I woke up to the wonderful smells of fresh Swedish pancakes, which Vicki made for us for breakfast. They were delicious! After that we had to pack up the car, and after a quick slice of amazing pie, we sadly departed. Then we had to enter Kansas, which is a state full of just rolling wheat fields right?
Wrong. After searching through Chris' travel books, I discovered that Kansas contains the geographical center of the continental United States. So we drove and saw it, which was completely awesome. The boys and I stood on the little raised platform right were the center of the U.S. is. Finally I was in my rightful place, the center of the universe:).
Just a little west of the Center was the worlds largest ball of twine. It had a forty foot circumference! It was a very weird thing to see.
We just arrived at the Holiday Inn Express about an hour ago, and the boys and I walked to McDonald's right across the street to get dinner. Only to discover that they didn't have coke glasses. I am very upset, and it was a bad end to a weird but cool day.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
The Hadeens
Today we left Rawlins, Wyoming at 9:38 after another yummy Holiday Inn Express complimentary breakfast. After driving for what seemed like forever, we stopped for a lunch from the cooler at a very nice rest area in Pine Bluffs, Nebraska. At the rest stop they advertised for a archaeological dig site just on the other side of the bluff. Chris, being Chris, decided we all had to go. So after lunch we drove around the bluff and checked out the site.
It was actually fairly interesting. They had different layers dung in the earth, so you could see artifacts for the Native Americans and the Settlers. We learned about the things the Native Americans ate, where they lived, and the many different tribes. It was definitely a worth while stop.
After another two or three hours of driving, we reached our destination: The Hadeens in Colorado. This is the family Mike stayed with in America when he was 17 and an exchange student. Vicki and Harold (other parents for Mike) had the entire family over to their house for a huge barbecue. There were like 30 people! Mike seemed to be having a lot of fun, and I remembered most of the people from last time we visited. While we were eating, a huge thunderstorm hit. Even in Washington, we do not get rain like they received here in Colorado. I could barely see my hand in front of my face, the rain was coming down so hard. Nonetheless the boys and I watched for lightening, and saw quite few huge bolts. The storm only lasted for like ten minutes, and afterward there was a beautiful double rainbow.
After almost everyone had left, and only one family was still there, the boys and I went with age mates/cousins down to the local park, and played tag there until 11:00 pm. We just got back and all of us are completely exhausted. It was so much fun to see everyone, and I hope we will get to see them again soon!
It was actually fairly interesting. They had different layers dung in the earth, so you could see artifacts for the Native Americans and the Settlers. We learned about the things the Native Americans ate, where they lived, and the many different tribes. It was definitely a worth while stop.
After another two or three hours of driving, we reached our destination: The Hadeens in Colorado. This is the family Mike stayed with in America when he was 17 and an exchange student. Vicki and Harold (other parents for Mike) had the entire family over to their house for a huge barbecue. There were like 30 people! Mike seemed to be having a lot of fun, and I remembered most of the people from last time we visited. While we were eating, a huge thunderstorm hit. Even in Washington, we do not get rain like they received here in Colorado. I could barely see my hand in front of my face, the rain was coming down so hard. Nonetheless the boys and I watched for lightening, and saw quite few huge bolts. The storm only lasted for like ten minutes, and afterward there was a beautiful double rainbow.
After almost everyone had left, and only one family was still there, the boys and I went with age mates/cousins down to the local park, and played tag there until 11:00 pm. We just got back and all of us are completely exhausted. It was so much fun to see everyone, and I hope we will get to see them again soon!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Another Long Day
Today started with a wonderful Holiday Inn Express complimentary breakfast consisting of eggs, sausage, toast, cereal, and cinnamon rolls. We left the Holiday Inn (in Boise) at about 9:30 in the morning. As we drove, Mr. Chatterbox (Gavyn) decided to count all the tractor-trailer semi trucks that passed our car. Chris and Mike joined in, but they had to take a break when we arrived at our first tourist attraction: The Golden Spike.
