"You're doing great!"

Lisa’s version of Weds-Friday:

Sunny and Whiter in love.

greetings from the road. leslie & i have made it to colorado. it has been a rough trip so far, but we can only feel so sorry for ourselves considering where we are off to. it has been a struggle to keep our eye on the prize, considering our vision has been hindered by the pile of crap that seems to be too valuable to let go of, and of course don't forget the snow. our little minivan is packed to the gills. i am quite sure the extra weight made getting through all that snow a lot easier. yesterday we had a few heart stopping moments- like when the 16 wheeler off our starboard bow started fish tailing- mini van came through like a champ! or when we passed a ford taurus with half the car torn away because another tractor trailer RIPPED it off.

A glass of wine at Applebee's makes it all ok!

on wednesday night, we were on hour 12 of driving and were almost finished for the day. i see the lights in my side view mirror (rearview mirror is 100% obstructed). i pull over going shit shit shit. this is at least the 4th time i've been pulled over for speeding, and i know there is no way i will be so lucky as to once again be given a warning. he takes my license info, and of course the rental agreement is buried. i can't find it. the fact that i don't have it on hand is funny on a whole other level. he walks away, and all i can think is "andy's going to kill me". so the handsome kind officer comes back with a little slip in his hand, and i'm thinking "ok, my luck ran out. it was a good run". he tells us to drive safe and disappears in to the night. i look at the paper, it's a warning!  we instantly call andy, because i know he is going to be livid. he never gets warnings, just tickets. hehe

Not Red Lobster. Still Applebee's!

then there are the stellar meals one gets on the road. i always look forward to my red lobster dinner on this drive. there is no rhyme or reason to why i love red lobster in the mid west, the enthusiasm is just there. i have learned just to accept it. i have forced this joy on to any one foolish enough to do this drive with me.

i have done this drive more times than i can count. if you have ever driven along the 80 through kearney, nebraska you know there is a pioneer archway monument. i have never stopped because i'm always trying to get the hell out of nebraska as fast as possible, but this trip i was finally going to stop and check it out.

Dejected in Frontierland.

we hit the road from grand island, ne this morning, getting ourselves in the car and on the road by 8:30, subway breakfast in the belly, first rancid cup of coffee ranted about and discarded. we made it to kearney by 9:30 am and i was ready to see my beloved arch, stop take some photos and go inside.... we pull up and...SON OF A BITCH! it doesn't open until 10am. well we have many miles ahead of us and we've already lost a day to poor planning, so once again no pioneer archway museum for me.

Westward ho!

so now we are in eastern colorado, we have traded the snow for warm sun and the stench of cow poop. we have less than 200 miles to breckenridge and boy am i ready to unpack this car. we have a lot to do in summit county. target, outlets, unpack minivan. now the boys kinda left us with a lot to deal with in new york and as penance have booked us massages for saturday morning, then on to vegas for a night. we will be reunited with the men folk on sunday and i am looking forward to us all being together on the 1st.  road weary ladies, signing off

Leslie’s version of Friday-Sunday:

Friday’s goal of hitting the road by 8:30 was made with minutes to spare! After grabbing the Comfort’s complimentary bear claw (meh), Quaker oatmeal bar (bleh!), and a piping hot cup of joe (mixed with hot cocoa to make it semi-palatable—only I did this, as Lisa wanted to order a “good” cup of coffee), we sped over to nearby Subway for egg sandwiches. Did you know that at Subway, they offer “yellow eggs” or “white eggs”? Lisa had a rough time ordering a “yellow egg” sandwich with peppers and tomatoes, but she somehow got through this blasphemous anti-culinary utterance. I on the other hand, had no problem ordering a white egg sandwich just like Lisa’s, only without cheese and toss some onions on that. Not really the same at all. I evidently confused the lady, because my sandwich arrived in my lap with only onions on the white egg. Not impressed! And no ketchup! No condiments of any kind in the bag. Meanwhile, Lisa’s “good” coffee turned out to be terrible, prompting her to dump it for a delicious gas station coffee. Again, she tossed this out after a few sips. For the next hour or so, it was as if we’d been caravanning across the desert for days without water. Lisa would see shimmering mirages of Starbucks just off the highway, and tear off onto an exit muttering, “There’s got to be one here…there’s just got to be!”

Alas, she finally resigned herself to the idea that Nebraska, or as she calls it, The Swamp of Sorrows, did not have any Starbucks at all, and decided that a place called “Donuts Delight” would be her only hope. And it was. She declared the coffee swallowable, and we split an apple fritter. Delicious, until I started to notice the grease slick forming on the roof of my mouth that wouldn’t go away until lunch, which was a fish taco at the Green Burrito. Gotta love road trip food!

8 hours later in Colorado, after schlepping our storage stuff up a snowy driveway and into the shed at Don, Lisa and Andy’s house, we feasted like starving beasts at a sushi joint (I made several lunges at sushi platters that didn’t belong to us while we waited), and Lisa caught up with former coworkers and friends. Even though we didn’t have time to hit the pow pow, it was a fun, quick visit and a huge relief to slough off a lot of our burden.

Little House on the Moon.

Oh. My. God. The massages! So awesome. If you are ever in Frisco, CO, go the Body Works. Moving right along, the further west you go in Colorado, the more it looks like how you expect it to look. Rocky. Tall. Snowy river. A place John Wayne would hang out. Squinting on his horse. That, by the way, was a 7-7-5 haiku. Appreciate. P.S., Utah looks just like the moon. Until it starts looking like crazy canyon land, and then looks like the moon again, or maybe Land of the Monkey People, and then it gets kind of hilly and boring and the sun goes down and then you can’t see anything. Not a haiku. That was just a prose poem.

Lisa jumps for joy...I miss the shot.

Utah power stance.

Vegas is tonight’s destination. Viva Las Vegas, but apparently no viva las late-night dinner buffets. We can’t find one online that goes past 10:30pm. What the hell? Is this Vegas or Nebraska?! Fortunately Lisa remembered that we gain an hour in Nevada, so we have a fighting chance of barging into the Bellagio and eating all the crab legs! Yay!

Wasting away again in Margaritaville.

Nope. Didn’t make it the dinner buffer by about 5 minutes. I dragged my bags dejectedly to the room, as we tried to figure out how to feed ourselves. We ended up hoodwinked by Circus Circus’ buffet “til 11pm” (nope, closed at 10) and had to accept defeat in the form of a $10 pitcher of weak margaritas and so-so fish tacos. The walk back to the Luxor was brilliant though. Lisa and I played a $1 on a quarter machine and lost, but I made up for it the next day, winning $18 dollars which contributed to the entrance fee to The Ghost Town of Calico, and lunch at the cowboy café! Oh and PS, we got our buffet in at breakfast. Hooray!


Long story shortened by one paragraph, we made it to the boys last night, had better fish tacos/burritos, and today the hard work begins for the 4 of us. Carl and Raleigh will be here tonight or tomorrow, and life will get interesting! Till next time!

Brooklyn in Vegas.

Ouch.

Pirates in Vegas. Run!

Queen of Ceasar's Palace.

Ghost Town of Calico!!!