Oklahoma Adventures, Day One, Yukon

For Reference, Bunnies in Castle at Auntiebelle's

In Oklahoma, our family is spread about the state.  I have a sister in the center, one south of her by an hour, a brother north by about an hour and my parents live near the Kansas/Oklahoma border.  We spend our time moving around and visiting and everyone does their best to join in our fun while we do so. In the morning we took a walk to a sweet little donut store and played in Aunt Velvet's backyard.  Anna and Aunt Velvet drew on their chalkboard outside table.  Anna would tell Aunt Velvet what to draw, and she drew it.  My favorite part, when Aunt Velvet drew a castle, she asked Anna, "What goes in a castle?"  Anna replied, "Bunny Rabbits."  Two weeks ago we were at Auntiebelle's home in Santa Cruz and they had baby bunnies which Anna and Owen had spent tons of time placing on a play castle.    Today, Crystal came on down and joined in the fun with her kids at Aunt Velvet's while we played in the new water park nearby. It was great fun!  We then packed back in the van and trekked the two hours up to my parent's home.

Splash Park 

Day Three, Santa Rosa, NM to Yukon, OK

For us, Albuquerque is the tipping point.  From there it is easier to go forward to Oklahoma than to return to California.  So, forward we went.  Morning dawned, we had a great breakfast at our hotel.   The kids got to swim in the pool.  Things were much more optimistic in the light.  I reorganized the entire car in the parking lot. I got the tent collapsed enough to fit back into it's spot.   Anna helped and the boys watched TV in the hotel room.  Luckily, we were the only people left.  I am guessing that there isn't a whole lot of tourist action in Santa Rosa, most travelers are just moving on to the bigger attractions nearby.  It was hot, but finally around noon, everything was located and we were on our way to Yukon, OK.

Our first stop was in Amarillo, at the Braum's, which is one of our favorite parts of our trip across Texas.  They have their own dairy that they make into ice cream within 24 hours of milking their cows. It was a welcome sight to cross out of New Mexico into Texas.  We only have to cross the very top of Texas, so our trip there isn't  long. We ate lunch and stretched our legs.  We were aiming to have dinner with Aunt Velvet in Yukon, so we got on our way.

The last few hours in the car were a blur.   I was beyond clever, I was only going for survival. Anna objected considerably during the last bit. She attempted to escape from her car seat multiple times until I pulled her straps so tightly she couldn't wiggle an inch.  We managed by plying her with toys, a giant bag of chips she had been eyeing and asking for while crossing the last three states, and the best one of all (who knew?) a bag of pom poms and a yogurt container with holes cut in the lid.  She spent a good amount of time cramming the pom poms in the lid.  Loved it, I told her how I appreciated her help in putting them away. She was so happy to be of help.   This was going great, until in a fit of desperation and exhaustion, she ripped the yogurt container lid off and proceeded to distribute pom poms throughout the van (Thanks Mom for cleaning that up).

Anna and her Yogurt Container

Playing late at night at Aunt Velvet's 

Hank the Dog

The older kids and I spent the time in the car across the five states listening to audiobooks.  I had downloaded a number of them from the library to listen to.
We enjoyed Ramona the Brave, Pippi Longstocking, Inkspell, Frindle (the kid's favorite) and the beginning of Peter and the Starcatchers.   We also listened to tons of music from our eclectic collection, including a brief introduction to Journey and Johnny Cash.  Anna loved the Johnny Cash.  The kids had lots of questions about A Boy Named Sue.  I recall I had those questions too as a kid.  Finally, about 9 pm we made it to Yukon and Aunt Velvet.  We had dinner, the kids ran and ran around their giant backyard for about an hour with Hank (the dog) and then we crashed.

Or rather, the kids watched a movie and I tried to stay awake on the couch. In my typical fashion, I fell asleep during a conversation with Velvet.  We then moved everyone toward bed.  Then we all crashed.  Yes, we made it.