This historic site is where the Union Pacific and Central Pacific rail roads met, making the first American transcontinental railway. It was very cool there. There are real size replicas of the trains that met at the golden spike, and you can go out and touch them! The exhibit area was very inspiring, as they talked about the workers averaging 1 mile a day, but sometimes doing ten miles, and sometimes only eight inches (when they had to blast through the mountains)!
After this slight detour, Chris, Mike, and Gavyn continued counting trucks, while Myles played D.S. and I read (big surprise). When we pulled into Costco for a late lunch (Two Costco lunches in a row. My dreams have come true!), around 4:00, the parents and Gavyn had counted 1,000 trucks! We had a delicious Costco lunch, and then drove for five more hours to arrive at our final destination, Rawlins, Wyoming. The boys and I went for a quick swim and, after showering, everyone is going to bed.
This historic site is where the Union Pacific and Central Pacific rail roads met, making the first American transcontinental railway. It was very cool there. There are real size replicas of the trains that met at the golden spike, and you can go out and touch them! The exhibit area was very inspiring, as they talked about the workers averaging 1 mile a day, but sometimes doing ten miles, and sometimes only eight inches (when they had to blast through the mountains)!
After this slight detour, Chris, Mike, and Gavyn continued counting trucks, while Myles played D.S. and I read (big surprise). When we pulled into Costco for a late lunch (Two Costco lunches in a row. My dreams have come true!), around 4:00, the parents and Gavyn had counted 1,000 trucks! We had a delicious Costco lunch, and then drove for five more hours to arrive at our final destination, Rawlins, Wyoming. The boys and I went for a quick swim and, after showering, everyone is going to bed.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
A Long Day
We just arrived at a Holiday Inn Express in Boise, Idaho after driving for twelve hours today. This morning adventure had already struck our vacation. After the car had all been packed, we were set and ready to leave at 9:30 am. When Mike went to start the car, Big Red's battery was dead, because the refrigerator had been plugged into the car. So we had to jump start Big Red using Black Jake and we didn't end up leaving until 10:00. The classic start to a Kautsky Family Vacation. In Portland we stopped at Costco (widely known as my favorite place to eat) to refill on gas and get a small snack. Across the street from Costco was a small roadside stand with fresh cherries and raspberries sold by a young man raising money for college. We bought a 1/2 a flat of raspberries, and had Costco ice cream with raspberries. And not just any raspberries, but the best raspberries in the world!
The rest of the day went by fairly uneventfully. We stopped at a nice park in Boardman, Oregon to eat lunch, started listening to The Belgariad by David Eddings (which is very hard to understand because the reader reads in a welsh accent and mumbles when he speaks), and ate dinner at McDonald's (Myles and I both got blue coke glasses!). Since we went through the time zone, it is now 11:35, so it is officially past my bed time :). Sleep calls!
The rest of the day went by fairly uneventfully. We stopped at a nice park in Boardman, Oregon to eat lunch, started listening to The Belgariad by David Eddings (which is very hard to understand because the reader reads in a welsh accent and mumbles when he speaks), and ate dinner at McDonald's (Myles and I both got blue coke glasses!). Since we went through the time zone, it is now 11:35, so it is officially past my bed time :). Sleep calls!
We Are Leaving!
The hectic morning of launching has arrived. We are packing last minute things and running aroung the house. It is very busy and crazy. Not sure the next time I will be able to blog, because I am not sure when we will find wifi. Until then!
P.S. I got my permit yeasterday :)
P.S. I got my permit yeasterday :)
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
The Beginning
Welcome to the Kautsky Family Vacation blog. For all of you who do not know, we are going on a huge, drive-across-the-United-States vacation. We will be gone for 4 to 6 weeks. The first week Mike is going to drive the rest of the family to Washington D.C. then he has to leave to get back to work. Chris, Myles, Gavyn, and I will continue up to New York, and back home along the Great Lakes and through Montana. It is going to be huge, long, fun, and most of all, an adventure.
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