Great Basin National Park and George gets stuck in the hotel bathroom

Lively day. We started in Ely, Nevada after checking out of the Jailhouse Motel and getting coffee and bagels at a local cafe. By 9:30, George and I headed out of town towards Nevada’s only National Park, Great Basin. It’s a lovely little park that features Wheeler Mountain scenic drive, 10,000 feet into the air. Beautiful. Pictures were snapped and stops were made to survey the beautiful landscape and inhale the scent of desert pines. After Great Basin, our mission was to get to Salt Lake City, where we’ll spend two nights (and George’s birthday tomorrow!). The drive was lovely and fun, with few cars on the rural highways. George taught me the names of all of the songs on the Hamilton soundtrack, which I expect to be quizzed on in the near future. Home2Suites is our new home. When we arrived, there was no one at the reception desk. I waited along with another woman and her 3 year old son, wondering who worked at the hotel. We looked back in the hallway where the manager’s office was and I tried calling the hotel from the lobby. I think I must watch too many true crime shows, because I started to worry that someone made off with the hotel employee. After a long 10 minutes, a woman appeared and explained that she was the only one working today and she had to help another hotel guest with her bags because she had just given birth. All of this was super weird, but George and I shrugged it off and headed to our room. Swimming seemed like a good idea, so George went to the bathroom to change. The bathroom has this pocket door that locks with a cheap plastic thingy. Unfortunately, once George was in there the door wouldn’t open again. I tried from the outside and George from the inside. No luck. I contacted the front desk and the poor woman working alone came up with a key, which when tried, didn’t work. She then got a butter knife out of the kitchenette and got one screw out. The other wouldn’t budge. So the lady went back downstairs to find a screw driver. It took about 10 minutes for her to return, at which point she told us that she’d been in an argument with another guest about how to get George out of the bathroom. The guest wanted to come up to our room to help and the woman wouldn’t give him our room number (thank you). She got the door lock unscrewed and George was freed. Then she comped our room. That was an adventure. We swam. We ate Chinese food. We relaxed. Tomorrow we celebrate George’s 15th birthday!

From Circus Circus to the Jailhouse Motel

Our Friday the 29th day of travel was bookended by Circus Circus in the morning and the Jailhouse Motel this evening. Nevada is a weird place, that’s for sure. We breakfasted at a very mediocre restaurant in the Circus. George went back to the room to chill while I checked out the hotel. There’s a Midway with games and slots and it covers an area spanning three different hotels. Folks were playing slots here and there, but I think the majority of folks were still sleeping at our early 9:00 AM hour. At a hotel ATM, I was surprised to find my quick cash choices were $100, $200, $500, $1000. Dang. I withdrew $100 (did I mention that I was out of cash last night when our pizza was delivered last night and I tipped the delivery guy with a $5 Target gift card?) and was surprised to be presented with a $100 bill. Not helpful. Then I noticed that I could make change with the same machine. I put in the $100 and got back 5 $20s. Then I put in a $20 and got back 4 $5s. And finally I put in a $5 and got back 5 $1s. That’s exactly what I needed because my plan was to gamble and my limit was $1. There was an Ellen DeGeneres slot machine beckoning to me, literally. Ellen’s voice would say, “Come over here and sit down! I’m lonely!” when I walked by. So, I put my future into Ellen’s hands and bet a dollar on her machine. No luck. 

George and I headed out to drive the loneliest road in America, highway 50 across Nevada. That’s what the locals call it anyways. And the non-locals. So everybody. It was an easy drive and we had not cares in the world as we arrived in Ely, Nevada. Our home tonight is the Jailhouse Motel and Casino. It’s very kitch and we love it. The restaurant where we stayed had cells to eat in and our hotel door is labeled “cell 121”. We are all locked up and ready for a good night’s sleep. 

