Day 21: Sunday (HOME!!)

Just as we planned, Miss Mary served as alarm clock on our last day of the road trip. I was up by 5, feeding her, then we packed everything up, waking Danny at the last possible second. We pulled out of the driveway at 6:45, ready to tackle the final 490 miles of the trip down I-90. Both kids slept for most of the first two hours (alleluia!) while we woke up with breakfast in the car. Now, we have just 4.5 hours to go before we see our house for the first time in 3 weeks.

What will we miss most about this journey?
-Quality time together every day
-Being outside so much
-The beautiful countryside and incredible parks we visited
-The sight and sound of the mountains
-Red rocks
-The enormous sky
-Wildlife at every turn (most of which we'd miss if it weren't for Eagle Eye Jenny)
-The weather: amazing storms, cool mornings
-Long country roads
-75 mph speed limits
-Jenny's cooking
-Seeing Danny loving his cousins
-Camping
-Wall Drug billboard advertisements
-Bison traffic
-Picnic lunches at random parks across the country (Belgrade, Montana! Port Huron, Michigan)
-Merry-go-rounds at playgrounds (why don't our parks ever have these anymore??)
-Free hotel breakfasts
-Ridiculous comments from Danny, such as, "You're not entertaining me!" and, "I wish we were going to Radiator Springs instead of Colorado Springs!"
-Playing the license plate game
-Seeing the cousins fawn over Mary, and work so hard to get her to say "Ma!" instead of just "Da" all the times
-Hearing about Molly's "Stink of the Day"
-Danny's awesome "Boring Game": when he desperately asks, "what should I DO, Mommy?!", we play this game where he looks out the window and names all the boring things he sees: trees are boring! Cows are boring! Farms are boring! etc, no matter how un-boring the scenery.
-Danny will miss nearly unfettered access to DVD watching (when asked what he'd miss, he mentioned Cars characters, then also the Albany hotel and cinnamon butter.)
-Danny's announcement every time we'd see silos near train tracks (which was frequently) that, "we should camp there!" (see post from Day 7)
-Danny's lesson about what qualifies as an oasis in the desert (thank-you, Cat in the Hat (knows a lot about that) show!)
-Willoughby Wallaby Wommy, an Elephant sat on Mommy

Things we won't miss
-Unpacking the car, schlepping our things, repacking the car. Nearly every day
-Cooler maintenance: making sure it stays cold enough for our perishables (involving emptying everything into hotel mini fridges and/or buying more ice when fridges are not available. Every day.)
-Motorcycles
-Pumping in the car (milk, not gas)
-Washing pump parts in gas station bathrooms (oh, the glamour of the nursing mother on the road!)
-Merry-go-rounds at playgrounds (oh, right, we don't have them because children get injured!)
-Stinky cows
-Blogging (Ha! Just kidding!)

(FYI, this post was sent at 10:20 a.m., about 4 hours before our expected arrival in Melrose. I'll be sure to update once we actually ARRIVE home!)

Day 20: Saturday (Indianapolis to Buffalo)

Our second-to-last driving day... or would it be our last??!! Jim and I could not decide whether we should maybe just forgo our stop in Buffalo and instead just drive straight through the night, arriving home by 3 or 4 a.m. I've done the through-the-night drives several times before en route to or from Notre Dame. While efficient with respect to a lack of traffic and making the most of the hours in a day, I generally need a couple of days to get out of the fog. With two kids in tow, all bets are off. Will they stay asleep the whole time? (unlikely), will they fall back to sleep upon arriving home? (questionable), will they nap for hours on end so that we can recover from the all-night drive? (Ha!!!) There was also the issue of cousin time. Since we'd spent the previous night and first half of the day apart from the Framingham Gang, Danny was getting absolutely desperate in his desire to be with his cousins. Most specifically, Emily. I don't know how or why it happened, but Danny wants nothing more than to be with Emily every moment he can. All of Danny's older cousins have been so wonderful with him on this trip. We've been lucky to rotate them into our car every day, each getting his or her turn (except for poor Greg, due to car seat laws and Danny's refusal to switch cars with Greg due to his seat being "too bumpy." Seriously, Danny?) The girls have entertained Danny with Molly's invention of "the ball game" (which may or may not occasionally involve bouncing the lightweight ball off of Mary's head) while helping settle Mary to sleep or feeding her Cheerios to keep her happy. They've endured episodes of Tom & Jerry cartoons, Sesame Street DVDs and repeated viewings of the movie Cars. In exchange they receive our heartfelt gratitude, as many Nilla Wafers as they want, and an occasional handful of M&M's. Sometimes their ride is peaceful. Other times, Mary decides to stretch her vocal cords for all the highway to hear. They never complain (at least not to us!) and Sam and Molly deal with Danny's Emily obsession with aplomb. (Emily also deals with Danny's Emily obsession extremely well, never once telling him to leave her the heck alone! It really is quite sweet.)

