I might as well organize what I can...

So here's the table of days, where we stayed, how we overnighted, and what we did during the day in very short form. I'll be linking in the days when I backfill them.

( A cut to spare folks friends pages. )

There was plenty of time to get up and get breakfast this morning, and we'd bought local, Vermont, syrup the night before so John made pancakes while I slept a little more in the empty van. There was fresh orange juice, fresh air, and plenty of mosquitoes. But the DEET kept most of the latter at bay, and Jet really liked eating his pancakes outside. So that was fun. The view of the lake and all the other beauty of being able to enjoy it all outside was like little else. Getting away from it all.

Okay, it's with mornings like this that I can actually understand why people actually go camping.

We packed up, in no real hurry, and got on the road heading East. Kinda. It was quite the job to get going that way because of all the jigs and jogs in the highway system. We did stop by another station for another scenic railway. They were running, and there were women setting up all the books and toys in the gift shop, including a lot of Thomas stories, which I took advantage of and bought two story collections. The train schedule, however, was nearly the antithesis of what we could actually do, as the early one had already left, and the late one wasn't even leaving until we should already have been at the Alpenrose.

So we just looked around, peered at the town museum, and headed out again. We stopped at a grocery store, found sandwiches and cheese for lunch, ate in the van while it POURED outside, and then did the last bit of road to the Inn while Jet slept.

It's green here, impossibly and wonderfully green, with that water haze in the air and the heat held by the same humidity. Not Seattle, but the water was amazing.

We beat the rainstorm to the Inn, and we were greeted very enthusiastically. Anne immediately showed Jet a grass snake in a huge, glass jar, which Kierdan had found while "doing yard work". Turned out that David Squires, Kierdan, George and Isabel were outside helping with mowing the lawn, which, like at our old Erie house, was actually acres and acres of wild grasses. George was running the mower and Kierdan and David were raking up the results and throwing 'em into compost pits. So Jet, John and I joined in the work and had a blast just getting it done. I, of course, didn't DEET up and got bit like mad. Yeesh.

The rain started while we were out there but just as we were finishing up. David spoke of a thunderstorm where he saw a bird flying as fast as it could across their meadow and seeing it get hit by lightning. Eek. So we all went in when it really got raining, and I took a wonderful, hot shower to the sound of thunder. The room is great. I love it. They added a twin bed by the window for Jet, so while he was sleeping in our room, he did have his own bed. Yay! Definitely the better arrangement.

While I showered, lots of other folks showed up, and after Marina showed up I saw a whole lot less of Jet. After a week of being in the van together it was good to get some time apart, too. :-) I really enjoyed some quiet time with a book as my hair slowly dried. Jet and John were the social animals they are, and joined the party. Jet had his first and last accident of the whole trip when he was just a bit too distracted by playing with Marina. They were just having a bit too much fun.

The rain really cooled things down, and that was very nice. Dinner was ready at 6, and I got my first taste of Anne's Inn cooking and it was good. Gazpacho was a staple of the weekend, it was plenty fresh and there was plenty of it, crisp, crunchy, and juicy with summer. Yum. Dinner itself was a plethora of items, enough so that Jet did find something to eat, as picky as he is. He pulled out his "sprinkles" and added them to his rice and was a very happy camper, though his sprinkles elicited plenty of curiosity from those around him. I was pretty amused.

I elected for an early night. I hadn't slept very well for most of the trip out here, other than in Niagara Falls, and I needed to catch up. So as soon as Jet was snug in bed I went to sleep, too. Ahh....

Written: 22 Aug 2005

Route for the day.

Today was an odd luck sort of day. Lots of things happened that were kind of out of our control, but ended up well, on the most part.

We tried to leave early this morning, had breakfast at the very crowded breakfast area at the hotel, just across the pool from our room and up a flight of stairs. They had cereals, instant oatmeal, fruit salad, toasters with thick bread, white and wheat, and croissants. There were signs on the toasters saying "Do NOT toast the croissants in these toasters" and I saw a Frenchman bringing blackened croissants to his disgusted wife...

Maybe they couldn't read English? I dunno.

An Asian man had a little boy under his chair, happily playing as his dad ate breakfast and read a newspaper...

Jet didn't see him to join him, but was happy to eat his toast with butter and get ready to go. I *think* but no longer remember, if the boys took One Last Swim together in the pool before we left, but I think that that was so.

We then headed East on I-90 and paid the tolls and got to experience roads that were a great deal like British roads. The rest stops were more frequent than along the other Interstates, and each one was complete with a gas station, a dinner stop, a lunch stop, and something for dessert/a snack. In our case there was a MacDonald's, a pasta/pizza place, and an ice cream/fudge booth and a big, common dining area.

