Sunday Drive

This morning we checked out of our hotel in downtown DC and took I-395 S to I-695 E across the Anacostia River to I-295 S. Once we entered Maryland, we continued south on MD-210 to our first destination of the day, Fort Washington Park. This checks off my 200th park visited, and it just so happens to be celebrating its 200th anniversary this year. How cool is that?!

200th for #200!

Circle the Wagons

In the 1800s, a wagon would have taken 8-10 weeks to travel between Independence, MO and Santa Fe, NM along the Santa Fe Trail. Thankfully, we were able to drive it in four days and see/do lots of fun things along the way!

Altogether, we spent 11 days on this trip - two in Chicago, two visiting my parents, and seven on the road between Illinois and California.

3117 miles

On Top of the World

We left the hotel this morning a little after 7:00AM and headed about 30 miles east on US-64, turning onto NM-325 north towards Capulin Volcano National Monument. The reason for our early start was because Saiki-delic vacations usually involve some form of self-inflicted suffering. 😜

☑ Unit #189

In truth, maybe we are gluttons for punishment, but besides having a lot of ground to cover today, I didn't want to fight any crowds for a parking spot on this holiday weekend. So the goal was to be there when the Volcano Road up to the rim opened at 8:00AM. 

Trail of Tears

Three units in the southeastern part of Colorado were on today's itinerary. In prototypical Saiki-delic fashion, we gobbled down a quick breakfast in the hotel and were on the road by 7:15AM. We arrived in Eads, CO around 9:00AM, just as the ranger was raising the flag and opening up the Visitor and Education Center for Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site.

360 miles, 6 hours

Stuck in the Middle with You

When we road trip, we are usually sleeping in a different place each night. Throw in exhaustion from the previous day's activities on top of disorientation from only being semi-conscious, and it's almost guaranteed that I will narrowly miss bashing my face into a wall as I try to find my way to the bathroom in the dark without my glasses. Today I woke up in the middle of the night especially confused, thinking that we were home because the winds were howling outside just like the Santa Anas in Southern California. 

And they were still gusting at about 30 mph(!) this morning at Fort Larned National Historic Site when we arrived around 8:30AM. After getting our obligatory pic of the entrance sign, we drove in to the parking lot and walked about a quarter-mile to the visitor center. 

Hang on!

On the Prairie

After eating a quick breakfast in the hotel this morning, we checked out and headed south on US-69, arriving at Fort Scott National Historic Site just before 9:00AM. From the alert on their website, I knew that the park buildings were temporarily closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays, but it didn't occur to me that it also meant the visitor center would not be staffed. Oof. 🤦🏻‍♀️ 

☑ Unit #182

Escape from New York

To start off our last day in New York City, we walked with MH over to Central Park, stopping by Grabstein's Bagels on the way. We sat on a bench near the East Meadow to enjoy our picks. My toasted bagel with a schmear of cream cheese was sooo good!

Lovely Lady Liberty

As soon as we knew that we could definitely make it to the wedding in New York, I booked tickets for us to go up to the crown of the Statue of Liberty with Statue City Cruises. As the only authorized concessioner to ferry passengers to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, there are a limited number of tickets to the crown each day. I was a little concerned since we would be there during the summer travel season, but I was super excited to find out that there were still some 9:00AM spots available two months in advance! Yay!

Where America Survived

After we finished our visit at the Wallace House & Old Dutch Parsonage State Historic Sites yesterday, we stopped by the Jockey Hollow area of Morristown National Historical Park on the way to our hotel in Parsippany, NJ. 

We arrived about 5:45PM, long after the visitor center closing time of 4:00PM. But since the grounds were open from 8:00AM – 8:00PM, we still had plenty of time to check out the outdoor portions of the park. And we were back again first thing this morning to finish up what we missed, all before the visitor center opened at 10:00AM. How's that for maximum travel efficiency?! 😉 

Memories Deceive Me

I used to scrapbook, as the cabinet full of supplies and tools still in my house would attest. Maybe one day I'll go back to it and catch up on the projects I've been meaning to complete. But at least I can stay reasonably up-to-date on this blog. Even if no one outside of our family ever reads it, I'll keep posting entries because I enjoy writing about our travels. It's important to me to have a record of what we saw and what we did because I'm sure that I won't remember the details as clearly later on. 

