Planes, Trains and Automobiles

2nd day in Seattle

2011-01-07T20:49:00.000-08:00

We woke up refreshed, as the beds in this hotel are among the most comfortable I've ever slept in. It'll be hard to go back home,where even there, it's not quite as comfy!

Outside our window, the rain was constant, and the wind had picked up quite a bit more than yesterday. We went to the monorail, which would take us to downtown, only to find that it was temporarily closed. So our choice was to walk about 2 miles, or catch a bus. As we were on our way to the bus, we decided to go to the EMP museum which was right by the bus stop. It was included in our City Pass. EMP stands for Experience Music Project. It has expanded to include a science fiction museum as well. We liked the science fiction part the best since it had arifacts from science fiction in all the media forms. Anything from Godzilla, to Battlestar Gallactica, to War of the Worlds, to Star Wars. Jonathan's favorite was the Star Wars section. My favorite was the robot from Lost in Space" TV show. I think Russ just enjoyed it all as did Chris.

Half of the music part of this museum was devoted to Jimi Hendrix, who was native to Seattle. We are not fans of his kind of music, but it was still interesting to see some of it. The part that we liked in the music museum was the interactive instuments. There were guitars, drums, and keyboards with computorized tutorial that took you step by step through the basics and then immediate practice. I even was able to play a little and I'm NOT musically gifted!! There was a part where you could pretend to be a rock star, with screaming fans, lights, and a dvd that you could purchase. None of us like to be in that kind of spotlight, so we passed on this.

By the time we were done with the museum, we saw that the monorail was running again and rode it to downtown. We had a quick lunch, and caught the lightrail to the harbor area. We signed up for the harbor cruise ready to set sail in about a half hour after we arrived. This too was included in our City Pass. We looked out at the boat we were to ride and saw it rocking quite noticably and worried that it might not be a very smooth ride. Our fears were put to rest,as when we set out, it was a smooth ride. Even 'though it was windy, and rainy, the enclosed seating with lots of windows allowed us to see everything well. The tour guide was humorous and full of information about Seattle. We even saw some of the California Sea lions that made their way up here to feed on the abundant sealife We all thoroughly enjoyed this one hour ride.

Right nearby was the Seattle Aquarium which we decided to visit. It was filled with sealife from this area. Although we see many of the same animals at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, there was still entertaining to see the aquatic life. I still enjoy the otters the most and these little animals put on a show with many antics.

After the museum, it was time to find a place to eat. Many places were shut down, since this is considered off-season. But we found a fun seafood restaurant. Chris was adventurous enough to try one of the "feasts". They required 2 or more people to order this, so I joined him. They brought bibs, a butcher paper table cover and finally the large bucket of seafood: clams, mussels, shrimp, crab legs, baked potatoes, sausage, and corn on the cob was dumped right ON the table!!!. It was seafood heaven~ but still, we couldn't finish all what was in there. Afterward, we thought we would do a little souvineer shopping and were surprised to see the shops closed! 5:30 was a bit early to call it quits for the day, even in the off season, we thought. The bars, and restaurants were still going strong, so we made our way back to to home base.

So now we're relaxing in our hotel room, watching Ellory Queen DVDs. We love these guess-who-done-its! We enjoy these, although we never seem to solve it even though all the clues are shown to us.

First day in Seattle

2011-01-07T20:45:00.000-08:00

What a busy day. Can you say “tired feet”? After a day of walking, and walking, and walking to catch a 2 2 min. monorail, and walking to catch a 3 min. free bus ride, and walking to each of our destinations, we were all tired with aching feet by the end of the day. But we had new fun memories to think about while we massaged each other’s feet.

Our first daytime view of Seattle was of overcast skies and light rain. But just as we walked out of our front door, we saw that the Space Needle was peeking over the building in front of us. This built excitement as we were indeed in a new place - ready for us to explore!

It's always a challenge to figure out the best way to navigate a new city - especially using public transportation. We walked the 5-6 blocks to the entrance of the Monorail, and boarded it. We got some City Pass type of cards from Russ' parents for Christmas and the cost of riding the Monorail was included. How fun to use something for "free". This took us to the Westfield Mall, which is a beautiful big mall. I think it rivals Mall of America, only it doesn’t have an amusement park. Not only does it have just about every store you could think of, but many beautiful architectural structures where in there. Anyway, a quick walk through got us to the street to walk down to the Pike’s Place Market.

Pike's Place Market is known for it's fresh fish, fresh fruit, flowers, and other colorful venders. But the most famous thing it's known for is the "flying fish". One fish vender tosses the fish across the the aisle, above the customer/visitor's heads to another fish vender. We searched up and down the market and couldn't find it!!! Finally, we asked someone only to find out that they chose the off-season time to do their much needed reconstruction. So the section where they do it is closed until Feb. We won’t be staying her that long! Lol.

We visited the first Starbucks which started in 1970 right across the street from the market. Russ and I of course needed to get something although the boys weren’t in the mood for even chocolate milk. They say there is ususally a line going out the front door, but we were in the off season, so we were served right away. They too throw something in the air - the empty coffee cup from the one who takes our order, to the one who fills it. Maybe a gimmick to tie in with the flying fish? lol From there, we walked pass the iron pig statue, to the gumball alley. This reminds me of the one in San Luis Obisbo, where people have put their chewed gum on the wall. It is covered with these colorful wads of gum. EWWWW!

Next stop was the Klondike Gold Rush Museum. This was considered a national park, although it was really only a museum. They told the story through pictures, letters, and artifacts of how, a ship with 20 men came in to the Seattle Harbor, loaded with gold that was found in the Klondike area of Alaska. This prompted people to quit their job, and leave to seek their own fortune. Much like the California gold rush, most did not get rich, and those who sold supplies were the ones who fared the best. Seattle, however went from a small logging town, to a large city because it was a great place to land and take off from as the people sought the gold.

We only had to walk a few blocks to get to the next destination: The Safeco Center. I'm not a sports fan, but visiting the home of the Mariners was fascinting. We joined a tour of the stadium (also on the City Pass card) and saw the retractable roof, the press box, the private suites and the owner's suite. We also got to walk in the dugout and sit where Ithi usually sits. The tour guide told us of the little known facts about the stadium like the grass is actually on a layer of sand and is replaced when it gets old by a farm that they've commissioned to continually grow the Kentucky Blue grass seed that they use. There was also a pitching practice spot inside, behind the private suites for those VIPs who were nervous about throwing out the first pitch.

By the time we were done with this tour, we were soooo tired ... yet, we still needed to walk quite a distence to get to our transportaion connections. But first, we stopped to look at a totem pole in the midst of all the highrised buildings. It looked a little out of place, but again it was part of Washington's history. I read a story with my students about a totem pole that still stands in the capital, Olympia, today. I wonder what the story is behind this one?

3rd "P,T, & A" trip - destination; SEATTLE!

2011-01-05T14:57:00.000-08:00

Well, this is the second attempt to post here. :( ~ The first post was lost because the wifi on the train got lost.

I'm writing this from the train, The "Coast Starlight". Russ can tell you the correct way to pronounce that - with a breathy emphasis on "starlight". lol. We've been on this train for a short while last year as we traveled to Portland. But this time, we're seeing so much more of this route.

This trip is a leftover from our last summer's trip. There was one leg of our train travel that we didn't take, because we used a rental car instead. They offered us a refund, minus 20% or full refund in the form of a voucher. That was our choice so that brings us to this mini trip to Seattle.

It started back on Monday, when we drove down in a one-way rental car to Burbank. First stop was in Bakersfield for a quick hello and to get/give hugs to Russ' parents. Then, because it was almost dinner time, we went to Russ' favorite Mexican restaurant: La Tapitia. It's become our whole family's favorite Mexican restaurant too.

We were so glad to find out the "Grapevine" was open. Earlier in the day and the whole weekend before we left, it was closed due to snow. For those not from California, the Grapevine is the freeway drive over the mountains that separate the farmlands and oilfields from Southern California. So we made it to Burbank in decent timing.

Russ' brother's family lives in Burbank and they also live closer to the place we were going to catch the train. They graciously allowed us to stay the night even though they just started back to school and work. We have 3 weeks vacation for FUSD, which allows us to use this 3rd week for fun. We always love visiting with Don's family and although it was short, it was great to see them.

So at 12:15 we were able to hop on the train at Van Nuys, CA, and start our journey. We chose this location because one of the things that the Coast Starlight is known for, is, the ride along the Pacific Ocean Coast. Around Oahi is when the ocean side started to come into view, and then we had it until we reached Pismo Beach, where the train turned inward toward Paso Robles. You would think I've never seen the beach before with all the pictures I took of it.

We had dinner on the train, as all meals are included in the sleeping car packages. They are really delicious, not at all what I would have expected in such a small kitchen, AND on a swaying, moving, shaking and jerking platform. We were tired, so we had them make up our beds and turned in for the evening. Chris took the top bunk for me, and Jonathan took the top with Russ and each of us had our little dvd players to share a movie or dvd.

The next day, we woke up to find snow outside our window and minutes later, Mt. Shasta came into view. I had forgotten to charge my battery for the camera, so the only shots we got from this was from the flip camera.

From that point on, the scenery got whiter and whiter and by the time we got to Klammath Falls, it was on the trees, and the blanket of snow was over the whole landscape. It always seems so peaceful and calm and fresh and new when the newly fallen snow blankets the ground. Later, I found out that the snow didn't just fall last night, but it was so cold that the snow ices over and stays on the trees, lines, and of course,the ground. Russ commented that this is the way he likes to experience snow; "with a barrior between the snow and me, and me not having to drive through it." Having spent some of my life in snowy weather, now that I'm an adult, I'd have to agree with him. However I also like to visit the snow as long as I don't have to live there.

Now I'll try to post pictures with this ... the wifi comes in and out, but maybe, now that we reached Eugene, OR., we might have more consistant coverage!

We're Home but the Blog still needs updates!!! Part 2

2010-07-30T12:14:00.000-07:00

Just a quick overview, and more details later:

Sunday, July25, 2010
Left Washington DC, drove to New Jersey on the border of NY. Cheaper hotel and good connections to NYC was our destination. Stopped off at a place that was featured on the Travel Channel and "The best thing I ever ate" show. A place called "Chap's Pit Beef". Not the best thing we ever ate, but better than McDonald's.

Stopped off at Chocolate World at Hershey, Pennsylvania. Quick tour and a mini chocolate bar and a walk through the gift store and we were on our way again.

Monday, July 26th, 2010 New York City
We needed to return our second, smaller car to the airport and then navigate the subway systems to get to our first destination near NYC: Liberty Island. It's very time consuming and confusing!!! Of all the big cities and the subway/public transportation, NYC is the most frustrating. Sometimes a subway line goes one way, and than at a different time, the same line goes another way. Not easy for the visitor to navigate! Russ' brother, don is on staff with World Impact and Newark, the city in NJ is a World Impact city. so we were given a name of a friend of Don's who was willing to help us with any of the confusing navigating questions we had. As we called to find out the best way to get to the Statue of Liberty, he offered to take us to the ferry! Thank you, Frank!!! we appreciate you so much!

more on our impressions of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in a few days.

Tuesday, July 27th, New York City, day 2

We had tickets to the King Tut Exhibit near Times Square. Since we didn't need to be there until 11:30, and had gotten a relatively early start, we could walk the long way from the Penn Station. We saw/walked by Macy's, Empire State Building, Broadway, Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, and of course, all the neon lights of Times Square.

Afterward, we rode the subway and walked to Rockefeller Center, saw the huge Lego Store, a Toys R Us store with a large Ferris wheel in the midst of it, and finally the Nintendo World store that the boys were sooooo looking forward to. We ate at a NY pizza place - recommended as a genuine NY style pizza, although my memory of it is different, and enjoyed an Italian Ice from a street vendor.

The last thing we did was go to the World Trade Center. Ground Zero is now gone, as construction for the new buildings and the memorial has begun. They predict it will completed by September 11, 2011. There was however, across from a church, a storefront, turned memorial preview center that was open. This place captured all the memories and the emotions of that fateful day when Americans no longer looked at the world in the same way.

