The Road Home / That is all.

Parting is such sweet sorrow

After sleeping in a little at Grandma's we woke up and had fresh breakfast around the kitchen table again. We debriefed Grandpa on the events of the evening over eggs. After breakfast we packed up and headed home. The freeway between Vegas and Barstow is always littered with the remains of lesser cars, and we have been lucky enough to always drive past them. We stopped in Baker to get some gyros that had been advertised on many roadside billboards, but otherwise drove straight home. Vacation was over and we just wanted to see Sherbert.

Smiling Gramps and Jon

6 hours later we made it to Fresno. We first stopped by the post office to grab all the mail, then stopped by Chris' apt to pick up our keys and truck. Steph lost her keys somewhere between Colorado and Utah, so we needed the set we left with Chris. Upon arrival at our apartment, we discovered 15 newspapers laying on the doorstep. I know I called to cancel the paper, but I guess the paperboy never got the message. Opening the door Sherb was very happy to see us, and very hot. We soon discovered that he was out of food and water, and that his box was more full than I have ever seen. We immediately saw to his needs, but he didn't immediately take advantage of them, so I guess he wasn't too bad off. I had set the AC to 87 when I left, so the heat wasn't immediately worrying, but when I tried to change it to a more reasonable temperature, I discovered that the AC wasn't working at all. It was 116 in Fresno, 95 in the apartment and we were cooking. The apartment manager said someone would be out to fix it the next day, but it's the next day, and they're not here yet.

Our sweet baby......

We had a great trip, over 7000 miles. It's been an odyssey. You've seen it all with us, and you know it's been fun.

That is all.

Vegas Baybee!

We started the morning with breakfast and the Sunday paper around the kitchen table. Grandma pointed out several articles that show that people are mean and the world is going to hell in a handbasket. After everybody was up and fed and read, Grandma and Steph went out to go pick up Barb and pick up tickets for a show we would go to later in the day. I stayed behind to do my blog homework, and Grandpa is less mobile these days, so he stayed behind as well.

Gramps and I talked and talked for quite a while. I fiddled with the DVD player again, trying to find a better place for it, and managed to get the disc stuck in there again. Grandpa and I discussed his work history, and how he made the decisions he did. We discussed his health and what he wants for the future. We just talked our jaws off. Before you knew it, it was time for lunch, and we made some chicken sandwiches. After about 4 hours the ladies finally returned. It turned out that Barb had them go shopping with her in the big big big Vegas strip mall, and then parked quite far away from the Riviera which was where they had gone to pick up the tickets. I wasn't there, but they actually made it sound like fun.

Barb and Grandma at the mall

Stephanie asked Grandma if she had a card deck, but when Grandma went looking for cars she discovered some photo albums she had put together. The last time Steph and I visited Grandma Steph asked to see pictures, and Grandma didn't have a lot. I guess in the interval Grandma put some pictures together. We spent the rest of the afternoon examining them. There were lots of pictures of Barb and Debbie, and pictures of Grandma and Grandpa when they were young and didn't know any better.

Looking at pictures

By the time we had exhausted the picture supply it was time to go out for the evening. We threw on some more decent clothing and headed out to go pick up the Queen of Vegas fun, Barb. Barb has a huge 2 bedroom apt just a little ways from Grandma and Grandpa's, it has a very Barb-like green decor. Barb took over the driving from there, and we were all glad for it. Vegas freeways are not all that congested, but they move fast and they are full, and they seem to be configured to give good views rather than get you to your destination.

Post pasta stuffing

Our show was at the Riviera, so we made a quick decision to eat at one of the 3 restaurants at that casino to limit our plethora of options. We first opted for a buffet, but it was closed, so we went to the italian restaurant. The food was good, though a little on the pricy side, and we were all stuffed by the time we walked out the door. We had budgeted a little more time for dinner, so we had a little time to kill before our show started. Grandma and Barb each gave us $20 to play, since we are flat broke at the end of our long trip, and we all committed to giving it back to Vegas. Steph and I tried to win a car at one of the penny slots, but big surprise, we didn't win it. Grandma and Barb came away ahead and we all headed into our show "Splash".

Outside the show

Splash is an old time Vegas revue, which is just what we wanted. We had a booth just off the main stage. The show started with a little video montage of the start of Vegas through today. I guess Vegas was founded in 1906 so they were playing up the centennial aspect. At the end of the montage, the curtain raised and about 15 topless girls came out on stage singing and dancing. I expected there to be something like this, but they really came out and shocked you with it in the first act. They had a little 10' by 20' ice skating rink in the middle of the stage that they randomly had people skating on, and Elvis impersonators, tons and tons of costumes. At one point a Wayne Newton impersonator was singing his heart out with obviously stuffed pants, making the girls giggle hysterically. A couple of Argentinian guys came out with a percussion and comedy act. They mercilessly picked on this guy in the front row "Edward". We all had good laughs at Edwards expense. At the end they even had a 10' steel ball that 3 motorcycles zipped around in. Overall, the show was over the top. It was fun and racy and exciting. We had a great time.

A picture they wanted us to pay $40 for. So I took a picture of it for free.

After the show, Steph and I hit the bathroom, and by the time we came out, Grandma had won another $50 on the machines. I guess Vegas likes the locals better. We headed back to Grandma's and slept the sleep of the satiated.

Grandma taking Vegas for all it's worth

That is all.

Canyons: Bryce and Zion, but no Grand.

A buffalo farm we drove by

This morning we made the executive decision to go to Bryce and Zion, and skip the Grand Canyon. We want to be home by monday, and we wanted to visit at least one day with my grandparents in Vegas, so that gave us the choice of a 16 hour drive today to visit all three, or to choose Grand Canyon, or the other two. Stephanie felt that 2 parks is better than one, so we chose the 2 parks, and I think we got the better deal.

We started by heading east from Panguitch about 20 miles, through the Red Canyon. The Red Canyon is a wonder in itself, with deeply red dirt and interesting rock formations. The highway to Bryce goes through a couple of stone arches. They seem like they were natural arches that the construction crews just finished off.

Grand Tetons. I mean, Bryce Canyon.

Bryce itself is just like the pictures, only lots freakin bigger. There's a nice highway through the park that takes you to seemingly all of the best views. On the way into the park all of the pullouts are on the left, which made it awkward to pull into. Of course, all of those pullouts are on the right when you are heading out, which is what the guide that they give you when you come into the park says you should do. Across one meadow, 4 antelope were chewing grass right off the roadway, not 10 feet from the car. We stopped and took pictures from the window, and as we were pulled over, they began to cross the street right behind the The rock formations are weird and cool, all sticking up like they don't belong there, and orange and yellow and white. The cliffs have arching holes in them and red/orange sand below. We could see people walking among the towering spires way wayyy down there. They looked like ants. At one stop a little chipmunk walked right up to Stephanie, it clearly wanted food. I held out my hand and I was able to stroke my finger down its back before it ran off.

Big antelopes

A tasty morsel for Sherbert

From Bryce we drove west to Zion. The highway in Zion is even more spectacular than Bryce in my opinion. The cliff walls extend straight upward from the road, and they are everywhere. Stephanie and I spent more time trying to figure out how to get the whole cliff in the shot, than actually taking pictures. On the drive through the 3 mile long tunnel, Steph said we should hold our breaths. We did, but she quickly lost it cuz her aide beeped. I started breathing through my nose, but kept my cheeks bulged. She believed that I was holding my breath for about 5 minutes, until I started laughing at her. This whole trip has been really good for our relationship, and we've had countless moments like this throughout the trip.

Up in the middle of that cliff, you can see a window that goes into the long tunnel.

Outside of the parks, the freeway from Zion to Vegas is awesome too. Huge sweeping mountainscapes and steep cliffs and tight twisting turns. On one particularly nasty grade going down, at 75mph, we came upon a whole truck tire right in the middle of my lane, right around a tight turn. With cars on all sides of me, and a concrete wall to my left, I had little options. I slowed down to around 50 before we were upon the tire and I managed to squeeze our car between the tire and the wall, with about an inch to spare on either side. Stephanie shrieked, but we squeezed by and continued on our merry way.

Before long we could see the impressive skyline of Vegas beckoning in the distance, and not long after that we were battling for our lives in heavy urban freeway traffic. The final stretch down the surface streets involved 2 roundabouts. I had to go through the first roundabout 3 times before I got going the right way, but I breezed through the second one like a pro.

Grandma and Grandpa greeted us at their door. They have a lovely huge apt and welcomed us right in. After a little chitchat Grandpa mentioned that his computer was giving him fits, so I buckled down to see if I could help. It turns out that I couldn't really help, but I gave him a workaround of sorts. While I was helping Gramps, Barb showed up, and Grandma started making dinner. Steak and potatoes, mmmmmmm. We had a nice family dinner around the table, and before you know it, it was time for Barb to head out, and Steph and I did the dishes. Grandpa mentioned that his DVD player wasn't hooked up, so I buckled down to see if I could get it working. In the process I managed to lose a DVD inside the player, so I had to open it up and fish it out. However, now the DVD player works, if they can remember how to turn it on. The DVD that Gramps wanted to watch was of my uncle Walter doing Chi Gung, which Grandpa wants to try doing, to help him excercise and relax.Working for my supper

Making sure I don't mess up.

After all that hard hard work, we were ready for bed, and took advantage of it.

That is all.

We briefly entered Arizona

The I-76 should be renamed the National Park Freeway.

We awoke at Christi's with both cats in bed with us. It was nice to have some felines around, because we miss Sherbert so terribly. Christi re-arranged her work schedule so she could come to Garden of the Gods with us, and we were glad for the company. The two girls gossiped the whole way down to the park, it was like they had been turned back into 7th graders, and their mouths were set on overdrive. Okay, I may be exaggerating, but only a little.

Christi is a pretty woman, but refuses to smile for pictures, which makes her look funny, cuz she is always smiling otherwise

Garden of the Gods is actually a private park. Some guy bought the land and specified that it be open to the public for free forever. It's got a lot of free standing granite structures towering above the green slopes of Colorado. Every rock was covered with climbers. I guess the proximity to Denver makes it a natural draw. We walked around on the paths, of which there are myriad. We were under a little pressure for time, since we wanted to be into Utah by nightfall, and since Christi had to be at work around 1. Due to the time constraints we didn't see the whole park, but we felt like we got a good portion of it.

This is Eagle Canyon on I-76

We headed back to Denver to drop off Christi, and then headed west to Utah. The drive west on I-76 is freakin awesome. We started at 5000 feet elevation in Denver, and continued up the freeway through the green green rocky mountains to 11,000 feet at the pass. The winding highway is placed right on the side of a steep mountain, and at times the westbound lanes seem to be directly over the eastbound lanes further down the slope. There's a 3 mile tunnel at the peak, and it's rather non-descript, but a feat of engineering nonetheless. On the way down from the continental divide the views keep getting more and more spectacular.

Just some random rest stop in Utah on I-76

On the I-76 the posted speed limit is 75mph and so that's how fast we went. The trucks on the freeway would only be going 55, so we would pass them like they were standing still. However, we kept coming upon gorgeous canyons that just cried out to have their pictures taken. So we would pass a truck, pull over and take pictures, and then get on the freeway and pass it again. The wonderful views were finally put to bed by the sun, and we were able to get some good miles under the wheels. We continued down the road to Panguitch, Utah and arrived at our hotel at about 1030pm local time. No one was at the front desk, so I waited for a couple minutes and called the hotel, which called the manager/owner, who came back from the local bar. I guess things work differently in the back country of Utah.

Black Dragon Gulch on I-76

That is all.

The Great Plain Drive

Fast driving through Iowa

We started the day eating breakfast with Sandy and Jessica again. Dwayne doesn't eat breakfast, or lunch for that matter, and Marcus usually sleeps til 10. Jessica was still sleepy eyed, but nevertheless she asked us in the cutest way possible to stay a little longer. It wrenched my heart to tell her no, (see! I do have a heart!) but at least she took it well when I declined her request. After a little inspecting of the map, I determined that a toll road would save us about 100 miles, so we grudgingly took one out of the city. Fortunately, I had enough cash this time.

The drive across Iowa was farmland and freeway. I finally determined what it is about midwest gas that gives us 25 mpg instead of 35 mpg. It's the gas with ethanol added. The ethanol falsely raises the octane of the gas, and makes it approx 10 cents cheaper too. I found if I avoid the ethanol gas the car gets much better gas mileage, regardless of octane. I did further research into octane on the internet, and I found that at higher elevations your gas acts like it has a higher octane, so that's why the gas in the midwest is octane 85 for regular. See, the good thing about Iowa was that I had good internet connection across the whole state. About midway through Iowa we came upon the self proclaimed "World's Largest Truckstop". It seemed like it to me, and it was the highlight of the state.

Entering Nebraska at Omaha changed things up a little, but only briefly. Omaha is a sprawling huge city. It seems completely non descript, and reminds me of Fresno more than any other city we've been in thus far. About 100 miles outside of Omaha, a huge manmade wooden archway stretched across all 8 lanes of freeway. The sign said it was a national monument, but it seemed pretty hokey to me. That was the extent of the interesting things in Nebraska. I managed to make a couple of phone calls and chat with Dan a little bit, and Steph and I chit chatted some, but it was mostly just drive fast and get through.

14 hour drive requires addiction to caffeine

Colorado started similarly to Nebraska, but we started entering hilly country quickly. Things got dark rather earlier than normal because some thick clouds massing in the west. Soon enough we were under those clouds, and then they let loose. I thought the storm in Michigan was bad, but this one was even worse. Stephanie was driving, and she tried to continue on at about 20 miles per hour, but then the rain got so thick that everyone on the freeway had to pull over. We were in a long line of vehicles parked along the side of the freeway that stretched as far as we could see (which was only about 100 yards). Lightning flashed literally 5 times a second for about 20 minutes, and we were powerless to do anything but sit in our car and admire nature's fury. Even with the wipers going full bore and the car not moving, we couldn't see a darned thing. The lightning made us feel like we were in a strobe light, but it must have been coming from high in the atmosphere, because we never heard any thunder. Finally the rain let up a little until it was more like the storm in Michigan, so we began to creep along the freeway. As we drove along we began to run over hundreds of frogs. They were hopping across the freeway in a real life game of frogger. I have no idea what drove them all to hop across the freeway, but they were so thick we couldn't avoid them. Stephanie squealed and cringed at each amphibian we crushed, but she pressed on like a trooper. Soon enough we passed beyond the fury of the storm and continued on to Denver.

The sunset before the storm

Upon arrival in Denver we visited Stephanie's friend Christi Simpson. Steph and Christi grew up 4 houses away from eachother in Denair. Christi was very excited to have us and came down out of her apt to meet us before we even got out of the car. She showed us around her apt complex, showing us each thing that she doesn't like, but we were quite impressed with it. She has a very large balcony on the 5th floor with a nice view of some downtown buildings. We met her cats, Simon and Tigger. Oddly, Simon is a small orange cat, and Tigger is a huge gray cat. I think Tigger may be even bigger than Sherbert, but don't tell him I said so. Christi's boyfriend, John, came over to visit with us and Stephanie showed them the blog. It was pretty late when we got there though, so pretty soon we headed off to bed. Christi was such a darling, she insisted we take her bed, and she went and crashed at John's.

Simon smiled for this picture but Christi wouldn't

John, simon, christi, and Tiger

It was a little over 1000 miles from Chicago to Denver, we did it in about 14 hours.

That is all.

Funnin' in the Windy City.

The base of the Hancock

The north view

The east view

The south view

On the river bus

We awoke rather late and had breakfast with Jessica and her babysitter Amy. The sore throat I had the day before now turned into a full fledged cold. I guess all the moms are right and you will catch your death of cold if you don't come in out of the rain. Sandy was already working in her home office. Every once in a while we could hear her talking in a very businesslike voice on the phone. It's funny how people's voices change depending upon who they are talking with. (do you like that preposition at the end of the sentence?) After breakfast Sandy drove us to the local Metra station, only about a mile from her house. I think it's funny that they call it the Metra. I think it sounds like someone saying "metro" with a chicago accent.

The Palatine Metra station is clean and efficient and the train arrived right on time. We were all excited to be riding the train into Chicago, and everyone else was on their boring commute. The train station is right in the center of town, kitty corner from the Sears Tower. The train station seemed to be in a bad area, but that was just because we were still in the parking garage. I told Stephanie to stop looking like a tourist, and she gave me the dirty look I deserved. Dwayne had suggested that we take a water taxi to Michigan Ave, but we spotted a water bus. Which seems to be the same thing, only cheaper, and on a schedule. The bus left within minutes of our hopping on board and deposited us right on Michigan Ave, "The Magnificent Mile". We walked a ways down the street, looking at all the shops and big buildings, generally gawking like tourists.

Soon enough we arrived at the Hancock building, which is the 2nd largest building in Chicago, and seems just as big, and very similar in structure. We followed the signs that pointed us to the observation deck on the 94th floor, and paid $22 to go up the elevator. The view of Chicago is breathtaking from up there. Upon walking out of the elevator you see lake Michigan spread out below, and turning to either side you can see an awesome skyline. On one side of the floor there is an open air balcony, but it's blocked in with screens, probably to keep the stupids from killing themselves. We took pictures, and looked around and then decided we wanted to go up to the restaurant that is one floor above the observation deck. That's when we learned that a separate FREE elevator goes up to the restaurant, which has the same freakin views. Oh well, you got me this time Chicago, you win.

A pretty view

Lunch in the "Signature Room" was expensive and good. I had the lunch buffet with lots of good food, and Steph had salmon on french lentils with a raspberry sauce. We sat within 8 feet of the window and had a great view all lunch, but when we were done we still had to get up and wander around and admire the view just a little bit more.

Landscaping along the waterfront

After lunch we walked along the waterfront down to the Navy Pier. It's just like any other pier on any coastal town. Plenty of places to part you and your money. We met a deaf kid from California who had just gotten off the Ferris wheel. His grandmother was so surprised when we started signing to him. We went inside a mall they have at the base of the pier, to find Steph a bathroom, and discovered a free concert going on inside. A group of young men, dressed as sailors, were singing acapella tunes on a small stage in the middle of the mall. I sat down and listened while Steph waited in line for the bathroom.

We decided that we had had enough of the Navy Pier and started walking back to the water bus stop. We walked along the river front from the lakeshore until we came upon the bus stop and took a much needed sitting down. The boat came before too long and it took us right back where we started by the train station and sears tower. We only had about 10 minutes between getting off the bus and catching the express train we wanted to catch, so we ran over to the train station. Unfortunately, nothing in the train station seemed to correspond to where we wanted to go. A bum, seeing the confused look on our faces, asked us where we were heading. I told him and he pointed out that we were in the amtrak station, not the metra station across the street. I gave him a dollar and we ran for our train, making it just in time. The train started moving before we even sat down, and we were once again the most excited people on a train full of bored commuters.

We arrived back at the Palatine station about 45 minutes later and Sandy came and picked us up with Marcus and Jessica. They are both such quiet darling kids. Marcus entertained himself on the ride home with nary a peep, and Jessica was a little to shy to answer our questions. When we got back to Sandy's she showed us around her huge backyard. They live on about an acre with at least 20 trees that must each be 100 years old. She has a cute little garden with blueberries and tomatoes and peppers and I don't know what all. The kids ran around outside as we walked around the house.

How's the weather up there?

Sandy planned for Dwayne to come home, and then we would go out for some Chicago deep dish pizza. Dwayne wasn't home yet, and after a phone call, we headed out to go meet him there. On the way out the door I scooped up Jessica and put her on my shoulders. She really liked being up there, especially having to duck as we walked through the doorways. After a little sightseeing tour through the suburbs as Sandy tried to remember where the pizza place was, we arrived at Gino's Pizza. Every surface in the pizzeria is covered with writing. I guess instead of painting the walls they let people write on them. It's almost all somebody's name, but most of it is illegible, because people have overwritten everything. After a short wait for a table (have you ever waited for a table in a pizzeria?) we were seated at a booth. The kids got some crayons, and I scooped up Marcus and put him between me and Stephanie. Marcus had a grand old time walking around on the booth bench and coloring the wall and generally just being a baby out of mom's reach.

Having fun in the booth

Dwayne joined us shortly and we discussed what kind of pizza to get. Dwayne and Sandy both think the sausage pizza is amazing at Gino's so we had to order that, and we ordered a bbq chicken pizza just in case steph didn't like the sausage. The first time I mentioned sausage Marcus decided that he liked the way "sausage" sounds when you say it. So he kept saying "sausage" all night. Everytime he would say "sausage", I would say it right back to him and he would giggle. After a longer than average wait our pizzas arrived fresh and hot. The sausage supreme pizza was a pan pizza, chicago style, and it was about 4 inches thick. It had an entire layer of sausage about 1/4 inch thick, and lots of sauce, cheese, and crust too. The bbq chicken pizza was thin crust, and more like what we are used to in california, but still quite excellent. After we were all throroughly stuffed we headed home, the girls in sandy's car and the boys in dwayne's car, and wouldn't you know it, the girls beat the boys back home.

See all the writing everywhere?

By the time we got back home it was time to get the kids into bed. They were tired and didn't put up much fuss at all. Jessica came out one last time to say goodnight, but she was so tired that she burst into tears when I picked her up for a hug. Nothing can make you feel more like a big meanie than making a pretty little girl cry. After the kids were in bed, the adults were pretty plum tuckered too. We made a valiant effort to stay up and chitchat, but we kept infecting eachother with yawns, and so we called it a night.

Chillin'

That is all.