July 7, 2009

• Since my last post, a long, long time ago, we went on a long, long vacation.  We took a 2 week road trip.  I took about 750 pictures along the way, but I’ll try not to include more than half of them in this post.  I’ll just tell the story of our trip as I show the photos.  The point of the trip was to go to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico and the Grand Canyon, but as you will see, we ended up doing a lot more than that.

  On the day that we left, we intended to drive to Memphis, TN and spend the night.  Along the way, we discovered that we would be going right past the Hermitage, in Nashville, which is Andrew Jackson’s homeplace, and also where he is buried.  How could we possibly pass up the chance to see another dead President?  So this, of course, was our first stop.

  

  

  In front of his house:

  

  In the garden:

  

  In front of the grave:

  

  After we left the Hermitage, Roxie called my mom and dad and told them that she had just been to “Angry Jackson’s” house. lol  I guess she couldn’t remember that his name was Andrew.  So now when you ask her where we went, sometimes she says Angry Jackson, and sometimes, if she can’t remember his name, she’ll say, “you know, the Mad President.” lol

  After we left the Hermitage, we discovered that Pres. James K. Polk was buried about 20 minutes away.  So we headed there next.  That poor dude doesn’t have a museum, or homeplace, or gift shop, or anything cool to tour…..just a gravesite.  And let me tell ya, it was a looooooong trek up to the capital building where he is buried:

  

  Just look at all those steps.  I told Jamie that I would just wave at Polk from the bottom of the hill, but apparently that wasn’t good enough, so I had to walk all the way to the top.  I took a break along the way. lol…but we finally made it:

  

  Roxie wanted her picture in front of his wife’s grave…not sure why. lol:

  

  Also, Kaleb made a point to visit every single NFL stadium that came within 20 miles of us.  First stadium: the Tennessee Titans:

  

  And here’s a random picture of me.  I thought I was due for a pregnant belly photo update, so I had to take it of myself:

  

  Roxie, playing  in the water at our hotel:

  

  Next stop:  The Dallas Cowboys Stadium.  They have a brand new stadium, and they were just opening it when we were there.  When we first arrived this is what we found:

  

  They were having auditions for the new season of American Idol.  Jamie really wanted to try out, but I said forget it. lol

  

  Those are the only pictures I could take.  I went inside where they were registering and waiting to audition, but I wasn’t allowed to take pictures in there.  It was cool to see all the people waiting to audition, and I even got to see someone come out with their slip saying they made it to Hollywood.

  Next, we went to the Pro Shop:

  

  

  Those photos were taken just minutes before I had a rather unexpected experience.  As I said, the Cowboys Stadium is brand new.  They had just opened it when we were there.  Not many people were there, really, and there were still a few construction workers there doing some final details, like touching up the paint and stuff.  On our way out of the Pro Shop, as we were heading toward the front entrance/exit of the stadium, I was looking down in my purse or bag or something, and I looked up just as I was about to run into two men.  When I looked up, I was face to face with Jerry Jones!  For those of you who are dummies, and have no clue who that is, he is the owner of the Cowboys, and he’s very famous.  Well I just stood there staring in complete shock.  He smiled at me and gave me a look like, ‘yeah, I know you know who I am…..go ahead and ask for a picture or autograph…’ lol  But I was in such shock that I just stood there like a dufus. lol  After I finally composed myself, and we went out the door, Jamie looked at me and said, “that was Jerry Jones.”  Duh, like I didn’t know that.  lol  And it was then that I finally realized that I missed a  huge opportunity.  He acted very friendly, and I know that he would have let me take a photo with him if I’d asked.  I said, ‘Kaleb did you see that man?  It was Jerry Jones!’ and he said, ‘who’s Jerry Jones?’ lol  I guess he’s too young too know, but after I explained it, he was excited that he’d seen him.  I so wish that I had taken Kaleb’s picture with him.  That would have been so cool.  Jamie says I left a puddle in the floor where I was standing.  Smartelic. lol

  And after we left, Roxie then called my dad and said,’Pappaw, we just saw Jerry Johnson!’ lol

  Anyway, after I partially recovered from that little episode, we went right next door to the Texas Rangers baseball stadium so Kaleb could see that too:

  

  Then after a long and boring drive across western Texas and eastern New Mexico….

  

  ….we finally made it to Carlsbad Caverns, just in time for the evening bat flight out of the cave.  I did not enjoy that part, as the bugs were so thick, that all I did was swat at them for an hour.  Here’s Lexie waiting for the bats:

  

  and Roxie:

  

  Then the next day we toured the caverns:

  

  

  

  

  

  Then on to Arizona!

