Washington DC

July 27, 2012: yesterday we got into the Capitol area and first went to Triangle, VA to see the new Marine Corps Museum there. It was a fantastic museum with so many interesting and cool displays and hands on activities. James and I probably could have spent an entire day there if we were alone. Afterwards we went to Marine Corps Base Quantico where James went to officer candidates school in 1998. We were able to drive to the section of the base where OCS takes place and see some of the places where James spent so much time that summer. We fought the traffic and went to a spot from the show man vs food to Bens chilie Bowl. We ordered sloppy Chilie cheeseburgers and their famous "half smoke", which is a sausage with Chilie on it. James and I were in heaven, the kids not so much. We slept at my friend Renee's house in Chevy Chase. Sadly she isn't h ere to visit but nice enough to let us crash. This morning we rode the bus to the metro into the city. We got off at the mall and took the kids to the natural history museum and the air and space. We had a picnic lunch on the mall and, of course, the kids had to ride the carousel there. It was super hot and it sapped all of our energy. Molly is also sick which is too bad. We came home in the late afternoon and just choked at Renee's house. Tomorrow we may be heading home.

Homeward Bound

July 26, 2012: Since we left St Louis we've been making good progress and have had a few stops. It has been really hot and humid. Tuesday we drove to Louisville, KY. We took the kids to a park down near the river that had playgrounds and water fountains to play in. The car said it was 113 degrees! After an hour or so and another wipe out by Julia that resulted in a big scrape on her cheek we drove around the city to see a few sights. The Louisville slugger baseball bat factory and Churchill Downs. The track was closed but James climbed under and over fences and went in for a look, I was too chicken. We had a great thunderstorm that night which the kids thought was cool. We stayed in a motel again due to the heat and storm. Wednesday we drove to west Virginia. This was not a very well planned out day on our part. We stopped in Frankfort to play at a playground and take a peek around then we drove for awhile. We thought we wee going to stop by a river to swim and play but it was a bust and ended up being a long stretch for the kids. We finally got to Lewisburg WV and went to a playground. We got a motel room with a pool, got the kids some pizza and made a better plan for the next day. Today, Thursday we woke up and went to a cave system in Lewisburg. We went for a self guided tour for about an hour. It was cool and the kids thought it was neat, especially seeing a bat and using flashlights. This is the same cave system where a tabloid posted an article and photos in 1992 about the discovery of a bat boy. Those photos have become quite iconic and the woman told us some people come just for that. After we went for a swim in the hotel pool. Now we are headed towards Marine base Quantico to see where James went to OCS.

