Hamilton Family Vacation Summer, 2010

Hamilton Family Vacation Summer, 2010
While we actually did not take the Griswold Family Truckster, we did take our mini van.

Friday, July 30, 2010

You think I would have learned…

Ever shut down a pool because one of your kids vomited in the water because you kept throwing them up in the air? Well, I have….

About 4 years ago when Luke was 3, he and I single handedly shut down a pool. Yep—cleared everyone out. He pretty much threw up all over me, people scattered—it was a mess. No more swimming for the other hotel guests that night or the next day.

Flash forward to 7/28/10. Jacob just turned 5. He's learning how to swim, but we put a life jacket on him so he doesn't have any close calls. He and I are having fun in the pool. We're kind of wrestling, messing around…Michele had gone to get the pizzas so it was just me and the boys in the pool with a bunch of other kids.

So, I ask Jacob, "You want me to throw you REALLY high?" He said, "Sure!" So with one heave from a crouched position I launch him into the air probably a good 7-8 feet above the water…S P L A S H !

He comes up gasping for air so I grab him and sit him at the edge of the pool. I asked him if he was ok and he said yes….so I told him to rest here for a few minutes and then he can play some more. I go back to playing with the other boys. I look back at Jacob 30 seconds later and see this string of what looked like snot dripping from his mouth. I thought he was just spitting up some water so I go over to check on him. I noticed a few chunks on the ground but didn't think anything of it until he got this horrible look on his face and yep…..there it was, the chicken quesadilla from lunch….! Well, none of it actually hit the pool, it all landed on the cement around the sitting area. I quickly raked it together in a big pile and yelled at Andy to go get the 16-year old life guard, who, once realized what had happened, had this sheepish look on his face like "I was hoping this would never happen to me when I was on duty". I asked him if he had anything to clean up the vomit and he gave me 2 towels…I proceeded to scoop it up into the towels and carry Jacob over to a chair to dry off and relax. The life guard then grabs the garden hose and proceeds to hose down the remaining chunks into the drain in the center of the cement. That's it—no one else saw, no one was the wiser, and everyone continued to swim…with the exception of us…we went out to the lobby and ate some pizza.

Day 26 Recap

Date: 7/30/10

Starting place: Rapid City, SD

Ending Place/Hotel Location: HOME!!!!!!!

Miles Driven: 581

Sites Seen: Black hills, Mitchell Corn Palace

Breakfast: Ate at hotel

Lunch: Sonic in Rapid City, SD

Dinner: Arby's in Mitchell, SD

Favorite part of the day:

  • Andy: racing go carts at The Ranch in Rapid City, SD
  • Jared: Going to The Ranch and racing the go carts
  • Luke: bumper boats…we got everyone soaked!
  • Jacob: bumper boats and go carts and rock climbing and mini golf
  • Michele: Going to The Ranch Amusement Park; watching the kids go cart and beating Andy and watching Les spin out
  • Les: Racing my boys in go carts and watching Luke and Jake drive their own car around a track

Day 25 Recap

Date: 7/29/10

Starting place: Gillette, WY

Ending Place/Hotel Location: Fairfield Inn Rapid City, SD (40,000 points used for 2 rooms)

Miles Driven: 141

Sites Seen: none, driving day

Breakfast: Ate at hotel

Lunch: Sanford's in Rapid City

Dinner: Olive Garden, Rapid City

Favorite part of the day:

  • Andy: Waterpark
  • Jared: Waterpark
  • Luke: Waterpark
  • Jacob: Going down the slides at the waterpark by myself
  • Michele: Watching Jacob try and keep his secret from his brothers
  • Les: Enjoyed the waterslides with the boys….especially the toilet bowl!

Day 24 Recap

Date: 7/28/10

Starting place: Greybull, WY

Ending Place/Hotel Location: Fairfield Inn, Gillette, WY (15,000 points used for 2 rooms…we did not realize that the hotel had a nice waterpark!)

Miles Driven: 202

Sites Seen: Big Horn National Forest, Shell Falls in Big Horn National forest and 2 moose.

Breakfast: Ate at the Historic Greybull Hotel….Thanks Myles for the great hospitality

Lunch: Taco Bell in Sheridan, WY

Dinner: Domino's pizza in the hotel room

Favorite part of the day:

  • Andy: Waterpark at the hotel and seeing Jacob's quesadilla for the second time
  • Jared: Shooting basketball in the waterpark pool
  • Luke: Going on the waterslides
  • Jacob: waterslides
  • Michele: watching the boys shoot baskets in the hotel pool
  • Les: realizing that the hotel had a great water park and it only cost 7,500 points per room!

