Preposterous Plan 2013 FAQ's

Was it fun?

So fun.  I felt like I was in a bubble of fun where nothing could touch me but fun.

Was it hard?

Doing whatever I wanted, all day, every day, while constantly seeing and experiencing new things?  No.  It was the most "in the moment" I have ever been, and that was incredible.  I never had time to think about the future, or anything at home.  I never cracked the book I brought.  I just lived in the moment with the kids and Scott.  It was unique and wonderful.

Are you glad you took Tziporah?

Absolutely!  I was so happy to have her pudgy little self there with us, I didn't even consider sending her home on the flight with Scott from Chicago.  She loved every minute.  She even thought Mount Rushmore was huge. :)

Was it the right length of time?

It could have been longer, but I think 24 days was just right for this trip.  We may have gotten tired had we not had the week in D. C. where we were in one place and had a home base, but they was it was structured, it always seemed like we didn't have enough time, right up until the very end.  I don't want to be greedy, but I wish it were longer.

How much did it cost?

Well...that's complicated.  My plan was to fund the trip by not taking any of our regular lessons over the three months of summer.  That gave us a substantial amount of money to start with.  It takes $300 in gas to drive from here to Maryland, but we took a longer, more circuitous route.  I usually spend a hundred bucks in gas a week at home, so calculate that.  Then plan to spend $100-150 a night on a hotel, including tax, less if you want to stay somewhere that got bad reviews.  After our experience in St. George, we didn't.  We were fortunate that we had about 11 days with cousins where we didn't pay for a hotel.  We also probably spent less money than most people on food, but more on treats.  Scott and I both like to be able to do treats whenever we want, like an ice cream cone.  But we hate to drop $70 on dinner for 9, so we share food and figure out cheap options, like breakfast at the hotel, dollar menus here and there, pizza and street food.  The kids had received money from Coco and Bill and Tricia that they spent on souvenirs, and that was fun!  So the short answer is...I don't know.

What were your favorite places?

St. Louis was a big favorite.  Council Bluffs.  Annapolis.  Chicago.  Pittsburgh.  Actually, everywhere.  I can't narrow it down.  There is no place that we wish we hadn't gone.

What were your favorite things?

The time we spent with David and Marilyn, Krissy and Sin and Laura and Gordon were our favorite memories.  Also, seeing my friends Suzanna, Gwyn and Bryan and their family, Christian and his daughter and Natalie and her children just made the trip more meaningful.  In the future, I think I'll always try to incorporate strengthening ties with family and friends like that.  Being in real homes, too, is a good way to relax when you're on the road.  It's different than a hotel.

So, other than friends and family, what would you recommend seeing?

That's hard.  Narrowing it down:  Deanna Rose Farmstead in Kansas City...City Museum in St. Louis...Old Friends Horse Farm in Lexington, KY...The beach on Lake Michicgan in Chicago...National Parks whenever you can...Annapolis...Mt. Rushmore (really)...

What about in D. C.?

My top choices with kids:  Air and Space, Natural History, Holocaust Museum, if even just the "Daniel's Story" section, for which you don't need tickets, the monument loop of course, the Portrait Gallery, the Botanical Gardens, Mount Vernon, the National Zoo, the National Cathedral, Arlington, and the museum where all the art is.  What is that called?  Plan on walking a lot.  Parking was do-able, if we got there early.  Bring snacks and drinks.  One thing we didn't do this time that is neat are the free 6:00 concerts at the Kennedy Center.  It's an hour long, it's casual and it's a good way to see the Kennedy Center, which is inspiring.  Scott and the kids loved the Newseum, where 4 kids can get in free with a paying adult.  For the most part, we found plenty to do that was free or very affordable.

How did you choose your route?

