OOOOOKlahoma where the wind goes sweeping down the lane...

Entry 4

First... we would like to thank Adventurers Hans and Bob for their love and support on our big trip across America. Without you this trip literally would not have happened.

So I had this illusion that I would be updating my blogs before going to bed at night. Uh. That isn’t the only idea that has had to be kicked to the curb. *chuckle* Apparently, crashing and burning after 9 hours of driving the monster on rte 66 is enough. :-).

Yesterday spent the day in St. Louis at the St. Louis City Museum. It was fantastic. I went to get th fridge on the RV fixed at RecTec. If you are ever in St. Louis and need your rig fixed up? They are wonderful! They got my RV in quickly, fixed the short that was causing the fridge not to stay cool while driving and got me back on the road in about 2 hours. They had to pull up the bed in the back to fix it, so I say… well done guys! Also? Hat’s off to CruiseAmerica. They stayed with me every step of the way. I was *very* impressed with their customer service. I’ve read a lot of horror stories about cruiseamerica and I’m sorry that is what is out on the web, because so far? I have been impressed and have really enjoyed the trip so far. Of course I had the ability to drop the kids, bffC and cousin at the museum and wait while things got done, but the efficiency and such to *get* things done was all around impressive.

No pics of me in the waiting room. (Too bad, ‘Brad’ was both helpful and cute). But good pics of the kids at the museum:

We made bookmarks for all the wonderful people who donated to our cause! We’ll be trying to get those in the mail in the next few days! Yay!

Just too darn pretty for words!

So much to climb, so little time! After the museum, we decided to start our trip to Tulsa. On the way? We saw the infamous, “mine for stones” signs at Meramec Caverns in Stanton, Mo. Well, we HAD to stop and do a little mining. So I bought the minimonsters each a bag of dirt and we went ‘prospecting’.

Fun times and the kids LOVE looking at the stones and matching them up to the cards with the pictures.

After Meramec Caverns, I started to drive. And drive. And drive. About 11:30 I decided I’d had enough. We had another hour and a half to Tulsa. It was too long for everyone I stopped to get a room in Joplin, Mo. But the big Asian festival there and the tornado relief people had every single room filled. We all needed a hotel and a hot shower and solid bed, so we pushed on to Miami. Where apparently? All the other Asians and construction workers were pushing on. I stopped at a motel and got two of the last rooms in the city. Yay Oklahoma for the one nonsmoking room (which was smoking) and the smoking room (which was as advertised). bffC and Gman stayed in the single bed in the nonsmoking room and cousinN, Mads and I stayed in the double smoking room. And even though it took a while to get the room cool? It was a good night’s sleep. Just have to work in the goat chewing Mads hair in her dreams. Because she felt the need to kick *me* in an effort to make the goat stop. *chuckle*.

This morning we got up ready to eat and get on the road. CousinN is driving for the first time today. She’s pretty white knuckled and realizing this rig and the crosswinds aren’t friends. It’s pretty hard driving. At least we are out of the hills of the Ozarks. Those were killer with a full RV! Thank heavens for the ‘towing’ option which helped the engine keep cool.

We had breakfast at Buttered Bunns Café. Our waiter had the cutest Nashville accent. He was all, “Yes ma’am. I’ll get that for you right away, (insert adorable smile here).” He got a good tip. I’m just saying, 2 kids, 3 adults make for a needy group to feed!

Now? We’re on our way to Amarillo with cousinN driving.

It’s about 7 hours away. Not sure if we will stop in Amarillo or try to push on a couple more hours. It depends on how the kids are doing and how much we’ve needed to get up and out walking around and bathroom breaks and pain tolerance.

Thanks again everyone for all your love and support!

Happy Trails,

MaryKate

Day One - AAAnnd we're driving and we're driving...

In one piece if not one peace...

Entry 4

First a loving shout out to Grandpa Jaccaud! Thank you from all of us intrepid tripsters! Your love and support are well appreciated!

And we made it to the St. Louis RV park.

