Snowbirds

Most snowbirds migrate from colder climates to warmer ones. We, however, traveled in reverse since airfares are somewhat cheaper after the holidays. So, for a week R and I braved the cold Illinois weather for the opportunity to check in on my folks and see some friends and family while here. I don't have a lot of photos to post, but there are a few highlights that I wanted to capture on the blog for future reference...

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Since we had time before our flight home later today, we decided to pad our stamp stats with a re-visit to Manassas National Battlefield Park. But we took a slightly longer route to get there via VA-28 and VA-234 so that we could check off two more municipalities, Manassas and Manassas Park (see my earlier post on collecting counties).

40 miles, 1 hour

Pick Your Battles

To date, we haven't traveled very much in this part of the United States. Aside from visiting Manassas National Battlefield Park with the family in 2010 and Monocacy National Battlefield while on solo business trips in 2017 and 2022, our NPS checklist is missing a lot of units interpreting sites from the eastern theater of the Civil War. (Gettysburg really needs a re-visit because I was in grade school, and the cyclorama is the only thing I vaguely recall.) Needless to say, I was looking forward to today's first stop: Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial National Military Park! 

Thought this was R's 200th unit, but I miscounted! Doh.

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!

By George

The first stop on our tour of the DMV was Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts in Vienna, VA. Although the performance season ended in September, we were still able to access the park and hike the grounds this morning.

☑ Unit #191

In a Pickle

Friday, August 30

Nice leg room for R!

Our flight from LAX to ORD was not without some drama this morning. When we boarded the plane, we found out that the seats we originally booked were changed to accommodate a family with children. So instead of the four of us sitting together in Row 36, R was assigned to an exit row in the front of the plane, and the boys and I were given seats in Row 35, also an exit/bulkhead row. However, the gate agent did not notify us or the people originally assigned to Row 35 about the changes.  

Ordinarily, exit rows would be viewed as better seats. But we are used to having our backpacks and water bottles easily accessible to us, so this wasn't really an upgrade in our eyes. 

Things got worse when one of the original passengers boarded with a screenshot of her old boarding pass rather than using the United app, so she didn't understand why her seat was taken. It probably didn't help that she and rest of the party traveling with her only spoke Italian. Her son (I presume) was using Google Translate to communicate that he purchased the upgrade for his mother, and both of them were getting increasingly agitated.

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

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!

From the Seashore to Saint Paul's

Yesterday's festivities didn't end with the reception. The father of the bride convinced R and two other buddies to join him for late night Korean fried chicken at Pelicana Chicken in Bayside (open 'til 2AM!). Guess R and RH thought they could still eat like they did when they were college roommates, which was more than *30* years ago?! 🤣

As much as I would have liked to join them, I stayed behind to finish packing and get some sleep because I knew that we had a lot of driving ahead of us. Even though it's nowhere near the mileage we usually cover on a typical road trip, today would be our longest day in the car on this vacation. 

160 miles

Get Me to the Church On Time

Today was the primary reason for our trip to New York... the wedding of our dear friends' daughter! Since the ceremony wasn't taking place until later this afternoon, I figured we had some time to squeeze in a visit to yet another nearby national park unit, Sagamore Hill National Historic Site.

☑ #174 of 424 NPS units for me (#168 for R)

Unfortunately, I goofed up the date when tickets for guided tours of the Roosevelt home would become available online. When I checked the website in mid-May, tickets for the 10:00AM tour were already sold out, and there was only one spot left at 11:00AM, which I immediately nabbed. To complicate matters further, the visitor center/museum didn't open until 11:00AM, so we wouldn't be able to go through the exhibits there beforehand either. Doh! 🤦🏻‍♀️

A Day in the City

Our plan for today was to visit the national park units in Manhattan which are only open on the weekends. More accurately, that was *my* agenda. Thankfully, R loves me enough to allow himself to be dragged all over the city in the spirit of checking off boxes and still be a good sport about it. How blessed am I?! He's definitely a keeper!

