Zwingin' wif Zayde
A prize for anyone who can tell what's on Matt's head...
A lively crew...
Monday, June 11, 2007
A few pics...
A happy start...
Zwingin' wif Zayde
A prize for anyone who can tell what's on Matt's head...
A lively crew...
Zwingin' wif Zayde
A prize for anyone who can tell what's on Matt's head...
A lively crew...
We are GOLDEN!!!
Sorry about all the destination puns, but hey, I'm a Specter. It's what we do. No post yesterday, the wifi wasn't working.
Uneventful drive yesterday - had a little trouble hooking up the van correctly (it's never good when someone has to say, "Get the hammer.") but learned a few good lessons from that. The RV Park at the end of the day was nice - as dad said, everything the previous one wasn't - in a good way. Very rural, and as scenic as the middle of Kansas could probably be.
Uneventful drive today as well - western Kansas is as flat as the cliches suggest. The approach to Denver is flat out gorgeous - even with the traffic. We will be at this RV park for 4 nights - it is also one of the nicest we have stayed at.
Planning to post a lot of pictures tonight - so check back later. Thanks for checking in!
Matt
Uneventful drive yesterday - had a little trouble hooking up the van correctly (it's never good when someone has to say, "Get the hammer.") but learned a few good lessons from that. The RV Park at the end of the day was nice - as dad said, everything the previous one wasn't - in a good way. Very rural, and as scenic as the middle of Kansas could probably be.
Uneventful drive today as well - western Kansas is as flat as the cliches suggest. The approach to Denver is flat out gorgeous - even with the traffic. We will be at this RV park for 4 nights - it is also one of the nicest we have stayed at.
Planning to post a lot of pictures tonight - so check back later. Thanks for checking in!
Matt
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Bob's Thoughts - Day 1
Wow, what a day. The schedule below is normal for the first day of an RV trip - but that doesn't make it easier.
--> To bed at 11 PM the night before - with the alarm set for 3AM (more on that later). Can't sleep. On the computer until 12:30 and then still can't get to sleep. Guinnie is panting in my ear and Arthur wants to walk on my head. Finally to sleep around 1.
The alarm goes off at 3AM so I head out to the RV to start the generator so that the refrigerator can get cold. No need to start the Air Conditioning because the night was cool. FYI - the 'fridge in an RV works differently from a residential unit and takes a while to get cool.
Karen's alarm goes off at 5. Oh well, who needs sleep anyway.
Matt shows up at 6:45 and we start loading the cold and frozen food. Much to my surprise, everything fits.
Steph shows up with Faith and Mari at 7:45, and we load up the final stuff by 8:15. It takes us 15-20 minutes to hook the car up to the tow-bar and we roll away at 8:35. This is a really great accomplishment to be able to leave that early. Matt, Steph and Karen did a great job getting organized and ready.
The drive was uneventful (the best type) except for some detours and construction delays.
We pulled into the RV park about 3:45 (St. Louis time) much to my relief. I am exhausted.
Tomorrow will be an even longer drive, but we are off to a good start.
More tomorrow!!!
Bob
--> To bed at 11 PM the night before - with the alarm set for 3AM (more on that later). Can't sleep. On the computer until 12:30 and then still can't get to sleep. Guinnie is panting in my ear and Arthur wants to walk on my head. Finally to sleep around 1.
The alarm goes off at 3AM so I head out to the RV to start the generator so that the refrigerator can get cold. No need to start the Air Conditioning because the night was cool. FYI - the 'fridge in an RV works differently from a residential unit and takes a while to get cool.
Karen's alarm goes off at 5. Oh well, who needs sleep anyway.
Matt shows up at 6:45 and we start loading the cold and frozen food. Much to my surprise, everything fits.
Steph shows up with Faith and Mari at 7:45, and we load up the final stuff by 8:15. It takes us 15-20 minutes to hook the car up to the tow-bar and we roll away at 8:35. This is a really great accomplishment to be able to leave that early. Matt, Steph and Karen did a great job getting organized and ready.
The drive was uneventful (the best type) except for some detours and construction delays.
We pulled into the RV park about 3:45 (St. Louis time) much to my relief. I am exhausted.
Tomorrow will be an even longer drive, but we are off to a good start.
More tomorrow!!!
Bob
Landed on St. Charles Place
We're here in St. Charles - more later, things are hectic with getting set up and ready for the evening. No major disasters - in fact, ominously smooth sailing. EXTREMELY nice RV park, although if it's possible for an RV park to seem 'Corporate', this is it. Not exactly back to nature, but very convenient and amazingly well-designed and maintained.
Anyway, we'll post some pics and give more details later.
Matt
Anyway, we'll post some pics and give more details later.
Matt
Friday, June 8, 2007
Looks like we made it...
So, it's 11:08 pm the night before we leave. We're all in one piece. Not necessarily GOOD pieces... I am tired (what else is new?). Matt is angry (misplaced his brand new expensive prescription sunglasses). The girls are sleeping. We think Bob and Karen are sleeping. I have to finish packing the toiletries. The clothes are in the RV. Phew. Now all we have to do is get everyone up and going in the morning (including Matt's parents :-) ) and be on our way. Hopefully tomorrow we'll be able to post a blog entry and everyone will still be speaking to each other. St. Charles, MO, here we come!