From here, I would drive straight to at least Omaha.  For us in Kaysville, I-80 is the fastest route, at least to Omaha.  From there it just depends on what you're interested in.  Omaha is where you either stay on 80 or drop down to 70, or take other routes.  My kids voted to do Kansas City and St. Louis, and we loved both.  From there, we veered out of our way to go to Indianapolis and Bloomington, which I wouldn't recommend as tourist destinations.  On a personal level, I'm glad I chose those over some of the LDS church history sites that we missed, which we'll have to catch next time.  For every place we visited, there were at least 2 or 3 other options that would have been great, too.  The route we took to get to Louisville from Bloomington just happens to be the most scenic part of Indiana, so don't be afraid to go off-interstate.  Lexington and the surrounding countryside, loved.  If I could choose a different route as an adult, I would certainly switch out Gatlinburg for Nashville, but with kids, that would be like trading in Disneyland for Denver.  Besides, I really wanted to see the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.  I wish we had had more time there.  I originally planned to camp in the park, and looking back, I wish we had done that.  It would have been less touristy than Pigeon Forge, and it's so darn beautiful!  Once you get to that point, there are a million options.  I was going to drive through the Shenandoah Valley, which I saw on a list of  "10 Drives to Make Before You Die," but David suggested Charlottesburg, VA, where UVA is, and the kids and I had a great time there, with all the fun shops.  We walked all over the UVA campus, which is essentially Thomas Jefferson's masterpiece.  Once you have a plan, you can definitely change it last-minute.   I guess what I did was take my top choices and work around them.  The website I became addicted to is distance-cities.com.  Invaluable for planning your route.


What ages of kids are good for road trips?

All ages, and I know because I had one of every age group.  Several times on the road trip, though, I was glad I didn't have Golda and Ruby with me.  I think it's better to take them when they're young and still think everything is fun.  In short, whatever age your kids are now, hurry and take them before they get too old!!  Teenagers in cars for long stretches...could be bad.

Was it hard to do the drive with just one parent?

Even though I love Scott, loved it when he was there with us, and would have loved for him to be there the whole time, I'd have to say no, it wasn't harder without him.  The ways in which it's easier to have just one parent outweigh the ways in which it's harder.  There is more freedom when two adults aren't trying to work together.  The kids are better in the car because there is nobody to wait on them hand and foot.  It was sad that Scott missed some of our experiences, but it's not often in a marriage that two people can go and have completely separate adventures, and I think it's good to shake it up.  But that's just me, and I am a bossy individualist.  In fact, Scott probably needs breaks from me once in awhile. :)

When you don't have much time, what is the best way to get the flavor of a city?

Baseball games.  Divey restaurants in seedy neighborhoods.  

How did you plan the trip?

distance-cities.com, booking.com and googling "Free things to do with kids in.....blank." and "Cheap eats in...blank."  We planned extensively before we left and also as we went along.  I think you could really not plan at all and have a great time, but not without an internet connection and a good GPS.  We relied heavily on both.

Are you sad to be home?

Yes.  And no.  And yes.

Home, Where My Love Lies Waiting...

...to take a picture of my reaction to the changes he made to our house while I was gone!

 Notice anything different?  We have lived in this house for almost ten years and never had a hood or a backsplash in our kitchen.  I knew we would someday, I guess, and I have always been so thrilled to just live here in this nice home, it never seemed like something that we urgently needed.  It's funny how bare it looked, and how much we didn't notice, looking back.  Part of the delay was money, of course, and part of it was indecision.  There are a million tile choices!  The very best part of having this done, other than the fact that I absolutely love it, is that I didn't have to choose it.  That's not something you would expect to hear from a control person like myself, but it's a relief to have it in and looking so sharp.  Scott was lucky to find craftsmen who somehow were able to fit it into their schedules to have all this done by the time we returned.  There was a lot of serendipity involved.

Scott went all out accessorizing the kitchen, even buying new plates and glasses and setting the table with a centerpiece of roses.  Coco was helping him until he got so manic, even she couldn't keep up with him.  Oh, but he didn't stop there!  He totally redid Golda's room, which was a happy surprise for her when she got home, all by herself to an empty house.  He sure has an eye for decorating.

After I got over the shock and joy of seeing the kitchen, Scott told me to go in our room.  I was immediately scared, because I LOVE that room.  I had four walls with four colors: slate blue, dark blue, tangerine and orange.  The two orange colors made me happy every morning.  I rushed in and the whole room was slate grey.  A beautiful muddy grey!  The room looked fantastic, like a high-end spa hotel.  Scott did an amazing job and worked so hard.  He chose the colors because, remember, he thought I said, "We should paint our room grey and do cherry blossoms," when we were in D. C.  I did say we should paint a room like that, but I didn't mean the room that I already loved.  So my reaction was not what Scott was hoping for, and it was disappointing to me that I reacted that way, too, after all the work he had done, and how nice the room was!  Trajan broke the ice by saying, "Well, one for two." lol...kinda.