 Took us a while, I was *sure* we weren't going to make it by 11pm when they close the gates. So I'm driving at 65 and 70 when the speed limit was 70. Let's just say, when I go fast? The 'monster' is soo happy! It drinks gas like a child gulps lemonade after playing outside on a hot summer day. Hello 8 miles a gallon! *laughter* Then? As I stopped to get us gas and grab KFC to eat in the monster while we drove? The thrilling insight hit me. St. Louis? Is 1 HOUR BEHIND! Woohoo to the additional hour! Joy oh joy! :)

Of course when we got here, the nice elderly gentleman who helped me hook up the RV noticed that the water was spraying EVERYWHERE. Ugh. We got that fixed (user error, can't blame the RV for that one). The real problem? Was that during driving? We realized the 12volt battery wasn't working correctly and our fridge was not cold. I, uh, have about $200 worth of food in the fridge so you know.. that wasn't okay. Luckily? I called cruiseamerica and they are getting it fixed today. I am going to drop off Mads, Gman, bffC, and cousinN at the St. Louis City Museum and I'm off to get the rv fixed. BffC is really tired today. None of us slept very well, so I am thinking she may hang out in the RV while the kids wander the museum and cousinN stays and watches them. At least this way, we aren't losing a day to mechanical stuff. And they are paying for everything to be fixed sooo... thus why I'm happy I didn't pay for an RV. :). Getting one that they have to fix makes me happy! Having to get it fixed not so much, but glad I don't have to pay for it. :D

As for everything else. It's the RV dance to keep things in check. Sleeping? Didn't work so well last night... we are definitely going to have to work something else out, because while this was cute:

 Mads is a kicking monster at night. I got about 3 hours of sleep. As the primary driver, that isn't going to work. Soooo. It's the RV shuffle. I suspect by the 16th when we pull in to Seattle? We'll have it down pat. :).

I did get everyone breakfast this morning in 30 minutes. Mads - 2 scrambled eggs with toast, Gman - 2 blueberry waffles with grade jelly, bffC - a bowl of lucky charms with milk and cousinN - egg samich. Oh, I made myself 2 eggs basted light with toast as well. I got it goin' ON in the morning! *laughter*

I might pass out by 3pm, however.

Soooo... yeah. Over all day one was okay. Other than some sibling stuff.. we arrived in one piece. Like I said... maybe not one peace, but we're all learning as we go!

Thank you again everyone for your love and support... this is certainly the adventure.

Happy Trails,

MaryKate

ps. Mads has started her own 'mini' blog version (she came up with the name all by herself, is doing all the writing herself and doing her own photos! So, just in case you wanna read her take on me... er, I mean our adventure!

The Big Day...

Off to Pick up the RV

Entry 3

First? Shout out to Carol! Another Adventurer sharing in the craziness that is this cross country trip! Thank you so much for contributing! Every penny helps!

Now on to today's leg of the journey. Nikki and I will be leaving sometime around noon to head to Cincinnati to pick up the gas monster... I mean the RV... After serious contemplation, I decided in the end *not* to buy a used one and just go with the rental. It is more expensive and I suspect if I did actually buy one, I would be happy with it. But right now I think, for me, if I wanted to buy one, I would choose a smaller one than what we need for this trip. With three of us gals (none of us tiny), the wheelchair, the walker and two kids? A nice, small Toyota or newer 19' RV isn't going to work. Plus? I gotta get through *this* trip before I go thinking about another one.

But I must admit, there is something dreamy about the idea of jumping in my small RV, driving to the ocean and doing some writing. Used ones are pretty reasonably priced...

In the meantime, it's a packing frenzy here. Well, it's 9:37am - no one is moving but me, but I am sure by NOON it will be a packing frenzy here. *laughter* The nicest thing about this trip is that we are taking things slowly and simply. We have a LOT of places we want to go and no absolutes except the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas.

Our extremely tentative route goes something like this:

Columbus
St. Louis - Children's Museum
Branson - John Denver or Neil Diamond Tribute. Not 100% sure about this - this stop might get nixed.
Santa Fe
Sedona
Grand Canyon
Las Vegas - not sure when, but likely we're going to be staying at the Golden Nugget or CircusCircus
Legoland
Disneyland - I'm not sure about this...  C *really* wants to go, I *really* don't.
Redwoods National Park
Portland
Seattle - Pike Place, Tilted Thunder Roller Derby Championship and maybe whale watching!

I foresee having to alter this trip a bit, but that's the tentative plan right now. We have 14 days and over 5K miles to travel, with 11 different things we want to do. I'd say several items are getting kicked to the roadside curb!

