Viva La Road Trip!

somewhere in West Texas

I just came back from my second road trip in the last 3 months. Wow, I say. For this year's Spring Break, my husband & I loaded up the car with our two kids and headed West-- to Colorado.  Concerning traveling, I decided about 6 months ago that I was going to ENJOY THE JOURNEY AS MUCH AS THE DESTINATION. This motto has helped me relax on our vacations, and I plan to stick to it for the years to follow as well.

THE JOURNEY

We decided to wake up on a Saturday morning, pack and drive north through Oklahoma and Kansas. It is normally a 15 hour drive and we would play it by ear as to whether or not drive it in one day or two.

Somewhere in Nowhere, Oklahoma, at a Sonic, I saw a black SUV with Dallas school's stickers on it. I waited to see who was exiting to see if I knew them. Sure enough, it was a guy I went to college with and hadn't seen in probably 19-20 years. I called out his name, and we chatted for a few seconds.
Later, somewhere in Nowhere, Kansas, I get a Facebook Message on my cellphone. It read "I just saw ya'll leave the EZ Go". Twice in one day, twice in 2 states no-less~!! Then about 3 hours later, I see his car next to us on the highway. We wave and follow each other for a few miles or so before they exit. Isn't it strange to go 20 years not to see an old friend and see them 3 times across hundreds of miles in one day?

Because of snow storms yesterday in Oklahoma and Kansas, we returned home a different route, through New Mexico and the Panhandle of Texas. I saw my temperature gage in my car go below zero for the first time through the Vail Pass. Because of weather, we decided to spend the night in Amarillo, Texas. Yes, we could of stayed at a hotel, but sometimes you gotta go outside your comfort zone for the sake of your kids-- and stay at a kitschy motel named Big Texas Ranch or something. All I remember is pulling in late at night and seeing rows of white limo's with big steer horns on the hood. Oh boy... We were tired, and this might be memorable. And it was. Was it clean? Uh ...No. Was it Quiet? No (if you're like me and it's been decades since you've stayed at a highway motel, you forget how you can hear 18wheelers outside that sound like they are parked outside your door). Was it Comfortable? Uh, Not So Much. Was it Something My Kids Will Always Remember (either because of the cow-printed bedspreads or the swinging wooden doors to the bathroom)? Yes!!

THE DESTINATION

Hilights:
Watching your kids ski for the first time -- and without poles!

Watching kids who are 28 inches tall ski -- and without poles!

From my favourite Store in Vail Valley, Gorsuch

Shopping, at a leisurely pace with nowhere to be and no-one to be there for.

Dirndl & Lederhosen for children at Gorsuch

Embroidered linens at Gorsuch

This is my favourite size and style of cocktail napkins! From Gorsuch

I've had my eye on these embroidered linen tissue box covers for 2 years now! From Gorsuch

Spending time with your friends in the mountains while drinking beer, sitting by a fire outside, watching the kids sled down the hill.

Watching your husband turn into a 10 year old boy throwing snowballs ... at other kids.

Letting your kids spend quality time with their grandparents.

Eating in every night and having your mom cook for you. 

Like this yummy Golden Pear Cake, which you eat with real Hӓagan Dazs ice-cream and wonder why you gained 5 pounds. If you want to gain 5 pounds too, here's the recipe: (and it's super yummy, so it's worth it!)

GOLDEN PEAR CAKE

¾ cup butter

½ cup packed brown sugar

4-6 medium or 3 large pears (1½ pounds), cored, peeled and sliced ½-inch thick

1½ cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

⅔ cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

½ to ⅔ cup milk

Preheat oven to 350℉. Place ¼ cup butter in 9-inch cast-iron or other oven-proof skillet. Melt butter in skillet over medium heat.  Stir in brown sugar. Cook and stir until sugar is melted and bubbly; remove from heat. Set aside; cool. (Or, make brown sugar0butter mixture in saucepan; pour into 9-inch round cake pan, spreading evenly, and allow to cool.) Arrange pear slices in skillet or pan.

In small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.  In large bowl, beat remaining ½ cup butter with mixer on med. to high speed for 30 seconds.  Beat in granulated sugar until combined.  Beat in vanilla. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Alternately add flour mixture and milk to butter mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined. (Batter may appear curdles.) Spread batter evenly over pears.

Bake 40-45 minutes or until pick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack 5 minutes. Loosen cake from pan; invert onto plate. Serve with ice-cream.

When it comes out of the oven, it looks like this.

But by following these simple directions...

It will end up looking like this!

AND... Some of the low-lights: Altitude sickness. Altitude sickness. Altitude sickness.

THINGS I LEARNED THIS ROAD-TRIP:

*Windfarms are alive and well in the plains of Kansas and Texas

*You can eat healthy on the road by eating at the gas stations! Skip the burger drive-throughs, and when you fill up you can grab some protein bars (Special K is one of my faves), wheat thins, cold-cut sandwiches, and apples and bananas. In fact, Braums is in most small towns and they have tons of fresh fruit and veggies. But no matter how good you stick to eating healthy, after the first pig out during your vacation, it's all down hill from there. It's amazing how you can undo in 3 days what you spent 12 says to get to.

*Pouring hot water in your wiper nozzles will defrost them in freezing temperatures. (ugh. don't ask... but for an example, this is what we had to look through, in between stopping on side of the road every 10 minutes to wipe down with anti-freeze, just like every other Texan on the side of the Colorado highway! Until a nice local told me this secret at a gas station. From then on, we were smooth sailing!)

*Even with satellite radio in the car there's still nothing on

*Grocery bags tied to the headrest become invaluable and quickly full of garbage

*Your kids will ask and do recognize the special "candy machines" on the bathroom wall in every truck-stop

*No matter how good of an ice skater you were as a child, it does NOT come back naturally as an adult and your thighs will burn for two days just from two laps in the rink

*There is something intrinsic about boys, especially siblings, that they like to pummel each other in the face with snowballs, and eventually a brawl ensues

*A road trip is your excuse to try all the things you said you would never-- for example, today I had my first FRIED PIE!

HAPPY TRAILS TO YOU!