(also at the end of the entry)
Family
Vacation: Introduction
Before I get into the hilarity's of our summer
vacation, of which you've already had a small
preview, there is some background information I feel I must share
first.
I
am someone who is lovingly referred to as The Map Lady. Amusement parks,
malls, museums, trails will assuredly find me carefully studying their
map. This is something I've done since I was just a wee one.
Around
the same age as my boys (about 9), I received the latest issue of National
Geographic complete with a pullout map. Inside was a photo essay on Ireland.
I fell in love instantly and spent the next several days on the living
room floor with the map sprawled out before me, a notebook, pencils and
erasers and more maps I rounded up from the confines of the small Midwestern
crackerbox house we lived in.
At
the end of the week, I had meticulously planned a route that would take
me from our humble home in the palm of Michigan up into Canada before
sailing down into the northeastern reaches of the US. It wasn't an ordinary
trip because I had planned to ride my bicycle. Once I arrived in Maine,
I would get on a ship headed towards Ireland's shores and ride my bike
about her deck until I reached the emerald isle of my forefathers. Not
only did I have a route planned, but I calculated how far I would ride
each day, where I would set up my pup tent for the night, how often I'd
have to stop to buy food as I was certain I couldn't carry all of it with
me and even had a list of all the items I'd be carrying, right on down
to their weight and measured dimensions.
Reading
a map was something I was taught early in life. I am under the impression
it was something I learned before I could actually read a Dr. Seuss "I
Can Read" book. When my family went to the Detroit Zoo and my father
went into panic mode as he was trying to find the exit while battling
the traffic all the while my mother was trying to help look for signs,
I was in the backseat studying the map and guided them safely to the entrance
of the park. And as we traveled across the US back when I was 12, I planned
out our exodus across the desert to ensure we had plenty of fuel, food
and water to make it safely to the other side. Unfortunately, I slept
through the quest to find the exit to visit the St. Louis Arch and thus
my parents gave up and kept on going.
Moving
on ahead...
I
love to travel. I think you know that by now. And I also feel that my
children will benefit greatly if we can tie in learning experiences with
our family vacations so long as we all have fun. And thus, the year the
boys promoted from kindergarten, we left the following afternoon and headed
towards Provo, Utah where we'd trek across several counties visiting various
dinosaur museums and such. And while the boys ate it up, the husband wasn't
as enthusiastic. It had nothing to do with what we were doing, it had
to do with the amount of driving we had to do. You see, we drove from
Northern California all the way out across Nevada, past the Great Salt
Lake and down into Provo.
But
I wasn't about to let that get in the way as I planned out our next vacation
with the final destination being Seattle where we'd watch the Mariner's
play. My husband's knee cramped up on him, making him extremely ostentatious
(moreso than usual) and caused him to criticize me ad nauseum as I led
us around the Oregon coastline, then up Columbia river to Mount Hood before
returning to Portland the night before we were to drive up to Seattle
for the game. I wanted to show the boys the beautiful waterfalls and the
lush hills of the mountain and the breathtaking views from atop the gorge.
It didn't help any that on our way home as I drove, I got a speeding ticket
that I wound up fighting for an entire year and spent double what it would
have cost to have just paid it off (another story, much longer but I daresay,
quite interesting if not educational).
That's
when he put his foot down. The following year as we planned to go to Scotsdale,
AZ and take in a Diamondback game while visiting a variety of natural
history and other "educational" sites, I was told unequivocally
we were flying and would rent a car there. I tried desperately to get
him to take a drive up to Sonora, one of the most beautiful places I've
visited in the high-desert, but he wouldn't budge. Oh well, that'll wait
for when the kids get older and I can take them by myself ... or maybe
just a place for me to go again on my own little respite.
Which
brings us to this year's travel plans.
Several
months ago, before school let out, my husband and I agreed that our family
vacation this year couldn't be as long as usual (even though he had the
time off) or as extravagant (given that we just bought a new house, have
a pool to maintain and a dog that's been knocking on death's door for
a while now). Normally, we make plans that include going to see a few
major league baseball games at different stadiums. Our goal is to visit
all of them before the kids go off to college. Being that we hadn't been
to the Dodger Stadium and the Anaheim Angel's Stadium and that his father
lives in San Diego (meaning we could stay with him), we decided to plan
a "mini-vacation" by getting tickets to the games and figured
we could toss in a visit to Coronado and Old Towne San Diego before returning
home.
That
was before I learned the fourth graders have a huge project to complete
on the California Missions, which is part of the state's requirements.
One cannot overlook that the very first mission happens to be only a few
miles away from where their grandfather lives and that several more are
between there and the two L.A. area stadiums. Well, I couldn't
overlook this.
Now,
you may recall I had quite a number of problems with my car that caused
us to have to replace it. Last month I bought a new Hyundai Sonata and
donated the troublesome Camry to the local college which was delighted
to take on the challenge the car possessed with it's quirks. And seeing
that not terribly long ago I used to commute between the San Francisco
Bay Area and Los Angeles every other weekend, I figured it wouldn't be
that big of a deal for me to drive my new stead down those old, dusty
roads again while sending the boys and hubby on ahead via plane. I'd leave
a few days later, thereby shortening the length of time either of us were
not at home since he'd fly back the day after the last game and I would
then drive up the coast to visit a few more missions with the boys.
Well,
as amazed as I was, he bought it and off I went to plan our "Mission
Trip."
And
now we're almost at the part where I break off to tell you about our adventures.
But before I begin that saga, I'll share with you a piece of titillating
information: My fool husband gave me his Microsoft Streets and Trips program.
I think I lost four pounds that week because I didn't come up for food
or air much as I became heavily engrossed in the sheer power of that program
and all the glorious tricks and treats it possesses. That's about the
only thing of Microsoft products I've ever been that excited over...
Stay
tuned for the saga to unfold!
As
always, your comments are appreciated
(If, however, you're here three days after
I posted this ... look up in the top right corner for the date I added
this entry ... please go to the most current post and leave your comment
there so I don't miss it! Thanks!)
About
Those Mini-Buttons With My Stats
Measurements:
Main
I also measure my neck, shoulders, biceps, forearms, thighs and
calves but for space, etc. I only list the main three. Of course,
when I update, I put the entire chart up and link the "total inches
lost" results to the most recent entry where I've listed the whole
shebang.
Weight
Statistics:
Again, this is pretty much self-explanatory and if you need a hint
for what is what, run your cursor over the category and you should
get a description. SW: Starting Weight; CW: Today's Current Weight
(yep, I weigh daily), GW: Goal Weight; SD: Starting Date; TD: Target
Date; TW: Total Weight to Lose; WLTD: Weight loss to date; WLR:
Weight loss remaining in pounds.
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The
Daily Squeeze
Just
Peachy 
Sweet
Unique Stars