Roadtrip - Day 11/Career Intersection

Lots of family time! Family picnics, county fair, backyard bbq's -- LOVING IT!


Job search is still going and not much movement :(


I will keep posting...

Roadtrip - Day 8

Michigan weather yesterday -- hotter than hot 95+ degrees with HIGH humidity.

Went to Detroit for an interview yesterday, GREAT interview. I think I might get an offer, but will have to move near Detroit if I accept. Lots of decisions.


Hutch got to play around a little more yesterday.
He hung out in the tree house for a little while.

The day just got hotter and it was hard to really do anything

Hutch hung out on the swing.

Went to the county fair last night. Livestock auction. Economy hit a little harder in these areas, prices were not great, but the auctioneers did a nice job to keep everything above a dollar a pound.

Bad storm hit when we were on one of the fair rides. Rain, thunder, hail and wind! We ran for cover. Around the fairgrounds, trees came down and power lines were pulled out of houses. The sirens did not go off, however I believe we had tornadoes. My brother lost his power lines, the main road through town had trees down and power lines on the ground.

Our first summer storm :) Good thing people in Michigan have basements.

Roadtrip - Day 6

Hi There! We took the day off yesterday to rest. Got to our destination at midnight on Sunday night and I think we finally woke up yesterday afternoon.

We have tried not to do everything in one day, but Hutch is another story -- out of the car for more than 24 hours and in a climate where he will not burst into flames outside, he is loving the outdoors.

Hutch has been climbing trees down by the river.

Catching turtles.....

And many more things (and we will have pictures of them all)

Of course when Hutch got hot and needed refreshment, he discovered Grandma's freezer! It was HUGE and bottomless!

Hutch looking for a popcicle.

Ahhhhh a bomb pop--- yummy!

We enjoying the Midwest weather and the beautiful star filled nights. Fireflies, wandering turtles, june bugs, butterflies and the pure laid-backness of the people. Even a trip to the county fair to watch the livestock judging.

Interview in Detroit tomorrow -- wish me luck. One in Cincinnati later this week.

Tomorrow night is the livestock auction at the county fair, hoping all the family and friends' animals bring a good price.

Roadtrip - Day 4

Michigan or Bust today -- wellllll....there was a little bust, but that is later in the story.

Started out this morning just outside of St. Louis (west). We enjoyed the families we met last night at the pool. They were just coming back from vacationing in Traverse City, MI and were headed to OK.

Hutch joined us all for some breakfast at the hotel before taking off:

We made a quick stop in a Fireworks store before leaving MO -- made a few purchases, those that know about the 4th of July party, will more than likely see the results of that stop :)

Our trip through St. Louis was uneventful - although the never-ending construction was troublesome.

We got to Troy, IL and made a pit stop to pick up some milk and to switch our Redbox videos -- ohhhh - side note: for those that don't know this, you can rent Redbox videos and return them at any Redbox. We spent the week, renting in one state and returning in another.

Anyway, this is where the "little bust" appears. We came out of McDonald's and smelled burning antifreeze - ugh! One pop of the hood told me that something was wrong. Sure enough, we had blown our heater hose. A quick call home confirmed the findings as we were trying to figure out the next step, two gentlemen walked up.

Both were truckers and just taking a rest. Without hesitation they came to help. Between the three of us, we had enough tools and knowledge to make the hose work, just a little shorter. During this time a third gentleman walked up --- he was a Union Welder from West Virginia, only work he could find was in IL.

After a quick test, we called it good. We all parted ways with just thank you's and handshakes -- as though we were in the witness protection program, no names were ever exchanged.

We do live in a wonderful country and there are wonderful people out there! These gentlemen did not have to give up part of their Sunday and stand out in the heat to help us, but they did.