When we were walking in Jet was fascinated by three really big Army trucks parked near us. The convoy drivers, including one woman, were walking to their vehicles when we were waking away, and Jet walked up to the lady and said, "I really like your big truck!"

Social boy. It resulted in a long conversation with all the convoy drivers and a quick tour, for Jet, of the interior of the truck that the lady was driving. They were maintenance trucks with a big crane on the back of one of them. "What's that for?" asked Jet. "For picking up that other truck if it breaks down."

Hee.

John had known that there was an Adirondacks Scenic Railroad in the Adirondacks in New York, so we headed that way, and along the way we stopped at Utica (around step 13 in the instructions) for a bathroom break, which was at the tourist information booth right at the Y. They had a pamphlet on the railroad. John knew Old Forge was where he'd thought about going, which was the Thendara Station trip.

So we headed to Old Forge (end of step 20), and stopped at Thendara, which is right before Old Forge, and there was a station and train tracks and maybe, three other buildings in town, one was a restaurant right across from the station. An big lady was sitting at the tables in front of the closed station, painting signs, and a man with a bit of a limp came up and shook the boys' hands and told us that they weren't actually going to start running the trains until tomorrow! So bad luck about getting a ride...

... but good luck in that the guy showed the boys all the details of the engines and the coaches, and he gave Jet a flyer about the Wednesday train robberies, old West style with horses and 20's style with vintage cars. Wow. So I think we got a far more extensive tour and brain dump from the man himself than we would have if we had gotten there when he had to run the train. It was great.

So a mildly mixed blessing, all in all.

From there we headed into the Adirondacks and, learning from our experience camping in Michigan, we took the time to stop at a grocery store before the campgrounds at the next big town. We bought what we needed for dinner and breakfast, and got in line and when it came time to pay for the stuff our credit card was refused! Multiple times. So we paid for it with cash and got advice from the cashiers about notifying the CC company if you were going to go on vacation. When we got out to the car, John called the company and it turned out that our CC's had been among those compromised by the big databank break in a while back, and they could send replacements to the house, but not to us unless we faxed them with where it should go, with a signature.

So we stopped at the drug store right next door, and faxed them a letter with the address of the Inn we were going to be staying in for the weekend and a signature. It was good that it was Thursday, as the courier service could get it to the Inn tomorrow while people are there on a business day.

So, again, mixed blessings, a problem but we were given enough time to at least try and straighten it all out.

From there we went further up, towards Raquette Lake, but we actually stopped on step 23, between Seventh Lake and Eighth Lake (which is the lake next to Seventh on that step), which is well before Raquette Lake. It was a little state campground with running water, screened facilities and easy access to the lake front. There were a LOT of mosquitoes, but with liberal application of DEET, it didn't seem that bad.

I made dinner for the first time in a while. I started the rice, first. Then I browned chicken thighs marinated in powdered Italian dressing mix in my cast iron skillet. When they were very brown I took them out and added pole-sliced onions and sweet pepper straws and cooked those until they were browned and caramelized. I then added the thighs back into the mix, added some water, and covered it all and let it cook and create its own gravy from the seasoning and the good, browned bits, and everything. It was great over the rice. Jet had his rice with sauce and fish sprinkles and ate a huge plateful of the stuff. So no leftovers, thank goodness.

We then walked to the lake's side, and threw rocks into the water. :-) I am still amazed by how fun such simple things are with a kid. It was a beautiful view, and the water was just cool and the bottom sandy. Nice to do a little wading.

The mosquitoes started biting me in places I really didn't want to get bit, again. The DEET level in our spray isn't that high... I resprayed myself, but it was probably a bit too late, and I discovered, the next day, that it was definitely too late. But with the another spraying I felt better. We built a fire from firewood we'd bought on the way in, and we got to roast actual marshmallows and put them on s'mores. The funny thing is that Jet didn't want to eat them after he'd roasted 'em. He thought the fire parts were neat, but I think that if we'd roasted more Triscuits he would have eaten those.

It was a very, very quiet spot, and so near the bathroom that it was easy to make our way there in the dark to get ready for bed. Jet slept up in his tent, this time. We slept in the bottom, and it was good, all in all. The mosquito netting seemed to do its job just fine, and it was cool, dark and quiet. Mmm... sleep.

As written on the 30th into my Visor, minus spelling mistakes.

