Travel

Mon - August 6, 2007

Skipping Vancouver, we go straight to Seattle, WA

Sick baby, must not dally, to Seattle we go.

Nina had a cold that was just getting worse. She wasn't sleeping well, and so neither were we. We took the most direct route to Seattle, and after one last LONG day, we finally made it. It is a little weird to get here and not go directly to our new home, but there is plenty of time for that.

Posted at 11:21 AM

Sun - August 5, 2007

Visiting family in Mt. Home

The Truebas!

We had a very welcome visit with the Truebas in Idaho. We had a relaxing day with Great Grandpa Bill and Great Grandma Gail. Then we had a lovely dinner out with the whole crew! I can’t believe how much Skyler and Nicholas have changed! Katie and Austin are all grown up, and Levi is a little gentleman. It was my first meeting with Tricia and Kylie since they were babies. Michael, at least, was pretty similar, since he was the same size last time I was out. Still, he has grown up in all his own ways. I always say it, but it is always true, we need to visit more often! Especially so Nina gets to know her relatives! Love ya’ll!

I know that there are good pictures, but the best I could get was this one on my camera phone of Nina and Petra. Petra was a very nice pillow.

Posted at 11:20 AM

Sat - August 4, 2007

Yellowstone to Mountain Home, ID

Another day of driving

We are getting a little weary of driving. We left through the West gate, and proceeded through the tiniest sliver of Montana to Idaho. We stopped for lunch in Saint Anthony, ID at a Kiwanis park with really old playground equipment that made me realize how much things have changed since I was a kid. Finally we made our way through a very strong dust/thunderstorm that almost had us pulling off the road for safety into a clear evening in Mountain Home and a wonderful homemade meal by Grandpa Trueba. Unfortunately, the battery in my camera died with the last tent picture above, and I don't have any pictures of the Trueba clan!

Posted at 11:20 AM

Fri - August 3, 2007

Day in Yellowstone

Geysers, fumaroles, mudpots, and wildlife

Our approach to Yellowstone was to drive around Yellowstone Lake (the long way) during Nina's nap time and then reach Old Faithful and other geysers in the afternoon. The plan worked well in the morning. The crowd of people was still on the road looking off at nothing, so we stopped and asked if we could look through their spotting scopes. It turns out they were watching the Hayden Valley wolf pack. We saw a mom and some pups running around. The puppies were about half grown and were stalking birds and trying to learn to hunt. We were very happy we'd stopped.

The drive was lovely and uneventful and Nina only slept for about 15 minutes. We arrived at Old “Faithful” and had lunch. Turns out that we just missed the Geyser going off and had to wait another hour-1.5 hours to see it again. We were not prepared for an hour and a half in geyser country without a stroller. Nina wanted to be independent and explore, but there was boiling water all around us and ground she could break through to her death. Next time, stroller!

The short story: Grumpy Nina = Grumpy Parents

In the middle of our wait, we got some lovely pictures sent to our cell phones from our friend Paul - the Mars Phoenix Lander had successfully launched and he sent us lovely pictures. I also got to spend half an hour or more on the phone trying to make sure that all my recommendation letters had gotten in to the job I was applying for. That was a less desirable link back to the real world from our little retreat in Yellowstone.

We had grand plans for the afternoon after that, but Nina fell asleep, leaving us to run separately around Prismatic Springs/Excelsior Geyser and then we needed to get back in time for dinner. It was all lovely, we just didn't have time to do more. Luckily, we think that we might be able to make it back someday.

I made my favorite camping dinner, fajitas, and Nina found some friends across the street to play with: a little girl and her brother from Tacoma. Nina got to play the part of little sister for a little while, and seemed to have a good time.

Posted at 11:19 AM

Thu - August 2, 2007

Grey Bull to Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone!

We drove through Cody, WY and then up into the hills, through a tunnel (and over the great unconformity!) and into the park. There was construction at the East entrance and we had to sit and wait for about 15 minutes for the pilot car to get to our end, but after about half hour we were well into the beautiful parts of the park. Soon enough we had the traffic slowdowns of the wildlife variety. We saw plenty of Buffalo and a couple of elk. There were a bunch of people looking at nothing we could identify in the distance, but we were eager to get settled in so we just went and set up our camper. We were all tired enough that we all napped until late afternoon.