We drove off to the north, hoping to get closer to MI. A fly-by lunch and off we were again. The visible signs of flooding in IL were very apparent - crops underwater :(

Hutch decided to stay in this leg of the trip due to the rain. As the rain continued, our windshield wipers did not -- yes that's right, they quit in a downpour. All we could do is look at each other and laugh, BIG BELLY LAUGH.

Stopped for a quick break near a Bass Pro Shop - Hutch decided to take a little ride

We got to Michigan and we were never so glad to see a "Welcome to..." sign in our lives!

Almost home and back off road we go! First at 11:30pm, come upon a Amish buggy in the middle of the road -- luckily for us they had reflectors, otherwise we would not be publishing tonight. Shortly afterwards, we hit a SKUNK -- OMG, the smell!!!!!!!

But despite it all and because of it all - we made it home.

738 miles today and lots of hours -- time for good night, job search continues tomorrow..stay tuned.

G'Night.

Roadtrip - Day 3 (continued)

Lots of windshield time today. We started the day with a stop in Elk City to tour one of the many Route 66 Museums. This one is very nicely done and tasteful. They also had a building of farm history -- I swear that in their antique section I saw most of the farm equipment we use today back in Michigan! Twila's twin was there (this will be something for the relatives in MI to relate to)

Hutch enjoyed a trip down memory lane by sitting in the backseat at a drive in movie theatre, featuring the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Surprisingly enough we left Arizona, but we ran into another Chandler -- exactly 1000 miles from Chandler, AZ is Chandler, OK.

In Oklahoma City we had lunch at a Chili's near Penn Square Mall -- the staff was WONDERFUL -- we asked so many questions about directions and they treated us like we were their only customers. If we were restaurant reviewers -- they would get 5 STARS from us!

As we prepared to leave Oklahoma, we came upon the Biggest McDonald's -- it spans over the turnpike. You sit above the traffic as it goes under the restaurant. Hutch enjoyed the view

Hutch was not as comfortable outside of the McDonald's. He looked very nervous as the semis went by.

About to leave Oklahoma and we drive into a city named Miami -- confident we did not take a wrong turn along the way - we were not in Miami, FL nor in Miami, AZ -- both over a 1000 miles away - but in Miami, OK.

We then crossed into to Missouri - Hutch was excited to discover the Show-Me State.

Missouri was beautiful as the states before it - but on a Saturday it was especially a site to see. There were families in parks and in the backyards as we went by. There were people enjoying the day by floating down the rivers. For all the bad things we hear from the media about the unemployment, financial issues and hard times -- most people were just loving life as we observed from the car.

Across Missouri we drove through Lebanon and Cuba -- again certain we had not left the United States, or North America for that matter -- we could only smile at the unusual city names. Of course, tomorrow we will be near Hell, MI.

Pool was open until past 11pm tonight -- completely exhausted. Over 10 hours of windshield time tomorrow.

Signing off for the night........get some shut eye

Roadtrip - Day 3

Saturday! No calls, no interviews, we can just concentrate on the road.



Headed out -- storms all around us, we might see some interesting things today.



Hutch made some friends down in the hotel lobby

Roadtrip - Day 2 (continued)

As we found interesting roadside scenes to take pictures of, Hutch found a comfortable tire to hang out

We love taking pictures (especially black & whites) of old buildings - here is one example a gas station off Historical Route 66 that fell victim to the highway.

We crossed into Texas unevently -- And when you are in the panhandle of Texas you HAVE to stop at Cadillac Ranch!!!! The Cadillacs that a buried have in the dirt in the middle of a rancher's field -- and you get to graffiti them! Prepared as we are - - with 4 cans of spray paint we headed to the cars. 1/4 of a mile walk from the road, it had rained hard before we got there and was threatening to do it again. Lots of people there and even Hutch got into the action. We left there and headed right into a storm -- so we made it across the Oklahoma border and called it a night. Stayed in a small little town with 2 hotels, a truck stop and a pizza joint. Pizza joint is the happening place in town on a Friday night. All the locals there - great pizza too!

Been a long day fighting car issues, phone calls, construction and high winds -- time to call it a night -- see you in the morning!

Roadtrip - Day 2/Career Intersection - Day 26

Hutch, our faithful travel companion -- he decided to let the world know about his Road Trip of 2009.

We started off this morning in Albuquerque made it as far as Clines Corners before the first con-call :( Cell service was spotty, so we had to stop for over an hour. Meanwhile as we talked business, Hutch was out making new friends (see below).

We finally got back on the road and headed for Tucumcari, NM. As luck would have it, our engine light came on AGAIN! We enjoyed lunch at McDonald's and slid over to the Chervon station for a fill up.....did you know that Chervon stations in Tucumcari, NM do not have any Chervon Cars? After a side trip to Route 66 to track down a NAPA parts dealer, we discovered that our engine light was nothing to worry about - WHEW!

As promised, we wandered off the highway again....and found that between Tucumcari and San Jon on Historical Route 66 -- a rancher had nailed tennis shoes to his fence posts. Well, we could not pass up this unique moment -- Hutch loved all those shoes! We are not sure if the rancher was trying to grow a new type of rubber for tennis shoes - or using it has a tactic to ward of athletes???

More later.....stay tuned

Roadtrip - Day 1/Career Intersection - Day 25

The end of Day One of our road trip. We did not get as far as we had hoped for today, but we are hanging out in Albuquerque tonight. We ended up getting a little behind because of three phone interviews today. On our way to Payson, AZ; we stopped along the road to take the first one, took the second in Payson and the last in Gallup, NM. First two were terrific! Last one was so-so.

At the suggest of a friend, we invited a travel companion, Hutch, to help show some of the wonderful and unique places we have been, stay tuned for pictures of Hutch and some of those cheesy roadside attractions :)

Hutch with the dinosaurs in Holbrook.

Hutch in Holbrook -- petrified wood on either side of the sign.

Entering New Mexico...Hutch anticipating a great adventure through the Land of Enchantment.

We experienced so many wonderful sites today; the high-country pine forests, the scars still very visible from the forest fires 7 years ago, the petrified forest, the painted desert, Native American sites, the Continental Divide; which is in the middle of closed businesses :(

For those that have not visited the Continental Divide, it is the center point where rainfall on the West of it drains into the Pacific and the rainfall on the East drains into the Atlantic.

And we found a Sizzler restaurant :)

The most interesting adventure was when we got off the highway to investigate these "mounds of sand" that looked very uniformed off in the distance. As we got closer, the road got narrower and then in front of us was a guard gate -- we had wandered onto Fort Wingate Missile Depot! We got out of there as quickly as possible! We cannot wait until the next curiosity whim takes us off the highway. Tomorrow will hopefully prove to be a more productive day on the road and more adventures.....Cadillac Ranch is on the list!

Over and out for the night..zzzzz...zzzzz

Preparing for the road trip

Well we are about to begin the journey. Car is ready just needs to be packed up and pointed East.

Couple of great interviews yesterday and more today. Perhaps one of the cheesy roadside attractions will also be the place I receive a job offer :)

Check us out tomorrow, we will be on the road and publishing our adventures of the road trip.

Roads are not just pavement byways to get from city to city -- they are pathways to describe many of the things in our lives. Recently I find myself on several "roads", not to mention the overlaying road to life! All are roads that lead to wonderful new adventures. The parenthood road to wonderful new discoveries everyday - the family road can be rough at times, but for the most part is one that leads to cul-de-sac of comfort - the friendship road has those special little things you need to keep going - the career road has so many turns and crossroads, decisions need to be made at every junction. Like I said several roads.......so this week, I am having to find a new career road and at the same time taking my son across the US on a road trip.

So for you blog readers out there -- we will be journeying across the United States absorbing what makes this country so great at the same time I will be seeking out new employment -- come join us on this trip! Cheesy roadside attractions and phone interviews :)