In case you missed it..

Tweet I'm 20 weeks pregnant.

I thought about doing a comparison shot from 20wks with Klaw...but no.

With another boy.

We are calling him Scream. Why?

Even my midwife laughed at this.

Yep, he's already upped the creepy factor by 11. Definitely my kid.

So, anyways, this has been keeping me busy. I don't do pregnancy well but at least I'm not as sick as I was with Klaw.

I am definitely showing earlier than I was with Klaw, which has been weird. The 20wk ultrasound looked good, everything was where it was supposed to be and working properly. Naturally, like a boy, Scream was very cooperative when the tech went looking for proof of his sex.

Does that ever change?

We had a nice Thanksgiving and got to see a lot of family members. My aunt & uncle conveniently live halfway between Chris's mom & dad's homes, which is nice. My mom & nana were able to come up so we got to see almost everyone in one fell swoop.

3 of the 4 cousins

The cousins had a great time...even though Klaw wanted to take ElfBabyK home with him (she is the tiniest, cutest thing ever). We've also noticed that ElfBabyK's twin brother, W, favors Klaw. Which is odd. I'm going to assume Brooks (BIL) and I are related somewhere down the line...it's safer that way.

Klaw also got a piggy back ride from my cousin, Luke...

Yes, 4 legged family members outnumber the bipeds on my side of the family.

There are a few other things on my plate now, too...but I'm waiting a little while to unveil them.

Any big changes on the way in your lives?

Out of the blue...

Tweet I've been "home" in Georgia for about a week. Klaw and I have had a blast enjoying the beaches and visiting with friends. My beautiful Nana turned 90 and had a wonderful celebration at the church.

I was visiting my "bonus" Mama, the mother of my friend, Jessica. She was at the hospital with her own mother who was undergoing a procedure, so I stopped by to see them both.

Later this summer, my bonus Mama is getting married to a wonderful man who has re-entered her life and I haven't seen her this happy in a long time. While we were visiting, we spent a lot if time discussing the upcoming wedding and various things that have been going on in Brunswick.

In walked a tech who was going to start the transfusion to my bonus Nana (not my 90 year old Nana, I know this can get confusing). He was super friendly and chatty and he looked at me then Mama Butts and innocently asked if I was her daughter.

Mama Butts and I both got quiet. I told him that I wasn't her daughter but he had no idea what a compliment he had just given me. While Mama B explained that she lost Jessica many years ago and my friendship with her, the tears just started falling. From me.

It hits me hard sometimes and rarely when I expect it. There is so much joy in my life, in Mama B's life, right now.

So much joy I wish I could share with Jessica.

I visited her tomb on Tuesday after leaving the hospital. I had to. I had to touch something. I needed to physically connect with something that will forever record her life here. I needed grounding.

I do believe in a spiritual life after our corporeal bodies are spent. I do believe that Jessica's spirit, her essence, will be with us at her Mama's wedding.

I just wish I could hug her.

2012 International Babywearing Conference

Tweet Last week, I saw that one of my friends here in Hampton Roads was making a day trip up to DC for the free public day at the 2012 International Babywearing Conference.

Naturally, I told her we should carpool. Jilliane somehow managed to convince her husband & four kids that they would have more fun at home instead of at a conference in DC and our roadtrip was in motion.

It's rare that I find someone as silly as I am...

Anyone who watches television probably knows that our region got ROCKED by storms over the past few days.  The drive up to & in DC was not as uneventful as we would have liked due to fallen trees & power lines. Jilliane was impressed with my mad driving skills.

this tree was just a few blocks from the conference location

I was pretty excited to finally meet Amy & Tim of NuzzleMe Creations in person. I am a huge fan and own two of their Ultimate Man/Mama Carriers, one standard & one stay-cool carrier. Yep, I sound like a commercial and I don't care. I haven't received anything free or discounted from NuzzleMe Creations, I just like their products. Bonus: TIM is the man behind the Ultimate Man/Mama Carrier. You have to appreciate a guy who can rock a sewing machine like it's his job.

