Summer Adventure 2011

Day 7: 20-June-2011 (brian)

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6:56 – Daynen woke up. He was motivated to get up and get moving because the free breakfast ends at 9:00.

7:00 – Alarm rang… went back to sleep

7:30 (Michelle) – Big kids went down to breakfast, followed by dad and mom with Caelan.

After breakfast we packed up, went to Walmart to exchange Caelan`s new shorts for a smaller size. I had bought him a size 4 because he is skinny. They were too big around the waist so this time I got 3T for him… I hope they fit.

Went to the Dinosaur Museum at the local state college. It was fun, and not too time consuming.

1:30 – Saw our first sign to Salt Lake City.

2:27 – Crossed the state line into Utah. 3500km from Peterborough.

3:30 – Entered Salt Lake Valley

3:40 – Stopped at Home Depot.

4:30 (Brian) – Arrived at Michelle`s Uncle Dick and Aunt Gail`s house in Erda.

7:00 – Went with everyone to the play, The King and I at the high school in Tooele.

10:30 – The play was 3 ½ hours long BUT it was FANTASTIC!!!

12:00 – Bed. Glad that I don’t need to get up early in the morning…

 

Summer Adventure 2011

Day 6: 19-June-2011 (Daynen)

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8:00 – Alarm rang… went back to sleep

8:30 – Kids went down to breakfast, followed by dad and mom

Number of surprise conversations with some guy from Heber city about Dutch Ovens=1. This will take some explaining. Needles to say it was a very interesting 20 minutes, he even gave us a Dutch Oven cook book that he wrote.

11:00 – Left the hotel and stoped for gas.

11:30 – Lightning on the horizon at Ogallala.

2:00 – Cheyenne stopped to get gas and lunch (Taco Johns).

2:45 – Back on the highway.

3:30 – Going up through a really bad rain storm outside temperature 8C. First sign of mountains with snow.

Number of smushed deer on the side of the road = 3.

3:00 – Stopped at exit 290 `cus someone had to go pee… Found out that somewhere along the way we crossed into Mountain Time. Still in Wyoming with a long way to go L.

Crossed continental divide.

5:22 – Stopped at a parking lot on the side of the highway for a stretch called Granddad & Poppy because its Father`s day.

So far no more suicidal deer.

5:35 (Breah) – Raining again. Depressing.

6:22 – Found dead horse-very disgusting.

6:30 (Brian) – Pulled off at Rock Springs, Wy. Went to the tourist info center and found that there`s a dinosaur museum here in down. Decided to stay here tonight and got a room in the Quality Inn. It`s the free breakfast that attracts the kids. Went to dinner at KFC and then to WalMart. Bed by 11.

 

Summer Adventure 2011

Day 5: 18-June-2011 (Michelle)

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6:00 – Alarm rang… went back to sleep, It is raining really hard.

7:00 – Alarm rang… Brian dismissed it. Still raining.

8:30 – Started getting up, and packing up.

11:00 – Left the Nauvoo state park campground.

11:15 – Stopped for gas.

11:30 – Stopped at the approximate spot where John Woodland Jr. had some farm property. According to the sister at the Land and Records office, If a family had both a town property and a rural property they would have likely had 2 homes. 1 in town and 1 at their farm, as it would have been too far to travel back and forth.

11:45 – Crossed into Iowa.

12:15 – Got to see the Nauvoo Temple from across the Mississippi. We had Daynen try to take a picture… but I`m not sure he got a very clear shot driving down the highway while waiting for a break in the trees. Next time we`ll take this route on purpose (instead of by accident!).

Afternoon (Brian) – Drove and drove. Michelle drove for a while too. Stopped for gas again. Also bought a snack for the kids..

Got pulled over somewhere by Grand Island Nebraska for not moving over to the center lane when there was a cop pulled over by the side of the road with his lights on. Hmmm…. $140 later…

Pulled off for gas again and pulled out heading directly into a wicked lightening storm. Made it about half an hour then pulled off at a rest stop because of the rain. The storm and the rain has slowed down but now we’re kind of boxed in as there are several big trucks and a bus lined up at the exit. Not sure how far we’ll make it tonight… Not Cheyenne, that’s for sure. Today’s totals: Number of smushed deer on the side of the road = 5. The first one was really smushed and the second one was barely recognisable as a deer – so maybe it wasn’t but I’m counting it anyway. Number of pink school busses = 1. Number of wicked storms driven through = 1. Number of windmills = ~500. Number of sleeping 5 year old boys at 11:00 Central time = 1.