So like DC, there's always more to see, but we felt our visit to NY was complete. All the things we planned and then some was accomplished.

We're Home but the Blog still needs updates!!! Part 1

2010-07-30T10:12:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when exhaustion sets in, or the Internet connection is poor - I get waaaay behind in writing about our trip. But because it helps us to remember what we've done and it helps to give our friends an overview of our experiences, I'll try to catch up here. Pictures may take a few more days to upload as they're on my teeny tiny mini laptop and I'm writing now on our home computer.

Day two of three in DC Friday, July 23, 2010

This next day was another early day, as we needed to get in line to get tickets to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Where the money's made! They have a system, that at 8:00, am, in the morning, they start handing out free tickets (every government building is free, but they limit the visitors by giving tickets). Since we rarely get out of the hotel before 10:00, this was going to be quite an accomplishment for us to make it on time. We arrived there at 7:50 and saw a relatively short line! What a surprise. We heard the tickets are usually gone by 9:00. So we, and about 12 others waited until we saw a sign that stated that the booth to hand out tickets was on the other side of the building. This entrance was only for your appointed time!!! All of us rushed around and saw the 2 block long line! Ugh!!! The humidity was already increasing, and we went through all the bottles of water we had within a few minutes. But like everything else, we survived this too, and got tickets for the 1:00 tour. I wanted to see the Holocaust Museum, just to the right of the BofEand P. however, that too required a free ticket, and they weren't handing out the tickets until 10:00 when it opened. So another 45 minute wait. However, it was in the shade, with benches, so I waited while I sent Russ and the boys to the air conditioned cafe nearby. I had a great time visiting with a couple from Oregon, who were teachers. Then, Russ came to relieve me and I got a break too. It is advised that those 11 and older visit the exhibits of this museum and the younger ones visit only the visitor's center that doesn't require a ticket. Russ took Jonathan through that part while Chris and I went through the 3 floors of the museum. No cameras were allowed.
Each floor was dedicated to a component: The propaganda and building up to the deception of the general population. was on the top floor. Then the Horror of Holocaust; the murder of Jews, and others that Hitler considered undesirable was on the next floor. And the freeing of the imprisoned people and end of the war was on the last floor. There were models and artifacts of the various parts of the camps, but the most touching part was where room where the survivor's' recorded their stories, and memories about their experiences. I had to skip some parts - like the medical experiments and gratefully came to the floor where the survivors were freed. It was sad to see the piles of shoes, and canes and other personal things. We were each given a "passport" of a person who actually was sent to a camp with a story about them. Then we could look on the wall of the names of those who survived. Sadly neither mine nor Chris' person's name was on the wall. The last part had a wall dedicated to the people who hid or smuggled the Jews out of the areas that were attacked. Their stories, sometimes their pictures were there for us to read. It amazed me to see how much they risked to help their fellow man. Of course, those who were caught, never could tell their story as they too became a victim. I wondered, would I have been willing to put my family at risk by helping a stranger? I hope I would have helped. Somehow.

Since it took Chris and me about 1 1/2 hours to go through this museum, Russ took Jonathan to one of the Smithsonian museums. They went to the Museum of American History. We then joined them there after we were finished. We've been here last year, but each time, there's something new to see, as it would take a long time to see everything in the museum. This time, we saw the original American flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the song that would become our national anthem. The flag was missing 8 feet of it, as the people who thought it was important enough to save and preserved it for us, also allowed guests to cut off a small piece of it, until a third of the "broad stripes" were gone.

By this time, we were tired of walking, tired of the humidity and ready to relax. A quick subway ride back to our hotel (which really included a 20 min. walk to the "metro", a 15 ride, and another 20 min. walk) and then we made it home by early evening. Our hotel was right on the edge of George Washington University - which was a series of buildings along 4 blocks, mixed with other businesses. This made it easy to find some college hangout to get dinner - usually "Potbelly" sandwiches.

Day three of three in DC Saturday July 24th, 2010

From Boston to Washington DC, we saw huge groups of Boy Scouts, most of them in their uniforms, walking to all the tourist places that we also visited. There was a Jamboree celebrating 100 years of Boy Scouting that was to be held on July 26, with a parade the day before. The troops from all over came the week before so they could combine their celebration with visiting landmarks. So once again, we were behind the groups of scouts as we lined up (in the hot humid sun) to see the National Archives. There's just something .... almost emotional ... about seeing the Declaration of Independence, now faded because at first it was displayed outside the building for all to see, with the signatures of the men who set our country on the path to our dear USA. To see the constitution, that set up our government that we still have today, was also moving. Other documents; the Bill of Rights, the Emancipation Proclamation and a few others stirred up the feeling of patriotism as well.

From there, we went to another DDD place. Actually we returned to this place because on Thursday, we liked it so much that we couldn't think of a better place to go to lunch. The place is called "Tortilla Cafe" near Eastern Market, if any of you know DC. It's specialty is Mexican/Salvadorian food. this episode hasn't even aired on the show, although it was filmed back in May of this year. The owners daughter who was featured as the one who worked with Guy told us that it won't be on TV until January of 2011!!!!. We all had different things to eat the first time, but this time, we all had the papusas. These are homemade stuffed corn tortillas. They were DEEEElicious!!!!!

We went to one more Smithsonian museum; the air and space museum and then headed back to the hotel. However, that evening, we took a walk to the Lincoln Memorial, just a 20 min. walk from our hotel. It was beautiful at night. It's advertised to come here at night because it's cooler, and the crowds are thin. Neither of which was true this evening. But still we got some great views, and pictures and were satisfied that this trip to the nation's capital was complete. There's always more to see, but we felt finally, after two trips to DC (last year and this year) we've seen most of what we hoped to see.

Driving to DC and day One of Three in DC

2010-07-24T04:09:00.000-07:00

July 21st, 2010. Driving from Long Island, NY to DC

I see now why I gave up keeping a Journal. It"s quite a job to keep up with writing what we've done. But because I don't remember things as well as I used to, I'm glad to have something to look back to.

So now, we're in Washington DC on the start of our 3rd day, and this blog is about the trip down here!

We left with good timing, and I held my camera poised to see the sights along the way. Afterall, we'll be passing through NYC, and Brooklyn, and Queens and New Jersey eventually and bit of
Pennsylvania before we get to Delaware, Maryland and finally DC. I saw it was less than 45 miles to get to NYC. So I thought it would only take us a little more than a half hour to reach the city. Funny, as a kid, it always felt like a few hours! Well, even 'though we left well after commuter traffic, we still hit some traffic and it did indeed take more than an hour to get to and through NYC. We'll come back here on our way to the airport on our last 3 days.

Russ researched and found a place in Philidelphia, Pennsyvania to have a a real Philly Cheesesteak. The place was called Tony Luke's and we arrived around 2:30. It was surprising to us to still see a line outside this place. It was located practically under the freeway, and it was outdoor seating only. Pennsyvania was also as hot and humid and the rest of the East Coast, so it surprised me even more to see the people still lined up. They must agree that this was a good place to eat. I had the chicken cheese steak, and decided against the traditional CheezWhiz type of cheese and opted for Provolone instead. I just can't bring myself to eat that processessed stuff! The rest of our family felt the same although they had the beef Cheesesteak. It was good, nice to be able to say we had an authentic Cheesesteak, but we actually enjoy tritip sandwiches from the westcoast better!

We didn't have nearly as much traffic as we thought and came into Washington DC without a problem. Last year, we stayed near the Dullas Airport in Virginia, and had a long commute everyday into the city. This year, for only a few more $ and no hotel breakfast we stayed in a hotel just within walking distence of the Lincoln Memorial. Before we could do any exploring, it was time to give up our car and once again rely on public transportation. It was fun having the Buick Enclave, but buses and light rail trains (they call it the Metro here) is always an adventure. We took the car to the Ronald Reagan Airport and rode the Metro "home".

July 22nd, 2010
We woke up early because we were going to meet with George Radonovich or rather one of his staff members. If you write to your congressman, you can get scheduled for a tour of the Capital building and other places in DC. If you write far enough in advance, you can even get a White house tour. We didn't time it right, so we needed to do some of the other places on our own. We got a bit of a late start, and when we got to the Capital building, there was a long security line in front. There are medal detectors and security screening in every government building now. So we thought we'd be late for our personal tour. LOL, we were not as important as we thought we were. We just got in the line for the general public tour. The letter we were sent was just a guarentee to get in, nothing more. The tour was brief but interesting. There were statues of famous Americans everywhere. Every state needed to contribute 2 statues to represent their state. California had Fr Junipero Serra, the priest who founded the 21 missions in California, and Ronald Reagan, our former governor, and 40th president of USA.

From the Capital building, we took the underground tunnel to the Library of Congress. My dream had been to see this Library of Congress since I was in the 5th grade. Somehow, I got the idea that every book that ever was published in the USA would be here. I thought that even visitors could request books to look at and read while there. I thought it would be rows and rows and warehouses of books as far as the eye could see. I thought one could never check out any books but rather read them there. Well only one of my myths was accurate. It's true that you can't check out any books. They must all stay here and research is done on wonderful old desks.
Also, any person who has a LOC library card, could do research. There is an application process to get a card, and then the research is only done in one main room. Sometimes a book you request is in a warehouse in Virginia and it would take a while to arrive! So when the tour took us to the place where people receive their requested books, it was closed to visitors but we were able to view the room through a window from a room above. No pictures were allowed in this area as this could disturb those doing research. Not every book that ever was published in USA is there, however, they all get LOC numbers. Sometimes the author donates the books, but if not, it's not there! They never buy books for the Library, not after they bought the Thomas Jefferson collection. All are donated. And not all are accepted since space is limited. Now I understand why presidents have such large libraries, and why they don't just donate the books to the Library of Congress. They simply don't have enough space for all of the books! That's why they open their own libraries in various parts of the country.

pictures to follow later...

Take Me Home, Country Roads....

2010-07-22T04:26:00.000-07:00

OK, so it isn't home anymore, and it isn't in the country, nor even roads , rather, it was to the place I lived until I was 12, and it was thoroughfares and expressways, and toll roads, and causeways (I haven't figured out the differences between those and highways, except on the toll roads, you're paying for the privilege to use them!)

We left Massachusetts around 11, an hour after we wanted to leave, but that seems to be part of the vacation mode. Each time we cross a state, I try to get the picture of the state welcome sign. So we drove through Rhode Island (poor little state, it only took a half hour to make it through the middle), through Conneticut, and finally NY. On our way, we stopped off at another DDD in Conneticut. "Valencia Luncheria" featuring Valensuelian food. It was another "dive" that had very good food, even Cuban style food. However when we compared to the the other places we've been to, particularly the one that had Cuban food, it was simply OK.
Valencia - "Valenzuelan Beach Food"
My excitment to see my old neighborhood waned a bit as we got closer, and had to inch along the freeways. By this time, it was about 5:30, some rush hour traffic, but I think it was the small accident, merging traffic and construction that slowed down the traffic.

The GPS took us in a different way, so I wasn't familiar with the neighborhood until I got right upon the street. And then, had I not seen the street sign, I think I would have driven right by. The trees that lined the street were either gone or much bigger. Our house was now a beautiful 2 story house not the humble little boxey one from before. As I walked along the street, with my precious husband and darling boys just waiting patiently in the car, some of the memories started to come back to me.

My old house, now remodeled to a 2 story home. Our neighbors, The "Days". Our house's model was similar to this.

My sisters think this was brave of me, but I couldn't come this far and not do it. I started knocking on doors. First of course, on 41 Anchor Court. The man who answered, Joe, was very nice and after hearing why I was there and wanting to take pictures of the outside, invited me in to take ALL the pictures I wanted. But I had camera problems. I brought 2 cameras with me: one that got water on it, and was dead (but came back to life after a hair dryer and shake operation later), the other two were quickly running out of battery life. But still I was able to get some to share with my family later. I also knocked on the door of the homes of friends, and sadly, no one was home.
The bus stop where we caught the bus to school

From there, we drove to a pond, that was called Argyle Lake. Our family called it "The Ducks" because of the many ducks that were there and we used to feed them our dried and stale bread. Now there was a sign asking people to NOT feed the ducks. Too bad. Some kids are missing out on memories they could make.
I can remember going there after church on Sundays or on Saturdays. My dad loved to take pictures of us. He would find some poses in the magazines that he thought were interesting, and then have us stand in same positions and play photographer. My sons were good sports and let me pose them by some of the trees to carry on his legacy. Jonathan even hammed itup a bit and added some crazy poses. I love my family.