Anyway, we finally met up with our other halves by someplace north of Columbus, Ohio, and even though it was Sam's turn to ride in our car, she very graciously let Emily leapfrog her at Danny's less-than-gracious insistence that he only wanted Emily to ride with him.

After a farewell dinner at Texas Roadhouse in Erie (this crew is a fan of hot rolls with cinnamon butter!), Liam joined us for the final 90 minute ride to Buffalo, where we would again spend the night with the generous Schenkler Family. By this point we finally settled on sleeping before hitting the road in the morning, but we resolved to be on the road by 7, even though Billy and Jen would stay in Buffalo for a few more hours. The night and road trip were capped by a bonfire at the Schenklers, complete with s'mores and beer (at least for the adults.) Danny tried to stay upstairs where his cousins were sleeping but after 45 minutes decided he'd sleep better downstairs with us. Another 11:30 p.m. bedtime in the books!

Day 19: Friday (Inde to Indy)

Like that clever title? Me, too.

The Framingham crew were up and out more quickly than the Rowan crew Friday morning in order to facilitate a much-desired visit to the birthplace of Harry S. Truman. Throughout this journey, we have been bringing journals and national parks service passports to all the visitor centers at the parks we visit in order to get an official stamp. It's an awesome way to keep record of places we visit. The cousins were kind enough to pick up a stamp for us, despite our missing the trip.

We had another long day of driving without too much to see. That is, until we finalized a plan to visit our dear friend on the road through Saint Louis. Right at 1pm we rolled into the city, parked by the old cathedral, met up with Liz Mochen Rolwes and her 4 youngest and had a delightful picnic alongside the Gateway Arch. Her husband Larry even ducked out of a meeting across the street to join us. It was awesome. She made the picnicking a lot easier by bringing homemade sandwiches, popcorn, and lots of Gatorade. It was fantastic seeing her and meeting her youngest and marveling at how much they had a grown. (Her baby Henry is exactly one week younger than Mary!) (Background for those not blessed to know Liz: she was in my sister Betsy's class at our tiny school, Montrose, a grade above me, so we have known each other for, oh, 23 years. What?! Seriously.)

After saying our goodbyes, we returned to our blessed air conditioning for the ride across Illinois and Indiana. We split with the Framingham crew west of Indianapolis so that they could head south to Cincinnati to visit with Jen's amazing grandmother and we could get an earlier bedtime under our belts. We stayed in downtown Indy which was so incredibly pleasant! With the exception of the uneasy feeling of having a cop or two on every corner and all the street parking blocked off, we had a lovely visit. (it turns out there was some big outdoor concert going on requiring lots of police presence. Phew!) We fed the kids, ordered takeout from a Weber Grill restaurant (so tasty!), and finally got to bed excited that we'd be in our own beds soon!

Day 18: Thursday (Colorado Springs to Independence, MO)

All you need to know about Thursday is that we drove 600 miles over 9 hours and 25 minutes, including stops. With 4 adults, a 13-year-old, 11-year-old, 10-year-old, 8-year-old, two 4-year-olds (one only potty trained in the last two months), and a 9.5-month-old. It was epic. Kansas wasn't as boring as I remember. Rolling hills, beautiful fields, lots of cows. This was the third time that I personally have driven from one end of Kansas to the other. We had Emily all day and she was a champion with a very unhappy baby in the afternoon. Danny and Emily were awesome all day. We powered through dinner, arriving at an Independence, MO Panera approximately 3 minutes after it closed. Thankfully, Chipotle came through for us, instead.