New Mexico Hates Me, or Day Two Part Two, or Where things went awry

I had this sudden realization that if we were to go swimming in Santa Rosa, it was going to be in a swimming pool.  I contacted the owners of an RV park in Santa Rosa via cell phone and secured a site for the evening.  We were booking it across New Mexico heading toward swimming.

Heading into New Mexico

My family has a love/hate relationship with New Mexico.  We love it because it contains the highway between us and Oklahoma.    But, it has also eaten several of our cars.    We have yet to get through New Mexico without an "adventure".  But, I thought to my self, there is a first for everything, right?  And, it had all been going so well.  And to be clear, it isn't all of New Mexico.  It is the stretch from Albuquerque to Tucumcari.  It is in this stretch all of our adventures have occurred.   The town of Santa Rosa is in this stretch of road.

Sunset as we climb out of Albuquerque

Things were going great, we grabbed gas and dinner in Gallup.  We got to Albuquerque as dusk was falling.  We grabbed a treat and moved forward to Santa Rosa, a mere 2 hours east.  The sunset was divine. As we moved up from Albuquerque to the plains, we watched a magnificent lightning storm, in the general direction of Santa Rosa, light up the mountains.  This only concerned me as far as swimming was concerned.

Vinny in the pool at the Campground

We arrive in Santa Rosa, just in time to get in the swimming pool.  It closed at 10pm, and we got there at 9:30 having lost an hour as we crossed into New Mexico.  I quickly had the kids change into their suits and told them we would set up after we got a chance to swim.  It wasn't quite the swimming pool of our dreams, it was only about four feet deep and because of the surrounding storm, it was a little chilly.  But, Vinny loved it, Anna jumped in and Frankie and Gianni sat on the side.  Frankie, exhausted, sobbed that he wanted to go home.  After about 15 minutes of this, I decided it was time to go and get the tent set up.

Someday in the future, when asked to describe their mother, my boys will point to the next situation to explain how determined I was.  I hope.  Some people mistakenly have the notion that I just roll with the punches.  The honest truth is once I have put down a plan, it is hard for me to deviate.  I had already deviated significantly during the day and I wanted to finish off the day as planned and try again.  I was determined to set up camp.  And as it was late and everyone was so tired, I decided I would go it alone and cheerfully asked the kids to keep occupied in the car.  I was in such high spirits, the adventure was still salvageable.

Keeping Anna Occupied in the car

 The tarp proved to be the first problem. It kept moving about in the wind.  I called the boys out to help me. They did, and we got the tent extended and up.  But getting it to stay was another problem.  I began trying to stake it, in the dark into the pull through of the campsite.  This proved to be too hard as the ground was packed solid.   I asked the boys to help me to move it to the "grass".   There is very little grass in this part of New Mexico, a fact I had quite forgotten. What appeared to be grass in the dark, was actually puncture vine.  Sharp pointy painful stickers that jammed themselves into my children's feet.  Poor things!  I sent them back to the van to nurse their punctured soles.   I got the first two stakes in and then, bam! A giant gust of wind caught the tent and I heard the sickening and unmistakable crack of tent poles and pieces breaking as the tent collapsed.

Vinny's Selfie

Never fear! Cheerful, still manageable.  I reminded the kids, this has happened to us before (in the desert last year with the Scouts), we just can move the items out of the back of the van and sleep there, after all we have already paid for the campsite.  Let us just be adjustable and jolly and move on.  The boys willingly help me to move everything to the front seats of the van, fold down the back seat into the floor of the van and we lay out the sleeping bags.  There was one small difficulty. The space we could clear wasn't big enough for all of us.  My legs were resting on the ledge of the van, as there wasn't enough room for Vinny to stretch his legs, they were bent up as he lay on his back.  Anna was under one arm and Frankie was on top of me.  This was not as comfortable as it sounds...

