Seattle!

We made it to Seattle on September 19th.  I wanted to wait until we did something touristy to update the blog.  The weekend before the movers came we did a tourist city day.  We went to Pike Place Market, a French Restaurant, and the New Ferris Wheel.  Later, we went to the Space Needle for dinner.  I definitely think that the restaurant is the way to do the Space Needle.  Andy made the earliest reservation time (5 pm).  Before your reservation you can go to the observation deck and walk around and because of our reservation time, we got to see the city during daylight and at night.  We also walked around after dinner too. Plus, they take your picture at the table.  It was a great evening and I highly recommend it.  Anne really liked how the floor rotates too, so you could see all around.

During the week, Anne and I also went to a farm about an hour away.  It was pretty neat and shaped like the state of Washington, so it was an interesting way to see the state.  They used roads as paths and there were landmarks and signs talking about all the cities. Pretty cool way to do a corn maze.  There was a play area, corn pit, and a hay maze too. We also picked a pumpkin.  Anne insisted on a small one, and they were all too big for her tastes. But, I picked one that was the smallest I could find.

Oh, we've already sold the camper too.... I guess the road trip is officially over.

Yellowstone

We drove all the way to Yellowstone, only to find out that the campsites were all full (we thought it would be pretty empty so late in the season).  So, we turned around and found the closest campsite in the National Forest near the east entrance.  They have a bad case of the grizzles and most camp sites weren't allowing tents or soft sided campers (luckily we got the hard-sided A-liner!).  I was still a little shaken with my close encounter with a bear earlier in the trip, so we were extra pre-cautious, leaving pretty much everything with a smell in our cars.  We ate dinner at a lodge that was nearby and it was delicious.  We also tried the local (and touristy) beers.

In the morning we realized we needed to get to the camp site early to actually get a site, so we drove from the east entrance to the north west.  We got a site, and then started to explore.  The figure 8 in the park took the WHOLE day.  It was crazy to think that during our "off" day we were still stuck in the car driving all day.  At least all the people were in the same car.  We stopped at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Yellowstone Lake (where Andy taught Anne to skip rocks), Old Faithful, Norris, and Mammoth.  It was a full day.  A large portion of the day was rainy, and right after we saw Old Faithful, it really started to pour.

I asked Anne what we were watching during the Old Faithful eruption, and she said smoke and there was a fire.  Clearly, I needed to explain better.  During the day, we let Anne run around on the boardwalk paths and she picked up three splinters in her hand.  We went to the clinic, but they said as long as they don't look infected, then you can leave them in.  Later that night we did take one of the splinters out, thinking that it looked a little too red.

While trying to fall asleep in the camper Anne asked "Are there any monsters outside"?  "No, there are no real monsters".  Anne thought for a bit, then asks "Are there any buffalo outside"?  She must think buffalo look a lot like monsters.

Andy got up before sunrise to try and beat all the crowds at the Mammoth Terraces.  He did, but not by much.  The amount of people and cars at Yellowstone really surprised us.  Tons of people and cars.  Parking was bad, and even finding tables to eat was hard.  I can't imagine how busy it is during the summer!

We decided to forgo Glacier National Park.  We are really disappointed, but we are short on time and I am bit tired of driving.  Another time, I'm sure!

Most of our time camping, we haven't been allowed to have fires because of fire ratings.  My favorite warning/order was at the lodge where we ate dinner.  "If you must smoke, smoke in your car.  Extreme Fire Danger."  We've been more than happy to abide by the order, the less our clothes smell of camp fires, the better!

Wind Caves, Crazy Horse, Mt. Rushmore, and Deadwood

We drove through a lot of South Dakota and arrived after dark at Wind Caves National Forest to camp.  It's a cool campground; we saw bison, elk (and we could hear their trumpeting in the middle of the night), plenty of deer, and quail (Anne has never seen one but it seems to be the go to "Q" word).  We woke up and did the first tour of the caves in the morning.  It was amazing!  We did the only tour that was offered, the Natural Entrance Tour.  We assumed that it meant we would just see a little bit into the cave, but we were very wrong.  We spent over an hour inside the cave and everything was amazing and beautiful.  Most of the tour was downhill (the floor is surprisingly concrete paths with stairs) and we ended up taking the elevator back.  It was awesome!

Next, we drove to Crazy Horse.  My research online told me that dogs were just not allowed in the buildings, but they could walk around.  Same at Mt. Rushmore.  My source was wrong.  Dogs were not allowed.  It was a hot day so we just did a quick tour of Crazy Horse.  We opted not to go on the bus ride to the base.  Anne had just as much fun, if not more playing on the stage where they do dance shows and playing in the tee-pees.

Then, on to Mt. Rushmore.  We did the Presidential Trail.  We had to leave Lady in the car, which we felt bad about, but my car was able to go in the covered parking garage (much cooler) so we moved her to my car.  We did the tour counter clockwise, which I saw recommended on some review and we had a view of all 4 presidents as opposed to two for the majority of the walk.  Anne was pretty tired on the walk and tried to fall asleep everywhere (except for when we got ice cream).

