2016 - Road Trip

Day 1

I can’t believe this is our 10th year of summer road trips! Epic adventures with my kids and their friends have been the highlight of my summers, but with my baby in high school with summer plans of her own, this may be our last cross-country trip. Luckily, the Hutcheson boys were able to join us on our journey from Indiana to Los Angeles - with a concentration on Colorado fun.

Today we left at 7 am and made it to the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum by 11 am. We ate some lunch at the Mark Twain Diner, visited the museums, and walked along the cute main street.

From there we made a beeline for Kansas City, first stopping at Prospero’s Books (because we all love books) and then picking up art supplies for tomorrow’s project. We finally settled into our hotel and the kids swam for a while before bed.

As we travel, Oliver and I are listening to MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN while Bonnie and Henry listen to their own music in the back seat. We occasionally have a music break where everyone gets to share a song, and I’m really impressed with the eclectic tastes of these teens -- they like everything from jazz to 80’s to punk pop.

That’s it for Day 1 -- off to bed for some rest before tomorrow’s fun begins!

Day 2

Our first stop this morning was the American Jazz Museum. Since Henry plays trumpet and Oliver “Cole” was named after Cole Porter, we anticipated an enjoyable time -- and we were not disappointed. The exhibits are interactive and “hands-on.” From listening to performances to creating your own at “mixing stations,” there is so much to see and do. The final exhibit is a documentary about the historically black neighborhood at 18th & Vine (the location of the museum). This documentary contrasted the vibrant community life against the bleak segregation of the public schools... which was the perfect transition to our next stop.

THE BROWN v BOARD OF EDUCATION NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE - The kids had all superficially studied this case and knew that it “officially” ended segregated schools, but this museum delves much deeper into the issues. From an analysis of the 5 other cases that joined Brown to a deeper look at some of the ridiculous Jim Crow laws, there was so much to learn there, and I will stop there again if I’m in the area.

Our next stop bridged the chasm of past hatred to current hatred. Bonnie has a heart for the LGBT community, and when she learned we were going to be near Westboro Church, she insisted on doing her own picketing. The boys jumped at the chance to join her - and they all made their own “love” posters. They stood outside Westboro for a little, then moved across the street to the Rainbow house. A worker there explained that the house next to the rainbow house was now a Trans house and would be painted pink and blue next week.

For lunch we stopped at Bobo’s Drive-In. It was slammed, so we grabbed the burgers and ate them our drive to...

The OZ MUSEUM. Honestly, with such film-literate travel mates, I was hoping this exhibit wouldn’t be too hokey. It is small, but PACKED with great history, memorabilia, and trivia from both the movie and the books. We all thoroughly enjoyed it.

Our final stop was the K-STATE INSECT ZOO. If you are ever in this area, it is totally worth the stop. There are a LOT of tarantulas, scorpions, roaches, and walking sticks as large as your forearm.

From here we started our trek to Colorado and almost made it (about 50 miles to the border). We encountered some bad weather (rain, hail, strong winds), but with Oliver as my co-pilot (and 2nd set of eyes), we managed to miss all of the drivers who decided to stop in the middle of the highway.

All-in-all, an educational and fun day.

Day 3

“The best laid plan of mice and men often go awry.” The plan for today was to explore Pike’s Peak - but as we pulled up to the toll road we learned that the Peak was closed for an auto race. So we reverted to our alternate plan and had a great time....

CLIFF JUMPING at Paradise Cove (or Guffey Cove near Cripple Creek)

I’ve loaded videos of the kids jumping, and they absolutely loved it! It was crowded, but the mainly with watchers - the kids only had to wait about 10 minutes to jump. And the crowd was fun and in good spirits - a group of soldiers on leave even offered me shots. I declined, of course, but thanked them for their kindness :)

After an afternoon of fun and scenic country roads getting from Cripple Creek to Canon City, we are tired and ready for bed.

