Day 6: Finally out of California!

What happened to Day 5, you ask? We went to Disneyland. And while thoughts about the day abound, I just have to plow ahead or I'll forever be behind.

We are finally making forward progress towards Boston and reached a big milestone: we have crossed the California borderline. Some friends had hoped that we wouldn't and therefore would have to return to Sunnyvale and never move away. But alas, it hasn't happened. Sorry! :-(

Our day's summary:

• Late start out of Anaheim - packing and finding an ATM
• Lunch at Emma Jean's Holland Burger on Historic Route 66 in Victorville CA
• Quick stop at the Route 66 Museum in Victorville for some trip tips
• I-40 to Kingman, saw some of Route 66 that criss crosses the interstate
• Late decision to see the stretch of Route 66 near Amboy, backtracked
• Arrived in Kingman AZ at 8PM, a surprise find of In-N-Out for dinner

Speaking of In-N-Out, it is rare for me to decline a good burger. But the lunch at Emma Jean's, yummy that it was, sat in my tummy for hours. While the boys all snacked in the car by 6PM, I could honestly still say that I wasn't hungry. And on a trip where I'm looking at days on end of eating out with hard to find fresh fruit and veggies, I'm trying to watch myself not to indulge too much. So feeling lumpy, I actually ordered my burger "protein style" at In-N-Out. Not bad, actually.

Some other notes from today:

• Looking forward to hitting the open road, I was surprised to find traffic in Pomona at noonetime on our way out of the L.A. general area. Probably native L.A.ers are used to this but all I can say is thank goodness for the 24/7 carpool lane.


• We saw snow on the backside of the highest peaks of what looked like the San Gabriel Mountains but I don't know if the SG Mountains technically stretch as far east as we were on I-15. But it's just a strange thing to have to shift mental gears about the weather all the time. Last Sunday in Pasadena it was 98 (and unusually hot day), but then Anaheim was a perfect 70 when we were there. Now we see snow on peaks, reminding me that it's not summer quite yet and where we are headed is a little chillier because of elevation. It just makes me feel better about the packed suitcases we had since I did pack for warm and cool weather. I think the other day Tom saw that Boston was still high of 54 degrees.


• Tobey saw a couple of McDonald's and each time he yells out, "McDonald's! