no more bedhead

Our last full day in Vermont started with Ellen and me heading down into Waterbury on a Heady Topper quest. Actually, I was looking for the Craft Beer Cellar, which I hoped would have Heady, but at least would have a good selection of craft brews.

Our plan was temporarily thwarted by Waterbury's "Not quite Independence Day" parade.  The parade was going right down Rt. 100 past the store, so we couldn't get there. We did find a side street place to park, and walked a couple of blocks to the store, though. Even though we missed the parade, we got there in time to see the fire truck with the giant American flag that was hanging over the route. Ellen took a picture of it and posted it on Facebook.  The kids saw it and now think we went to a parade without them!

The Craft Beer Cellar did have Heady, with a one four-pack per person limit, so we got two, and a couple of other things that looked interesting. Definitely a place to check out earlier in the week next time.

The afternoon saw the cousins come over and they took the kids fishing in the little brook by the house.  Everyone caught fish and threw them back in, but a couple of them were too badly damaged to return to the water, so those came home.

John taught Iain how to clean a fish, then Liam fried them up for a tasty dinner.

Cleaning the fish

Plated

 It was a nice, relaxing end to our Vermont vacation.  Sunday saw us back on the highway to Connecticut to spend the night (and one more time at Village Pizza), then back to Ohio on Monday.

On Friday we were going to go to Texas Falls, but all the people who had to drive didn't want to drive that long.  So, we called an audible and went to Shelburne Farms instead.  It was a lot of fun.

Main barn and grounds from the trailhead

We toured the main barn area and the kids got to see the cows, goats, and chickens in the barn. We also went to the outdoor area where those animals roam (relatively) freely.

A chicken crossing the road. I asked 'why?', and he said 'BRAAWWK'.

We hiked one of the trails on the grounds that led to a spectacular view of Lake Champlain.



My favorite place was the cheesemaking area.  We went back there several times throughout the day to watch them making, well, cheese.  It's an interesting process that takes all day, but makes a very large amount of cheese - they make about 140,000 pounds per year.  And, of course, they had samples.  Very tasty.  I enjoyed the 2-Year cheese very much.

Zack making the cheese. The cheese has been cut into "fingers" and he's "salting" it to stop the process

As Iain and I were intrigued by the process, we bought a book with recipes and tips for making your own cheese at home. Can't wait!!

As we were leaving - by way of tractor-pulled cart - I noticed the bread shop/bakery. I've been to Shelburne Farms twice, and neither time did I go to the bakery. I don't know why, but I have to remember to make that the first stop next time I go. Unless there's something interesting in the cheese making.

Today had us laying about "Stowe Haus" for a while, then Laura joined us and we headed into Stowe proper. We took a back way that avoided all the traffic on Route 100, and as a bonus, featured a covered bridge!  The road that passed through the bridge was a dirt road, and I noticed that the road was actually better maintained than the asphalt streets back home.

The "back way" also had the advantage of coming out right by the place where we usually park.  Ellen and Laura took the kids into the post office to mail a postcard to our neighbor.  The kids were excited to see this, as they have never been in a post office before (or so they claim).  Still, the card was hand-cancelled, so they got to see that which is kind of cool.

We went to our regular stops at the Stowe Mercantile, which has all kinds of Vermont-related items, from food to beer to t-shirts to games and toys.  Ellen found some jelly made with Heady Topper beer, and picked that up. The sample that was out was made with a porter and that was pretty tasty, so I'm going to have to make some Bready Topper when we get home and see how the Heady Jelly tastes on it. (If it's good, we - and you - can order it from Potlicker Kitchen.)

I get tired of shopping easily, so while everyone was still in the mercantile (and the shops in the same building), I went outside to enjoy the sunshine and the view of downtown Stowe from a bench.  Found a friend, too:



As I was sitting there, I started to smell something good.  I looked up the street and could see what looked like some people setting up a large grilling device on the side of the road. Smoke poured out of it, and the smell was delicious.  As I looked more closely, something wasn't right. It almost looked like that smoke was coming out of a car. In fact, that car almost looked like an old-style Volkswagen Beetle.  I had to investigate.

I was right. Behold the Carbecue:


Apparently, they are in Maryland and Vermont. Ellen, Laura, and the kids found me there and Ellen lamented the fate of the Bug.  I thought it was brilliant!

We wandered around Stowe for a while longer, finally ending up back at the Carbecue. It was there for a small craft fair that was just getting under way, so we browsed through that on our way back to the car.  We did come across a great booth for Green Village Soap Co. [Etsy / Facebook], whose producst are similar to Lush's - natural products, goat's milk soaps, etc.  We got some charcoal-based soap to try when we get home, and Ellen got some deodorant that smells really nice.

One last shot from Stowe, presented without commentary:

The day started out with promise. Iain needed to be in Burlington by 11:00 to go on a tour of St. Michael's College with Liam.  Ellen and I planned on doing the only two things on my "must do" Vermont list - Green Mountain Harley-Davidson, and the "bevvy" (Winooski Beverage) to see which Vermont craft brews we might like to take home, and get some cases of Heady Topper.  Dinner would be at Laura's.

We got Iain to town on time (almost).  When he returned the plan changed to Ellen and Laura going out shopping (taking the two older kids downtown), and I would stay home with the younger kids. While they were downtown, Iain went to the 3-D printing store and one of his models, the spaceship, was ready to bring home. The Ganesha we'll have to pick up.