So, I'm off to pick up the RV today and we are planning on leaving either tonight or early tomorrow morning. Tomorrow's blog will have pics of us heading down the highway.

I find at times I'm super excited about this trip, and at times? I am super anxious. Luckily, C and I are very similar in that we both know, it's about the journey and not the destination.

Happy Trails!

MaryKate

A Short Trip Up North Before Heading down South...

The Hunt for Lucky Stones...

Entry 2

First a shout out to: Christina, Perry, Crystal and Patricia. Thanks for being Adventurers at heart and supporting us on our trip! The kids will be coloring you a special 'thank you' card and we'll be sending them on their way;  I might even hand deliver them upon my return to Seattletown!

Today I made a brief detour up north to deliver some bean soup I made for my dad. In the winter he likes to throw the frozen soup in the microwave and since I make a seriously good bean soup, it makes him happy until I arrive at Christmas to make him more. *laughter* Mads came with me and we spent some time shopping at my favorite local winery - Firelands Winery (where Mads had some fantastically good white grape juice and I got some reds, whites and blushes to share with everyone upon my return!), geocaching, heading to the popcorn store (cheddar, butter and salt, and jellybean flavor were the winners today) and walking the beach looking for lucky stones:

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This is a 'lucky stone' although it isn't lucky for the sheephead (the fish it comes from). It's actually a bone that is inside the fish's head. When the sheephead dies, these small bones wash up on beaches anywhere you find sheephead. People collect the bones because of the "L" you can see on the bottom. I've seen people collect enough of these to cover a small mosiac-like table top they've built! I'm sure that took years. We found two tonight, but we're going hunting for more in the morning!

After much input from Jack (a wonderful friend of mine from High School) and Christina, C and I stayed up and talked last night and we've decided we aren't planning. Well... we're planning a little... but really? We have a bunch of ideas and we're just going to take things one day at a time. Some days, C might be all up for a museum or whatnot... and some days? We might just relax and have a fun day at a pool or some such thing. The idea is for this trip to be fun, not exhausting. She starts chemo two days after she gets back from the trip and I'd like to not wear her out before all that starts. Also,  Mads and Gman have to hustle to school two days after the return. They don't need to be worn out either.

The for sure on the trip is the Grand Canyon. Oh, and legoland.  Everything else is gravy.

If I am learning anything on this trip? Or even before this trip begins, it's that in the end, I really have to let go of thinking I can control anything. Instead, I am learning to be happy in the fact that I can control nothing. Mostly, I'm just trying to enjoy the moments when I can make decisions that feel strong and positive and enjoy the sound of laughter and excitement as we go along.

I started reading Mads and Gman stories from a 'Read Aloud Greek Mythology' book at night before we go to bed. That's been wonderfully fun... great stories and I think Mads understands the story of Helen of Troy at 11, *way* better than I ever did - I didn't really learn it until college ;).

Sunday morning after we get up and moving around here, we're beach combing for more lucky stones, doing a little geocaching and enjoying our last 'quiet' time before heading back to Columbus and getting ready for things to get hectic next week. I pick up the RV on the 3rd of August! How is it AUGUST already????

Happy trails to you!

MaryKate

The countdown starts!

Planning and Planning and Planning (oh my!)

Entry: 1

Yesterday, C got the news that she can fly back from Seattle to Ohio when we finish the trip. She's feeling up to the RVing across America and we're going to actively start planning.

To update you or introduce you, I'm MaryKate... my best friend is fighting cancer and wanted to take a road trip this summer. We're packing her daughter, son, cousin and myself into a camper and heading across the US in a rented RV. We're starting in Ohio and ending in Seattle on a rather southerly route. Hopefully we'll be leaving on August 4th and arriving in Seattle sometime the week of August 15th. Somewhere in there we're hoping to get to the The Wizard of Oz museum in Kansas, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, California, Oregon (voodoo donuts of course!) and then Seattle.

I'd love suggestions, ideas... prayers. We will take them all!

My goddaughter Mads is also thinking of keeping a blog while we are on our journey. If she does, I will post the link here so you can read along if you like!

This is just a short post. Tonight we're digging into the internet and the books and starting to make our plans!

Much love to you all,

Happy Trails to you!
MaryKate

ps... if you'd like to donate to the cause, you can click the link at the top of this webpage! I will occasionally mention it, but this blog is not a request for money! *smile* It's a way to share our journey with everyone we love!