We drove ALL the way across Kansas yesterday. It wasn't too bad, flat roads and no traffic. Isabel spotted a Roadfood stop along our route in Salina turned out to be burgers AGAIN!! Anyway, we ended up at Cozy Inn Burgers. The grill man was super nice and there was a five seat counter so we could watch.
They only serve one thing, mini burgers cooked on a grill 50 at a time with sauteed onions and pickles. They steam the buns on the grill and then sell them by the bagful. The whole thing reminded me of White Castle except more local. Maybe White Castle stole the idea from them??? I am really hoping that the next Roadfood place Isabel scopes out will be something other than burgers
We finally arrived at Steve and Isabel's at around 5:30. Their house is beautiful ! The kids were not sure where to land; the pool, the hot tub or the big TV. We had a wonderful dinner with Carmine's aunt and uncle joining us. It had been way too long since we had all been together. Steve and Isabel have special significance to us since in addition to being lovely people they moved out of NYC around the same time that Carmine and I did.
We were not able to say goodbye to Isabel this morning as she had to go to work but had an amazing breakfast of baked french toast with Steve.
Drove 7 1/2 hours today and landed in Terra Haute, Indiana which happens to be in the same time zone as home!
We are definitely getting closer!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Traffic!
We left Fruita Colorado this morning and drove ALL the way across Colorado into Kansas. In addition to the fact that this was already a LONG driving day, there was horrendous traffic getting through Denver which cost us an additional three hours.
We finally arrived in Goodland, Kansas, which is just about the only place to stay when driving from Denver to Kansas City. The hotel I booked was kind of confusing, it was a Howard Johnson's which was recently bought by a family who turned it into a Days Inn. The place is HUGE and the family that runs it just recently moved to the US from Bombay/Mumbai.
Anyway, they are renovating the hotel to resemble an amazing Indian palace! We have a room that opens into a gigantic indoor hot tub/pool.
The owners invited a family they had met in San Francisco from Shanghai to open a restaurant on site. The restaurant, "Extreme Happiness" is also huge and beautiful. I ordered "sarcastic chicken" which kind of reminded me of orange chicken but with a little more edge.
The children are in HEAVEN! There is an oasis in the middle of the Kansas prairie.
P.S. In response to some inquiries, the front lobby and hallways are being renovated, the rooms are already finished and just look like regular hotel rooms-K
We finally arrived in Goodland, Kansas, which is just about the only place to stay when driving from Denver to Kansas City. The hotel I booked was kind of confusing, it was a Howard Johnson's which was recently bought by a family who turned it into a Days Inn. The place is HUGE and the family that runs it just recently moved to the US from Bombay/Mumbai.
Anyway, they are renovating the hotel to resemble an amazing Indian palace! We have a room that opens into a gigantic indoor hot tub/pool.
The owners invited a family they had met in San Francisco from Shanghai to open a restaurant on site. The restaurant, "Extreme Happiness" is also huge and beautiful. I ordered "sarcastic chicken" which kind of reminded me of orange chicken but with a little more edge.
The children are in HEAVEN! There is an oasis in the middle of the Kansas prairie.
P.S. In response to some inquiries, the front lobby and hallways are being renovated, the rooms are already finished and just look like regular hotel rooms-K
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Southern Utah rocks!
We left Panguitch (penguin plus sandwich) Utah this morning and vowed to return again someday.
Southern Utah is beautiful! The red rock canyons, spires and hoodoos are everywhere you turn. We only had enough time to see Bryce but were an hour away from Zion canyon, about two hours from the Grand Canyon AND an hour from Las Vegas!
The drive today through Utah and into Colorado (yes, we have begun the LONG drive home) was one of the most visually inspiring four hours of my life.
At times it felt like the surface of the moon, then it would turn to the landscape of mars. There was even a vista that looked like the pyramids of Egypt! We had a blast naming the rock formations and deciding what planet we were on etc...
Have settled for the night in Fruita, Colorado. Tomorrow is a BIG driving day, about 7 hours into Kansas. Yikes!
Had a long conversation with the very nice women working the desk at the hotel. I was telling them about Vinny's excitement with new chain restaurants, they told me they had always wanted to go to a Dunkin Donuts! Can you believe it! I guess they used to have them in Utah and this part of Colorado but now don't. I told them the donuts were pretty bad but the iced coffee was awesome and felt pretty special...
Southern Utah is beautiful! The red rock canyons, spires and hoodoos are everywhere you turn. We only had enough time to see Bryce but were an hour away from Zion canyon, about two hours from the Grand Canyon AND an hour from Las Vegas!
The drive today through Utah and into Colorado (yes, we have begun the LONG drive home) was one of the most visually inspiring four hours of my life.
At times it felt like the surface of the moon, then it would turn to the landscape of mars. There was even a vista that looked like the pyramids of Egypt! We had a blast naming the rock formations and deciding what planet we were on etc...
Have settled for the night in Fruita, Colorado. Tomorrow is a BIG driving day, about 7 hours into Kansas. Yikes!