We ended our day at a place that I thought was going to be an wild-west town, Deadwood, but it turns out that it is a casino town.  Every store front (restaurant, store, even regular hotels) had a casino in it.  We ate at the only place that didn't have a casino.  On top of that, the scheduled staged shootouts that were late in the evening were cancelled.  Bummer.  At least dinner was good. We stayed the night at an independent campground with wifi and laundry.  

Badlands

Pretty much a full day of driving.  We did drive through Badlands National Park.  Beautiful!

Mall of America, more old home stuff

After what felt like forever driving, we made it to the Mall of America.  We had a list of items that we needed after a couple cold days.  Plus, we were excited to take Anne on a couple rides.  The mall wasn't really what Andy and I expected.  It was more like a mall and a small indoor theme park.  We thought you would be able to see the rides from stores, but there were walls around the theme park area.  Andy took Anne on three rides.  She choose the carousel, hot air balloon ride, and some Swiper car ride.  She had a blast on them all.  We ate lunch at American Girl.  They allow you to use one of their dolls if you don't bring your own, so she had fun picking one out and playing with it during lunch.  Andy and Anne also made some women engineer Lego people at the Lego store.  We did find most of what we needed too.

While we were at the mall, we got an email saying what we needed to do for the Power of Attorney paperwork for our home sale.  We tried stopping at a UPS store before we picked Lady up at the doggy day care, but they didn't have the notary, or a manager that would be able to print for at least an hour.  They did "think" that some bank might have a notary, but they wouldn't print for us. We were nervous about leaving the city without getting the paperwork done, but I tracked down a UPS store with a notary on our way out of Minnesota (thank God for smart phones!).  They were terrific at the UPS Store; the owners were both there working the desk, and they convinced another customer to be an additional witness for our paperwork.  It took us an hour, but it was nice having everything done.

We drove until late at night and camped at Blue Mounds State Park near the border between Minnesota and South Dakota.

(Water) Sliding through Wisconsin (by Andy)

When we woke up Monday morning I started to call welding shops to see if they could fix up (and improve!) the camping trailer's bumper.  Pretty lucky that I was an engineer on a ship in Northern Michigan so I had a few places in mind :)  We found a place in Cheboygan that could weld it up to my specifications.  (For my engineer friends:  the failure mechanism was ductle tearing of the old weld seam where the longitudinal frames meet the bumper.  In my opinion, the tearing was both from poor initial weld quality/corrosion at the weld and some overloading from the weight of the generator--I should have used a higher safety factor!  I added two brackets, a square tube "transverse," and a stringer in addition to having the old welds repaired.)  While the trailer work was completed, we ate and shopped in downtown Cheboygan.  Tracey was not impressed but I enjoyed the trip down memory lane and we found some good deals on used children's books to keep Anne occupied.   To sum it up, we got a late start away from Michigan on Monday and, after a long drive t'rough da U.P. we ended up camping near Appleton, Wisconsin that night.  Tracey thinks the term "pasties" is funny (it's a meat pie).  She thought the store name "Gram's Pasties" was especially hilarious.

After a couple hours drive on Tuesday,  we pulled into the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells where we enjoyed the indoor waterpark.  We picked it because it was the largest indoor waterpark in America and they had multiple sections for toddlers.  Anne especially liked the wave pool but there were lots of areas where a water-loving-two-year-old could have a great time.  Sorry, we don't have any pictures because we were using a waterproof disposable camera.  I like Wisconsin and all, but the drive can be summed up with the word "corn."  We camped in the suburbs of St Paul, Minnesota on Tuesday night.

Mackinac Island

Only in Michigan is Mackinaw and Mackinac pronounced the same way.  Either way we went to Mackinac (pronounced Mackinaw) Island today. The island doesn't have any cars and people can only commute on horse buggy, or bike.  It was out of our way but we thought Anne would like all the horses. Sure enough it was her favorite part!  We took the ferry over in the morning after we dropped our laundry off at a laundromat. We took a horse drawn carriage ride to the new butterfly conservatory, ate lunch at the Grand Hotel (my favorite part), explored, took the buggy through the state park and back to the main street.  We had just missed the ferry back, so we went to the playground outside the fort.  At the camp site, we watched the sunset and the lights come on the bridge.  

Canada and Michigan

I've never been to Canada and was excited to stop, so we stopped at Tim Horton's in Ontario, Canada. I was surprised by the non-American portions.  When we got back to the car, Andy noticed the back bumper on the trailer was about to come off. So Andy's awesome generator set up had to be moved....in the HEAVY rain.  Poor Andy (I stayed in the car with Anne while he got soaked).  We got into the northern part of Michigan with good timing, so we stopped for dinner on the water in Mackinaw City at Dixie Saloon. We got caramel popcorn for dessert. Our campsite is on the Upper Peninsula and has an awesome view of the Mackinaw Bridge from the water!