We had pasta for dinner and then decided we needed some more Yellowstone time and went to see Yellowstone canyon and falls. Nina was a bit grumpy since it was near bedtime, in her wild hours, and we weren't going to let her fun around without holding our hands next to a canyon! It was beautiful and nice to see anyway.

The night was very cold and we were very happy that we got the sleeping bag for Nina too. She really liked snuggling into it and we didn't worry about her all night.

Posted at 11:18 AM

Wed - August 1, 2007

Rapid City to Grey Bull, WY

Goodbye South Dakota, hello Wyoming. We cross our first big mountain range.

Our lovely Nina sleeps in for us (mercifully) so that Amy can shower and get packed up before she wakes. We have cleaned up the trailer and reorganized all of our stuff, but now we need to move all of it back into the car and trailer - requiring putting the tent up and down all over again. Good practice for our first night of camping tonight though! Grandma and Bev return from radiation treatments shortly after we get everything buttoned up and ready to go. We’re on the road by 11, not exacly the bright and early start we were hoping for. However, we’re only aiming to get to Grey Bull, in the hopes we’ll have enough time for a pleasant evening in our campground. We made reservations at a KOA so we'll have an easy in and out, and some play equipment for Nina.

The drive around the Black Hills is pretty. We see a LOT of bikers on their way to the Sturgis Rally which started today. The road is starting to get pretty boring when we finally get to the Big Horns and get to drive up in to them. I really enjoyed this stretch of road. Lots of curving, winding parts with good views, and lots of rocks. Someone decided to label the rock units here (thank you!) with their names and ages, which I remember from Field Camp. The pass was pretty windy and cold, we passed some lovely campgrounds that we probably should have stayed at, but we'll be closer to Yellowstone at Grey Bull.

We ended up not finding any place that looked good for dinner, so we just set up our trailer and had dinner at the campground. I played with Nina in the sandbox and swing set while waiting for dinner. She was in no mood to wait at the table. We heard an owl hooting outside while settling in for bed. It was really peaceful and enjoyable. The only problem is that the beds are pretty small for two. We ended up sleeping one to each side instead.

Posted at 11:17 AM

Tue - July 31, 2007

Mt. Rushmore and the Black Hills

A "Sunday" drive through the Hills on the Needles Highway

We took the day to go sightseeing in the Black Hills. Arne got to see Mount Rushmore in person (as did Nina, but she probably won't remember). I remember (vaguely) driving through the Hills as a kid, but it was really nice to do it again. I didn't remember that all the tunnels were oriented so you could see Mt. Rushmore, one way or the other, and I didn't remember all those lovely pig-tail bridges. We drove by one of the old cabins, which I didn't remember at all! Arne got a little motion sick, but did ok in the front seat.
We drove far enough to get a glimpse of Crazy Horse in the distance, but since it was time for Nina's nap, we didn't go any farther than that. We had a relaxing afternoon and then a lovely dinner at Angie and Evan's place. They have a great, big backyard with wonderful play stuff in it. Arne stayed a little later than I did and played some games with Evan.

Posted at 11:15 AM

Mon - July 30, 2007

Rest and Relaxation in Rapid City

Meeting cousins and family in Rapid City.

We reorganized the trailer, now that we had a chance to park it for a while. It was good to get everything back in order. We had a nice, relaxing day with Nina, running around the Great Grandma Bunny & Bev's house and then checking out the pool. Nina loves the water and is not at all afraid of getting her head under water. She really wanted to jump in off the side, but we didn't trust her not to break her head open, so we allowed her to sit on the side and slide it (catching her of course!) She loved it! it was really hard to get her away from the pool. Teri and the boys showed up to join us just after we'd gotten Nina out of the pool, so we decided to let them play on their own while we got Nina cleaned up. Angie, Evan, Kohl, and Cael showed up for dinner and we had a great time in the little apartment. Nina and Cael are very close in age and were having a great time getting to know one another. Teri's boys are really fun, and they were having a wonderful time with Kohl. They played outside and talked about the wolves they saw (which turned out to be a fox) and had a lot of sword play in the house. They are very sword oriented right now! Arne had never met Angie's family so I was very glad we got to spend some time with everyone.

Posted at 11:14 AM

Sun - July 29, 2007

Mitchell to Midland, the Badlands, Wall, and Rapid City, SD

Mitchell Corn Palace Visit, Visiting Kris and Marks Sammons in Midland, and driving through the Badlands and Wall on the way to Rapid City.

