The BIG Summer Roadtrip

With Brian back in town, we started off with Aversano's , a delicious Italian restaurant in Sumner where he grew up. I wish I hadn't forgotten to take a picture, but this place is like stepping back in time. Somewhere between the cluttered decor of the 90's with eclectic walls covered in memorabilia and a hideout for the Italian mafia, this place overwhelms the senses with rich aromas, stained glass lighting, and trolley car booths. They offer kids coloring menus and crayons, which I used to create a cute pink dinosaur while we awaited our food. My pizza didn't last long nor did Brian's stromboli. The kids played a bit of musical food, but chicken and pasta all disappeared as well. While it wasn't cheap, the meal felt like reliving a celebration of Brian's childhood. Our next stop took us to Loyalty Park where Brian regaled us with stories of scout meetings and band practices at a park located down the street from his high school. The kids love the spinning ...

Another day of lunch, gymnastics, and Catapult. This time for lunch I chose Jersey Mike's , a sandwich shop right next to gymnastics. As we entered the manager called out a pleasant greeting, but informed us that they were waiting on a truck and were currently out of lettuce. No problem! We waited for the customer in front of us who seemed unable to successfully order her meal as she kept talking to the staff. We never ascertained the problem, but it was multiple conversations, changes, and issues for a single sandwich. When she finally finished, the entire staff seemed relieved. We placed our orders seemingly much faster despite us ordering four times the sandwiches. The manager even made good on my joke that we'd like to replace the missing lettuce with bacon. Apparently he agreed that that is an excellent substitution. While we ate, he dropped by our table to hand us each a voucher for a free sandwich on a future visit as well. Over the top great service! The off to Catapult...

To no one's surprise, despite the late night before, Bailey woke me up at 7:30am for a ride to the gym. Thankfully, a wonderful local gym hosts Bailey as a guest each time we visit and she works out with their team. A quick visit inside confirmed that nothing had changed and Bailey was all set for daily 8:30am workouts for our entire trip. Next up, a trip to Starbucks, washing the laundry, and getting unpacked. By 1:00pm, we were settled in and ready to pick Bailey up and head to our favorite teriyaki spot, Moo Doo Teriyaki #2 for lunch. Then we popped into Fred Meyer to pick up a few things before going to Catapault, the inflatable place the kids beg to visit each trip. Luckily they offer a monthlong membership for about $25 each. After an afternoon of jumping, I left the kids at grandma's house to go to dinner with some friends. Part of the fun of visiting Seattle is being able to hand out with folks that I normally only see at work. It's nice to get some casual time to c...

After the blur of yesterday, I awoke today much more alert and ready to eat. The hotel breakfast again proved phenomenal and we realized that only 12 hours and 39 minutes of driving to make it to my in-laws home in Washington. We decided to drive hard and not spend another night on the road. Amyrlin, my co-pilot, is always up for a push day, and she ensures that we make good time. For her part, she finds places to eat along the route, washes the windshield while I pump gas, and most importantly provides entertainment. She mixes audiobooks and Spotify playlists, entertains the little kids, and tells amazing corny jokes. We made great time and were looking forward to an early arrival. However, we made an unscheduled stop due to my stomach making an eminent demand. I ran from the car, raced inside, and arrived just in time while my stunned kids sat in the car, confused. When I emerged I was disappointed to see that our stop had cost us about 20 minutes, but after another pepto-bismol we w...

Before I fully awakened this morning, I knew something was wrong. Very wrong. The headache and malaise gave way to stomach pain and nausea as I awakened. I looked around confused while I took in my odd surroundings: fresh clean air, a soft comfy bed, a toilet in the corner. It came back to me quickly - we are in a tent planning to see Mount Rushmore today. My stomach startled me out of sleep and I rushed for the corner. When I was done, I retreated back into my bed trying to focus, but lapsing back into a fitful sleep.  Unsure how much time passed, I groggily realized that the temperature had risen significantly and it must be past time to get up and check out of our tent. Sitting up provoked another run to the corner, so I opted for horizontal dressing. My daughter brought me my things, and I managed to get them on without another trip to the corner. Amyrlin fed the kids breakfast, I think. A few brief rests later, I think we managed to check out and get in the car. Truth be told ...

We woke up in the Hyatt Place in Sioux Falls, ready to set out for Mount Rushmore. However, we couldn't leave without breakfast, so we headed to the lobby to be pleasantly surprised. The hotel breakfast featured bacon, eggs, ham, tortillas for burritos, fruit, cereal, juices, and more.  I don't usually brag about a hotel breakfast, but this one earned a mention.  While we ate our fill I also took advantage of the hotel laundry on our floor to wash clothes. One of the less glamorous parts of being on the road is trying to keep clean clothes on 3 kids who aren't exactly the cleanest eaters. Last night I tried 3 times to do the laundry, but the washer never seemed to be free, so I resorted to morning washing, then letting it dry while we ate. Not the most exciting start to the day, but clean clothes in the car and off we went. Looking at the map, we realized that Badlands National Park sat along our route to Mount Rushmore. Since it's unlikely that we'll be back to Sou...

We awoke in a nice downtown hotel and enjoyed a delicious breakfast. Bailey, Troy, and I set out for the short walk to the Minnesota Children's Museum while Amyrlin opted to remain in the hotel for some extra rest. The walk turned out to be about 3 times longer than we expected, but we made it to our destination ready to play and explore.  The museum featured a multi-story climbing area with a huge slide, a car wash with real soap, water and bubbles, and an atrium full of spinny chairs. Bailey's favorite was a model town on the 4th floor where she and a new friend served me and the friend's mom a hilarious meal of pretend tacos. Troy played in the fire station putting out fires and driving the truck. After a morning of pretend and play, we made the walk back to the hotel, stopping by a Walgreens to pick up some things we needed and still arriving by our 2pm checkout time. We piled into the car and set out for the drive to Montana.

I grew up a Cowboys fan. My dad was a Cowboys fan, my mom was a Cowboys fan, my Grandma June was a cowboys fan, my aunts and uncles were Cowboys fans. We watched the games on TV, had football pots for the playoffs, wore Cowboys t-shirts, and listened to the games on the radio after church on Sundays. My parents company helped build the stadium in Irving. We had season tickets at one point. My childhood memories feature reselling tickets in the parking lot and bundling up for a playoff game. We won Superbowls and lost heartbreaking games. America's Team was our team.  I loved watching football and followed teams and stories from around the NFL. Second to my love of the Cowboys, a tiny town in Wisconsin held my attention. I loved how they built through the draft and how the community owned the team. They felt like the 'classic classy' team when free agency began. First and foremost among them, Brett Favre, their quarterback. While I wasn't a fan of the end of his career a...