Day 28--Omaha, Ne. to Cheyenne, Wy.: A change of scenery

We began our day today out on the road at the bright early hour of around 11am, after breakfast and some swimming, of course. (Speaking of swimming, they are holding the olympic swim trials in Omaha this week, and we looked into getting tickets, but you had to buy a week pass or nothing...bummer! I can't wait to watch the Olympics!) Our hotel in Chicago didn't have a swimming pool so the boys were pretty excited to have one again. First stop was at the Kenefick Park in Omaha to see the Big Boy train they had on display. For a little "Big Boy" info: the Big Boy is the world's largest steam locomotive; the first 20 were built in New York in 1941 as the US was entering WWII, Locomotives 4000-4020. They were built for power and speed, and mainly hauled heavy freight between Ogden, Utah and Cheyenne, Wyoming, at the top speed of 70mph. Each locomotive was 132 feet long and weighed 1.2 million pounds. An additional 5 trains were built in 1944, Locomotives 4021-4025. From those numbers you can see that this was one of the later trains built. Most of them were out of use by 1960, and a few of them are still on display around the US, but none in Utah (wierd!).
Who cares, you might ask? Well, there is a story behind the Big Boy madness in our family. Way back when, not long after (or was it just before; I don't remember, it's all a blur!!) I had the twins, Daren had a field trip up in Ogden for one of his law school classes one Saturday, so he took Ben. After the class, Daren took Ben, who was just on the cusp of becoming a true blue train junkie, over to the Union Station Depot in Ogden. Daren let Ben pick out a train movie, and he picked out one about the Big Boys. It makes us laugh just thinking about it now, but you really have to see this movie to believe how B-O-R-I-N-G it is!! It's all original footage in black and white, and I know it's at least an hour and a half long. It goes through each of the 25 trains, sometimes chugging along the vast open plains, and sometimes showing it turning, for what seems an eternity, at the round house. It's almost painful, but I kid you not, Ben could sit and watch that video when he was three years old, over and over again. It was hilarious. Sometime last year when the twins were three they wanted to watch it, and when I went in to check on them 20 minutes later, they were both asleep on the floor. Not quite the same love for it as Ben had I guess!! (It's available for your viewing pleasure if anyone wants to borrow it :) So over time we have grown to really like the Big Boy trains; Ben even has a framed painting of one in his room that we bought from the artist at a train show.

This was as close as we could get to show how big the wheels are.

A view from the back with Will.

This was just a cool view of the train. It has been beautifully restored and had a nice shiny coat of paint on it, which really showed the reflection well.

So along the interstate we traveled, the boys once again watching their shows, while we were listening to more of the Grapes of Wrath. We stopped in North Platte for lunch/dinner at Ruby Tuesdays, and if this tells you much, that was the best meal we have had at least in a couple of weeks. I am so tired of McDonald's, PB&J's, and even Subway, that I don't want to eat there again for a long, long time! Just west of there we noticed a huge change of scenery. We have been so spoiled for a couple of weeks with the green lush hills of the midwest, that I forgot we were going back to a desert state. Daren first noticed some sprinklers in the fields just off the freeway, and then you could see how much drier it got the farther west you got. It was quite a reality check that we were getting closer to home.

I couldn't resist this picture, because it was a sight we weren't too familiar with--tons of bugs on the windshield. We got a few bugs on our windshield as we traveled Route 66, but it was nothing like traveling for a day on the interstate!!

And when we pulled into Cheyenne this evening, what did we find but yet, another Big Boy at one of the local parks. This is number 4004. Once again, in trying to show the sheer massiveness (?) of the train and its tender, there is Jake standing to the side of it. Very cool.

At this same park I had to take a picture of our soda junkie, Will (sitting in time out for throwing a couple fists full of rocks, the pebble kind, at Ben). I will be so glad to get home and get them off this total sugar high they have been on for weeks. That's one of the hardest parts traveling with young kids. Will can sniff out a soda a mile away!! And we made it to Cheyenne, where we are in our last hotel on this trip. Back to making beds and cooking our own food, and for now that's ok with me. (But check back in a couple of days!!)

