A couple Pictures

These are a couple pictures Marc took with his phone. The top one is their seal friend. They petted this guy. He barked at them and Chase talked (barked) to him too.

The next one Marc sent to me in my e mail and titled it mohawk fisherman.

Our last night.....

We can't believe it. We are going home tomorrow. It seems like just yesterday we were getting in the car with all our stuff ready to go. We went through 12 different states. We traveled over 5000 miles. We laughed, we broke a foot, we saw some bears, we made some friends and we have memories that will last a lifetime.
We spent our last couple days in San Diego. Yesterday Marc and Chase went fishing. They ended up making a seal friend who followed them around and they fed all their bait to him. Not much fishing done. Saige and I went to La Jolla. We walked around a bit. She has a big boot on now in additon to her crutches so it was kind of hard for her. We had fun though. Last night we went to our friend Chris's friends house for dinner in Coronado. They had a really cute little girl that the kids played with.
Today Marc took both kids out seal watching. They all caught fish and had a lovely day on the boat. I hung out here and got our stuff packed and that kind of stuff.
Tonight we ended our trip in the same restaurant we started in (just in a different state). We ate at P.F. Chang's and talked about our trip. Everyone had different funniest parts and different favorite places. Chase really loved the baby bear in the Grand Tetons, Marc and I loved Santa Monica and Saige had a great time at Universal. There were so many funny things that happened on our trip and we laughed about them, Marc thinking a the song "The Stars Go Blue" was called "The Stars Go Boo." was one of my favorites.
We are all looking forward to going home too. Chase can't wait because he has two of his best buddies in his homeroom this year, Jake and Matthew. Saige can't wait to see her friends. We all miss our doggies. Mostly I think we all want to sleep in our very own comfy beds.
We have another little trip still ahead. Two days after we get home we go to New York for the weekend for a wedding. As soon as we get back, the very next day school starts. Summer is over, but our adventures are not.........

Sunday in San Diego

Today we took all the kids and went out to lunch. Chase and Tristan were like two peas in a pod. Tristan (our friend Dave's youngest who is 10) reminded me a lot of Chase's friends from home. They had a really good time together. We all went to the beach and they played in the waves and built sand things and played tag.
Around 6 they had to go back to their mom's house. Marc, David, Saige, Chase and I went to La Jolla to meet some friends of David's for dinner. We had the best time. It was interesting because we have been together as a family so much this month. We have had an awesome time and it has been amazing, but something really nice was to hang out with friends too. It was so nice to just talk and laugh. I read this quote today by Gerlett Burgess and he said, "Love is only chatter, friends are all that matter." Now, I don't believe that love is only chatter but I do love my friends. All of you. See you soon.

South Mission Beach

We are in the final portion of our trip. We got into San Diego yesterday. We are staying here in South Mission Beach at our friend David's house. He has three kids that are here for the weekend. This is wonderful for Chase because he has two friends to play with now, 10 year old Tristan and 12 year old Christopher. Saige is having a hard time with her foot now. It is hard because she can't do all of the fun stuff that they are doing. Earlier we went out to lunch and the restaurant was a mile down the boardwalk. Marc sat Saige on a bike, propped her leg up and pushed her down. It was a really good idea. Marc's friend Chris is here in Coronado so last night he came over and we all just hung out.

House in Venice Beach

This is a picture of the living room in the house we stayed in. It is a very cool house owned by a director and an author. As a welcoming gift they left one of the books that she wrote. It looks really cute. I have not read it yet though. We have loved staying here.

A really good ending......

to a really bad day. This is the before picture. Now I am going to tell you all something that won't be a big surprise if you know us at all. Saige broke her foot. Yes, that's right. Emergency room, cast, crutches, the whole nine yards. It all started out so peacefully. We dropped the kids off at surf camp. We went home, dropped the car off, got our bikes and rode back to the beach because they were having a surf competition for the last day. We sat ourselves down and let the festivities begin, Saige was in the first heat, she was kicking butt, doing so well, riding the waves like a pro. Then, her last run, she didn't realize how shallow the water was and jumped off her board and came down the wrong way on her ankle. The story of our life. Tears, Marc carry's her to shore. Ankle swells up. Hospital. The rest you can guess.

The day went down hill from there. I won't bore you or bum you out with the details but in two words I don't like my kids to use "It Sucked."

Guess what though? We had fun in the end. We had dinner reservations, thank goodness it had been a plan. And Chase, my Chase, when all hell was breaking loose looks at me and in all seriousness goes, "Are we still going out to dinner tonight?" He knew there was lobster in the future and he wasn't sure if he too was getting sca-rewd. We did go out to dinner and and had the best time. At this point we could giggle at the crappiness of the day and reflect back on all the fun we have had. We took a bunch of pictures, Marc and Saige were sitting next to each other and all their pictures are adorable. Chase was in one of his silly mood's and making all sorts of goofy jesters in the pictures. He's so bad. But we love him so.

Tomorrow we are off to San Diego. We get to see our good friend David so we are so looking forward to that. Then soon after we will be back on the east coast. See you all soon.

I mentioned earlier that.....

Chase got a haircut. I forget to mention that it is a little bit of a mohawk. Marc took him into the place, while I waited in the car because we were parked illegally. When they came out Chase had his t-shirt over his head so I couldn't see. Then he showed me. Marc said he was very particular about how it was done. I think it looks adorable but I said to him, "Chase, you know you might have to get that cut off before school starts." He looked at me and said, "No I don't. Everyone has different haircuts. This is just a haircut.." I do love how his mind works. My sweet little punk, first the earring, now the mohawk. When he went to camp this morning no one even really said anything. A couple of the counselors said it looked cool but other than that not an eyelash was blinked. I do love California.

Thursday in So. Cal

Saige made a good buddy at camp. Of course they requested a play date that turned into a sleepover. So typical of her, she is a friend magnet. All three of them played and played in the ocean for two hours after camp, little fish and have been playing non stop since. The fun part is her dad Rod Stewarts drummer. How cool is that?
They are out on the roof terrance now making a rock video. They just came in and informed us that it will be about vampires and not to be scared if it looks scary because it is just pretend. It is really nice for Saige, her and Chase have done great together but a friend always makes things much more interesting.
Tomorrow is our last full day here. We will be so sad to leave. We have loved every minute of it.