Wait, it is...

Me, Tim, Amy, & Jilliane - NuzzleMe Creations

Jilliane & I were excited to meet Amy & Tim, which should be obvious by our cheesy grins. However, nothing could have prepared me for Jilliane turning into a total fangirl at the Didymos/Birdie's Room table.

Barbara from Birdie's Room is great

 FYI - I want to be like Barbara from Birdie's Room when I grow up. She's so incredibly nice and, dammit, the woman is gorgeous. She's also trying to help me fine the only wrap I ever sold and regretted, Didymos Ellipsen Primavera.

Anna, Jillliane, & Tina of Didymos

Didymos is a wrap company based in Germany. They produce some wonderful quality wraps for babywearing in a variety of patterns, styles, & colors and are well known and well regarded in the babywearing community. Anna & Tina were super nice and it was really neat being able to meet them in person, too. They had three yet to be released wraps available for purchase and a ton of other wraps at discounted prices. I was so tempted but had to remind myself that I hardly ever wear Klaw anymore and I can't really justify it, regardless of how beautiful it is. (Check out the skirt & dress...they are made from Didymos wraps!)

Jilliane & I won a few things in a raffle the conference was hosting (we bought 35 tickets). I won two pairs of Beco baby socks and a Britax carrier . I was going to burn it but they did include a seat extender to make it more ergonomically correct, so I'll probably sell it on ebay or craigslist.

We also attended a Toddlerwearing 101 class that was offered but it was not great. The instructor was not familiar with wrapping toddlers and wasn't able to offer any suggestions. Jilliane ended up teaching different carries to the other parents in the room. I even learned a tip from her that will help me wrap Klaw more quickly.

All in all, it was a great day. It is rare to find someone who can enjoy ~8 hours in the car with me in crappy traffic and still like me when the day is over. I only scared Jilliane a couple of times and Jilliane totally won a dance-off on I-64 with some twenty year olds, so she is completely awesome in my book.

HA! I almost forgot the true highlight of the day - Jilliane & I were mistaken for college students at Catholic University. This doesn't happen very often, so I am going to revel in it for quite some time.

I know some of y'all probably think a babywearing conference is kind of odd. Some of y'all even thought a blogging conference was kind of odd when I went to Blissdom. You'd think some of the other conferences I've attended are even more odd!

Have you ever attended or wanted to attend a niche conference? What was it? Did you enjoy it? If you could create a niche conference, what would you like to see happen?

Top 5 #Blissdom Takeaways

Tweet I know, I know, I'm late to the game. In my defense, I have been very busy! I barely had time to breathe before we had to pack up again for a trip to Pittsburgh to visit one of Klaw's specialists, Dr. Vockley.

I have some deeper posts in mind about my experiences at the Blissdom conference, but I needed to get some of the general ideas out of my head and into the blogosphere.

Robin, Angela, ME, Jessica, & Carri

My Top 5 Blissdom Conference Takeaways

1 - Wow. There are some unique, impressive, wonderful women in the Blissdom world. I had a few people I knew I wanted to meet because of our interactions with our blogs, on Facebook, or on the Twitter.  I didn't expect to find so many awesome women in one location. It was almost like being back at Wesleyan College...except I was dressed better and Gaylord Opryland is bigger than Wesleyan.

2 - My inner voice needs to shut the hell up. Even medicated (whut whut zoloft), I still have a persistent nagging voice telling me that I'm not good enough, that I can't make a difference, and that I don't matter. I know this isn't the truth but it's very hard to not listen to words I hear every day inside my head. Several of the sessions and the keynote speaker, Jon Acuff, reminded me that I have got to find a way to let go of my self-doubt.

3 - I actually do cry and ocassionally it's in public with witnesses like Fadra & Bernice and no one has a tissue so I have to tear pages out of my notebook to wipe my nose.

4 - I like to nap...even if that means I miss sessions I planned to attend.

5 - I may have to adjust my PR Policy because I realized there are actually a few big brands I wouldn't have a problem promoting through a business relationship.  Granted, I am already a fan of these brands...it just never crossed my mind that they'd be interested in working with bloggers.