8:30 am: I've finally been on the road long enough that I've lost track of the day it actually is. And mostly don't care, which is pretty good. We've gone about 1600 miles and on our way to yet another destination involving another 240 miles or so. And it's a 240 miles along roads that remind us of England, in that the freeway is surrounded by trees and all the rest areas are mobbed with businesses, I-90 has become a toll road out here, which is weird for us, with a ticket handed out at the beginning that you pay for when you get off, unlike the series of toll booths and machines on 470 by us.

We've just left Niagara Falls, which I don't usually associate with Buffalo New York, but they're neighbors, nearly. And, yes, the Canadian side is definitely worth going to and seeing it all from that side.

We started Saturday, at about 2, which was when we finally got the van completely packed. We nighted in the middle of Nebraska at a $5 campground and a thunderstorm whistled and banged and rocked us to sleep in the van. The wind was a welcome respite from the heat.

Jet, who had had a 3 hour nap in the car, and little of running around during the day couldn't get to sleep and had a small melt down while John and I were too tired to deal. No more three hour naps! He did, however, eat like a horse, though his menu has narrowed, again, with the stress. We did bring his vitamins, so he shouldn't suffer from eating nothing but noodles, rice, and toast. He is still eating a lot of whatever he chooses to eat, so I think he is burning a lot of energy.

Des Moines, Iowa was our next stop, with a hotel room, instead of camping, and a pool. Jet got to swim after a small stop at a playground surrounded by trees. A good dinner, and he went out like a light.

On the way through Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, we stopped at the Rock Island Arsenal by Davenport. The AAA map had indicated a park there, and John cheerfully asked the guards at the entrance as to how to get to a park there, and they, after peering at our drivers licenses ("They sure give you some time on those, don't they?" when the guard saw the 10 year expiration date on it), they gave us detailed instructions to a kid park by a display of obsolete artillery.

Jet had a great time, even in the heat, playing in the sand box and then walking around the huge guns. It was sobering to see an "atomic cannon" with a 17 mile range that had been built in the 40's and decommissioned in the 50's. It was enormous and the implication of simply having it was amazing.

It was a beautiful place.

We ended up at the Warren Dunes Michigan State Park, by white dunes nearly five stories tall just off Lake Michigan. The lake was a silver expanse off to the horizon, impossibly still for an ocean, though it resembled one, Made me think of the western sea from the Lord of the Rings, especially with the swimmers haloed by sun.

We camped in the forest there that night, covered with DEET and lighting a campfire despite the heat. The fireflies were everywhere, and slow enough to delight Jet who could actually, just about, catch them. We had a pretty pathetic camp, though, boiled spaghetti with grated cheese (which Jet loved but left a little out for us). Jet ended up toasting Triscuits on metal skewers over the fire. He thought they were quite tasty.

Yes, we bought marshmallows and chocolate to go with our grahams
for the next time we make camp.

I pulled my shoulder the next morning, but was able to drive part of the way to Niagara Falls, on the Canadian side. We've stayed there for two nights, taking a day to walk the way to the Horseshoe Falls and see the U.S. falls. It was also to go to Brick City and see a tremendously intricate and detailed world made of Lego.

It took a man 5 years to build everything there. Words can't serve to catalog everything there, with all the humorous details, but at the end was the piece de resistance, a model of the Horseshoe falls, complete with barrel rider and tightrope walker. The waters were shaded from blue to white. There was even a model of the Maid of the Mists in the pool below, and crowds of variegated tourists at the top and part of the way down, modeling the "Walk Behind the Falls".

Jet loved the trains in there. John liked the cityscape with a raised monorail. I liked half-completed sky scraper with guys having lunch on a beam suspended from a crane. The beam twirled gently in the breeze from the air conditioning.

The other thing we stayed for was the pool at the Comfort Inn. It was half a full-sized pool, 2.5 meters deep in the deep end and one meter deep in the shallow end. Jet found two ladders on opposite side in the deep end and used them as the endpoints of a race track. He raced John and I back and forth and back and forth and back and forth so many times I've lost count. He got better at it even in the days we were there. He drew comment from nearly every adult that saw him motoring around, and they marveled at a 4-year-old that could get around in the water so easily.

We went swimming the moment we checked in and then twice yesterday, once right before Jet went to bed. And, indeed, the swimming made it very easy to get Jet to sleep at night. Quite a good thing. It didn't, at first, help my pulled shoulder much, but the hot tub really did relax things enough for me to use Jet's vitamin bottle as a deep pressure point along the worst of it. I just lay on the bottle and positioned it until it was pressing where I needed it. Thank goodness for all the massage therapists who taught me how to take care of myself.

