Dorothy, we're DEFINITELY not in Boston anymore

Ten Legs and a Tail

Highway signs:

Military academies
Fireworks
Guns and Ammo
Smoke Shops
Adult "whatever"

Long day today.  Many many miles.  We started outside of St. Louis, rode through Kansas City and ended in a dusty Kansas town called Salina.  It's Lonesome Dove country.  We're waiting for Augustus McRae to saunter around the corner any minute. And one thing is for sure. We are NOT swimming in any rivers.  If you haven't read Lonesome Dove, pick it up.  We're agreed.  It's a top 10 book.

The hair-raising moment of the day. Gas Stop:  A woman holding a gas nozzle in her hand, spewing gasoline in the aisle next to ours.  And yes, we have a propane tank in the rig. More heart palpitations.  Justine and Annie ran for help.  No-one cared so we got in the rig and ran for our lives. Thankfully, no explosion in our rear view mirror.

Comic relief.  Nicky's brilliant response to Annie's texted picture of the camper and her bed above. Mom says, okay we're still in Missouri.  Nicky says... have fun, you should clean up your room.

Only stop for the day was a short stop in Kansas City to check in on some family history.  This is where my great grandfather built a life and a family business, now run by my brother, Steve.








Tomorrow 430 miles.  Denver or Bust!!  Sleeping in real beds, eating real food and kissing our loved ones.

Cute Boys!

Ten Legs and a Tail.. How the Midwest was Won

It's all about the cute boys.  Yesterday we took a 30 minute detour in Indianapolis to get ice cream at Graeters.  It is, by all accounts, the best ice cream from Cleveland to Indianapolis.  Here we met our first set of cute boys; two very nice young 7th graders from the area.  They were at the next table talking about girls. We struck up a conversation and they could not have been friendlier, more open, more eloquent or informed. They told us about their school calendar (very different from ours on the East Coast), their passion for basketball and what a wonderful place Indianapolis is to grow up in.  We drove away marveling at how just plain nice they were.

After the still hair-raising Route 70 to St Louis, through an epic traffic jam, we arrived at our KOA campground west of the city. There was more wine and more Quiddler and then to bed. Anyone wondering about this game of which we speak- Quiddler? Look it up.  It is hands down one of the most fun word card games around and we've been hooked for years!  This morning we rented a car so we could get a day off and see some sights.  The next set of cute boys we met were at least a decade older.  They were at the Enterprise rental counter.  Naturally we had our trusty side kick, Smooch.  The asst. manager came over and told us NO DOG unless she was in a crate. No dog hair in the cars. We don't have a crate.  Justine said aloud, "Oh man, our day is ruined!" I looked over at sweet Smooch lying peacefully on the floor,  "Look at that face.  Does this look like a dog who sheds?"  The compassionate, earnest young man, looked at us, looked at Smooch and said, "Well if you promise to bring the car back clean, you can take her." The other agent urged us to check out Rooster for breakfast and Carl's for burgers. Then he tucked us into our car, leaned in the window and said, "You guys are fun!" You're full of joy!" He told us he loved having us as customers. Apparently not all customers at Enterprise rental cars are joyful. From that moment on we dubbed our mini-rig the Joy Mobile. 

Off we went to Rooster, the famous breakfast spot. YUM.  And then on to the Arch. What a sight!













From there it was onto Forest Park and the St Louis Zoo. What a gorgeous city.





We topped off our afternoon at the famous Carl's restaurant that is apparently one of the top 10 burger spots in the country. It was there that we met our 5th cute boy.  His name was Matt and he sat next to us at the counter while we ordered our burgers and root beer. When in Rome and all that.

He told us that his family comes to this hot spot every Christmas Eve which we found hilarious. We talked about his family, his one year old baby girl, Amelia, and his wife, the labor and delivery nurse. Seriously.  He thanked us for such a fun conversation and for cheering up his otherwise not-so-great day. Then he picked up our check! We told him that we were blogging and that today's theme was cute boys and we promised he'd be in it. Thanks, Matt! We hope you're reading! 

So here's the summary.  These midwestern cute boys are the best! (and kinda flirty) 
Next stop: Kansas City, KS. 

The Journey Continues... the Big Dump!

Ten Legs and a Tail.. day four

We began our morning with a trial by fire of the "RV life"  We decided it was time to do a big dump.  By that I mean empty our septic tank.  Gotcha didn't I?  My stalwart companion, Annie Gram, came prepared with a mask and rubber gloves.  Justine and I read the guidebook with the instructions which weren't that great.  just sayin..

We opened the latch, took out the hose, tried to shove it down the pipe (which it didn't want to do) and then... pulled the black valve.  Nothing.  What the what?  So then we pulled the grey valve and suddenly a giant splash of water fell on the ground, splashing on Annie.  I know I'm a terrible friend but I was laughing so hard, my vision got blurry.  Fortunately, it was what we RV experts call Grey Water. (water from the sink etc.)  So it wasn't quite as gross as it could have been.

So what are three novices to do?  Call in the professionals.  The very nice man at our campground came out to our rig, and with a twinkle in his eye, helped us get it right.  PHEW!!

On our way, we took a lovely detour in Indianapolis to Graeter's Ice Cream.  How many miles would you drive out of your way for amazing ice cream??

So on we went to our next destination which was St. Louis.