Niagara Falls

We try to camp at State or National Parks when we can.  The check in process is more flexible and they have more of a "camper" feel to us.  Andy found a site at Niagara-on-the-Lake at the New York State Park- Four Mile Creek.  We arrived at our site on the shore of Lake Ontario at dusk and looked to see Toronto but couldn't; as it got darker we could see the lights though! Plus, if you camp on any state park, you get free entrance/parking at any of their other parks.  Pretty neat, and not nearly advertised as much as it should be. 

We have a list of attractions that we would like to see, but they are prioritized.  We were satisfied after The Cave of the Winds and Maid of the Mist. At the Cave of the Winds you can walk right into the fall, and Andy and I had a lot of fun.  Anne was a little scared without her ear muffs.  We went back to the car before the Maid of the Mist just to get her ear muffs.  An added bonus of doing the caves first was that they give you sandals (that you have to wear for insurance purposes), so we wore those on the Maid of the Mist to keep our other shoes dry.  As we were leaving we ate at Twist of the Mist, it was recommended but was just okay.

We ate at the two restaurants we picked beforehand.  The Top of the Falls has an awesome view, right on the water, in the park.  We were the first people there so they let us sit anywhere, so we ate outside.  I would recommend eating inside, the view is actually nicer and Anne freaked out about the bees (not sure if it is just our timing or if they always have bees, but they seemed use to them).  For dinner we ate downtown at the Silo which was featured on Man vs Food.  Andy got the haystack (item featured on the show) and it was surprisingly good.  Overall, it was a fantastic day.

Adirondacks

We arrived at River Side Pines campground in Pottsville, NY at almost 10pm.  Andy called three other places and this was the first place that would take us this late.  We drove around three times to find our site and eventually found it.  It was definately different from state parks. There were a bunch of permeant trailers (with nice woden decks) on sites too.

After we quickly reorganized the car (put Anne's toys back where they are reachable) and put the camper up I went to the bathroom. Bathrooms are clean and have showers, check!
On my way back to the car I hear "don't walk this way" loudly. It was dark and I thought I was walking on someone else's site and they were indecent or something. After I changed direction and found the pavement, I started walking again. I heard "don't walk this way, he's here".  This time I asked, "where can I walk?"  I just stopped and the mysterious man with no light said "the bear is at the dumpster.  I'm trying to get a picture". Great, we arrived at night, I never saw the map and have no idea where the dumpster is. Hum, what do I do?  I walk backwards to the bathroom and wait maybe 10 minutes. I'm hoping the mysterious guy will say "coast is clear" but nothing. Eventually I text Andy and ask him what to do. He tried telling me an alternative route to our site but I didn't understand since I didn't ever see the map and was scared of the bear. So, I convinced Andy to drive my car with the spare key to pick me up. I had to sit on all Anne's toys but I made it back. I'm sure the mysterious man thought I was some crazy city girl.

In the morning I saw that when I made it to the pavement the night before, I was only 5 feet from the dumpster! There was a HUGE mess left behind by the bear within a foot from where I was standing.   I'm glad I didn't try to wait him out. He must have been there a while. Over breakfast at the campground, I met the mysterious man and thanked him. I overheard him say the bear was really big. I thought I heard him say the size of the door, but that seems too big. 

We explored the natural stone bridge and caves in Pottersville, NY. It was almost a little too touristy, but it was the perfect level for Anne's hiking ability and we were almost rushed to see everything in the .75 mile trail in 2 hours.  Anne was scared of the noisy cave, so we will make sure to bring head phones to Niagara Falls, just in case.

We took the scenic route through the Adirondacks and it was beautiful. I can see why people say you haven't seen them unless you've seen them by rail.

Ready, Set, Go?

Andy's parents left at 9:30am to get to the raceway for Grandpy's 1pm time slot. We never seem to get out the door on time when we leave as a group, plus we were leaving from New Hampshire so we would be triple checking everything, so we knew we were leaving later.  We finally get the cars packed and in them at 10:15ish. All ready to go, and Andy decides to check his lights.  Sure enough, break lights aren't working. After troubleshooting, and fixing the problem, we get on the road again. Maybe 10minutes on the road and Andy says he wants to check his tires and wheel bearings (since they were recently packed).  Okay, back on the road.  30 minutes on the road and Andy radios that he needs to get off to check again, this time he ends up having to tighten the spindle nut on the trailer's right wheel.  So, at 12:30, 30 minutes until his scheduled time slot we get on the road for the 2 hr drive.  Somehow, between Grandpy's stalling and luck we made it just in time!  He was originally going in the first car but the buckle wouldn't work, so they mived him to #21.  We were all impressed with his driving too--135mph!  He passed two cars in front of us and a couple cars on the turns!  They popped the hood of his car (only his) when he got back...they must have been concerned that the speed regulator needed adjusting because he had it maxed out for long! 

