{"id":13043,"date":"2016-01-02T18:09:55","date_gmt":"2016-01-03T01:09:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/?p=13043"},"modified":"2016-01-09T09:50:33","modified_gmt":"2016-01-09T16:50:33","slug":"day-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/?p=13043","title":{"rendered":"Day Two."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>It’s the time of year for resolutions.\u00a0 So I resolved to finish planning our trip out west this summer.\u00a0 By “finish”\u00a0 I mean get started and<\/em> get finished.\u00a0 All in one fell swoop.\u00a0 Apparently the National Park rangers like to be notified that you’re coming at least 6 months in advance or they won’t hold a cabin for you.\u00a0 The only problem is that if you live on the east coast and you are visiting a national park on the west coast, it’s hard to know when you might actually arrive at that National Park. \u00a0 But with the Frommer’s and Fodor’s I’ve been collecting from the $1 used book store, the help of TripAdvisor, and a lot of Google maps, I made a plan.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, I’m starting out the New Year as a liar.\u00a0 I originally told the kids that on the first summer we’d drive 1\/2 way across the country, see the sights, and then come home.\u00a0 Then on our second summer of travel, we’d fly to the midway point (Kansas?\u00a0 Nebraska?), rent an RV to drive the rest of the way to the Pacific ocean seeing sights, and then fly home.\u00a0 I’m not sure how much I thought 6 plane tickets across the country and 3 weeks of RV rental cost, but I obviously underestimated it.\u00a0 By about 5 or 6 (maybe even 10) thousand dollars.\u00a0 Bummer.\u00a0 I hate it when I forget that I’m not rich.<\/p>\n

So we’re going to minivan it all the way.\u00a0 And because of that I had to split the trip into the top half of the country one summer and the bottom half the next summer.\u00a0 That’s right, people.\u00a0 I planned a trip driving with 4 kids in a minivan from the east coast all the way to the west coast and back, for 3 weeks, for 2 years running.\u00a0 Well, by “planned” I mean I wrote out the first trip entirely and then jotted some notes about some places that we should hit during the second trip.\u00a0 I’m going to put those notes in a nice, safe place where I will never find them again and plan the entire second trip from scratch next New Year’s day.\u00a0 Let’s just let that tidbit of honesty offset the lies about the planes and RVs.<\/p>\n

There are 3 bonuses to the new not-rich-people’s plan.\u00a0 First, driving all the way isn’t that bad because we’ll have 3 drivers this summer since Big will have his license.\u00a0 Next summer we’ll have 4 drivers because Pretty will have her license, too.\u00a0 Second, we can use all the money we saved on plane tickets to stay in the nicest Super 8s and all the fancy Motel 6s that we can find along the way.\u00a0 We might even be able to wash our clothes at the laundromat on occasion.\u00a0 Third, whoever misbehaves in the car has to sleep on the floor in the Super 8 or Motel 6.\u00a0 Or in the bed.\u00a0 Whichever we deem is nastier.\u00a0 Best behavior modification tool ever!<\/p>\n

There were more difficulties with the planning process than just the financial snag.\u00a0 The modem on our internet went down and I was forced to limp along for a day with just the travel books and a large North America Atlas.\u00a0 The atlas had great street level maps but I kept losing track of which state I was heading toward as I plotted west.\u00a0 I had to keep referring to the opening pages of The Rough Guide to the United States where all 50 states where displayed in their proper positions.\u00a0 It’s shameful, I know, but let’s just say Colorado was not where I expected it and what the hell is going on with Idaho?<\/p>\n

I finally folded and went to the store for a new modem.\u00a0 WalMart’s electronics section disappointed me and I called home for backup support.\u00a0 I asked Little to look up the phone number for Best Buy so I could call and see if they had the modem I needed before I drove all the way over there.\u00a0 Have you ever tried to explain to a child of the 21st century how to look up a phone number in the phone book????\u00a0 Oh mah gah.\u00a0 Little finally gave up and put Big on the line and he struggled through it.\u00a0 Agh.\u00a0 When the computers go down for good, people, this country is screwed.\u00a0 Totally screwed.<\/p>\n

Which is why, after the modem was hooked up and the internet was back and I had all the directions, addresses, hours of operation, phone numbers, and alternative routes that I needed, I put it all down on paper and printed it out.\u00a0 In 3 collated and neatly stapled copies.\u00a0 It’s 15 beautiful pages of Type A, ranger-approved, travel itinerary.\u00a0 In case you don’t believe me, here’s the summary:<\/p>\n

Day 1:<\/p>\n

Charleston, WV: Exhibition Coal Mine<\/strong>, State Capitol Building<\/strong>, eat on Capital St<\/p>\n

Day 2:<\/p>\n

Louisville, KY :Louisville Slugger Museum<\/strong>, Churchill Downs<\/strong><\/p>\n

St Louis, MO: Mississippi Overlook, Gateway Geyser, St Louis Arch<\/strong><\/p>\n

Day 3:<\/p>\n

Springfield, IL: Lincoln Home National Historic Site<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chicago, IL: John Hancock Ctr, City Gallery@Historic Water Tower, Magnificent Mile<\/strong>, dinner at Navy Pier<\/strong><\/p>\n

Day 4:<\/p>\n

Spring Garden, WI: Taliesin<\/strong> (Frank Lloyd Wright), House on the Rock<\/strong><\/p>\n

Day 5:<\/p>\n

Dubuque, IA: Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium<\/strong><\/p>\n

Day 6:<\/p>\n

Boys Town, NE: Boys Town<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kearney, NE: Great Platte River Rd Archway Monument<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sandhills Journey Scenic Byway and Visitors Center<\/strong><\/p>\n

Day 7:<\/p>\n

Badlands National Park, SD<\/strong><\/p>\n

Custer State Park. SD<\/strong><\/p>\n

Day 8:<\/p>\n

Custer State Park, SD<\/strong><\/p>\n

Keystone, SD: Mt Rushmore National Park<\/strong><\/p>\n

Day 9:<\/p>\n

Medora, ND: Theodore Roosevelt National Park <\/strong><\/p>\n

Day 10:<\/p>\n

Glacier National Park<\/strong><\/p>\n

Day 11:<\/p>\n

Seattle, WA: monorail ride to Seattle Center, Space Needle, Pioneer Square<\/strong><\/p>\n

Day 12:<\/p>\n

Seattle, WA: Pike Place Marketplace, Sea Hawk Stadium<\/strong>, drive to Westport Beach<\/strong> for Pacific Ocean<\/p>\n

Day 13:<\/p>\n

Butte, MT: Our Lady of the Rockies, Granite Mountain Mine Speculator Memorial<\/strong><\/p>\n

Day 14:<\/p>\n

West Yellowstone, MT: Grizzly & Wolf Discover Center<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yellowstone<\/strong><\/p>\n

Day 15:<\/p>\n

Yellowstone<\/strong><\/p>\n

dinner in Jackson, WY<\/p>\n

Day 16:<\/p>\n

Boulder, CO: Celestial Seasoning Tea Tours<\/strong><\/p>\n

Denver, CO: Mile High Stadium, Colorado Sports Hall of Fame<\/strong><\/p>\n

Day 17:<\/p>\n

Wichita, KS: Old Cowtown Museum, Keeper of the Plains<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oklahoma City, OK: Oklahoma City National Memorial<\/strong><\/p>\n

Day 18:<\/p>\n

Little Rock, AR: Little Rock Central High School Historic Tour, Big Dam Bridge<\/strong><\/p>\n

Day 19:<\/p>\n

Memphis, TN: Graceland, Beale St, Peabody Hotel, National Civil Rights History Museum<\/strong><\/p>\n

Day 20:<\/p>\n

Nashville, TN: Centennial Park, Parthenon Art Museum<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ashville, NC: Pinball Museum, Basilica of St Lawrence, Lexington Glass Works<\/strong><\/p>\n

Day 21: HOME<\/p>\n

I know what you’re thinking.\u00a0 And it’s true: I’m amazing.\u00a0 Unless you were thinking that’s too many places for 21 days.\u00a0 Which is kinda true.\u00a0 But keep in mind we can visit a lot of the monuments in the evenings because they’re open 24 hours.\u00a0 So it’s OK if we roll up at 8 or 9 or even 10pm.\u00a0 And some of the scenic byways allow us to pass through the park and see the sights without having to spend the night or go out of our way.<\/p>\n

Beside, I think we can do it.\u00a0 Because it’s still the season of hope until the Kings roll through on the 6th.\u00a0 And I just finished my first resolution by Day Two of the New Year.\u00a0 Day Two.\u00a0 You people better get crackin’.\u00a0 You’re already 15 pages behind in the resolution game. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s the time of year for resolutions.\u00a0 So I resolved to finish planning our trip out west this summer.\u00a0 By “finish”\u00a0 I mean get started and get finished.\u00a0 All in one fell swoop.\u00a0 Apparently the National Park rangers like to be notified that you’re coming at least 6 months in advance or they won’t hold […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13043"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13043\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13104,"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13043\/revisions\/13104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}