Have you ever gone to a conference or retreat that exceeded your expectations? What was it? What is something you'd like to experience or learn at a conference or retreat?

Staying Busy

Tweet Well, I just got back from Blissdom 2012 and I'm about to get in the car & head to Pittsburgh with Klaw for a genetics appointment.  Needless to say, between washing clothes & re-packing, I'm a touch busy which means no new blog posts of much worth.

I had a great time at Blissdom and had the opportunity to meet some wonderful people. And nap.  I have quite a few things to share with y'all but it's too much to type up in the 10 minutes I have at my laptop.

Klaw's appointment with Dr. Vockley and the genetics team at Pittsburgh Children's Hospital is just routine. I have no idea if we'll glean any new information or if he will recommend any changes to Dr. Proud (or primary geneticists). I am going to give permission for Klaw's genetic information to be included in a new database for this family of disorders. It's mostly anonymous, each person is assigned a number. I really think it's important to share as much information as possible with researchers. If his information helps find a better treatment or, even better, a cure, it will be worth it.

Well, that's where we are right now. Hopefully, next week I'll be able to sit down and share some exciting news with y'all.

What I'm wearing to #Blissdom

Tweet I didn't think I'd do this, but I'm posting my Blissdom Conference outfits.

My lame justification is that maybe it will help people recognize me?

Maybe?

For the actual main two days of Blissdom, I'm wearing dark wash, wide legged jeans with comfy tops and shoes (Clarks clogs are my winter shoes). I'm debating wearing my sunglasses on my head even though we'll be inside. They are such a part of who I am.

What I'm wearing to #Blissdom by reallywwwthinking

I am torn about what to wear for the "Girls Night Out" event. I haven't been able to find shoes I like or earrings that I like, so I'll probably bring the dress and a backup outfit in case I'm not pleased. Part of the problem with the shoes is that I absolutely have to try shoes on, so I've found plenty online but none in local stores.
 

Help me choose! by reallywwwthinking

I'm not bringing too many extra clothes or shoes. I'll be better off if I don't have many options and I like to pack light. So light that I often forget something crucial.

Also, I don't like changing my clothes multiple times each day. I figure I'll be under-dressed for some of the events. I'll live.  I'm also not wearing pajamas to the "Girls Night In." I sleep in boxers & old t-shirts. Nobody needs to see that...not even my husband.  Sorry, Debi, you're out of luck since you are a sharing a room with me.

I keep dreaming that I pack everything but underwear. That has to mean something, right?

How do you pack for long weekends? All or nothing? Do you care what other people are wearing? Do you care what you are wearing? Will I remember to pack underwear?

Birthdays, Adventures, & #VlogTalk

Tweet First of all, it's Chris's birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHRIS!!!  

KLAW & I LOVE YOU!!!

If I could, I would send Chris to his favorite place in the world for a week. I would go with him if he wanted me to, but my favorite place to visit is very, very different.  This video shows why separate vacations aren't always a bad thing...

inspired by : 1) It’s time for an adventure! What is the best place you’ve ever traveled? Tell us a bit about it and show us what to do if we were to go there.

**I was not as sunburned as I looked, thankfully**

Top 10 Reasons the West Coast is Better Than the East Coast

Tweet

Chris has been on a blogging roll lately...

If you know me at all you know that I would prefer to live back on the West Coast any day of the week. How could you not? I talk about it constantly and even dish out a West Coast "W" whenever I can.

Chris at Yosemite - Half Dome in the background

So to even further my push of the West coast and to continually remind myself how much I love it, I decided to let everyone know why the West coast is better than the East. I've lived in both, although a significantly longer amount on the East, and it's not even close. Of course, this is just one man's opinion. I encourage you to develop your own.

In no particular order.....

1. Better Scenery. Snow-capped Olympics and Cascades, Mt. Rainier, Yosemite NP, Big Sur, San Diego, Palm Springs, etc. versus the Appalachians and Florida beaches. I prefer mountains, real mountains, so this is a no brainer. While the Florida beaches are nicer, the West coast wins on mountains alone. By the way, Yosemite NP is the most beautiful place on Earth.

Pebble Beach

2. More Animal-friendly. Not to say there aren't animal-friendly people and places on the East coast, but there are just so many more out West. From animal-friendly restaurants to huge, I mean huge, off-leash dog parks and beaches to numerous no-kill animal rescue organizations, the East coast can't compete.

Samson, Holly, & Boomer chillin' at a winery

3. Better Radio Stations. Okay, I'm sure this is up for debate, but let me tell you. I've heard songs on the West coast that didn't make it to the East coast until months later. And Seattle? Forget about it. You don't move to the West coast to make it on the radio stations.

4. Better attitude. Everyone who has lived on the West coast will tell you that things are just more laid back. It's no lie. A stress-free, care-free life is so much healthier (and more fun) than an up-tight, care-what-people-think attitude. Not saying the entire East coast is like this, but it seems to be the case that the further you get from DC and politics, the more laid back life is.

San Francisco - Golden Gate Bridge

5. West Coast Time Zone. Yeah, so in the fall I can wake up at 6am, walk the dogs, turn on College GameDay at 7am, see my first game at 9am, even catch the night games, and be able to go out after it's all over.

6. Wine, Wine, Wine. From Washington all the way down to California, there are so many wineries. In many areas, you don't have to drive any more than 5 miles in any direction to have 15-20 wineries. And they are good.

a vineyard in Sonoma Valley

7. Beer, Beer, Beer. I will argue until I'm blue in the face that the beer on the West Coast is better and more plentiful. I could name several dozen breweries that are awesome but all of my favorites are out West. Green Flash, Lagunitas, Sierra Nevada, and Pyramid are just a few.

8. More National Parks. Yeah, this kind of relates to the scenery, but it's worthy of its own number. Just pull out a National Park map and you will see that the West Coast has so many more.

Crater Lake & Mt Rainier

9. Better Food. You can find the same genre of foods on the East coast, but all of the genres taste better, in my opinion out West. All of my favorite restaurants are out there.

10. More environmentally-friendly. People on the West Coast care about the environment and go out of their way to show it. A lot of companies don't charge to recycle, and even if they did, everyone would still do it

So that's it. I'll say again, this is my opinion. There are a couple of things that are worse on the West Coast (cost of living) but they don't even compare to the great things out there. If you haven't been, please go. I can recommend numerous places.  Especially if it involves camping, beer, or wine.  Just ask.

What's your opinion on the East Coast vs West Coast?  Do you have a favorite of the two?

Fall Fun = Football #VlogTalk

Tweet Look, we love football around here.

We LOVE football.

It's Saturday...you need to find us...just stop by our house.  We'll be watching football all day long.  We might even be eating some delicious Lime, Apricot, & Soy Sauce Wings.

Unless, of course, we are watching from the STADIUM!

1) What is your favorite fall tradition?

VLCADD, the heat, & Klaw

Tweet I have been very nervous about exposing Klaw to too much heat, thanks to his VLCAD deficiency (very long-chain acyl-COA dehydrogenase defiency).  Any situation that causes his metabolism to crank up can potentially be dangerous.   Since the VLCAD deficiency prevents his body from metabolizing very long-chain fats into energy, it's extra important to make sure he remains hydrated and has enough carbohydrates and proteins in his system to burn for energy.

To facilitate keeping him cool in the hot summer south, we have annual memberships at both the Children's Museum of Virginia (Portsmouth) and the Virginia Living Museum (Newport News).  Both are great spots for kids and families and provide ample indoor space for Klaw to run.  Both places have lots of buttons to push, too.

I grew up running around on the beach all summer long and it's something I want Klaw to experience, too.  However, I've been fearful to attempt it, especially during the week when it would most likely just be the two of us.  Yes, his health has been good overall.  Even his hospitalizations were not caused by his VLCAD deficiency, even though VLCADD was the reason hospitalization was absolutely required.