To bed after a lengthy pre-bedtime concert from Greg as we ate our burritos. Good night, Missouri!

Day 17: Wednesday (Cortez CO to Colorado Springs CO)

OK, we're catching up on the posts.  Slowly but surely...

We woke up sort of chilly in our tents in Cortez, outside Mesa Verde National Park.  Little tiny Mary snuggled in my sleeping bag after waking up at 5am.  She's cute so I let her stay.  As we broke down the campsite, Jenny made fresh french toast on the camp stove.  No matter how quickly we think we're moving, or focused we are in packing up, it still manages to take at least 2 hours to pack ourselves up and get on the road.  We made it into Mesa Verde and down the 20-mile road to one of the cliff dwellings preserved from the Ancient Pueblanos (also known as Anasazi).  After a few anxious moments when we'd momentarily misplaced one of the children (11-year-old Molly), we were able to enjoy the hike down to the dwelling.  They carved these rooms out of the stone in the cliff, using dirt and water as mortar.  They were fairly elaborate communities they built, complete with ventilation systems for fires and air circulation.  We were able to climb around some of the preserved rooms, and the kids even climbed down a ladder into one of the tunnels beneath the courtyard area.  They said it was dusty.

The road out of Mesa Verde toward Colorado Springs was beautiful.  Mountains, sweeping vistas and beautiful little towns like Durango and Pagosa Springs (to which Jenny and I both declared we'd be happy to move.)  We drove through Wolf Creek Pass, which, at 10,857 feet, was our highest elevation of the trip.  We told the kids they could hop on the Continental Divide Trail right there and head back to Yellowstone or Glacier.  They declined.

Our later start and time spent in Mesa Verde meant we'd need to eat on the road before getting into CO Springs several hours after dinner.  I did a little research on the iPhone and found a little pizza place in the tiny town of Fort Garland named All Gon Pizza.  Since we wanted to stop for as little time as possible, we were able to call ahead, place an order for take-out, pick it up on our way into town, stop at a park around the corner, eat the fantastic pizza, and hop back in the car for the rest of the trip.  As an added bonus, the kids ran around the park for a few minutes to burn off some car fatigue.  Win-win-win!

The drive into Colorado Springs featured lightning storms on all sides.  It was pretty darn cool, but man, trying to take a picture of a lightning bolt is not easy!  It did keep me entertained for a good hour, though.  (Thanks for driving, Jim!)

We called the Quality Suites home that night (thanks to Dad Bowman's extra hotel points!)  We slept (relatively) well (ahem, Mary), and got ready for our longest (potentially most boring) drive of the trip the following day.  Good-bye, mountains!

Checking out the cliff dwelling at Mesa Verde Nat'l Park

The dwelling seen from above

Liam, Danny and Molly make a dwelling of their own

Greg the Conquistador comes to destroy the natives' dwelling

Liam keeps watch from above

Gorgeous views on the way out of Mesa Verde 

Sweeping valley

Hello, mountains!

At Wolf Creek Pass at 10k feet

The Framingham Bowmans (+ Danny)

Almost a full moon!

We've seen some beautiful sunsets

And we've seen some awesome rain storms... and lightning!  Do you see it?

Day 16: Tuesday (Grand Canyon to Cortez, CO)

Time for another quick recap!

Tuesday morning started chilly by the North Rim of the Grand Canyon but the sun heated everything up quickly (that tends to happen at 8,000 feet above sea level.) Jenny prepared a lovely breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon on the camp stove perched on the front stoop of their cabin. Jim and I took Liam and Molly (and a napping Mary) back to the park one last time in order to get the official NPS stamp for the Grand Canyon. Also so I could get one last wistful look at that beautiful sight. We finally got on the road by noon mountain time. We had a 5-6 hour drive ahead of us with our final destination being a campsite, so we'd want to arrive before it was too late (not to mention the wrinkle of severe thunderstorms in the forecast for that area of Colorado.) We drove past the fire-damaged forest again, then made our way northeast toward Page, Arizona to see the Glen Canyon Dam. We got to pass through Marble Canyon which is sort of the gateway to the Grand Canyon. It's also where our rafting trip began 11 years ago. This time, however, there were crazy rain storms as we drove through. We could see little storm pockets across the landscape, some with copious lightning. Thankfully we just got the rain. We did a drive-by of the dam since it was still raining up there. I couldn't get over the fact that there was a Wal-Mart right there. It seemed so out-of-place.

