Post Road Trip Wrap-Up by the Numbers

5,795 miles!

20 glasses of chocolate milk with a bendy straw consumed by Grace

19 days

18 nights

17 random people Grace introduced herself to and hugged despite frantic warnings of "Stranger
Danger!!!"

16 used hotel soaps that Jane insisted on packing home anyway

15 hours of podcasts (hurray for "Stuff You Should Know," "Issues, Etc." and "God Whisperers")

14 states

13 (million) horses and cows

12 squished pennies

11 cool impulse pull-offs (Abraham Lincoln's boyhood home, World's Largest Windchime and Golf
Tee, America's "Sistine Chapel," Painted Desert/Petrified Forest, Meteor Crater, Eisenhower Museum, Truman Museum, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Route 66 Museum, Beecher's Bible and Rifle Church, St. Louis Arch)

10 cousins

9 swimming opportunities

8 potty breaks in seedy gas stations (I'm looking at you, Wichita, KS!)

7 musical soundtracks now memorized (Les Miserables, Bye Bye Birdie, Annie Get Your Gun,
Wizard of Oz, Guys and Dolls, Singing in the Rain, Ragtime)

6 of Uncle Steven's waffles consumed by Rosalie

5 calls to the fraud department to clear our card since we were using it out of state

4 audiobooks

3 national parks

2 presidential libraries

1 hospital visit

0 fish caught

This was truly the trip of a lifetime.  We grew closer as a family - I loved spending this much time with my girls.  I always worry about them and since I usually see them in the evening when they are tired after a long day and at their worst, I was gratefuly to see what great kids they really are. 

Jane took care of everyone, finding Rosalie's pacifier, passing food to Grace and Rosalie out of the cooler, handing cokes up to Arthur, throwing Grace's trash away, finding Rosalie's pacifier again, and overall just entertaining the sisters (and us).  She is sweet and responsible and tries really hard at everything she does.

Grace brought all of us out of our shells.  We tend to look inward and not initiate conversation, introverts that we are.  But, at every hotel breakfast we ate at, she managed to get the entire room talking to each other.  We met so many interesting people and heard their stories with Grace as the icebreaker.  She was so silly and sweet and always gave us a good laugh whenever we were flagging.

Rosalie was such a trooper.  She just enjoyed doing whatever we were doing and especially loved being with her sisters.  She smiled, waved, cooed, giggled, hugged and kissed, and just made us all happy.

As for me and Arthur, well, it was a time of great conversation fueled by thought-provoking podcast listening.  Watching out the window at the landscape, visiting with friends and family, meeting new people, and being fully present in every moment all served to broaden our perspective on our lives, our home, and our country.

Can't wait to do this again. Who's with us?  We've got extra room in the van!

<Insert bedraggled image of weary travelers arriving home in the middle of the night here. You'll have to use your imagination, because that's the one shot we didn't get. We do have hundreds of pictures not shown on this blog, though--you're welcome to join us for a never-ending slideshow with Schulerts, Schulerts and more Schulerts in it (with some Neinasts thrown in for good measure).

Good 'Til the Last Drop

We got an early start Tuesday morning, it was still overcast with light sprinkles, but nothing like the night before.  After a great breakfast at the Super 8 (waffles, cereal, apples, yogurt, mmmm) and a conversation with Jan and Ken from Riverside who were also caught in the storm (Grace gave them each a hug before we left), we headed out.

A brief stop by Arthur's favorite online train store based
in Albuquerque, NM. Alas, they didn't open until much later.

We didn't have any particular agenda for the day, other than getting home. But, when we saw that the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest were just a quick hop off of the highway in Arizona, we couldn't say no.  We'd purchased a National Parks pass to get into Zion, we might as well make good use of it!

Painted Desert

Petrified Forest

After a brief stop in the Visitor's Center, Jane and Grace
were sworn in as official Junior Rangers

Iconic Route 66

We spent much of the day traveling on or near Route 66 and played the song over at least five times, ticking off the cities we'd driven through on this trip (St. Louis, Joplin, Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Gallup, Flagstaff, Winona, Kingman, Barstow).

When we saw the signs for the Meteor Crater, we figured, "What the heck? We probably won't be back this way anytime soon."  So glad we stopped!  There was this nifty little museum and then you could go out on the observation deck to see the crater.  Grace didn't want anything to do with it and stayed as far away from the edge as possible.

That huge crater. . . .

came from this little meteor!

Hello?  Helloooo?

Astronauts trained here!

Picture postcard vista

The last pennies of the trip! 

After the Meteor Crater, it was one marathon drive home, but we made it, rolling in around 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday night.

