Adventure of a Lifetime

Our family vacation to Alaska was amazing! Hopefully it won't be just a "once-in-a-lifetime" adventure because there is so much more to see/do/explore...

What is still on your Alaska bucket list?

All:  Seeing Denali and the aurora borealis

R:  Taking the Alaska Railroad

Me:  Visiting the rest of the Alaska NPS units, including the remote fly-in parks

The Votes Are In!

We had a lot of fun in the DMV over the past nine days! Here are the highlights that marked our ballots...

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

A Small Bite of the Big Apple

All in all, this was a jam-packed but very fun trip! 

Melting Points

By the numbers...

• 3057 miles
• 8 states
• 15 new NPS units
• 38 NPS passport stamps
• 19 NPS Centennial stamps
• 2 state capitals
• 6 smushed pennies
• 4 cans of spray paint

Summer League Scouting Report

After watching 6+ games of summer league basketball this weekend, the ballers weigh in with their Saiki-delic scouting report:

Who were the best three players you saw this weekend?

J / R: Devin Booker (PHX), DAngelo Russell (LAL), Kris Dunn (MIN)

JL: DAngelo Russell, Devin Booker, Kay Felder (CLE)

ML: DAngelo Russell, Kris Dunn, (tie) Kay Felder / Ben Simmons (PHI)

M: Denzel Valentine (CHI)

Got Opinions?

It has taken me a little while to get this recap written up, but I can backdate the blog so it doesn't appear to be quite as late - haha! Here are the family's thoughts on our most recent Saiki-delic road trip...

What are some of your favorite things that we saw or did on this trip (top 3)?

M / R: Sledding at White Sands, going to Carlsbad Caverns, and the Pima Air & Space Museum

J: White Sands, Carlsbad Caverns, and the Cubs game

Me: Carlsbad Caverns, getting passport stamps from a new region, and seeing parts of the country we've never been to before

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...

SA Review - Update

Now that the andrenaline junkies have been to 6 theme parks (7 if you count LEGOLAND, but that's really only kiddie rides) and have gotten a broader perspective, they wanted to revise some of their previous ratings of Saiki-delic Awesomeness.

Here is our highly unscientific and totally biased list of the Top 10 15 best rides (so far)...

1.  Tatsu - Six Flags Magic Mountain, CA - 10

Vacation Rewind

With this trip we have visited 102 of the current 401 National Park Service units, including all of the ones in Massachusetts and Rhode Island (with the exception of the Appalachian NST). Well, technically, R is only at 101 since I'm counting a childhood visit to Gettysburg, and the boys are only up to 98 since they were only a twinkle when R and I went to Haleakala, USS Arizona, and Mt. Rainier. But their Jr. Ranger badges and patches now number 84!

And now for one of my favorite parts of keeping this blog -- getting the family's opinions on our most recent adventure...

What were the best places that we visited or things that we did (top 5, in order)?

J: Basketball Hall of Fame, Fenway Park / watching the Red Sox, Museum of Science, Georges Island, John F. Kennedy NHS

M: Basketball Hall of Fame, Springfield Armory, Fenway Park, USS Constitution, Six Flags New England

Me: Adams NHP, Georges Island, Minute Man NHP, USS Constitution, Fenway Park

R: Basketball Hall of Fame, Springfield Armory, Minute Man NHP, Fenway Park, USS Constitution

Interview with the Road Trippers

With this trip, we've visited 86 of the 397 National Park Service units, and the boys have earned 68 junior ranger badges! In keeping with tradition, here's the debrief of our latest adventure...

In the 3 amusement parks we've visited, what are your favorite rides (top 3)?

M / R: Millennium Force (CP), Tatsu (MM), Raging Bull (GA)

J:  Maverick (CP), Wonder Woman Lasso of Truth (MM), Ninja (MM)

Me: Millennium Force (CP) x3, because it's the best one of the few I could ride that didn't make me sick!

Survey Says...

It feels like our vacation was ages ago, even though it's only been two weeks. It was interesting to hear the family's thoughts/memories after our last mega-road trip, so I thought I would poll the family again for their reviews of this one...

Which autographs are your favorites (top 3)?

J: Torii Hunter (Angels), Marlon Byrd (Cubs), and Dustin Ackley (Mariners)

M: Torii Hunter, Brett Jackson (Cubs), and Dustin Ackley

R: Same as the boys, but it was also fun seeing them get autographs from coaches who were players when I was a kid (and I still have some of their baseball cards, too!)

Me: Besides the players the boys already listed, Cubbies Reed Johnson, Joe Mather, and David Dejesus

Summing It All Up

Now that we've been home for two weeks, I thought I'd poll the family for their reviews of our vacation...

What was your favorite national park/monument/historic site?

M: Yellowstone National Park, because of all of the wildlife

R: Arches National Park, for the rock formations and hiking

J: It's too hard to pick!

Me: Yellowstone National Park, awesome thermal features and wildlife

Signs

My collection of entrance signs, 20 National Park Service units visited in all...

June 19

What a Gas!

I thought it would be interesting to chronicle the price of gas across the country this summer...