The falls were not a letdown compared to everything else. The night we got there, we walked down to see the U.S. falls, lit by the light tower. Jet called them "the rainbow falls" the next day. We took the hike the next day, through a beautifully groomed park and then on the sidewalk overlooking the gorge, through the mist from Horseshoe falls, until we got to the top of the Horseshoe falls.

There was one vantage point right where the water touched the wall we'd been walking along, and I could see the clear, green bottle glass of the water just before it plunged down into a white plume of mist. Then multiply it by the incredible length of the fall and the roar was astonishing. Even from the hotel, a mile away, we could hear the roar of the falls, constantly. But right near by it rumbled and you could feel the vibration all through you. It was pretty amazing. I think I got one good video shot of it, and a couple of pictures that I can't tell how good the contrast is until I fiddle with it at home.

There was something about being there, though, that was something that couldn't be caught by words, pictures, or any medium.

We walked back, swam, did laundry, got dinner, swam again, slept, did the continental breakfast at the hotel, packed up and are back on the road, now.

Three general things I've noticed. ON the most part, the interstates have their own rules and conduct and it's common up and down and across the country. On the most part people have been great about only using the left lane to pass. And it's the same across.

The other thing we've noticed is that there aren't that many out of state plates anywhere anymore. Maybe the next state over, but we've only noticed a few cross-country drivers anymore. Other than the semis, of course, and other than at Niagara itself, of course, there were plates from everywhere there. Still, on the road, itself, and at the small hotels in the middle of nowhere, there seems to be (anecdotal evidence) a lot fewer families venturing a long ways out.

Reminded me, obliquely of Connie Willis' "The Last of the Winnebagoes", though for, perhaps, different reasons. Made me wonder if the folks arguing that it takes more energy to get ethanol from corn than ethanol, itself, provides also took into account the fact that ethanol uses the starches and sugars in the plant, which will still leave the oils that can be made into biodiesel as well. Plus if prices get high enough, people will find an energy efficient enough way to do what needs to be done.

Anyway... some of this is from the fact that across Nebraska, we consistently saw ethanol gasolines with higher octane for *less* money than the 100% gasolines. So the "super" gasolines cost less than the "regular" unleaded. That was pretty mind bending, at first, but then it was kind of cool. Fully loaded we're getting about 19 miles per gallon, which is pretty nice for an aerodynamic brick.

We'll see how it goes.

Right now we're headed for the Adirondacks and a train. :-)

When we woke up that morning I had to use the bathroom and get myself put together. Jet asked to go with me, as he needed to use the potty. On the way there I was bitten half a dozen times and, when Jet asked me to carry him for a bit, I pulled my right shoulder so badly I couldn't even lift my arm.

I suspect that my neck and shoulders were already stiff from stress, and sleeping on the van had made it worse as the center section was raised compared to the section we had our heads on because the storage bins under it were "just" a bit too tall. Oops. So my body was pushing at my shoulders, neck, and head all night. So the muscles were all fatigued and tense anyway, so when I moved wrong they spoinged, and man it HURT.

That plus the mosquitoes plus having no groceries and I was complaining so bitterly that John quietly packed everything up and we were on the road very, very quickly. We stopped at a Bob Evans restaurant right off the highway and we had an enormous breakfast there. Jet had not only his pancake but he also asked for another order of toast, and he polished all of that off as well. That was pretty amazing. I had a stuffed French Toast. John had a bacon, eggs, hash, and toast breakfast.

From there we headed north, up into Ontario, and then over towards Niagara Falls. The freeways up there were clean, well maintained, and relatively less busy than they had been in the U.S.. Right inside the city we stopped at a tourist information center, and John called several hotels until we found one that had a room open. They said that it was the last one, but for a king-sized room with Jacuzzi, so we took the room.

Jet got a pamphlet there filled with pictures of kid entertainments along with coupons for most of them. There were ads for mazes, miniature golf courses, haunted houses, and a Brick City built of Lego. He peered at his magazine over and over, studying each page.

After all the one night stands, John promised me we could stay here, in the heart of civilization, so to speak, for two whole nights and have a whole day here. I needed it badly. The hotel we picked was right on Clifton Hill, the hill just above the walkway that overlooked the American Falls. The Hill, itself, was one huge tourist trap, with gift stores, arcades, expensive bad food, and lots and lots of those attractions that Jet's magazine held.

When we got there, Jet and I sat out in the car while John checked us in. Inside the car with the windows open, we could hear and feel the rumble of the water falling over the various Falls. The rumble was pervasive against the background noise of the street and the hotel itself. It was amazing.