(Daynen) – Witness the storm, the rage and raw power of it all, feel the roar of the wind through yourself, see the wild lightning reach down and across the sky, hear the thunder roar in conquest , witness the storm, and the beauty of it all. Michael D. Clarke

(Breah) – Increase the Number of smushed deer on the side of the road to 6.

Made it to North Platte, NE. The first motel that we tried was full. Ended up at The Hospitality Inn…

 

Summer Adventure 2011

Day 4: 17-June-2011 (Brian)

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Morning – Booked in for another night as Michelle wants to stay another day. Went into town and got tickets for some shows from the Visitor’s Center. It’s raining lightly so we’re trying to do indoor events today. They were calling for thunder storms for yesterday and today but we haven’t had any yet. Michelle has taken the kids to some of the buildings (Calvin Pendleton Home and School) while I catch up on the trip log…

Went to the Family Living Center and everyone got involved in making rope – especially Caelan who really wanted to do it. He got to keep a piece about 4 feet long.

12:30 – Went to see a play called Just Plain Anna-Amanda. It was geared for young kids but was super funny. Picked up a new joke: What’s red and bad for the teeth? A Brick.

1:30 – Went into town to the Nauvoo Bakery because Daynen had spotted yesterday that they bake soft pretzels. Yum. Ordered seven of them… They were really good.

2:30 – Went back to the Visitors’ Center and saw a musical called High Hopes and Riverboats. Another brilliant production.

4:00 – Went to the Land and Records Research Center ‘cus Michelle wanted to look up where some of her relatives lived when they were here. It was her Grand Mother’s Great-Great Grand Mother… or something. She found John Woodland Jr – who we have a photo of. While Michelle was doing that I took the kids for a walk down by the Joseph Smith home. This is not owned by the LDS church but rather the Church of Christ. When we were here 13 years ago there was still a bunch of Old Nauvoo that was owned by The Reorganized Church. I’m somewhat confused where The Church of Christ comes in. I’ll have to look that up at some point later.

Went from there looking for one of the plots that Michelle’s ancestors lived on. John Woodland Jr. had a plot in town plus some farm acreage out of town which we’ll drive by on the way out tomorrow. Turns out that his plot in town was very close to where the town is now. After that we went for a walk around the rebuilt temple. We took a bunch of family photos using the timer. I hope that they turn out.

Went back to the Visitors` Center and caught the Sunset by the Mississippi again. It was as good as last night and they did a few things differently which was cool. We`re now watching the BYU Folk Dancing again as I write this. We`re going to head back to the camp ground after this as we`re going to try to push off early in the morning. All in all a nice day… a bit of rain at first but it turned sunny and hot (25 Cish) again in the afternoon. None of the thunderstorms that weather.com promised. It was a beautiful evening…

 

Summer Adventure 2011

Day 3: 16-June-2011 (Brian)

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10:00 – Woke to a knock on the trailer door by the park ranger. Apparently he was around earlier and asked Breah and Caelan (who’ve been awake for hours) if their parents were awake. Paid them for two nights. Looking like a really nice day. I slept better in the trailer than in the hotel.

10:30 – On the way to washing out the porta potty that we keep in the trailer Caelan and I saw a snake. Cool.

11:45 – Just having a quick lunch before we head into town. I would really like a coffee.

Afternoon – Went to the Nauvoo Visitor’s Center and watched a 20 minute movie about Old Nauvoo called Remembering Nauvoo. Caught the 2:30 wagon ride around town. It was about an hour long. It felt hot and humid but it was only around 24 C. After that we went along Main St. and went in some of the old buildings. The kids went to the place where they were demonstrating pioneer games. Daynen zeroed in on the Hoop and Stick game. The volunteers thought he was pretty good. I (Brian) told them that he had his own hoop and stick at home. This one was a little different as you pushed it with the stick that had a bit on the end (almost like a golf club) where as the one that Daynen has you need to hit the hoop with the stick to keep it going.

We discovered that there really isn’t much in the actual town itself. We had to ask where the grocery store is and when we found it it really wasn’t much at all. I wonder where they shop?