It's still scary.

It's scary to have to always worry that your child might get too hot, go into metabolic crisis, and die.  I know that sounds melodramatic but it's what is always in the back of my mind.

However, I can't and I won't live in fear - at least, I won't let him live in fear.  He's a toddler and he needs to have fun.  We just need to prepare for any possibility and continue to stay one step ahead of his VLCADD.

Mom, KriKri (my niece), and I decided to go to Jekyll Island for a beach trip.  I packed a cooler full of water, Gatorade Prime, cut fruit, jarred food, & applesauce.  Yes, I gave Klaw Gatorade.  This particular one is full of glucose, sucrose, & b vitamins.  Although most moms of toddlers would like to avoid that much sugar with their toddlers, it's exactly the high carbohydrate solution that could help prevent a VLCADD related metabolic crisis.

Mom rented an umbrella, which is smart for anyone but it was a really good idea for Klaw so that he could have a shady spot to stay cool and out of the sun.  The water temperature was perfect and, thanks to some haze and a decent breeze, it wasn't too hot.

After he got over the initial 20 minute screamfest driving over there, we had a blast.  Klaw spent time digging in the sand under the umbrella and playing in the water.  I got a good reminder as to why I do not want a pool at my house when he dove face first into the ocean without hesitation. KriKri was a great big cousin and played with him the whole time.

I made sure he had his Gatorade available and that he snacked on some applesauce while we were there.  It was actually really difficult and I felt like he wasn't getting quite enough fluids or food for me to be comfortable.  He ate almost a pint of fresh fruit when we stopped for sandwiches on the way back & finished his Gatorade, so I'm afraid my instincts were right.  I'm not really sure what I can do because he just didn't want to be distracted from fun in order to stop & eat.  I know (hope) this will be easier when he's older and can understand why he has to stop playing and eat or drink.

However, he was no worse for the wear by the time we got home and he was worn out!

Have you ever had to make a toddler eat or drink?  Do you have any tips you can share?  Do any of my more experienced Mito Moms (mitochondrial disorders) have other tips for surviving the heat with our kids' special needs?

6 words; 8 homes

Tweet

This post is inspired by Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop prompt:

1.) Six Word Memoir: Write about a significant time in your life in just six words.

I can't stay in one place.

Can you write a six word memoir? Give it a shot in the comments.

Feel free to leave more than one!

PHOTOBOMB: St. Simons Island

Tweet

The Journey Comes to an End.

Tweet

The epic adventure begins here...

With Chicago in our rear view mirrors, there was not much else for us to look forward to. We had no plans to make any detours and the rest of the trip plan consisted of an overnight stop in Ohio and then another overnight stop in eastern Pennsylvania before arriving at our ultimate destination in New London, Connecticut. Dana has been to Connecticut before for about a month. Now my tour there was longer than a month but she had had enough after a month. Certainly there wasn't much for her to be excited about. In fact, now that I think about it the only thing that kept us motivated to get there was, well, I had to get there because of my job. We were going to be arriving to our rented home, a home we had only seen in pictures.

I don't remember much about this part of the trip. Or maybe I choose not to remember because it meant that the trip was almost over or that it wasn't that great in this part of the country. Either way our stay in Ohio was fine and the stay in Pennsylvania at the Delaware Water Gap/Pocono Mountain KOA was fine as well.

Just to give you an idea of how we felt about these last two days, I will say that there was only 1 picture taken during this time period. I will include it here just to try to make this entry a bit longer. It does have some significance as Dana is a HUGE Eagles fan. Not the Philadelphia type but the music band type.

I would like to sum up this trip because it truly was one of the best times of my life. I relive it over and over. I'll do it in the form of a survey type style. The answers below are mine alone. Dana's may differ so if you are curious about hers just ask her. If you've taken the time to read all of the last half-dozen or so posts that I've written, I appreciate it. Hopefully, you've at least enjoyed the pictures. As pretty as they are, they don't do justice to and definitely are no substitute for the real thing. And maybe, if you ever find yourself making a cross-country trip, you can refer back to these post for ideas of where to or not to stay and things to do.