Day 23 Recap

Date: 7/27/10

Starting place: Rexburg, ID (outside Idaho Falls)

Ending Place/Hotel Location: Greybull, WY (we canceled our Bozeman, MT hotel and actually PAID for a hotel…a bed and breakfast called Historic Hotel Greybull)

Miles Driven: 282

Sites Seen: Yellowstone National Park

Breakfast: Ate at hotel

Lunch: Picnic at Yellowstone

Dinner: Arby's in the car from Cody, WY

Favorite part of the day:

  • Andy: Seeing Old Faithful at Yellowstone
  • Jared: Seeing Old Faithful
  • Luke: Old Faithful
  • Jacob: Old Faithful
  • Michele: Seeing the bacterial mats at the hot springs
  • Les: Old Faithful and all the hot springs

Jacob's quotes

Jacob: Dad, what does irritating mean?
Dad: to bother (pause)......
Jacob: oh......Luke, you're irritating me......

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Day 22 Recap

Date: 7/26/10

Starting place: Boise, ID

Ending Place/Hotel Location: SpringHill Suites Rexburg, ID (outside Idaho Falls) (20,000 points used)

Miles Driven: 259

Sites Seen: Massacre Rock state Park

Breakfast: Donuts from Albertson's

Lunch: Sonic in Boise

Dinner: Domino's Pizza in the room

Favorite part of the day:

  • Andy: Domino's pizza
  • Jared: Hiking at Massacre rock and Andy seeing a snake
  • Luke: Playing video games
  • Jacob: Hiking
  • Michele: Tread milling
  • Les: getting caught up on work, the blog and mapping out the last few days

Day 21....

we are 3 weeks into our trip...the van is starting to smell. 4 boys have a tendency to emit an odor that is quite curious....feet, French fries and farts. Yeah, that pretty much sums it up...........

Monday, July 26, 2010

Having just picked up 2 pizzas to take back to the room for dinner, the aroma filled the van. Jacob, the 5 yr old says "ah, I can smell the deep goodness!". What's up with that and where did he hear it?

Things you don't want to hear on a long car trip...

Jacob....LOUD Sneeze!

Jacob: "Eewww!"

Dad gives Jacob a Kleenex.

Jacob: "here you go Dad"....

Dad: "I don't want it..."

Andy, not knowing what was going on as he had his headphones on...

Jacob: "Here you go Andy, close your eyes and hold out your hand, I have a surprise for you"

Andy holds out his hand....

Jared: "No don't take it, there's snot all over it"

Jacob: "Can someone take this I am tired of holding it.."

Vacation from my Vacation


 

Some call me crazy, some call me mad…I call it just another day….

I had a meeting with Target (whose headquarters is 17 miles from my house in Maple Grove) in Miami on 7/19 that I could not get out of. This required me to fly from our vacation to Miami for a 30 minute meeting with Target. Why they would not meet with me in Minneapolis is beyond me but anyway…

Michele dropped me off at the Fresno airport on Sunday evening after our hike in the Sequoias. Before the airport, however, I stopped by a Marriott Courtyard (we were NOT staying at) close to the airport and sweet-talked the lady at the counter to give me a "courtesy room" so I could shower quickly….She wanted to charge me half price but I told her I was a Gold Elite member….she said as long as I didn't mess the bed up I could use it free of charge…so, as I showered, everyone, 1 by 1, came in to use the bathroom in my room that wasn't my room…but we left the bed untouched!

Anyway, after my shower, I hopped a plane and flew to Los Angeles, then LA to Atlanta on a red eye, then Atlanta to Miami and landed at 9:30am on Monday morning. I took a cab to the Doral Hotel in Miami, checked in at the conference lobby and then asked for another "courtesy room" where I could shower again because I did not have a room, just there for a quick meeting. Had the meeting at 2:00, caught a flight from Miami to Minneapolis (only had 30 minutes between flights or I would have gone home to mow the yard) and then Minneapolis to Sacramento where Michele and Sherri picked me up. We drove back to the Whiteford's in Modesto, CA, got in at 1am their time and then went to Mr. T's (local donut shop) to have a fresh maple bar … yum… long day for a 30 minute meeting.

6 airports, 5 segments on a plan and over 6000 miles in the air…all in 27 hours. Not doing that again.