St.Louis

July 24, 2012: We just spent three nights in St.Louis. It was the first time we had been there. When we got into town we drove straight to the airport to pick up my mom who flew in to meet us. She grew up in St.Louis and we have always wanted to see it together. She was thrilled to be greeted by the girls holding a LaLa sign at the airport. We drove to my godparents, Julie and Sid's house. It has been so hot we went for a swim at the neighbors house right away. We stayed in the pool for a few hours and then headed back to the house. We ate and all hit the hay. Sunday morning we took the kids to Grant Farm. It is a huge park owned by Anheuser Busch. You pay to park and that's it. When you enter we hopped on a little train and rode all around the grounds seeing the animals they have. There is a herd of bison, emus, yaks, deer, birds, fish and others. When we got off the train we fed goats with baby milk bottles. The kids go right in with them and would get mauled by the goats for the milk. The kids didn't like that and preferred to feed them through the fence. Molly liked to share the milk bottle with the goats, being sure to take turns with them. Eww! We saw two fun shows on birds and elephants. And of course the kids rode the carousel. We saw two giant old tortoises as well as some other animals. The best part of this place for the grown ups is the free beer! They had samples of newer products which we really enjoyed. Anheuser Busch makes something called the 19th hole which is beer lemonade and iced tea. It was very refreshing on a hot day. Then we entered the courtyard of the stable area which looks like a Bavarian Beer garden. Here we ate brats for lunch and had more free beer. Ice cold Buds from the tap. It was so fun. We rode the team home and checked out more stables where the world famous Clydesdales are housed and trained. Being a life long fan of Budweiser it was a really neat place to see...oh, and the kids loved it too! We went home for naps and did some more swimming in the neighbors pool in the afternoon. That night julie and Sid took us to their club for dinner where we met and ate with Mom's cousins Joan and Holt. Such fun. Monday we went into the city early. We tried to go up the Arch but the wait was a few hours some bought tickets for the next morning. We went to the Budweiser brewery for a tour instead. It is a huge and impressive place. My favorite part was in the packaging plant, seeing all the cans and bottles on the machines getting filled and boxed up. We had more free beers there too. As I have said, after all money I have spent on Bud products in my life it was nice to have a few freebies on them! While the kids napped afterwards my mom took me around St Louis to see her old
Apartments and homes and school. It was great to get a visual on all the stories I have heard over the years. Despite a few spots being gone or looking differently we had fun seeing it all. That night LaLa babysat the girls and James and I went to see the cardinals play the Dodgers. Pop bought us the seats and we were in the 10th row right behind the Dodgers dugout. We had a lot of fun and it was fun to get out together. Thank you pop!!! Tuesday morning we went back to the arch. The little trams you ride up in are just like escape pods from star wars. It was funny. There were great views from the top. We checked it out, took some pix and headed back down again. We went back to Julie and SIDS to pack up and hit the road around 1. We're on the last leg of our trip now. We'll be home in about 4 days.

Making our way East

July 21, 2012: we've been cruising along through Kansas and now Missouri. We've kept the days short to around 4 hours or so for the kids with a few stops to entertain them and us. We've been staying in motels because it is so hot, the days have been over 100 degrees and it's in the 90's even at 9 pm. We stayed in Hays, Kansas We went and checked out an angus cattle ranch and learned that Hays used to be a dangerous wild west town where many people died with their boots on. We stopped in Topeka at Gage Park, which is amazing. The kids rose the antique carousel and then we spent a few hours at a great pool with all sorts of fountains and slides. We drove thru Kansas City into Kearney, Mo for the night. Kearney was the home of outlaw Jesse James and where he is buried. We did quick visits of these sites. On the way out of town we stopped briefly in Liberty, Mo to see the site of The first ever daylight bank robbery by Jesse James. Now we are on the way to St. Louis.

Barfing in Boulder

July 19, 2012: we had a brief but nice stay with my old teammate from college Ali Kuusisto. Kuus and her family were getting ready to go on vacation back east and were nice enough to host us despite that. Our kids hit it off great and were running around naked like a wild pack. It was really hot so we all went to the pool. The kids loved the water slides and playing together. They had the healthiest dinner of their lives, as did James and I, and then off to bed. When we woke up Julia had a stomach bug which threw a wrench into our plans to explore Boulder and Denver. Instead James stayed home with molly and i took Casey, Molly, and Orijah into boulder for a little visit. We just went to the pedestrian mall on Pearl street and the kids played in fountains, on rocks, statues, and we took a little train ride. Afterwards Casey and Orijah went to the pool again with James while the others napped. Later we all packed up and headed out. It was relaxing to have a slower day but a bummer that julia is puking. We're now headed towards St. Louis to meet LaLa on Saturday. Kansas here we come. It's the end of altitude and the start of major heat.