Grandpy driving one handed!

After our already long day, we decided to change plans and drive to Niagara Falls and find some place along the way instead of going back north to explore Montreal.  Maybe we can do that some other time with Andy's family.

Getting Ready

We all went out on the boat again, but this time Andy water skied while Anne was with us.  She did NOT like it.  She is afraid of loud noises, so I thought covering her ears would calm her down but it didn't. Poor Anne.  She later said she was upset because "Daddy fell".  Regardless, we made sure to go out and pick up some serious earmuffs for her.  She uses ear muffs at home when I vacuum, and they are quite the confidence booster.

We all got Andy's Dad a 12 car lap experience at New Hampshire Speedway for Christmas. His scheduled times have all been cancelled due to rain, we are hoping the third time is a charm so we can see him. There is a hurricane forecasted to come through, so we think it will probably get cancelled.  After his Tom Petty Driving Experience we plan on going to Montreal, Canada.   This will hopefully break up the drive to Niagara Falls. Originally we were going to go the day after the race cars, but we are ready to start!

I scoped out places to visit based on Disney's Go Families (http://family.go.com/travel/places-to-eat/minnesota/minneapolis/poi-346835-mall-america/) and the book 1,000 Places to see Before You Die by Patricia Schultz. 

Montreal, Canada:

Old Town
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g155032-d155253-Reviews-Old_Montreal_Vieux_Montreal-Montreal_Quebec.html
St-Antoine St south to the St Lawrence River | Bleury St east to St-Denis St, Montreal, Quebec H2Y 3B2, Canada

Underground city
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g155032-d155252-Reviews-Underground_City-Montreal_Quebec.html

Norte-Dame Basilique
http://www.basiliquenddm.org/en/visits/discover.aspx
Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal
110 Notre-Dame Street West
Montréal (Québec)
H2Y 1T2
Telephone : 514-842-2925
Fax : 514-842-3370
Email : info@basiliquenddm.org

Fountaine Riopelle
http://qimtl.qc.ca/en/projects/quartier-international-montreal/intervention/place-jean-paul-riopelle
Schedule of the fountain’s “performance”:
(Mid-May to Mid-October):
6:30 p.m. to 7:05 p.m.
7:30 p.m. to 8:05 p.m.
8:30 p.m. to 9:05 p.m.
9:30 p.m. to 10:05 p.m.
10:30 p.m. to 11:05 p.m.
Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle
Montreal, Canada H3H1A
514-843-8240

Parc du Mont Royal
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g155032-d155373-Reviews-Mont_Mount_Royal-Montreal_Quebec.html
1260, Chemin Remembrance,
Montreal, Quebec H3H 1A2, Canada
514 843 8240

Bio dome.
 http://www2.ville.montreal.qc.ca/biodome/site/site.php?langue=en.
 4777 avenue Pierre-De Coubertin
Montréal, Québec
H1V 1B3
Telephone: (514) 868-3000



Andy and I also made onesies for particular sites from left over supplies I had from a baby sprinkle I threw for a good friend.

Loving the Lake

Pineland Farm and Andy's Birthday Celebration

Today Andy's Sister invited us to this local farm where they have a story, let the kids feed the cows, milk a cow, collect eggs, and pet some animals.  Anne got freaked out by the cow slobber early on, so she was afraid of everything and was reluctant to try anything after feeding.  But, she loved the playground area and her Cousin loved tickling the cow, and seeing all the animals!

For dinner, we celebrated Andy's belated birthday with some of his favorites.  Ribs and Ice cream cake from Toots.  Toots is a family favorite in our house.  The ice cream and everything else (even the "oreo" cookies) is homemade.  The cows are right there and they sell the ice-cream from an old train caboose.  (Here a blog about them http://weallscreamforicecream.wordpress.com/2009/09/06/toots-north-yarmouth-me/)

Storyland

Today we visited Storyland, in North Conway, New Hampshire.  It was awesome and I was really impressed.  We went with Andy's parents, his sister, and our niece.  We stopped for lunch before, which worked out nice because there weren't good options for kids in the park (but they allowed you to bring in your own food).  Anne loved everything.  There is pretty much every nursery rhyme to play in.  And most animal stories are shown with the animals.  The minimum height for a lot of the rides is 36 inches, and Anne is 36 1/4 inches… when she looks up.  They measured her on the flying fish ride and she had to look up to be the proper height.  Anne was so excited to go from ride to ride.  We've done Disney and Six Flags and there were way more rides for her age group than both those combined.  I was a little worried the rides would would worn down or more carnival like, but they weren't.  Like I said, very impressed.  It is a great park for the 2.5-5yr group.

Also, if you are thinking about traveling this way there is a cool looking adventure hotel that looks neat (http://www.adventuresuites.com/index.php).

