp Oregon mornings! 

Gummy bears, bouncing here and there and everywhere

We have been receiving little gifts as we make our way on this road trip, courtesy of Jamie's mom. One per state. So far, we have a kids' road atlas from Colorado, a book of mad libs from Utah, stickers for Idaho, and gummy bears for Oregon. Gummy bears are fun for more than just eating. If you lick them just a bit, you can get them to stick to things, like steering wheels.

The other fun surprise we get to experience along the way is our endless assortment of mix cds. It's interesting and exciting to see what the next one we pop in the cd player is going to be. We haven't had a bad one yet. So let's see what we have added to our list of listening enjoyment:

--Matt (we have several Matts...this is the English teacher one) had a fun mix to get us started on the way out of Idaho

--Adam's included a track listing with his own personal comments. It was like having a version of Adam on the trip along with us. This was actually a good thing. One of the best written commentaries thus far.

--Adam's wife Jen provided us with some enjoyment, both audio and visual. She put together a mix of children's songs. You know, like I Like Potatoes and Going on a Bear Hunt. Holly wanted something she could sing along to, so this is what she got. It also included quality illustrations by Jen's first graders of what our vacation is going to look like. I don't think I could do these justice by describing them here, there's some funny stuff!

--Kate's parents had a good themed mix of Roads, Routes, Highways, and Streets!

--Kate created Kiki's Club mix...we were impressed by the creativity of the mix and the story that went along with it :)

--Heather's fun mix was all female singers

--We ended the day with David's mix, which can only be described as eclectic, I think. What else could you call a mix that starts with 80s, has a few Whitney tunes, and closes out with an oompah loompah song and a little ditty called Being Jewish Is Fun. Nicely done, David.

--Today we started with Sailing Matt's mash-up mix, which we greatly enjoyed. Happy Birthday, Matt! (he does have a last name, but Holly almost always refers to him as Sailing Matt)

--We tried Megan's mix, but couldn't get it to work in the cd player :( We'll try it in the laptop to see if will work elsewhere

--Since Megan's didn't work, we went with another Grafton submission and listened to Laura's mix, made with the help of her daughter Hailey. Or maybe she just told us Hailey helped in order to justify the inclusion of Miley Cyrus and Hannah Montana songs. Is it weird if I say that I think I preferred the Miley Cyrus songs? It was a great mix though--stuck with the summer traveling theme all the way through.

--Brother Bob's mix was next...perfect for the drive leaving Crater Lake. Lots of good songs on there, especially Red Slurpee.

--Then we finished out the day with Aly's cd. I think Aly's warning to us was that it was really random, but it was great. We really enjoyed the Handlebars song. But I actually can't say that there was a song on there we didn't enjoy. Many thanks!

We haven't listened to either one of our iPods or a book on cd yet. I think the mixes will keep us going the whole way. If yours hasn't been listened to yet, don't worry. It will be. We have more time.

The first Jamba

Boise just had everything we needed. A nice hotel, a restaurant with a car inside of it, and a Jamba juice. But then we had to leave Idaho and set off for Oregon...

Leaving on a midnight train to Boise

And so this is Boise! We arrived at 7:35 pm, a mere 12 hours and 7 minutes after we left Boulder this morning. We checked into our hotel, got our warm chocolate chip cookies, room keys, and a restaurant recommendation for dinner. We headed over to Donnie Mac's Trailer Park Cuisine, which was recently featured on the Food Network's Drive-ins, Diners, and Dives. As we pulled up, we noticed outside they had a bunch of old sofas and recliners that Frasier Crane's dad would feel comfortable in. We chose to sit inside, which is when Holly saw the car. You could eat inside of an entire car. It had a kayak on top and a polar bear Christmas thing on the back.