Distance: ~ 325 miles

The morning didn't start off too well. I was determined to find the camera and grumpy about something. Tensions always happen on the road! Anyway, I made him go away until I didn't want to yell at him any more while I rifled through the camper trying to find the camera. After all, what is the point of going to see the corn palace if you can't document that you've been there? When I finally found the camera and got myself into a better mood, it was understandable that Arne wasn't quite ready to be happy with me. We had a pretty quick tour through the palace, and got some pretty corny shots of me and Nina. It is worth a visit, but it isn't all I was expecting.

The day got much better after that point. We got on the road, called Aunt Kris and found out that it was a good day to come by and visit them. We got lunch on the road (can't remember where) and then got to the Sammon's Ranch shortly thereafter. Nina had a great time running around their house and finding all of the stuffed toys. She eventually became interested in the trucks and tractors, but she really loved those stuffed animals. She also loved climbing and and over all of their furniture. It was a great break from the car. She also got a treat, riding in the pickup to go water the cows. I should re-phrase that, she got to steer the pickup on the way over. What a treat is that!?

We left with enough time to get to Rapid City for dinner, or to go through the Badlands and get in later. Since Arne had never been to South Dakota at all before, I pressed for the Badlands and told Grandma Bunny and Bev that we would call them when we got to Wall and see if we could still make it for dinner.
Pasted Graphic 2.pdf

The Badlands were lovely, but not as spectacular as I remember them. I think that the Painted Desert has probably filled in all my memories of places like this. I'll post a panorama here when I get a chance to get it cropped and shrunk down to size.

We ate greasy burgers and fries in Wall, Nina had a bit of a meltdown, and we ended up making it to Rapid in time to sleep, but not for much else.

Posted at 11:13 AM

Sat - July 28, 2007

St Joseph to Sioux Falls, SD, then on to Mitchell, SD

Visiting the Tylers in Sioux Falls

Distance: ~ 385 miles

I am writing this entry much after the fact, so some of the details are not clear to me any longer. We woke up and ate breakfast in the hotel. Arne took all the stuff to the car while Nina and I went to get food. I ordered for him, and then felt really bad when the food came and he wasn't there yet. Luckily it wasn't completely cold by the time he was able to join us. I had really bad tea, but got my caffeine fix at least. The drive to Sioux Falls was not too long, and we made it there in the early afternoon. Maureen and Ray (Nina's Great Grandparents) were staying with Maureen's aunt Lois. They are really good old friends with much in common. We had an absolutely lovely dinner, sitting in the back of the house. Nina loved playing with a gate near the garage and exploring the back yard and garden. We had a very nice chat with everyone. The house was lovely, but was full of the fragile and lovely things that grandmothers everywhere have. We managed not to break anything. Great Grandpa took a little nap in the middle of the visit, and Nina commented on him sleeping. She was a doll and warmed up to everyone quickly. I only wish that we had found our camera for pictures with everyone. When the sun was getting low we packed back up and drove to Mitchell, since the drive to Rapid City was going to be a long one the next day. The only problem was that Mitchell was full of people, and we almost didn't find a room. It was late enough that we didn't want to exercise the tent the first time in the dark, so we were lucky.

Posted at 11:11 AM

Fri - July 27, 2007

On the road: St Louis to St. Joseph, MO

A very long day.

Distance: ~300 miles

I needed to work another half-day today, so we had yet another car shuffle. We had initially meant to leave tomorrow, but with the packers done, we thought we could make it to Kansas City if we left after lunch. I took Nina to day care, got the car back to Arne, and dropped myself off at work.
Arne packs up, goes to REI for sleeping bags, gets the Subraru washed, hooks up the trailer, drops off all our last mail at the postoffice and then picked me up. I thought I was all done after leaving my keys with office mate Jenn, but I also needed to drop off my parking pass at North campus, pick up some software, and then I got a call that my last paycheck was in my mailbox, so we had to go back to campus. picks up last check, and we’re finally off, except that we still hadn't had lunch, so our first stop was Hardee's (which was to the East, going completely the wrong way!)