ME

We are very fortunate that both of our families live in amazing places.  This is our view of The Lake in Maine from outside our bedroom window.  Beautiful. Anne has been enjoying the water and although it is a little chilly here compared to Florida, the water feels great.

Today we also stopped in at the DeLorme Map Store to prepare for our trip.  Anne really enjoyed the big globe.

Drive to Maine

We left the house at 8:15am and went to get the cars weighed (a requirement for the military move).  That took about 30 minutes!  Mostly because with our little cars the operator can't see us in the camera so we have to get out of the car and tell them we want to get weighed.

Notice how you can't see Andy's car around the trailer.

This time we drove through Pennsylvania to avoid New York City. It was beautiful, very scenic and it cost way less in tolls.  Normally we pay around $50 per car but it was only around $10 going this way. We didn't hit much traffic but if you did it would be terrible because all the roads are 2 lanes.  The only disappointment was that we couldn't stop at the local brewery where we like to have dinner in Connecticut. It is called SBC brewery and they have a magician on Sundays (when we typically travel), great beer and food, and good kid options.  Oh well.  The trip through PA was still worth it to me, and I would recommend it if you don't need to see the NYC skyline.

The radios are very nice to have.  If one of us needs to stop for gas or pit stops we can let the other person know. Also, if something quick is about to happen we can alert the other person (cars in blind spots, potholes, etc). 

After we stopped for gas & diesel in Massachusetts we got back on the road and the trailer's left tire blew out. Andy was quick to pull over before the tire was about to come off.  It was scary how quick it all happened and how there was no warning.  So, at 9pm on the side of I-495, Andy changed the tire.  We were lucky it was the trailer tire and not any of the others because the stabilizer jacks on the trailer made it quick to change--Andy changed it in record time… 10 minutes and we were back on the road.

Our location during the tire change.

We got in at around 11pm.

Tracey's average mph: 45.6 (normally around 42)
Andy's average: 34 (normally 48)
Trip miles: **
Total miles: **

**will update

Last time in our Maryland House

Originally we were just going to stop in for the night and then continue on our drive to Maine, the next morning.  On the drive to Maryland, we decided to just stay a full day so we wouldn't be stressed to get everything done.  It took us all day to pack our stuff and clean the house.  Andy had the idea to work on packing the cars first and cleaning the house second, but for some reason, I kept sweeping the floors.  I must have swept them 5 times. 
We had to get my car weighed empty, so we decided to go up to our favorite Greek Restaurant, Hella's in Gambrills.  The restaurant was near the New Transit truck stop where we weighed the car and we celebrated Andy's birthday with ice cream for dessert.  Anne was also very excited to see our neighbors and say goodbye to them all.

Too busy for pictures :(

Drive from FL to MD

This drive was pretty uneventful.  We did stop at South of the Border, in South Carolina, to play on the playground for a bit.

Buzzin' and Cousins'

Last night we came back from "Pop's House" and were walking the beach and felt itchy all over.  I looked down and thought I saw a flea on me.  Andy thought the same thing.  We had been meaning to get our dog, Lady, a hair cut while the movers were packing, but we canceled our scheduled appointment when the movers finished early and we decided to go to Harper's Ferry.  So, thinking we were covered with fleas, we quickly ended our walk on the beach to race home to take showers and check the dogs for fleas.  On the way we made a grooming appointment for Lady.  Sure enough when we got home, no fleas…
How can you tell you are no longer a Floridian?   When you confuse no-see-ums for fleas.

Lady (before)

That night, Anne got to play with her Cousins on the beach and Pops surprised the kids with s'mores on the beach at a place that has gas fires outside on the walk from the house to the beach.  It was great and it was Anne's first s'more of the camping trips to come.  All the kids had a blast playing on the beach and eating the s'mores on the way back.  Anne's cousin Michael was even nice enough to share his ice cream cone with her while we waited for the s'mores pack.

Beach Bliss

We all love the beach.  Anne isn't afraid of anything; she loves to jump over the waves or jump to keep her face over waves if she is deeper.  She also loves to destroy sand castles that we make and to make us bury her in the sand.  She likes making pretend ice cream and pancakes out of the sand, but prefers to spend most of her time in the water.  After she gets knocked down a couple times in the water she will just walk to our umbrella.  She can fill up her own buckets of water, but will ask for help if she either wants a lot, or thinks the person will get it for her (I've learned that if she fills them herself they tend not to get accidentally spilled as often).  When she is done at the beach, she will tell us she is tired and will ask to go back in the stroller.  This is the only place she will admit she is tired and ask to take a nap.  Sure enough, when we get back to the house, it is a struggle to get her down.

Tonight we went to Dolphin View, a restaurant on the Intercoastal Waterway where on Friday and Saturday nights you can get a boat ride and all you can eat seafood for $20.  The food is great and we don't think timing will work for a boat ride, so we went on Thursday to try and see our own dolphins with Grandma. Afterwards, we went for a walk on the beach and then out for frozen yogurt.