Best Campground: We actually stayed at some pretty nice ones. Since I can't narrow it down I'll give a couple. Salmon River RV Park in Elk Bend, ID and Sioux City North KOA, South Dakota. Both very well kept and ran by nice people.

Worst Campground: No contest. West Liberty KOA. Cow pasture, crappy hosts, BP gas station.

Best Drive: From Wells, NV north to Salmon, ID. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. Oh yeah, and they had Native Americans on dinosaurs on the side of the road.

Worst Drive: All of it across Iowa, and all of it after Chicago.

Best National Park: Yellowstone. Wasn't expecting much. Completely wrong.

Worst National Park: None. That's why they are National Parks.

Prettiest Scenery: Idaho and Montana

Ugliest Scenery: See answers for "Worst Drive"

Best Person interacted with on trip: Other than Arynn and Dane who we knew already, definitely Marcia from Salmon River RV Park. The girl who kept serving us beer at Craggy Range is a close second.

Worst Person interacted with on trip: Lady from West Liberty KOA. I can give a number of reasons but they are pretty harsh so I'll refrain in this capacity. Dude with dog, Ghost, at LaSalle RV Park in Columbia, MT is second. He wanted to make Samson his bitch. I don't think so.

Thanks again!!!

Chicago Bound!

Tweet

Our epic cross country adventure starts here.

After getting up and getting on the road from Sioux City, SD our plan was to drive west across Iowa and stay in east Iowa at a KOA that is no longer a KOA, probably due to our comments. I will talk about that later.

It was a pretty easy drive across Iowa and not scenic, in my opinion. While we were driving down I-80, or across on I-80, I should say, Dana came across a sign for Elk Horn. We were caravanning, so we carried walkie-talkies to communicate with each other. When she saw the sign for Elk Horn, she radioed over and asked if I wanted to go. Maybe if it was Elk Cove, as in the Elk Cove from the movie Overboard, I would have shown a bit more excitement. I mean, who doesn't watch that movie when it comes on TBS every week? Ok, maybe just me. Anyways, I guess I didn't fully understand how much Dana wanted to go until we had driven ten miles past the exit and she wasn't responding to any of my radio calls. Well, we ended up turning around and headed to Elk Horn, Iowa, the center of Danish ethnicity and home to the Danish Immigrant Museum. If you didn't know, Dana is of Danish descent. The museum was brand new and I will admit, there was some pretty neat stuff inside. This ended up being a good place to stop and let the dogs stretch their legs. As for the town of Elk Horn; not a place you go to on the weekend to get your party on. That is unless your idea of a party is tractor racing down Main Street.

After the brief excursion to Danish America, we continued onward to West Liberty, a small town just outside of Iowa City, home to the Hawkeyes. Iowa City being home to the Hawkeyes, not West Liberty. As I mentioned earlier, we made arrangements to stay at a KOA there. Much like most of Iowa we had seen already, there wasn't much once you pass Iowa City. We get off at the exit for the KOA, follow the signs and end up pulling into a BP gas station. Well we continued to follow the signs that led to the back of the gas station and into the KOA. We could still hear the traffic from the interstate at the entrance (a stone's throw from I-80). We park and go into what was the KOA lodge. It did not resemble any of the lodges we had seen before and when our host (I think that's what they call them at KOA) came out, she was not dressed in the nice embroidered KOA shirts and I definitely knew that corporate KOA had not been out here in a while.

We checked in and pull around to our spot. The RV park was bound by a cow pasture, whose aroma permeated the air, and a mobile home park. We had not stopped to pick up any food for the night so we needed to go out after we got set up. We asked the host for the closest grocery store and she sent us down the highway to the booming metropolis of West Liberty. We drove through what was the downtown area, past what looked to be a business district, but no grocery store. We had plenty of people staring at us and I'm sure the thought that West Liberty might be our last stop EVER crossed both our minds at one point. We got the hell outta dodge and drove back the direction we came and ended up having to drive back to Iowa City to find a grocery store. I'm pretty sure that the cow pasture adjacent to our RV park was home to the cows that would become the West Liberty Saturday night special. I'm sure you don't need a grocery store if you kill your own animals. Talk about fresh.