On The Road Again

July 18, 2012: We left Seattle Sunday and have been heading East (ish) since. The first day we drove to Spokane, WA and took a very long break. They have a fantastic riverfront park that was built for the worlds fair. The kids played on a giant radio flyer wagon turned into a slide, they rode the carousel, played in fountains, and we took a gondola ride out over a waterfall. Afterwards we took them to Franks Diner to eat in an old railcar from the 1920s. It was beautiful inside, so neat, and we all had delicious breakfast for dinner. We put the kids into pjs after and drove a few more hours to Missoula, MT. We thought of camping but it is still bear country and I've had enough of that. We found a great, and cheap, motel and crashed for the night. Monday we went to an awesome playground and another carousel in Missoula before we drove to Billings to stay with Pat and Charlie again. We had another wonderful stay with them and were able to swap stories about our travels as they just returned home from Germany. Tuesday morning we drove south. We spent a few hours at the Little Bighorn battlefield, also known as custer's last Stand. It was beautiful there and interesting to us to learn about the battle and envision it taking place on that spot. After we continued south into Wyoming. We got to Kaycee Wyoming and set out on one of our favorite adventures of the trip. We wanted to explore the hideouts of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid and the Hole in The Wall Gang. There was very little information and even less signage to get where we wanted to go. We got some information and set out on the back roads. The road quickly turned to a dirt road and the scenery was amazing. There were gorgeous red cliffs rising up like in the grand canyon. At one point there was a sign saying not to go further without 4wd but we tried it out and we're happy we did. The road was really rocky and uneven and we had to take it very slowly. At the end we came to a campground called Outlaw Cave Campground. It was on the plateau of an amazing gorge. We parked the car and hiked down the path to find their hideout cave. The kids did an awesome job hiking. We were scared of rattlesnakes some took it very slowly. We never actually found their cave but went down to the river and played around. James went exploring to try and find it and found some other caves and even saw an owl in one. We missed a turn off half way down the gorge that led way over to the real cave. It was getting too late to get to it when we hiked back up. It was fun and cool to be exploring all around where they did. We set up camp, there was only one other group there and it has to be the most beautiful campsite around. We took the kids walking around in the dark which they loved. The sky was filled with stars and we all lay together looking up through the tent. It all started out great until it got windy. Then James and I got no sleep. The wind was so strong I was certain the tent was going to blow down. The kids slept through it all of course. James and I were up early and we hit the road just before 7. We saw tons of wildlife; deer, pronghorns, vultures, turkeys, rabbits. It was another hairy drive back down that road but we made it unscathed. Now we're heading south to boulder.

Seattle

July 15, 2012: we just spent two days in Seattle. James and I have never been there so we were excited to see a new city. We arrived mid afternoon on Friday and checked in to the Marriott on the waterfront with Donna and Lou and Melissa and Jon. After checking in we set out with the kids to explore. They love the word "explore" and all that it implies. We always try and build excitement with them by saying we are going to explore or going on an adventure. We walked along the waterfront for awhile then headed up into Pike Place Market. It was filled with all sorts of vendors, especially beautiful flowers, fruit, and seafood. We got some huge peaches and nectarines as a snack. We saw the seafood place where they throw fish too. After that we had to walk to pick up our car from getting the oil changed and we discovered a delicious donut shop called Top Pot Doughnuts. It turns out it is a well known place in Seattle. The doughnuts were enormous and we all enjoyed them. After that we took the kids home and put them to bed. James went out to sushi with his family and I stayed on the balcony to babysit the kids. Saturday we woke up to Seattle fog. We had a little bit of a lazy morning in the hotel and then headed out. We walked on the waterfront and checked out different piers and the cruise ship scene. We walked into Olympic Sculpture Park and then up towards the space needle. Each girl had their own map and had fun trying to learn to navigate. Casey led us around a bit and had fun trying to read street signs and find things on the map. It was too foggy to go up the space needle so we took the kids on a ride on the monorail. We sat right in front next to the driver and she let Julia say "all aboard" on the microphone. Afterwards we hit up Top pot for some more doughnuts and then went into a glass blowing studio. You can watch them blowing glass. When we were there it was only students doing it but it was still interesting for the kids to see. We took them home for naps and then in the afternoon we met up with everyone and took a ferry out to Alki, which is a peninsula across the sound. It had turned into a beautiful day and we just wandered around along the water. The girls hoola hooped with a hippie lady, saw seals swimming, swing on Jon & Melissa's arms and just played around. We took the boat back and sat by the water to give the girls fish and chips for dinner while we enjoyed a beer. After bedtime James and I hung out on our balcony trying to plan our trip home. Sunday morning we packed up and said goodbye to everyone and now we are heading East.