Between their trip downtown, dinner, and hanging out, I spent 11 hours sitting on a couch.  So, nothing to report today.

The weather was gorgeous for a Sunday drive from Connecticut to Vermont.  Travel was easy, everyone was excited, but the best part was the motorcycles. It was the last day of Laconia (NH) Motorcycle Week, and people were starting to head home. The southbound lanes of I-91 had a lot of extra motorcycle traffic, and I was filled with a mix of joy (at seeing the different bikes) and jealousy (at not being out there).

We got to Stowe in pretty good time and got settled in to "Stowe Haus".  Ellen's brother-in-law John's brother is a retired colonel from the army, but he's been hired as a consultant to do whatever it was he was doing when he was active duty.  This means that he is still "stationed" in Germany. He has a house in Stowe so that he and his family will have a place to go when they come back to the states, and I think it will be a place to live upon permanent return.  In the meantime, the house gets rented out, and we are beneficiaries of that largesse.

Laura and Liam and Maggie were there to greet us upon our arrival, and Liam and I ended up sitting around watching the USA-Portugal World Cup match.  It was a thrilling game, that ended in a tie as Portugal scored just before the end of extra time in the second half.  Now the US has to beat or tie Germany on Thursday to move on to the elimination round.

Monday saw us head in to Laura's house in Colchester. We had decided to go to Burlington and to the Church Street Marketplace to do some shopping and visit our niece Libby, who works at Ben & Jerry's (score!!).  We wandered around, visiting shops we usually frequent, like Earthbound (clothes, but also incense, cool Buddhist/Hindu statuary, and other eclectic stuff), Frog Hollow (locally made art pieces) and stores we've recently discovered, like Saratoga Olive Oil Company (this year we bought two vinegars - fig and coconut - and some spice rubs - Adobo and Kentucky something.

One really cool store that wasn't there last year is Blu-Bin.  They do 3-D printing on site. You can purchase items that have been printed, or you can bring them your own files and they will print them.  They also will scan something you bring in, and create the file for printing.  I thought Iain's head was going to pop off when he discovered this store.  When we got back to Stowe Haus, we had to scour the internet for 3-D printing plans that he could take in.  We found a spaceship from one of the video games he plays, and a Ganesha. Blu-bin's website is "under construction", but here's an article from Burlington's Seven Days newspaper about the store.

As we were wandering around, we got a text from Libby that Ben & Jerry's was pretty slow and that would be a good time to come in.  I had a cone of Coconut Seven Layer Bar.  It was yummy.  Here's all of us enjoying our tasty treats:


Tuesday turned out to be a low-key kind of day. We stayed on the Stowe side of the mountains that separate Stowe from Burlington, and we visited the Danforth Pewter Store, the Lake Champlain Chocolates Store, and the Cabot Cheese outlet. (They are all in the same complex, so easy to do all at once.)

The chocolate store has some interesting things, including a chocolate filled with cider from Citizen Cider.  Laura got some for us to try and it was very tasty.  They also have a wall of "seconds", so I got a Sea Salt and Caramel chocolate bar off of that wall that was a-mah-zing!!  (Love the crunchy bits of salt!)

The Cabot store is a hard one to get out of without lightening your wallet.  They have samples of what seems to be all their cheeses, so you can just continue to walk around the table filling up.  All those cheeses are then available for sale in the cooler. Along with butter and yogurt, and local beer, and syrups.  The syrups also have a tasting station. I especially loved the "hot" infused syrups - Sweet Heat, Sweet Chai, and Sweet Ginger especially.

Dinner at Dave's
I had touched base with Dave just prior to coming to Connecticut, and we arranged to get our families together at his house on Friday night for burgers and swimming. Shortly before it was time to leave, Dave called me to let me know his wife was sick and he needed to cancel.  Sadly, that meant that we wouldn't see each other this trip.  But, hopefully, it wasn't anything serious and Colleen is okay.

Seeing Nicole
Speaking of people I wasn't going to see, I thought I wasn't going to get to see my niece Nicole.  She was supposed to come to Marilyn's for dinner on Monday, but something happened and she couldn't make it. She had to work the rest of the week and I figured we wouldn't see her, but fortunately she was able to come over on Saturday for a little while.  At least long enough for a selfie:


Hartt School of Music
Iain is interested in studying music composition in college. During dinner with Nancy, she mentioned Hartt School of Music. I had a 'duh' moment. I grew up here, hearing all about Hartt, and totally forgot about it when Iain expressed his interest.

On Friday, we were planning to go to Elizabeth Park, so we stopped a UHa (or as Iain calls it, Uhhhhh....) to check out the campus and facilities. I took the other three kids and we explored the campus while Iain and Ellen bopped around the Hartt School, visited Admissions, and explored on their own.  We all met up at the bookstore where Iain bought a very cool Hartt school t-shirt.  Naturally I don't have a picture of it - teenage boy and all - but it says "The Hartt School - music/dance/theatre".  It's pretty slick. [Update - found a link where you can buy them, so at least you can see what the t-shirt looks like.]

Oh, and he liked the campus and what he could find out about the school. He's going to visit St. Michael's College while we're in Vermont, too.

Lego Store/Lush
On Tuesday we had to go to the Lego store in Westfarms Mall to get a copy of the Lego Movie on it's release date.  Jamie was super excited!!  Mission accomplished, and Granny got each of the kids a cup-full of Legos from the bulk Lego wall, so that was kind of cool.  I got a Lego Batman minifig for my backpack.

As we were getting ready to leave, we stopped in to Lush, a Body Shop-type store that I had never heard of before, but looked (and smelled) like a place that Ellen would like very much. (Turns out it was started by the people who supplied Body Shop with the bulk of their products early on.  Some disagreements about the direction of the company led them to branch out on their own.) The have lots of soaps, shampoos, lotions, etc.  Ironically, it was me who walked out of the store with the big order!  I got:

• Shaving cream - Dirty, which smells amazing and is great on my face and head.  I would like to try Prince at some point, too.  It's a lot thicker.
• Deodorant - Aromaco, which is all-natural, and on me causes no irritation, and keeps me dry and smelling good all day long. Seriously.
• "Toothy tabs" - little tablets that you crush in your mouth and then run a wet tootbrush around. Leaves your teeth feeling fresh and clean.  We got Ultrablast (my favorite), and Sparkle.  The salesman gave us a sample of Atomic, which is cinnamon/clove flavor.

The closest store to us is about an hour away, but they do mail-order, so it's all good.

Ferry Ride
Of course, no trip to Wethersfield would be right without a ride on the Rocky Hill-Glastonbury Ferry.  Started in 1655, it is the oldest continuously operated ferry in the US. (Fun Fact I did not know until researching this post - it's in Billy Joel's video "River of Dreams" - FF to 1:40 - which was shot in Middletown.)

Heading toward Glastonbury

New Motorcycle
My sister and brother-in-law, Bill, bought a 2014 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy.  Same as me, except 3 years newer and 103ci engine (versus 96ci).  I didn't get to ride it, but I did get to sit on it. It's really nice. I can't wait to have my bike here so we can go out riding.

Of course, we give my brother a hard time for being the only one of the siblings without a Harley, and without a tattoo!

Me and their bike. It looks like I'm up to no good.

Capsized Boat
We were sitting at Village Pizza when the volunteer fire department horn sounded. A short time later, the rescue units headed down toward the Cove.  There was an 'inflatable' boat, followed by a 'real' boat, followed by Glastonbury's boat.  Obviously, something was up. Just then, the ambulance crew stopped in to Village and we asked what was happening. They said a boat had supposedly capsized in the river, but they hadn't been spotted yet. So the rescue crew was going out to investigate.

Since we were basically done with dinner, we headed to the Cove, and that was indeed what was happening. We watched them for a while until they 'cleared' over the radio without having found any evidence of a boat/boater in distress.

Being at the Cove at that time of night allowed me to get this picture of the Cove at twilight after the kids had been plunking rocks into it. I think it came out pretty well.

Last year we tried to go to Elizabeth Park. Made it there for about 5 minutes when the heavens opened up in a torrential thunderstorm.  Had to drive home through downtown Hartford in it, and it was not pleasant.

This year we decided to try again, and we got a beautiful day!  We still only wandered around the Rose Garden and didn't make it to the other gardens, but it was a blast.  We've decided that next year we are going to pack a picnic lunch and spend a little more time there (providing it doesn't rain!).

My high school life is divided into two parts - Senior year, and everything prior to Senior year. During Senior year I met (or became closer friends) with Enzo, Mark, and Dave, and we've remained pretty close throughout the years.  Prior to Senior year I was friends with a whole different group of people, but the inevitable drift apart after high school started a little earlier.

Last year, Mark (from the pre-Senior group) got in contact with me and a couple of others about the possibility of getting together to catch up. Sounded like a good plan to me, so last year Mark came down from the Boston-area to meet me, Kit, and Dave (from the pre-Senior group).  It turned out to be a really great evening of catching up and I was looking forward to doing it again this year.

Part of the problem of the "Last Minute Tour of New England" is that I couldn't give people my travel itinerary until, well, the last minute. That made out-of-town travel arrangements a challenge. Mark and Kit weren't a problem, but Dave already had plans to be away.  We would love to get Henry here, but he lives in Seattle and the last-minute flights were over $900. (He likes us, but not that much!)  Adam works for the State Department and is currently stationed in Zambia, so he pulled the old "I'm halfway around the world - I can't make it" excuse.  Allen was in town, so he said he'd try to meet up.  So, we arranged to meet at Lucky Lou's on Wednesday.

As Ellen and I arrived at Lucky Lou's, we met Kit and his wife Kristen.  As we were being seated on the patio, I got a message from Allen that he would be unable to join us. Immediately thereafter I got a call from Mark that he was running about 15 minutes late. Our waitress came over and we decided to order beer and appetizers. I ordered a Shock Top.  A couple minutes after the order was placed she returned to tell me that there was no Shock Top. Okay, I ordered a Guinness.

Mark showed up. No beer and appetizers yet. We had a nice conversation, but still no beer and appetizers. After about a half hour (and a reminder from us), our beers showed up.  After we had finished those, the waitress came back and took our meal order. We reminded her that we were waiting on appetizers and she apologized, stating "the burgers take a while to cook".  We had ordered nachos and bruschetta, so I don't know why the burgers were holding them up, but anyway...

The next time we saw the waitress, she was bringing us our entrees. When we expressed our surprise that the appetizers still hadn't shown up, she said that they would be out in about two minutes.  We explained that, no, since the entrees were there there would be no need for appetizers anymore. I guess she missed the point of "appetizers".

The rest of the meal was uneventful - from a service perspective. We continued to have a nice conversation and it was great getting more caught up than we did previously.  Kit and Kristen had to leave early last year, so it was nice getting caught up with him, and finding out a little more about her.

Eventually the waitress showed up again to see if we wanted any dessert. Yeah, like I have that kind of time!  Actually, Kit suggested we go to Main Street Creamery, which Mark didn't know about.  So we got the bill. Now, you're expecting me to say that we paid and went for ice cream. Hold your horses! Not that easy...not that night.

The bill arrived and right at the top was the Shock Top that I ordered but they didn't have. That led to some pretty close scrutiny, but everything else seemed in order.  So Kit and I each pulled out a credit card, and Mark pulled out cash.  The three of us sat there looking at each other. Three freakin' geniuses stymied by how to properly/equitably split the bill. After several minutes of mumbling about how should pay what and how, Kristen came to our rescue with a suggestion that Kit and I split the bill 50/50 on our cards, and Mark pay the tip.  Relieved that someone figured it all out for us, we readily agreed, and we we headed off to Main St. Creamery for a delicious end to the evening.

Although we did agree that next year's get together should be a Village Pizza.

And, sadly, no pictures were taken.

Nancy and I go back to college. We ran in the same circle of friends, were both involved in the theatre, and were both from Connecticut. Naturally, we became friends.  Like most friends from early on in life, we kind of lost touch over the years.  Fortunately we reconnected a couple of years ago, and last year when we came through town we got together for a visit.

Her husband, David, is also from her hometown and went to college with us, but he got there right as I was transitioning back from one college to another, and I don't remember him as part of the group I was running with at the time.  Turns out he's a pretty cool guy. We bonded over Rush, and he showed me Rush's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction speech. Blah, blah, blah.

Nancy and David have two kids - one of whom is about Iain's age, and the other is Kate's age.  When we got together last year it was if they were all long-lost friends!  I think we were at Nancy's house for about 5 minutes before all the kids disappeared, leaving the adults in their wake.

When we visited last year, Nancy and David were just getting ready to move from Avon to Hartford.  This year part of our "reconnecting" was finding out where they currently live.

Turns out they live in a gorgeous 1916 house about a block away from Elizabeth Park. It has two pantries (although they are going to remodel one away), a carriage entrance (where the door into the house is actually at carriage height, and opens into their dining room), and three full floors.  The third floor was originally the servants quarters, and they're talking about turning it into a rental unit. (Although Nancy joked that after the kids go off to school, she and David could live there and rent the rest of the house!) Oak woodwork everywhere, except the third floor - pine. It's on a beautiful tree-lined street, and there was virtually no "city noise" as we enjoyed their backyard hospitality.  So, I'm very jealous of their house.

It was great seeing them again. The kids went off to watch "The Lego Movie" and the adults gabbed in the backyard until it was too dark to see each other! We talked a lot of theatre, and Nancy suggested that we get tickets to Cleveland Playhouse, as they are a LORT theatre (as is Nancy's employer - Goodspeed Opera House) which produces their own productions - rather than a "touring" theatre like Playhouse Square, which brings in the touring companies.  She has a good point - support the local community - and we'll have to see what they're doing this year.

Like last year, the evening wound down with us watching the DVR'd recording of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies. This year we watched Peter Gabriel (am-ah-zing!!), Linda Ronstadt and Cat Stevens.  We didn't make it to Nirvana or the E Street Band as it was getting late.

When we were driving home last year I realized that, although it had been probably 20 years since we had last seen each other, it felt like we had always been together and it was just our weekly get-together at Nancy's house.  Consequently, no one had thought to take a picture.  This year, I remembered.  Pictures were taken.  However, my phone's camera flash was set to "auto" and for some reason decided that there was plenty of light inside Nancy's house and didn't need to go off.  So, I ended up with the stereotypical "crappy cell phone photos" of the evening.  Oh well, there's always next year.

The best photo of the bunch. At full size, it looks like I've played with the artistic filters too much!

Our annual trek east was somewhat up in the air due to some of Ellen's school obligations, so I was unable to give people the exact dates until about a week or so before we were ready to head out, resulting in my referring to this, tongue-in-cheek, as the "Last Minute Tour of New England". I think it may have worked out to our advantage as I was able to do some rapid scheduling without over-thinking things, and it turned out to be a very pleasant, restful week.

We arrived in Connecticut on Saturday evening, and within the hour I was at Village Pizza. (Had to get my "half roast beef grinder with mayo, cold, with everything".)  That out of the way, we settled in at mom's house.

Sunday saw us heading down to the Wethersfield Cove to see the Cove Warehouse.  Growing up a few houses away (I could actually see the warehouse from my bedroom window), I am intimately familiar with it. But my kids are not, and Kate really wanted to see it.  It was broken into over the winter, and through community donations has been rebuilt and reopened as an interactive display of commerce of early Wethersfield specifically, and the nascent nation in general.  The hours are limited to weekend days from 1:00-4:00, so we took advantage of our first day there to visit.

Cove Warehouse selfie

Wethersfield Cove panorama shot from window of Cove Warehouse

When I was a kid the warehouse was open frequently. I remember playing inside, and being stung by a boat-load (hive-load?) of bees once.  Then I guess funding dried up and it was closed for the rest of my time at home. It was fun to get back inside again after all these years.

After the nostalgia trip, we went over to my cousin Liz's house for a pool-party/family get-together.  She usually has us come over when we're in town, and unfortunately she was one of the people that I had not contacted. Nonetheless, she heard we were coming and invited us all over for pizza. Always a good time.