Mora Rock Sequoia National Park

One of my memories of King's Canyon and Sequoia National Park from 1987 was climbing Mora Rock. Mora Rock is a protruding rock several thousand feet in the air where you need to walk up an additional 400 steps off of a trail to reach the top. Now, everyone was up for it, including me, but as we started our climb I realized, yet again, how much I do not like heights. All boys took it in stride and actually liked the climb, with the exception of this boy. Some areas did not have a railing but only a small boulder wall that was supposed to suffice for a barrier between me and falling to my death thousands of feet below. As I climbed up the 400 steps, I believe I touched every square inch of that rock as I tried to steady myself on the assent. It was not until the decent that I realized my fear of heights was impacting my kids. As Luke began to cry, I realized I was holding onto his arm (not to make sure he didn't fall, but more so for my own security) too tightly and was cutting off the circulation from his bicep on down to his hand…..after Michele pried my hand off of his arm and told me to manage on my own, poor Luke had a hand print from his father wrapped around his arm that took several minutes to go away. I then proceeded to walk, crouched like a tiger, down the rest of the rock ensuring I would not lose my footing and fall to my death. Michele made me walk in front of the kids so I would not see them as they gleefully jumped and jogged down the rocks steps. AAAHHH!!! I really must not hike up heights more than like 20ft. When will I learn.

Day 21 Recap

Date: 7/25/10

Starting place: Medford, OR    

Ending Place/Hotel Location: SpringHill Suites, Boise, ID (10,000 points used)

Miles Driven: 502

Sites Seen: None, driving day….and a long one at that…

Breakfast: Ate at the hotel

Lunch: slowest Subway in Oregon

Dinner: Frozen dinners for the kids; Michele and I went to a place called The Refuge….we needed it.

Favorite part of the day:

  • Andy: Driving through Oregon and realizing it's not all trees
  • Jared: Seeing the snow on the mountains
  • Luke: Driving
  • Jacob: eating a Kid's Cuisine
  • Michele: Seeing the change in terrain from Oregon to Idaho…beautiful
  • Les: Jammin' to some old 80s/90s songs on my iPod while driving through the middle of Oregon.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Day 20 Recap

Date: 7/24/10

Starting place: Redding, CA

Ending Place/Hotel Location: SpringHill Suites, Medford OR (15,000 points used)

Miles Driven: 334

Sites Seen: Redwood Forest

Breakfast: Ate at hotel

Lunch: Packed turkey sandwiches.

Dinner: Wild River Brewing and Pizza Company, Cave Junction, OR

Favorite part of the day:

  • Andy: Walking on the trail and down the fallen tree; sitting on the rocks by the river
  • Jared: Making paint out of rocks
  • Luke: Breaking and smashing rocks by the river
  • Jacob: Throwing rocks in the river
  • Michele: The scenery as we drove
  • Les: Hanging out with my boys by the river in the Redwood forest

Friday, July 23, 2010

Day 19 Recap

Date: 7/23/10

Starting place: Modesto, CA

Ending Place/Hotel Location: Fairfield Inn and Suites, Redding, CA (2 rooms, 30,000 points used)

Miles Driven: 242

Sites Seen: None, driving and re-packing day

Breakfast: Ate at the Whiteford's

Lunch: Chevys….took Matt and Sherri out and bought them lunch for hosting us the past week…

Dinner: sandwiches and Taco Bell in the car

Favorite part of the day:

  • Andy: Mr. T's 2am doughnut run for a Maple Bar
  • Jared: Mr. T's doughnuts
  • Luke: Swimming
  • Jacob: Being at Josh's house
  • Michele: Having all the clothes cleaned and ready to go (Thanks Sherri for the use of the washer and dryer!)
  • Les: 2am Mr. T's doughnut run with Matt and the 2 oldest boys…The Maple bars are unbelievable when the are hot out of the oil

Day 18 Recap

Date: 7/22/10

Starting place: Modesto, CA

Ending Place/Hotel Location: Modesto, CA (drove to San Jose and Santa Cruz and back)

Miles Driven: 203

Sites Seen: Winchester Mansion in San Jose, Surfing at the beach in Santa Cruz

Breakfast: Ate at the Whiteford's

Lunch: Turkey and Roast Beef sandwiches in the parking lot of the Winchester Mansion

Dinner: Cole's BBQ (local hole in the wall in Santa Cruz…awesome!)