Wednesday

We had another great day yesterday. Pretty much the same, kids to surf camp, me to yoga. Lunch, some haircuts for Marc and Chase. Today when we picked up the kids from camp we went to the Santa Monica Pier. There are a bunch of rides and games and they had a fun time. I can't believe in a week from today we will be home. It seems like so so long a go that we left. Today at home the letters from school saying what teacher everyone got came out. Of course the kids want to know who is in their classes so I got a chance to call some of my friends and chat and see who their kids got. That was nice because I miss everyone.

Another gorgeous day in Southern California

Today was very much like yesterday. Marc dropped me off at yoga class, then the kids at camp, then he went and did a few things. After yoga, I shopped, I went into this great store Lululemon. All the girls in there do yoga, the company pays for them to go to any classes they want. Anyway, the one girl gave me a recommendation of a class she said I would like. I actually went to that one too today and it was awesome. Marc came and met me for lunch, then we went to the beach to watch the kids at camp and hang out. We went there and sat in the sun and watched people. We have seen the same few people for the last couple days. There is a group of boys around Chase's age that like to throw sand balls at each other. Today the one kid got hit in the eye with one and cried for like fifteen minutes about it. I felt like yelling, "Suck it up kid." But I didn't. Then there is this guy and his kid who wears a cool hat and they just play in the sand. Then our personal favorite this blond haired guy who does push-ups and a lot of shadow boxing at the waters edge. He also does this very stange move kind of like a dance with his hands. He cracks us up. That is a picture of him at the top. We really enjoy him.
Marc and the kids built a sand car. We watched big huge pelicans fishing and got some sun.
After all that Marc dropped me at yoga again, for my second class of the day then he took the kids to El Pollo Loco, "The Crazy Chicken" a high class place that doled out tokens if you wanted to use the facilities. I am sorry I missed that one. He also took them to the Pier and they had time for one ride. They went on the roller coaster.

And on the 7th Day God Created.....

Surf Camp! Today was Saige and Chase's first day of surf camp. It started at 9 a.m. which was very early for my two night owls. They got up like champs though and off we went. We had their lunch packed, sunscreen in the bag and dropped them at the beach. Chase said to me before, "I really want to do surf camp, the only thing is sometimes shark's think the surfboard is a seal." I responded with, "You'll be fine, I wouldn't send you if I thought a shark would eat you." He seemed fine with that. I don't know what he was talking about, I am constantly calling him when he is in the water to come in closer. As soon as he gets to the beach he is as far out as I will let him go. Anyway, there were a bunch of kids and cool surf teenagers running the show, my kids couldn't have been any happier. Marc and I went and hung out for a bit in town, he had some coffee and then dropped me off at yoga. He picked me up when it was over and then we went to Santa Monica and walked around and had lunch. It was lovely. It is our anniversary today. So it was nice to hang out.
We went and met them at the beach at around2:30. We all sat in the sun, the kids swam more. There were a ton of dolphin really close to the shore playing. It was about 80 degrees, not a cloud in the sky. Saige and Chase caught sand crabs and played really nicely.
We are home now. Everyone is cleaned up and tired. We were going to go to the Santa Monica Pier but I think we might save that for a night when they are not quite so sleepy.

Venice Beach

We got to Venice Beach around 9 tonite. We got in the house and it is super cool (pictures to be posted later). One small glitch, no tv in the master. This is a problem for us. We like our tv before bed. I know many people don't but we do. When I got the house, it said there was a tv in the master, this is a deal breaker. But guess what? Marc finds a tv in the downstairs closet, I swear to God, he hooks it right up and we are in business.
Okay, it is dark here now so it is hard to see but we took a little walk up between the houses. It is a street where there is not street. There are alleys behind the houses on both sides. Between the houses that face each other there is a sidewalk. In the dark it looks adorable. Julia Roberts has a house on this street. There was filming going on in one of the houses. There was a film crew at the front door, we could hear them talking (the kids were spying! Not us, of course.) They were filming whoever it was going in their front door. So they call me out to see what is going on. When we get back, guess what? We had locked ourselves out of the house! The door locked automatically. Behind the house in the alley there is this huge gate that has a remote to get your car in and out of. We had closed the gate and the remote was inside. This sucks. Really. The kids want to try and climb the fence, which has pointy tops. I can just imagine this, Saige goes up, gets caught, falls, and then on top of being locked out we have to deal with the emergency room. Been there, done that. No thank you. While we (the kids and I) are walking around like chickens with our heads cut off Marc gets in by jimmying a door open with an old drivers liscense. Add that to his list of credentials. Thank God.
Marc took the kids and went to the grocery store. I got my first bout of homesickness. I missed my dogs, and my room and my friends and my Mommy. Luckily I checked my e mail and I had a letter from one of my yoga buddies and it was long and made me smile and then I felt better.

Univeral City

Today we spent the day at Universal Studios. My friend Lisa had just been there in June and told me before we went to definitely get the VIP passes so we could go to the front of the line for everything. Let me tell you, money well spent. When we first got there we went to this nice room that had pastries and drinks so we could get settled and meet our guide. Our guide was with us most of the day, he made sure we saw all the best shows and went on all the best rides, and there was no waiting! It was the totally worth it. One of their favorites was the Jurassic Park ride.

They got very wet! Another favorite was the Back to the Future ride. It is actually being retired and the park is putting in a Simpsons ride. One guy on our tour came specifically for that ride. Hmm.... Anyway, I went on it with them the second time they went on. I kept my eyes closed through most of it. It was cool, you were in this "Delorean" and a huge movie screen was in front of you. The car was raised up and moving and it made it feel like you were flying through the air. Going into a lava pit, in a dinosaurs mouth. The whole time Chase was saying, "Come on Mom, this is the coolest part. Open your eyes." It was fun. Kind of.

We also went on the backlot tour. We saw Wisteria Lane, the famous NYC street scene, King Kong, where they filmed War on the Worlds and all sorts of other cool things. One really cool part was the props room. Kazillions of props.Here is the picture from American Pie. A lot of the props had tags on them saying who wanted them for what show. We saw stuff saved for "Old Christine," "That's So Raven, " and our personal favorite, "Weeds".

