5 posts tagged “road trip”
We're going home on Monday - doing the trip in three days. I like hanging out with my mom, but I'm ready to go home. The boys have been acting up a lot at her house. We did have a great time in Seattle with the hubby. The boys were very happy to be around Dada. They want to go back, but they'll settle for home. I can't decide if I should send them to school on Thursday or give them a day to rest. It's only three hours of preschool so maybe I will.
Despite being the shortest mileage-wise, this drive was just as long as the others, because of the damned elevation. My car does not enjoy trying to climb to over 11,000 feet, so we took a lot of canyon roads at under 60mph. I made up some time on the stretch between Rifle Something CO and Price UT at 85mph though. It was 55 degrees up at the top of the mountains. Dom enjoyed the mountain passes. They were bored with their DVDs and read books and napped most of the way. We listened to a lot of John Denver, because certain songs go with certain parts of the drive (Country Roads: crossing West Virginia; Matthew: Kansas; Rocky Mountain High: Colorado west of Denver). Dom likes John Denver. Anyway, we're here now. States today: Colorado, Utah. Mileage: 507.
Kansas is apparently the land of old people. I swear everyone I passed with KS plates on I-70 was over 70. It's a little weird. Oh and if you want to live out in BFE Kansas or Colorado where you'll drive 45 minutes to the nearest gas station, they'll give you the land for free. Denver looks the same as it always does, though there was no lightning storm this time (there usually is when I go to Denver), and once again, a hotel with false advertising. They sold me a room that was supposed to be two doubles. It's one queen. The door to the bathroom is broken and doesn't close (of course, this is not a big problem since I'm not allowed to go to the bathroom by myself anyway). I call the front desk, they put me "on hold" and hang up on me. Bastards. At least it's clean and not in a scary location. Still, lying bastards. Today's mileage: 608. States: Missouri, Kansas, Colorado.
Another day of watching DVDs (well, they did, I listened to my iPod) and occasional catnaps (again, them, not me). Stopped at a rest stop in Illinois that had a swingset! The boys were excited to get out and run around a bit. Staying at a Red Roof Inn just outside Kansas City that is nasty. Not even cheap enough to say "oh well" either. They are sooooo getting a bad review on Expedia. Lied about their free wifi (there is none, you have to have a prepaid card that you can't even buy at the hotel) and the bedspreads left black marks on the boys where they were wrestling on the bed. Nasty. And they have a "policy" that precludes refunds, so I'm not going to flush $65 down the toilet and go find a better place, we'll just get the hell out of dodge first thing in the morning. Today's mileage: 570. States: Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri.
The boys were VERY good. Chris took a nap for a while; Dom had just fallen asleep when we stopped for lunch. There was only one point where I had to yell: Dom unbuckled himself. Not the first time he's done it, sadly. We stayed in a Quality Inn in Lexington KY that was VERY nice and will be getting a good review on Expedia from me. We swam in their pool for a bit, had a nice breakfast, the room was great (so many pillows! 4 to each queen bed! and they were so fluffy!), and the staff was really nice. There was free wifi but I didn't get my laptop out. We made almost 600 miles today. States today: Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky. Oh and, does Kentucky not have helmet laws or what? I saw a ton of motorcyclists with their long gray hair and handlebar mustaches blowing free in the wind.