 ** Originally, I had uploaded this entry on the phone and it took forever to upload all the pictures.  Here are some more that I wanted to add.**

Blog Changes

I've added a "follow by email" option on the right side of the blog.  I thought this might make it easier for people that don't want to keep checking the website.  By following by email it will automatically send you an email with our blog post when we post something new.  We haven't been as good at posting things right away because we've had internet and computer issues.  Also, I went back and added photos to some of the older posts.

Circus Day at Cirque Du Soleil

We try to do one "Orlando" type activity when we are in FL.  My parents have a house near the beach, and one a little closer to Orlando.  So, we stayed the night at "Pop's House" near Orlando.  We went to Sea World on our last trip to Florida, and Disney World before that.  This year, we decided that we'd stay away from Disney a bit longer (to avoid the princesses). This year, we thought about checking out Gatorland, but there were many negative reviews and we decided to go to Cirque Du Soleil at Downtown Disney.  During the day, we decided to just play in the pool and I had a gift card for the Aveda Institute and wanted to use it.  Although Andy and I had a blast playing in the pool, Anne only played in the pool a little and was more interested in the toys on the back porch.  After we (Andy and I) played, we hit the road. Originally, we were going to have lunch at Downtown Disney and spend time there while buying the tickets, but we were in a rush because we left later than we wanted.  Anne and I didn't even get out of the car.  Then, I went to the spa, and Andy and Anne went home so Anne could nap in the pack n play.
If you are ever near an Aveda (Training) Institute, you definitely have to try it out.  It is amazing.  I got the longest pedicure, got to keep all my supplies (including nail polish color, pumice stone, files, toe separators, etc), and it only cost $20!  Unbelievable.  Oh, did I mention the polish is vegan, and free of DBP, Formaldehyde, and toluene, so Anne can use the color when she is older. 
Andy woke Anne up from her nap at 4 when Grandma got home from work and picked me up on the way.  Unfortunately they got stuck in all the rush hour traffic and we were 20 minutes late for the 6:00pm show. :(  Anne loved the show, we all did! When we first got in, there were tightrope walkers, one on the other's head, and she said "that's dangerous"… yes, it is, but it is also AMAZING.  The show is like nothing else and is very hard to describe.  Andy didn't realize how athletic the performers in the show would be.  I had been before with my Dad, but didn't realize that everything was so dangerous and probably not the best to be showing my sponge of a daughter.  Andy's favorite part was the bicycle riders, they did amazing things, including jumping up 6ft of stairs with no start up. My favorite part was the trampoline act, they have trampolines in a T on the floor and do gymnastics across them and also jump up the side of a building-like structure.  Anne says her favorite part was the "spider."  The spider was a little gimmick one of the clowns did where he pretended his nose got stuck in a spider web and his hand was the spider.  She was also very interested in the little girls, but watched everything and applauded a lot.

 (I forgot my big camera for the show, so these are pictures from the car with the iPad.)

We still didn't get to eat in Downtown Disney, again we were going to get there early and it was so late after.  We decided to get a quick bite at Steak n Shake after. 


Total drive for the day: 200 miles.

Just Beachy

As much as I don't like long drives, I hate breaking them up over days.  Well, without a daily destination… We continued on the drive and finally got in around dinner time to the beach at FL.  It just feels like two full days of driving, when normally it only takes us one.  I'm not as confident in our plan to go from FL to ME in two days, only stopping in our (old) house to sleep. Maybe if we leave right after breakfast, it won't be as bad.  We walked on the beach before dinner, and it made everything better.  I love the beach.