There were more white knuckles,  more trucks,  but we made it.  We were VERY happy to get to our campground outside of St. Louis.  We were ecstatic to see the heated pool that is still open.  Have you noticed a theme?  We are in search of water everywhere we go.  Look for a blog next week about how Smooch swam her way across the country.

We have settled in and found our groove.  Our favorite time of the day is the evening when we are snug in our camper, playing quiddler, solving the problems of the world.  We've even rationed our time talking about Trump.  Why ruin an epic road trip?  In our camper at night,  It feels like it's just us against the world.  It's a great feeling.   We'll be reporting Quiddler tallies later in the week.

Next stop - the Arch, the Botanical Garden, a sculpture park and maybe some time just chillin' poolside.

Ten Legs and a Tail- Day Three

Ten Legs and a Tail- Day Three

When we left you last..our RV was beeping.  It was something to do with the propane tank but we checked in with Cruise America who helped us sort out the issue.  We haven't blown up yet. 

As we pulled out of the Thompson KOA outside of Cleveland, we anointed this stop - Best Bathhouse Ever.  We didn't want to leave.








Next stop-  Lake Eerie.  We went to the beach and WENT SWIMMING!!  What is better than finding a new body of water that you've never swum in before?  The water was lovely.

Next we hit the road and drove Route 70 from Cleveland to Richmond, Indiana.  The trucks, dear God, the trucks! Justine dubbed it "terrifying alley".  There were trucks bearing down on our rig from all directions.  Anne Gram, the driver- nerves of steel.  The rest of us- heart palpitations.

Four hours later we pulled into Richmond, Indiana.  And what does a labrador retriever do when she's been in the car for almost 8 hours?  She runs and she swims and goes paddle-boating with her friend Anne.

Quotes from the day...

From the back of the RV..

 "Something smells eggy. is it dog fart or a chili fart?"

Next stop: St Louis. We'll be getting our kicks on Route 66.

Ten Legs and a Tail- the epic journey

We're renamed the blog for our trip, thanks to the creativity of my traveling companions.

Ten Legs and a Tail...

Three women and one dog.  Do the math.

Day Two.  So here we go... Here is the soundtrack of our trip so far.   Pre-trip anxiety...

The catch phrase was "Oh God"
Who's driving?  "Oh God".
Do you know how to hook up to electricity, water and septic.. "Oh God".
How long is it going to take us to get there?   "Oh God"
Who is going to be the co-pilot?  "Oh God".

Then we took off.  First stop in the Delaware Water Gap. We settled into our cozy RV and felt like we were in a safe, sacred bubble..  It was just us girls and we began to solve the problems of the world.

While playing Quiddler last night, the catch phrase was,    "Let's have some more wine and figure it out"

Today's excitement was stopping in a corn field in Ohio. Justine said-  "Are we in Dogpatch, those mosquitoes are the size of bats."

Smooch's day included a dip in the Susquehanna River.







Then we arrived at our sweet campground outside of Cleveland.  Smooch had a swim, we had wine-time and conversation and then the camper started beeping....

Just Say YES!

Travels with Smooch-  Pre-trip Planning

Sometimes in life you just have to say YES!  So what that life is busy and full and you are embarking on a huge and important theatrical project.  So what that the garden needs harvesting and weeding and the list of house projects is endless.  So what if your consulting business could use an infusion of juice.   When you are invited to come help your daughter and her husband take care of their new baby in a city 2000 miles away, you just say YES!

Here is the pot at the end of the rainbow.. this little morsel.  

And here are my dear friends who said YES!

And here is my trusty sidekick who is up for anything and couldn’t stand being left behind, even for a day.  

Now to pack for this adventure.  What the what?  How do you pack when you will be away that long?   

Coats- check

Footwear- check

No you don’t need 5 coats nor do you need 10 pairs of shoes.  I mean seriously what do you really need when you're hanging out with a delicious baby and two labrador retrievers? Perhaps the right strategy is to think camp.  Pack your trunk with a uniform- green shorts, white shirts, a sweater or two and be done with it.   Ok, maybe you put in a party dress or a nice outfit for Thanksgiving, but really what else is essential? 

How do you prepare your life to be put on hold for 2-3 months?  You bring your computer, your kindle, your phone and you let the rest just stay where it is. Surely it will be there when you return.

How do you map your route when there are so many things to see between here and there? You get on the phone with your stalwart traveling companions and you discuss packing lists and routes and strategies. What are we going to do when we can’t figure out how to attach the septic hose to the ..to the… to the… wait!  Where do we attach the septic hose? Don't panic.  There are videos.  The RV company has a call center.  We'll map a route on Roadtripper.com and hope for the best.  Our husbands will be at home gleefully watching the adventure, laughing at our travails. We’ll figure it out.  We hope.

And one thing is for sure.  We will chronicle the adventure.  We'll write about it and we'll take pictures of it.  We'll invite suggestions from our friends.  So here we go.

From West Boylston to Denver via the Poconos, Cleveland, St. Louis, Kansas City..  What should we see? Where should we eat?  (We’re searching for gems from Diners, Drive-ins and Dives) What should we listen to? (podcasts, books on tape)  Or maybe we’ll just gab our way across the country, solving all of the problems of the world.  We do have one genius strategy which is to listen to Hillary’s new book “What Happened” so that we can gnash our teeth and rail at the injustice of it all.  That should keep us awake and alert.

We’ll be sharing updates from the road here.  But if you have ideas for us.  Let us hear them.

And the next time you get the chance- just say YES!