  

  We toured the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest.  It was HOT!!!  I mean hot, like 150 degrees.   Okay more like 110:

  

  

  At the Painted Desert:

  

  Yeah, Jamie was proud of the lovely photos he took of my hair, but I’ll just post one:

  

  Next stop, Sedona, Arizona.  It was a very, very scenic town, with lots of red rock formations and cool stuff to do:

  

  The next day, we stopped at the next NFL stadium, the Arizona Cardinals:

  

  Then we ate at a mexican restaurant right across from the stadium.  It was the best mexican place ever!  Roxie especially enjoyed the strawberries and chocolate fountain, as you can see:

  

  

  Kaleb and Lexie liked it too:

  

  We passed lots of cactuses, or cacti, or whatever:

  

  Okay, finally we made it to the Grand Canyon:

  

  This (the entrance) would be the only part where I did not panic.  As soon as we got there, and I saw how deep it was, and there were NO railings, I was a total mess.  I wasn’t scared so much for myself, but for the kids.  I just knew they’d run right up to the edge and fall in.  And I saw a TON of stupid people standing on the edge, sitting on the edge, dangling their feet over  the edge, and letting their children PLAY on the edge!!!  I told Jamie that there must be a convention of stupid people in town at the same time we were there, because we saw all of them.  I couldn’t believe it.  Here are some examples of the idiots I found:

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  I finally did find a few spots with railing, even though it still wasn’t very sturdy or safe, but I let the kids slowly walk out there, while holding our hands:

  

  

  

  

  

  

   

  

  

  

  The Grand Hotel, where we stayed:
  

  

  Okay, we left there, and headed to Utah:

  

  We visited the Four Corners, where Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado meet:

  

  

  

  

  I would show the picture of my pregnant self straddling all 4 states, but it’s not a pretty sight. lol

  Next stop:  Colorado:

  

  We stayed in a really neat historic hotel in Durango, CO.  It had a really old elevator, the kind that has a wooden door that opens just like a door to a room, and then it had one of those metal springy doors that you pull open and shut.  We could barely fit all of us in there, it was so small:

  

  

  Then the rooms were really cool, too.  They even had bathrobes, which the kids just HAD to try on:

  

  The next day we took the train from Durango to Silverton, CO.  It was a beautiful ride.  Very scenic:

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

   

  Then we left Colorado, and on our way out, we found the Continental Divide.  Jamie was so excited, that he had to stop and take his picture straddling the Continental Divide.  I was not so excited and asked, “uh, what is the continental divide?” lol:

  

  Finally made it to Kansas:

  

  Where we were so lucky to find another dead President…..Eisenhower!

  

  

  I had a not-so-happy experience at the Eisenhower gift shop.  I was there to buy my magnets (like I do every place we visit).  As I was standing at the check-out counter, a very nasty old woman working there, looked at my 3 children, who were standing a little bit behind me, playing with some toys in the kiddie section, and said, “Are you going to buy those?  Because if you’re not, I want you to put them up. NOW.”  (They were each playing with one of those squooshy, rubber balls.)  I then placed my magnets on the counter and said, “Well I don’t really want to buy these (magnets) from you, but I guess I don’t have a choice.”

  Okay, apparently this lady does not understand the issue, so I made a point to make sure that when I left, she had a clearer knowledge of what was happening, and why I disapproved:

  1.  If you have a problem with one or more of my children, you direct your inquiries at me, NOT them.

  2.  If there are toys on display at a place of business, and they are on the child’s level so they can reach them, then this encourages the children to touch said toys, so that they may then play with them, and beg their parents to buy them.

  3.  My children were being very quiet and mannerly, not bothering anything or anybody, and were simply touching the squooshy balls, which, as I said, were within their reach.

  4.  If the management at this store does not want children touching the children’s toys, then they should place them in an area that is out of their reach and inaccessible to children (oh, and good luck at selling any of them, if they do this.)

  Even Jamie (who is very mild-mannered and usually encourages me to just keep my mouth shut as well, agreed with me on this one.  I guess what made it so bad was how extremely rude this woman was.  She didn’t just politely ask if we could have our kids put those things back, she looked directly at a three-year-old innocent little girl, and forcefully demanded that she put away the toy NOW.  Well, as you can probably tell, my blood was pretty much at the boiling point, and I proceeded to cover the above listed issues with the not-so-friendly gift shop lady.  I asked for a manager or someone with some authority over her, but, of course, she said there were none there.  She proceeded to argue with me and tell me that my children were at fault, not her.  Uh-huh.  We’ll see about that.  Jamie also pointed out to her that there were several adults in the store  who were touching items that they did not intend to buy….and why wasn’t she telling THEM to put those things down?

  For future reference, NO ONE, especially a STRANGER is going to tell my children what to do, especially when they are doing nothing wrong, and especially when I am standing right there.  Can you tell that this makes me mad just to think about it?  Yeah. 

  Okay, on with the vacation. lol

  We left Eisenhower (with me ranting and raving, and still wanting to go back and give NOL (Nasty Old Lady) a piece of my mind…lol) and went a few hours down the road to our last two stops:  The last NFL stadium (the Kansas City Chiefs) and another dead President.  This time, it was Harry S. Truman.  Unfortunately for Kaleb, the Chiefs stadium was under construction:

  

  So we went ahead to the Truman Museum:

  

  Truman’s grave:

  

  Truman’s house:

  

  Whew, well I think that about covers it.

  • 10:43 pm
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