Case in point: Our first stop today was Deception Pass. R asked if we had come here during our trip to Washington in 1996 because it seemed familiar. 

I said, "Nope."

Bzzzzzt! Wrong answer. 🤦🏻‍♀️

May 1996

This Little Piggy

Since our itinerary for today was a day trip to explore San Juan Island, we grabbed an early breakfast this morning and were on our way to the ferry terminal in Anacortes by 7:30AM.  

The drive was a little foggy, but we made it in about a half hour. We found a parking spot (paid $13 at the kiosk) and then waited to board the ferry as walk-on passengers for the 8:30AM sailing. The ride over to San Juan Island took about an hour. We were treated to lovely views of the other islands we passed along the way.

Boarding the Chelan

Rainbow Connection

R was up and out the door early this morning so that he could get malasadas from Leonard's Bakery for the fam before the lines got too long. What a guy!

And in case you were wondering if the four of us ate all of those malasadas in the picture, the answer is "NO!" He bought enough to share with his cousins, who were coming over to visit today.

What Time Is It?

Staying up late to hang out with our friends probably wasn't the smartest move for R and me, considering that the plan was to be on the road by 7:30AM PDT this morning. Why so early? Because that's how we roll every day, vacation or not!

C Is For...

Cold coast.

After we checked out of our hotel, we headed over to Fort Stevens State Park to see the wreck of the "Peter Iredale," a cargo ship which ran aground in 1906. It was super windy and cold this morning so we didn't stay very long!

Hey, You Guys!

We were blessed with another day of sunshine today, so we decided to head down the coast this morning. First we stopped in Seaside to see the Salt Works. In order to make salt for their return journey, the Corps of Discovery boiled seawater here over a furnace, 24 hours a day, extracting about 3.5 bushels (or 28 gallons) of "excellent, fine, strong & white" salt.

Seaside, OR

Rain or Shine

When I asked the family where they wanted to go next, J immediately said, "Portland."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because Nike and Adidas are there. And there are a lot of food places that look good."

Fair enough.  So, when I found a cheap one-way airfare ($59) from LAX to PDX for spring break, we were set. But since the return flight was $340 (ouch!), we will be getting home another way. More on that later...

Arkansas Travelers

We left George Washington Carver NM around 10:30AM, and headed south down I-49 to Arkansas and our next stop, Pea Ridge National Military Park. We grabbed lunch on our way through town and headed straight out to the park.

Pea Ridge was the "battle that saved Missouri for the Union." Fought on March 7-8, 1862, it involved some of the same commanding officers who had faced off at Wilson's Creek, such as Maj. Gen. Sterling Price (pro-Confederate Missouri State Guard), Confederate Brig. Gen. Ben McCulloch, and the Union second-in-command Brig. Gen. Franz Sigel. 

Hits and Misses

I wanted to write up a recap for this trip, but when I went to poll the family, my not-so-diplomatic teenager had this comment to offer...

"Not one of your best trips, Mom."

Ouch.

After nursing my bruised ego, I had to admit, he's probably right on that point. This *won't* rank up there as one of our most favorite trips. I'm okay with that -- you can't hit a home run every time, right?! Still, I'm happy that we were able to see places that we had never been before and learn new things. That's why I think traveling is a valuable experience!  

So, even if there were more misses than hits this time around, I am still going to make them find something positive to say about it...

Fort(ress) of Solitude

"What are we doing today?" asked the not-so-junior rangers, as we got off I-10 and headed south on a very small, desolate road.

"Fort Bowie," I replied.

"Why would the government build a fort out here in the middle of nowhere?" asked the patient husband of the crazy lady who will travel anywhere to visit any place with a brown National Park Service sign.

After parking at the trailhead, we started the 1.5 mile hike in to the visitor center to find out.

Exploring Arizona

Our first stop this morning was a trip back in time at Tubac Presidio State Historic Park. It preserves the site of Arizona's oldest Spanish presidio, or fort.

The excavation of the original adobe foundation of the presidio has been enclosed so that it can still be viewed