Day 2: Epic Car Trip Ohio to Oregon

Day 2 on our car trip and no one has been killed or left behind.  Success.  We are in the process of driving to Portland to begin a new job and driving with our 3 little kids to get there.  Yesterday, we traveled from Cincinnati to Omaha (more on that here).  Today, we tackled Nebraska and half of Wyoming.

Overall, the trip has been very uneventful today, for which we are very appreciative of.  We started off strong, leaving Omaha at the planned 7am departure time.  The brief view we got of Omaha was promising and looked to be a super cool city.  Perhaps a great vacation spot in the future.  We grabbed some great coffee on the way out of town from a drive-up coffee stand- they seem to be popular out west.

We had a bit of a bump in the road a couple hours in when F threw off his headphones and shouted, “I need to poo!”  Any with toddlers know that this means he has a turtle head ready to go.  Of course, we were in Nebraska where stops are far and few between.  Luckily, he managed to hold it for 10 minutes until we found a stop.  Crisis averted.

 

Nebraska Landscape

We got a call from the truck driver with our household belongings around noon.  His truck had broken down but he was finally back on the road with an anticipated delivery date a day later than originally expected.  Not a big deal to us since he will still beat us there.  Failed to ask if truck trouble was minor, or truck tipped over with destroyed piano.  Let’s hope it was the former.

As I mentioned yesterday, we don’t really stop for lunch so we stopped at a few rest stops to stretch our legs and go to the bathroom.  Our next food stop was in Cheyenne around 2 pm, Mountain Time for some coffee and pastries.  The view we got of Cheyenne was not as promising as Omaha and I don’t anticipate another stop there in the future.  Very industrial and overall run down- not what we expected.

Leaving Cheyenne, we ran into a random snow storm, of course going through the first mountain pass.  About 7 years ago, I slid off the highway in Illinois in my Jeep during a horrible storm and ever since then get SERIOUS snow driving anxiety.  Like, want a cigarette or heavy drinking anxiety (both of which I’ve never done).  Signs warned of doom until Tuesday at 11 am (snow/wind warnings) but luckily, the road was never closed and it passed quickly with me breathing into a bag in the passenger seat.

Tonight, we are in Rawlins, Wyoming.  After the Mexican restaurant we found on Yelp turned out to be closed, we settled on a country version of Applebees right in downtown complete with GIANT menus, chicken fried steak slathered in gravy and sundaes for the kids.  Perfect end to the day.

Miles: 639

Hours: 11

States: 2

Potty Accidents:  0 (but close today)

Coffee Stops: 2

Day 1: Epic Road trip Ohio to Oregon

12 hours in.  Andy has swass (sweaty ass).  A month after Andy has started his new job in Portland, we are finally moving the whole family out there.  We are taking 4 days for this epic adventure and will (hopefully) share some delights about each day.  Here is day 1.

6 am (Eastern time)-  We roll out of our hotel in Cincinnati, Ohio and head to Waffle House for breakfast.  Why are we in Cincy instead of Decorah?  My Great Aunt Mary passed away and her memorial service was this weekend.  A career librarian, Aunt Mary would have loved our blogging literary tendencies.

7 am (still Eastern time)- We hit the road, aiming for Omaha, Nebraska bellies full of waffle.  We have 4 days planned for nearly 2500 miles.  Our thought is to bang out the “boring bits” in one long day, then step it back from there.  Growing up in the Midwest, we have driven the roads in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa frequently and don’t need to savor the sights. 

Our morning is uneventful with a stop every couple of hours to let kids pee and run around.  We travel a lot with the kids and have determined that life is easier for us if we pack food in the car for lunches- usually cheese, salami, crackers, hard boiled eggs, nuts peanut butter packets so we don’t have frequent bathroom stops PLUS a lunch stop which would equal a deathly long car ride.

1:30 pm (Central time)-  A pit stop in Iowa right outside the boarder.  2 miles into Iowa on I-80 and we are already frustrated with the truck traffic and discourteous drivers who don’t understand how to use a left lane.  Andy and I have switched driving duties at every bathroom break to prevent driver and kid fatigue (passenger seat victim is in charge of passing out food/activities to kids).