OH and I managed to come through my 2 day workshop on PRAXIS Pathwise training mostly unharmed. Anyone want to know about the 4 domains of something or other?
SHOUT OUT TO MY SISTER, PAIGE, WHOSE BDAY WAS NOT FORGOTTEN...JUST REMEMBERED LATE IN THE DAY...
OH and I managed to come through my 2 day workshop on PRAXIS Pathwise training mostly unharmed. Anyone want to know about the 4 domains of something or other?
SHOUT OUT TO MY SISTER, PAIGE, WHOSE BDAY WAS NOT FORGOTTEN...JUST REMEMBERED LATE IN THE DAY...
Down with Disease
Let's see - the last few days started out with a 103.5 fever and a completely useless Matt which totally messed up the entire week of preparations. Things WILL be happening at the last minute after all, but everything is ready to go.
I felt like a nervous wreck yesterday, had a miserable time getting to sleep. Then a funny thing happened. Finally fell asleep, for not more than an hour or so. But in that time had this awful dream where I got a phone call from one of my students' parents basically saying, "You'll be hearing from my lawyer" about some nameless something I had done or said. Think of it as Kafka for teachers.
Anyway, there I am in the dream thinking, "Great. This ruins my vacation!" Woke up soon after and slowly came to realize that it was indeed just a dream. And also realized that I was filled with a feeling of relaxation I hadn't felt for days. Whether it was that dream or just the last grip of the virus I had finally letting go, I feel so much lighter and free this morning. I'm ready for this trip to begin.
Hope you all got the explanation emails about how to view the blog. Let us know if anything isn't right!
Matt
I felt like a nervous wreck yesterday, had a miserable time getting to sleep. Then a funny thing happened. Finally fell asleep, for not more than an hour or so. But in that time had this awful dream where I got a phone call from one of my students' parents basically saying, "You'll be hearing from my lawyer" about some nameless something I had done or said. Think of it as Kafka for teachers.
Anyway, there I am in the dream thinking, "Great. This ruins my vacation!" Woke up soon after and slowly came to realize that it was indeed just a dream. And also realized that I was filled with a feeling of relaxation I hadn't felt for days. Whether it was that dream or just the last grip of the virus I had finally letting go, I feel so much lighter and free this morning. I'm ready for this trip to begin.
Hope you all got the explanation emails about how to view the blog. Let us know if anything isn't right!
Matt
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Let's try posting a picture!
Hopefully we'll be posting pics along the way, so let's see if this works.
A picture of Mari enjoying her favorite snack - her own fingers.
Matt
A picture of Mari enjoying her favorite snack - her own fingers.
Matt
Monday, June 4, 2007
T-Minus 5 Days...
Well, it is the week before we leave. Some question whether we will survive being with each other for just over 3 straight weeks. When I tell people, "Yeah, my family and I are going on a 3 week RV trip with my parents-in-law" I get a lot of strange, horrified looks usually followed by, "Your in-laws!". I assure them that we really do truly get along and enjoy being with each other, all along feeling a little weird feeling in my stomach knowing that even the closest of family might not survive 3 weeks together. Heck, my parents have had 36 years of truly amazingly wonderful marriage together and 3 weeks would be pushing it even for them.
The real question, though, is will we (namely, my husband, daughters and I) survive this week leading UP to the trip! If you know us, you know that household organization is not our strong suite (read: we're slobs). Throw in just coming off of both of our last months of teaching and the fact that I can't stay awake for more than 10 minutes if I sit down and you have utter chaos. In the past few months, laundry has been done on a purely as-needed basis. Now we have to pack 4 people for 3 weeks? So far, we're managing, but it's shaky. I am pretty sure we'll need a vacation before we go on vacation by the end of the week!
Steph
The real question, though, is will we (namely, my husband, daughters and I) survive this week leading UP to the trip! If you know us, you know that household organization is not our strong suite (read: we're slobs). Throw in just coming off of both of our last months of teaching and the fact that I can't stay awake for more than 10 minutes if I sit down and you have utter chaos. In the past few months, laundry has been done on a purely as-needed basis. Now we have to pack 4 people for 3 weeks? So far, we're managing, but it's shaky. I am pretty sure we'll need a vacation before we go on vacation by the end of the week!
Steph
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Welcome to the blog
Hey all, this is the first post under the new viewing permissions. This blog is going to be used to keep everyone updated on the progress of our big RV trip during June 2007. If we missed anyone, please let us know and we'll be happy to add their email address to the list. Also let us know if the process of logging in is difficult and/or annoying, so we can make adjustments if possible.
We'll be posting regularly as the trip gets closer and we continue to prepare. Wish us luck!!!
Specter Family
We'll be posting regularly as the trip gets closer and we continue to prepare. Wish us luck!!!
Specter Family
Less than a week and counting
Things continue to happen slowly, but we're getting there. Faith has started asking regularly how many days are left until the trip. She is very excited to look for puppies at the RV parks we visit. Grandma is sick with the most recent Specter Family Plague. Steph has a nasty cold, Mari is just getting over one. Hopefully all the illnesses will pass before we start out on Saturday.
Matt
Matt
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