This time was special-er (is that a word?) because I got to visit with my cousin Michael, who I haven't seen in a few years as he's been unable to attend these get-togethers. He was wearing an awesome t-shirt featuring the old Hartford Whalers "Pucky the Whale" logo.  I was telling him about my jersey (from the later team years), and we were laughing that we were referring to the "new" logo for a team that ceased to exist in 1979!

We also got to visit with Liz's husband, Tom, who has been out of town on work-related trips the previous times we've done this. Turns out that Tom went to college in Vermont, so we talked about the places that we go during the second week of our vacation, and the Vermont micro-brew industry. He requested that we bring back a case of The Alchemist Brewery's Heady Topper (which I think is the best beer - ever) for him. I'm hoping we can manage that.

Sitting around Liz and Tom's pool selfie

On Monday, we had dinner at Auntie Marilyn's house. This year the menu included something new - ham loaf.  It was tasty, and Marilyn made enough for us to bring back to Mom's house so we had ham loaf sandwiches later in the week. It's always fun to visit at Auntie's as it's a chance for my siblings and me to get together and bust on each other. (Love you guys!)

We finally made it home. Got in about 11:00 last night, and boy is it nice to not be driving anymore!!

Our last two legs were uneventful. We went from Oklahoma City to St. Louis. Got up yesterday morning and headed home from St. Louis. The only weird thing was this:


Looks just like the Largest Cross in the Western Hemisphere, don't it? Guess what? It's larger. It's in Effingham, Illinois (a town my kids just love the name of...the older two specifically...ahhh, middle school humor), and the people here were so inspired by the cross in Texas that they built there own. Not to be outdone, or maybe to outdo, they built it 8 feet taller. So, we saw the two largest crosses in the Western Hemisphere. That should cover church for a week or two, don't'cha think?

And, for those of you who have been following chronologically, you may have noticed that I stopped posting at General Convention, and that there are no Disneyland posts. My hope is to do a couple of "recap" pages here this week. We'll see how that goes. Watch this space for more details!

Probably the biggest issue with “Mojave Desert Breakdown '09” was that we spent two days stuck in California. This meant that we weren't sticking to our (albeit flexible) schedule, and so over the last couple of days we could tell that the kids were getting kind of squirrelly, and we (the adults) were ready to start heading back home. (Well, at least I was. Keep in mind, I've been gone since the 6^th.) That's why we decided that today would begin our big push straight home.

Our original plan was to go from Farmington to Fort Worth, where we would visit Ellen's cousin Julie. While there, we could have seen Enzo, in Dallas, and had already touched base with Eric in Austin in hopes that we could get together for at least a little while. It has been way too long since I've seen any of them, and I was looking forward to it.

From Fort Worth we were to follow Route 10 to New Orleans, where we hoped to do our part to help the rebuilding effort by having lunch in the French Quarter. Then we would continue along the Gulf Coast to Jim's house in Georgia. From there we would head back home.

Instead, we looked at the push home and determined that we could go straight from Farmington in three days, but that one of them would be an 11+ hour (drive time) day. We decided to start with that.

So, we left Farmington bright and early today, with our sights set on Oklahoma City. We headed out on Route 550 toward Albuquerque, and passed through some interesting countryside. As we were nearing Interstate 25, I saw a water tower that read “Bernalillo, The City of Coronado.” Having spent some time in the southwest, I am familiar with Coronado, but I wondered why this town had this moniker. Again, be careful what you wish for (although this time in a good way), as Munchkin announced that she needed a “potty break.” I followed the signs for the Bernalillo Visitor's Center, and while the family visited the rest rooms, I talked with a gentleman who answered my questions.

It seems that there is a state monument – Coronado State Monument, as a matter of fact - that is in Bernalillo. I was told that they believe that Coronado mustered his army there during his exploration of the area. Of course, what really is (was) there is a pueblo that had 1,200 dwellings, and the finest example of pre-contact wall paintings in the United States. Coronado came in, killed the people, and took over. The guide and I lamented the fact that so many things in the southwest are named after Coronado. (“They say he discovered this area. What he did was follow the roads that connected the pueblos. There was no discovery.”) So, that was why Bernalillo is “Coronado's city.”

We continued on our way, passing through Albuquerque. It was intriguing enough that I would like to visit and see what is there. Some day. The rest of the day was spent on Route 40, heading east. There isn't much to mention about our travels. Long day. Not much to look at, other than noticing how the vegetation and landscape changed as we traveled east.

We did make one stop of significance. Cadillac Ranch. I had seen this art installation from the highway when Dave and I had driven across the country in 1986, and I thought the kids would enjoy seeing it, so I checked for directions before we left. Just outside Amarillo, Texas, are 10 Cadillacs buried nose first in the ground. They are spray painted different colors, and people are allowed (if not encouraged) to add their own graffiti. We didn't have any spray paint, but each kid added their own name with a pen that I had with us. My kids first juvenile delinquent moment (awww, I think I'm tearing up).

A while later we passed the (self-proclaimed) Largest Cross in the Western Hemisphere. I think that qualifies as the kind of cheesy place my sister would be searching out. Of course, we didn't stop, but we did get a picture as we zipped by.

After traveling through a hellacious thunderstorm, we ended up safely in Oklahoma City.

We backtracked today to Four Corners. It was about an hour back toward Kayenta. I guess the theme of this part of the trip could be “going backwards”. But I digress...