All in all it was a really fun day. There were a million people there. It was very similar to a day at Great Adventure (which I hate, bah humbug) but with that great pass and the movie stuff it was actually really cool.

LA Update

Okay we have been in LA less than 5 hours and we have two star sightings. I thought they were worth mentioning because cheesy as it may be it is still fun. First, Marc goes to the chiropracter as soon as we get here, all the driving did a number on his back. Guess who he see's? Robert Downey Junior on Santa Monica Blvd. Good, but I didn't see him so not great.
Like I said, this is the cutest place ever. It is in West Hollywood, it is on kind of a side street out of the way. I read all sorts of reviews on it and they said lot's of musicians stay here because it is out of the way. Well, it is only 5 floors. The 5th floor being the pool, which is enchanting with tables and star lights and a beautiful view. We are staying on the 3rd floor where the restaurant is located. The most charming little place with comfy tables and a fireplace with seats and a table around it. Also there is one guy, this older Italian gentleman who literally did everything, he was the waiter, he was the bartender, he delivered the room service and I swear he must have been back there cooking too. So obviously it was taking a while to get our food, meanwhile this woman sitting in front of the fireplace with this adorable little dog, a chiau chiau (sp?) who was a light blue and looked like a miniature Weimerainer came over and started talking to us, in such a west coast fashion. Immediately telling us about herself and asking us questions, I had the dog on my lap in about 2 minutes. The dog by the way, was wearing this killer little sweatshirt that looked like it belonged on a rock star. Anyway, we are talking and all of the sudden she leans over and starts whispering in my ear, "Don't turn around but Steve Buscemi is over in the corner reading a newspaper." It takes everything to not look at that exact moment, but I don't because I don't want to appear uncool, although for my first star sighting that is exactly what I am. Anyway, we chat for a while, I do look and sure enough Steve is hanging reading his paper. It is going to be fun here. I can tell. Some Steve Buscemi movies for those of you who don't know, "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry," "Fargo." "Sin City." "Big Fish." "Charlotte's Web." some of the "Spy Kids" and like 35 more.

Coast to Coast Baby!

Well we made it. We are in California. I can't believe we are finally here. So far we logged like 4400 miles. It wasn't to bad of a drive from Las Vegas, lots of desert. We hit the normal LA traffic when we got here but even that wasn't that bad. We are staying in the cutest hotel here in West Hollywood for the night. It is called Le Parc Suite Hotel and it is lovely. We are staying here for one night because tomorrow we do the Universal Studio Tour and then from there we will go to Venice Beach for a week.
I have to say I really need to do some laundry. The hardest part of this whole trip so far is the constant packing and unpacking. I try to keep everyones stuff that they need for each place in little bags and the big bags in the car. It is amazing though how much we need for even one night, the clothes for everyone, bathing suits, a whole suitcase of toiletries, my blender of course, snacks for the kids (and Marc), the computer, my camera bag, the list goes on and on. It will be really nice to be somewhere for a whole week.
The kids are totally chilled out watching this High School Musical Movie that they have been waiting to see for a long time.
I am glad to be here. So far our trip has been great fun but the driving was a lot. I am glad to have that portion behind us. From here on out we have entered the beach part of our vacation. Yeah....

Chillin' by the pool

It was really hot today. We decided to just hang by the pool. It was so hot then even if you were sitting in the sun for a while and decided to get up if you got up to quick you could get a head rush. The kids stayed in the water the whole day. The only time they got out was to sit in this big comfy chair and eat their lunch. They made some friends from California and I read my book.

After it cooled down a bit, to about 110 degrees we got showers and went out to dinner. We went to the MGM Grand so the kids could see the lions. It was actually reallly cool. We learned they had just spent 9 million dollars for the new lion habitat. It has places to climb and play and water features. It is surrounded by sound proof plexiglass so the lions don't have to listen to what is going on outside. There are two lions in there at a time and they switch them once a day. There are 13 sets of lions and when they are not at the casino they live on a huge ranch outside of Las Vegas. They looked like they were having fun, playing with each other and playing with these huge dog toy looking things. It was cute.

Tomorrow we leave for California. It is our last big drive and it is really not even that long. I am glad about that, we have had some long drives.

Paris?

Are we in Paris? No of course not. But that's what we told the kids. What do they know? They are just kids. No, of course we didn't do that. Saige and I went down to the strip today and walked around. We went shopping and had lunch. We also got our caricature done.

Marc and Chase went out with Marc's friend, they rode around in a lamborghini murcielago. It was the highlight of Chase's day. It is not a big fish but apparently equally as satisfying. Chase was also fascinated by all the tall buildings. We are not in Wyoming anymore. He keeps asking if we are going to go to "the lottery". This is what he thinks the casinos are called. I keep trying to explain to him that kids can't go to the casino. He is trying to push Marc and I into going. I think he wants us to win big. Fortunately the place we are staying has no casino so I don't think there will be much gambling for us. We are nice and relaxed here. We just ordered some room service and are hanging in. Tomorrow I think we are going to show them Venice. Who knew this would be such a cultural trip?

Culture Shock

We got into Las Vegas last night around 11:30. It was not a bad drive this time, only 4 1/2 hours. That's nothing for us now. We went through Utah and then Arizona, when we were about 30 miles outside of Vegas and it looked like we were driving into daytime because of all the lights. As we were coming to our hotel we passed the Bellagio and all the fountains were going off, it was a nice way to come in. Marc has a friend here who got our room for us, it is really nice with a kitchen and a seperate living room and the gym has a stairmaster. I am so happy. We are still trying to get Saige up now, she is very tired. I want to take her and go hang out by the pool and then go shopping and Marc is taking Chase to look at all the high end car lots in Vegas. That seem's to run a close second to fishing as of things they like to do.

part three

After all our adventures on the boat the sky started to get dark. We headed back to the dock to get the boat out of the lake. The kids and I waited with the boat while Marc went to get the car and the trailer. Now Marc had been fishing all day, he went through a tremendous amount of trouble to get the boat, get it in the water etc.... he really love's fishing, this is obvious. So, he is off getting the car and We are standing on the dock and Saige noticed a bunch of fish swimming around us. Chase threw the rod in. In about 3 minutes pulls out this bigmouth bass. He was so happy. Thankfully Marc got back in time to see it and help get it back in the water. Also, I was glad it started to rain or who knows how long we would have had to be on that dock.