Had a long conversation with the very nice women working the desk at the hotel. I was telling them about Vinny's excitement with new chain restaurants, they told me they had always wanted to go to a Dunkin Donuts! Can you believe it! I guess they used to have them in Utah and this part of Colorado but now don't. I told them the donuts were pretty bad but the iced coffee was awesome and felt pretty special...
Friday, July 24, 2009
"A heck of a place to lose a cow"
We were sad to leave the high life in Snowbird but taking an extra day to see Bryce Canyon was WELL worth it! What an amazing, beautiful, stunning and breathtaking place!
We didn't actually get to the park until 4:45 but miraculously managed to take a ranger walk along the rim, see the museum and film at the visitor's center and help Vinny complete his ranger badge requirements.
We also drove to sunset point to watch the sunset and started walking a trail into the bottom of the canyon. I realized at a certain point that there was NO WAY I was going to make it all the way down and back up before dark. The kids started to beg to go to the bottom on their own...
I could actually see the bottom and the trail was wide so I finally said ok. The problems started when they walked through a small rock opening at the bottom of the canyon and disappeared...
About an hour later as the canyon was getting dark I found them happily coming back around the loop. THEY had a FANTASTIC time.
I was beyond anxious (please remember that even though the trail is somewhat wide there are no barriers from falling to your death at any moment) but found strange solace in my memory of the Brady Bunch episode where Greg and Marcia (or was it Jan and Peter) got lost in the bottom of the grand canyon.
Or was it Bobby and Cindy?
Did I forget to mention we were all wearing flip flops?
We didn't actually get to the park until 4:45 but miraculously managed to take a ranger walk along the rim, see the museum and film at the visitor's center and help Vinny complete his ranger badge requirements.
We also drove to sunset point to watch the sunset and started walking a trail into the bottom of the canyon. I realized at a certain point that there was NO WAY I was going to make it all the way down and back up before dark. The kids started to beg to go to the bottom on their own...
I could actually see the bottom and the trail was wide so I finally said ok. The problems started when they walked through a small rock opening at the bottom of the canyon and disappeared...
About an hour later as the canyon was getting dark I found them happily coming back around the loop. THEY had a FANTASTIC time.
I was beyond anxious (please remember that even though the trail is somewhat wide there are no barriers from falling to your death at any moment) but found strange solace in my memory of the Brady Bunch episode where Greg and Marcia (or was it Jan and Peter) got lost in the bottom of the grand canyon.
Or was it Bobby and Cindy?
Did I forget to mention we were all wearing flip flops?
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Salt Lake City
As I sit here with swarms of potguts (sorry, I was wrong about tubguts, they are actually called potguts) nipping at my feet I am reflecting on what an interesting time we've had here in Salt Lake.
For the past two days we have IMMERSED ourselves in local tourism. We visited the Tracy Aviary, the Children's Museum, the Planetarium, a living history Pioneer Park, ate in a restaurant in Temple Square and took the tram car ride to the top of the Snowbird mountain. Highlights were feeding the birds, the U2 lazer show and watching the sun set from the top of the mountain. I found out that the Wasatch mountains are a part of the rocky mountain range. The weather has been beautiful although quite hot.
Tomorrow we drive to Bryce canyon stay overnight and head to Arches National Park on Saturday. The more National Parks we visit the more amazed I am at the entire system. Vinny has been collecting Junior Ranger badges as we go.
Saturday also begins the LONG drive home, where we will be in the car for very long periods of time. The audio books have been a huge help so have the downloads of This American life.
For the past two days we have IMMERSED ourselves in local tourism. We visited the Tracy Aviary, the Children's Museum, the Planetarium, a living history Pioneer Park, ate in a restaurant in Temple Square and took the tram car ride to the top of the Snowbird mountain. Highlights were feeding the birds, the U2 lazer show and watching the sun set from the top of the mountain. I found out that the Wasatch mountains are a part of the rocky mountain range. The weather has been beautiful although quite hot.
Tomorrow we drive to Bryce canyon stay overnight and head to Arches National Park on Saturday. The more National Parks we visit the more amazed I am at the entire system. Vinny has been collecting Junior Ranger badges as we go.
Saturday also begins the LONG drive home, where we will be in the car for very long periods of time. The audio books have been a huge help so have the downloads of This American life.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Down the Mountain
We tried to do some sightseeing in Salt Lake City today but got confused on the roads and didn't end up getting to the visitor's center until about 1. They have this amazing connect pass which allows you into 12 different attractions AND restaurants for two days for $20!!! We decided to get the passes but figured we would start tomorrow so we tracked down a place we have been wanting to visit since before this trip began...
In downtown Salt Lake there is a restaurant called "One World Everybody Eats" it's a community kitchen. I had read about the woman who founded the idea in Time magazine awhile ago and have thought a lot about her ever since.
Denise Cerreta wanted to create community by designing a place where ANYONE could come and eat healthy, organic food regardless of their ability to pay. She originally just asked people to pay what they could afford but now works on a system where you choose an amount when you enter (from free to $20) and then choose from the amazing things the cooks have prepared that day. The offerings are mostly but not entirely vegetarian. There are several small comfortable spaces where you can eat inside as well as out. The place has a super friendly, inclusive energy. This is truly a community kitchen, there are customers in business dress, students and families. The restaurant is self sustaining and she pays her employees a living wage!
Denise was kind enough to let Vincent interview her. She answered all of our questions and cracked up at the now infamous audio of Isabel's nose whistle.
I have always found the set up of soup kitchens to be awkward and unbalanced. Denise was a complete inspiration, she has helped people set up in three other cities and promised to come to Portland Maine to help if there was enough interest!
OWEE has a website www.oneworldeverybodyeats.org
After lunch we wandered around downtown and ended up at this incredible 5 story geneaology library run by the LDS. We thought it was a public library and were about to leave when the kids really wanted to try the computer system and see if they could track down their ancestors. Vinny picked my grandfather (his namesake) and within minutes we had a two page copy of the 1930 census in Brooklyn listing my great grandparents, their children and all of their neighbors! Isabel did notice that at the time my grandfather was 22 years old and still living at home??
Back at the hotel there are these large fat rats that everyone SAYS are a kind of squirrel called a "tubgut" (really!). They are running all over the place and people are petting and feeding them and the entire thing is completely freaking me out! Time to go in...
In downtown Salt Lake there is a restaurant called "One World Everybody Eats" it's a community kitchen. I had read about the woman who founded the idea in Time magazine awhile ago and have thought a lot about her ever since.
Denise Cerreta wanted to create community by designing a place where ANYONE could come and eat healthy, organic food regardless of their ability to pay. She originally just asked people to pay what they could afford but now works on a system where you choose an amount when you enter (from free to $20) and then choose from the amazing things the cooks have prepared that day. The offerings are mostly but not entirely vegetarian. There are several small comfortable spaces where you can eat inside as well as out. The place has a super friendly, inclusive energy. This is truly a community kitchen, there are customers in business dress, students and families. The restaurant is self sustaining and she pays her employees a living wage!
Denise was kind enough to let Vincent interview her. She answered all of our questions and cracked up at the now infamous audio of Isabel's nose whistle.
I have always found the set up of soup kitchens to be awkward and unbalanced. Denise was a complete inspiration, she has helped people set up in three other cities and promised to come to Portland Maine to help if there was enough interest!
OWEE has a website www.oneworldeverybodyeats.org
After lunch we wandered around downtown and ended up at this incredible 5 story geneaology library run by the LDS. We thought it was a public library and were about to leave when the kids really wanted to try the computer system and see if they could track down their ancestors. Vinny picked my grandfather (his namesake) and within minutes we had a two page copy of the 1930 census in Brooklyn listing my great grandparents, their children and all of their neighbors! Isabel did notice that at the time my grandfather was 22 years old and still living at home??
Back at the hotel there are these large fat rats that everyone SAYS are a kind of squirrel called a "tubgut" (really!). They are running all over the place and people are petting and feeding them and the entire thing is completely freaking me out! Time to go in...
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Snowbird
We are staying at the snowbird ski resort during our time visiting Salt Lake City. For the past two days we have pretty much been doing a lot of nothing. We are in a really nice hotel with a big comfortable room, lots of kids activities, pools etc...There is a pretty steep drive up the mountains (Wasatch) to get to snowbird.
We ventured down the mountain today to look around and found an intense urban sprawl. Miles and miles of superstores, chain restaurants etc...which brings me to a question I have wondered many times before.
At this point in time, are most urban centers in America more or less the same? I am not looking to simplify this question. I understand that there are clear geographic and historical differences.
The more I think about it, the biggest difference that I can figure is that some show their poverty and some hide it better.
So I guess the question becomes are most middle class urban centers in America more or less the same?
To be honest, the only difference in what we did today from what we might have done at home is the big Wasatch mountain range looming behind the parking lots.
On the other hand, we have not walked through downtown Salt Lake yet...
There is also a particular news story plastered all over the front page of the local paper which I firmly believe, would not happen at home.
Vinny has started his own photo essay of chain stores he has never seen before.
FYI we have only actually eaten at a few of them.
We ventured down the mountain today to look around and found an intense urban sprawl. Miles and miles of superstores, chain restaurants etc...which brings me to a question I have wondered many times before.
At this point in time, are most urban centers in America more or less the same? I am not looking to simplify this question. I understand that there are clear geographic and historical differences.
The more I think about it, the biggest difference that I can figure is that some show their poverty and some hide it better.
So I guess the question becomes are most middle class urban centers in America more or less the same?
To be honest, the only difference in what we did today from what we might have done at home is the big Wasatch mountain range looming behind the parking lots.
On the other hand, we have not walked through downtown Salt Lake yet...
There is also a particular news story plastered all over the front page of the local paper which I firmly believe, would not happen at home.
Vinny has started his own photo essay of chain stores he has never seen before.
FYI we have only actually eaten at a few of them.
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