You can click on the pictures to super size them ..

Since I read how my old elementary school had burned down last February, and nothing else looked familiar, it was time to move on.

Historical places

2010-07-20T04:58:00.000-07:00

We finished two days of living some amazing history lessons. We made the 3-4 hour trip from Springfield, MA to Braintree, MA (a smaller town outside of Boston) on Sat. evening. That night was a rest and get caught up with laundry evening.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

On Sunday morning, after our Bible time together, we drove the 20 minutes to Plimoth Plantation in the town of Plymouth. This place was set up on the original spot where the Pilgrims first established their town, and started to live. They have a living history outdoor museum here, with people in character - various real people who lived back in the 1600's. They spoke in the style of our early settlers, and answered our questions as if they were still living then. We were first shown a short movie, that helped us to get into the time, and taught us how to ask the right kind of questions. There was also a group of Wampanaug Indians there, and although not all of

the people that portrayed them were Wampanaug, they were all Native Americans. They, however didn't have to speak the language of the Indians, nor remain in character.

Just a few days ago, we had listened to the radio drama "The Legend of Squanto" produced by Focus on the Family. It tied in perfectly with what we were experiencing here. (by the way, we highly recommend the Focus on the Family radio drama CDs - especially if you have a lot of driving to do. However, it would be a great altermative to TV too. We all talk about "watching" them as we listen. These are VERY well done! From the "Chronicles of Narnia", to "Les Miserables", there are so many to choose from. I'll be glad to lend some to you!)

We thought we entered the villiage from the back of it, but this may have been the main enterance, as we walked along the river rom the Indian villiage to get here.

These people take on the full character of the person they're portaying. This woman (forgot her name was neighbors with Miles Standish, and she had lots to say. I think they are so informed about what went on in those days, that they want to share their knowledge. Her style of speech was interesting too - saying "o-see-in" for Ocean (o-shin) was one word we remembered.
Scenes from Plimoth Plantation. See my facebook album for more as there was so much to see here!

After we walked all around this Pilgrim villiage, we drove to the main town of Plymouth to see the Mayflower II. This was built in England and shipped out here and now stand in the bay, not far from Plymouth rock. It was built to look like the original, and now being quite a few decades old, it had the feel of being an older vessel. I'm amazed that up to 70 people could actually survive the 2 month journey on this small ship.

Plymouth Rock. When it was first on display, they kept a chisel and hammer nearby so people could chip away a souvenir!!! So consequently, it's now a third of the size that it should be. The rock is now actually out of reach, but within view for visiters.

Monday, July 19, 2o1o

On Monday, we set off for the "Freedom Trail". This is a walking tour of Boston that allows you to see and visit places where history took place. The events that brought us to the American Revolution, the Tea Party (the first one! lol) and other significant places that formed our great nation to what it is today. Of course, you could sign up for a tour, that would take you around at their pace, and in a group so large that you're fighting to hear and keep up. Or you can buy a small book, and use it to find the significant places, and read about it as you're going along. Guess which one we did? There was also either a red brick path or a red line painted on the sidewalks so you could follow it even if you didn't have the booklet. We saw Boston Common (America's oldest public park), The Granary Burying Ground (where Paul Revere, Ben Franklin's parents, John Hancock, and Samuel Adams as well as 2,341 others are buried.), The Old South Meeting House, (where the men planned the Boston Tea Party), The Boston Massacre Site, Paul Rever's House, And the Old North Church, the oldest standing church building in Boston.

Basketball Hall of Fame

2010-07-19T18:33:00.000-07:00

Saturday, July 17 Our visit to The Basketball Hall of Fame

Part of the UCLA display case

Magic Johnson's stuff

Russ enjoying the UCLA display case

Russ' turn to write about this day...

I was excited be able to take the family to visit the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. It was a lot of fun to to see the tributes to some of the heroes of my youth and to educate the boys about some of the greatest players in the history of the game. I was especially glad to see the display that they had featuring UCLA and it's legendary coach, John Wooden. This was especially poignant due to Coach Wooden's recent passing. I also enjoyed seeing the tributes to many of my all time favorite NBA players such as: Pete Maravich, Magic Johnson, and Kareem Abdul Jabaar.
Michael Jordan's shoe and signed basketball

The tallest and shortest players. Both of our young boys are not too far off!

John Wooden as a basketball player

John Wooden as a coach. He was the only one to be inducted into the Hall of fame as both a player and a coach

Every Inductee had their picture posted with the lighted background, and some had a short paragraph written about him

It gave us "vertigo" to look up as we walked along this walkway 3 floors up!

The sign above the entrance.

A newly built Basketball Hall of Fame building. It really did honor these athletes.

Niagara Falls!!!!

2010-07-17T16:07:00.000-07:00

Jonathan took this one because he wanted to show how it just went over the edge sharply

"Maid of the Mist" boat cruise. People all wore blue rain parkas, but still came out drenched.

the horseshoe shape of Niagara

this rainbow can be seen at the base of the falls

The rapids leading up to the falls ... moving very fast

Thursday, July 15th, 2010
This is one of the destinations that I was most looking forward to. Niagara Falls!!!! We knew we were just a few miles away, so there was no hurry. However, this was the most humid day we’ve experienced thus far. It reminded me of the summers I experienced as a child. The temperature only hit the low 90’s, but the moisture was high! Apparently, this is not typical - more like a heat wave. We’re praying that this will break before we get to other parts of the East Coast! If not, than we just deal with it as the locals do.

Awesome, Breathtaking, Overwhelming,, Powerful, Non ending are all words we used to describe the falls. We had learned just a day earlier to be prepared not see the famous view - the horseshoe view of the falls, as that’s from the Canadian side. But it was still full of powerful and awe inspiring views that we did have. Jonathan took far better pictures than I did, so his are the ones that will be posted here. If any of you are planning a trip up here, a word of advice: follow the signs for the state park (it’ll be to the LEFT). There are many people flagging you down to park by their souvenier shops, and in all the flashing lights and waving flags it’s hard to tell what’s “official” and what’s people trying to get your money. If you park at the state park parking lot, it will cost the same, but you have in and out privileges, as well as you can drive to other parts of the park and park in the other lots. Plus your money goes to the state rather than opportunistic individuals. Lesson learned. However, the walk/hike along the Niagara river - with rapids, the bridge, and from one fall to the other made us feel as if we accomplished something bigger than if we simply drove to each part.

We were tired by the end of the afternoon/early evening, but on the way back to the hotel, there was a DDD right in our route! This one is called "Pizza Junction". The pizza took a while to cook, and when it came we knew why. It wasn't deep dish, closer to a pan crust. We ordered 2 small pizzas - one beef and cheese pizza and the other pulled pork pizza. Mmm-mmm-mmm!

Buffalo wings in Buffalo, NY, what can be more appropriate?

Yes, Guy was here too.

Change in plans, but all good

2010-07-17T15:43:00.000-07:00

Weiner Schnitzel!

The Polka style band

Day 12,

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Last Sunday, we decided that we would cancel our train trip portion from Chicago to Buffalo, NY. Originally, we were going to drive back to Chicago from Detroit area (about 6 + hours due to all the summer construction and road repair). Had we gone back to Chicago, the train we would have taken would have just traveled at night - in essence a hotel that moves. Because we cancelled in less than 7 days from the time of travel, we got Amtrak voucher credit. I guess this means we’re taking another trip sometime. We were told we needed to use it up in one year. Chris is interested in a trip to Seattle … hmm, maybe our train trips are not over yet. Jonathan was the most disappointed, as he loves the train, especially sleeping on the train. However, it didn’t make sense to drive back, when in the same amount of driving time, we would be at Buffalo.

There was another draw for us to drive. We would be passing by a DDD restaurant in Ohio. It was “Sterle’s Slovenian Country House”. This was run by a German woman (and her husband) who came from Nurnberg, a city close to Ingolstadt, where my grandparents lived. When we came to the restaurant, it was hopping, literally. A group of musicians who will be playing in a festival in town were there and on a spur of the moment, played their “Oompah” style music. I enjoyed it, and there were many people milling around, even swaying or should I say bouncing as they listened. The owner who was featured on the DDD was too busy to talk when we arrived but she greeted us and sat us at the table. All the specials were gone (no cabbage rolls for me, nor liver and onions) but we each found something we liked; Russ and Jonathan got Weiner schnitzel, I got a chicken smothered in wine sauce, and Chris got sausage and saurkraut. The side dish was mashed potatoes, but German style has big chunks of potatoes, with herbs and spices that make it “ausgezeichnet!” As we ate, the restaurant emptied out. It closes at 2:30, and we got there around 1:30, so it wasn‘t just us! We enjoyed our dinner now in a very quiet restaurant and as we got our check, I asked our waitress, Veronica about this restaurant and about her beautiful accent. Then she told us her story, and I think this was one of those God encounters. She and her husband came from Slovakia about 16 years ago and just 2 months prior, he died. She expressed feeling “lost” not sure what to do now. She plans to go back to Slovakia to bury her husband, but doesn’t think she’ll stay. Her job is here, as is her home, but her support - her family, are all back in the old country. We listened, and empathized and then I told her I would pray for her. She seemed so grateful to have that prayer. I would have prayed right then, but she looked like her tears were just behind the words. How I wish I could have done more, but that night, when we had our family prayer, led by Chris that day, in our hotel room, he remembered her in our petitions. As we paid the check at the register, I spoke to the owner, named Margot, in German, she was pleasantly surprised to know I spoke German and responded of course in German. I found out, she too lost her husband - 8 months ago, but it still felt as fresh as if it happened last week. They worked together and rested together, and did everything together, she wondered how can she even think of doing anything alone. She still catches herself making plans for the two of them. I couldn’t imagine this kind of loss. And my mom had to experience it twice. So Margot is added to our prayer list as well. To see the menu or info click here http://www.sterlescountryhouse.com/

Diners, Drive-Ins and Drives

2010-07-15T04:18:00.000-07:00

OK, once again, we got a few days behind! When you're vacationing, time passes differently. Although I don't leave all my concerns behind, I find this a very carefree lifestyle - with the only pressure is to make it to the breakfast room of the hotel in time for the free breakfast, or to get to the tourist spot with the most adventageous time strategy.

Monday, July 12, 2010 Henry Ford Museum
Russ woke up feeling a bit under-the-weather ("ill "for my French friends) so we didn't really get out of the hotel until after 12:00. We got some starkly discounted vouchers from the hotel for the 2 attractions we came here for: Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Villiage". So, bing advised that we could see the Museum in around 3 hours, and it was all indoors, we chose that to go to today.

I had expected to see a warehouse style museum with mainly cars - through the ages in this museum. Wow, what we got was so much more! There were some cars ... but I think that museum was at the Ford Rouge Factory Tour ... but there were collections of American Life here. I learned that Henry Ford liked to collect items, furniture, cars, and memorabilia that belonged to famous Americans. Those who were part of our history, and those who impacted our lives today.

So among the highlights for us were; the Weinermobile, Abraham Lincoln's rocking chair in which he was shot as he watched the play at Ford's Theatre, Reagan's Presidental Car, Eisenhower's Presidental Car, and THE bus that Rosa Parks sat on before she got arrested.. There were long showcases of memorablia that showed items from the ages - it was fun to see the items that we, the adults had. Pong anyone? 45's, record player in a box, Simon, the first personal computers and chairs that I had in school. The boys even enjoyed seeing things from their childhood, which started 10 years ago! Among them; a Gameboy and games.
There was a 50's livingroom playing "War of the Worlds" on the radio, and small theatres playing films/movies from the various eras.

The museum closes at 5:30, but we found that we still could have used more time to view every thing. We missed some important items like Mark Twain's desk, and . Perhaps the next time we come here?