Part two

One of the first things we did was let the kids go tubing. They had a really good time. Chase just wants to go faster and faster. It is a little to fast and bumpy for me. They really like it though. Saige had a couple wipe outs.

After that little thrill ride Marc stopped at the gas station/store thing in the middle of the lake. He and the kids got out and went in to ask the people about fishing. During this time I lied on the front of the boat. It was really sunny and beautiful out. I was completely happy there. I could have been there all day. Luckily the computers were down so it took a little extra time.

When they got back we took off again and went and parked the boat to fish. The kids and I climbed up high on the rocks. That was really fun too. Marc fished, caught one little one.

So, now the sky is getting dark in the background. It is time to head back.

On the way back Marc was having a little glass of Baileys. He was letting the kids take turns driving the boat. It was Saige's turn, she was standing and steering the boat and Marc was sitting right behind her on the top of the seat. We were behind another boat and he was trying to explain keeping between their wake. She veered off a bit and went directly into this huge wake. Marc went flying across the boat, the bailey's went flying. No one was steering the boat, it was on it's own. I was trying to get myself over to the wheel because I had not landed on the floor. Marc was yelling, "Everything is fine! It's fine." I had this huge flashback of being in like 9th grade and my friends father was burning leaves and he actually sent the back of their yard on fire. As we could here the fire trucks coming down the road he was still saying, "Everything's under control." Yeah right. Anyway, we obviously got it under control because here I am writing about it. I was laughing so hard though I had tears running down my face. That's us, the inmates running the asylum.

Lake Powell (A three part play)

Lake Powell. Part One. Lake Powell is this really amazing lake that is surrounded by these huge rock/clay formations. It is situated in the northern part of Arizona and runs up into Utah. It is not only the lake that is interesting to look at but driving there you pass all sorts of formations and canyons. So much in fact that we just told the kids that it was the Grand Canyon so we could bypass that.

We had gone back and forth a bunch of times about even going to Lake Powell because the weather was supposed to be bad. It turned out that it was beautiful. We wanted to rent a boat for the day. There were none left at the place where we were staying at so we had to go into town. They guy just had Marc sign a paper and hitched this big boat to our car. We had to get it in the water. It was a little scary but Marc did it. So far so good.

Let Me Tell You Something

about driving through Utah at night. First of all, I know I said Wyoming was desolate. It's got nothing on Utah. In Wyoming we would see cows, horses, deer. Utah, well, there were signs for deer. No real deer though. The signs that said there were deer all had bunches of bullet holes in them. That was comforting. Also, through all the other states, even when there was nothing, every 100 miles or so you would see an exit with all the friendly little square signs telling you they have gas, or food, or lodging, or maybe a hospital. In Utah when there was a sign for an exit underneath would be a big sign that said NO SERVICES. That too, made up feel welcome.

This picture does not do it justice, it was taken while driving at night, so it is blurry. It was the most insane sunset I have ever seen. It literally looked like we were driving off the edge of the earth into a pit of lava. It was bright red. And right to the left of it were huge bolts of lightening that would hit every few minutes. We saw one bolt that landed on the top of a mountain and smoke was curling up. All this lightening led to a huge downpour. The rain was pouring and the wind was so intense that at one point it felt like it was under the wheels of the car. Meanwhile there were big trucks swaying back and forth. It wasn't much fun. The one mildly amusing part was with all the movies and games and whatever we have with us Saige and Chase took this time to play throw the empty water bottle in the dark and see who can hit the other one in the head. That wasn't to annoying, at least it kept them busy.

We drove and drove through some of the most unsettling roads we have been on. During the day it might have been beautiful, who knows Marc might have seen a koala or two, but at night it was just plain scary. It was pitch black and really late. I was so tired but couldn't go to sleep, because if I went to sleep who would announce to Marc the speed limit everytime there was a sign? He totally loves when I do that. We even took it upon ourselves to get lost getting to the hotel. When we arrived the clock said 2:45 a.m. Guess what? At first the woman at the desk couldn't find that we had a room because her computer was down. Ready for the silver lining? When we got in our room, and we did the clock said 2 a.m. we had crossed our last time zone and gained an hour. Yeah.

Today better be fun, that's all I can say.

My last fishing story (I hope)

Our last day in Aspen turned out to be a good one for everyone. Saige and I went shopping. She made out quite well. After a successful hour or two we were sitting on a bench having a drink and chatting. I asked her what her favorite part of the trip was so far. She thought for a moment and then she said, "I have to say, my favorite part has been shopping with you." Ah (as bells ring somewhere above) a girl after my own heart.
Guess what Marc and Chase did? You guessed it. Fishing again. They could hardly wait to get out the door. They were supposed to be back around 1:15-1:30 to get on the road. By 3 I was starting to get nervous. No calls, no answering the phone. No nothing. A little after 3 my phone rings and it is Chase. Of course. We all know I will never be mad at him. He says, "We caught like 20 fish Mom." Then the line goes dead. Marc told me later that when he hung up he goes, "I lost her. She's fine." So, anyway, they had a really successful day, fish just waiting in line to take their bait. To good to leave.
During their excusion Chase posed that age old question to Marc, "How did the first fish get here?" The old which came first the chicken (fish) or the egg? This turned into a whole conversation on evolution vs. creation. So typical of Chase, for all his scratching and silliness he loves to delve into the deepest of subjects. A couple days before we left he had me reading to him before bed from Dr. Brian Weiss's, "Many Minds, Many Masters" He had so many questions about past lives. I just don't know where he get's it from. No, I do.

Monday Morning

We decided what to do. Marc and Chase are going fishing for a few hours. Saige and I are going shopping. We are going to leave for lake Powell at about 2:00. It will take us about 8+ hours so we won't get there until late. It is supposed to be so beautiful we don't want to miss it.

