I hope y'all are ready. The first 2 days of my TR are typed up and ready to go. If you get bored, feel free to scroll past!
May 29th dawned bright and clear. Alan and I were anticipating a nice trip to California with our family. We had planned a detour by way of the Grand Canyon with our kids, and then meeting up with my father, and siblings and their families in Anaheim on Sunday afternoon. I was a little apprehensive about the trip since we were going to be traveling with a 6-month-old baby. I foresaw a lot of stops in our trip! Little did I know!
The kids had to attend an hour and a half of school on this day (to receive promotion cards, and help with a ceremonial lowering of the flag), and Alan and I were going to finish getting the car packed, and then pick them up and take off from there! While Alan finished getting his clothes packed, I ran to the store for a few more necessities, and then headed home. On my way home, I got a call from Alan. The school had contacted him to let him know that Katie had thrown up and wanted to come home. Poor girl. She had complained about a tummy ache before she left for school, but really wanted to go.
I went to the school and picked her up and found that it was not only her throwing up that was the problem, but she was also spouting from the other end, as well. She was thoroughly miserable! We got home, and she went right to the bathroom to clean up. I got her an Immodium and hoped for the best. My first mom inclination was to stay home, and delay the trip a day so she could get better. Alan, however, wanted to push on. Hed already paid for our hotel in the Grand Canyon, and didnt want to lose the money. Katie said she thought shed be ok, so, against my better judgment, off we went.
We picked up Jacob and the twins from school, and they were both happy and sad. They were sad to leave school (theyve all had really good years), and happy to be heading to Disneyland! We stopped to gas the car up, and let Katie use the facilities, and then we were off. We didnt get far, though. About 20 miles later, she was throwing up and spouting. We pulled off to a gas station, and she got herself all cleaned up and away we went again. This was a pattern that would repeat itself for the next hour or so. Finally, it looked like her stomach was calming down. She napped and the other kids watched movies and played video games until we got to Fillmore, Utah. This was our first designated stopping place. We pulled out the cooler, made sandwiches and let the kids run around for a while. Katie took care of some more business, and went back to sleep without eating.
Next stop was at Grandpas house in Cedar City. He was happy to see us, and we were happy to be there. We had come through a very bad rainstorm, and since I was doing the driving, I was happy to stop for a while. Katie changed into some cleaner clothes, and the kids all went potty, refilled their water bottles, and played with Grandpas Yorkie, Max until it was time to go. I nursed Timothy, changed his diaper, and discovered that my father had discovered a lump in his neck, had it biopsied and was waiting for the results. All without planning on telling any of his children! He got an earful from me, I can tell you! The doctor didnt think it was anything serious, and would be contacting dad with the biopsy results soon.
We loaded up the van again, and were off. Instead of heading down I-15, we took a detour through Hurricane to Colorado City, where Alans Grandmother had lived as a small child. In fact, the city cemetery is named after her father. We drove through, but didnt stop, as we saw another huge storm in the distance, and didnt want to get caught in the dark in a storm.
We started driving through the Arizona desert and the storm hit us. It was a HUGE storm! Lightning everywhere! The rain was coming down in sheets, and I had to drive at about 10 miles an hour. We drove through the storm and came out in Fredonia, Arizona. A quick stop to gas up and we were on our way to Harpers Ferry. Alans great-great-great-great grandfather was one of the original settlers here, and the historical society has preserved the original settlement as it was. We let the kids out of the car, and they got to see some of their own history! The foundation of Warren Johnsons (our ancestor) home is still there, as is his dugout. It was really interesting. We decided to make this our dinner stop, so while I made sandwiches, Alan took the kids to dip their toes in the Colorado River. Consensus: EXTREMELY COLD!!!
The kids got back in the van and Alan took over the driving since it was getting dark, and I suffer from night blindness. Next stop, the Grand Canyon! As it got darker and darker, the kids got sleepier and sleepier, until they were all fast asleep. Alan and I relied on his GPS to get us to our hotel, but we did have some scary moments when we thought we were lost. However, at about 11:00 we pulled into our hotel. Alan checked us in, and we all got to our room. It was a tight fit, but we managed to fit us all in. Timothy settled down pretty well, and the other kids were sound asleep as soon as heads touched pillows! Alan and I didnt fare so well, as we were checking the kids, etc., for a couple of hours. Eventually, we fell asleep, and put the whole miserable throwing up day behind us.
Pictures!
The Lonely Dell Ranch at Harper's Ferry. This is the only spot on the Colorado River (by the Grand Canyon) where it's calm enough to cross, so a ferry was built. Alan's ancestor was one who worked on it, and then stayed behind to run it for many years.