We were up early and grabbed a quick breakfast in the hotel before driving from Roslyn to the Long Island Rail Road station in Port Washington, where parking in the commuter lot is free on weekends. We hopped onto the 7:40AM train, paid the $9.25 off-peak fare in the MTA Train Time app, and arrived at the Grand Central Madison terminal around 8:30AM. (Alternatively, we could have taken the 8:08AM train, arriving at Penn Station at 8:55AM.)

The Wizard of West Orange

After leaving Morristown, it took us about 30 minutes to drive to West Orange, NJ and Thomas Edison National Historical Park. 

☑ #166 of 424 NPS units

While Thomas Alva Edison invented the phonograph (1877) and incandescent light bulb (1879) in his laboratory in Menlo Park, NJ, by the mid-1880s his business operations had outgrown the facilities there. He moved his industrial research and development laboratory into the West Orange complex in 1887, a campus ten times the size of Menlo Park. Here, along with his teams of scientists/engineers, he perfected his phonograph, developed motion pictures, and invented many other devices and technologies.

¡Sí, Se Puede!

After our visit to Lake Mead NRA last month, I was only one unit short of achieving the National Park Travelers Club Bronze Master Traveler Award for 2022. The closest place we could easily drive for a passport stamp to satisfy the requirement was César E. Chávez National Monument in Keene, CA, about two hours away. 

¡Sí, Se Puede!  Yes, we can!

So on my first day of Christmas vacation, my true love came with me on an impromptu road trip!

To Remember

Today we laid R's mom's ashes to rest. She passed away just before Christmas in 2019, and while we were able to hold a memorial service for her a few weeks later in January 2020, the pandemic curtailed our plans for the inurnment last summer. So even though we are a year later than intended, it is especially fitting that my in-laws would have celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary today and that her birthday is tomorrow. Always a perfect time to remember those we love...

Stamp-a-palooza

After a year with *zero* visits to any national park unit, I was determined to log at least one in 2021, even if it was a repeat visit. Since March 2020, all buildings within Lincoln Home National Historic Site had been closed to the public due to COVID. But just before we came back to Illinois, the park announced its re-opening! Yay!

And since the visitor center would be open, that also meant that I could collect extra passport cancellations towards my annual National Park Travelers Club award. Woohoo!

Playing Hooky

Very rarely do I have to travel for work. In fact, I can count on one hand the number of places I've been while on the company dime. So even though the purpose of my business travel has been to attend scientific conferences (admit it, you just yawned), I've been fortunate to have enjoyed some extra time to play tourist in... 

• New Orleans (1993): Preservation Hall, Jackson Square, Cafe Du Monde, tons of great food and cool jazz
• New York City (1994): Manhattan, Empire State Building, Staten Island Ferry
• Frederick, MD (2017): not exactly a hotbed of tourism, but there is a Civil War battlefield and national park passport stamp (woohoo!)

Up 'til now, I've only blogged about our travels as a family, but I think I'll make an exception for my solo trip to Atlanta.

Chicago = Family

Who needs Airbnb when you have R's Auntie A and Auntie J? Ever since we moved to California almost 17 (wow, 17!) years ago, we would stay with his brother K in the basement apartment of his aunties' two-flat when we came back to Illinois to visit. There would always be a stocked refrigerator and pantry waiting for us, thanks to his aunties. Even though K passed away in 2015, we are still staying at "K's place" and still being well-taken care of by A and J!

The Plant Doctor

The first destination on our itinerary today was George Washington Carver National Monument, about 30 miles west of Monett in Diamond, MO. Because we also had two other places to visit later in the day, we hit the road as early as our teenagers could tolerate.

The 37th President

Who was the 37th President of the United States? 

Richard Milhous Nixon

What comes to mind when his name is mentioned?

Watergate.

Tricky Dick. 

"I am not a crook"...

When Nixon resigned the presidency in 1974, I hadn't started grade school yet. I do remember hearing about "Watergate" on TV and, at the time, thinking that someone must have opened a dam and caused a flood. Even though I was too young to grasp the details correctly, I could definitely comprehend that this person was in BIG TROUBLE...

Sadness and Joy

Devoted son.

Loving brother (and brother-in-law).

Awesome uncle.

Fun cousin.

Respected colleague.

Trusted friend.

Faithful servant.

K, we miss you so much! But we take joy knowing that you are home with our Lord and will see you again.