7:00 – Went to a performance of Sunset by the Mississippi at the Outdoor Stage – which was a show with a lot of singing and dancing. It was really good. They did a great rendition of The Devil Went Down to Georgia – which I was a little surprised to hear at a church event like this. They did a great job. The best act was something called The Audition. It was about three guys auditioning to be a part of the show. The one was making eggs, the other asked what he was doing, tried the eggs then dies. The third guy was a doctor. They went through various versions of the skit as the director kept asking them to try it with a bit more life in it, to slow it down and then to make it musically… All in all the best skit in the play.

8:30 – Saw the BYU Fold Dance Ensemble, also at the Outdoor Stage. There was a folk group as well as a lot of dancers doing dances from all over the world.

10:00 – Finished the evening off driving through town looking for an ice cream place. Found a place that served frozen custard. Caelan was mostly asleep at this time but woke up as soon as I mentioned ice cream.

 

Summer Adventure 2011

Day 2: 15-June-2011 (Michelle)

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9:00 – Sent the kids down for breakfast.

9:30 – Got Brian out of bed. Packed up and went down for breakfast.

10:30 – Left the hotel to go Walmart. Bought our new phone for travel in the states. It is a LG500G. After getting a few groceries, we stopped at Tim Hortons to use their WI-FI to activate it!

11:50 – Got gas before getting back on I94. ~11.586 G @ $3.849 /G = $44.59

1:00 – Made it an hour down the road before we had to stop for Caelan to go to pee.

2:00 – GPS says 7h, 20m to Nauvoo..

2:50 – Hit our first rain. Just past Clarence Center, Michigan.

5:00 – Crossed into Indiana.

5:30 – Stopped for gas and a stretch. ~15.967 G @ $3.789 /G = $60.50

6:00 – Crossed into Illinois.

6:13 – Paid toll $1.70.

6:20 – Passed the 1000 km mark.

6:30 – Came to a dead stop on I80 by Old Plank road Trail in New Lenox. I (Brian) even got out and took a picture.

6:35 – Rest stop.

10:00 – Crossed into Iowa

10:15 (Brian) – Somewhere in here we got off the main route and ended up going down some narrow country road… in fact, it was more like a farmer’s cart track. I saw some goofy looking dog at which I was very disappointed that it wasn’t something else like a deer or a fox or wolf. Hmmm. At one point I stopped the truck and asked the kids to look out the windows and what did they see. Of course they said “nothing” until I asked them to look again. Then they saw them. About 10 thousand fire flies… Of course Daynen had to dig up Owl City’s Fire Flies and play it on Breah’s iPod.

10:45 (Michelle) – Might as well stop for gas because we missed our turn anyway and had to turn around. ~16.831 G @ $3.559 / G = $59.90

11:00 (Brian) – Crossed back into Illinois. At the toll bridge the woman explained that it was $2 because we had the trailer (regular cars were only $1). She then asked us if we were going to Nauvoo at which we said yes. She then told us that it hasn’t moved… Everyone’s a comedian.

11:30 (Brian) – Found the campground (Nauvoo State Park). There was no guard on duty and the sign said to setup and that if we were leaving before we saw a guard then to leave the money in an envelope and to enjoy our stay. After driving around a bit we found a site (site 7). Got setup in record time and got ready for bed. Heard some really cool animal sounds – Daynen thinks it was an owl. He’s probably right but I can’t help but think that he’s got Owl City on the brain. All in all a very long day with a lot of miles under us and a time zone change to boot. Total to date (yesterday but mostly today) for smushed deer spotted on the side of the road = 6. Live deer = 2 and funny looking dog thing that I was hoping was something like a wolf = 1.

 

Summer Adventure 2011

Day 1: 14-June-2011 (Michelle)

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We got a late start today.

10:00 – Went with Cassi to her wedding dress appointment… just to find out the appointment was not until tomorrow. L

1:15 – Took Breah to see the plastic surgeon to get her stitches out. He couldn’t find both ends either (I took her to our family DR. on Sat. to get them out and he told us to go to the plastic surgeon because he couldn’t find both ends of the big long stitch. He didn’t want to dig around for it, and we were Ok with that!)

3:30 – Finally leaving!! We had to make a couple of stops on the way out of town… At Kelli’s to drop off the Girl Guide cookie money, and CAA to pick up our medical insurance.

4:15 – Well we’ve made it to highway 115. We even got past 3 exits before Brian had to pull off and hollar at the kids to quit fooling around and fighting.