Shaver Lake with Yocoms and a Bougere

Wi-Fi black out again for the past few days. On Tuesday the 26th, George and I reunited with the family at the Visitor’s Center in Yosemite National Park. Yay! The girls and Mom gave me a round a applause for surviving the illness of doom. The park was quite crowded and that lessened the fun for our group. Also, we planned poorly and really could have used more than a day to enjoy the natural wonders that surrounded us. We made the best of it, though, and toured for the afternoon. George swam, wearing street clothes, including jeans, in a lovely river that featured a wide sand bar and gentle water. I watched. The Yocom girls and Mark and Mom ventured out to see half dome and the falls on their own. After Yosemite and the 3 hour drive back to the camp (and first sight for George and me) we bought groceries at Ken’s (not Bob’s, the smaller grocer in Shaver Lake) and cooked dinner. Then, Mark and I promptly dumped the dinner in the dirt. Well, the pasta we cooked went into the dirt during an unsuccessful attempt to drain the water. Dinner do-over went much better. Cranky and tired kids and grown ups went to bed.

Our Wednesday (the 27th) was just spectacular. On our last day together the crew decided to rent a pontoon and explore Shaver Lake. Several stops were made for swimming (only Mom - probably the smartest of us - didn’t swim). The water was cold but it felt pretty great. Kids shivered, especially because they had to wear life jackets the entire trip (which makes total sense) and the jackets retained water and chills. Rowen commented that her butt cheeks had goose bumps. Now that’s cold. Each kid got a chance to drive the boat and the big kid (Mark) enjoyed it as well. And the fish finder feature was a hit with the kids, even though we were not outfitted to fish! We were sad to drop it off at the marina after a splendid day. Dinner and kids headed to see The Lion King with Mark. Mom, George and I had one last game of May I before bed.

Today (Thursday the 28th) we say our goodbyes to Mark, Mom and the girls. It’s been such a gift to have this time with them and we will miss them all! We spent the day driving to Reno, where we are now at the Circus Circus hotel on the 25th floor. Time for some gambling (ok, not our style, but maybe room service). 

California 2018 Road Trip: The Dark Ages

Hello there. I’m back on the blogging train today. It’s been a rough week Fun was had also. So I can blog through almost anything (see inaugural trip - Europe 2017), but this week just overwhelmed. My biggest two obstacles keeping me blogless were lack of wi-fi and vomit. Copious amounts from many people, including me. So, in lieu of going back and creating a post for each day from the past 8 missed, here’s my recap. Enjoy. And be thankful you, too, don’t own a set of 5 light-up barf cups.

Sunday the 17th we left Mark’s house for our great California road trip. In one car we had George, Aris, and me. In the other (a truck pulling an RV really) we had Mark, Mom, Taylor and Rowan. We made it about 5 blocks before we had to go back to the house due to a very scary, almost popped tire on the RV that George and I spotted while following mark to the highway. One tire change later and we tried this whole leaving on the trip thing again. Success. The day was purely for driving. No fun was to be had. So George and I tortured Aris with the Hamilton soundtrack for 2 hours. Our planned stop for the evening was some BLM land that was okayed for camping, but when we got there, we discovered that it was inconveniently located right next to a shady looking truck stop with the grossest Dairy Queen restroom on the planet. New plans were made and we drove another 45 minutes to our home at the KOA in Barstow. Seems like a decent start, right? As we pulled into the KOA, Aris states that she’s going to throw up. Sure enough, she arrives in style, spilling out of the car and spending some time with a vomit bag. Booo.

Monday the 18th sent us out of the KOA and on the road to our first real stop, a lovely little campground called Anthony Chabot State Park outside of San Francisco. Two ours of our day was spent somewhere in California getting the RV tires replaced. Adults were grumpy. One kid was anxious. And another, Taylor, decided to play the puking game. So no real fun was had this day either. But, the beautiful campground was reward enough for us and we settled in for two nights.

Tuesday the 19th was San Francisco day! All kids seemed well in the morning so we took our car to the BART train system to check out what San Fran has to offer. George and I peeled off early from Mark and the girls (Mom stayed back at the campsite to relax without us - good plan) and headed to the Castro district. Super gay. Super fun. We shopped and took pics and ate bagels. After taking the 50s style tram to pier 39, we met up with Mark and kids just in time to take a quick 1/2 hour boat trip around the bay. We was Alcatraz. We saw sea lions. And then the barf happened again. Little Rowan began to look a bit green. I tried to hold her over the boat, but the edge was too long. Instead, we improvised. Mark and the girls went to Bubba Gump Shrimp for lunch and had some light up plastic cups as souvenirs. Mark grabbed one and Rowan expertly made a deposit. She needed 1 1/2 cups before we got of the boat. Then, as we walked from the pier to the BART, we made two more stops for the child. Light up barf cups to the rescue. On the BART (which we now call the BARF) she was sick two more times. In rush hour. While standing in the middle of the train. Into light up barf cups. Which adults held like fancy drinks as we waited for our stop. Once more in the truck and one again in the RV made Rowan the master of her craft, by land, by sea, by train, by truck and in an RV, she won the barf-a-thon. Congratulations? Oh - and 2 minutes after getting sick, Rowan said, “Why is this place so fun?” Go figure.