The thing that surprised me the most about the Four Corners Monument was how many people were there. We actually had to stand in line to get to the marker. The thing is that you really have to be going there to be there. It's not “along the way” in any sense of the word. It is 6 miles from the nearest town, and as far as I can tell, that town (Teec Nos Pos) consists of a trading post, and that's about it.

The monument is really cool. It's pretty much what you think, just a marker in a slab of concrete, but the concrete has the names of the states, and the flags for the states and the nations fly over the monument (in the proper quadrants, of course). The cool thing is that you can say you were in six places at once: Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, the Navajo Nation, and the Ute Nation.

Circling the parking/monument area is a host of stalls where Native Americans sell all kinds of arts and crafts. We wandered up and down the booths, and purchased a few things. Ellen got a beautiful corn maiden pottery piece, and a gorgeous necklace/earring set. Beenie got an arrow, while Stewie got a pottery turtle. Keke got a turtle necklace, and Munchkin got a bracelet and barrettes.

Part of our search when we set out today was to find a place that served Navajo Tacos. Ellen was jonesing for one big time, and she also wanted the kids to be able to try them. We had heard that the KFC in Farmington served them (believe it or don't), and that there were some places in Shiprock where we could get them. Fortunately for us, there was a Navajo Taco stand at Four Corners.

We got our Navajo Tacos and lemonades, and sat in the shade to enjoy them (did I mention that it was 107 degrees?). While we were eating, two dust devils blew up and their paths came right through the area where we were trying to enjoy our food. After that, some of us enjoyed our food, but with a little more (sand) crunch to it. Stewie lucked out, as my plate blew across the table and propped itself up against him. While that may not have been the most desirable, it did serve to cover his food, so he had the least sand going forward.

After leaving the monument, we worked our way back to Farmington. While I was at General Convention, I went to the Navajoland booth in the marketplace and asked about a church in Farmington, as I anticipated us being there on a Sunday (the breakdown threw that plan all off, though). I was given directions to a church that is part of the Navajoland Diocese (the other one nearby is part of the Diocese of Rio Grande). On our way back from Four Corners we followed those directions, and found the church. Then we went to the grocery store, loaded up on supplies, and spent the rest of the evening in the hotel swimming pool (and the jacuzzi!).

We got up this morning, and very reluctantly (very reluctantly) left Flagstaff. But, not before hitting the Flagstaff Visitor's Center. Noting the irony in stopping there on the way out of town, we picked up some souvenirs and some information about cool things to do in the area. So we'll have to come back. And, if you get a chance, check out the Visitor's Center's website. It rocks.

After dragging our feet, we were a little behind in our schedule for the day, which was to take us ultimately to Farmington, NM. We headed out of Flagstaff and stopped in Cameron at the Navajo Arts & Crafts Center. It is a store owned and operated by the Navajo Nation, and all jewelry and crafts are guaranteed made by Navajo, and the money spent goes directly to them. If you want to buy authentic Navajo arts & crafts, and aren't in the Navajo Nation, I suggest purchasing through them. Quality is excellent, price is fair, and there is no middleman.

We also stopped at the Cameron Trading Post, which is the antithesis of Navajo Arts & Crafts. Tacky tourist schlock abounds! Sadly, the Trading Post was packed full of people, while at NA&C we were the only customers.

A short drive up the road, and we turned from Route 89 onto 160 and headed into Tuba City. On a “potty break” we passed a modified short school bus that had the “sch” spray painted out and a “C” in its place – Cool Bus. On the side of the bus was an intriguing website address that we took a look at tonight, and it turns out that it's this group of guys who modified a school bus and are trekking around the western half of the country from now until the end of August. I heartily recommend following their exploits as they continue on their “Golden Summer”.

Our own trek continued on to Navajo National Monument. We walked along the trail to view the Betatakin ruins, which the kids found fascinating once they understood what they were looking at. The idea that people lived there really intrigued them, as did the fact that the people just up and left after a while. We also found out from the Park Ranger that we have been pronouncing the name incorrectly for the last 15 years. We've been saying bet-a-TAK-in, while it's actually pronounced beh-TOT-a-kin. Good thing we stopped in.

We got there late in the day for the Visitor's Center, and had about 10 minutes left when the kids discovered that they could do a Junior Ranger program here, too. Quickly zipping through it (fortunately not as complex as the Grand Canyon One), the kids became Junior Rangers at Navajo National Monument, too. I think this is even cooler that the Canyon, as I doubt they will find many, if any, people who have been to Navajo National Monument.

The plan from here was to go to Four Corners, then on to Farmington, where we would spend the night and leave tomorrow to head east. Well, by the time we got to the turnoff for Four Corners it was so late that the monument was closed, so we just continued on. Our plan now is to head back to Four Corners tomorrow, and stick around the Farmington area for one more night.

Must I leave Flagstaff? :-(

Today we spent the day wandering around Flagstaff. Mostly the “historic” downtown area. It is a several square block area with a whole bunch of little shops and restaurants. It was a lot of fun.

We found a store called Sacred Rites, and when we walked in the kids said, “It smells like our house!” The store sells singing bowls, drums, other musical instruments, buddhist statuary, wall hangings, jewelry, prayer flags, and incense (hence the reason it smelled like our house). We spent a long time in there, with the clerk and I playing all the different singing bowls. They carried some I had never seen before. They were either glass or crystal, and we played them with a rubber mallet. They were U shaped and the “walls” were at least as tall as the diameter of the bowls. If I were to guess I would say that they were probably 12”, 18”, and 24” in diameter. They had the most amazing sounds (and price tags!). The guy said that a number of new age healers use them for their healings, and each is tuned to a different chakra. All I know is that we had quite the chorus going. (Note: I found them on the Google at another online store - these be them.)

