Spring Break 2020 Day 6 March 19, 2020

Today was an adventure.  We checked out of the hotel around 8 am and drove to Des Moines, Iowa – it was the smallest downtown ever.  We ate late – at a Wendy’s – same drill – go through the incredibly crowded drive through then eat in the parking lot in our laps. 

From Des Moines, we drove to Kansas City (btw, first time any of us had been in Iowa and the first time the kids have been to Kansas).  We decided not to go over to Omaha so they still haven’t been to Nebraska – I don’t know if I’ll end up regretting that decision or not but I’m just really ready to be home and eat a home cooked meal AT A TABLE!

We kept driving past Kansas City (which I thought was beautiful) and stopped through the McDonalds drive thru in Miami, Oklahoma (no that was not a typo).  We kept trying to decide if we should just drive all the way through but it was about 8 pm and we still had five hours to go.  So Nick called and got us a Holiday Inn Express in Vinita, OK. 

I’m very glad we stopped.  The gym of course, was closed so Ryan walked the parking lot with me and now we’re back in the room, watching the news and it was just announced that Governor Newsome (governor of California) just announced a shelter-in-place for the ENTIRE STATE OF CALIFORNIA. This is crazy!!!!!

PS.  Now writing this on March 20th, we drove back to Dallas today and unpacked.  I'm glad to be home but glad we went too.  It was a strange and stressful trip but I would have hated to cancel it.

Spring Break 2020 Day 5 March 18, 2020

This morning we slept in a bit then around 10:30, drove up to Wisconsin.  It basically rained the entire way there but it was the first time for any of us to visit the state.  We drove over to Miller Stadium (where the Brewers play) then we went through a Chick-fil-a drive through (along with 100 other people) and ate lunch in a Walmart parking lot (because you cannot go inside the restaurants).

We drove back to Chicago but stopped in Evanston and saw the campus of Northwestern.  It was beautiful.  I didn’t realize that it’s literally right on the shore of Lake Michigan.  We drove the 10-12 miles back to Chicago via a lakefront drive – except for the fact that it was completely overcast, it was a beautiful drive.

We got back around 4 and since the gym is closed down, Nick ran in circles on the 8^th floor and I did lunges, push ups, etc.  We showered up and went down to “happy hour” to get our free drink then we walked over to Trader Joes for dinner.  We basically got microwave dinners and went back to the room and ate and watched Despicable Me 3 on TV. 

It was a fun day – kind of boring because it rained all day but it was cool to see Wisconsin.

Spring Break 2020 Day 4 March 17, 2020

This morning we got our breakfasts in bags – burritos, muffins & fruit.  Then, around 9:30 we started walking.  Our first stop was Navy Pier and we were almost literally, the only people there.  It was amazing – very surreal.

After all, it’s St Paddy’s Day in Chicago! We walked over and saw “The Bean”, which is actually called Cloud Gate.  That’s where we ran into the most people, maybe 10-15?  The Bean is in Millennium Park and there’s also a very cool amphitheater there. 

From there we walked over to the red line and road up to Wrigley stadium, where there was also no one.  I was very proud of Grant who gave $10 of his $50 of spending money to a homeless person. We went into a merchandise store and the kids each bought something small and I got a hat and magnet.  We then walked to Wrigleysville Dogs and had to wait outside until the four people inside had gotten their food.  We were allowed to order food but then had to leave.  We got gyros, hamburgers and hot dogs and we sat outside of Wrigley Stadium and ate.

We rode the red line back to our hotel and hung out in the room for a while.  Then around 5 pm, Nick and I went for a walk around town then stopped at a Jewel Osco to buy more junk food for the kids.  There were signs all over the place saying 1 only please – like meat, frozen pizzas, cereal, oatmeal.  And there were employees yelling – we have more toilet paper, we have more toilet paper.  This is just so surreal.

Nick and I grabbed $50 of junk food then walked back to the hotel and got another glass of wine and came back up to the room where we ate the other half of our pizza and salad.

Now we’re just sitting in the room watching the news but at least today, my Fit Bit says we walked 17,935 steps.

We’ve changed up the trip some more and I think we’re going to drive to Milwaukee tomorrow.

Spring Break 2020 Day 3 March 16, 2020

Well, today was definitely a memorable day.  We left Springfield, IL around 9:15 am after having a normal (non-virus affected) Holiday Inn Express breakfast.  It rained the entire drive but we arrived in Indiana Dunes National Park around 1 pm, after a stop at a Taco Bell/KFC along the way.

When we got there, we noticed that they hadn’t yet replaced the state park sign with the national park sign – lame – it was designated over a year ago!

Most of the roads were closed but we were able to go out onto the “beach” of Lake Michigan.  The kids had no idea what the names of the five great lakes were – so sad – but they thought it was pretty amazing that we were looking at a lake, complete with waves and fat seagulls (Ryan’s sitting next to me reading this out loud in a stupid white vegan mom voice and is telling me that I need to call the seagulls “thicc”, not “fat”).

When we got back to the visitor center, it was CLOSED DUE TO THE CORONAVIRUS!  So that means that there are no passbook stamps, no hat pins and no magnets.  This is so crazy.  The park should NOT even be a national park.  The whole thing was very disappointing. 

So, we turned back to Chicago.  

We arrived at the Embassy Suites around 3 pm and checked into our corner, city view room on the 8^th floor. The city seemed quiet and this restaurant and bar thing is sad.  We ordered a pizza from Lou Malnati’s then walked around town, mostly Michigan Ave.

We weren’t allowed to go inside the restaurant so Nick had to call when we got there and wait outside for the food to be brought to us. 