Wednesday the 20th was an easy breezy kind of day. We slept in and revived poor little Rowan, who was feeling puny with lack of food and water. Our adventures took us from SF north to Trinidad, a lovely little town on the coast near the Redwoods. The drive up Route 101 was pretty and uneventful, aside from our constant fear that someone, anyone, could easily vomit at any time. We arrived at the Emerald Forest by dinner time and set up for our three night stay. Months ago when planning the trip, I decided to book a cabin at this location to give us all some room to spread out. It was a very good choice. This first evening we had the three girls staying in the cabin with George and me. The slumber party was fun and the kids were properly tired, going to sleep within 5 minutes of lights out. We rocked this day. 

Thursday the 21st we had a beach day! Or a beach hour, I should clarify. We woke to the sounds of the Emerald Forest, all redwoody with huge trees and little cabins. Pancakes were had by most. Jackets were put on by most. The beach was 5 minutes away by car. When we got there, we were in awe of its beauty and its impressive sand whipping wind. Three girls played in the water, running up and down the beach while adults and George (poor George) kept up or tried to stay warm. We found a dead crab and collected shells and rocks. Many photos were snapped. Eventually the little ones were cold and sandy (and Rowan had a nasty run in with sand that had the nerve to get in her eyes). We left the lovely beach and went to town for lunch. Kids purchased trinkets. Seafood was eaten (not by me of course) and we had the most spectacular blackberry cobbler for dessert. Our evening ended with a game of May I, which Aris now regularly plays with us. 

Friday the 22nd was to be the day of the Redwood Forest. And it was. Sort of. George and I had some down time in the cabin alone overnight and good thing, too, because we woke up to news that Aris is now the vomitor in chief (again????). Seriously, this family can’t keep anything down. So plans were altered and I decided to take George and the two little ones to see giant trees. I had been feeling a little off that morning, but nothing terrible, so we journeyed the 1/2 hour to the visitor center to get educated about where to go. By the time we were there, though, I wasn’t feeling fantastic. And when we arrived at our first stop, to see the old growth trees, I knew I was sick. Kids were super sad to be loaded back into the car after just beginning our adventure (we found banana slugs!) but I needed to be back at the Emeraly Forest immediately. As soon as I got there, the crew left me alone in the cabin to tend to my illness. The next 20 hours are a blur of vomiting, aches, cramps, fever dreams and cursing. Sad times.

Saturday the 23rd was check out day at the Emerald Forest. Aris was recovered and enjoying the vitality of a 9 year old’s immune system. I was a puddle of sadness and worry about the 4 1/2 hour drive destined for the day. We made the tough decision to have Mark, Mom and the girls head out of town to our next adventure and leave George and me behind in a hotel so I could recover. Mom drove us to the hotel and checked us in. I don’t remember too much other than asking someone to buy me saltines. And Gatorade for some reason. George to the rescue. We were in room 208 for the rest of the day, and I was still quite unwell. That’s all I have to say about that.

Sunday the 24th George and I woke to news that I was still not better. Geez. So we doubled down for another night at the Hampton Inn in Arcada. By evening I was well enough to watch Coco and Queer Eye with the boy. Insomnia spent time with me overnight

Monday the 25th (today!!!), I left my sick bed and drove just south of Stockton CA. I’m better for the most part. The drive was uneventful. No one has thrown up. We are heading to Yosemite tomorrow to meet up with our long lost family and I’m excited to be back on track with this trip. None of this has been easy, but traveling rarely is. Will we keep our food down for the rest of the trip? Will there be wi-fi at the campsite? Does anyone want a light up barf cup? So many questions. Stay tuned to find out what happens next.

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

And no pics Sat - Mon. :(