7:15 – Stopped for dinner (Ron’s Place) and gas (and that all important coffee for Brian) close to Cambridge, ON. Gas ~ 44.057 L @ 1.302 /L = $57.36

10:00 – At the Border. Got through with no issues…

10:45 (Brian) – Pulled off at Halls Road just south of Chesterfield, Michigan. We chose this location ‘cus it has a WalMart Super Center right at the exit and we want to get a prepaid cell phone for this trip. Drove around for a bit looking for a cheap motel (The Red Roof Inn was top on our list L) but since we couldn’t find one we decided to go back towards the highway… Was looking for a Comfort Inn that our GPS software located but it turns out it’s now called ConCorde Inn (44315 Gratiot Ave. Clinton Twp. MI.). $89 a night got us 2 queen beds and a roll away cot for Caelan. In my (Brian’s) opinion a better room than when I stayed at the Sherridan in down town Toronto when I was on training in March. That one was $250 a night…

12:30 (Brian) – Ready for bed. An odd way for us to start a vacation… so far, so good… Priority tomorrow is to get a cell phone – US prepaid cells and plans are so much cheaper than Canadian roaming – especially at $10 a meg for data roaming… I think that’s called Daylight Robbery?

 

One day ’til lift off…

Just a quick note for a first post.  Starting this as a way to chronicle our trip to Utah.  It looks easier than coding raw HTML which is what we did the first time…  or using Dream Weaver, which is what we’ve used since… 

 

Emily camping trip

Day 4.  Monday

I woke up in the night and all of the kid`s bags were kicked off their bed onto the floor of the trailer.  At first we couldn’t find the dog until we realized she’d climbed up onto one of the seats.  We got up around 8:#0 and went to the activity about glaciers at 10.  At first it looks as though Daynen and Breah might be the only ones there but just after 10 more kids showed up.  There was a pretty good crowd.  After the activity we went back to the trailer.  Michelle made lunch and I started packing.  We got everything done around 12:30.  At this point Michelle noted that for the first time Caelan was content to sit and play.

We headed to the day use beach to check into canoe rentals but you couldn’t get them for only an hour so we skipped it for this trip (Breah was disappointed) but there was just over an hour until the activity at 2.  We hung around for a bit.  Michelle and the kids had ice cream.  The activity was about plants.  A lot of the reference material was from SSFC.

Daynen and Breah were the last ones to leave – they really enjoyed it.  We finally pulled out of the park around 3:30ish.  We would have stayed longer but the kids have swimming lessons at the Y at 5 and I need to get the trailer unpacked.  I’m back at work tomorrow after a month off.  It’s been a busy month – not really a vacation as I’ve been so busy around the house so it shouldn’t be so bad going back.

Conclusion:

• Caelan really liked camping and going to the beach.
• Breah thought that she lost her watch but it turned up several weeks later…
• I reread Terry Pratchett’s The Truth.

 

 

Emily camping trip

Day 3.  Sunday

Woke up in the night with a start when one of the bags that was on the end of the kid’s bed fell off.  Apparently it happened more than once but I didn’t notice.  The kids woke around 8ish.  We took them to the activity at the picnic shelter #2 at 10AM.  It was about the lifecycle of frogs.  We then walked down to the dock at the end of the Cedars campground and looked for frogs – like yesterday.  There were a couple of girls who had a couple of frogs and some tadpoles.  Daynen caught two tadpoles in his empty water bottle.

After lunch we went to the beach for a couple of hours.  The water was warm!  Even Michelle got wet.  Caelan really like it.  He got to play with his toy boats.  After the beach we threw together all of our leftovers with the noodles and sauce and called it dinner.  I think Daynen and Breah have really enjoyed the fact that they’ve got to ride their bikes everywhere.  Caelan has driven his little car all over the bumpers of the van.  He also likes to take the fire truck walker onto the road and run away.  The guy opposite has a bird that is out of its cage all of the time.  He even rides his bike with his bird on his shoulder.

After dinner Daynen and Breah went to the playground and Michelle, Caelan and I went to get ice and go for a drive around the park.

Breah went for a ride with an older girl that she met.  Michelle even went for a fide on my bike.  That kind of scared the kids.  Then they all went for a ride.  We had a camp fire and made S’mores (again).  After the kids were in bed I took some pictures of the full moon.  As soon as I was done and turned to go back to the trailer I heard a rustling in the bush.  I thought I saw some white so I was a little concerned that it was a skunk.