Our lunch stop that day was a middle-of-nowhere gas station in the heart of Navajo Nation. We made sandwiches in the back of the truck (Billy and Jen's Suburban), took our bio break, and kept wading toward Colorado.

We passed through Monument Valley with all its beautiful rock formations, but we missed my favorite: Mexican Hat. Four Corners was to be an interim stop on our way to Cortez, but after reading what they wanted us to pay to "see" the monument, we opted not to be Rushmored again (see day 7), and instead drove past the New Mexico border and back out. Woohoo, another state!

We made it to our campsite just outside Mesa Verde Park by around 6:15, just in time for dinner. Also, our weather-related prayers had been answered so far. We ended up with Threatening skies, about 4 drops of rain and a bright rainbow (again)! Jenny got dinner going on the camp stove while we set up the tents. This time, we decided to try and attach our tent to the car. Yes, the car. Pardon me while we flashback a few months.
...
Back when our dear cousin Annie announced her upcoming wedding in Napa, we figured we'd probably fly, despite my lack of enthusiasm about air travel of late (see also: TSA, groping). I secretly hoped we might consider driving to Napa since I'd had such a wonderful time driving to California with my brother JJ in August of 2000. I didn't bother mentioning my secret desire, however, figuring it just wouldn't be feasible, until Billy and Jenny mentioned that they were considering a cross-country drive. That's when I threw down the gauntlet: if we can drive cross-country, I'll finally agree to buy that minivan Jim's been suggesting for months now. It worked! (Even though I was sort of hoping to still avoid the minivan.) The Rowans got their Honda Odyssey, we planned for months, Jim managed to finagle being gone for 3 weeks yet needing to take only 4 vacation days. Epic Win!

Oops, where was I? Oh, the car. So, we settled on the Odyssey, but with Jim's travel schedule and our busy weekends, I ended up taking the kids to the dealership to buy the car one Monday afternoon. I'm not sure the car salespeople knew quite what to do with us, particularly when I had to pause negotiations to nurse the baby. We ended up getting a great price (thank you, USAA!), and I ended up with one particular accessory I really wanted: a tent that attaches to the back of the van.
...
So, long story short (TOO LATE!), we attach the tent to the back of the car and eat a fantastic dinner (pork tenderloin, grilled vegetables and hash brown potatoes. Have I mentioned how awesome it is to travel with my sister-in-law Jenny? If it weren't for her amazing culinary skills and ingenuity, the Rowans would have been on their 4th jar of peanut butter by now.) Oh, and the wine. A bottle if red, a bottle of white. (Perhaps a bottle of rosé instead. Get a table near the street in that old familiar place. You and I face to face. Oh, Billy Joel, how your lyrics remain etched in my brain.) Wow, clearly the train of thought has derailed a few times here in Missouri. The stars came out in southwestern Colorado and we had a nice sleep (sort of, thank you, Mary) in our tent attached to the van. (Down by the river.) Meg! Focus!

Day 15 (Monday) Vegas - Grand Canyon (North Rim)

Quick recap:

Leaving Las Vegas. 102 degrees. Pulled over 2 minutes after getting on the highway. (Oops! 82 > 65). Thank you for the warning, Officer Chen. Love you! Forgot how much I love Utah. Drove through beautiful Zion. Wish we could have stayed longer. Drove through Kaibab National Forest and saw wildfire devastation. Lost an hour in Utah. Gained it back in Arizona. Woohoo: more time at the Grand Canyon, aka one of my favorite places on earth!! I'd never seen it from the North Rim, and this was Jim's first rime visiting it at all. My last visit was on the Colorado river 11 years ago with my cousin Katie Dean (now Wida). I highly recommend seeing the canyon from below if you ever get the chance! After taking 5 of the 7 kids on a short hike to Bright Angel Point, we settled in for dinner at Grand Canyon Lodge with views of the sun setting over the canyon. An awesome experience (until Mary spilled a full glass of ice water on my lap. Actually, even that couldn't dampen my spirit!) A short drive north beyond the park was the beautiful, remote, sort-of-rustic home for the night: the Kaibab Lodge. We inherited a Molly and an Emily for the night, much to the delight of Master Daniel in particular. A good night's sleep (relatively) would see us through another day on our adventure.