Another successful fishing day

Marc and the kids had a great day fishing. Chase had his pole in and before Marc even had his pole ready Chase had a rainbow trout on his line. They threw that back in and continued catching fish all day. Saige got one too. After that they went and got fish fillets at McDonalds and took a couple bites and put the rest in the dumpster as bear bait. They are bound and determined to see a bear out there. They also went and cleaned out the car. A dirty car drives Marc crazy. You can imagine what ours looked like after 3000 miles of driving. It looks brand new now.
We are having a little agenda problem because we are not sure the weather looks good for the next place we are supposed to go. I have been working on an alternate plan all day.

Sunday in Aspen

It took everyone a while to get moving today. Last night we went out to dinner and when we got home Marc and the kids were trying to see bears. Apparently they come into town and go through the dumpsters in the alley behind here. They didn't see any but they told me they were up late on missions. One time when they went out Chase absentmindidly went out in his underwear (boxers). Marc looked at him and said, "Buddy, your in your underwear, there are people out here." The bears won't care what he had on.
This morning the kids played go fish together for a while. They do so well for a bit but inevitably someone doesn't give all there three's or whatever when asked and then the game goes downhill.
Marc took them to go fishing somewhere now. I opted to stay home and chill out.

Biking Torture Day

It all started out so nicely. We thought, "Let's go on a nice bike ride through Aspen." It seemed like such a good idea. Everyone was excited for about the first 8 miles. We just didn't realize how far we were going. In the beginning they were so happy, all smiles. Chase and Marc were trying to one up each other with no hands tricks. It reminded me of The Muppet Movie, that I saw when I was like 8. Kermit and Miss Piggy were riding bikes in the park. Kermit was trying to impress Piggy with some tricks. Those two Muppet Judges were sitting there and the one goes to the other, "Look Mom no brains." That would be Marc and Chase.

It was a beautiful ride, first we rode all around a neighborhood with these adorable houses and they all had the most gorgeous landscaping and flowers. It was like something out of a storybook. After that we got on a trail, it followed a river all around the side of the mountain. There were places on the mountain that fresh water ran off of. It was lovely. Until it was time to head back. Oh there were tears, there were, " I can't do it." "I am tired." and my personal favorite, from Chase of course, "My butt hurts." We took breaks. We practiced breathing and one incredibly kind girl who was running shared her water with us. It was extreme test of fortitude for them. They made it. Now they are very proud of themselves. We are proud of them too. Saige did say, "Are we going for a bike ride tomorrow?" She had a look of fear in her eyes. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

For those interested

Here are a couple pictures of where we are staying in Aspen. It is so nice to be out of a hotel for a bit. This is the cutest little town ever. This morning I walked to this beautiful Yoga studio called O2. It was a very nice class. It felt great to stretch out after all that driving. Everything in this town is cute, the houses, the stores, the restaurants and it all falls in front of the gorgeous back drop of the Rockies.

Today we are going to go for a bike ride all over the place. I don't even want to look at that car. Our friends have bikes so we are going to get them out and just go exploring. When I was walking home this morning I saw there was a little street fair going on so we have to check that out. Also we need to investigate the restaurants and try to get a reservation for dinner.

We're back

Okay, we have been driving all day. All day through Wyoming, which I have already explained and the northern part of Colorado. They are both beautiful but I could not get an internet connection to save my life. Going through Colorado was similar to Wyoming because there wasn't much in the way of people or businesses. It is absolutely amazing to look at though. It is very green and mountainess. There were tons of cows and horses and deer. At one point Marc swerved off the road and was so excited he was yelling, "Oh my God, did you see? A kangaroo!"
I was laughing so hard. "A kangaroo, do you know where we are?" I said. To his credit these deer type animals did really resemble kangaroos. They had big ears and they hopped like kangaroos do. But really, a kangaroo in the Rockies? He said, "Well, you know with the kangaroo farms." I do not watch the amount of Animal Planet as he and Chase do, but if there were such farms I thought maybe I would have heard about them somewhere. Oh well, the kangaroo type deers were really cute.
Our car ride was a long one. The kids were getting on each others nerves a little bit. Well really Chase getting on Saige's nerves. We stopped to get them lunch and when we got in the car we had been driving for a few minutes and I noticed they didn't have their seatbelts on, so I told them to put them on. It was taking Chase longer than Saige thought necessary so she yelled, "Chase, Mommy told you to put on your seatbelt!" He was like, "Saige! Hold on, God, I am scratching my butt." Oh Chase, Chase, Chase. That is all I can think of to say. He got completely punch drunk by the end of our drive. We had 20 miles left and he couldn't stop laughing. He was being so silly.
It is now 10:30 at night and we just arrived at our friends Steve and Tamar's ultra cool chataeu in Aspen, Co. We are staying here for the weekend and we are so happy because the town looks adorable (chock full of stores and restaurants) and this place is amazing.

Last full day in Wyoming

So we had our last full day here. We did the Yellowstone thing again. It was fun, the kids swam by this waterfall while Marc fished. Saige made some friends. It was a good last day. Tomorrow we are going to do the gondola ride then get on the road. I am a little apprehensive about our drive to Colorado. All that nothing. I am literally at the last 35 pages of the book I have been reading. I hope my next book is good.
Okay, here is my take on Jackson Hole. I loved it. It was really great. Marc loved it more. He wants to come back and camp here. No thank you for me. I would definitely come back here and stay at the cushy Snake River Resort or Teton Lodge and Spa, but camping, not so much. This is totally his thing, all outdoorsy, what with the fishing. I love that I was here, I would come back and do things we didn't have time to do, but, I am fine with leaving. Also, if you are coming here and you should, think long and hard about driving from anywhere but the Jackson airport. If you are fine alone with your thoughts and those spoken thoughts of your loved ones for a long long time with not a thing to see for hours upon end then have at it. The next time we come here it will be in the comfort of an airplane.