Needless to say we got up early the next morning, skipped breakfast, and got on the road. If the saying were "give me West Liberty or give me death," we would most assuredly choose death. A bit into our drive that day we saw signs for the Presidential Library and Museum of President Hoover, located in West Branch, Iowa. We had some extra time since we expedited our exit from West Liberty (what's with all the "Wests" in Iowa?) so we decided to stop. The small town was actually pretty neat and the grounds where the museum and grave sites of President Hoover and his wife were very well kept. This was probably the nicest site in Iowa. No offense to anyone from Iowa who reads this. I'm sure our experience was jaded by the former West Liberty KOA.

We make it to Naperville, Illinois, a large suburb outside Chicago, early evening to see our friends Arynn and Dane. I met Dana through Arynn in Charleston, SC back in 2001 so it was certainly good to see her again. They had a Cocker Spaniel named Piper who our dogs enjoyed hanging out with. Dane and Arynn, who knew I was a big Cubs fan, surprised us with tickets to a Cubs game. I was thrilled! I had been to Wrigley back in college while on a road trip to see Georgia Tech play at Notre Dame. Tech lost that game and I honestly don't remember the score of the Cubs game or who they played, but I do remember where I sat and even have pictures of Harry Carey leaning out during the 7th inning stretch singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." Dana and I had also seen the Cubs play in San Fran while stationed in Monterey. The Cubs lost that one but I won, seeing as how they had Lagunitas IPA on-tap at the stadium.

I digress. Well Dane and Arynn had to work the day we were going to the game but we had planned to go over to Chicago early to meet Aimster, a friend of Dana's, and a friend of mine from the submarine community, John Red-face, as he is known to us. Dana and I took the train in from Naperville and we all met at the Rock Bottom Brewery downtown. Dane and Arynn were planning on meeting us at the stadium before the game. It was noon when we arrived at Rock Bottom and we didn't leave for several hours.

 
Dana's friend had to go but John asked us if we wanted to go back to his place which was not far from Wrigley. We had nothing to do for a while so we hung out, maybe had some more beverages, and John escorted us to the stadium where we met up with Dane and Arynn. It was nuts around Wrigley. We found a bar to pre-game for a bit and finally made our way into the friendly confines of Wrigley Field. Our seats were AWESOME! Ten rows up from the field on the 3rd base side. Carlos Zambrano had lost that day in San Fran when we last saw the Cubs play and he was back on the mound today. Long story short. The Olde Style flowed and the Cubs' homers flew and in the end, the Cubs destroyed their opponent. It had been a fun day. I could definitely live in Chicago.

After a few days with Arynn and Dane, who were great hosts, we departed and continued east.

The Dakotas, Part Two.

Tweet

Our epic cross country adventure starts here. 

Ok, so I forgot about the Badlands in South Dakota, but the previous post was long enough so I'll just include it here. I also forgot about one of the most memorable moments we had with the dogs on the trip.

After the nice long day we had visiting Rushmore and Wind Cave National Park, we realized that the dogs really needed some time to run around. Dana had found a state park that was along the way back to the our campground in Rapid City. You are probably asking "how did she do that?" Well, by this point we figured that we needed internet in some form or another. I had only made reservations at campgrounds for a week or so out so, we needed some way to look up places other than calling our parents to look some up for us (which they did on a couple of occasions). We had very cheap cell phones but still internet capable so we bit the bullet and got it on my phone. It was slow with terrible graphics. But it worked. I digress. 

The Dakotas are not as Crappy as Everyone Says.

Tweet Our epic cross country adventure starts here. 

When we left Bozeman, packing up the camper was an adventure as I had to accomplish it in a blizzard. Dana and I had not yet caught up to the technology in the 21st century and had cell phones with no internet. I know, right? Well, needless to say it was not as easy as it is now with smart phones to get the weather. Truly, my meteorology skills had declined since college.

In order to see more states that we had yet to see, we drove east to North Dakota. We had the ultimate goal of driving east to North Dakota, just to say we did it, then drive south to South Dakota and see Mt. Rushmore. The drive was a bit too long to do in one day so we made arrangements to stay in a convenient place in North Dakota. Convenient was about it. This campground, located in Belfield, ND, which had full hookups and level sites was in the middle of a tree farm. We were the only people there and the campground was not manned. Honor-code payment. It was kind of creepy but fortunately the Trappers Kettle Restaurant was close by. A unique dining experience, to say the least.

It's BOZEMAN, not BOOZEMAN!

Tweet

Our epic cross country adventure starts here.

When I told my dad we were heading to Bozeman, he pronounced it Boozeman. It's kind of funny if you know my dad, because a booze man he is not.

Our drive from Glacier led us through some scenic areas of Montana. We took roads less travelled, past a frozen lake, through Bald Eagle infested forests, to finally the Bozeman KOA. Again, there was snow all over the ground so, the pics you see on the link are not the views we had. It was a nice KOA though. We had intentions of only staying one night here also, but intentions sometimes go awry. After we got set up, we decided to go exploring. Turns out, Bozeman is a pretty cool town. We made a pitstop at PetSmart for a Halti for Boomer and listened to a saleswoman try to tell us how to walk our dogs. You can imagine how that went over. After PetSmart Dana forced me to go to the Bozeman Brewing Co. were we sampled some really good beer. If I lived in Bozeman, I would be a regular at this establishment. After a couple of beers, we left and went to find a place to eat. As I mentioned Bozeman is a pretty cool town, home to the Montana State Bobcats. We finally decided on the Montana Aleworks Bar & Grill. This place was awesome. Huge selection of beer and the food was awesome.

Idaho is AWESOME (in the likeness of DJ Lance)

Tweet Our epic cross country adventure starts here.

Yeah. So after driving through the misleadingly wide state of Nevada, our journeys turned a bit North; actually a lot North. Neither of us had been through Idaho at all and it happened to sit in between California and Glacier National Park, the first place we planned to spend two nights. There aren't too many campgrounds open this time of year in the Northwest so I had to take what I could find.

On the Road Again!

Tweet Ok. So we really aren't about to be on the road again unless I can see into the future and the Navy is planning something they're not telling me. This series of entries are in honor of the three year anniversary of our trip cross country from California to Connecticut. Why the three year anniversary? No good reason except that lately I've been reminiscing about all the places I've enjoyed living and many of the fun excursions I've, sorry we've, been able to take. So, appropriately, three years ago, we began that 21 day camping journey that, to me, was one of the best times of my life. I'd like to share that with you.

This trip was made in our 2000 Coleman Niagara Elite pop-up camper, thanks Wade and Karen. She's fully equipped with two king size beds, small fridge, small stove, toilet, shower, and dining room table. Oh yeah, she's got central heating and air, the latter of which we certainly didn't need on this trip.

Dana cautioned me not to get too lengthy and don't recreate every minute of every day of that trip because boredom would quickly set in to the reader. As much as I hate to say it, she's right. So I'll just pick out the highlights and every few days or so post a new entry. Enjoy!

Reno, NV

This was the first city we stayed in after we left Pacific Grove. Dana and I made an arrangement not to drive any more than 8 hours a day and Reno met that criteria. I had done a little bit of planning before we left so we had reservations for the first week or so. This night was spent at the Reno KOA at Boomtown. There honestly wasn't anything special about this particular day but I do want to mention that this was day one of seeing either snow on the ground or falling to the ground. Oh yeah, and it was here that we purchased our KOA Membership which saved us plenty of money along the way.

The epic adventure continues...

Three Dogs and a Baby

Tweet Well, it is official. Klaw's first camping trip is complete and if he could talk I'm sure that he would say that he had a terrific time. Ok, mostly a terrific time except when he was getting knocked around and down by three dogs.