Day 4

Our first stop today was the Royal Gorge. In 2013 everything burned down, so all of the attractions, visitors centers, etc., are new. We got there before the attractions opened and walked across the bridge. Then Oliver, Bonnie and I ziplined across the gorge to the other side. It was only going to be Oliver and Bonnie, but their age required an adult to ride with them. Lucky me. I was literally in tears at the thought -- then decided to just face my fears. I’ve ziplined in a lot of places, but this was the absolute best. It is more of a chair than a true zipline, so it was smooth and beautiful. Afterwards we all rode the gondola back to the north side and enjoyed a delicious lunch on the premises.

From there we went back to Pike’s Peak. In the future, I would most definitely take the advice to go up on the cog railroad. I didn’t think that we had time for a 6-hour round trip ride, but the years that I lost on that harrowing drive up would most definitely be worth the 6 hours of a train ride. It is 19 miles from the base to the top, and by mile 17 my little Prius couldn’t go faster than 17 mph. NOT that I WANTED it to go any faster -- but I nearly had a panic attack at the thought of trying to turn it around on the 2-lane death trap. But we eventually made it to the top and were rewarded with much cooler weather (88 degrees at the bottom, 55 at the top). Of course, I was in a cold sweat for much of the drive, so I appreciated the cooler temps. Needless to say, Pike’s Peak is now OFF THE LIST! Been there, done that, never again.

From there we headed towards Breckenridge to get ready for tomorrow’s surprise plans. The drive was beautiful -- across mountains and through a valley -- but we were very glad to get here and relax. We had dinner at Modis, and the kids are now swimming in the pool and wearing themselves out.

Day 5

Last night we stayed in Breckenridge at The River Mountain Lodge, and I highly recommend it if you need a place there. It is an older resort property, but in the middle of a renovation and right on the river next to the shopping/restaurant district. Perfect location and so far it was the kids’ favorite place to stay.

Our first stop today was Breckenridge Mountain where we enjoyed alpine slides, an alpine coaster, rock walls, a maze, etc.. This was a really fun, adventurous four hours and totally worth the drive and time. From there we headed to an event I had planned since February: the Snowmass Rodeo .

The plan was to arrive before 7 pm (2-hour drive from Breckenridge), and I had already confirmed with the rodeo that I could use the tickets I purchased for the 28th (tomorrow) on a different date. What I had FAILED TO REMEMBER is that the rodeo is only on Wednesday nights. The kids decided they did not want to stick around for another 24 hours, so if you know someone near Snowmass who wants VIP rodeo tickets, they can have them :) Sadly, we left Snowmass and began our trek down to Montrose, our stop for the night.

I am happy that the fun events of the day cushioned the sadness of missing the rodeo.

All-in-all, I guess that only one major SNAFU (so far) is decent for such a long road trip. Needless to say, I’ve already mapped out and confirmed all of the plans for tomorrow :)

Day 6

Today our goal was to get a lot closer to Los Angeles, so we left Montrose, CO and headed to our first stop of the day: Mesa Verde. Oliver really enjoys Native American history, so this was right up his ally, and we all enjoyed exploring the history/housing/culture of the Anasazi people.

Since he had never been to our next stop, Bonnie, Henry and I surprised Oliver with the Grand Canyon. As you can see from the album photos, he absolutely loved it and took a lot of pictures.

Oliver and I have been listening to audiobooks along the way (Bonnie and Henry prefer their music) . The first books was MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN which we enjoyed. Next we listened to THE SELECTION, a dystopian “bachelor-like” YA novel that I had downloaded for Bonnie earlier, but since it was the only one I had downloaded at the time, Oliver joined me in listening to it. Next, since Oliver had been listening to Jim Gaffigan comedy sketches, we listened to his book MY DAD IS FAT - which deals mostly with life as a parent. I laughed out loud through most of it.

Today was a long day of travel, but I have really enjoyed my time with these teens -- and they are GREAT travelers.

Tomorrow we drive straight to Los Angeles from Flagstaff, so unless I can convince the kids to stop at a fun Route 66 site along the way (doubtful since they are ready to see their parents and the sites of L.A.), there won’t be much of a note for tomorrow. BUT... I may try to squeeze in the Watts Towers and the L.A. Main Library before we officially arrive at our hotel... Just don’t tell the kids :)