Total mileage to date: 5,493

Weather: sunny and beautiful, 87 degrees

Price paid for gas in Cheyenne: $4.19

Day 27--Chicago, Il. through Iowa to Omaha, Ne.: Driving the Super Slab

I don't know how many times we have heard from Will in the past few weeks, mainly when he's sitting behind us in the car in his car seat, "Hey guys...guys...hey mom and dad, can I go home?" Well it was nice to finally be able to tell him today that yes, we are on our way home. Most of our day today was spent in the car driving from Chicago to Omaha, Nebraska, so there really aren't many pictures we took today--plus I think I'm almost pictured out for a little bit. I could have taken pictures of the beautiful green rolling hills and fields all throughout Illinois and Iowa, but I didn't. It is amazing to see mile after mile of farming and agriculture growing because that isn't something you see every day in the desert of Utah. We live in a very beautiful and very diverse country, and we feel blessed to have been able to see it the way we did.

So, today it was back to the "super slab" for us since we had to drive close to 500 miles. As I look back on our Route 66 journey, I remember that a day of driving 200 miles or so was a long way. I totally understand the need for the interstate, but it isn't half as much fun as the journey we went on from L.A. to Chicago. So off we went, boys with their headphones on, arguing about whether they were going to watch Scooby Doo or Indiana Jones, and Daren and I listening to the Grapes of Wrath book on CD. (It took us forever to find that on CD--we finally did, ordered it and had it sent to our hotel in Chicago so we could listen to it on our way home--it is 18 CD's long, and we'll be lucky to finish it by the time we reach home, almost 1,500 miles later!) It really is ending up being Daren who is listening to it because I get caught up on stuff on the computer and I can't read and listen at the same time, so the computer wins.

The Grapes of Wrath was written in 1939 by John Stienbeck, and I'm borrowing a brief synopsis of the book from the online site Wikipedia: "Set during the Great Depression, the novel focuses on a poor family of sharecroppers, the Joads, driven from their home by drought, economic hardship, and changes in the agriculture industry. In a nearly hopeless situation, they set out for California's Central Valley along with thousands of other "Okies" in search of land, jobs, and dignity. The novel is meant to emphasize the need for cooperative, as opposed to individualistic, solutions to social problems brought about by the mechanization of agriculture and the Dust Bowl drought." (I couldn't get rid of the underlines) The Joad's journey from Oklahoma to California via Route 66, which is why we wanted to read the book, or listen to it, after traveling the same ways, although in very different circumstances. It is very interesting, and I'm going to try to listen better.

One little town we did stop in is Dixon, Il., one of the childhood homes of President Ronald Reagan. Now I'm not one to get too into politics in this blog, but what an amazing man and president, and I still remember some of his presidency as I was going through jr. high and high school during those years. We were in California not long after he passed away, and we went to the Reagan Library, and the memorials there were very moving.
This was our sunset tonight--I'm a sucker for beautiful sunsets and there have been some amazing ones on this trip. This was somewhere near the Iowa/Nebraska border. And that's it for pictures! Pretty low key today.

You know, this was the first day in a long time that we were driving on the freeway instead of the frontage roads and small town roads. I got to thinking about that and I actually missed coordinating the guide book with the internet guide, looking for this or that sign, road, or "what once used to be here." I learned so much about small towns and their own histories, and every day brought a new journey with new sights. As we drove on the freeway today, I would look out from time to time as we would pass a small town here and there and wonder, what's their story? What are we missing out as we zoom by? That right there seems to sum up our trip. I love that Daren and I are of the same mind in that we would rather take the path off the main road and see where it takes us. Believe me, traveling with Daren has always been an adventure like that, and it's a blast! Well, it's on to bed now so we'll be ready to drive to Cheyenne, Wyoming tomorrow. Good night!

Total mileage to date: 4,990
Weather: a little of everything--storms with rains and 73 degree through parts of Illinois, sunny and warmer around 80 degrees through Iowa
Premium gas price paid in Dixon, Il.: $4.15

Day 26--Chicago, Il.: Day at the museum

There is almost a touch of sadness realizing tonight that this is the last of our maps to put at the top of our traveling blog. It is our last night in Chicago; tomorrow we head out for Omaha, Nebraska. We are taking the I-80 route home, it's the fastest way which, I think, is ok by all of us at this point. It has been a great journey, and as you can see we have had some amazing times together, but alas, it's finally time to get back and be responsible. Who would have thought a month could go by so slow and so fast at the same time. We used to have a saying on my mission: the days are like weeks and the weeks are like days. I guess that's true about life in general anyway. Enough of my blubbering...we had one final day in Chicago, and basically this one was for the kids...