The room was very nice, and was right off the pool area. So as soon as we got most of our stuff into the room we donned our bathing suits and headed for the pool. There was no lifeguard, just lots of people. It was a half-sized pool, three meters deep at the deep end, one meter deep at the shallow end. Jet immediately jumped into the deep end and swam across the short way. Then John and he paddled about from deep to shallow and back again. With my pulled shoulder I couldn't keep up with them, but it felt good to move it through the full range of motion.

So we swam. Jet concocted a race between the two ladders at either side of the deep end, and John and he raced back and forth a few times. I ended up in the jacuzzi, playing the jets against my sore shoulder until it felt somewhat better. I went and showered first, then helped Jet shower while John showered and dried off and dressed. I used Jet's vitamin bottle to really PUSH against the tight part of my shoulder and that helped immensely.

When we were all clean and cool, finally, we went out.

Immediately outside our hotel door was Dinosaur Park, a mini golf park filled with moving, roaring dinosaur dioramas. Jet was taken aback by some of the really big, loud ones, but he wasn't too frightened of anything. Then we got to Clifton Hill and it was an overwhelming display of Tourist Land. Loud barkers, lots of lights, crazy scenarios of toppled buildings (the Ripley's Believe It Or Not), climbing monsters (Hulk SMASH, half mirror, half built on item), music, and lots of place air conditioning the air outside the shop to lure you in. Jet was dazzled. I was, too, honestly, so MUCH to take in all at once. Jet immediately said, "HEY! That's in my book! Look at that, that monster store is in my book, too! It's just like it!"

John muttered to me, "Tell me why I'm here again?" As an echo of what I'd asked him yesterday when I was in the middle of the forest.

Hee.

I don't think we couild have deliberately found such a marked contrast in places to stay.

We walked up the glittering hill to find the Monticello restaurant after looking at a dozen things that all served the same kinds of food. The man standing outside said that it was likely the best restaurant in town, and that there were plenty of ripoffs in Niagara Falls, but that this place was owned by a real chef and they even had a kids' menu for Jet. So we decided to go in and I'm glad that I did, as it was likely the best restaurant we ate at for the nearly the whole trip. I got the Veal Monticello, which was lightly breaded, nicely cooked, with a deeply flavorful lemon sauce drizzled on it, just enough. There was garlic mashed potatoes and harcot vertes, tender and crisp. Jet plowed through his rice and teriyaki sauce very happily while John enjoyed what he got, a lot, as well. That was very good.

There was no room for the ice cream shop we found there. Instead, we wandered down the hill, across the street, and onto the walkway before the American Falls. They had been lit with colored spot lights, and there were crowds and crowds of people there to see them. Jet said, "Oooo! Look at the Rainbow Falls!" And so we looked for a while. I tried to take a picture and failed miserably. But that was a good walk, and by the time we got back to our room, Jet was ready and willing to go to sleep with a promise that we'd see Brick City, tomorrow.

My gut problems were really getting to me, so after Jet was asleep, John ducked out of the hotel, along a secret path that led right to a real drug store and he bought me some Tylenol for me throat and some Imodium AD for my gut. They both helped immensely. Yay for travel drugs!

We got started later, as they provided a breakfast, and we partook and then packed up and left. The driving across Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana was hazy and hot. Even in Des Moines we found that we were only 700 feet above sea level, which was surprising to us. That in that "short" a distance we'd already come down well more than 4000 feet, and the heat and humidity were really oppressive in many ways.

So we didn't stop much. A rest area, a gas stop, and then in Davenport, IL, we decided it would be good to stop for a picnic lunch and let Jet out to play. The AAA maps aren't very good at detail in the cities, and the parks that show up are the huge, official parks, not the little play parks we were really looking for; however, with the map, we were less inclined to stop and ask the way we did two years ago. Instead we headed for a big patch of green that said "Rock Island". It turned out to be the Rock Island Arsenal.

There were two guard gates up front, and one of the guards was kind enough to tell us to go to the other gate if we wanted a playground. So we did, and with our passports we were able to sign in as guests and they gave us very clear instructions to a playground "past the big, retired guns". The guard was voluble and talked about really needing the rain in the area and that grain and soy futures were probably good to invest in. Nice guys, all in all. Quite different than in Cheyenne, where they won't let anyone on the grounds without a voucher by someone that works in the arsenal there. But there might be different things that they're guarding and the alert levels may well have been entirely different.

Yes, the London bombings hadn't happened, yet.

We drove out to the playground. There were covered picnic areas, with shade, so we unloaded our crackers and cheeses and fruit and drinks, and sat there, in the heat, and ate. Things were spoiling in the cooler, so we dumped most of the food in the trash after we were done with what we could eat. There was fresh water available from drinking fountains, so we got that into our water bottles and drank. Jet played in the sandboxes with his Hot Wheels cars, climbing a little, but mostly digging roads and burying his cars. Then we walked over to the guns.