So, 12 hours after we got out of the car, we got back into a car. We didn't realize the irony until we were telling the waiter that we had driven 803 miles today and that the first thing we did upon finishing our drive was to get inside of a car for dinner. It's a pretty cool place--check out the website if you're interested  http://www.donniemacgrub.com . I think we ultimately have to thank William Shatner for leading us to this restaurant--he got us the deal at the Double Tree, where the girl at the desk gave us the recommendation, so thanks Capt. Kirk! And now we're in Boise. Blogging.

Tomorrow we head to Bend, Oregon, then to Crater Lake the next day. We're not sure when we'll find free wi-fi again, so these posts will have to last until we do!

Eatin' saltines near the Great Salt Lake

I don't think the two events were really related, but we ate some saltines as we drove near the Great Salt Lake in Utah. We found a little place where we could pull off the road and actually stand next to the lake. It was big. And it smelled salty. 

Domo is making the trip with us...he looks like he's mad here that we're eating all of the saltines.

The Role of the Passenger

Yes, yes, driving the car is a very important job, but we have found that the passenger has a huge responsibility on this journey. 

The passenger's role includes:

Reading the car manual - I taught Jamie how to use cruise control and how to use her visor properly

Taking pictures - The world is passing by and we have to document it

License Plate Game Crosser-Offer - Thanks Jamie's mom! We have over half, but you have to stay on top of it. 

Servant to the Driver - If she is hungry, you find food. If she is thirsty, you find a beverage. If she wants to text someone, you text it. 

Mix CD Journal Writer - we have been documenting about the songs and the overall CDs, the songs don't stop, so you can't either!

Map Reader/GPS Reader/Elevation Announcer - Its not the driver's fault if you get lost, its the passenger. Our GPS (named Simon) is serving us well, but you have to make sure that you aren't going to miss any fun town names (Bliss, Idaho?) and we like to know the elevation at points along the way. 

Needless-to-say, when time come to switch and drive, the passenger is usually relieved! 

What are these!!??!!

They were all over Wyoming . . . they are not fences, because they are just randomly in fields. They are not used for animals and are not for decoration purposes. So what could they be? Ya'lls guesses have to be better than mine. 

Highway Music, play loud

I was informed by Mike (Papa D) that I get one point for identifying the song title and another point if I could name the artist too. I'm not sure how well I did, but here I go...(and yes, we rolled the windows down and played it loud)...

1. West Bound and Down--I don't know if that's the real name, but I know that this is in Smoky and the Bandit. Is that half a point maybe? We're west bound and down, got a long way to go, and a short time to get there. And now our car is named Bandit.

2. Route 66--sounded like The Rolling Stones?

3. Drive My Car--The Beatles (we both knew this one)

4. On the Road Again--Willie Nelson

5. Truckin'--Grateful Dead

6. we don't know what this one is, but it has a fun little medley with snippets of lots of other people's songs in it

7. we named this one Driver's Seat

8. don't know, but the girl she's singing about was a princess. It kind of sounded like Frank Zappa, but then I didn't think it was weird enough to be Zappa

9. Hwy 61 Revisted--Bob Dylan

10. something about letting it roll down the highway. no guesses on this one

11. Running Down a Dream--Tom Petty

12. Emotional Traffic--we liked this title

13. song about someone who is on the road again, but not Willie Nelson

14. Highway to Hell--AC/DC

15. Bright Side of the Road--Van Morrison

16. got to keep on truckin' my blues away...don't know

17. Hwy 41??

18. I think this one's for dad...Feed Jake

19. I Can't Drive 55--Sammy Hagar

20. East Bound and Down--playing as we crossed the Continental Divide going westward, but this will later be very appropriate

How did I do?

 

Sunny day, sweeping the clouds away

Yep, Bert and Ernie made the trip. And Domo's here too.