I can only load up a few pictures here, so the rest will be on my facebook photos.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010 Greenfield Villiage
We heard that we should give ourselves a lot of time to walk around Greenfield Villiage as it is full of remarkable buildings. Not only did Henry Ford collect items that belonged to famous people, but also homes, and factories, and inns, and other buildings! He would have them, the actual building transported to this place to make as a museum. Although Henry Ford died in 1948, he thought ahead to leave this museum for future generations to learn about and to have to enjoy. so with that said, we was house that belonged to Ford himself, to Thomas Edison, to Daniel Webster (the dictionary guy), a farm that belonged to Harvey S. Firestone (the tire guy), and plantation owners homes, as well as slave cabins. (Just a side note - Firestone, Edison, and Ford were friends. I can see that their friendship works together with their invention) This place is considered living history, which means that the people in period costumes live the way they did back in that time. There were people cooking in the homes, and eating what they cooked. They farmed the way they farmed before all the machinery, and the vehicles were running all around these towns as they did in those days. We opted to walk all around, rather than ride one of the old time vehicles since the cost was a bit steep for us, but it did add to the ambiance of the place.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010, evening Ford Drive-in Theatre

Russ discovered that the drive-in theater here, which boasts as the largest in the world, was playing the movie the boys wanted to see, "Despicable Me". So we thought it would be fun to take them to their first drive in experience. I thought this was a dying thing - drive ins, but apparently, they're still alive and well, just not as plentiful. At this place, each movie was a double feature. And because we're so far north, it doesn't get dark until 9:3o, which is when the movie started. When we arrived at 9:00, we found our lot quite empty, but it filled up to about 1/3 full about the time the movie got going. Because the "bumps" that I normally would expect to find here, that tilts your car upward were worn down, we tried to find the best way for all of us to see the screen. What worked best was for the boys to sit up front, and Russ and me to sit in the back seat, so we can see over the head rests. It was fine with us, as we could hold hands and cuddle a bit more! The best coming attraction was the REAL fireflies that went by just as the movie was starting. I remember these from my childhood in NY, and how we would catch them in jars thinking we came up with the idea of a lantern. Unfortunely we had no jar, and there wasn't a sky full of them.

Traveling Days and sight-seeing by car ....

2010-07-12T15:38:00.000-07:00

Day 8 and 9 (Saturday, July 10 and Sunday, July 11)
Both of these days were spent on the road for the most part. On Saturday, we drove from Minnesota to Chicago Illinois. I am so glad for the GPS we brought with us. Yet even with that, I still needed to be the navigator, as "Madge" doesn't always speak clearly. And she may say "right" when she shows and means "left".

Along the way, we found a "Cracker Barrel" restaurant. My brother-in-law's family love this restaurant and have been known to drive 3+ hours just to go to one. We're not as crazy about it, but do enjoy it. (think Carrows, Denny's with a country/home cooking feel to it). When we found our first one around dinner time, we decided to go, and enjoy a meal. When we got to our hotel, Russ had told us of the McDonald's that was the first Drive-in for them and that it was located right there in the town of Mt. Prospect, IL. So we went to it to get a snack size McFlurry. The original drive in is now a museum, and it was closed, but they turned on the lights, just as we drove up, so I could get some good pictures. Right across the street, was a modern day McDonalds, which also had museum items inside - pictures and items from that first fast food restaurant. I'm having trouble loading up pictures to this blog, so I'm not sure if I can show you all those fun items....

We stayed overnight, just outside of Chicago, and went to a DDD restaurant called "Smoque". It too was a BBQ place. It reminded me of the style of "Main Street Grill" in Cambria. The menu was on a large blackboard and you order what you want, THEN the helpers found a place for you to sit. We timed it again very well, as after we got there (around 11:30) the line to order food went to the door. The reviews say that they often go out the door and up the block. The reviews also say that parking is a problem, as it's on the edge of a residential area and advise us to take the "Blue line" light rail. We went to the O'hare airport by shuttle from our hotel, and made it to the stop we needed with relatively no problems. When we got off on the platform, we were a bit shocked to find ourselves on a narrow walkway and not sure how to get off! We walked in one direction, and eventually found a staircase to go down. All the while, the traffic on the expressway (?) was zooming by on both sides of the elevated track. It was a bit unnerving to say the least. So on the ground, one wrong direction was quickly corrected as we found the numbers n houses and businesses going in the opposite direction than what we wanted. So confident that we were now heading in the right direction, we walked the "9 minutes" that one review said. We got to the number we needed, and although we smelled some good BBQ food, we couldn't find it! That's one of the things that DDD is known for, plucking out an establishment out of obscurity that only the locals know about. Finally, we found it, and gave it 2 thumbs up! The boys even put it at the top of our DDD favorites.

We did our trip back to the hotel in reverse order and left with our rented car toward Michigan. One thing we didn't count on was all the road construction going on. Russ figured with the winter months and so much snow, construction is probably limited to the warm months and we were there at the height of this time. So this trip, which should have taken about 5 hours took about 7 hours. I took many pictures out the window of the car - the landscape was similar yet a bit different as we drove through Indiana and into Michigan. Each time we go into a different state, and think there's not much to see here, we find out we err. A stop in Michigan's welcome center near the border made me wish we had more time to spend here. There's a Bavarian village 2-3 hours north of where we're staying that has the sights, sounds, and food of Germany. My grandmother lived in Bavaria and it would have been a bit nostalgic to walk around there. So our list of traveling destinations only grow, not shrink when we travel! At the end of this long day, we were so grateful to finally come to our hotel to rest for the night! I am so appreciative to Russ, as he is an excellent driver through all the long stretches and the hectic traffic!

Catch up post.

2010-07-11T06:34:00.000-07:00

Inside the chapel .. Is that Reverend Alden? No ... Reverend ALLSMAN

Chris "sings" while Jonathan plays the piano - it really worked!

Russ is back to teaching - 1800's style - keep watching this blog as we'll have him teaching in a 1950's classroom as well!

The sod house

A Tammy doll (in red and white) and the Chatty Cathy (in blue) What fun I had playing with those dolls!

We arrived by covered wagon!

Day 6~
This post was for the first day we got to Minnesota - on July 8th. We arrived in St. Paul at 7:00 a.m. and got our rental car at the station. Because our luggage didn't fit into the "full size" car, they upgraded us for a fraction of the regular cost to a Buick Enclave - a SUV crossover and so roomy! We really like this car and may consider it when it's time to buy a new one!

We went to The Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in Walnut Grove, Minnesota. Russ planned this 150 mile "side trip" just for me. Although Jonathan watched some of the TV episodes of "Little House on the Prairie"on DVD with me, neither he nor Chris were big fans. I felt very loved that my family was willing to go there with me.

The excitement for me started building as we traveled on the "Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Highway". Then I started to see signs for towns that I heard of on the series: Mankato, Sleepy Eye ..." only to find out they weren't from the books, but rather from the show only. The writers must have looked on the map to find some interesting sounding towns nearby!

The museum was a tribute to the the Ingalls family, and told of their history, leading up to Laura's daughter's life (Rose was quite a prolific writer as well!) It had a room devoted to the TV series, with stories and news of the actors. There were also many items from the 1800's, the time Laura lived. We missed the pageant by one day (to my sons' delight), but the crowds were thin and that was more what we liked anyway. All the buildings were made for the museum to show what it was like in those days. This would have had more of a "wow factor" had this been the first time we've seen this kind of a museum. But it was fun to see a sod house, and the old doll collection (some of my first dolls were in the collection; a Tammy doll and a Chatty Cathy!) Doesn't that date me!!?
When we left this place, we asked for a recommendation of a place to eat. There were only 2 choices: Walnut Grove Bar and Grill, or Nellie'sCafe. We chose Nellie's. They had pictures of the actress, Nellie, from the show, and a signed photo of when she stopped by. Nothing on the menu was out of the ordinary, but locals seemed to stream in and out regularly.

Once again, I've run out of time to write and upload pictures! more at the next stop - in Dearborn, in the Detroit area in Michigan.

FYI .... these pictures are loading up very slowiy so I'm going to limit how many I can load up. But I'll also load up some to my facebook page, so you can see more. Also, on this blog, the first picture I load is the one at the bottom, and each subsequent one loads on top, with the last one on top.

A Really Great Day

2010-07-10T19:47:00.000-07:00

Our first glimpse of the Mall of America

A store with no walls - just stucture and glass bricks!

Close up of the shark as it passed over us!

Victor's 1959 Cafe. "revolutionary Cuban cooking"

Can you see where we added our signature to the wall?

People wrote all over the walls, seats, ceiling and window sills.

Day7
(this is Jonathan now)
We started off the day at 11:30 going to Victor's 1959 Cafe, an obscure little green building tucked into a regular neighborhood. The first thing we saw when we walked in was all the writing on the walls and ceiling done by people from everywhere.
We picked this restaurant because it was featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on the food network. It had really good authentic Cuban food. I had Lime garlic marinated steak with grilled onions. There was a mound of rice covered with black beans. It was served with fried plantins which tasted like sweet potatoes. Dad had a Cuban steqk sandwich. The steak was marinated in Mojo sauce which was garlic and lime. Chris had a Cuban sandwich. It was pressed with pulled pork, ham, swiss cheese, pickles and mustard. Mom had a chicken sandwich with mango salsa.

Next we went to the Mall of America . When we went there, the outside parking was completely full so we went to a parking garage. Our parking section was called Maine and it had a lobster on the sign. There were 2 giant lego bricks outside the mall. The mall was very different than all the others because 1) it's the biggest mall in America, 2) it had an aquarium in it and 3) it had a Nickolodean Amusement Park in the middle. Plus there were a bunch of shops.
The first thing we did was o to the Lego shop. The Lego shop was really cool because the lego architecture was two stories high. It had a whole bunch of cool Legos. Then we went to get a cinnamon pretzel from our favorite pretzel place, Auntie Ann's.

After we ate our pretzel, we went down to the aquarium. We walked through the aquarium. It was really cool because you walked through a glass tunnel and there were fish, sharks, rays, and sea turtule swimming above and beside us.
After that we saw glass columns filled with jelly fish. I thought it was so facinating because they didn't have any brains, hearts, or blood, but did something interesting. There were lights in the column and when the lights changed the jelly fish changed to that color.

After the aquarium, we finished our visit by going to the "Mall of America"
store and got a magnet to remember this by.

Then for dinner we drove over to Donatelli's, an Italian restaurant. That was also featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. I got some really good Lasagna. Chris got Gnocchi, Dad got the special pasta with meatballs. Mom got ravioli. All of our dishes were covered with their signature red sauce and a mountain of melted cheese. Chris said his gnocchi was "Off da Hook".

Finally after a long day we went back to the hotel to rest.

Howdy Podna!

2010-07-09T07:43:00.000-07:00

The ice skating rink in the center of the shopping mall. I think they may have taken a tip from the Mall of America?!

It was empty around 11:30, within 45 minutes, every table was filled with some out on the patio. On the walls were signs of other pit BBQ places across the country. Not much on ambiance, but big on taste!

Podna's

Walking up to "Podna's Pit BBQ"

This picture is for Tess, who recommended this as a Portland destination. We saw it as the bus passed by! Is that close enough?

Days 4 & 5

(This first part is more for our records and memory of what we want to remember from our travels. You may find it a bit mundane so feel free to skip down to the part that starts with what we actually did)
We survived the 2 night, 3 day train ride .... Leaving Portland, Oregon on time, and crossing Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota and arriving in Minneopolis/St. Paul, Minnesota ON TIME! Amazing for Amtrak and for our previous experiences.
It actually was not just "survival", but rather another enjoyable (most of the time) adventure. We left Portland at 4:45 so came in time for dinner. However, this was a small train - 5 cars long, and we were to meet the Seattle train in Spokane at midnight. Then we would have over 12 cars including the dining car. Since meals are included in the price of the sleeping cars,they gave us "box lunches" for dinner. A choice of shrimp cocktail type fixing, chicken mixed with corn, and roast beef rolled with bread and dessert. We all chose the roast beef. It was good, but because there wasn't much train to explore, we went to bed early. We brought dvd players and like watching "Get Smart" dvds.
One thing that was a bit disappointing, was that we couldn't get the door to our adjoining rooms open. They didn't have the key. Mary, our room attendent was only on her 2nd train trip ever, and didn't know much about where to find things. We called customer service and they offered little help. So we found ourselves running back and forth through the hallway, reminding me of dorm room style shinanigans. Had we known morse code, we could have communicated just fine! LOL Even our cell phones had no signal in the mountains and vastness of Montana!

What we did on days 4 & 5 ....
On July 6th, our 4th day on our trip, we took the bus (very good and reliable bus service in Portland) to a DDD (Diners, Drive-ins and Dives - a food network show) restaurant. This was called "Podnah's Pit BBQ" It specialized in BBQ items. It was just a little obscure place inbetween a for sale building and something else. We would have missed it altogether had we not had an address. Jonathan tried the BBQ trout, as was featured on the show. Although it came with head and tail on it, he really enjoyed this. I got pulled pork sandwich and the others got ribs and brisket. The sides of black eye peas, cole slaw, and cornbread and potato salad were sooooooo yummy! They made it vinegar based rather that mayo based and with a few other spices as well. mmm mmm mmm. We got there as it opened and there was only one other person who left shortly after we got there. We felt a bit bad for the place, as the food was REALLY good. It quickly became our favorite DDD place. We talked with the waiter about the visit from Guy, the host on DDD. They come in on 2-3 different days to film it all. A day behind in the kitchen and then with customers. As we left, the place got packed, every table taken and the outside ones filling up as well. Pictures to be posted soon.

After this, we rode the bus again, and stopped at a Mac store to get a power cord for Russ' Ipod, and to go to a mall. We walked around just to see what was there. In the midst of this mall was an ice skating rink. Fun to watch people taking lessons or just trying to skate.

So our journey began on the long train trip. We awoke in Montana, totally missing the trip through Washington and Idaho. In no time at all, we were in Glacier National Park. SO beautiful. I'll post some of the pictures of this place as well.

Blessing others
This was one of the focuses of our trip (besides family togetherness, adventure and to see the USA) and I don't see the opportunities that I imagined we would have. However, we keep an open heart and mind to what the Lord may bring our way. We have encouraged people along the way with words of appreciation, with tips, with giving up our seat so some could sit together, or finding a magazine that one was looking for. I've met interesting people in the Observation Car - and in the dining car. Elizabeth, from Switzerland who is traveling and meeting friends by herself and was still struggling with her English. I loved that I could speak a little German with her. She was the one who wanted a hard to find Amtrak magazine with the map of routes in USA. I also met a newlywed, Penny, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a town we used to shop in when I lived in Manchester, IA. There was a man, Joe, who's lap I landed in when we were on the MAX, a light rail in Portland. After I apologized, I learned of his story, that just 1 week prviously, a very large man fell into him also, Only that other man broke his glasses which in turn scratch his eye! Since Joe was already unemployed, and had to fund the doctor's visit and the replacement glasses by himself. He wasn't bitter, just discouraged. So I prayed for him and told him I would continue to do so. He seemed very grateful for that! If you think of him, please pray for him as well.

Time to leave for the day ... Jonathan hopes to write about the MALL of AMERICA and the other DDD that we'll visit today!

On the Oregon Trail

2010-07-05T18:28:00.000-07:00

The bus stop for the "OMSI" was at the top of a bridge, with trains noisily going by nearby, and traffic that gave the feel of an earthquake as it passed. This was NOT our favorite hike!In front of the "OMSI" (see text below)

The OMSI.

Can you recognize any of these things? It listed the things that one would recognize from X number of years ago. It was easy to recognize things up to 45 years ago, but I had never seen ration stamps or a button holer (60 years ago)before! more pictures will be listed on facebook.
After a long search, and passing it by twice (!) on the street, we finally found the restaurant "Blue Plate Lunch Counter"
We shared 2 orders of the same meal. At this restaurant, there are 2 daily specials, and about 5 other things on the menu. Not a big selection, but VERY good! Of course, there's a whole menu of sodas, shakes, and ice cream choices. Mmmm-mmmm - this Chicken parmisan sandwich was soooo good!

Walking to Powell's Books The books were stacked wall to wall and ceiling to floor. And also divided by category into different rooms - each room a store into itself! We loved the "used book" prices the best!

At many of the bus stops, they had a screen (computerized) that would let you know in how many minutes the various busses would arrive. They had a good and dependable bus system.

Day 3

So, this is our first "real day" and this time I (Chris) will be writing the blog. We got into Portland without too much trouble, although it was late and we were extremely tired. Of course, in the morning we ate breakfast, woke up, etc. etc. Our first destination was Powell's City of Books. On the way there we found out about the .... colorful city of Portland. It was like heaven on Earth for a bookworm like me. I can't say how big it was, because we didn't even get close to seeing all of it in the 2+ hours we were there. After getting loaded down with books, we headed to the Blueplate Lunch Counter and Soda fountain. It is well hidden, I guess they really want you to work for your meal! We passed it by on the street 2 times before finding them, and we were right across the street from them when we called them to ask for directions!

It was well worth it when we got there, though. We all got the "Chicken Parm" sandwiches (we split 2 of them.) It was really good, and was really messy and saucealicious. They also came with cheesey, creamy, amazing mashed potatoes. After we filled ourselves up we got dessert. Russ (Dad) and Jonathan got peanut butter chocolate milkshakes which were really good (in the top three) and I got a strawberry soda float. The soda was homemade and tasted really good.

Our final stop was the OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry). It was full of cool exhibits about physics, life science, and geology. I liked it because of the interactive exhibits instead of just statues. We spent some time there shooting a cannon made out of a drum, making sparks, surfing the web with an over sized mouse, and experiencing pregnancy! Sounds weird, but it was fun. After that, we took a bus home and have been relaxing. That's pretty much it, so I guess I will end this post here.

Pardon me, Boy, is that the time to catch the Choo Choo?

2010-07-04T15:55:00.000-07:00

Mt. Shasta, as we drove right by it! Normally, if the train had been on time, we would have passed by this at night, but because of the delay, we were able to see it very clearly! There's alway a silver lining!

The little theater in the train, "Coastal Starlight"

"Hello" to our wonderful Salem relatives. Wish we could meet up but we'll make it a focus next time!

Our little compartment "room-ette" It gave the privacy that Russ and the boys like and the comfort that we ALL like!

Day 1 and 2
So our journey has begun! My sister, Tess took time out of her busy Saturday and drove us to the train station. Thanks, Tess!!! We appreciate you soooo much!

The train (40 minutes late) took us to Martinez where we were supposed to have just under a 2 hour wait. So we thought our wait would be shorter … wrong! Apparently, the train to which we were to transfer, had a problem. In Oakland, a private train car (more on this in a few minutes) messed up the schedule with unhooking from the main train and with each announcement, there was more and more of a delay. So instead of 10:50 as our boarding time, we finally boarded the train at 1:30. (Sunday Morning~ Happy 4th of July!!). Our roomette was already made up. (Basically a bunk-bed in a closet) … so we went right to bed and the rumble and rocking motion of the train put us to sleep! Ahhhhhh
Breakfast at 7:30 … yawn, we were all zombies but enjoyed our breakfast of omelets, French toast, and oatmeal/fruit and juice. The meals all come with the sleeper rooms, so it was nice to get it for “free”.

While waiting in the lounge car for our assigned lunch time, I met a man and his daughter who were in Oakland when the train had all its problems. The man said that people (the very wealthy ones) can own their own train cars. They pay to hook it up to a train that's going where they want to go. They bring their own servants to serve them meals, make up beds and make their travel comfortable. He saw inside as it was carted off to the train yard, and saw how luxurious it was - very posh! So because a worker didn't know how to unhook it properly, it took 2 hours to fix it. I doubt there's a lot of people who own their own train cars!

This train is different than the other trains that we've experienced in the past in that it had it's own movie theater! At least it played DVDs in the bottom of the lounge car. The only thing missing was the popcorn. I went down there and saw "Planet 51" A cute animated movie. It didn't quite make sense - watching movie on the "big screen" and having the jostling of the train and the need keep your balence as we sat in the theater seats!

NEW ADVENTURE planned

2010-06-27T08:06:00.000-07:00

Here we are again ... with a second Planes, Trains and Automobiles trip. First question ... what do we call it? Planes, Trains and Automoblies 2, North by Northeast, Coast to Coast or Go East, Young Man, Go East. Any suggestions? I'm not very creative today...

Here's what's planned. We'll leave home by train and catch the firstvia Martinez, CA (a small town near San Francisco) and then travel up to Portland, Oregon. After a few days there, (we hope to visit some relatives) we'll head out on the Northernmost train route across Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan Illinois , Ohio, Pennsylvania, NY, Massachusetts, and into Washington DC. We'll leave from NY by plane. Planned stops are Oregon (Portland), Minnesota (Minneapolis/St. Paul and Walnut Grove), Illinois (Chicago) Michigan (Dearborn-outside of Detroit), ), NY (Buffalo, NYC, and Long Island), Massahusetts (Springfield and Boston), and DC.

Do any of you have suggestions of the "must see" places? One of the places I'm looking forward to is Niagara Falls. I just learned a great, great grandfather has been to this site, but my family, having lived in NY for over12 years, have never seen it!!!

Something else that's different this time is the focus that we'll be mindful to look for people we can "bless" along the way. This idea came to us from KLOVE, the radio station we all like listening to. They have a "Make-A-Difference-Monday" and have extended it to more than 1 day a week. So we'll be prayerfully looking for people who may need an encouraging word, some help, or even a meal. Since our trip is budgeted with limited funds, we'll depend on our Lord to direct our steps. You can partner with us by praying that we'll hear God's voice and His direction.
~Peggy

California, Here we come ... Right back where we started from ....

2009-07-27T05:56:00.000-07:00

We head home today ... the airplane part of our "Planes, Trains and Automobile" Trip. First we have a 2 hour layover in Las Vegas, and then to Burbank. We'll visit overnight with Russ' brother's family and then take the last part of our trip by train - home to Fresno. It's been a good trip and a lot of memories have been made. I'll still update this blog with pictures because it's also a nice memory for us.

See you in a day or two!

Pictures added show (from bottom to top: us leaving DC getting on the plane ... spending some time in Burbank with Russ' brother's family ... leaving by the Amtrak bus to Bakersfield where we met and spent 15 min. with Russ' parents ... and seeing Tess, my sister at the Fresno Train station. The final pictures are of our front door and home sweet home!!!!

Walking around Washington DC

2009-07-25T04:57:00.000-07:00

We seem to always get a late start, rarely leaving the hotel before 10:00. Could it be that we get in so late the night before? Could it be that we kept our internal clocks on Pacific Time, since nothing requires us to HAVE to get up and go early? Could it be that I let them all sleep in because I have grumpy boys when they don't get enough sleep? Not sure why.... LOL

We are staying at a hotel near the Dullas Airport which is nicely within our price range, but also quite some distance from DC. That means again, we need to take the Metro BUS to the city, and take the Metro (their subway system) to the places we wanted to go. When we got there today, we decided to try one of their sightseeing tour buses. The double decker one offered us the best deal and we could get on and off at will. BIG MISTAKE. This one was old, overbooked, and we were crammed in like sardines. The narration was drowned out by the people talking and the city noises. Also, there was a president of Iraq or Afghanistan visiting and many streets were shut off to through traffic temporarily so the buses ran even slower. We waited 45 minutes for a bus that should have been there every 15 minutes. And when we did get off at one stop we never were able to catch another bus that met our time table. So advice to others "think twice before signing up for these if you just want to use them to get from one place to another, and if you do, use a reputable company like the original ones from DC." Lesson learned for us.

For those who don't know, all the Smithsonian museums are free. There are 7 of them, I think ... So we planned to take in a few of them today. Having a late start, we thought we'd go to our favorite ones first.
We stopped first at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Seeing the first planes (Spirit of St. Lewis) or the early space crafts, and many other space related artifacts was fascinating. There were also hands on exhibits that we all enjoyed trying.