The first thing was a Sherman tank with a huge hit on the side that had taken out the front cannon. The damage was painted with red to keep it from rusting, and all the portals were welded or caged shut so no one could get in, but there were stairs up to the upper turret area and plenty of fascination for the climb.

There were all kinds of mobile artillery there, including a monster Atomic Cannon that had a firing range of 7 miles. Wow. There's movies at this site of the thing in action.

The collection was sobering and quiet and almost beautiful in the heat of the summer afternoon. Families and several men came to just look and read and see.

Eventually, Jet was tired enough, so we got back into the car, and he watched a movie, used the potty when we stopped for gas, and then fell asleep. We headed across Illinois and touched Indiana and ended up in Michigan. At a gas stop we found a White Castle! Given that we were about to eat dinner, he went in and bought us each one hamburger, and that was enough for me. I enjoyed it immensely, the oniony, soft, meaty burger only three inches wide. I've been addicted to them since I was a little kid, living in Indiana and visiting Chicago and Indianapolis on long road trips. It was nice to have a fresh one rather than a frozen one, and I was glad I had it.

I was having diarrhea problems by now. Travel and I get it and nothing I do makes it go away but time, so eating what I wanted was just my way of coping, in some ways.

John headed north along Lake Michigan and we entered the Warren Dunes state park. Jet was still asleep when we got to the concessions stand and gift shop there, so we just pulled him from his seat and carried him with us as we looked for something to buy to cook for dinner. There wasn't anything. Jet wanted snow noodles. While we were at the concessions stand, by the lake and the dunes, I looked around and took a picture of a 40 foot dune and the shining silver sea that was the lake right there on the beach by the stand. It's the only real look at the lake we got while we were there.

The camp sites were all set back into the woods. There were really tall trees all around the camp sites, and the sites, themselves were set in a big circle with a single lane that crossed the center. The bathrooms were on that single lane, and all the site spoked out about it. We found a nice, level site across the street from the central area. Close enough to make it not too long a trip to the bathroom, but our site wasn't surrounded by filled sites the way most of the rest of the camp grounds were filled.

We drove to the camp site, set up, coated ourselves in DEET, and I cooked spaghetti noodles. We had some cheddar and some mizithra, so we shredded those on the noodles. Jet ate happily. We were less happy but we didn't have any spaghetti sauce or anything. It was food, though. And when we were done we walked around the site to the entrance, where a man had a tent and some Christmas lights and was all set up to sell firewood, a bundle for $3 and a starter for $1. We bought them, and the guy smiled at Jet and we walked back with our new treasure.

Along the way we all discovered fire flies! Yay! Slow moving and easy to catch, Jet happily chased them with his flashing sandals. He looked like a fire fly himself, flashing on and off, along with the bugs going on and off. He caught one for a bit, peered at it, and it flew away as he was looking. Hee.

We then setup the fire, and let it roar. Jet wanted to use the skewers to toast SOMETHING, and we hadn't bought either chocolate or marshmallows, but we had graham crackers and Triscuits. Jet loves Triscuits and he wanted to toast one of those on a skewer, so John carefully stuck a cracker, and Jet toasted it and then ate it. Yum. He really liked it. John said that that's what camping is, figuring out how to have fun and enjoy what you have while you're "away from it all".

I asked John, "Why am I here again?" I'm afraid I wasn't enjoying myself the way I ought to have been, and didn't appreciate the bugs, the primativeness, and being amid so many people to be away from all the conveniences of civilization.

John had the better idea It certainly is more pleasant to look at it that way and giggle about how pathetic our camping preparation was than to get upset about forgetting to get better food beforehand. We weren't hungry and the van was nice to sleep in, especially without the rain.

Jet ended up sleeping on our level, between John and I with his head on John's stomach and his feet buried under my waist. Yeesh. But we did sleep until 7 am/8 am CST, which was good after how late the night was.

In the morning, at the campground, we found the power outlet, which would normally be used by an RV, was very useful for grinding our coffee. The little vacuum brewer which we'd brought along made good tasting, hot coffee, and it made exactly enough to completely fill John's thermal mug and half fill mine. I was impressed that it was able to brew that from the whirly grinder grounds, which are anything but even. I didn't want any more than that, and it was perfect for our breakfast.

We'd bought a multi-pack of cereals from the local grocery store, and we cheerfully had a box or two each with the milk we'd brought along from home. The cooler in the Eurovan is a powered cooler, not a refrigerator, so it's not really COLD, but it's cool enough to keep things okay for a while.