World's Worst Blogger

Yes it's Thursday. No I haven't posted an update since Sunday. Yes we are still on the road. No we are not there yet.

Super brief recap time! Stay tuned for quick posts with pictures to follow. Really!!

Where have we been?!

We are still here! Sorry for the pathetic lack of posting. As it turns out, it's awfully hard to write and upload photos while driving! And, nighttime seems to be an ideal time to try and catch some sleep, since a certain baby who shall remain nameless continues to enjoy waking every 2-3 hours at night. So, what have you missed?

Day 11: Pacific Northwest. We woke up in Kennewick at the Comfort Inn (thanks for the points, Dad!), and set out for Eugene, Oregon. We took our time getting up and out, enjoying a leisurely hotel breakfast before finally getting on the road. Southeastern Washington was not that interesting to look at, so we were looking forward to prettier terrain in Oregon. Once crossing over into Oregon, we had a lovely, if not gusty, drive along the Columbia River. As has been our m.o. throughout the trip, we flew by the seat of our pants when it came to where to stop for lunch and hike. We settled on Multnomah Falls. It was crazy busy at the parking lot there, so we went on to Waukeenah Falls next door, and stopped for a great picnic lunch. After a great hike over to Multnomah Falls, we got back in the car for the drive to Eugene. After a chilly barbecue dinner where Jenny prepared incredible cod and salmon dishes on a camp stove (is there anything she can't do?!) we turned in for a quick night's sleep (P.S. I love Holiday Inn Express).

Day 12: We got a super early start from Eugene so we could power through and get to Napa ASAP. (Super early = gassed up and on the road by 7:45.) The bottom line on that trip was that we covered a 7.5-hour drive in 8 hours, including stops. It was pretty phenomenal, considering our caravan includes 7 children! On that drive, we crossed through Grants Pass, Oregon which is at the same latitude as our house in Melrose. Medford, Oregon lines up to Framingham for our caravan partners. We pulled into Fairfield, CA to drop Betsy off at her hotel with the Framingham crew just before 3:45. We bid adieu to the cousins before heading to the Westin in Napa where we unpacked and settled in to enjoy our incredible hotel room for approximately 45 hours. After a nice swim, we fed the kids and ordered room service. I was able to make Danny a grilled cheese on the stove that's nicer than mine at home, though I did have to ask the kitchen to bring up some butter.

Day 13: Wedding Day! The real, original reason for this cross-country journey was to come to Napa to see my cousin Annie marry her beau, Paul Ryan, at a beautiful church in St. Helena. We headed to the riverfront in Napa for breakfast at Sweetie Pies. That section of Napa was surprisingly uninhabited. Lots of vacant shops for rent and not a lot of people out and about. Later in the afternoon we headed north to the wedding after eating a delicious Panera lunch brought to us by my brother Bobby and sister-in-law Lauren. Lifesavers they were! Driving up to the wedding, we lamented that we hadn't had the opportunity to visit any of the gorgeous wineries we were passing. Next time!! The wedding was beautiful, with the bridesmaids wearing yellow dresses (Annie's favorite color), and Annie looking absolutely positively gorgeous in her lace gown. After they made it
official, we headed south to the Smith Estate for the reception. We may or may not have stopped at Alpha omega for a quick tasting before arriving to the reception. (Shhhh!) Annie and Paul drove up in a gorgeous 2-seater Spyder convertible, danced their first dance, and got the party started. Toasts were given (not one of them awkward), and Paul delivered a beautiful treatise on love. I've already requested a copy. We lasted until about 9:30 before calling it a night. (but not before trying as many flavors of the beautiful wedding cake - a Meg Williams original - as we could.) The kids went to sleep promptly, and Mary even slept through the night! (Though in a cruel twist, her brother was up 5 times between 4-5:30 am. So not fair!)