Sunset in Needles, CA

I'm going to try to write up one more post this weekend summarizing the trip, so stay tuned!

Homeward Bound

Monday was basically hours and hours and hours of driving punctuated by the following:

A sad drive-by of the closed-on-Mondays Woody Guthrie Center.

Rosalie stroking Jane's hair until she fell asleep. Then pulling
it and trying to wake her up again.

Picnic lunch at a cheesy Cherokee Trading Post (definitely
not run by Cherokees but we needed a pit stop).

Watched the bison in their coral while we ate.

I was not going to take a picture of this. But
Jane insisted "because it's Kaw Liga!" I will read
some Sherman Alexie in penance.

Everybody say, "Squirt Cheese!" (They all have their initials
spelled out on Wheat Thins with that disturbing canned cheese
product that doesn't need refrigeration and we only buy on
vacation.)

Rest area in Texas which had a play area
so I ran the girls around for 15 minutes.

You tell Grace to say cheese and she poses
right down to her fingertips. Either that or
they're teaching her gang signs in pre-school.

Grace peaking through the Lone Star (before
we read the sign warning of rattlesnakes in
the tall grass. Yikes!)



It's windy there in the Texas panhandle.

You can tell it's the end of the trip because Grace
refused to be photographed with Jane. "NO! By myself!"

Another "By MYself" picture

Entering New Mexico

New Mexico brought a wind storm, a rain storm, a dust storm
(see above) and finally multiple electrical storms.



Lightning was striking all around and the rain got so bad
we had to pull off once at an abandoned gas station.

We had hoped to make Albuquerque, but about 45 miles out the weather was looking too ominous, so we stayed the night in Moriarty, New Mexico.  (Sherlock fans will appreciate the significance of staying in Moriarty during scary weather patterns.) We obviously made the right decision because no sooner had Arthur brought in the suitcases than the heavens opened up and we had thunder and lightning nearly all night.

We're hoping to be home tonight.  I won't have internet access for a few days, but I plan to write one last follow-up blog post when I get a chance.

See you in Whittier!

Wilder America



Breakfast in Amy, Brian & David's old chairs.

After Jane won about 15 hands of "Steal the Old Man's Pile," Aunt Linda told us it was time to go. (Ha! Ha! Just kidding. Aunt Linda would have played with her all day.  Jane can't wait to have an opportunity to play with her cousin, Sinead now.)  Actually, they loaded us up with good food, toys for the kids, and a dogwood tree for our backyard to cover up the ugly vacant house behind us and off we went.

She would have kept eating Uncle Steven's food all summer.
I'm definitely going to have to pack away the 12 month
clothes when we get home.

So close, and yet actually about an hour away by the time
we got lost and turned around three times.

I had promised the kids a smashed penny from the Gateway Arch which proved to be a Herculean task as they were doing road construction, the river was flooding, and there are just a bunch of one-way streets.  So, an hour later, I emerged from the visitor center (after going through security) with two pennies in hand.  Then we snapped a few photos of the Mighty Mississippi (both for us and for another family visiting from California) and off we went again.



I made him get the pop-up book out of the bottom of the pile
of stuff in the car for one last picture. We just need to do
Mt. Rushmore, New York, and Washington D. C. and we've
hit everything in this book. Maybe next summer.

Arch in the background, Mississippi River on the left,
train on bridge to the right - so much to look at!

LCMS headquarters.

 

We made our first potty stop of the day at a really neat Route 66 Visitor Center that had a cute little museum and a gift shop.  The girls were in their Laura and Mary garb and the lady at the desk actually called her boss down from upstairs to see them.

Recreating the opening credits of the television show
sans wildflowers

Two hours later, we arrived at Laura Ingalls Wilder's home in Mansfield, Missouri. Jane and I were so excited and Grace, picking up on our excitement was bubbling over with enthusiasm, too.  We went to the museum first.  There were no photos allowed inside and so I can't show you PA'S FIDDLE!  That's right. We saw Pa's fiddle on display.  Jane was squeezing my hand so tight. Right next to it was the little jewel box she received as a Christmas present in On the Banks of Plum Creek. Jane kept saying, "So you mean this is all real?  I just can't believe I'm seeing this!"  They had dresses and shoes that Laura and Mary wore as adults, plus all sorts of family pictures.  Almanzo had a deformed foot and so made his own shoes.  They had his shoes and shoe-making equipment on display.  They had a quilt that Laura had sewn and even the sewing machine she had later in life.



The pecan tree that Laura and Almanzo planted blew
down in a windstorm.  They sell souvenirs made from it in
the gift shop. Of course we bought one.