Traffic, Thunderstorms, and Throw Up

We started our drive to FL around 2:20pm.  We all wanted to leave earlier, but things weren't going as well as planned.  After Andy's last day at work, he had to get his car weighed for the move and I had a bunch of library books to return and to pick up our dog's shot record.  Plus, we were trying to leave the house inspection ready in case our buyers need to get appraisals/inspections done.  Right before we are about to leave, Anne ran to the bathroom after a blow out.  I chalked it up to new pull ups and was disappointed that my freshly sanitized house had to be scrubbed down again before we left.  But, a couple hours later than we wanted, we were on the road.
We've done this trip a bunch and are comfortable doing it in a day (the day following the drive we sleep a lot, but with a good book on tape, we can do it).  DC's rush hour starts early and ends late, so we knew 2:20 was pushing it.  Sure enough, we got two hours worth of traffic on the Beltway and in Northern Virginia.  We listened on the radio for traffic reports, and their only explanation was it is Virgina on a Friday.  Yup, so it is….
We stopped for dinner at Denny's in Virgina.  I'm really a fan of Denny's while traveling.  They are one of the few chains on I-95 that offer fresh fruit and vegetables, plus they are reasonably quick and have wi-fi.  We ate and uploaded a book on our iPhone.  Whenever we stop, we make sure our dog, Lady, is walked and gets some water.  She gets stressed while we're away from the car and just pants and looks for us while we are gone.
We have a few exits and rest areas that we avoid in North Carolina because, the couple times we have, we get strange people that claim their car broke down and they don't have their wallet and need gas money.  But we do like to stop in Selma, NC (Exit 97--just follow the signs for JR) and at around 10pm we stopped at a Dunkin Dounuts for coffee for the night.  As soon as we stopped, Anne got sick.  Anne doesn't get sick often, but when she does, she normally gets all her throwing up out of the way at once.  Unfortunately for us, I wasn't quick enough getting her unstrapped and out of the car and most stayed in the car.  Andy dealt with cleaning the car while I cleaned Anne up in the bathroom (a reason to keep paper towels in the car!).  Anne was a mess, because of the car seat straps, she ended up having vomit in her eyes, hair, and all over her clothes.  She got a sink bath in the bathroom with low pressure water.  I also used bathroom soap to clean her "blankie".  I also used the dryer to dry it.  It worked pretty well, but we all still smelled.  We all changed clothes.  Andy was smart enough to buy an air freshener for the car, water, and a princess juice cup (which cheered Anne up because she was crying during all this). 
We got coffee and tried to continue on the way.  Andy tried the book on tape and it was one in which the volume varies but has to be loud to hear, so we gave up early on it.  Anne wasn't falling asleep, the car stunk, and we were driving through a series of thunderstorms (did I mention Andy woke up at 4:30 am to work that morning?).  So, around midnight, we decided to stop for the night at a Days Inn in Manning, South Carolina (thank goodness for their "pet friendly" billboard on I-95).  I have never been more excited to shower my daughter.  And it was the best $60 spent.  We washed Anne's blanket again (this time with shampoo), her hair three times, and did another attempt at the car. We got in bed around 1 am.  I sent emails to my family telling them our change of plans since they were expecting us around 5-7am.

But, we got a call waking us all up at 7am asking about our location (in hindsight, a text would have been better).

Lesson learned: keep the car, especially the area under the kids as clean and clutter free as possible.  Always leave extra clothes handy.  No matter how rushed you are, if a kid has a blow out, take time to make sure they are felling alright.

Lawyers, Guns, and Money

Today Andy was able to work with our bank and agree on terms for our short sale.  We have been set with one bank, but our second mortgage company, has been harder to work with.  We finally agreed on something, not ideal but a way forward at least, the day the first mortgage company's offer was going to expire.  Whew…. 

On top of that, Andy worked with our perspective landlord on some conditions that we didn't feel comfortable with, and we now have an address in Seattle!  I'm really excited about the location of the house (it is within walking distance to the library, public pool, community center, and grocery store)!  But, I think at this point, any house would be a relief, just to have an address and not be stressing over it during our trips and time with family.  We have a place, and I'm excited!

Since the movers were so quick, we decided to do a trial run with the camper to make sure the car can tow it well, there are no leaks, and no issues all around.  I've wanted to go to Haper's Ferry, WV for a while, the only time I tried to go there with Anne it was raining so we didn't really explore (Harper's Ferry was an armory and weapon-making mill-town after the Revolutionary War and through the Civil War).  We left late because we were dealing with everything else, plus Andy went to the office.  We got in to our camp site around 9pm.  The camper was up and ready in less than 2 minutes.  The only issues were that the back up camera's angle is a bit wide compared to a normal rear-view mirror and I could be a better guider for back in parking at night.  We quickly realized that organization in the camper will make it much easier and we are going to put clothes in the drawers and food under the benches (Anne's tent takes up the already limited floor space which makes it tough to find any place to stand).  We did forget to bring toothbrushes and a change of clothes for Anne… oops.  We had fun at Harper's Ferry the following morning and I would call the day and trial run a success.

Where's My Crib?

Today the movers packed all the boxes from the night before.  Anne and I tried to stay out of the house as much as possible to not be in the way.  We went to our last MOMS Club meeting and a shot appointment for Anne. We only really came back to bring breakfast, lunch, and an additional beverage break. 
Last night Andy and I realized the drivers probably eat horribly and made an effort to get better food.  We got bagels and sandwiches from Panera.  The packers were super quick today and finished before I could even bring them the additional beverages, it didn't help that Anne's shot appointment was 2 hours long.  They left around 3 pm.  Anne has been asking where all of her things are and we keep saying "the movers took them to the new house".  It is funny to see how her mind works, she doesn't notice everything at once.  She noticed her crib first and books, but didn't notice her mirrors and hair bows until the next morning. 

Anne really likes her temporary crib (tent).  She is excited to go in it at night and will try to stay in it as long as possible in the morning.  I'm glad, because she will get a lot of nights in it.

Some things we forgot and that got packed were additional iPhone chargers and our coffee pot lid.  We can make due on the chargers, but the missing lid is essential, especially since we planned on bringing that to have coffee on the trip.  I looked online and couldn't find any.  Luckily, I called the company, Capresso, and asked.  The coffee maker has been discontinued, but they said "they should have a spare lid in the warehouse and will send one to me…. free".  I love Capresso.