Jaded

We are jaded by moose. You literally can't swing a dead raccoon around here without seeing a moose. Day One: We see a moose, we are very excited, stop the car, take pictures. Talk about it for an hour. Day two: See a moose , get somewhat excited (really thinking about bears) snap a photo or two. Day three: See cars parked along the road, lean out the window, ask someone what is there. "Oh, a moose, okay, thanks have a good day. Drive on. Oh my, isn't that a sin? We are totally bypassing the moose(es) I don't know if there is a plural for moose. This particular one we actually named. Marvin. He is there when we enter the park, he is there when we leave. He seems to like licking the road. I don't know why. He's a moose for goodness sake. Who knows why they do what they do. He was cute though. We are going to miss him. Kind of, he did block traffic a lot. We are from the east coast, we may be on vacation but we are still always subconciously in a hurry. You know it's the truth.

More Bears and a Moose You Can See

Today was quite the animal seeing day. We saw the most adorable Mommy and baby bear. The baby was following the mommy all over the place. Sometimes he would linger somewhere and all of the sudden realize she had moved ahead and go scampering after her. Chase said it made his day and he just couldn't stop thinking about that baby. Here's a little FYI - don't be tricked by the names of the bears, a black bear or a grizzly bear could be any color, blond, black or brown. So there you have it. Also, many of the animals are tagged. I think they tag all the bears to track them. The collars are made to break off as the bear grows. Also, when a park ranger sees an animal by the road he will stay and "babysit" it. He will make sure it doesn't get hit and people don't get to close.

I am afraid of....

Heights. I knew I didn't like heights before but I didn't realize I could actually have a physical reaction to them until now. We took a drive way way way up the mountain. As we were driving up and I could see over the side my stomach started to feel slightly sick. When we got to the top there was a ramp to walk up to this look out point. As long as I stayed on the way left side I could be up there but I could not even have forced myself to walk next to the edge. When the kids were sitting here my legs started to shake. I just wanted them to get away from the side. So crazy. I am not sure how I am going to feel about the Grand Canyon. Uh oh. Good thing we are only spending the afternoon there.....

Hello Bear!

Wednesday was bear day. We drove into the park again. There are two main roads that run through Grand Teton park. On each one there are all these different turn offs. You don't really know what you are going to see. We took one that went a few miles through the forest. We ended at the base of Jackson Lake. It is beautiful. There is a rock beach and the water and people can take there boats in off it. We stopped there for quite a while. The kids swam. The water was freezing. This does not ever seem to even affect Chase. He goes right in like it's nothing. He told Saige it was just like our pool. When he lured her in he said he mean't the day we opened it. He taunted her until she got in and played for a bit but it was to cold for her. Marc fished and I read my book and we just hung out, it was very relaxing.

On our drive out we saw this little guy. He was just sitting on the hill eating. He saw us and just sauntered on by. He is a black bear. Saige learned that black bears snouts are straight and grizzlys have a curve to theirs.

We are fishing again at the dam. No luck yet. Chase just came up and told me he caught a fish with his hands. He said, "Don't worry Mom, I let it go. It was sick." Lovely.

Flick pix

We are up on Flickr. You should be able to link to it from the side. It is not showing up for me so if you go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/11120953@N04/?saved=1 that should be the direct link.

Old Faithful

After our fishing success we made our way up into Yellowstone Park. These parks are enormous. You have to drive through The Grand Teton Park to get to Yellowstone. It takes quite a while. All along the way is the most beautiful scenery. We did see a moose on the way in. I got a good picture of it. I will post it on Flickr. I am almost up and running on that, I had to open a new account. I will post the link tomorrow. We passed waterfalls, and a huge canyon. We made our way up to Old Faithful. We got lucky and it went off right as we sat down.

After we saw it go up we decided to take the walk and see Morning Glory which is the absolutely beautiful geyser. It was a 3 mile roundtrip walk. I was psyched because we had left before I had time to go to the gym. Everyone agreed they wanted to go. It was really interesting. The whole way along are different geysers that were just so amazing, the colors, the steam coming out of them. Some looked like little volcanos and some looked like beautiful pools of water. The walk went well, there was a bit of complaining about a half mile in. Suddenly Saige's toe had a problem and her lips were chapped. Chase kept wanting to "take a rest Mom." For a while Marc had to carry Saige on his shoulders because of the toe issue. At one point we could have veered off a little bit to see the river geyser and Chase says, "Come on, it's just another one of those things." I got a flash of being in Spain when I was in high school and after we had toured about 1001 churches my friend Suzy leaned over and said, "Ya seen one of these things, you seen 'em all." So I could feel for him. But we had gone that far, we had to trudge on. We made it to Morning Glory and it was worth the walk. That is the top picture.

After we were done there it was time to head back. We got home around 9:30. One little glitch was being pulled over. We were used to that though from yesterday when Marc got pulled over on the way up here. Yesterday he got a ticket and a fine. Luckily today was just a warning, they have his name though. Bad Marc. Don't tell me to tell him to slow down either, that's all I do.He just doesn't listen. He tried to justify it by saying, "Come on Amy we are on the road for a long time. Chances are we were going to get pulled over." I said, "Twice in two days, I didn't see that coming."

When we got back to the hotel we switched rooms. I am really not sure how he did it but he got us a free upgrade and now for the night we have this beautiful suite. There is a whole kitchen and living room with a murpy bed. There is a seperate room and bath. Ahhhh.... I don't quite understand how he does these things but it definitely made up for getting pulled over AGAIN.

Score!

Jenny Lake

Marc got both the kids these special sunglasses so they can see the fish in the lake. Here they are testing them out. They didn't see any yet but we are keeping our fingers crossed. If you can believe it Chase walked way out without remembering he had his regular shorts on. Nothing seems to faze him. Wet shorts? Who cares. There are fish to be seen.

We are now stopped at another possible fishing spot. They get so excited when they see a chance of fishing. It reminds me of finding a great yoga studio. We are now at the Jackson dam. The kids have on their bathing suits and are searching for rocks.

One more thing

Okay, we are stopped so I thought I would add something else. Marc and Chase like to stop and try to fish. Everytime they throw the rod in Chase swears he saw one. "I saw a little fish." This gives Marc hope because he usually responds by, "You know what they say Chase, where there are little fish there are big fish." They are a good team.

