Showing posts with label fuel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fuel. Show all posts

Friday, March 6

“This isn’t going to be some big romantic trip”

Now why would I think that? This was the first time we would be childless and we could take as much time as we needed. I must have missed the part where I would be driving the entire time. That’s all we did, drive, eat, sleep. Eat, drive, eat, drive, eat, sleep. Repeat three more times now.

Since our electric plug adaptor adaptors were stolen, and they’re a rare Canadian breed, we went without electricity the whole time. Also since I didn’t winterize before we left, we didn’t even want to find out if there was anything wrong with our water system until we got down to Texas, so we also went without water. And then, since I forgot to shut off the propane when we left in October, we were also out of propane. As if this all wasn’t joyful enough, our shit tank is still FULL. Five days of this, and no showers, ummm..yeah, not so romantic.

On the final day, our last two hundred miles, out of eleven hundred, I spotted diesel for only $1.99 and since Joey didn’t have his radio on I decided to pull up on his right (where he was making a right turn) and alert him to tell him to turn his radio on, and look..Cheap Gas! Only he didn’t see me and continued on with his right turn, right into me. Because of my brilliance and desperation to save a dime, we now need a new corner panel and lights for the truck, and the bus was seriously scraped between the front tires and the front door. I’m actually trying to forget the whole ordeal, so moving on…..

The kids did great with my parents, and really didn’t even miss us. I cried when we left thinking our plane might go down, and Joey had a talk with Jacob that if anything were to happen to us, they’d be living right there with Grama and Papa, and they DIDN’T have to go to school unless they wanted to. We like to cover our bases. :) My parents are really great for watching them and more surprisingly, respecting our wishes. I know it’s not always easy for them, especially when the kids stay up until four or five in the morning, or want mac and cheese at eleven at night, but they were super. Thank You, Mom and Dad!

In my last post I wrote so nonchalantly about First Class. I don’t know why I do that. It was actually kind of a big thing for me. I’ve always wanted to get bumped up to First, I hear about it all the time, but I’ve always been too chicken to ask. Since we were completely alone with this agent and there weren’t people waiting in line I felt brave. This is exactly how it went down: “Ummmm…uhhhh….I hear about people getting bumped up to First Class all the time…ummm…uhhhhh…..how could we do it?” I finally worked up the nerve, and then showed my ignorance by being on an airline that doesn’t even offer it. I just felt a need to clear that up.

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My Mom said Jewel told her she missed Dad the most.

Because he’s funnier.

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I discovered Windows Live Writer before I left, and I just knew it was the answer to my blogging dilemma. Then I decided it wasn’t because I didn’t always have an internet connection to blog while I’m traveling (with Live Writer I can be offline), I really just needed something interesting to blog about.…THEN I invented Mind Writer. When I’m driving I come up with the BEST blog posts, now if someone could just figure out the mechanics of Windows Mind Writer, I’ll be all set. In the meantime, for some real family adventure involving poop icicles you should check out Bluebird Family while they make their way up to Alaska. One storm at a time.

Happy Travels!

Wednesday, June 11

And So Began The Rest Area Tour....

Iowa was the next state to go through before getting to Minnesota, and it was for me the most difficult state to pass through. It was cold and raining when we pulled into a Wal-Mart parking lot in Des Moines late that night and since we weren't paying for camping that meant we got to eat out. We had Fuddruckers for the first time in TEN years, and it was even better then we remembered it, and I could hardly believe we spent no more than we'd normally spend at McDonald's. Anyway, what was so difficult was that I wasn't going to get to see any of my unschooling friends. I stressed enough all the way from Albuquerque to Lubbock that we didn't stop and see Sandra and now Des Moines is making me feel like the worst friend ever. To my defense I did try emailing Heather from my cell phone but I don't think she ever got it. We always have the best intentions on seeing folks as we travel through, but we're on a mission this trip and just can't spare the time, or the extra gas mileage to go a little out of our way.

We're both using diesel which is averaging $4.70 a gallon, and we figured it's costing us almost a dollar a mile to drive...so even just eighty miles out of our way isn't cheap. Plus, we're heading to a job, and we need to allow as much time as possible for any unexpected delays or breakdowns. Joey wanted desperately to see his brother which would have added 300 miles and we wanted to see our old friends back in Fonda, which would have added an extra hundred miles, but instead we started the Rest Area Tour 2008.

Oh yeah, even when we tried to get a campsite we were denied because all the weekenders were out taking up all our camping spots anyway, so we really didn't even have a choice.....and it ended up being a blessing in disguise. It was easy to keep my commitment to no TV and already not being on the Net for weeks has made me not even interested in it, aside from checking my email from my cell phone, so we got to spend a lot of time just hanging out together and talking.

The rest areas weren't bad either. Besides's Iowa's rest areas being wi-fi hotspots, they have great playgrounds.
Iowa rest area (2)
Most of the time it felt like Joey and I only had one kid, but the tire swings inevitably draw the boys out to play with us.
Three's Company
The best part though about the Iowa rest areas this weekend: The Boy Scouts were handing out free refreshments! Jewel got an apple, the boys got popcorn, I got homemade carrot cake for myself and coffee for Joey, then donated all the change I had in my pockets.
Iowa rest area
Jewel liked the boy Scouts.
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