There was plenty of mosquito repellent for us to enjoy breakfast quite happily and not get bit much.

We packed up soon after breakfast, John washed the dishes, and then we headed out again. We stopped by the train yard that was mentioned in the AAA tour book, and John found an underpass that went right by there. We were so close we could read the signs about how some of the engines were run by remote control, so there were no human beings who could stop for a stray human being. Wow. As we sat there a 100+ car train gently pulled in. There were at least a dozen trains parked and moving through that area.

Eventually we headed on our way again and were amazed by the amount of water haze there was in the air. I entertained Jet by drawing bugs into my journal, and having him tell me what to draw and then having him tell me what the pictures were of. We entertained ourselves that way for several hours. Jet eventually started telling a story: "If you give a bug a pancake, he'll go, 'Hey! I didn't want that!' He'll eat it. And get all sticky. And you'll have to use a wet cloth on him." giggles

While I drove a portion, John read the tour book and was amazed that we were already thousands of feet down from the high plains. Nebraska is GREEN. Trees and near-forests between crops and pastures and huge rolls of hay. I guess they'd had good haying weather with the heat. Rain followed us in, so it was a good thing it was all rolled up and ready before the rains.

There was one construction incident that made me really grumpy. There were signs that said, "Merge left. 2 miles." And rigth AT that sign traffic stopped, abruptly. So abruptly I watched a semi truck, very carefully, in the rear view mirror to see if it would make the stop or if I'd have to make a hurried exit of my lane onto the shoulder. Instead, it moved toward the shoulder, but made the stop in plenty of time. It veered into the right lane, but then stayed level with me to allow no cars to go zipping by in that lane until a semi pulled up behind it. Then it asked to merge in front of me. So I let it.

Then the two semi's stayed level to each other for the two miles to the actual merge and held traffic down to a reasonable enough level that slowing for the merge, by everyone, was done safely. That was pretty impressive. There were a lot of cars trying to shoulder their way through the lines behind us, but the sheer size of the semis was enough to keep folks in line. I took a picture of the back of the truck so that I could call the "How am I driving?" number to compliment the guy.

When we made a gas stop around noon, there was a KFC right there. Jet decided he wanted biscuits for lunch, so he ate those, and bounced and sang and wanted to run around, and amused a lot of people around us. Most of the folks in there were much older, and they enjoyed his antics even though I was less than pleased some times. But he would mug for them when they looked at us, and at the smiles he'd start saying, "Hi!" Once they heard we were from Colorado and were locals, they talked for a while with John and Jet.

We drove a bit more and saw two different semi trucks that had flipped over the side of the freeway and were lying on their sides by the road. State patrol cars were all around them and one had a semi-tow truck there as well. It surprised us to see two of them when we'd never seen that by a freeway before. I wonder if the storm last night blew hard here, too.

At 4 we stopped at a Dairy Queen. It was HOT when we stepped out, so hot it was oppressive. Jet ran up and down the aisle of the DQ while we ordered, he ate his ice cream, but then did more running up and down and up and down while he could.

So instead of pushing past Des Moines we stopped at a rather posh neighborhood that had a little playground and park and let Jet play for a while on the climbing equipment. It's not like it was two years ago, when we did the West Coast trip. He isn't that much into the climbing for the sake of just climbing what he can climb anymore. He took a couple of Hot Wheels cars with him and raced them down the slide. He did do one challenging thing, which was walking down an arm slide that was too wide for his shoulder width. That was fun. It was a good stop and we weren't going to repeat the mistake we'd done yesterday.

The AAA book showed us to an America's Best Hotel and we stopped there after a bad dinner at a bad grill. The waitress had been great, but the food was so bland and so... dominated by meat and starch. Jet ordered cheese bread, but it came laden with grease and garlic, so he refused to eat it. We decided to get him some rice, and he plowed through the Uncle Ben's with gusto as they'd brought along a bit of teriyaki sauce as well.

The hotel was old. The room's AC worked, though. We went to the pool and swam and it was so hot it was amazing. John looked at the thermometer in the pool and it read 100 degrees, which is the same temp we keep our hot tub at. Oops. Jet had a pretty good time swimming through the murky water and enjoyed it a lot. He slept solidly that night.

I didn't. The AC was loud and right by the bed. And the bed was way too soft and the AC made the air too dry for my painful throat. The ibuprofen helped, but I didn't want to think of what it was doing to my stomach. It's better, though, a little, so I have hope that just getting rid of that pillow is actually making a real difference.

I'm so tired.

In order to get going on the trip we had to pack for the trip.

John had done some ingenious upgrades to the Eurovan while preparing for this trip. He'd added a cargo net that floated above the main platform for the bed, and we put all our clothing and soft bags with soft, light, or bulky stuff into it. There was a cargo pod attached to the roof (which made it imperative that we NOT park the van in the garage) that held the big, bulky, light stuff like the bedding and Jet's scooter. There was storage under the seats for camping equipment and repair equipment and even a little more for what we might buy. There were three plastic bins that fit under the net, which could be moved outside or into the front of the car easily when we stopped for a night.

All of that had to be filled with Stuff We Needed.

I always think a lot about George Carlan's rant about Stuff whenever I pack for a trip and the agony of having to do with LESS stuff... though my mindset is a little bit weirder than that. I have a bathroom pack and a clothes packing setup that's exactly right for when I'm on a three day business trip. I have it all setup to just throw into a bag and go. So for a few days, even a week, it's easy, as most of our week long vacations are at one or the other set of grandparents' house, so we just bring exactly the same stuff and do laundry halfway through.

It was amazingly hard, for me at least, to condense my stuff but STILL have "enough" for three weeks! It's just been so very, very long since I had to decide what to bring and what not to bring, though John took care of the majority of stuff.

Jet did a great job of entertaining himself all morning. He even helped us make his lunch and he sat by himself in the backyard and ate it while we stuffed more things in. It helped, somewhat, that the painters have arrived and were masking off everything in order to get started with painting. They were good entertainment for him. But we also had to take care of all the potential stuff if they were done before we left, if there were things that had to be done for them before we left, etc. One more mental dimension to reach on. Then, right at 1:30, Jet asked if he could go to the pool with Mikayla and Tanner and Macy. Oops. Tanner came over and made it even harder, as we were about ready to go.

Poor Jet.

We left.

He slept soon after we were on the road, from tiredness, from crying a little, and from it being pretty hot. We took advantage of that, and I slept and John drove. Next thing I know we're a good ways into Nebraska and Jet is *still* asleep and it's been about three hours. Oops.

The AAA books have a campground marked on the side of the town of North Platte, Nebraska. It's called the Buffalo Bill Camp, and as we get closer, we see a huge stadium with lots and lots of people lining up to get in! A lane is open to the right, so we take it and follow the signs that say "This way to Campground." And we find the campground not too far beyond that. It's a herringbone setup for the power outlets for the RV's. The "regular" camping area is a grassy area with nearly no parking by it. There are a set of pit toilets. Obviously no running water, but we have a really nice camping jug for our water, which should work for washing, etc. At $10 a night for the parking pad an power, we decide on that, and then drive back into town to get our dinner. The site's only a quarter full and there seems to be no rush to claim a site.

On the way through town we saw a BBQ joint that looked interesting, but when we pulled up there was a sign in the window saying that they were gone for the weekend, to serve the Rodeo and Fair. Oops.

We ended up near the freeway at an Italian Buffet that looked pretty sad at first, but I got a good chunk of lasagna and found that the noodles were firmly cooked, not mushy, the sauce was tasty and meaty, and they were very generous with a good quality cheese. I upgraded my thoughts on the matter, and really enjoyed their pastas and breads. There was a killer garlic and cheddar biscuit. *giggles* Biscuits must be Italian. :-) But it was tasty.

Jet ate three slices of cheese pizza, so I wasn't going to argue. That's more than he's eaten in a long time.

We dropped by a supermarket on the way back, a local market that seemed to be languishing a little with a Wal-Mart right across the road, but we bought all our stuff for breakfast at the local place, and headed back to the campsite. On the way back, in the dark, we could see the lights of the carnival at the fair. Jet pleaded to go, but we were too tired.

Jet was excited about camping, too excited. We got ready for bed, and just as we were mostly there, a thunderstorm hit us hard. Wind, whipping torrential rain, thunder, lightning, and everything. John ran out to get all our stuff under cover, and we got it all in. Jet wanted to help, but I'm not sure he would have. So we ended up with a little boy who had had a three hour nap stuck in the confines of a van. Oops.

One cool thing was that even in the rain and lightning show John and Jet were able to see fireflies in the tall grass around the campsite. They were fascinated by the blinking lights hovering in the darkness. Oooo...

Jet was still for his books, found his tiger flashlight and climbed up down and up and down and up and down from his second floor sleeping area until nearly 2 a.m. and ended up down between John and I "'Cause there's BUGS!", and I slept with two little feet digging into my ribs. My. What a start.

Never again, with the three hour nap AND no physical outlet for Jet before bedtime. NEVER again, we vowed.