Favorite part of the day:

  • Andy: Going to the beach and surfing
  • Jared: Surfing
  • Luke: Going to the beach
  • Jacob: Seeing the Winchester House
  • Michele: Eating a Mr. T's doughnut at 2am
  • Les: Surfing at the beach; seeing the Winchester mansion again and taking my kids through it


 

Day 17 Recap

Date: 7/21/10

Starting place: Modesto, CA

Ending Place/Hotel Location: Modesto, CA (Drove to Yosemite and back)

Miles Driven: 170

Sites Seen: Yosemite Park

Breakfast: Ate at the Whiteford's

Lunch: AWESOME Turkey, Ham and Roast Beef Sandwiches overlooking some gorge in CA.

Dinner: Papa Murphy's pizza that we brought back to the Whiteford's

Favorite part of the day:

  • Andy: Climbing rocks at the waterfall
  • Jared: Climbing rocks at the waterfall
  • Luke: Jumping on rocks
  • Jacob: Climbing on the rocks at the waterfall
  • Michele: Seeing the beauty of Yosemite
  • Les: Being in awe at the pure beauty of Yosemite…I want to go back and spend more time there.


 

Day 16 Recap

Date: 7/20/10

Starting place: Modesto, CA

Ending Place/Hotel Location: Modesto, CA (drove to San Francisco and back)

Miles Driven: 189

Sites Seen: Alcatraz, Golden Gate Bridge, Pier 39, Lombard Street, Ghirardelli Square

Breakfast: Ate at the Whitefords

Lunch: Hot dogs from street vendor….

Dinner: Grazed all day…Michele had a bowl of clam chowder soup, popcorn, pretzels, crepes (smores and strawberry/chocolate), Ghirardelli ice cream…then made turkey sandwiches when we got back to the Whiteford's; Mr. T doughnuts at 2am…Maple bar…yum.

Favorite part of the day:

  • Andy: Eating a smores crepe
  • Jared: eating crepe
  • Luke: eating ice cream
  • Jacob: eating Crepes at the Pier (as he was eating the smores crepe, he proclaimed "Dad, this is the best part of my day!"
  • Michele: Watching Jared leap-frog the 4ft sidewalk pylons; seeing Alcatraz
  • Les: Eating my way through San Francisco, having to take the car topper off the van in order to fit into ANY parking garage, going into the original Old Navy and the Apple Stores.

Day 15 Recap

Date: 7/19/10

Starting place: Modesto, CA

Ending Place/Hotel Location: Modesto, CA

Miles Driven: 0

Sites Seen: None….Michele and the boys stayed at the Whiteford's (Michele's cousin) and enjoyed their pool and hot tub

Breakfast: ate at the Whiteford's

Lunch: ate at the Whiteford's

Dinner: Matt smoked a pork butt all day….BEST BBQ we have ever had….

Favorite part of the day:

  • Andy: Swimming
  • Jared: Doing a back flip off of the waterfall rock in the Whiteford's pool
  • Luke: Swimming
  • Jacob: Swimming
  • Michele: Hanging out with my cousin Sherri and swimming at her pool
  • Les: having a successful meeting with Target in Miami…(flew from Fresno to LA, LA to Atlanta, Atlanta to Miami…had a 30 minute meeting then caught a flight to Minneapolis then Minneapolis to Sacramento where I was reunited with my family on our vacation….I was gone for 27 hours…I flew over 6000 miles for 1 30 minute meeting…..I was exhausted!


 

Day 14 Recap

Date: 7/18/10

Starting place: Fresno, CA

Ending Place/Hotel Location: Modesto, CA (Matt & Sherri Whitford's…Michele's cousin)

Miles Driven: 277

Sites Seen: Sequoia National Park, King's Canyon (General Sherman…largest tree in the world; drove through the large Sequoia in our van).

Breakfast: Ate at hotel

Lunch: Made PB&J sandwiches for the park

Dinner: Michele and boys ate at Quizno's after they dropped me off at the airport.

Favorite part of the day:

  • Andy: Hiking up Mora Rock
  • Jared: Driving through the tree
  • Luke: Walking on the "auto tree" (large sequoia that had fallen down)
  • Jacob: Going up the stairs at Mora Rock and seeing the big trees
  • Michele: Seeing the Sequoia's and learning about them at the visitor center
  • Les: seeing a few things in Sequoia Park that I remember from 1987….driving through the tree and Climbing up Mora Rock even though the heights completely freaked me out.