I shut the back and tried to snuggle in for the night. Then I realize the difference between our night in the van the year before and this night.  Last year it was cold, here in New Mexico it is stiflingly hot. So hot that we soon find it difficult to breathe.  I tell the kids that we have to open the back door, but first, I had neglected to notice that there isn't a handle on the back gate on the inside.  Vinny had to be cajoled into leaving the safe van and walking around in the dark to let us out.  Gratefully he does.  We open the back of the van with a whoosh of fresh air and we can breathe again.  I move myself to the bumper to make space for Frankie and settle in for a long night of balancing myself on the edge.

The kids began to become concerned about their safety.  Never Fear! Still doable!   I had pepper spray and we were in a campground with others.  Then, the wind died completely.  And the mosquitoes came out.   Droning droves wandered into the van.  At first, I began by telling the kids to snuggle under their light blankets, by this time Anna had fallen asleep and was in the middle of the boys.  I thought to myself, only three more to go.    At first, I wasn't noticing the mosquitoes, so I told Vinny that I wasn't being bit, it was ok.  But then, I noticed the bites.  There were many.  After 20 minutes (or more) of trying to ignore them and reassuring my boys that all was ok, I finally realized how stupid I was being.  Seriously stubborn. Why couldn't I have listened to Elsa, and just "Let It Go"?

I realized that about 2 hours ago, somewhere around the broken tent, we should have headed to the motel less than a 1/4 mile away.  So, with that epihany, I now begin the process of putting everything back as quickly as I can. It is so dark and the wind picks back up. Everything starts flying around.  Untangling the mess of the tent (that I had just wrapped up and shoved under the van, determined to deal with in the morning) became a lot like fighting Shelob (the giant spider from Lord of the Rings) in the dark.  It wraps around me, none of the poles are going in the right way, folding and refolding the poles, I put it in and out of the car several times, it won't fit.  It very nearly gets left behind in the campground on several occasions.  My children learned some new choice words. Sweet Gianni keeps offering to get out and help, but I fear the puncture vines and heaven knows where their shoes are now in the chaos.  It was horrible. Finally I get it in the car.   I drive towards the motels with stuff piled precariously around the kids, Gianni spends the ride keeping the tent off of his sleeping sister.

Comfort Inn Pool the next morning

I promised myself I won't shop around the strip of motels. I was done being determined and thrifty. I am just surviving.   I would just take the first room available to us, regardless of price.  Comfort Inn.  I can only imagine the contrast my wild and crazy self made in their very well manicured lobby.  I am pretty sure my hair was standing straight up after the wild, wind whipped experience I had just had.  The clerk hardly blinked, making me wonder what a crazy night in Santa Rosa looks like.  We get a room on the second floor and I make my way upstairs carrying everything I need, including Anna in one load.  The boys were still wide awake and in their swimsuits from the earlier escapade, despite the fact that it was 1:30 in the morning.  I couldn't find 80% of what I wanted due to the reorganization and stuffing the dark at the campground, but we found enough.  I got the boys finally settled down, after much bed shifting and discussion of who was sharing what and at 2am, I crashed.

As I look back at this evening in New Mexico, I don't know that any of this measures up to the car crash, or even the destruction of our engine.  But in total, with the long drive and the effort I made to make the drive enjoyable and then to add all of these mini-disasters on top.  It made for a long night in New Mexico.  I have to find a way around this part of the I-40.

Arizona Loves Me, or Day Two, the good part...

Our Campsite in Flagstaff, AZ

 First let me apologize, I can't seem to get the photos integrated into the blog post.  We awoke to most beautiful sounds and noises, and our neighbors music.  I felt like it could have been a little retribution for awaking them late last night and didn't worry too much about it.  I learned quite a few things this morning.  First, the car would need to be reset each morning, which takes time, so no more lollygagging about in bed.  Secondly, it takes longer than normal to move the kids towards moving.  The kids had a great time wandering around the campground while I did the stuff that only I could do, including cleaning out my foot to make sure it didn't get infected while I traveled.  I was ever so grateful that it had finally worked its (the sewing pin that broke off inside my toe) to the surface before I left.  I don't know that I could have done it without that having happened.  Just like a splinter, the relief  and healing was instantaneous.  