After purchasing some prayer flags and incense (trying a new brand of nag champa – very strong), we continued our wandering. Some great funky shops there. Ultimately we ended up back at the hotel where we ate lunch then headed out to Sedona.

Beenie wanted to go to Sedona to see the red rocks, and get a Sedona pin. I think he's been reading Arizona Highways and has seen the issues on Sedona, so was keen to get there. We took Route 89A into town, found a parking place amazingly fast, then wandered around the shops there for a good chunk of the afternoon. A friend of mine describes Sedona as “a bit full of itself”, to which I am inclined to agree. I would much rather go hiking, like Ellen and I did 15 years ago. I don't think it would have worked this time, with the kids, in the July heat, so we didn't. But everyone seemed to have a good time, and enjoyed looking at the views and the scenery on 89A both on the way in and out.

By the time we got back to Flagstaff it was getting into the realm of dinner/bedtime, so unfortunately we didn't get to one of the places I really wanted to go – Lowell Observatory. The guy at Sacred Rites said that the Flagstaff Symphony was having a chamber concert on the observatory grounds, and it would have been totally cool to see that in addition to all the doings at the observatory itself. Oh well, maybe next time.

Flagstaff is great! Got up this morning and joined the long parade of cars headed north to the Grand Canyon. One of my favorite drives is up through Coconino and Kaibab National Forests on the way to the canyon. You pass by Humphrey's Peak, and the rest of the San Francisco Peaks, and it is just gorgeous (especially so in the spring and fall, but this day in July was pretty nice, too).

We passed through Tusayan, and approached the main gate for the park. It was packed!! We finally found a parking place on the side of the road, and loaded everyone off (or “disembarked”, which has been Stewie's favorite word recently), and trudged through the scrub to the South Rim. Beenie's reaction: “Wow!”

We took the requisite photos of the family with the canyon in the background, and then worked our way over to the Visitor's Center. The kids got the information on what it would take to become a “Junior Ranger”, and we started to fill out the booklets. Part of the procedure was to take a ranger-led class, and the next (and most convenient) one was “Storytime” at the El Tovar Hotel. We bustled onto the shuttle bus and headed off to the hotel.

We got there in time for the last half of the talk, although by the time we found where it was, the ranger was on his last “story”. Since part of the booklet had the kids filling in something they learned at the program, we were pretty limited on that, so everyone basically put the same thing (“we learned that tarantulas build their webs underground”). Still, the ranger okayed them all, and signed off on that part of the program. A couple of exercises later, and the kids were all sworn in as Junior Rangers.

After an ice cream treat, we hiked down part of Bright Angel Trail. The kids wanted to keep going, but I got in about as far as I thought we should go, and told them that I wasn't going any farther. They reluctantly turned around, but they were all sucking wind by the time we got back to the top!

We headed back to the car, and along the way Keke made the comment (a couple of times) that the only part of the day that was bad was that we were going to have to leave eventually. We piled into the car just as it started to sprinkle. As we were making our way back toward the East Rim, it began to rain a little harder. At one intersection, the rain puddled up at the edge of the road, and much to our surprise, quite a number of elk appeared out of nowhere to drink from these puddles! It was all mother and baby elk, but they seemed to catch everyone off guard as we all progressed slowly and carefully through the intersection.

We eventually made our way through the rain to Moran Point, where Ellen and I got engaged 15 years ago. It was our first time back. It was still nice, although I couldn't figure out how we got to the place where the actual proposal was made so many years ago. Then again, if it hadn't been windy and about to storm maybe I would have had a chance to figure it out.

As we were already on that side of the park, we decided to keep following the road out the east end of GCNP, went to Cameron, and turned onto 89S toward Flagstaff. It was a good day. (And all the way home Stewie kept saying, “I want to go back to the Grand Canyon.”)

We pulled into Ontario VW and they made us feel more than comfortable while they looked at the car. The kids played on the Lego table, while Ellen and I looked at the different models on the lot. Jose (our service manager) brought us bottles of water, and was really kind and joking with us the whole time. Once they got the car into the bay, the technician took all of five minutes to determine that it was, in fact, the cooling fan that was giving us the problem. A broken blade will do that.

Naturally, since we drive a Eurovan, they didn't have the part in stock, and needed to order it. I noticed that there was another Eurovan sitting in the garage, so I told Jose that he could just take the cooling fan out of that one and put it in ours. He said that that Eurovan had the exact same problem. Except that it had been in an accident, and up until we pulled in they assumed that the cooling fan was broken in the accident. I tried to talk him into giving us a bulk discount since he had to order two fans, but no luck.

So, the part ordered and paid for, and with fingers crossed that it would arrive at the shop this morning, we headed off to find a place to live for the night. Found one in the Holiday Inn Express, where we got a suite, free breakfast, and free high-speed internet. And an outdoor pool and hot tub! And, no, I still cannot fix the car, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

Jose told me to be back at 7:00 am, and I was waiting in his lobby when he showed up at 6:55. The part had arrived, and we just had to wait for the technician to arrive. Once he got there at 7:30 it only took about an hour and a half and we were good to go. As I said to Jose, “I like your city, I love your dealership, but I never want to see you again!” He could empathize, as he got stranded once when he went to visit his hometown in Mexico. In all seriousness, Jose Meza and the team at Ontario Volkswagen did a really great job getting us fixed up and on the road. They did it with good humor, kindness, and speed. I am very grateful to have been there. So, if you find yourself in Ontario, California, with a Volkswagen that needs service, drop in and tell them I sent you. (Likewise, if you're in Cape Cod, go to Tracy Volkswagen.)