Packing with Movers

Today the movers came to box and package all our stuff. We spent all day yesterday preparing by throwing out stuff we don't need anymore, sorting things, and pulling out everything we need for the next month. (Notice the heaping trash on the curb in the picture below.) We were exhausted at the end of the day and just when I was ready to call it a night and grabbed a beer, Andy told me to go through my old trophies that were moldy from being in the shed for the last 5 years (still packed from the previous move). If you know me at all, I loved my High School time and my trophies of accomplishments from college and HS. But, knowing we are paying a chunk for the movers, I want to get as light as possible. I saved only two trophies, some pictures, and my varsity letter (with 10 pins ;) ). But, then I spilled my beer on them and was left with half the number of pictures. Andy told me this evening that he looked at them all in the trash and was proud of me... I guess that was why I kept them all? Seems silly now.

On top of everything else, Andy replaced the brake pads on one of our cars.

Right before bed, my dad called and had an update for our packing list and we added pancake mix, a pan, batteries for a flash light, and a rug for outside the camper.

You can't tell from the picture, but the moving truck takes up our entire cul-de-sac (FYI it didn't crash into the yard on the right, the movers parked it that way to allow everyone access to their driveways). It is a huge truck. Ben and Chris, the guys that are packing and moving our things, are great and fast. Just two guys and they got everything packed today! Plus they were super nice and considerate. Anne is a long napper and they offered to wait and do her room the next day even when I offered to wake her. They really have alleviated one of our big stressors (have I mentioned that we have an unfinished short sale and don't have a home in Seattle?). One thing I forgot was to have plenty of drinks for them. We had donuts in the morning and got them Five Guys for lunch but all I had to drink was off-brand soda. My bad. The neighbors are definitely a saving grace too. When all of Anne's toys were packed she played outside. I kept some sidewalk chalk, but they got more energy out of her. Tomorrow everything will go in the truck.

Posted with Blogsy

Home Sweet Home

Our current home and our future home.

 Andy had to install a rear view camera since he can't see out the mirrors well. You can also see where he mounted the (Honda) generator.  The generator should be all set to start and we can leave it on the mount. Genius!

 Other side of the pop up.

 This is how we plan on sleeping.  Anne will be in a tent (with inflatable mattress and sleeping bag and sheets) on the floor.  We will be on the mattress.  Since it will get cold at night we have a heavy sleeping bag and propane heater too.

 Camper without the bed down.

Andy also had to install a fan so we can use the cook top if we need to.  Oh, and he shortened the cabinet that is all the way on the right side.  That way Anne has the entire floor. Lady (our dog) was originally going to sleep on that, but we realized she will probably be sleeping on the mattress.

Packing

I think camping is all about preparation.  If you have everything you need, the trip will be amazing.  If you forget things, it makes it much harder.  Our movers come tomorrow. Since we have to pack for living in an empty house, a vacation in FL, a vacation in ME, camping across the country, and possibly Andy's new job in Seattle, we have a lot to pack.  I've broken it down by category.  Let me know if we forgot anything:

Camping:
Sleeping Bags (kid and adult)
Sheets
Pillows
Coffeemaker (we decided this was easier with the generator than a french press and our Capresso brand carafe stays warm for hours without a heat source... perfect for the car(s))
        Filters
        Coffee
        Cups
        Creamer
Towels
Shower Shoes
Toiletries
Toilet Paper (just in case)
Bug Spray
Sunscreen
Flash Lights
Camping chairs
Lighters
Water bottles
Paper Plates
Utensils
Cooler
Dry Ice
Paper Towels
Clorox Wipes
Deodorant
Laundry detergent
Kitchen Soap
5 gal bucket
hand sanitizer

Clothes:
Jackets
Swimsuits
Raincoats
Jeans
Long sleeve shirts
Shorts
pjs

Vacation:
Clothes for Brynn
Tiffany's birthday gift
Dress for Jill
Gift Cards (Manny's, FL Aveda, etc)
Books
Anne's Hair products

Travel:
iPhone chargers
ipad
mac laptop
external storage for computer
camera
camera cord
gift cards (Starbucks, gas, etc)
handheld radios (to talk between cars)

Work Stuff:
Andy hasn't provided input but I imagine a portfolio and his laptop...


Kid Stuff:
Diapers (at least 5 a day)
Wipes
Baby
blanket
Books
Little Family
let Anne pick other small toys (likely Fischer Price little people)

Dog:
Food (2 cups a day)
Bowls
Leach
Poop bags
Bed
rope (for outdoors at camp sites)

Home while living here:
Inflatable mattress
Coffeemaker
cleaning stuff
little vacuum
little broom
items from the safe

 Let me know if we forgot anything.  Our thought is we would rather buy something we need rather than bring a  bunch of stuff we don't.  Movers come tomorrow!