More Pictures from the Great Road Trip!

Here's a link to lots of family pictures!!! :) Please click on the image below:

From 2011 Road Trip Family

Pics from the Road Summer 2011

We have so many pictures from our road trip! Here is the first set. It does not include family, Yellowstone, or Mount Rushmore. Those will hopefully come soon. These are just pictures from the road. Please click on the picture below:

Home Sweet Home!!!

(Yes, that's it for now.)

One Leg Left!!!

Our trip back to the northwest has included stops at several college campuses--some planned and some unplanned. On Wednesday, we had lunch at Gettysburg College in PA, where our friend is a professor. It was great to see both Josef and Sam! The trip back has also included brief stops on the campuses of Nortre Dame, University of Wyoming, & Weber State. These stops were mostly for impromptu picnics on cool grass under the shade of trees. College campuses are good for trees and such--much nicer than intersate rest stops. The picture above is of Molly today at Weber State, which is in Ogden, Utah. I didn't get a great shot of it. But the picture shows Molly "puttin on the breaks". She had a cool patch of grass and she absolutely did not want to give it up. She's so sick of the car. She's completely over getting back into the Element. Poor doggie! Little does she know that we will be back home tomorrow!! Tonight, we are spending the night in Boise, Idaho (which has an absolutely awesome downtown.) We have only about 8 more hours of driving. We are so excited to be back home! I predict Molly will take a week long nap on her futon! Well, gotta get to sleep. Can't wait to hit the road again tomorrow morning for the last leg of a great trip.

Another 650 miles ... 2 days to go!

Driving cross country is an interesting experience ... one that I recommend if you've never done it. About 10 yrs ago I drove from CA to DC. During that trip I was struck by the differences in each state. If you look at a map, state lines can seem arbitrary -- but, when you drive between states it makes more sense. There are also states that you like better than others. For example, I think Iowa is really quite pretty. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to live there. But, it is really green, rolling landscape and the weather wasn't humid. Wyoming is another state that I like. Nice landscape, huge sky, breezy and again, no humidity.

On the other hand, there are states that are terrible. For me, that is Nebraska. It was in my 1st trip across country ... and it was again this trip. Our original plan was to leave Jersey and go south on 70, which would take us through Missouri and Kansas and into Colorado. Kansas had 100 degree temps, I screwed up our trip and somehow we were short a day, and the 2 combined seemed like a good reason to take 80 on the way back. 80 is the most direct route, so we'd pick up some time and Nebraska's temps were in the 90s, so we changed plans.

We left Omaha this morning on the eastern edge of NE and drove 400+ miles to get the heck out of the state! We entered Wyoming and drove about 150 miles and are staying in Rawlins, WY. There isn't anything here, but it breaks up our last few days of driving pretty well. Tomorrow we will drive to Boise, ID and then home on Sunday!!!

We are all thrilled to have left the humidity behinds us! Molly has no idea what the heck we've done to her over the last 2 weeks! Long days in the car, no comfy futon to nap on all day ... but, I'm pretty sure her biggest issue was the weather! She's hot anytime it is over 80 degrees. Crank that up by 15 degrees and throw in humidity and I'm pretty sure my puppy would have walked all the way back to Eugene if she could. Can't wait to see her asleep on her futon! I'm pretty sure she's not going to get back into the Element for a drive for a week or 2!

Full Moon Over Omaha

Today is a 25 hour day for us. And 1 extra hour makes a big difference. We woke up in Toledo, Ohio, drove 711 miles, and now we are camped for the night in Omaha, Nebraska. Along the way, we hit a fair amount of traffic due to construction, which is good for workers and the local economies, but not so much fun for us. But still, we covered some serious ground today. We are now officially out of the Land of Toll Roads. Toll House I like. Toll Roads not so much. I digress. All of us agree that we really, really like Iowa. Iowa has lots and lots of beautiful rolling hills. Much greenery, much corn. Tomorrow, however, we drive through the dreaded state of Nebraska. Flat and not much to see, we've both been there, done that. But, it's all down hill (so to speak) from there. We are planning on making it to Rawlins, Wyoming tomorrow night, then Boise, Idaho, and then--if all goes well--back in Eugene on Sunday. Unfortunately, plans to meet up with friends in Colorado won't happen on this trip. But, hopefully, we can make it there some day soon. We have lots of pictures and some video to post, but those will have to wait till we get back home. Home sweet home sounds absolutely wonderful right about now.

On the road again!