The room is luxurious, and I love it.  I think I might need at least one of my happy walls back, though.  But we won't think about that right now!  Scott was exhausted from painting and contracting and keeping secrets.  (He also had the bathroom in the basement finished!  Whoo hoo!  Now all the kids are fighting over it.)   I love to relax in the bedroom now.  I have been wishing for more luxurious bedding, and now I have it, along with all the perfect touches Scott invested to make the room tranquil, comfortable and unique.

I love the picture of the Coney Island roller coaster.  Even though our summer didn't include roller coasters, this is symbolic of a great American summer, and that is exactly what we experienced.  (Except for Golda and Ruby!) It's good to come home.  I feel an empty, heavy sadness that Preposterous Plan 2013 is over, but also a great sense of accomplishment and satisfaction, and a thankfulness that we were all blessed to return home safely.  We are fortunate to live in a beautiful place and be surrounded by people on all sides whom we love and revere.

Today in church, a man spoke who had returned home from a mission in St. Louis.  I looked at Ari, remembering our crazy night at the City Museum and the river boat on the Mississippi and seeing the arch for the first time, and no words were spoken.  We both just smiled.

Beartooth Pass

 The big ride was a couple of weeks ago.  Sturgis was a quiet town.

 Milkshakes along the way.

 Minnesota

 Red Lodge, Montana

 Going into the Beartooth Pass

 Looking for chipmunks at the top of Beartooth Pass.

I felt fine about the cabin debacle by the time I got a good night's sleep.  We got a fairly early start and had all day to make the drive to Cooke City.  It's one of the "Most Breathtaking Drives" in the country, so I was full of anticipation.  My car's GPS didn't recognize Highway 212, which is the Beartooth Highway, so it had me routed on a 9-hour drive that looped around Cooke City and back.  Ridiculous!  The GPS on the phone was able to route me through the faster way.  Honestly, I don't know how anyone, myself included, got around without GPS.  I wouldn't have known where to go without it.

Before we left Rapid City, I thought we all deserved a treat of our choice at Starbucks.  Ptolemy always wants a cake pop, and never gets one because they're expensive and I'm cheap.  But after they were such good kids during Mount Thunderstorm (except you-know-who, but I'll cut her some slack), I let them get whatever they wanted.  We all started the day off happy.  That's what I like about Starbucks:  it's always a clean, happy place with a good vibe and comfortable chairs.  After a quick stop at the grocery store for our Cooke City food contribution, we were off!

The traffic was light, mostly because Sturgis was over and also because there was construction over Beartooth and signs discouraging "Sunday drivers."  Lucky for me!  (Driving into Rapid City, I told the kids it would be another half-hour.  Freestone said, "Unless we hit rush hour."  I said, "I don't think they have rush hour in South Dakota."  Free said, "Really!?...Do people in Chicago know this?"  Funny kid.)

212 is a two-way, one-lane highway, so I was glad not to be too stuck behind too many trucks and motorcycles.  And I didn't want to go too fast, the scenery was so amazing.  I did have a brush with death, despite the dreamy traffic.  We were driving along when an oncoming semi started drifting into our lane.  I slammed on the brakes, veered off to the side and honked for all I was worth.  He corrected and we didn't die.  I was shaking from adrenaline for the next hour.  I could hardly breathe.  To think that all of our lives could have ended so abruptly on that highway in northeastern Wyoming...I couldn't stop saying prayers of thanks that God's plan was not for that to happen.  During all of our various travels this summer, I really felt reassured that we would all come home safely.  I do wonder how many angels it may have taken to steer that semi back into its lane, though!  :)

I can see why the Beartooth is one of the country's most famous drives.  It's incredible.  As we approached and I told the kids we were going up over the mountains, they couldn't believe it.  It was fun to look down at all the switchbacks we had covered and up at all the switchbacks we were going.  Coming down the other side was where the construction was, but traffic was negligible and it didn't take long to navigate the one-way section through the mud.