The boys have napped and E finally seems to have found something to occupy herself, creating a headpiece and necklace out of pipe cleaners.

  Andy and I have taken a break from listening to Aladdin, 101 Dalmatians and the Toy Story series to “watch” Happy Endings on our laptop.  (Don’t worry, driver doesn’t get to see, just hear!). 

4:15 pm (still Central time)- L is starting balk from sitting in the car seat all day and Andy is sick of car snacks and “bird food” for lunch.  We have 100 miles to go to hit Omaha and our planned Frudruckers for dinner.  Dreaming of toasted buns, seasoned fries and warm, yellow cheese from a push dispenser. 

6:30 pm-  Dinner consumed and the hanger monster is now at bay.  Heading to hotel when E starts a conversation- “I want to be married in Decorah” .  A bit of of the conversation:

E:  “I want to be married in Decorah"

A/M:  “Who will you marry?”

E:  I don’t know.  He will just be handsome.  I can marry whoever I want.

F:  I just want to marry mommy.

E: You can’t marry mommy.  She is married to daddy.  You can’t get out of marriage.

F:  I just want to marry mommy.

E:  MOMMY IS ALREADY MARRIED.  You can’t get out of marriage.

F: I Just want to marry mommy.

Me:  I’ll marry you buddy.  ::heart warms””

Tally for the day:

Miles:  724

Hours: 12

States: 4

Bathroom Accidents:  0

Coffee Stops:  2

The Goldilocks Dilemma

As a mom of three young kids, I am more versed in children's literature than the latest best seller novel or Oprah's list book.  I can recite "Brown Bear" and "Moo, Baa, La" by memory and amuse myself by singing the "To Market" book.  Inevitably, the books I try to hide in the back of the bookshelf are the books the kids aways request, among them "Goldilocks and the Three Bears."

Throughout the book, Goldilocks seems like a spoiled little juvenile delinquent, first breaking into the bear's house then complaining about all of their stuff.  "Too little/ too big, too hot/too cold."  Well, after the past several months, I think I perhaps have a better understanding of Goldilocks' pickiness.

Andy is a manufacturing engineer and has been working at a plant in the area specializing in air filters.  At the plant, he is the APD (accelerated product development) supervisor which basically means he is a super problem solver.  Through his experiences over the last four years at his job, he has become very passionate about LEAN principles which can be utilized within any company, not just manufacturing.  The time came to move on from his current position, which is typical in his field so he began an extensive job search.

After some initial bumbling, we focused in on three things that a prospective job would require for us to move forward:

1. Job Description- something focusing on LEAN
2. Location- a place to grow with interesting things to do/see, focused on outdoor lifestyle and family friendly
3. Product- the company makes an interesting product that Andy can stand behind

We encountered several jobs along the way that knocked two off the list but kept looking for a slam dunk.  We turned down a few opportunities that just weren't the right fit, at times feeling like a petulant Goldilocks looking for that perfect bowl of porridge.  Finally, the waiting paid off and we were able to fall asleep in that "perfect bed".  

So, we'd like to announce that we are moving to Portland, Oregon.  Andy will begin his job in two weeks as a Senior Manufacturing Engineer at a company that makes ergonomic desks (wacko that he is, Andy had actually custom-built a standing ergonomic desk for his current office).  We are super excited for this change, especially since we spent SO much time researching every aspect of it but also sad to be moving away from a town we fell in love with and our little farm that we put so much sweat into.  

I never would have guessed three years ago as I was driving here the first time from the Chicago suburbs that we would be so sad to leave but, alas, we are.  We will miss family, friends, neighbors and those damn chickens but look forward to new adventures that await.  

Yes, we will continue blogging... it will look different since we plan to rent for awhile so perhaps some posts on adventuring in our new state, learning about west coast living after 31 years of midwest life, or maybe there will even be a tiny house in our future (?!?), so stick with us as we navigate a totally new environment.  We will keep our current title so our web address stays the same but perhaps add an addendum to it... Any suggestions?  So this little Goldilocks is packing away her lock pick set for a bit and preparing for new adventures.