Next stop was the Smithsonian American History Museum. We saw the Ruby Slippers that Judy Garland wore in Wizard of OZ, Edith's and Archie's chairs from All in the Family, Oscar the Grouch and Kermit the Frog, as well as the ordinary; early kitchen appliances and tools, Julia Child's kitchen and supplies, tool shed with things like DDT that you could apply yourself (!!!), and other things.

We were closing in on dinner time, so we got a quick dinner at a food court and headed to the Capital Building's front steps where the US Marine Band was performing. One of the Marines had been a contestant on American Idol and we heard and saw her sing. Quite enjoyable.

By the end of the day, we were exhausted from all the walking, learning and viewing so we headed back to our bus (the long way, thanks to a kind policeman who though he was saving us time and money by showing us this way) and back to our hotel. As I write this, at 8:30, my men are stirring to wake up and we'll start our day again in DC. More exciting museums and sites, hopefully the memorials as well.

There's so much to see that we realize w won't be able to do all we hoped to. I would have loved to tour the Capital Building, or see the Library of Congress, but we are running out of time so we'll need to come back here another time, and stay closer to the main part of DC!

Remember you can click on a picture to supersize it.

Chris here again!

2009-07-24T05:28:00.000-07:00

Today was a busy day in DC. First, we went through spy school, then we loaded up on equipment and went out to stop a terrorist group from cutting all the power in DC. Well, not really, but we still had a blast in The International Spy Museum. As soon as we went through the entrance tunnel with neon lights all around us, we knew it was going to be an exciting day. We stepped into an elevator and ascended into the mysterious stretch that awaited us.

The first thing we did after exiting the transportation vehicle (I love fancy names!!) was choosing our alibi. I was Colin Weber. Age: 18. Occupation: art school student. We then proceeded into the theater to receive a tutorial on the life of spies. After the briefing, we were ready for spy school.

As soon as we walked in to our training area, we saw several training modules. Among them included ones quizzing you on your alibi, having you identify dead drops (areas where spies leave messages for their fellow brethren,) and ones having you identify different security threats. Of course you have to know the tools that you will be using, so we saw examples of bugs (tiny recording devices concealed under furniture,) types of dead drops, and guns and knifes hidden in inconspicuous objects like lipstick. However, our experience was just beginning.

To know anything better, you must know it's history. We learned about spies through history, from George Washington to the horse in the Trojan War. In addition to learning history, you must learn about your enemy. That's just what we did, when we saw information on traitors, dictators, and enemy agents through the ages. We traveled through an underground base, saw the Berlin wall, and went through the doorway to, well, lets change the subject.After we traveled through our training area, we loaded up on equipment at the gift shop. The whole experience was an amazingly good time.

We have to go now, more later!

Chris didn't have a chance to finish this, but promised me he will when we get back home. The part that came after the tour of the museum - which was set up like a training (to become a spy), was the "Spy in the City". For an extra fee, the kids got a GPS that took them around a mile radius from the museum and they had to find landmarks and scan parts of buildings ... Chris and Jonathan LOVED this part. It was like living a fun video game, or so it seemed to me. Chris couldn't stop talking about it, so I hope he'll still have some of that enthusiasm when he writes back on here again!

On the Road again .... NOT!

2009-07-20T20:20:00.001-07:00

We find ourselves sitting here in Beckley, West Virginia waiting for an exchange rental car. It seems our Ford Fusion has some transmission problems. We’ve had some trouble starting it, also there’s problems with the gears shifting correctly even ‘though it’s an automatic. We get no power going up an incline. We have 350 miles to go and traveling at 40 mph doesn’t get us there quickly. At the car rental company's suggestion and a little help from our GPS, we found and called a Ford dealership/service center but they were booked for a week so they couldn't even look at our transmission. The rental company thinks they can get a car to us within 4 or 5 hours, so in the meantime, we'll wait at this rest stop. There’s a big craft store, a gas station, and hotels nearby. So we’ll walk and explore, and see what’s here.

That was written while we were waiting to hear back from the car rental company. We decided it was better to stay in a hotel here, and leave tomorrow morning as soon as we can pack. The car, an older, and more scratched up Dodge, but running well with lots of trunk space arrived by tow truck. Gratefully we exchanged the two cars and settled in for the evening. Because the car arrived so late we didn't get a chance to look around. We didn't want to take the chance that it would actually break down while we were touring this city with the original car. But we did have a chance to get caught up with all our laundry and the boys were delighted to have time to watch TV and play their Nintendo DS, and go on the computer. Usually I'm the one who dominates the computer with uploading pictures or writing on here, or checking email... smile=)

We saw how God has protected us, and provided for us. Had we chanced it to continue the 350 miles to Williamsburg, VA, we may have gotten stranded in an area that we couldn't have had such a leisurely wait. Or in a dangerous place on the Interstate. Or where there was no cell phone reception. Also, the car rental company is picking up the tab for our hotel costs, and since we weren't able to get the cost back of the hotel we booked through hotels.com, we really weren't out any money. This hotel only has suites and the boys were thrilled with the size and the 2 TVs that were here. We got to rest a bit, and have clean clothes again, so we are grateful for His protection and provisiton.

(pictures above are of the Charleston State Capital building and of Beckley, WV, the place we found ourselves waiting.)

Almost Heaven .... West Virginia

2009-07-20T04:46:00.000-07:00

I found myself humming that John Denver Song from the 70's called "Take me Home, Country Roads" Except, I'm still enjoying this, I'm not ready to leave just yet. One week from today we'll be on the plane back home.

As we drove into West Virginia yesterday, it didn't seem too much different. Same lush green hills/mountains, many trees, occasional farm; after all we were in the Appalachian Mountains. It was also so cool and clean, it was really beautiful.
A difference we noticed was that there were more towns in WV than in Kentucky. It could be because it's a smaller state and they have less space to put the towns ... I don't know much about the history of West Virginia and why it's name such. We're just enjoying it.

Before we crossed the Kentucky/ West Virginia border, we stopped at another one of the diners that we saw featured on "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives". You would think if it got featured on the show, it would be great food and one of those undiscovered gold mines in the food business. Well, it got mixed reviews and we would add our to the side of "not so good" They may have been short staffed, given this was Sunday, but none of the 8 or so empty tables were bused. It was also a bit smokey, but we decided to wait and see if we could make it through our meal before anyone else came in and "lit up". We watched another couple come in and sit at a dirty, used plate covered table and they immediately got their table cleaned and their order taken. So having stood waiting for direction a while, we figured that was what the locals do. Well the waitress started cleaning other tables before she noticed us and did come right away and cleaned our table. We ordered, and got our food in normal wait time. Nothing special, nothing out of the ordinary, but not bad either. We didn't get halfway through our meal before someone started smoking behind me, to the side of us and a few tables behind Russ. Nothing ruins your food worse than breathing 2nd hand smoke while eating. We couldn't gobble our food fast enough before we high-tailed it out of there. We didn't even stop for their signature dessert as we ran for fresh air. So now we know why they call it "Smokey Valley Truck Stop"

As we drove down the interstate for a few miles, laughing over the stories we would now tell, Jonathan realized that he left his Nintendo DS on the bench seat back at the smokey restaurant. We turned around and fortunately, the waitress saw it first and put it behind the counter for safe keeping. A relieved boy and a happy family, we set off again.

So we arrived in beautiful West Virginia, found our hotel and walked to a pizza chain local to this area; "Bellacino's" They gave us an extra order of cheese bread because they had one extra. So now we have a lot of leftovers. Cold pizza for lunch tomorrow!
We didn't have anything planned for Charleston, as we needed to get on the road to Virginia. Maybe I can talk Russ into swinging by the beautiful golden domed capital building as we drive out of town.

I'll be adding another event to yesterdays post about our visit to the Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky so if you're interested check that post again in the next day or two.

Thanks for your comments and letting us know you're following our blog. It's good to know you're on the trip with us .... you're all in our thoughts and in our conversations too.

Leaving Kentucky today ....

2009-07-19T05:08:00.000-07:00

We've been here in Kentucky 3 full days, and 2 more partial days ... and we filled up as much of those days with sights and activities as we could without feeling overwhelmed. We're actually feeling that we're moving at a steady, not hectic pace as we tour here and there.

So now I'll report on Day 14 and 15 (July 17th and 18th) of our trip. On the 17th, besides the Mammoth Caves, we also visited the Louisville Slugger Museum in Louisville. There's a HUGE baseball bat out in front leaning against the building in front of the entrance. Of course everyone needed to take a picture of it, but I couldn't get the complete bat in the frame unless I crossed the street. As we walked into the museum preceding the factory tour, we saw waxed figures of Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, and another that I forgot to write his name, in posed action shots. I was surprised they were just there in the open for anyone to touch, but it seemed people respected the legends they were and kept their hands off. We were asked to NOT take pictures in the factory, so those pictures are just was left to the ones in our memory. The bats are made by machine now both for kids, adults and most professionals, but the ones for some of the professional players are specially made. They had a machine that would not only make it according to the specifications that was needed, but also their signature was branded on the side. They gave us each a mini bat as we completed the tour.

On the 18th, Saturday, we headed out to "Pleasant Hill" to a Shaker Village. These Shakers were not like the Amish or the Quakers that I'm familiar with, but rather seemed to be a sect all their own, maybe even a cult in their days. They lived simply, with less ornate furnishings. There was a beauty in that. But they attained to live perfectly - like the angels. They "neither married nor stayed married" once they joined the Shaker community. No children were born as they treated one another as brothers and sisters. I love being married to Russ, and calling him MY husband and raising our children together, not in a community style. This would not have been my choice had we lived back then. Surprisingly, they were a thriving community, numbering over 250 just prior to the Civil War. They also were very hospitable, caring for both the Confederate and the Union soldiers as they came through their land. Their leanings were sympathetic toward the Union cause but they cared for all the soldiers, even sacrificially giving from their food supply.

We had one more place we wanted to go but we knew the time would be short. We wanted to see the Horse Park that we had heard about. When Chris did his state report about Kentucky, he wrote about how raising thoroughbred horses was a major industry, particularly in Lexington. We saw many horse farms as we drove in and to the Shaker Village, so we knew this was a must see. The only problem was, that it closed at 5:00 and it was already 3:30 as we left the Shaker Village. Well, just a quick look around. Had we gotten there earlier, the cost would have been $45 for our family. But since we arrived at 4:00, we got in free. (I like free!!). We're not big horse fans, and didn't understand the different breeds we saw, but it still was interesting and we saw some chariot style races. We were glad, with our level of interest, we got such a good deal on the admission price.

So today, we'll leave Kentucky, but we hope to see the University of Kentucky campus before we head out. It's just up the street from where we're staying.

Kentucky Down Under

2009-07-18T19:34:00.001-07:00

Friday, we planned to go to the Mammoth Caves. This was on the western Kentucky and in a different time zone from Louisville. So although it seemed like a two hour drive, it appeared to only be one hour difference from the time we left.

We chose the 2 hour tour that would take us down 296 steps down in the cave. I should say 296 narrow, slippery, curvy, and at times steep steps down. But the trip down was worth it. I asked Jonathan if he would help me with his impressions and if he would report on this time here. This is what his thoughts were;

"This is the main thing I was excited about for the whole trip - going to see the cave and the stalactites and stalagmites. My favorite formation of rock was called "Cave Bacon". It was called this because it looked like bacon; it was thick and wide and it had curves in it. Another thing we saw that was really cool was a formation called "Frozen Niagra" It looked like Niagra Falls because the water drips over the side and leaves mineral deposits (Limestone). It was shiny and wet. Soon after that, we walked 67 further steps down and saw the stalactites and stalagmites. Sometimes they connected and they formed a column.
It was interesting to find out how many animals were living in the cave like bats, fish and bugs. We didn't get a chance to see all of them, but we did see cave crickets, a spider and a beetle.
At one point they wanted to show us what it was like before the lights were installed. When they turned off all the lights, it was SO dark that when I touched my nose with the palm of my hand, I couldn't even see it!
It was so much fun! If you're ever in Kentucky, try to go to Mammoth Caves It will really be worth the trip. " by Jonathan

Our tIme in Kentucky ....

2009-07-18T18:46:00.000-07:00

There seems to be so much that has happened in Kentucky since we got here 3 days ago, that I'll just give a quick overview of our adventures.

Before we left Indianapolis, we went to the NCAA Hall of Champions. Russ was the most excited about this, as he's the sports expert in our family. But the boys are learning quickly. There were many tributes to the accomplishments of the college athletes across the country. We also got a chance to interact with computer generated or actual simulated sports equipment: Skis, high jump, basketball, track, and soccer. We saw how Fresno State's National Championships were acknowledged in Baseball and Softball.

We drove to the southern border of Indiana to look at the Fossil Beds at the Falls of the Ohio River. Along the banks of the Ohio River, there were stone layers exposed revealing marine fossils. It wasn't spectacular, but it was interesting. It seemed to me more like flat tide pools with a few fossilized imprints when you looked closely.

We've try to eat at places that we can't, find at home, preferable ones that aren't chains, although we visited White Castle Hamburgers, and Hardees (the east coast version of Carl's Jr. This first evening in Kentucky, we tried Cracker Barrel (a highly recommended favorite of Russ' family) for the first time. It was homestyle cooking with large portions. It was pretty good, but didn't make it to the top 3 of our best-vacation-restaurant-chart. However, we found ourselves eating there 3 times over the course of the next few days.

On Thursday, we went to the birthplace and then the childhood home of Abraham Lincoln. It seems 3 states claim him as their own. Kentucky, because he was born here, Indiana, because he spent his formative years there, and Illinois, because that's where he started his law practice and political career. It's also called the "LAND OF LINCOLN" There was an interesting Abraham Lincoln museum in the area, and it had wax figures depicting the stages of his life. There were also letters and artifacts from his time period.
Since these were close to Elizabethtown, where we were staying, we had a little time in the evening to go to a Coca Cola museum. There had been a bottling plant here, and the owners started this from their own collection of Coca Cola memorabilia. It was fun seeing everything from antiques, to dispensers, to advertisements, and promotional items. Jonathan liked the Coke R2D2 best. It was a walk down memory lane for us (Russ and Peggy). We even got a Cherry Coke the old fashioned way for 10 cents at the soda fountain.

Finally, on this day, we drove out to Fort Knox. We knew that we couldn't get close to it, but just wanted to take a few pictures of it from a distance to document that we were so-close-yet-so-far from all the gold. And no, they don't give free samples.

Quick update ... while in Kentucky

2009-07-17T03:09:00.000-07:00

There were problems with the hotel's wifi connections, so we couldn't get on here for a few days. Now, we're getting ready to leave Elizabethtown, KY, and I have a few minutes to upload photos and perhaps write too. If not, than I'll write in the car and copy and paste when I get to the next place. These photos are from the The Billy Graham Museum in Wheaton, Ill., (Russ and my highlight of the trip at this point! The pictures don't quite capture the spirit of the place) (There's also the wardrobe from "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe movie, complete with fur coats), theTriple XXX Family Restaurant in IN.(can you see the peanut butter oozing out of the hamburger?), the NCAA Hall of Champions, , and some scenes from the car taken as we traveled.

If you have't discovered it yet, you can click on any picture to supersize it, and then click your back arrow to get back to the regular screen!

more pictures will be uploaded to my facebook when we get back, so you may want to sign up for it if you haven't already, and you can see the best of the rest!

Speeding into Indianopolis

2009-07-15T07:43:00.000-07:00

Ok, so maybe we didn’t speed into this city, but the Indy 500 has speeding cars, so some cars actually were speeding! We did pick up our car, a Ford Fusion, and are now experiencing a little independence. However, when public transportation is as dependable and reliable as it was in Denver and Chicago, it’s really the better way to go. It seems like in Fresno, riding the bus seems to carry a little bit of a stigma, but in those cities, all kinds of people from every walk of life utilize the various forms of public transportation.

The drive was nice, but constantly interrupted by tollbooths. It seemed every 15 minutes or at every change of freeway (they called these stretches tollways in Illinois) we needed to pay the 70 cents, 80 cents or $1.00. As soon as we crossed into Indiana, the toll booths stopped. It could just have been that we didn’t drive on any more of them, but we’ll see, as we’re heading out of Indiana today.

Before we left Illinois, we stopped off at Wheaton College to see the campus, and mainly, the Billy Graham Museum. Russ and I agreed, this stop was the highlight of our trip so far. In the museum were displays of Evangelism in America from the 1500’s to present. This website tells you more about it: http://www.billygrahamcenter.com/museum/perm_exhibit.htm Names like Dwight Moody, and Billy Sunday were familiar to me, but it was also very interesting to see how Billy Graham got started and how his ministry grew. I was so touched by the pictures and testimonies of those whose life was changed when they responded to the gospel message. There were film clips and movie clips and even now, the words he spoke were so powerful. They reflect the heart of God. In the last part of the self guided tour, we found ourselves standing in the “heaven room”.
At the same campus grounds was a building called the Marion Wade Center dedicated to some great Christian authors. I only recognized J.R.R.Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. We saw the wardrobe from the book/movie, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, a favorite of ours. Also on display were the desks on which these two authors wrote their books

Chris is willing to write the rest of this blog entry, so he’ll take it from here.

When we got into Indiana, we stopped at a diner we saw on a food network show called “Diners, Drive – In’s and Dives” called the Triple XXX Diner. The Triple X started off selling root beer, but now they make ground steak burgers (They refuse to call them hamburgers) also. We split a Duane Purvis burger, with cheese, onions, lettuce, and…… peanut butter. Don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it! My dad says it’s oddly delicious. We all thought so too. Other burgers we got included the Barney burger, with lots of grilled onions, the steak burger, an average hamburger, and a deluxe bacon cheeseburger. Even though the toppings were great, we all agreed that the steak the patties were made of - made the burger. Well, I hope to write again soon!

Let's try it again,

2009-07-14T07:13:00.000-07:00

I can only upload 5 photos at a time, and somehow all of them disappeared when I tried the last time. So here are some more. So I'll try it again!

In and Around Chicago

2009-07-14T06:40:00.000-07:00

Most of these are described in the previous entry. OK, so as not to waste a good entry, I'm coming back in here and editing this one, and uploading different pictures of Chicago. This is for you, Brigitte, Tess, Anastasia and Brenda. See if you recognize different parts of Chicago. It may take a few days, as I can only upload 5 at a time.

PIctures from the Art Institute Museum

2009-07-14T05:58:00.000-07:00

My Kind of Town ... Chicago is... My KInd of Town

2009-07-13T08:15:00.000-07:00

We got in late to Chicago, due to that little mishap described in the pictures. We were first told, “Something is delaying our departure from this town, but we’ll let you know more when we know more.” From our windows, we saw folks running in the direction of the back of our train. A little unnerving to say the least. But all ended better than we thought. No one was hurt. Russ now tells me he thinks it was a different train, as we came to a slow stop, not an abrupt stop. And since we were in different cars at the time, I could have heard rumors rather than facts …
Our original plans were to spend some time near the train station, because with our luggage, riding the public transportation to our hotel during rush hour would have been a nightmare. We had planned to go to the Art Institute, because today was the last free day this week, and we like FREE things! But we contemplated skipping it because it would be past rush hour in another hour or two, and just going for dinner would get us on less traveled buses and subways … but like I said, I like FREE things so we went, thinking that if it was great, we’ll come back again, and view more. Leaving our luggage in storage at Union Station, we navigated with our 3 day transit passes the way to the museum. This was HUGE! Beautiful art! (and some weird art – in our opinion LOL) We saw some Renoir, some Monet, some others, but the one we really wanted to see, was “American Gothic” by Grant Wood. We mentioned our friend and Chris’ 6th grade teacher often as we looked around. She brought an increased awareness of the arts to the class. Pictures posted will be for you, Anita! We were able to take pictures as long as the flash was off.
When we got back to the train station, it was dark, and the place where we stored the luggage was closed! So when we finally tracked down our stuff, got on the right subway (a 2 –very long block- walk to the station) and made it to the airport where our shuttle to the hotel was, and made it to the hotel, it was close to 11:00. Yawn. We were so happy to have a place to rest and unpack! You may wonder why we went so far out of the way, and it’s simply that the hotels outside of the main downtown Chicago were about 1/3 - ½ the price, and included breakfast, pool, and exercise room. So a little inconvenience for a chance to stretch the budget is what we chose.
Highlights of Saturday were: Going to The Museum of Science and Industry, Chris’ absolute favorite so far. This huge museum was on our list of reciprocal museums from the Fresno Metropolitan Museum, of which we just renewed our membership. So admission was FREE again. (Remember, we love free, but we would have paid to go here anyway.) We spent most of the day here, and just before closing at 5:00, we left to find Giordanos, famous for Chicago style pizza. 2 buses and about 7 blocks walking later, we found it and had to wait 1 ½ hours! Chris and I shared a small thin crust veggie, but Russ and Jonathan shared a small pan pepperoni one – Chicago style. They really do fill you up! We couldn’t finish it all even though they were very yummy!
Sunday we went to the Broadway play “Mary Poppins” at the Palace Theatre. What an amazing production! The acting was superb, the set changes were remarkable as to how things folded open or slid across the stage, and the dancing entertaining. The special effects also were impressive: Mary pulling the hat rack and tall plant out of her bag that was on a table you could see through (a special effect I still can’t figure out!). She flies with her umbrella over the audience, and slides up the banister. But most impressive was when Bert danced on the floor … up the wall … and on and across the ceiling, down the other side of the wall and again on the floor. The story line was different than the movie, but just as enjoyable, and what surprised me, there were many different songs than from the movie.
After the play, we headed out to Navy Pier. Chris and Jonathan weren’t too thrilled, because we told them it was a tourist shopping area on Lake Michigan. They are such boys! No interest in shopping unless they were on a hunt to get something. So lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company was a success, and Chris tried the shellfish special. Messy but good. Jonathan’s shrimp meal came in a fishing boat. We spent less than an hour at the pier before heading back to our hotel. This weekend was a repair-and-upgrade-the-tracks -weekend and they had to bus us from one part of the subway to the other. We seem to hit all the repair times and detours this summer. But we tried to keep a smile on with our with our AAA (Allsman’s Adventure Attitude).

pictures of Nebraska- from the train and Chicago

2009-07-12T21:29:00.001-07:00

Morning in Nebraska about 6:30 from the train, just outside of Omaha.

More of Nebraska - this is for you, Jacky - more on my facebook page for you.

Iowa farmland. Just before it started raining, taken from the Observation Car. Small wonder that the fields are SO green. Not a common site in California.

Crossing the Missisippi River, on the bridge, in the rain, into ILLINOIS!

First view of Chicago. 2 hours late due to the train hitting a car! Not much to that story. Overheard, and from what the engineer said, an old lady stalled in her car just as she was passing the tracks, but not quite all the way. She got out safely, but the car got smashed. We didn't feel anything ... but the train and those in charge had to stick around for the police report and signing it.

Time for more pictures!!

2009-07-12T20:21:00.001-07:00

These pictures take a long time to upload, and they show up in reverse order, but I think I got the hang of it, so here's what you see:

The Bullhorn Exchange. Oldest Restaurant in Denver. They said it spans 3 centuries, having started in the 1800's.

The inside of the Bullhorn Exchange. There were so many stuffed animal heads and bodies all around! It could have been a taxodermy shop!

Our visit to the Denver "Downtown Aquarium". This was a tunnel with fish and sharks swimming over us as we walked through.

Our little bitty "roomette" on the train - this was leaving Denver. The seats are flattened and the overhead bunk was lowered. No toilets. No showers. No sink. No walk around room. That we get down the train hall.

2009-07-11T21:53:00.000-07:00

We spent two more days in Denver, as plans change for our Wyoming visit, and we had extra time here.

On Wednesday, we decided to go to the Museum of Science and Nature and would need to use the bus. So first to the main bus depot to buy the discount ticket book, and then up the Free Mall Shuttle to the place where we catch the bus. This was an amazing museum. However, it had a strong evolution-Darwin emphasis which we skipped over. We believe that God created the universe and we’re not here by accident. But that’s ok, that others believe the other. We know we’re right. We saw real fossils, beautiful gems and minerals, dinosaur bones, and animal dioramas (made us think of the movie "Night at the Museum"- what would happen here if they had the magic tablet?). We will probably be museumed-out by the time our trip is finished, but in the meantime, we’re enjoying it here.