When we arrived at Paul and Rita's cabin, Laura and Gordon and their kids were there waiting.  It took the kids about one second to find someone their age and start playing as if they were best friends.  It was so lucky for me that Laura and Gordon decided to be at the cabin at the perfect time.  It was a great winding-down for the trip because I felt so at home with them and in the cabin, where my kids were familiar with the surroundings.  So really, I was rested up and relaxed before I even got home, thanks to Laura and Gordon and their family.  I wish we had had more time, but you never really have enough time in Cooke City.  The night we arrived, we were able to talk and catch up.  Laura and I hardly ever see each other, but we feel connected through the blogs.  It's a blessing, one that, among other things, allowed us the chance to decompress with the limited time that we had together.  Aaahhh....home without being home!

The Mount Rushmore Story

 Pajama party on I-90.  Minnesota Public Radio and me.  I was practically in heaven.

 Look at the little photo bomber sneaking in!

 As I said, the drive from Madison, Wisconsin to Rapid City, South Dakota, was to be our longest.  The GPS said 11 hours, so I knew it would take longer with stops.  We left the hotel at 5:45 am and had a very enjoyable drive across Wisconsin, Minnesota and South Dakota.  It was breathtaking the whole way until we got probably 100 miles into South Dakota.  It wasn't as beautiful then, and much less green, but soon we were into the Badlands and it was really interesting terrain.  The kids were so good in the car the whole three weeks.  They were so good I couldn't believe it.  I loved this long drive across I-90.  I found a good NPR station with good reception that I was able to listen to for hours in the early morning while the kids dozed.  Aaahhh, heaven.  The car, NPR, beautiful scenery, miles whizzing by.  So my thing!

Traveling across South Dakota, it's apparent that the South Dakotans have spent all their energy farming and building tacky tourist destinations and none of their energy building cities.  We bypassed the corn palace but did pull off the freeway when my car was almost on empty, at a big sign that said, "GAS!"  It turned out to be a real ghost town, with a boarded up gas station and an actual manufactured ghost town that looked like it had once been a tourist trap.  A ghost town ghost town.  Wow!  I told the kids to explore, but to be careful of ghosts.  They are pretty sure the place was crawling with them, and I wouldn't be surprised.  It was a tad creepy!  However, it saved us about $70 compared to what we would have spent if we had stopped at "1882," the ghost town tourist trap down the road.  After our failed attempt to get gas, I got worried we wouldn't see another gas station before we ran out of gas.  I was berating myself for waiting so long, but there is always another opportunity for South Dakota to take your money, and Wall Drug wasn't too far down the road.

I knew the kids, especially Freestone, would be in gift shop heaven here, so I planned to stay for an hour.  We had no trouble filling the whole hour browsing through rock shops, t-shirt stores with half-price Sturgis shirts, (the ride was a couple weeks ago), jackalopes and bumper stickers.  Each kid picked out a 30 cent rock, and they were all happy.  Wall is actually a fun place to stop, but it's like the casino in the Lightening Thief.  You can totally lose track of time and never get out.  We had to make a concerted effort to escape and get back on the road.

Around 4 pm, we drove into an exceedingly heavy rainstorm.  I would have pulled over, but I couldn't see well enough to know where to pull over to.  So I kept going with the windshield wipers at full speed and the rain so loud, we could barely hear Xanthe shouting, "Mooooooom!?  Where are we going?"  I think she kept asking because when I said, Mount Rushmore, that didn't mean anything to her, so she was trying to get an answer that made sense.

And thus began what for me was the low point of the trip, but for the kids, was every bit as thrilling as anything we had done.  Because of the rain, it was quite dark when we arrived in Rapid City.  There was construction getting to our motel, so it was a long last half-hour of the drive.  We were excited, though, because we were staying in these cute little cottages!  When we arrived, I was so happy.  The woman in the office was nice...until I mentioned that there were six of us.  She freaked. out.  Like, started shaking and wringing her hands.  She did not know what to do.  I knew what to do:  let me stay in the four-person cabin with my five small children and move on with her life.

