Chasing the Sun

How did this happen?! While we did have the opportunity to travel a bit this year, 2018 was definitely a bust for visiting new national park units. *sigh* But at least I was able to collect some new cancellations for my "Passport to Your National Parks" and actually almost have enough to earn an award from the National Park Travelers Club for this year. 

Tomorrow we're taking a campus tour of UC San Diego. But since we're so close, why not re-visit Cabrillo National Monument (and get a stamp)?

Gold Rush

We're starting another round of campus tours, this time with J. Two years ago, he was dragged along when M was visiting the colleges he was interested in. I'm hoping J got enough of an impression of those schools last time so that we won't have to make many repeat trips. Since he doesn't have school tomorrow, J and I will be checking out UC Davis. (R was left behind to hold down the fort.)

Instead of driving up, we flew in to Sacramento this morning and spent the day playing tourist, starting out in Old Town.

The Friendly Confines

Given that the Cubs are 0-for-6 in games that we've watched in person, it's a good thing that we didn't get tickets to last night's game. Because if we had, everyone probably wouldn't still be buzzing about David Bote's pinch hit, two-strike, two-out, walk-off grand slam to beat the Nationals 4-3!!! HOLY COW!

So we'll settle for a behind-the-scenes Wrigley Field tour today instead!

Gotta Catch 'Em All

Since Pacific Crest was officially ending their tour today, their last order of business was to clean up their housing site, and then go back to Lucas Oil Stadium to watch the final 12 corps compete. Because all of the kids from all of the corps are descending upon the Indianapolis airport in the wee hours for their flights home on Sunday, we thought it would be easier to pick up M's stuff before it was loaded onto the buses and have him walk back to our room at the Hampton Inn downtown instead of dealing with mass of humanity at IND. Totally worth the 90-minute round trip to Hauser Jr./Sr. High School in Hope, IN this morning!

Here's to the Ones Who Dream

Pacific Crest 2018 DCI Tour

Does this sound like a summer of fun to you?

• Rehearsing countless hours a day in the sun, heat, humidity, insects, rain... 
• Catching a few hours of sleep on the floors of school gyms or while riding on the bus
• Traveling with a small army of performers, instructors, staff, and volunteers in a fleet of buses, equipment trucks, RVs, and a mobile kitchen
• Performing in venues across the country over the course of 6+ weeks

#23

Love the bunting on the porch railings!

No, in this case #23 does not refer to MJ. Sandwiched between the two terms of Grover Cleveland was Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd President of the United States. The only POTUS to hail from Indiana, the house where he lived in Indianapolis is now a national historic landmark. Since we had a free morning before M's semi-final performance with Pacific Crest at Lucas Oil Stadium, we decided to check out the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site, about 1.5 miles from our hotel downtown. 

Looking for Lincoln

So, we're here for our annual trek back to Illinois. The primary purpose for this trip is to watch M conclude his summer-long drum and bugle corps tour with Pacific Crest at DCI Championships in Indianapolis. We're also spending some time with family, too. Unfortunately, we won't be visiting any new NPS units. 😢

But there are always NPS passport cancellations to collect, which is what brought us to Atlanta, IL today.

First stop - Atlanta Public Library for the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area stamp!

Leaving Las Vegas

From previous treks to Vegas, we have learned the hard way that driving back to Southern California on a Sunday is almost guaranteed to be total misery. On any other day without traffic, we can easily make it in about 4.5 hours. The absolute worst was when we literally crawled the entire way from Jean, NV to Victorville, CA on I-15, taking more than 8 hours to get home. Ugh! So, needless to say, it was a no-brainer to stay through until Monday.

ʻOhana

After yesterday's reunion activities, I'm thankful that the only strenuous thing about the family slot tournament is pushing a button. 

Repeatedly. 

For twenty minutes.

Left-handed.

Because (ow!) my right arm (oof!) is really sore!

*sigh*

Armed and Dangerous

The first official family reunion festivities started today, beginning with bowling at the Gold Coast Hotel and Casino. I think we took up nine or ten lanes!

Red Rock Canyon

This morning as we were walking thru the casino to get some breakfast, we bumped into a bunch of our Chicago clan. The whole group then headed over for a caffeine fix from Starbucks in the Golden Nugget and saw two more cousins from Kauai. By the time we got back to the California, Aloha Specialties was open, with three more cousins and their spouses stopping in while we were eating. Even though we had only been up for a couple hours, we had already gotten an early start on hugs and laughs.

^^^This.

This is what I love about our family and what I love about coming to Vegas for a reunion.

They Might Be Giants

Not many things could bring us to visit Las Vegas in the sweltering heat of summer except a family reunion and basketball. With the NBA Summer League expanding to all 30 teams, we're getting the most bang for our buck on this trip!

Like the last family reunion, we are down a man again. M is missing out on this one because he is touring all over the country this summer with Pacific Crest Drum and Bugle Corps. We'll catch up with him in August at Drum Corps International's World Championships in Indianapolis.

More on that later. Let's get back to Vegas...

Encore

Before taking their flight

This Presidents' Day weekend found us reprising last year's trip to San Jose for M's second All-State performance. This year he was joined by three other students from his high school, and we added a set of grandparents!