Day 14: Heading East!! We weren't exactly in a rush to get back in the car for today's 10-hour drive to Vegas. Since we'd be heading through the desert, we figured we could do a later drive to avoid the afternoon heat. Jim and Danny walked to the store for some eastbound provisions while I did a few loads of laundry and packed up the room. We finally got on the road by about 1pm, about 30 minutes behind Billy and Jenny. There's not a whole lot between Napa and Las Vegas, except for a seriously nasty-smelling cattle ranch (slaughterhouse?), Edwards Air Force Base, and a GE wind farm. We did hit our southernmost point of the road trip just as we got onto Rt 15 near Barstow. We stopped there for dinner at Burger King, only the second fast food meal of the trip. Not bad, I'd say. Now, we are cruising through the desert, just 60 miles from Las Vegas (we can already see the sky brightening in the distance). We will cruise down the strip to see the bright lights before resting our heads for the night just outside the city. Tomorrow will see us through Zion National Park in Utah and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. I can't wait!

Day 10: Quick update from WA

Great day today! Woke up in Whitefish, Montana at Jenny's uncle's house. It was wonderful. We slept. We did laundry. We ate at a table. We drank beers on a couch. We enjoyed wonderful conversation with our incredibly gracious host who even made us a hot breakfast this morning!

After packing the car, we drove 40 minutes north to Glacier National Park. It is incredible up there. I'd like to come back and stay for days and days. The lake is amazing, the mountains inspiring. I was doing the driving, with Jim in the back with the kids and Molly up front with me. It was fun!

We had to leave after just a few hours so that we would get to Spokane in time for supper with my uncle Peter and the family. First, we got to drive down what may have been the most beautiful roads that I've had the pleasure of driving. Route 28 in Montana, I'm talking about you. Though Route 135 was no slouch either! We drove through Idaho right on in to Washington. It was a great stretch of road that I won't soon forget.

We arrived at the Spokane Valley Mall just after 5pm and met up with Peter and Chris and Daggett girls Calie, Monica and Autumn. It was our first time meeting the girls we've been hearing about their whole lives. It was about time! Dinner was great, but the conversation and company were the highlights. Thanks for driving all the way down to meet us, Pete! It was wonderful!

We now rest our heads in Kennewick, Washington, and set our sights on Eugene, Oregon tomorrow. In the meantime, here are a few iPhone pictures. Better ones will come soon!

Day 8: YELLOWSTONE!

Happy 4th of July!!  We spent the day in Yellowstone, doing our best to see as much as possible.  Here's a sampling of what we saw:

A bison crossing the street
A bald eagle perched by a river
Waterfalls!
A grey wolf
An elk
A geyser erupting
Hot springs bubbling from the earth (and stinking up the joint)
A mama bison nursing her baby bison
Burned out forests
Majestic mountains across an equally majestic lake
Cousins running and playing and hiking together
A baby girl falling asleep in her Daddy's hiking backpack (then later shrieking with joy in her daddy's Baby Bjorn carrier.  My shoulders thank that Daddy for the break they received from slinging the baby girl!)
A sister-in-law grilling hot dogs and cooking beans on the shore of Yellowstone Lake
A little boy playing with his 4th of July pinwheel that he got last year in Chatham, has kept for a full year, and insisted on bringing it on the road trip.
A brother finally getting to Yellowstone and loving every second of it
A sister filling the favorite aunt roll to the 7 nieces and nephews on this trip
Ice cream for dinner
Beer for dessert
Thunder and lightning before bed
And finally, a baby girl and little boy who slept well enough to let me sleep for 6 straight hours for the first time in... a while.

Rowans on hike of Upper Falls

Betsy leading the kids on a hike inYellowstone

The grown-ups! (Photo credit: Sam Bowman, the eldest cousin on the trip)

Purple mountains majesty

Jenny, the cook extraordinaire.  I'm so glad she's on our team.

Danny rocks the patriotic shirt, plate and pinwheel at lunch

Not a bad view for lunch

Happy hikers! 

Liam is an awesome big cousin to Danny (who brought Baby along on the hike) 

MVPs, 6 weeks away from their 15th anniversary

Happiest baby girl with her sweet Daddy

Old Faithful erupts!  Pretty darn cool.

A river runs through it

Yellowstone is awesome!  We could have spent another week or two and still not seen everything.  Plus we have a wedding to get to!!