This whole trip, things have gone our way, over and over.  We always get our way.  People are always nice to us, we have been able to cancel reservations that we shouldn't have been able to, we never had any problem with more than four people staying in a room.  So when the woman said that she couldn't cancel my reservation and my only option was to rent an additional cabin for two of my kids to stay in, I was the one who started shaking.  I was livid that she would make a decision that seemed ridiculous and inhumane.  And I was livid that I had to spend that extra money.  The cottages were very clean and cute, but certainly not luxurious.  On the other hand, Ari and Freestone were excited about having their own cabin!

I tried to play that up, so that they would enjoy the experience, I but I couldn't shake my anger at this woman.  It was still raining hard, and so dark, but my plan had been to see Mount Rushmore at night because of the lighting ceremony that they do at 8 pm every night.  We went, and I desperately tried to get an a positive headspace that would allow me to have as much fun as the kids, but I couldn't do it.

We went to Sonic for dinner, which was fun because they brought the food to our car.  Really, kids are so easy to please.  We got to Mount Rushmore at about 7:50 in the dark and pouring rain.  We were literally the only car on the road, so that was a blessing.  I'm sure Mt. Rushmore is usually packed.  I timed it perfectly, but lo and behold, the rangers had started the patriotic lighting ceremony EARLY because of the thunder and lightning.  How often do you think that happens?

So there we were in the parking garage, listening to the ceremony being piped over the loudspeakers, putting on everyone's jackets, and Xanthe wants to bring her tow panda blankies.  First of all, an 8-year-old really shouldn't want to be dragging around her blankies, for crying out loud.  I told her no, they would get wet, but she cried and I caved.

Picture us running up to Mount Rushmore, Xanthe dragging her dumb blankies, Tziporah in the stroller with bare feet, trying to make it for at least part of the ceremony that had started EARLY!  There were maybe 50 other brave souls there, standing around in rain ponchos with cameras.  I looked up and the presidents' faces were tiny!  At least that's how I perceived them.  I felt swindled, like it was some big conspiracy that everyone drives here to see this.  As the patriotic music blared and we all imagined a flag being raised, because the rain was too strong to raise an actual flag, I was managing Xanthe's blankie crisis.  Turns out, the "pandas" were getting wet, just like I said.  So instead of looking up at the monument, Xanthe was trying to stuff them in her shirt.

It was an encapsulation of countless scenarios over the course of the trip, where we are standing in front of something like the Lincoln Memorial or the St. Louis arch and Xanthe is focused on a spot on her shirt, or flopped on the ground because she's thirsty and saw someone with a drink.  I have observed Xanthe on this trip, and felt compassion for her because she doesn't seem to be able to experience and enjoy things like other people do.

But at this moment, I was not feeling compassionate.  I was feeling irate that I couldn't enjoy the moment because Xanthe was sucking up my last ounce of energy.  Just then, a huge surge of lightning lit up the sky for three or four seconds, flashing different colors behind the monument.  It was incredible!  Ptolemy pointed and shouted, "They're lighting it up pink and blue!"  He thought the lightning was just for us.  And maybe it was.  Maybe it was.

Guess what?  The kids (except blankie girl) remember Mount Rushmore as one of the highlights of their trip.  The faces!  The lightning!  The rain!  The gift shop!  Going back to Sonic after Mt. Rushmore for shakes!  The cabins!  Oh, the cabins!  Ari and Freestone were beside themselves.  After I put the other kids in their beds (they were asleep by the time we got home), I wanted to salvage the night for myself.  For heaven's sake, I was at Mount Rushmore with my kids.  Dream come true.

I knocked softly on Ari and Freestone's cabin door.  I invited them to come outside and sit in the rain with me, around a soggy fire pit in the center of a ring of diminutive red cabins, TWO of which were all ours for the night.  I breathed in the humid air, felt the mist on my face, snuggled into my damp Davis Dart sweatshirt and listened to my precious, optimistic, un-jaded children talk about the night through their eyes.  I joked about how dumb it was, and Freestone said cheerfully, "Mom, you're the only one who was disappointed in Mount Rushmore."

I wanted to hug that boy and cry, but I just said, "Free, you're a good kid."

He said, "I want to come back here on our next trip."

Chicago to Milwaukee

 Tziporah appropriately crying in front of the Chicago Waterworks building.  She was upset because I took away her chocolate.  Can you blame her?

 Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Millennial Park

 Before finding the fountain:  "Mom, where's the car?"  After:  "Can we go to the gift shops now?"  Navy Pier.

 This shot is so funny.  Ptolemy was dying to have me take his picture like this.  I put the Instagram caption on it, "I was four years old.  I just wanted to do nuffin.  But my parents were out of control.  It was a new city every day!  Can you help me, doc?"

 Favorite

 

 Xanthe gets more worn out than your average kid.  I think it's because a lot of what happens around her doesn't register with her, and she gets bored.  I haven't figured her out yet, but I had a lot of time to observe her on this trip and I feel like I learned a lot.  She loved lying under the jelly bean sculpture.

 Saying good-bye at the airport.  I didn't know Midway was so much closer to the city than O'Hare.  Good to know!

 Coloring!  Man oh man!  The food here was so good.

So.  Where were we?  Monday, our last day in Chicago, we went downtown again, to the parking garage we had found Sunday when we went to the beach.  (1212 Lake Shore Drive) They had an early bird special, in after 10, out by 4, and it's only $12.  Other options cost around $40.  From there, we walked to everything, starting with the American Girl Doll store.  What a place!  You would not believe the scenario repeated over and over:  a mother, a grandmother and a little girl or two, buying dolls, accessories, getting the doll's ears pierces and hair done, having tea, carrying armloads of boxes out of the store.  Scott observed that the children who were buying less seemed the most happy.  There was pressure in the air, for sure, but it was exciting, too.  Freestone observed, "Uh, American Girl dolls are just regular dolls that cost a lot of money."  Bingo.

Ptolemy wanted to go in the Disney Store, where we found $6 stuffed animals on sale.  Things like the minor monsters from Monsters, Inc., and washed-up princesses.  Each child chose one, and they all managed to find a good one.  Ptolemy found a cute little Nemo.  Perfect, since the only thing Tizzy wants to watch in the car is Finding Nemo.  She wails, "Nemo!  Nemo!  Nemo!  Nemonemonemo!"  Just like Nemo's dad.

When we walked to the Millenial Park to have a picnic of cold pizza from the night before, there was a press event starring Dale Earnhardt Jr., who if the interviewer is to be believed, has been the most popular racer in Nascar for 10 years.  He's certainly one of the only racers I've ever heard of.  It was fun to sit on the lawn and listen to the interview with all the excited fans.  Nascar is so big in that region, I mean 3 hours from the Indy 500, I thought there would be more people.  But downtown Chicago is hard to get to, as we found out.  Traffic in and out was heavy at all times, even Sunday night at 8:45!

Too soon, it was time to take Ruby and Scott to the airport.  Scott was wishing he could stay and continue on the adventure with us, but Ruby was anxious to get home and sleep in her bed for one night before heading off to girls' camp.  It took awhile to get to Midway, then it took another while to get out of the city going north to Milwaukee.

I had asked the kids if they wanted to go straight to Madison or take a little detour and see Milwaukee.  They voted for the detour, so we arrived in the city at twilight.  I had looked up a restaurant on diners, drive-ins and dives, but when we pulled up, it looked like...a dive.  Well, it's right there in the title of the show, right?  Taking 5 kids into a place that looked like a bar on Beck Street seemed ill-advised.  We seemed to be in a Hispanic neighborhood from the signs.  We found a darling little Mexican place with a patio.  It had just rained hard and the golden light glistened off the water and illuminated church steeples and water fountains.  The kids were relaxed and happy in the outdoors, and the food was cheap and delicious.  When the little kids went to the restroom, Ari and I kicked back at the table.  I said, "Well, here we are in Milwaukee."  For some reason, I captured that moment with beautiful Ari and the magic time of day, and I'll always remember it.

We got to Madison too late to see anything, which was disappointing to me, but I've been there a number of times, and I had to remind myself that the kids didn't care.  They were only too happy to lay their heads down on the soft, clean pillows at the Springhill Suites, and so was I, because the next day was our big driving day.  I love to drive, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't sleepy.  Ya gotta get across the great plains somehow!