Katie texted me that starting tonight at midnight Dallas is doing the same thing with restaurants and bars.  Dallas is also closing down gyms and theaters.

We came back to the hotel, got a free drink from the Embassy Suites happy hour (but we weren’t allowed to congregate down there – we had to take our drinks back to our room) and ate our pizza and salad on the floor of our room – very fun.

Then I changed up the rest of the trip. We were gonna spend three nights here then drive to Ohio to see Cuyahoga Valley NP but I think it’ll be shut down so instead, we’re gonna go back to what the original plan was and head back via Iowa. 

We may go up to Milwaukee then spend the night in Des Moines, Iowa.  We have no reservation for any nights after Wednesday but I think we’ll be able to walk in anywhere we’d like and spend the night.

This is really sad – so many people will now be out of work. 

Despite all of the strangeness, this has been a fun trip.  One thing is for sure – we won’t forget it ever.

Spring Break 2020 Day 2 March 15, 2020

Today we ate a strange breakfast at our Best Western – all of the food was individually wrapped and had to be handed to us by employees, including our coffee.

Then we got on the road to St Louis.  Around 11:30, we stopped outside of St Louis at an orange and yellow Subway and had lunch.  Even though there were free refills, we had to get brand new cups if we wanted one.

We drove into downtown St Louis around 1 pm and parked in a garage right by the arch.  It was very cold and windy but it wasn’t raining. 

We took a quick picture in front of the sign (which felt like the least national park we’ve ever been to) then went into the museum. 

After stamping our passbooks and going through the security line, we went downstairs and bought hat pins and magnets and then, because there were very few people there, we had some extra time on our hand to kill and just talk.  The kids got a candy bar and we sat at the café for about 30 minutes.  Then at 2:30 we took our tour up to the top of the arch.

It was all very cool – the engineering of the tram was impressive – ferris wheel, elevator and escalator technology – but man was our little cart small – not awesome if you’re even slightly claustrophobic.  We didn’t stay at the top very long but I’m really glad we did it. We can mark it off the bucket list.

At the top of the Arch

We got back to the car a little before 4 and drove up to Springfield, IL for the night.  We’re at a Holiday Inn and it feels like there may be five other people here.  The parking lot is empty.  Grant, Nick and I worked out in the nice gym and then we ordered McAlister’s and Nick went and picked it up.  A few hours prior, the mayor of Chicago announced that she was closing all restaurants and bars in downtown Chicago for the next two weeks so this will make the next three days very interesting.

When Nick picked up our dinner, he said the manager of the McAlister’s was in tears because she was having to lay off a bunch of people tomorrow and her kids’ schools shut down and she had no idea what she was going to do or if she was going to lose her job. This is crazy and the media should be ashamed of themselves for effectively shutting down the American economy.

We’re going to stick with the trip – heading to Indiana Dunes tomorrow then we’ll see what it’s like to be the only people in Chicago with no food 😊

Crazy times but fun day – the Arch was cool – but totally shouldn’t be a national park.  By the way, that was park # 42.

Spring Break 2020 (aka CoronaVirus Trip) Day1 March 14, 2020

Hello there.  It’s 5:00 pm and we’re in Branson, MO, a place none of us have ever been.  Before I go on, I have to paint the appropriate backdrop – we are in the peak of the “Coronavirus Pandemic”.  The world has gone batshit crazy and the kids’ school has shut down until early April all because about 40 people, all older than 70, have died.  2,000 people across the United States have contracted the COVID-19 virus and because all of the media hate President Trump and want to do anything to make him look bad, they’ve blown this completely out of proportion.  Most of the people we know cancelled their spring break plans.  All of the major sporting events have closed down; all of the schools are closing and the kids’ choir and sporting events have been cancelled.

And the United States is out of toilet paper and hand sanitizer…seriously.  AND our church has closed for two weeks. Oh, and Ryan was accepted into Parish and Ursuline yesterday afternoon – lots going on.

Anyway, we picked up our minivan yesterday, very near the DFW airport rental car center, but it was basically in a muddy field "near" the rental car center.  AND the lady was so mean and informed me, despite my reservation saying we had unlimited mileage, that I will be charged $0.50 for every mile over 3,000 that we drive.  The trip is about 2,700 miles from point-to-point so if we decide to veer off our path at all, we’ll likely go over. The last time I was that mad at another human being was when those jackasses from Tropics Pools “refurbished” our pool on Rosser Rd.

So we left this morning at 8:00 and drove the entire way to Branson in the rain – but overall, a smooth and uneventful trip.  We stopped in a little town west of Fort Smith, AR for lunch at Miss Lilly’s Diner and Catering and it was great.  Grant ordered a chicken fried steak that was bigger than he is.  I ordered him the ladies cut and Ryan decided that all that means is that it came from a girl cow 😊

We’re now in Branson at the Best Western Music Capital Inn and are going to a show tonight at 8:00, a Chinese Acrobat show (did I mention that the Coronavirus originated in China?) that luckily wasn’t cancelled.  We’ll stop at Olive Garden beforehand and drive around a bit (but we won’t drive far or I’ll owe that mean lady $1,000 when I return the car!) Branson does not look anything like what I pictured.  It actually looks a lot like Eureka Springs, AR – very pretty – but we haven’t seen the main “strip” yet.  I’m so glad we didn’t cancel because we may all be cooped up in the house for two weeks after we get back.

We just got back from the show and it was awesome in the cheesiest way – the lady who could wrap herself up in scarves while also playing the electronic violin – the guy who shattered a wooden stick on the floor during the opening scene and everyone had to work around wood chips with bare feet the rest of the performance, etc.

Note the scary fire in the background.

But we had such a great time!