Road Trippin 2014

After three days of driving, a 10 day stop in Nebraska, and three more days of driving, we made it to Reno!  Here are some notes from the road and pictures* of the type of scenes we saw on our drive:

Smoky Mountains in Western Virginia*

-- It was fun to drive across the United States in the weeks leading up to the 4th of July, as it was a good reminder of what a geographically diverse, spectacularly beautiful country we live in.  My favorite parts of the drive this time were the Smoky Mountains and the Park City / Salt  Lake City area of Utah.

Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge in St. Louis*

- - We've done the 1400 mile Nebraska-to-Virginia trip in 1 day and 2 days.  This time, we took 3 days, and we all preferred the slower pace.  This allowed us to make longer stops, explore the towns along the way, and make 3 park stops per day.  Which leads me to comment on a type of story that's been trending lately, first as a cover story in  The Atlantic  and more recently as an article in the New York Times:  the idea that playgrounds can be too safe and this is bad for older kids (they need danger, they need sensory experiences, they need exercise and won't use equipment designed for toddlers, etc.).  These reporters should visit the middle of the country to find their park utopia.  We consistently saw parks that would be great for older kids -- huge slides  and challenging climbing structures; old school equipment like merry-go-rounds; zip lines; etc.

Nebraska (aka The Good Life)*

-- We spent most of our time in Nebraska hanging out with family, which i loved.  There is just something about being in Nebraska that refreshes my soul and makes me feel like everything is right in the world.  That's laying it on a little thick, but seriously, I just love spending time in Nebraska.

Wendover, Nevada*

- - One of our hotel nights was spent in Wendover, Nevada (pictured above).  This town, wedged between the Salt Flats of Utah and the barren dessert of eastern Nevada, is so very in the middle of nowhere that it sort of feels like you're on the moon.  And then, unexpectedly, these bright lights appear on the horizon, and you see what appear to be three huge Vegas style casinos in this tiny little town out in the boonies  We've driven through Wendover a dozen times and I have always been SO curious about these giant casinos in this tiny little town, so this time we stayed in the Wendover Peppermill.  It turns out that the casinos are not quite up to Vegas or Reno standards in terms of amenities.  The gaming floor is huge and the hotel rooms are spacious, but aside from the actual casino, there are no amenities - no pool, no dozens of restaurants, no nightclub, no spa.  So if any of you are tempted by a too-good-to-pass-up weekend getaway trip to Wendover:  I'm going to strongly urge you to reconsider.  But if you're driving through on I-80 and looking for a big hotel room for a good price in that general area, then Wendover might be the perfect stop for you.

Wyoming*

-- The kids have been doing great with the driving.  Joshua likes to watch for trains, and we have seen dozens in the western half of the trip.  We've had some difficulty with Joshua's eating while we travel.  It really helps him to have routine - eating the same meal at the same time and place each day - and of course this is really hard to manage with traveling.  Now that we're in Reno for a month, we've been able to set up more of a daily routine, and his eating is picking up.  I don't think he's lost weight yet, and if things do get worse, we've still got the G-button in place and can use it if needed.  But I would appreciate prayers for Joshua's eating during our summer travels.

We will be in Reno for most of the rest of July, and then back in Lincoln for 10 days at end of July and beginning of August - if you are a Reno or Nebraska friend, I would love to see you!

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* None of the photos pictured in this post were taken by me.  All were found by doing a Google Image search of my favorite areas through which we drove.  If, for some unimaginable reason, this blog post gets a big readership, I will go back and post photo credits.

Summer time

We are approaching our second annual cross country road trip, which will be very much like last year's trip  except that we will be on the road for two months rather than three.  (In case anyone's wondering about travel details:  We will be in Lincoln for a week in the middle of June and then the first two weeks of August, and we will be in Reno for most of July.)  Strangely enough, this unusual way to spend the summer will be only the second time where we have a "repeat" summer in the eight years we've been married.  Here's a little walk down memory lane of the  past eight summers:

2006:  We kicked off the summer by getting married in Lincoln and honeymooning in Maui.  Then we moved to Oakland, CA, where we subletted a studio apartment.  I clerked for a housing law non-profit; Kenny clerked at his Uncle Brian's law firm.  We dined on Easy Mac and sushi, took day trips into San Francisco, and attended church in Berkeley.

2007:  We stayed with Kenny's dad in Reno and studied for the bar exam.  When we needed study breaks, we would have free throw contests or drive over to McDonalds for a yogurt parfait.  We took the bar exam in a casino, then celebrated when it was over.  In August, we used my Honda Civic to haul a trailer of stuff as we moved from Durham to Lincoln.

2008:  We lived in Lincoln.  I made my very first court appearance, arguing a class action Medicaid case.  Kenny finished up a judicial clerkship and spent the months before starting his new job at a law firm writing and playing golf.

2009:  We lived in Reno, for the first time in a house that we owned.  Kenny was working at a law firm, I was working at Legal Aid doing child advocacy.  Kenny managed to convert our backyard from a dirt pile into a pleasant place to spend time.  We enjoyed our two new puppies, had barbeques, and took day trips to Truckee.

2010:  This was our first "repeat" summer - still lived in Reno, still both working - but this time I was pregnant.  So lots of doctor's visits and laying around moaning about the heat :).  Work was busy that summer - I had to prepare for 4 trials right before my due date.

2011:  This was our craziest summer.  In June, we were trying to sell the house in Reno, Joshua had his most major surgery (the jaw distraction in Salt Lake City), and Kenny was working on a huge case at work.  In July, we drove our family cross country to Virginia Beach and lived in a hotel for 10 days before moving into our new house.  In August, we experienced our first hurricane and then flew Joshua back to Salt Lake City for part two of his jaw distraction surgery.  J was on oxygen this whole time, which involved some interesting logistical challenges, such as establishing with Apria offices in every time zone.

2012:  We spent the full summer in Virginia Beach.  I was very pregnant.   Zoey was born in August!

2013:  We did our first summer road trip, detailed in several blog posts from last summer.

And now we are doing a repeat summer road trip.  Looking forward to seeing friends and family in Nevada and Nebraska!