It is a absolutely gorgeous day out. The sun is shining and it is probably about 80. When you walk out our hotel all you see is mountains. It is lovely.

a REAL moose

Okay so this moose was definitely real. It was the first thing we saw when we got into The Grand Teton National Park. We saw it move. The picture is kind of dark. We got there when he was getting ready to move on.

driving to Jackson Hole

We had corn in Indiana, Iowa and Nebraska. In Wyoming there is just space. Fields, sky, endless space. And that is about it. For the first 3 hours or so I found it very peaceful. It was just so amazing to see everything for as far as you can see. Coming from the East Coast where you can't see the next street over this was incredible. At about hour 4 it started to freak me out. Working on only 4 hours sleep after a 17 hour drive didn't help either. It just started to make me feel uncomfortable. I wanted some sort of civilization. Throw me a bone, one Target, a Pier One, hell I would have taken a McDonalds. But no, nothing. So we drove and drove and drove. We did pass a bunch of cows, we saw some wild horses, deer, an antelope and a whole bunch of space. On our way into Jackson the sun had just set and we were surrounded by these beautiful mountains. All of the sudden Marc stopped the car really suddenly. He said, very excited, "Did you guys see that?" He points out the window and this huge moose is in a field across the road. He jumps out of the car followed by the kids and runs to the fence. I get out with my camera. It is getting dark, and kind of hard to see. We are moving close to the fence trying to see this magnificent creature. Marc actually starts to climb on the fence to get closer to the moose. This of course upsets Saige and I. Chase is egging him on. I get him to come away so we can leave. The thing is the moose has not moved. Not even an inch. At this point other cars are pulling over to see what is going on. As we are leaving I say, "that thing hasn't even moved an inch." "Is it real?" Chase and Saige vehemently insist that it is real. Chase claims to have seen it's tai move. We start to drive away and then actually turn back. We go to the other side of the fence and Marc shines his light right on the moose. Still hasn't moved an inch. And guess what? It doesn't even have a tail. Hmmmm. Me thinks something is not right. Well we are still not in agreement whether this creature is real or not. Chase says yes, I say no, Saige is a no, Marc is one the fence, the proverbial kind, fortunately we got him off the moose fence.

We are safe and sound at our hotel now. No driving until Friday, yeah!!

Later Monday

Here we are in Wyoming. Marc was actually doing some yoga poses on the rock. He even went so far as to sit cross legged and give a namaste. I am starting to forget how stressed out and unhappy he used to be. One of my favorite things about the trip so far is when his phone rings I don't tense up. No one has called to tell of a major catastrophe that is going on. He hasn't made one phone call that begins with, "How we doin' today?" It is like a huge weight lifted off him. He likes driving and hanging with us. He is happy now.

Monday in Wyoming

We drove yesterday for 17 and 1/2 hours. We traveled 1120 miles. We made it over the border of Wyoming at about 1 am. Really 3 our time but we went through two different time zones yesterday.

This morning we took our time. Got ourselves together and then got on the road at 11. We are on our way up to Yellowstone for a couple days before we go to Jackson Hole. On the way there we stopped at this really cool place called Vedawoo. It is all rock formations. Marc and the kids went way up one mountain. I am going to upload a bunch of the pictures to my flickr account. They had a great time. I am rather scared of heights so it was making me nervous. Chase said it was the best day of his life so far. Which really, that's saying a lot for Chase. He doesn't have it to bad.

We are stopped for lunch now in Laramie, Wy. Then we will get on the road again.

last one for today

Okay, as a final update. It is ten o'clock. We just stopped somewhere in the middle of Nebraska and had dinner. We ate at a place reminiscent of Outback called The Whiskey Barrell. It landed somewhere between and Outback and a Ground Round. It got us out of the car for a little bit. Saige had been going decidedly down hill before we stopped. It definitely cheered her up. They are in the way back of the car now. Lying on top of everything giggling uncontrolably. Chase is definitely punch drunk. With any luck he will be out soon. In fact Saige just asked, "Are we allowed to fall asleep?" Marc said, "It's encouraged." We are going to try to make it another three hours tonight. We want to get this done in two days instead of three so we have the extra full day in Jackson Hole. Alright. Over and out. See you tomorrow.

See God Kai

After much deliberation I have decided it is Jimmy crack corn. Not Johnny as I originally posted. Regardless there is enough corn for both Jimmy and Johnny and all their friends.
We recently stopped to get gas and are quite sure we saw Sammy the Bull Gravano buying a corn dog in the convience store. Don't tell anyone.
On another note. If anyone watches John from Cincinatti can you tell me if anything happens to Shaun? We are going to miss it.

Did you know?

that Casey Kasum was still alive? Now maybe I have been living under a rock but I had no idea this guy was still around. He is and he sounds exactly the same. You will never guess the hit that made it to number one that we heard him announce. Billy Don't Be A Hero. I haven't heard that song since the late 70's.

Here is a picture of Saige work. We are so proud.

We are in Nebraska now. We are in the beginning near Omaha so we are going through citys and stuff. It's nice because, nothing against Iowa, but I had about had it with all that corn. I have no idea who eats all that corn. Do you think there are more grains of sand or corn kernels on the earth? Food for thought.

And so it goes....

Johnny crack corn and I don't care. I have never understood that song but I think I get it now. You all need to drive through Iowa to understand it yourselves. I would be taking the fun out it for you were I to explain it now. So there you have it.
We are at the point of our car ride where everyone starts to go a little crazy. Marc is headbanging to The Twightlight Zone. Chase is nursing a hurt finger now. He claims Saige broke it. We of course don't believe him. After all she is a healer.
At one point Marc lost his cell phone. As you can imagine all hell broke loose. First he searched all around the seat, like he had ants in his pants. Then he decided to call it from his other cell phone. Phwee, it's in the car. We can hear it. He lets it go for a little bit, just happy he didn't leave it at the gas station. After a while he asks Saige to reach it under his seat. This is not as easy as one might think because she obviously has a ton of stuff at her seat. There is a lot of huffing and puffing and "Ow's!" as she tries to reach it. Marc says, "Just forget it!" "NO!, I have to get it!" Marc pulls over. Saige retrieves the phone. All is well in the universe again.
Marc just gave me the Monica and Ross top secret arm motion that they used on their parents when I read him my little excerpt.