When we finally get on the road, the molding around the windsheild flies off, and we had to stop in Columbia to find a dealer to glue back on for us. Nina was great at napping for the first hour or so, but when she woke up, she was not happy to be on a road trip. I ended up moving to the back seat to help with entertainment. We tried drawing on a whiteboard, singing songs, playing with every toy we had in the car, and she still wasn't happy to be strapped in to her seat.

We stopped at a real hometown place called the Bayleaf Cafe, in Higginsville, MO for dinner. We spotted a good playground when we were driving to it, so we stopped and played in playground for an hour before getting back on the road. That really helped Nina to get some of her wiggles out.

We drove through Kansas City (really around it) and then made it all the way to St. Joseph before we called it quits. We found a Holiday Inn downtown to stay at. The neighborhood wasn't very good and the parking area was quite scary, but we were done driving! I managed to drive down a loading dock one-way and got to practice backing up with the trailer. (Thanks to Arne’s direction we got out).

Nina didn't sleep at all until we got in the room (~10pm). A very long day.

Posted at 11:10 AM

Thu - July 26, 2007

Last day in St. Louis

Today was a day of car shuffles, errand running, and good-byes.

Today was a day of car shuffles, errand running, and good-byes. The focus of the car shuffle was the pick up of the Prius to be put on a tow truck before I got home, and Arne needed the Subaru for part of the day too.
At work, for lunch I was treated to a lovely salad luncheon organized by Margo. Arne was able to join us in between errands. It was really nice to have an easy, casual lunch over which I could chat good-byes rather than the usual door to door good-byes.
Surprising us, the packers finished packing a day early and we have absolutely nothing in the house. Luckily our lovely neighbors, Bill and Rosie Martin, had offered us their spare room for the night, so we didn't have to sleep on the floor of our empty, echoing, house.
WE went to the easiest dinner we could think of, just down the street at the St. Louis Bread Company.

Posted at 11:08 AM

Wed - July 25, 2007

The movers arrive

We’d been working many hours to get the house into shape for the packers, but we had miles to go, and needed our sleep. We set the alarm for 6:30 am thinking we’d get showered and organize the rest before the movers arrived at 8. However, Anthony, the truck driver, arrived promptly at 7:30 am and I (Amy) was still dressing, while Arne hadn’t managed to get in the shower yet. The moving company was Atlas Van Lines. They scoped out the house and then dove into the kitchen and first floor. Arne took Nina to daycare while I frantically tried to organize the remaining messes on the first floor, and then in the office and bedrooms. Arne returned and I eft for work around 9:00. The packers were efficient and I started wondering how much stuff would be left in the house by the time I got home. It turned out that was a good worry, as all the fresh fruit I left on the counter and everything except for our beds were packed by the time I got home. So much for a last dinner in our home!

Posted at 11:08 AM

Wed - August 23, 2006

We made it!

Our new house.

We made it! We made it! Here we are, the morning after our arrival in St. Louis. We checked the house out the night before and picked up the keys from our landlord, but we stayed the night at a hotel. We went to breakfast with an old college friend of Arne's dad, and had a very nice chat. Then we came home and unloaded the trailer, took Arne's parents to the airport and then went to buy an inflatable bed and some food. It was a busy day!

Rudy still isn't sure what to make of it all, but the rest of us are happy to be here and ready to call it home.

Posted at 07:59 PM

Tue - August 22, 2006

Omaha, NE to St. Louis, MO

In which Iowa is brief and Missouri is muggy and hilly.

Distance: 430 miles
Estimated drive time: 7 hours, 30 mins
Actual trip duration: 10 hours

We had a very nice breakfast with Arne's dad's cousin. She is the ancestry buff for the family, so it was fascinating to hear her talk about all the different branches of it. Here is a picture of the happy relatives:

My thoughts on our last leg of driving:
Iowa is brief but buggy. Both cars had looked just fine, a few bugs splattered here and there, but no big deal. Then we drove through Iowa, and we both had to stop at gas stations just to clean off the windows. I think we still have some Iowa bugs on our cars after car washes. Are the bugs there suicidal?

Missouri is hilly and full of a LOT of limestone. I think that maybe I saw some dolomite too, but mainly limestone. I think that maybe Arizona was a pretty darned nice place to be a geologist. Although maybe there are some good caves here. We'll have to look into that.

Lunch was another rest stop, this one much closer to the highway and much noisier. I liked the Nebraska one better. Nina was getting pretty constipated, so we were feeding her prunes. She liked to spread them all over her face: