1. The Capital. We took a Sunday drive to Annapolis to see the US Naval Academy. This was a great idea, in my head. How was I to know that the new plebes report to school on July 1st and that Annapolis may be one of the busiest places in the world (for it's relative size) on the weekend of July 4th? Yikes! We spent more time parking and walking to and from our parking spot than we did touring the Academy.
It was also our intention to eat an authentic Maryland Crab dinner while in Annapolis. This did not happen either. When traveling with children, it is important to remember they must eat every two hours. The wait was longer than that at this popular crab place and by 4:00 in the afternoon we had not eaten since breakfast! Just imagine our lovely children's temperaments.
The highlight of the day was a comment Davis made to his dad about attending the Naval Academy. Dave and I had been talking up the merits of a Naval Academy education (mostly, we are trying to get all our kids to college for free). Davis was thinking this might be really cool. Until, after seeing several plebes walking in formation he asked his dad why they all had such short hair. Dave informed him that they were required to shave their heads when they got to school. Davis, "Well, then, I am not going here." I will say, he does have one of the most lovely heads of hair of any 5th grader I know. So, maybe we will try and find a free acting school - can you say "Patrick Dempsey."
We then spent the 4th of July attending "A Capital 4th" from the lawn of the capital. The music was incredible, and the fireworks, though slightly hidden from view by a tree, were amazing. No wonder we are at our debt ceiling - quite a show. The highlight of the entire trip for me was seeing Steve Martin. He now plays banjo, as if being a great actor and comedian weren't enough, and is darn good. I almost fainted when I saw him in his ivory suit, light blue shirt, red tie and black glasses. I know he is a little old for me, but hey, I like older guys. Check out his band, The Steep Canyon Rangers.
2. Hays, Kansas. After spending two days at home unpacking, doing laundry and packing, we were off to the mountains for two weeks. Anyone who knows us is keenly aware of our unfortunate luck when driving I-70 West. We have had puking kids and flat tires. We have been stranded in a blizzard and slept in our truck. So, we took every appropriate measure we could to be prepared for our trip. We checked the oil, spare tire, washer fluid, coolant, packed a cooler of ice with snacks, a cooler of water. We were ready.
At 9:00 in the morning on Saturday, we left. As relaxed and calm as we have ever been on a road trip. We stopped for lunch in Salina, then hit the highway. Just outside Russell, Kansas, I heard a strange sound coming from the driver side front tire. I turned to Dave, and said, "I think I should pull over, I think we have a flat tire." I am sure he thought I was crazy or delusional, but we pulled over. He got out, checked, got back in the car and announced, "Yes, a flat." Oh Crap! Why Us?
Now, one thing our kids have learned about traveling with Dave and I, is that flat tires can be fun. Clara's first comment, with her arms raised high over head in a cheer was, "Woo-hoo, do we get to sleep in the car tonight?" God, I hope not. It was 2:00 in the afternoon and 100 degrees, 110 on the highway in the sun. Eden's first comment, "Look mom, a dead animal skeleton right outside the car," It really sucked!
We called Triple AAA, even though, Dave was already diligently working (sweating his ass off) on the tire. I figured we could use the help. They informed us after an hour, that they couldn't find anyone to come help us (they should be getting the letter I wrote them about this right about now) At this point, we are realizing our spare tire is so old, that we can't lower it from below the truck. Great. Add to that, our truck is now overheating and we can no longer enjoy the benefit of air conditioning.
Dave and I were getting a little concerned at this point. Our kids? Not so much. Busy playing with ice in the car. Finally, we enlist the help of a highway patrolman who is able to help Dave get the tire down and on. Off we went. At this point, I am just thankful our truck started.
We drove about 20 minutes down I-70 to Hays, Kansas. We knew we needed to get the 10-year old spare replaced and a new spare tire. We pulled into Wal-mart to check on buying some new tires. They had a tire they could sell us, but it would be a two hour wait. We had no choice. It was 4:45 in the afternoon at this point.
Now here comes the part that sounds really crazy. First, a little history. For the last few months I have been researching new cars. We knew our truck was living on borrowed time (10 years, 170,000 miles.) But, I was trying to hold out a little while longer. I knew the car I wanted. It would be a new Ford Explorer and I was planning on ordering a 2012 sometime later in the fall, because there were not any 2011s in the KC area at the time, that were not totally tricked out. I am a firm believer that the point of a car is to get you from A to B - so I don't need all the bells and whistles.
After taking a bathroom break at Wal-mart, I got on my trusty iPhone and pulled up the inventory of the Ford dealership directly across the street from Wal-mart. Well, what do you know? They just happen to have the car we were going to order. So, like any good American family, we hopped in our trusty, gas-guzzling SUV, drove across the street, and to make a long story shorter, bought a new car, moved all our belongings out of the old truck into the new one and off we went. We arrived in the mountains at 2:00 in the morning on Sunday and did not have to sleep in our car. Who does that? We do. Now, our kids will think that a flat tire means you sleep in your car overnight in a blizzard, or you just buy a new car! Gotta love living in suburban Johnson County.
Thankfully, the rest of our trip was extremely less eventful. We enjoyed two beautiful weeks of hiking, mountain biking, rafting and just being outside. We did not watch TV at all and my brother joined us for a few days.
We met up with some good friends of ours for hiking, swimming and some dinner. It was a sad day when we left and I am secretly (well, not so secretly now, job-searching for something in Denver.) What would be really great is if Colorado would secede from the Union and become it's own country, then I could live somewhere really great and not have to listen to all this crap about a bogus debt ceiling deadline.
Now, we are home. And it feels good. We have three weeks until school starts and a lot of things to cross of our summer fun list. We shall see.
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