When we finished in the museum portion, we were hoping to tour the house.  But, it was pretty late in the day and there were no tour guides available.  So, we headed over to the book store and were browing around when we heard the gift shop lady get the call to do the tour.  We followed at her heels and were able to see the inside of Laura and Almanzo's home.
Laura was only 4'11" and Almanzo was only 5'4" so since they built their own home, all the counter tops were custom made at the correct height.  There was a little kitchen with a "pass through" to the dining room - cutout  that allows you to pass food through from the kitchen.  Laura's calendar from 1957 still hangs on the wall. 



Jane is trying to put on a brave face even though she is
crushed because we weren't going to get a tour.

We saw the room where she wrote her books.  Almanzo was always whittling away and you could see his collection of walking sticks and stick lamps (that still work). There's a clock in dining room that they traded a wagon of hay for that still works. The museum staff winds it every morning upon opening (although, Almanzo wound it at night).  My favorite part were her bookcases next to the fireplace.

The whole house was built from wood found on the property and the fireplace stones were from the property, too. Almanzo had bought brick for the hearth, but Laura cried (something she never did) and he used stones for the inside, too.

Had to get one photo with Rosalie in it.

Jane at Laura's grave.

Down the street is the little cemetery where Laura, Almanzo and Rose (their daughter) is buried.

A mural on the side of a store in Manchester. We also passed
the Laura Ingalls Wilder branch of the Mansfield Public Library.

On the way from Mansfield, Missouri to Tulsa, Oklahoma we passed so many signs for things we'd like to come back and see. From the cave where Jesse James and his gang hid to the George Washington Carver monument to Will Rogers' homeplace - we could spend a week here!  There was one billboard that got us to pull off the road and swing by: "America's Sistine Chapel."  We were curious enough to venture four miles off the road.  And there it was.  The Precious Moments compound, er, chapel.  I am trying not to snicker too loudly because people I know and love think Precious Moments are pretty precious.  But, this was just over the top cheeseball.  The stuff that cross-country roadtrips are made of! Obviously, we will be returning during open hours someday. (That is, if we don't take the Precious Moments cruise first. Yes. There is a Precious Moments Cruise.)

 



Oklahoma sunset

Our drive to Tulsa was just gorgeous.  There was a lightning storm to the left and a spectacular sunset to the right. All the while, we found some local color on the radio - Samantha Joelle Honey Lamb on KOSU playing "Songs from the Plains" (songs you can ride your horse to, as she said, though Arthur and I were trying to figure out how you would do that exactly. Does a horse come equipped with a headphone jack?)  She was a character, but spun some great artists: Iron & Wine, Emmy Lou Harris, Bill Monroe, Pure Prairie League.  Coudn't be a better ride.

When we got to our hotel, I threw the kids in the indoor pool to get their wiggles out.  At least until the lightning storm was overhead.  Not sure if it would really affect an indoor pool, but I didn't want to find out.

Tomorrow we'll start the long trek home. I had hoped to see the Woody Guthrie Museum, but it turns out it is closed on Mondays. (Yes. I am SO bummed. But we just have to come back someday, that's all.)

Trains, Planes and Automobiles (and Bison?)

Today, Uncle Steven and Aunt Linda took us to visit the Museum of Transportation here in St. Louis. Arthur and Grace thought they'd died and gone to heaven.  This was a lot like our Perris Train Museum back home, but the trains were in much better shape (at least I thought so).  You could climb on most of the rolling stock, take a trolley ride, and a miniature train ride.  We did all of the above!

Uncle Steven worked for Monsanto making (among other
things) phosphoric acid for Coca Cola.

Inside a tanker car.

Jane catching a ride on Aunt Linda's scooter.

Trolley ride on Chicago L car

Grace got a front seat next to the driver

Train with a snow blower on the front

All aboard!

This is just like the "Foolish Carriage" in Cheaper By the Dozen

Rosalie's had it. Baileigh pushed her all morning for me.

Miniature train ride.

After our amazing time with the trains and the cars, Uncle Steven led us through Lone Elk Park on the way back home and these bison were just ten feet from our car, no joke.

Rolling in the dirt, keeping cool.

Elk cooling off in the lake.

We got home and had dinner from a local spaghetti place (Dad, I know you're jealous!).  And now Jane is watching Anne of Green Gables while we are at McDonald's using the wifi.  Arthur and Grace just got back from getting Krispy Kreme donuts to share tomorrow morning.  Grace likes the donut machine!  We're going to make an early morning of it tomorrow, so time for bed.  Good night!