Note Frankie's hand sticking up from the center of the pile

We also spread the map out on the table and showed our plan for the day, laid out our school work and discussed our token system.  I had found some clever ideas for road trips on pinterest and I loved this one.  I rewarded the kids with little dots for doing something good or kind or listening.  Then they could trade them in for treats, something from the Mary Poppins bag (including goodies from Karen's classroom, thanks) or if they earned 100 (or combined them together) they could trade in for stopping for goodies.

The Trip Ribbon/ No Cross Line for the Kids

We also had a little trip ribbon that they could earn tokens just for passing the stops/landmarks on the trip ribbon.  The kids were happy to earn tokens for rhyming words, building words out of their letter cookies and doing simple math problems.  It was so great!  It was at this time, the longest eared gray squirrels came out to meet us.  They didn't really like us, they wanted our bananas and as soon as our backs were turned, they ran off with three of them. The kids were mortified that their squirrel, named Hoppity Hops Buffo, would steal from them.

The car being repacked

Sleeping bag Ninjas

We finally got moving about 10 am away from Flagstaff.  We decided to skip the several other things we had planned to do in Flagstaff, Lowell Observatory (the telescopes weren't open) and the Sunset Crater.  We had three goals in mind, the New Mexico Natural History Museum, Petrified Forest and swimming in Santa Rosa, NM.

Holbrook Historical Courthouse and Museum 

The trip began well, in about an hour and a half we got to Holbrook, AZ our first stop.  We wanted to get some bargain rocks so we could avoid the price at the gift shop in the National Park.  What we found was so much more!

This is the Holbrook Historical Museum.  It was so amazing!  There was so much to see here.  We had just finished reading Little House on the Prairie so I was excited to show the boys a covered wagon.  I said to them, what do you think about putting all you own and need in here and leaving for an unknown place.  Vinny remarked, "I didn't think it would be so big."  Ah, the perspective of youth.  For me, having just crammed all that we would need for a month and still having access to grocery stores and gas stations, I was amazed at how they managed such feats as crossing and building homes across the nation.  

I can make a full post just out of this museum, the kids were mesmerized with the schoolroom (the most time they spent in the last six months in a classroom), typewriters and the jail.  That was particularly instructive. A few weeks earlier we had discussed why we had to learn to control our tempers while young.  That to lose your temper as an adult would land them in jail.    I don't think they understood what the conditions of jail were, until that moment.  Gianni was appalled at the lack of space, light and privacy and asked, "Don't they fight?" and of course I answered yes. I think the kids were a little stunned and determined not to land there in their lifetimes.  Hallelujah.  We spent a little time at the gift shop getting postcards for our friends and family and small pieces of petrified wood.  While running around and eating lunch on the lawn Anna fell and smashed her face up, but all in all it was a great time. 

We then pressed on to Petrified Forest National Park.  I belatedly remembered that there was a time change in New Mexico and there was no physically possible way to make it to the museum in Albuquerque before it closed.  We elected to spend our time in the National Park.  

We drove the 30 minutes from town and up into the National Park.  And despite the fact that I had explained to the kids that the trees were not a forest, but were stone laying on the ground, they kept asking where the trees were.  We discussed fossilization, but here it was at it's plainest.  It was good fun though in the Visitor's Center and we hiked the Rainbow Forest Trail.  It was hot but three of the four kids loved it.  The other shall remain nameless.

After we worked our way through the museum, half the Jr Ranger program and then drove through the Painted Desert portion of the trip, I realized we still had about five hours of driving until we hit Santa Rosa, and it was already three pm.  We decided to just book it until we got there.  Shortly, outside of the National Park we hit New Mexico.  And there the fun began. 

Painted Desert 

Blue Mesa 

The Journey to Flagstaff, Day One

Saying Goodbye to Daddy

I thought it best to start at the very beginning. As Julie Andrews would sing, "It's a very good place to start."  We took off a little later than we expected from California.  Dan took the morning off to finish the hitch on the van.  It was impressive to see how fast it went on the van, and instantly we have a hitch and lighting.  I say instantly, but that would be due to Dan, who spent that last few weeks researching how the hitch and the electrical work would need to be done so everything could be done easily.   We so appreciate it!