We pretty much spent our entire day at the Chicago Children's Museum, except for a couple of hours in the afternoon when we went back to the Taste of Chicago to get a few eats. The boys had a blast at the museum. A few months ago my parents were in town visiting from California and we took the boys to the children's museum in Salt Lake, and although I think I like the one in Salt Lake better, there were fewer kids at this one, so it's sixes.

There's our worker boys, Will and Jake. They will be helping out Daren very soon as they get back to building thier real life playhouse. It's a plan Daren and Ben picked out off the internet one late night in the middle of winter--sounded like a fun project at the time, and I think it is for them, but it's not moving as quickly as the boys would like, as in it wasn't completed the first day they worked on it. Ben has big plans for that playhouse, including making it a schoolhouse so he can teach his brothers and the neighborhood kids who are younger than him to read and write. We'll see how well that one goes over, but kudos to him for being excited about it.

One of the first things we found at the museum were these huge dominoes. If I haven't written enough how much the boys love the dominoes set that Daren and Ben bought from the boy selling them at the gas station in California, then just know that that set has been well loved on this trip, so you can imagine the excitement from Ben when we saw these. He went back to them many times during the day--it was his favorite part.

The overall hit of the day was the water room. I'm not sure how long Jake and Daren were in there this morning, but it was a good chunk of time, and they had a blast--even Jake with his wet shorts!

You had to pull on the ropes just right in order to get the bucket up without spilling before it reached the top. Daren and Jake are shown here, but Will really loved this one!

Ok, somehow Spiderwick crept into our day today when we found the clay. Ben had the idea of making a "seeing stone" out of clay, monicle and all (the part which goes over your nose). We made one for our little clay head, but, well, you can see how well that went over.

This was supposed to be a volcano head dude that Jake and I were working on, but it wasn't until I got back to our hotel to look at the pictures that I realized, it looks more like a Who from Whosville than a volcano head!

Will felt like he was on cloud nine when he discovered these ropes toward the back of the room...so imagine with me: two ropes with multiple knots tied in them, and a boy who LOVES Indiana Jones. What's your conclusion?!

Can you imagine Will singing the song every time he rode the ropes and banged into the wall?! He had a great time and would still be there doing it if we hadn't made him leave. Daren and I came up with the idea that we need a rope swing at home for him--he'd love it! That pretty much covers our morning into the afternoon, and then after the Taste of Chicago we went back to the museum for at least another couple of hours, and the boys were all whining and crying when we left!! I think they will sleep well tonight.

This was our quick break in between museum trips--more food and we found the famous Buckingham Fountain. It is very big and sprays a lot of water when the wind picks up!

And this was a cool statue at one of the entrances to the Taste of Chicago.

I couldn't not include Ben's favorite picture he took today of his favorite building, just close to Navy Pier. It was a very fun day, but all this playing sure wears Daren and I out!! So now I'm going to bed, good night!!

Weather: mostly sunny, low 80's, with a small threat of storm clouds rolling in

Day 25--Chicago, Il.: A view and a taste of Chicago

Another fun day in the windy city...

...but first, after breakfast I sat down for a minute or two to check on some things on the computer, and Daren grabbed the camera and took a picture of me to show the place where I usually am in a hotel room. That got me to thinking about what we do when we aren't driving in the car or playing around town, and admittedly, yes, this is where you will find me most times; that is if Daren hasn't beaten me to it!

Many times this is what you will find Daren doing in his down time (or driving time, or playing time, etc.). He always has his finger on the pulse of what's going on where. And to think he didn't even own his own cell phone until just a couple years ago!!

And whether it's the car or the hotel room, if we need to calm the boys down so they aren't driving the people next to, above or below us (OR US) crazy, inevitably the TV gets turned on. (Can you tell we have a great room here in Chicago--it's a suite with a separate room for Daren and I. Nice!) The boys love playing dominoes or with their cars, or making up whatever else they want, but when they get out of control this is how they calm down.

So for our first outing today, we took the recommendation of one of Daren's friends and went to the John Hancock observation deck (instead of the Sears Tower) to get a look at Chicago from above. It worked out well since that was only 2 blocks from our hotel instead of clear across town like everything else. This is just outside the John Hancock building looking up.

The observation deck is on the 94th floor of the building, and because we had a super speedy elevator which traveled around 20mph, it only took us about 40 seconds to get up there. Ben, especially, was so amazed to be up there and find things that he already knows. He kept asking me all day, "Do you think Bella came here much?" at each new place we went. On a clear day you are able to view four states from up here: Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana--it wasn't that clear today.

