"Oh my Donlin, Oh my Donlin!" ..... Tales from the Pop Up!!

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

10 hours to go and back to Sweet Home Chicago!

Despite some crazy Ottawa ave neighbor ranting, we managed to find a little fun on our final stretch home. We will have driven through like 7 states before we finally make it! Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, then Illinois! Leaving Arizona, we saw some funny things that must be distinctly from the west!

Mountains of New Mexico look so different from all the hills and mountains we have seen.

Tinkertown off of Route 66 in New Mexico. These people built this museum with bottles and odds and ends! Ridiculous and cool!

Tired and crabby but still Molly!

The kids painted Donlin on these Cadillacs in a field in Amarillo, Texas. These were really great... Junky... But so cool to see something like this just hanging in a field!

Last big dinner at a place called the BIg Texas Steak House in Amarillo. Food was ok but the experience was pretty cool. Texan musicians were walking around, the room was big and full of cowboys and there was a 72 ounce steak eating contest going on right next to us. It was pretty cool and something we would only see in Texas!

Molly flipped her hair forward, saying "cause I am a girl cowboy!" Funny!

We ended up sleeping in Oklahoma City in the nicest hotel yet... We even had a suite. It was hard to wake up!

No more good shots from here on out... Pouring all through Oklahoma and can barely see in front of our car!

I am already nostalgic though. Sitting here looking at the rain, I am thinking of all the good times, the highs and lows. It was only 3 weeks but it felt like a year! I am not sure if we can do a trip like this again, but I can say we have been able to show our children glimpses of half the country! They have seen things I have only read in books or on TV. I hope we were able to create some wonderful memories for them and a greater closeness for us as a family. For better or worse, we had each other everyday with no interruption and I will never be able to regret that.., I will actually miss sleeping all together in the camper! We are eager to sleep in our own beds and get back to life but I hope we will feel like a closer, stronger family with great memories of our time together!

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Getting our kicks?

So Monday we through the kids in the car and headed off toward New Mexico on what is supposed to be historic Route 66. We had some crabby kids but we let them have "headphones on the highway!" We saw the outside of some landmarks and drove by some sites but everything cost a fortune to actually go in! We did drive through the Petrified Forest but didn't have time dot walk through a lot. Molly was mad she couldn't climb but she was mad about everything! We made it to Albuqurque but that didnt seem like we got very far. We have to drive so slow with the camper in the heat. We stayed at a hotel cause by the time we got there, we were all too tired to pop up the camper somewhere. I think we will sleep for days when we finally make it home!

Apparently Flagstaff Arizona is the site where Pluto was discovered. Molly asked if we meant the dog, but then told us it didn't matter because Pluto wasn't a planet anymore anyway! (She's a mini Raymond!)

We drove near some landmarks but couldn't really stop until we got to the Petrified Forest National Park. Nolan set the gears to the gift shop accidentally ao we ended up going an hour out of our way but we got to see some dinosaurs!

And buy some "logs!" Small ones... That stuff was heavy!!

In the forest, we took in the sights from the car windows. We couldn't believe how big those trees must have been!

And the Painted Desert was gorgeous!

Back In the car, Maeve was getting a little slap happy!

We got stuck on the highway for a bit because of a downed power line but we saw a wagon going for a drive!

Then finally in Albuqurque, we took in the lights! Hoping for more adventures Tuesday. Texas is supposed to be fun!

We hope to be home sometime very late Wednesday night but we'll see. We don't seem to get as far as we hope we will when looking at the map especially with crabby kids who don't get moving until 9!

Monday, July 28, 2014

On the road again....

We squeezed in one last visit before leaving California with Nolan's cousin Kathleen, then we were back on the road! We went to a restaurant called Iron Press that used waffles as their sandwich bread! The side sauce was different kinds of syrup! We had a great time catching up and then head out to Scottsdale.

We hit a couple of Route 66 sites along the way including an original Wigwam hotel! Braving the desert once again, driving 45 miles an hour in the 106 degree heat, we landed at the O'Sheas to spend the night in their new paradise home! It was beautiful with tons of space, gorgeous tropical plants and a pool right out the back door. They are truly living on vacation! With a little corersion to stay an extra night, we got a tour of the town, saw the kids' new schools and saw the nightlife! It was so much fun to spend time relaxing with our wonderful friends. We really do miss them so much!

Leaving our "campsite" in Anaheim... What a dump!!

So fun seeing Kathleen! She is the reason we fell in love with Yosemite!

Some Wigwam hotels in California on Route 66!

We arrived at the O'Shea bed and breakfast!

Of course, it has a beautiful pool! Kids loved it!!

Dinner in downtown Scottsdale at Rehab Burger! Only missing Gracie!

We had a Peanut Butter and Jellly, Bacon burger with Sirachi sauce... Whatever! And it was good!! Even with seat potato tater tots!

Strange things happen in Arizona! Nacho Libre was walking around without his shirt on. The restaurant went a little nuts!

Shopping at a little Mexican shop!

Hiking around downtown Scottsdale!

All you need is......

Had to try it ourselves!!

The next morning it was hard to say goodbye!

On to New Mexico on Monday....Route 66!

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Disneyland!

Its small but cute... The kids had a blast, made up for the rough Hollywood day. We got up at the crack of dawn and walked to the park from the RV park intending to stay until midnight. The kids practically ran to the park, which was great because later I was dragging them down the street back to the camper. There are 2 parks pressed next to each other with a "corridor" in between to cross to the other park. We started at the new California Adventure and hit the Cars Ride and a great roller coaster California Screaming. We had a blast and got on all the rides pretty quickly. The park was mostly empty but we discovered later the people we in the Magic Kingdom part of the park. That side was packed! It's a bit smaller than Disney Worlds park and twice the amount of people. Ray was pretty excited about an Indiana Jones ride... Molly had another pee pee issue and we got an employee to let us "back stage" to use the bathroom. (It was cool to get behind the scenes...as annoying as it was, Molly's pee has gotten us into some interesting situations.) when we finally got on the ride it stalled out on us and we were stuck in the dark for like 25 minutes... With Indy hanging over our heads. I would have preferred the real Harrison Ford but this one wasn't bad. They let us off eventually and we got some free fast passes. And then headed over to the Jungle Cruise where I saw my only "celebrity" of LA....this goofy Jason from the show Laguna Beach and the Hills. I really was the only one around that seemed to have any clue who he was and he was with some other people from the show. I mentioned it to Ray so now he's trying to call attention to us. Not embarrassing at all... He ended up sitting next to us on the boat. Not a celebrity, just a reality show guy, but my phone was dead and I couldn't take a picture! Curses! After 2 trips on Space Moutain for Molly, we finally walked back home! Lonnnnnngggg walk home!

We had a blast... Who can't be happy at the happier place on earth?!

Getting ready to play with Buzz Lightyear!