We had to say our final goodbyes today to family in Jersey … we had a fabulous time visiting everyone, especially our talented oldest niece who got the part of Rizzo in a summer production of Grease, our favorite nephew who has the best "football" face ever, and our youngest niece who plans to work with animals as a groomer when she grows up! Everyone in Jersey was so great with the fact that we had Molly with us & she's going to miss all of the extra attention!

We did a bit of a zig zag route today - which isn't the best way to get home quickly! We left Hoboken and drove south/west to Gettysburg, PA to visit great friends and have a long lunch break. From there, we headed back north and drove about 620 miles today to get to Toledom, OH.

Our original plan was to drive a more southern route on 70. But, the entire state of Kansas is 100+ degree and that was a enough to scare us to a more northern route ... so we are now on 80. I have driven through Nebraska before and never wanted to do that again. But, 90 degrees in Nebraska seems way better than 100 degrees in Kansas. Okay, I get that both states and tempatures suck, but we have to get through the middle of the country somehow!!

We are trying to drive longer days on the way back because we realized we are a day short! I thought we'd get home on Sunday and I'd go back to work on Tues ... but, it may be Monday before we get home. We'll see! Our plan tomorrow will be to get through the rest of OH, all of Indiana & Illinois and to at least Des Moins, Iowa (but hopefully further west). We will have a 25 hour day as we pass back over the 1st time change, which will help too!

Give us a call if you want, we've got time to chat! - S

Jersey Shore

We've had lots of fun with family and friends in Jersey! We got to Point Pleasant on Friday and will go back to Hoboken tomorrow. We've swam in the pool, laughed, eaten the best crabs (which is far better than catching crabs at the shore), gone to the dog beach where Molly romped with a ginormious great dane, and there was a roller coster and photography outing thrown in for good measure!

We have 2 days before the adventure home begins. Right now Molly will happily jump into the car again ... I'm guessing that will end by about Columbus, OH! Our return trip will take us through Gettysburg, PA to see friends and then on 70 into CO. We are hoping to catch friends there and then it will be onto OR. We got our oil changed and the fluids and tires checked, so we are hoping for smooth sailing home!

More from us once our travels begin again! - S

Success!!

We are in Hoboken, NJ and our bellies are full of antipasto, meatballs, and pizza! :)

Next Stop New Jersey!

Woke up this morning in Rockford, Illinois. We hit some traffic trying to get through Chicago (people who bitch about Beltline in Eugene have no idea), but after that it was pretty much smooth sailing through the rest of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Molly is doing well. She's always her usual self, meaning either asleep or smiling. The only thing is that we pretty much have to bribe her with something tasty each time we need to get her back into the Element. Each time, it seems like it needs to be something more tasty than the last. By the end of the trip, we may need a rack of lamb to get her back in there. Now, we are stopped for the night in Clarion, Pennsylvania. We are pretty tired and sweaty, but we have cookies and lightening bugs. Both are magical, but not together, that would be gross. I can't beleive it, but we only have about 5 hours of driving left before we are at Romel and Grace's place in Hoboken! We are very excited to see everyone!! And Molly also wants to meet some city dogs. Maybe we can find a dog park somewhere???

Pictures!!

Here are just a few pictures from Spokane, WA, Couer d'Alene, ID, Yellowstone National Park, WY, & Mount Rushmore, SD. Click on the link below:

Pictures: July 2 - 4.

We are spending the night in Rockford, IL, which is not too far outside of Chicago. May post more later. Tired. :)

A 3 state day

On July 4th we woke up in Sundance, WY. We loaded up the car and pulled out ... but we had a flat tire. We pulled back into our parking spot and started putting on the spare donut tire. A nice couple that was parked near us asked if the spare needed air. Dave and I hadn't thought about that! In the end, they drove Dave a short distance with the spare to get it filled up. They were headed to Yellowstone and we were able to give them our entry pass which was good until 7/9. So, good results for all of us.

The hotel clerk called a few tire places, but since it was the holiday (and we were in a tiny town) everywhere was closed. She called the nearest WalMart (in South Dakota in the direction we were going) and they were open. Once we had the spare on, we drove 29 miles (on the frontage road that the hotel clerk had told us about) and got our tire fixed. The total cost: $10.60 and about 3 hour delay on the start of our drive. While it was a bummer to have a flat, it was really easy to deal with! Way better than if the flat had happen on the road, at night, etc!

Once we were able to really get going, we went to Mt. Rushmore. It was really cool (well the monument was, not the tempature)! After leaving Mt. Rushmore, which is on the west side of the state, we drove through the rest of South Dakota and into Minnesota. Molly survived about 30 minutes of fireworks and did pretty well. We then work up to a thunderstorm and she's not a fan of thunder either! Poor girl!

Our plan today is to drive through Minnesota into Wisconsin. Not sure how far we'll get, but we plan to drive to Milwaukee and then along Lake Michigan.

MT to WY via Yellowstone

Today was another fun day! We covered about 500 miles and went through Yellowstone National Park - very pretty! The only hiccup in the day was when I accidently closed the car door on Molly's tail! :(

Other than that, all good stuff! When we first got into Yellowstone we stopped and there were these little critters popping out of holes. Needless to say, they were Molly's favorite thing! I was calling them prarie dogs, but based on literature from Yellowstone, they were actually Yellow Belly Marmotts ... funny name for cute little guys! Our next wildlife encounter was a herd of bison. Later on we were driving about 35 miles and a single bison began running on oppisite side just off the road, but in our direction. Very impressive! We pulled over and got a few pics once he moved into the road and stopped traffic. We also saw a Mule Deer.

After leaving Yellowstone, it was just 6 hours of driving east in Wyoming. We've stopped for the night in Sundance. We are about 20 miles away from the SD border. We are going to go to Mt. Rushmore tomorrow morning. Seriously, we didn't plan any of this out, but seems like we must have to be at Mt. Rushmore on the 4th! Our plan tomorrow is to drive well into the night to avoid as many fireworks as possible. So far Molly has only barked a 1 when she was inside the hotel and a few outside. She's doing great in the car too! I just have to be extra careful with her tail!

I can't seem to get my photos to load now ... We'll figure it out and post soon!

Day 2: Pasco, WA to Livingston, MT

Before leaving leaving Washington today, we stopped for lunch in Spokane. It was a beautiful day--warm and a gorgeous blue, cloudless sky. We had lunch at a riverside park and the girls were super happy because they had fresh mini-donuts covered in powdered sugar for dessert. Next, we hit the road and made another stop in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Lake Coeur d'Alene is beautiful! We could have easily spent the whole day there. The only downside was that dogs were not allowed on the actual beach that we visited. Too bad, cuz we all wanted to take a swim. We hit the road again and stopped in downtown Missoula, Montana for a doggie walk and dinner. We actually had some pretty good pizza there (better than what we regularly eat in Eugene). Montana is a gorgeous state. We drove over the continental divide in the Rockie Mountains. We finally made it all the way to Livingston, Montana, which is close to the Wyoming border and not far from Yellowstone National Park. We'll drive through Yellowstone tomorrow morning and our plan is to make it all the way to just outside Mt Rushmore in South Dakota tomorrow night. All in all, day two was a spectacular day! Great weather, we saw two weddings, and ate donuts, and covered a lot of road! Glad to be at the hotel now. I love dog friendly hotels. This one is so friendly that there was a corgie at the bar. We have a lot more pictures that will have to wait until later to upload. Hopefully, we can post again tomorrow, but tomorrow is gonna be a really long day of driving. Hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend!! Oh, does anybody know what buffalo busting is and why it's contested?

We are in WA!

So, the grand adventure has begun! I worked today until about 1pm and we took off about 3:30. It's now 10:30 and we are in Pasco, WA (on the western side of the state)- roughly 350 miles from Eugene. Not much to report so far, but here are the high (or low) lights:

* Once Molly saw us packing, she followed me everywhere ... into the closet, into the bathroom, back into the closet. Finally she realized I was just leading her on a crazy path and she barked to get me to focus on packing!
* Our new GPS system rocks! We've named the nice lady Ellen.
* Turns out lots of people stay in hotels over the 4th weekend, but the GPS ... I mean Ellen, helped us find a lovely Best Western.
* My hotel OCD is alive an well. I had said we could stay in Motel 6s. Yet, when we went to the 1st one (which was sold out), my internal alarm went off. It will be more expensive, but such is life!
* Lots of bugs will die on our windshield on this trip.

Tomorrow we'll travel to Spokane on 395 and then cross into ID up at the pan handle. ID will put Dave and I both at 32 states and ID gets Molly to 4 states. We'll continue into Montana, which gets me to 33 and Molly to 5 ... Dave stays at 32. Montana is big, so I don't know where we'll get to. But, we'll let you know!

Time to sleep! - Sara