Will posed so cute for this picture I couldn't resist putting it in! It's amazing how many skyscrapers are in this city, which seems to go on for miles and miles!! At one point as I was looking out over the densely populated city, it made me think what a stark contrast it was to most of the places we have been to for the past few weeks. Some towns we have visited relied on the one local gas station for food, and then on the other hand, here is Chicago with its thousands of restaurants, eateries, etc. Not that it's bad, just different; but it was nice to visit all the places we have. Anyway, Ben was tempted, after we were done looking around, to take the stairs down. We voted, he lost!

After the observation deck, we went to a nearby "double park," as Ben calls it, for the boys to play. There are two separate playing areas with a common walkway in between, which Ben thought was very cool. This old fire station was right next door to the double park. It has been in use for over 100 years, so I had to get a picture of it.

After lunch we went to Millenium Park; we were taking our chances as we saw the dark clouds a brewing. It made for very nice temperatures though. This was the north/west enterance we took to get in--the traffic was miserable getting around in today, so we got let off as soon as we could--this is the north/west entrance we took to get in. The idea for Millenium Park was concerived by the Mayor of Chicago, Richard M. Daley; planning began in 1997, construction began in 1998, and was completed in 2004. It is a beautiful park, with a little something for everyone.

Our first stop was at the Cloud Gate, a three-story, 110-ton steel sculpture, which residents call "The Bean." The reflection off the polished steel is incredible, especially with the amazing Chicago skyline, and sky, which can clearly be seen. The shape of it offers some unique photo shots; for instance:

I was standing in the middle of the underbelly of the sculpture, looking straight up to get this picture. Pretty funky!!

I caught Ben checking out his reflection in this picture. I could have stayed there all day taking pictures!!

Another famous attraction at the park is the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, where concerts are regularly held. This is the back of the lawn area looking forward to the stage at the front. The speakers are located in the arching steel trellis above the lawn. Jake is seen at the front of the picture taking a little break on the lawn .

We managed to hit Chicago at a great time for another big event--the Taste of Chicago, where 65 restaurants participate to show off what foods they offer. Apparently it is a very popular event which some people travel hundreds of miles to attend. Today was opening day, and we stayed for a short time until it started to drizzle, so we will be heading back tomorrow to finish sampling what there is.

By the way, I have been meaning to write about this for days, perhaps weeks, but it started somewhere a few states ago, maybe Texas or New Mexico, I can't remember, but what is up with Pepsi products being the only beverage everywhere you go?! It seems close to impossible to find a nice cold Diet Coke when you need one!! Maybe this is how others feel when they come out west (because Coke products are definitely the dominator in the west) and they have a hard time finding their Pepsi's. It's very annoying!

Anyway, at this point in the day we were getting tired, and tried to go see WALL.E, but it was sold out. There is something to be said for reserved seating at all of Larry H. Miller's movie theaters...the extra .75 cents is worth it!! We went back to the hotel, rented a movie and ordered in pizza.

Chicago Sign Times

Not too creative today...the Hancock Observatory where we looked over Chicago, and although this technically isn't a sign, it's a handy piece of information, or help if you needed it.

Welcome to the Taste of Chicago.


This was the first sign we saw as we walked into the festival from our entrance, so immediately this told me we were in for some interesting food. I had to take a picture of this one because it immediately took me back to my missionary days in the England London South Mission. We taught a lot of Africans, and I'll never forget that the first African meal I ever ate was oxtail and cow's hoof (I had only been in the country a couple of weeks I think). It could only get better from there, and it did. They do make some very good food. Fu-fu and peanut soup, mmm-mmm good!

Total mileage to date: same as yesterday, whatever that was--we take taxi's everywhere here.

Weather: beautiful most of the day, until the clouds came late afternoon with a light drizzle, low 80's

Premium gas price--haven't see any all day; how's that for a change

Day 24--Chicago, Il.: Take me out to the ball game

Ahhh, after a good night's sleep we were ready to take on Chicago. Ok, maybe it didn't really happen like that, but we all slept really well--so well, in fact, that I had to wake everyone at 8:30am so we wouldn't miss the FREE buffet breakfast downstairs. It was worth it, though, because it was, by far, the best breakfast bar yet. And who can pass up a FREE breakfast when they offer Fruit Loops, pancakes, and donuts?? Yes, that was Ben's breakfast this morning, so it's no wonder they act the way they do after starting the day off all sugared up like that. It will be nice to be home to be able to control the food intake once again...for all of us!