Lunch and stuff

We are now heading through Iowa. Lunch really is the only thing to talk about. So what we did was see, we stopped at Subway. Saige got a turkey hoagie with amer. cheese, lettuce and tomato. Chase got a turkey hoagie (he fell off the wagon, he is going no red meat for now). He also mixed up an interesting drink out of the soda fountain which consisted of half cherry coke and half root beer. It really was quite tasty.
Now we are just passing many many fields. Fields with big billboards. Did someone named Bill invent the billboard? Is anyboby out there? Just nod if you can hear me. Is there anyone at home? Questions so many questions when you are on the road. Well, really just that one.
Saige and Chase have gotten the first aid kit out. Saige had to perform some sort of surgery on Chase's toe. I really trust her. She is good with blood. No, there is no blood. That's crazy, why would there be blood? She does want to be refered to as Dr. Schramm now though.
We are determined to make it well into Nebraska tonite. We want to make it to Jackson Hole by Tomorrow night. That's our goal.
Uh oh, Saige has the tongue depresser out now. She is gently placing (shoving-semantics) it down Chase's throat right now. He is fine. I am just trying to mind my own business.
We have heard many good old songs today, including but not limited to Landslide, Yesterday, and others that have completely gone out of my mind.

Corn, corn and more corn

Well we are in Illinois. There is a lot of corn here. That's really all......

Our first night and the start of Day 2

Last night we had a scrmptious dinner at P.F. Changs. Instead of eating their dinner Saige and Chase opted to give it the homeless gentleman outside. He seemed rather thankful until Chase dropped some lettuce on him and in Chase's words he used the "S" word in front of him. What is it they say about good intentions?

On our way in the concert there was this girl who was giving out free hugs. She said God gave her so much love she just had to share it. I think that made up for the foul mouthed hobo.

The concert was fun. Live was pretty good. The Counting Crows played a lot of songs that are coming out on their new album so we didn't recognize them. It started to rain and we were tired so we went back to our room. We could hear the end of the concert perfectly from our bacony and they finished up pretty strong.

Day 2- So far... We got a later start today. I got up first and went down to the gym in the hotel. Then I went back and found Marc and Chase watching some sponge Bob. For those of you who are interested there was a lot of teeth brushing, although Chase did try to get away with just chewing some mint gum. I was on to him though. Being the diligent parent that I am.

We are now on the road. We are driving through Indiana on our way to Jackson Hole. According to the nav and my mapquest we have 1474 miles left to go. It should take us about 24 hours to get there. We are not sure how long we are going to drive today. As long as we can. So far we are seeing a lot of trees and grass. That's it for now. I'll be back later.

Driving almost done for Day 1

Well day one driving is a little less than an hour. We just passed into Indianapolis. Our nav is saying we should be at the hotel in 60 miles. It was not bad. The kids did really well. We are going to see The Counting Crows, Live and Collective Soul tonight. We should be at the hotel in time to let them take a swim, eat some dinner and go.

Our third state counting Pa

So this is really officially our third state counting Pa. We went under the Welcome to West Virginia sign at exactly, and I mean exactly 300 miles from our driveway. This gave us great delight for some reason. During our short stint in West Virginia we bypassed another choice spot called The Golden Palace. If Marc hadn't been doing 120 when we saw the sign we totally would have stopped.

Back in Pa. Marc was a good samaritan. We stopped at our 2nd rest stop. My idea. There was this tow truck guy trying to get this poor woman's door open. She was standing outside holding a baby and there was another woman who seemed to be her Mother with another little kid. They had been there waiting for the guy to get the door open the whole time we were stopped. As we were pulling out Marc said to me, "Do you think I should ask if he need help? I am really good at that." You know, from when he used to steal cars. I said, "Yes, help if you can, but don't embarrass me by not being able to do it." So he asked the guy if he wanted help. The guy said, with a little irritation, I might add, "you can give it a try, but I have been doing this for 10 years and there something wrong with this car." Alright. Marc got it open in like 2 minutes. So, the moral of the story is, if you have to go to the bathroom, well, just do it. You never know what might happen at a rest stop. That was a long story about a rest stop huh?

On the road

Well we have officialy started our trip. We left at about six this morning. At first we had some technical difficulties. There was a slight problem with the computer, the keys were making numbers instead of letters. So Marc decided to fix it while we were driving (sorry Mom). We are back to good now. If this ever happens to you just hit shift and the numbers lock key and every little thing will be alright.
So far we have driven by a lot of farm houses and the one interesting place called The World of Pigeons. We did not stop though. We have stopped to go the bathroom. I really want to stop again but I don't have the heart to tell Marc. He hates to stop. One time on a trip to Florida he actually tried to bring some contraption for me to pee into. Needless to say it went unused. I just tried to drive a lot and stop whenever he was asleep. Is this to much information? Get used to it, we are going to be in the car a long time. Chase has asked what time it is every hour on the hour and at one point Saige felt like she was going to throw up. It is 10 after 9. We do have some good tunes though. How much more hours do we have? To many to count baby.

So they loaded up the Navigator........

Well the first thing you know old Marc did quit his job,

his wife Amy said, "Well we should get outta here."

She said, "California is the place we ought be."

So they loaded up the Navigator and went to Beverly

Well, Venice that is, beaches, yoga studios.......

Okay impatient one, and you know who you are, we have not left yet. We have about eight hours left before we go. Since I don't have any travel nuggets to entertain you with yet I thought I would share what Marc did to the car. I just love it. The truck is all loaded. Lucy went off to Sit Happens to play for the month. Mickey is here, I took it upon myself to give him a little good bye haircut. It looks good. I am adding dog groomer to my resume (ha ha to you too). My friend Donna is coming to take care of him. See you tomorrow.

T minus 2 and counting

We are down to a couple of days. We leave at about 6 a.m Saturday morning. I am pretty much done packing. As usual I have completely overpacked. I can't help myself. I just don't know what I will feel like wearing. Saige and Chase are really excited. So are Marc and I for that matter. It all seems so nice and easy on paper. I have everything charted out by the day. I hope all goes according to plan. I think it will.