The last day in Denver is actually our leaving day. But since we weren’t leaving until 8:10 in the evening, we wanted to enjoy more of Denver. So after packing, checking out of our room and storing the luggage (first at the front desk, then at Union Train Station) we decided to try to find the restaurant we had heard about: The Buckhorn Exchange. It was the oldest restaurant in Denver spanning 3 centuries. Lunch was less expensive so we opted for that meal there. It took a light rail trip (another form of transportation in Denver) and along the way we saw Coors Field (Home of the Colorado Rockies), and Mile High Stadium (Home of the Denver Broncos!!!!) and the Pepsi Center where the Denver Nuggets play. The restaurant was very old and had animal heads mounted on every wall – well over 200 of them. We opted for an unusual appetizer; alligator tail. The rattle snake was also tempting, but overpriced. When we got back to the train station, we decided to go to the Downtown aquarium. We also decided to walk there, after all, they said it was only about a 15 minute walk. 35 climbing minutes later, we found ourselves finally there. The aquarium was nice, had interesting displays, but it was curious that they also had live tigers, parrots and on display!

So when we returned to the train station by BUS, we thought we wouldn’t get dinner on the train so we went to a Noodle restaurant. We wanted to try the local or the places that we can't get at home we couln’t get back home whenever we could. So this was one of them. It served noodles of all sorts; Pad Thai, to spaghetti, to Mac and cheese, and all tasted really good! Later, we found out when we got on the train that they were indeed serving dinner. We opted for dessert and milk/decaf coffee instead. Our room is actually a roomette and I would call it more a closet with two facing seats that folded into bunk beds. It was small! We were so spoiled on the last leg of the train trip but this still is more comfortable than the seats only in coach, so I shouldn’t complain. I also enjoy the Observation Car with all the windows, the tables and the interesting people you meet.

So now we're in the Windy City; Chicago. We had quite the adventure riding public transportation to the Art Institute (saw and took a picture of the famous "American Gothic" painting by Grant Wood) and headed again by bus and subway to the airport where we caught a shuttle to our hotel.

MOre later .... and pictures too, when time permits

Chris's turn!!!!!! =]

2009-07-07T20:22:00.000-07:00

Whew! It's been an incredibly busy day here in Denver! After a breakfast at Beruger's Bagels (Yum!) we headed over to the Denver Mint. The tour we took was incredibly informative. Did you know that the Denver Mint has never been succesfully robbed? One employee with wooden leg secretly smuggeled gold out of he vaults, but was captured soon.

After resting for a while (busy day!) we tried out a German resturaunt. The name of it was "Cafe Berlin." As a family, we unanimusly decided that this was the best food we had on our trip. Some of the foods we ate included: Wiener Shnitzel (Breaded and fried veil with sauted onions,) Koulrouladen (Cabbage stuffed with beef and topped with gravy) Spatzle (Potato like noodles in a mushroom sauce) and apple strusel. After that great meal, we headed to the gold - domed capital building. After looking at the grand architecture, we went to a local history mueseum. We learned a lot about Colarado's history, expecially the Colarado gold rush. It's been an incredibly busy daay, but we look forard to more of them. Look for more tomorrow!

Comments for photos just uploaded

2009-07-07T20:00:00.000-07:00

The pictures are listed here in reverse order. I still am learning how to upload the right way…. Sigh. So you’ll see the end of our train trip first, and then the beginning. I also lost a few that I uploaded. I could upload them again, but we need to move on. We're already one day behind.
Oh well.

The room that we had was larger than we thought. They opened the door between the two room so it made it easy to move between the two. That also meant that we had 2 bathroom/showers, two sinks and 2 window to look out of. There were so many pictures that I took of the view, but I tried to get a few from each state. We slept through most of Utah, so I think I only got a couple of pictures. So in order from top to bottom,:

Wyoming,
Wyoming - this reminds me of the place in Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind, which actually was from Wyoming. I think it’s called “Devil’s Post Pile” but I’m not sure.
Wyoming – this state was facinating to view…. At first there was a lot of farm land and ranches That’s what I would have expected. But all this variety is not what I expected. Wyoming is a very beautiful state.
Getting ready for bed (we’re still in Utah here)
Donner Lake, CA
Mothball Fleet in Vallejo, CA USS Iowa is that large battleship on the side.
Views of the train cabin: Dining car, next is the sink area … so small!, then the shower/toilet. It was an adventure taking a shower while the train was moving! And the last picture is us relaxing right after we settled into our room.

Views from and within the train

2009-07-07T19:04:00.000-07:00

We feel the Earth move under our feet ....

2009-07-06T20:44:00.000-07:00

We're on the 3rd day of our travels, and are now in Denver, Colorado. As we move or rest, we still feel the movement of the train, the swaying, rumbling, rolling, action. When we were on the train we got used to the rocking and even enjoyed it. Although there were times we lost our balance and were grateful for the chair backs or handles to hold on to, to keep from falling! Jonathan says "it's entertaining when you go to sleep" Chris thought the train trip was "never boring". Russ and I agreed. We could always look out the window and see something new. The scenery seemed to change everyhalf hour of our travels. And at times, I couldn't get a picture of the interesting topography before it changed, never to be seen (by us again!)

I just loaded the first set of pictures and realized they were uploaded backwards. So looking at them from bottom to top, it shows us leaving Martinez, California on July 4th, the next is the boys playing on the train, then, my family in Concord at my mom's house; (seated) Kevin Loftus, my sister Lorraine Loftus, my mom,, my sister Dagmar Franklin, and me. standing neice, Lisa Loftus, nephew; Jacob Loftus and our sons Chris and Jonathan. Russ took the picture. The next up is us waiting for the train to Denver but of course, we're in Martinez and finally boarding the train.

Since we weren't able to blog on the train, I wrote these detail along the way and can only write on a separate file. This is copied, read on if you like a lot of details! :)

Day 1
We’re calling this Day 1, even ‘though we haven’t officially left on the big trip. We left Fresno by train I (Thank you Jacky Bertz for the ride to the station) headed to Martinez. Our train will take off tomorrow, but we were going to visit with my mom in Concord first. My sister from Arizona came up too, and we had a nice time visiting. What a fun way to start our trip
.

Day 2
We’re officially off! We left Martinez (thank you Dagmar for the ride early in the morning!) and headed up to Sacramento, Reno, and Salt Lake City. We got two adjoining sleeper rooms which made it easy to move and not feel so claustrophobic. We didn’t get off the train other than to take a picture and that was it. If Russ had his way, we would have stayed in the rooms the whole time, even having our meals delivered! LOL We compromised and decided he can stay in our room with the boys and I could go to the Lounge/Observation car and meet people and come back with any news I find out.

We found out some GREAT news when we left. We were originally told that we would have to get off the train in Grand Junction, Colorado to be bussed into Denver since they were working on updating the tracks. Well the GREAT news is that they were taking us up through Wyoming on the freight rails and around from the north to come in to Denver. So no long 8 hr bus ride, and all the way on the train. Yay! We’ll even get in a little earlier than scheduled by 4 hours! Plus, there were no stops along the way other then to change pilot crews.
So life on the train is fun. We haven’t been bored at all, there’s so much to see out the window alone. And for Russ who is normally our main driver when we go on road trips, this is a treat because he can see it all. It amazes me the different land forms that we see and how in just a half an hour it can be completely different!. On the train, we, that is mainly I spent some time in the Observation Car. Windows everywhere, and comfortable tables and chairs.
The food comes with the room, so we got to choose anything on the menu, which always is fun when you don't have to think about the cost. I love meeting people and when I was in the observation car, I met others who were traveling for different reasons; Molly who was going to Wyoming for a month long backpacking trip, Ryan who was traveling all around the USA - more extensively than we were, just to see it while he had a break from college and Melanie who was a teacher who decided to move back to NY to live with her parents so she could travel to other countries. It's fun to meet people with whom we share this Earth! Even if our paths cross only once!

Day 3
When we went to bed last night, we had just barely entered Utah, but we slept right through it all as when we woke up, we were in Utah. Somewhere in Salt Lake City, we heard people boarding and leaving but it faded into dreams as we dozed off. The first part of
Wyoming was what we expected it to be; farms, ranches, fields, wide open land. We even say praire dogs, antelope and buffalo along the way! But then, the topogaphy started to change. There were those erosion towers that showed the evidence of water erosion from thousands of years ago, and the land forms seemed to change every half hour. We were facinated by all we could see out our window. When I have time tomorrow, I'll post some of those pictures of those views.

We arrived in Denver 4 hours early because of the detour which cut out the stops at the regular stations along the way. So we took our luggage and walked the 8 blocks to our hotel. Russ is so good with the research he did for this trip. He kept checking for discounts and deals on the places we had planned to visit, and found this hotel, a 4 star one, for one third the price!! And originally we were going to have to go about 2 miles out of town to get a decent price but now we're in the center of downtown. It's even cheaper than the other out of town one! I love getting bargains!!! So now we're heading for bed, and ready for a day of touring the US Mint and other places downtown. yawn, it's time to get a full nights rest!

2009-06-27T22:01:00.000-07:00

This is a picture from our recent trip to Cambria. We went there on Mother's Day and my birthday weekend, but I'm posting it here, to practice uploading a picture and writing about it. I wonder if I must upload each one separately, or can I upload a series of them???? I'd have to be really selective if it were the latter. BTW - I love this picture - we were walk along the beach on the wooden board walk. It was such a relaxing family time.

Any suggestions as to what to pack?

2009-06-26T11:50:00.000-07:00

We've got our bags, we've got some of the clothing ... but not all. some of the toiletries ... but not all. But what are must haves?

Hmmm,

maps from AAA - for CA to Colorado (first leg of the trip)
for Colorado to Illinois (2nd leg of the trip)
for Illinois to Kentucky (3rd ....)
for Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia and Washington DC (last ....)
map from Amtrak - of the whole USA since we'll be crossing the middle of the country.
gum ... for the high altitude in the Rockies... and the plane trip home.
bug spray, sun block, ...
hat? Anyone know of a good, packable hat for a BIG head? Female version preferred.
address book with your address - for a postcard from one of our places! Send us your address.

Ok, more later!

This is a test, this is only a test.

2009-06-26T11:49:00.000-07:00

We're getting ready for our trip, and one of the things we needed to do, was set up a blog to keep as we were traveling along. So this is a test. Hmmm, what else needs to be done? Plenty as far as packing ... We have all our new duffle-bags on wheels. That's all we're taking with us as we board the trains, planes and automobiles (and busses, and trolleys and connecting transits, and the EL and the Metro... lol).
I'm glad we'll have some friends checking in on our house... making it look more "lived in" or at least that something is going on. They'll use the pool and check in on our turtles. And they can call us if something happens like a tree falling over or the fence collapsing (as it once really did which we discovered on a return from a trip to the coast.) We're thankful also for neighbors who will keep things going there too.

Our trip itinerary is as follows:
July 5th, leave Martinez, CA. by train.
July 6th, arrive in Denver, Colorado. We got a phone call from Amtrak telling us that because they will be working on repairs or upgrades on the rails, we'll need to get out in Grand Junction, Colorado and ride a bus the remaining 8 hours to Denver! :( We're thinking of making it a 4 hour drive through the Rockies by rented car.
July 10, head to Chicago by train.
July 11, arrive in Chicago.
July 14 leave Chicago, Illinois by rented car for Indianapolis (just a stop on the way to Kentucky)
July 15th, arrive in one of two places in Kentucky
July 19, leave Kentucky for Charleston, West Virginia
July 20 go to Williamsburg, Virginia
July 22th, arrive in and drop off car in Washington DC (now we rely on public transportation)
July 26 Leave for LA (by way of Las Vegas) by plane.
July 27th Leave for Fresno ~ Home ~ by train.

I wonder if we can also upload pictures..... OK, enough for a test. Let's see if it works.