Dipping their toes in the freezing Colorado River:
Really cool rock formation:
May 29th dawned bright and clear. Alan and I were anticipating a nice trip to California with our family. We had planned a detour by way of the Grand Canyon with our kids, and then meeting up with my father, and siblings and their families in Anaheim on Sunday afternoon. I was a little apprehensive about the trip since we were going to be traveling with a 6-month-old baby. I foresaw a lot of stops in our trip! Little did I know!
The kids had to attend an hour and a half of school on this day (to receive promotion cards, and help with a ceremonial lowering of the flag), and Alan and I were going to finish getting the car packed, and then pick them up and take off from there! While Alan finished getting his clothes packed, I ran to the store for a few more necessities, and then headed home. On my way home, I got a call from Alan. The school had contacted him to let him know that Katie had thrown up and wanted to come home. Poor girl. She had complained about a tummy ache before she left for school, but really wanted to go.
I went to the school and picked her up and found that it was not only her throwing up that was the problem, but she was also spouting from the other end, as well. She was thoroughly miserable! We got home, and she went right to the bathroom to clean up. I got her an Immodium and hoped for the best. My first mom inclination was to stay home, and delay the trip a day so she could get better. Alan, however, wanted to push on. Hed already paid for our hotel in the Grand Canyon, and didnt want to lose the money. Katie said she thought shed be ok, so, against my better judgment, off we went.
We picked up Jacob and the twins from school, and they were both happy and sad. They were sad to leave school (theyve all had really good years), and happy to be heading to Disneyland! We stopped to gas the car up, and let Katie use the facilities, and then we were off. We didnt get far, though. About 20 miles later, she was throwing up and spouting. We pulled off to a gas station, and she got herself all cleaned up and away we went again. This was a pattern that would repeat itself for the next hour or so. Finally, it looked like her stomach was calming down. She napped and the other kids watched movies and played video games until we got to Fillmore, Utah. This was our first designated stopping place. We pulled out the cooler, made sandwiches and let the kids run around for a while. Katie took care of some more business, and went back to sleep without eating.
Next stop was at Grandpas house in Cedar City. He was happy to see us, and we were happy to be there. We had come through a very bad rainstorm, and since I was doing the driving, I was happy to stop for a while. Katie changed into some cleaner clothes, and the kids all went potty, refilled their water bottles, and played with Grandpas Yorkie, Max until it was time to go. I nursed Timothy, changed his diaper, and discovered that my father had discovered a lump in his neck, had it biopsied and was waiting for the results. All without planning on telling any of his children! He got an earful from me, I can tell you! The doctor didnt think it was anything serious, and would be contacting dad with the biopsy results soon.
We loaded up the van again, and were off. Instead of heading down I-15, we took a detour through Hurricane to Colorado City, where Alans Grandmother had lived as a small child. In fact, the city cemetery is named after her father. We drove through, but didnt stop, as we saw another huge storm in the distance, and didnt want to get caught in the dark in a storm.
We started driving through the Arizona desert and the storm hit us. It was a HUGE storm! Lightning everywhere! The rain was coming down in sheets, and I had to drive at about 10 miles an hour. We drove through the storm and came out in Fredonia, Arizona. A quick stop to gas up and we were on our way to Harpers Ferry. Alans great-great-great-great grandfather was one of the original settlers here, and the historical society has preserved the original settlement as it was. We let the kids out of the car, and they got to see some of their own history! The foundation of Warren Johnsons (our ancestor) home is still there, as is his dugout. It was really interesting. We decided to make this our dinner stop, so while I made sandwiches, Alan took the kids to dip their toes in the Colorado River. Consensus: EXTREMELY COLD!!!
The kids got back in the van and Alan took over the driving since it was getting dark, and I suffer from night blindness. Next stop, the Grand Canyon! As it got darker and darker, the kids got sleepier and sleepier, until they were all fast asleep. Alan and I relied on his GPS to get us to our hotel, but we did have some scary moments when we thought we were lost. However, at about 11:00 we pulled into our hotel. Alan checked us in, and we all got to our room. It was a tight fit, but we managed to fit us all in. Timothy settled down pretty well, and the other kids were sound asleep as soon as heads touched pillows! Alan and I didnt fare so well, as we were checking the kids, etc., for a couple of hours. Eventually, we fell asleep, and put the whole miserable throwing up day behind us.
Pictures!
The Lonely Dell Ranch at Harper's Ferry. This is the only spot on the Colorado River (by the Grand Canyon) where it's calm enough to cross, so a ferry was built. Alan's ancestor was one who worked on it, and then stayed behind to run it for many years.
Dipping their toes in the freezing Colorado River:
Really cool rock formation:
Great start on the TR, Glynis! The kids are all so grown up! 
Congrats!
Good luck with the job hunt! Hope the train is fun!
I hope all is well with your dad!! 
Well, it probably won't stay that way. 
But really, 2 of the days that we have CS dinner we are having TS lunch, one of them we are having TS breakfast. So there is just arrival day and one other day that we have NO ADRs.