After breakfast it took me all morning to finish loading up pictures and writing the blog from yesterday. I was so tired last night that I just decided to go to bed instead of writing. I found, though, that I'm not so quick with the words or so sassy when I write in the morning...hmm, maybe that's a good thing. I seem to write better at night, after I've had a day of being challenged, shall we say, by all the boys. And today was definitely no exception!!

We finally got out on the road just after lunch, and come to find out, that was none too soon. We might not have had a couple of boys by the end of the day if we had been out on the town any longer with them! They were a trial off and on all day--does anyone else know what I'm talking about?! Daren and I were talking about it and there is something to be said for driving in the car all day as compared to trying to please and entertain everyone all day long. We were also talking that they are at a good age for road-tripping because they don't really know or appreciate at their young ages all the sights and history, etc. that a visit to Wasington D.C. or somewhere like that offers. There are some fun things here for kids in Chicago though, and with the help of my friend, Leisa Thornton (mom of Bella, Ben's "good" friend at school), who moved to Utah from Chicago two years ago, we have somewhat of a clue what to see and do. Thanks Leisa!

First things first, we left the car parked and took a taxi ride, and for the boys it was a dream come true...their first taxi ride!!


We took the taxi straight to Wrigley Field where we managed to find some tickets to the Cubs v. Baltimore Orioles game. The Cubs are sold out for a couple of months in advance!! We got some sweet seats in between what I'd say is the third baseman and left field, but not even a close chance at a foul ball. It was sweet to finally see Wrigley Field--home of the bricks and ivy. There is a lot of history in that place, and although I'll always be Dodger blue through and through, I can appreciate other teams. We had to go to the game today because it was their last home game; they open up a series with the Chicago White Sox tomorrow, but it's not a home series, so it was our only chance to see Wrigley's. Very cool place.

The place was packed for an afternoon game!

I know this seems a little wierd, but we were in Chicago, at a Chicago Cubs game, eating a Chicago Dog--how cool is that?!

Jake has been keifing (?) Daren's baseball hat all trip, so I figured it was time to get Jake his own hat, and what better one than a Cub's hat from the game?! Ben got a small play bat (what mom in her right mind...?! No fatalities or injuries yet, but the weekend isn't over), and "all I got was this lousy t-shirt."

We took another taxi after we left the game (we only made it to the sixth inning, and the Cubs ended up losing 11-3 or 4 I've heard) and headed out to Navy Pier, the symbolic end of the Route 66 line in Chicago, and had to do a fam shot there. And then we stayed...

This is the old "white house" lighthouse which has been there in the bay just off of Navy Pier for over 100 years.

As Ben and the boys were running around the pier chasing each other with the new bat, another boy joined in to play with them. I love that Ben makes friends so easily wherever he goes. He and this boy played and hung out like they had been friends forever!

The playing didn't last long, though, because soon we had to go on our 1/2 hour boat tour excursion of the Chicago skyline. This is the skyline with Navy Pier in the forefront. Thank goodness it was only 30 minutes (see way above for reason why--something about the kids still being alive after such a hard day)!

We played around for a while on the pier after the boat ride--the boys rode the train and we all rode the ferris wheel and the merry-go-round (and drove the play boats). While we were on the ferris wheel we spotted this Chicago City Fire Boat and I had to get a picture of it. Reminds me of Mother's Day...huh?! Will and Jake had stopped in to the Red Balloon toy store one day just before Mother's Day while waiting for me to pick up Ben from a birthday party around the corner. Daren told them they could pick out something for me for Mother's Day, and they picked out a sweet Playmobil fire boat, which they love to play with in the tub! So that's why I had to smile when I saw this boat!!

And just like that it was time to come back to the hotel after another day. Here's to hoping there is a little less friction tomorrow (we can always hope, right?)! It's going to be another fun filled day, and hopefully the weather will cooperate. Bye!!

Photo 1: We were ready, but no such luck!! Photo 2: Signs on Navy Pier

A classic!!

Total mileage to date: 4,496.5

Weather: hot as heck in the sun at the baseball game, but pleasant otherwise, probably low 80's

Premium gas prices seen around town: $4.69!! Ouch