Dan Riding his Motorcycle in Front of us

Dan had installed this great new app on my phone which allowed us to track the location of the other while we were gone.  As we parted ways, we could see Dan heading south on the on ramp while we headed north.  Then, we watched on the face of my (mounted to my dashboard) phone as the two dots moved farther and farther apart.  

Usually, the parting for us is fraught with concern over how I am going to get the four kids and all their assorted entertainment bags through security.  Leaving from home to drive for the first time was much different and more tear-stained and not as rushed.  The kids assured me we could do this and we pushed on.  

For the last month or more, I have been agonizing over the itinerary.  It needed to have stops about every three hours for us to enjoy.  To that end, we decided to head to Oatman, AZ for our first stop.  For those of you who have seen Oatman, you know that exiting the highway, on the longest continuous stretch of Route 66 still in existence, seems a little foolhardy in the hot desert.  But, we were determined to see the wild burros of Oatman.  Along the 40 minute detour to Oatman, I attempted to explain to my children about the "largest ball of string" theory from my childhood.  It goes a little something like this, we frequently traveled across the country to visit my Grandfather in Missouri, to see a National Park, to move etc.  Along the way we always had our eyes open for the oddities, the little things that would now make a great post to roadsideamerica.com.  My parents would call it the biggest ball of string.  To their credit, my parents and my sister's family did find that ball of string.  In Nebraska

I do believe.  I told the kids this only in explaining (and you too, I suppose) that all of our stops would not be cool.  And that was part of the adventure.  I was really geared up for Oatman to be a disappointment to the kids.  We were set to arrive after it had closed and I was unsure of what to expect.  

I can only say, it was the perfect place for our kids.  Vinny called it Vinny-Ville.  Anna has spent the last five days asking to go back and pet the donkeys.  Frankie tells everyone about it and makes it clear that they can't just be called donkeys, but wild donkeys.  Gianni ran around finding all the cool photo booths and the mine museum.  Some names that we provided the burros of Oatman, Bent-Ear, White Nose, Big Guy and Little Colt.  The kids were tickled that the baby burro had a sticker stuck to his head  that asked tourists not to touch or feed.  We had a great time, for the most part enjoying the town street all by themselves.  

 There were a few small vignettes that included the mine museum, with a re-creation of an adventurer trapped in a cave in, to remind us not to play in abandoned mines.  Frankie was quite concerned it was  a real miner.  And a group of tourists, from Columbia that began feeding the burros potato chips and it quickly became a frenzy that ended with the big male burro, Bent Ears, eating the bag much to my children's, especially Vinny the zoologist's, chagrin.  And Frankie proving that he has the Lehman quality of getting carsick on windy roads.

After an hour of wandering around the town, we headed off to our destination.  The rest of the trip was rather uneventful, dinner in Kingman, AZ with little fanfare.  We got to our campground in Flagstaff at about 11:30pm.  We easily found a site near the restrooms but not other campers.  It was lovely and up in the trees near the fairgrounds.  We made a ton of noise getting set up, especially Anna who had fallen asleep on the way up to Flagstaff and then was awoken during set-up.  It was a challenge to get her to settle down and stop whacking her brothers on the head.  But ultimately it worked and we all collapsed, exhausted on the floor of the tent. All in all, it wasn't a disaster of a day.  The set-up was easy and the kids were amazingly helpful and were keen to listen to me.  Perhaps that lulled me into a sense of security and I lost my edge for what was to come the next day...

Heading Out...