"Bust a Move"

Today was our longest driving day (12 hours and 7 min!), but we were able to pass the time with the amazing mix cds that we acquired before our adventure. Here what we listened to today:

1. Dena - Great start to the trip! Fun pump-up music to get us going!

2. Mike - (see separate post!)

3. Tina - This was the 2nd appearance of the song "Bust a Move!". We loved how it had a little bit of it all. Jamie especially loved "Mr. Wendall"

4. Jim (Holly's friend)- Again, wonderful compilation that focused on hope, love and tragedy. While listening, we thought that one of the songs was just some of his friends recording it on their back porch and after talking to him, it was indeed. 

5. Wallace (the English teacher) - the first CD that Jamie and I both knew all the words too! We clapped at the end of this one!

6. Russ (our student) - Gold star to Russ! I was disappointed because I thought one of the songs was Kelly Clarkson, but it was the Strokes. We listened to this as we crossed 500 miles!

7. Jon Iberg - Only my brother could put together such a mix. It was filled with inside jokes, various alcohol and drug references (?) and the best opening song of the day! 

8. Jamie's Mom - this mix came with a game! Great selections and we got 26/37 right. (I only helped with 4 points, Jamie is the more musically minded) Fun idea and great mix!

9. Patrick (Holly's friend) - Good wind-down mix for the end of the day of driving! 

Please note, if your mix was not listened to today, it will be! These were chosen in no particular order! 

Goin' on a road trip, not a fancy boat trip

So the road trip portion of this adventure finally started this morning. After a breakfast scone at Spruce Street Confections in Boulder, we left town at 7:28 AM. This is our trusty (we hope) travel companion, a fire engine red 2009 Toyota Camry (yes, mom, it really is a Toyota Camry) we christened Bandit.

Red Rock

We made it to CO!

Things we have done so far:

-went on airplanes

-found Christy at the Dallas airport

-ate lunch at D'Deli near the river with Bob and Beth

(special thanks to Beth for picking us up at the airport)

-went to Red Rocks with Aly and Bob and saw Ben Lee!

-got free breakfast at "Ride your Bike to Work Day"

-went to the doctor (Holly is fine, no worries mom)

Now we are off to get the rental car. We are going to have to name him! Today we are doing last minute shopping and cooking dinner for our Coloradian hosts. The true adventure begins tomorrow!

Boarding Passes

I have printed off our boarding passes for our flights!

shark week

I don't think I have anything else to blog about before we leave on this journey, so I'll just leave it with some words from the mindgrapes of the great(?) Tracy Jordan that I think will guide us while on this adventure:

So here's some advice I wish I woulda got when I was your age: Live every week like it's Shark Week.

Words of Wisdom

I just searched google for "road trip advice" and here are 7 things they said we need to have taken care of:

1. choosing your travel partners

2. figuring out where to go

3. planning the route

4. finding cheap accommodations and dining

5. keeping gas costs under control

6. keeping safe and happy on the road

7. documenting your journey

I think we did these things. We're ready to go. Funny that it doesn't list packing. That's probably the one thing we haven't done yet. Well, aside from your sleeping bag and half bottle of sunscreen.

ONE WEEK TO GO

I started packing last night. So far I have a sleeping bag (that I borrowed from Elizabeth! thanks E!) and half a bottle of sunscreen. I think I am at least half way there.

I found this online and I think I am just going to use this as my packing guide.

Keep Em Comin'!

Thanks to everyone who has provided us with CDs for our trip! We have received everything from "headbanging" music to Jimmy Buffett's Greatest Hits! But there are plenty more hours of the trip to fill, so please keep sending them in! A special shout out to SEAN SOURS who was the first person to give us a CD. Thanks Sean!!

Can I wear these?

What do you think?

Holly's a Quitter

Its official. Starting today I am no longer drinking Dr. Pepper. I wanted to be "clean" for the trip, so I am giving it up today. So far so good (its only 11am). Tonight I will have a headache and then tomorrow I will be grumpy. This should all pass by Friday at the lastest. Whew. The questions is, when can I start drinking again? Should I wait until after the marathon? Should I never go back? Should I wait until after the trip?