Disaster…

Ok, so maybe this isn’t truly a disaster, but I intend to find out today.  Last night, after I blogged, I was helping Mom Linda in the garage.  She was trying to get something out of the bottom of the laundry bin when she lost her footing.  I tried to grab her, but my attempt was very pathetic.  She had already fallen on the laundry bin and I was merely holding her head.  In the commotion, something hit my foot, rupturing a huge artery.  It immediately swelled to the size of a golf ball.  I elevated it, put ice on it, an slept with my foot on the arm of the couch all night.  The swelling has gone down, but it still hurts.  Hopefully, they will be able to figure out how to fix this!

So Cal to No Cal

We traveled today from Southern California to Northern California.  On the way, I spied the familiar brown skies of the Golden State.  I had to snap a picture because many non-Californians do not understand that the skies are literally brown.  Here.  This is smog.  Of course, I noticed immediately how ironic it is that these drivers have to pay the highest gas prices in the nation so they can have cleaner gas.   On the other hand, Californian drivers are crazy speeders, so perhaps it serves them well.  I was doing 70 in a 65 zone while being passed regularly by cars doing 80.  Where is the CHP when you need them?  Bring Ponch back!!  On a more positive note, I gave my girls a brief tour of the University of Redlands, the place I got my B.A..  They thought it was pretty cool.  Allyn thought that I had to “study really hard because there were so many buildings”.   Anyway, we finally made it from the 10 to the 210 to the 5.  I finally got a picture of Shields Avenue (my maiden name).  I have seen this sign dozens of times without ever snapping a picture.  So, here, finally, is the street with my name on it! 

4th of July Decor

My parents are in a little retirement community with a golf course.  One thing they do for the 4th is have a parade of all their golf carts fully adorned with red, white and blue decor.  My father said that he was just going to stick a flag on the cart.  Now mind you, he is very patriotic.  Allyn has counted six flags stuck in various places of the house, so lack of patriotism has nothing to do with his skimpy decor ideas.  Let’s face it, before retirement, he was an LVN.  He wore white everyday and worked in hospitals that demonstrated the fact that there are really fifty different shades of white in the color palette.  So, I decided to help.  I love this stuff, so I insisted.  The girls and I went to Walmart (by the way, this is the largest Walmart I have ever seen!), and were stunned to find out they had not devoted four aisles to Fourth of July stuff.  I was really hoping for some cheesy thing, like a hamster singing Toby Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue”.  Nothing.  However, we were able to think quickly, and bought red, white, and blue duct tape to fashion a cape on the back of the cart.  We picked up flag paper plates for the wheels and secured them with red, white, and blue ribbon.  The front windows were adorned with red, white, and blue flowers, and the sides were covered with red, white, and blue tulle.  What prompted this outburst, you say?  The fact that the girls and I have officially put on our 4th of July toes.  Enjoy!

 

Busy, Busy, Busy…..

Wow, from a nothing day to an everything day!  After we left Holbrook, AZ, we decided to visit Meteor Crater, located only six miles south of Interstate 40.  We were able to watch a movie and hike about 1/2 mile on the rim.  Even though I’m smiling in this picture, those of you who really know me, know it took a lot to get me to pose for this picture.  What is truly scary is that this isn’t the largest meteor crater in the world!  And yes, they are tracking meteors as we speak, trying to predict which ones will hit the earth so we can defend ourselves like Bruce Willis! 

Later, we got off the road to gas up in Kingman, AZ and found an old familiar place to eat… In and Out.  Sadly, I realized that even though Allyn was born in CA, she has never tasted these yummy burgers.  She ate, and declared “This is the best cheeseburger ever!”  YUM. 

Lastly, it was truly a milestone day for my Trailblazer as she rolled over to 100,000 miles.  We were on US highway 95, and I literally stopped in the middle of the highway to take the picture.  Check a map.  You’ll see that it is out in the middle of nowhere, and therefore there was no one around for miles!  So, now we are at Grandpa and Grandma Tom and Claudia’s looking forward to a day of rest!

Day Two for Three…

Well, our dinner, er, linner stop was in Albuquerque, NM.  How happy was I to find a Fuddrucker’s!  Delish!  While I was totally diggin’ on the burgers and mayo / red chili sauce, the girls enjoyed nacho cheese and Sponge Bob.  Yes, of all the places I could have picked to eat, I found one with a steady stream of our Bikini Bottom pals.  After we ate, Allyn announced that she wanted to go shopping, but I had to tell her we still had another three hours of driving ahead of us.  So, we gassed up, and discovered a stow-away!  YUK!   But not all of nature was gross.  When we checked into our hotel, there was a cool rainbow there to greet us!  I wish I had more to report, but Northern Texas, New Mexico and Arizona are very PLAIN (get it) states.  Perhaps that is why we are so excited to report a smashed bug and a rainbow! 

It begins…

Well, true to form we were not able to leave without some last minute packing on my part.  I always seem to leave much later than I had hoped, but we still left before noon!  However, I will say that I WOULD HAVE done all this on Friday had I ignored a nagging little feeling I had about my car.  That irritating “service engine soon” light wouldn’t quit, and my baby had a hard time going up hills.  I decided to find out why.  Perhaps she just needed a quick pick-me-up.  Even my service advisor thought it would be simple.  Well, it wasn’t.  What was going to be about $200 to fix quickly turned into five times that amount.  Fortunately, my service advisor had pitty on me and gave me Uncle Doug’s discount.  Mom and Dad helped too, so the roadtrip was not going to be cancelled.  Thus, my baby was running again, and we are now in Erick, OK, only 7 miles from Texas. 

I would have liked to go right to sleep, but Allyn had other ideas.  Gum in the hair.  Crazy ideas of Lisa Simpson running around with peanut butter, mayo, and ice in her hair flooded my mind.  However, the night manager said “veggie oil”, and so we did that.  It worked.   I was shocked.  I thought for certain I’d have to whack about 5 inches off her hair… just in time for pictures with family.  But, alas, her hair is saved.  However, she will not be having gum anytime soon. 

My Cell Phone

Ok, so I am not technically on my roadtrip yet, but this is in preparation for the trip, so I had to blog because it was funny.  Anyone who knows me knows that I rarely have my cell phone with me.  This morning Lance had an “intervention” with me expressing his deep concern that I don’t carry it, and that my cell phone still has not been “found” since the 8th Grade trip to St. Louis over a month ago. He offered to buy me an I-phone, thinking that if the gadget were cooler I would want to carry it more.  Uh, no.  I like my phone because it is FREE!  Meaning I haven’t had to pay a cell phone bill for the past six years!  Ahh, a perk of being a radio wife.  Besides, who needs to call me?  NO ONE!  My girls have no cell phone and Lance NEVER calls me.  When we dated, I called him all the time.  My parents and I had long conversations about the phone bill.  When he DOES call home, it is always bad news.  To prove my point, I have located the phone and will charge it today.  I will carry it all week, and we will just see how many times it rings.  I am not anti-technology, but I also know that I’m not important enough that I have to be reached immediately.

Hello world!

I am a week away from a grand roadtrip that will take me from Memphis, TN up to Sacramento, CA with my two girls.  While we mostly will spend time with family and friends, we will also embark on a weekend camping trip in the Grand Canyon.  It should be a month to remember forever, and just in case we don’t, I’m writing it down!  Check back beginning June 28th for the first entry!