It is my intent to resurrect this little blog. This lovely intention is driven by our impending trip across half of the United States by myself with the kids. I have been agonizing/planning/excited/worried and more about this trip for months. Dan has faithfully prepared the car and all the chargers for the various electronic devices for us. We know where we are going and where we are planning to stop and see the sights. The kids are excited. They want to go and be with their family. I am mostly confident that I can do it. There is that one stretch of the I-40 between Albuquerque and Tucumcari, New Mexico that has eaten two of our cars. It might have been in my better interests to have skirted that, but trying to keep my driving time down on the way out caused me to go right on through. So, with our new car all packed, a new hitch installed and all our goodies in place we will take off tomorrow at noon (we would have started earlier, but the hitch is arriving at 10am. Oh, and GB had a dental spacer that needed to go in before we left...and the myriad other things that I know I am forgetting right now). This is a quick overview of our plans for the next five weeks. It is our intent to find a place to upload our posts each day. Hopefully! Leaving home Monday, heading to Flagstaff via Oatman (ghost town famous for it's burros) and Sunset Crater National Monument and the Lowell Observatory. Camping at Fort Tuthill in Flagstaff Monday night. Tuesday - Petrified National Park, New Mexico Natural History Museum in Albuquerque, and stopping for the night in Santa Rosa with a swimming stop at Park Lake, where they have a 35 foot water slide into the lake (what?!). Wednesday - To Yukon, OK stopping in Amarillo for Cadillac Ranch, Conway for the Bug Ranch, possibly the Don Harrington Science Museum (we have a reciprocating membership) and of course, Braum's which makes wonderful ice cream. Amarillo is the first one we will see on the trip. We are staying at Velvet and Tommy's Wednesday night and begin our Oklahoma Adventures! From here we will spend a little over 2 glorious weeks traveling up and down the I-35 and Route 74 visiting with family. We have plans to go to Kansas to see a Science Museum with Grandma, down to OKC and the Henson's to swim at their awesome aquatic center, off to Josh and Sarah's to see the progress on the farm and so much more! And of course to celebrate my Dad's 60th birthday, which is the impetus for the entire trip. Vinny (who has been taking horseback riding lessons) is eager to ride Cap, my Dad's horse. Then we will leave and head up through Colorado to Pueblo, stopping at Comanche National Grasslands, Bent's Fort in La Junta and staying over night in Pueblo, CO. From Pueblo we head to Rocky Mountain National Park, via Colorado Springs and the Peak to Peak Trail. Rocky Mountain National Park to Dinosaur National Monument, where we will stay for 2 nights (we have wanted to go here since forever, for Noelle since she was little. We are crazy about dinosaurs here) Then into Salt Lake City Metro area to visit my Aunt and see Temple Square and (whew!) off to Gardnerville with Nanagrande for the night before Dan and Karen meet up with us in Tahoe where we will celebrate the 4th of July. It is a little over 3,000 miles. We have found several bakeries, oddities (like carousels strewn about in small Colorado towns)and other fun things to keep us moving forward. Sending our love and with any luck our updates!

More than a year...

So, more than a year and I still haven't found the time to take care of myself. Sitting here in my unpacked craft room, it seems the epitome of what my life is doing right now. All for everyone else and none for me. I can't wait until I can step back and take time for me. But then, I am selfish. I don't want to miss a single moment of this time with my boys, as I have so little time to spend with each of them and there is so very much consuming my attention. I want to remember that I was present during these days in their lives. So I will hold on, and it might take some time to get this craft room as beautiful and organized as I want it. But when I do, I know it will signal the end of an era. An era where I was drenched in the laughter of my little ones. Where I am drowning in laundry and requests and needs. But, for this little while I think I can step back. I am still here. I have not disappeared. It is me, just a little shunted backwards and to the side. I know that I will be grateful that I stepped back and let my boys take all that they needed. I know that it will go quickly. I am watching the time fade rapidly with Vinny. I can still feel his sweet little self in my arms for the very first time. I can remember what it felt like to hold him all night because I couldn't believe the miracle that had happened. And that I got to repeat it two more times, and soon to hold my daughter. That is something worth noticing and paying attention too. These children are all my miracles for so many reasons. Each one has a story and overcame obstacles just to be with us. And for these blessings, I know I can show my gratitude by putting a little bit of me aside. It won't be for long.