By 11:00 we were on our way again. Back on the 60 to the 15 and headed toward Barstow. A great sense of deja vu. In Barstow, we picked up I-40 and headed east.

It was a little dicey (mentally) as we passed Call Box 40-592, but we made it and we set our sights on Flagstaff. Stopped for a lunch break in Needles, CA. Looked around a little for Snoopy's brother Spike, but didn't see him. Noticed with interest how the Mojave desert transitioned in flora and landscape as we approached Arizona. Climbed into the mountains in Arizona. It was beautiful. Stopped for gas in Kingman, home of Andy Devine. Finally arrived safe and sound in Flagstaff around dinner time. It is great to be here!!!!

My plan was to wake up this morning, drive the few miles from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon, and introduce my kids to the most breathtaking place I've ever been. Early in the morning, free from distractions, they would have an experience that they would remember for the rest of their lives.

Alas, my car had other ideas.

We left Anaheim, after four great days at the Disney theme parks, and headed out on the 57, the 60, and the 15. As we passed through Rancho Cucamonga we noted that the largest tortilla chip factory in North America is located there. (We discovered that on our Mission tortilla chip factory tour at California Adventure.) The next town was Ontario. All I know of Ontario is that it is the location where “Dave” films his “There Goes A ...” kids video series. It looked like an interesting town, and I remarked that I would like to know more about what happens there. We stopped for gas, and then continued on.

In Barstow, we picked up I-40 and headed east toward Flagstaff. About an hour later, and just 9 miles past Ludlow, according to the California Highway Patrol Officer (who looked more like Jon than Ponch, and was actually from Indiana), the car started shuddering like we were riding over rumble strips. Except we weren't. So we pulled over to the side of the road in the middle of the Mojave desert.

I recalled that we had Volkswagen Roadside Assistance when we bought the car, so I called them. They told me that it expired in 2006, but they would be happy to tow me to the nearest VW dealer (at my own cost) in Henderson, NV (almost 200 miles). Then she determined that we could go to San Jose instead as that would be closer (430 miles). Closer, yeah, you do the math.

We ended up using the call box, waiting two and a half hours and getting a tow back to Barstow. Spent the night there, and was pleased to discover that everyone was very very nice. Our hotel was right on Route 66, and it turns out that the next burg over, Newberry Springs, was the inspiration for Radiator Springs in the movie Cars. The lady at the garage gave me a map (that she ripped out of her phone book) of Newberry Springs for me to give to Jamie.

There's not much in Barstow, but a big railyard, and a couple of military installations. The Marine Corps have a big base there, and the Army has a training center, too (Fort Irwin). In Fort Irwin is the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Network Center, one of three such complexes in the world, spaced at 120 degrees around the globe. There is also a Harvey House and a Route 66 museum, neither of which was open, not that we had the time to go, but still... There is also the largest runway I've seen at an airport of just a couple of buildings. Turns out it is just a military airport. I remarked that it looked like you could land a 747 there, and was told that it was mostly used for Blackhawks (although they wouldn't need a runway, but I didn't get into that).

And a weird story. I was looking through the information at the Holiday Inn Express, and found a list of Episcopal churches in the “high desert” area. There were none listed for Barstow. This morning I was driving around looking for a garage, and I was going around the block to head back to one I had seen. I was going to turn right, but something told me to turn left, and I ended up smack in front of St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Weird.

The people at the garage confirmed that there was a problem with the cooling fan, but it would take them up to 5 days to get the part. His suggestion – we take the car to the VW garage in Ontario. Now, when I said I wanted to know more about Ontario, this wasn't what I meant. Be careful what you wish for.

So, we limped our way to Ontario. And here we are, 33 miles from Anaheim.

We hit every ride in Adventureland. Tarzan's Treehouse is here. The kids went in it a couple of times and had a blast. Back in the day it used to be the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. Nobody knows the Swiss Family Robinson story anymore, so they updated it. Well, they updated the name anyway. Now it's tied into the Tarzan franchise.


The Jungle Cruise was a hoot, with the water animals spraying, splashing, and “attacking” the boat. The guide had to use his cap gun to scare them off. The resounding “pop” from the gun wouldn't have scared the fly on the elephant's butt, but still...


Beenie and I went on the Indiana Jones Adventure, where we were in a jeep-type car that careened around the forest and the ruins in an attempt to rescue Indy (I think that was the premise). It was a lot of fun hanging on to the car to keep from falling out! Another cool part was the line itself. It weaved (“snaked”?) its way through ruins with idols carved into the walls, and flickering bare light bulbs. It was the best “themed” wait in the park.

But the highlight of Adventureland was the Enchanted Tiki Room. It was always a favorite of Ellen's when she was little, and it hasn't changed at all. The thunderstorm at the end had the little ones somewhat concerned, but they loved watching the birds and the fountain, and listening to the songs. Which they have been singing ever since. Great. (Everybody - “In the tiki, tiki, tiki, tiki, tiki room, oh, the tiki, tiki, tiki, tiki, tiki room.”)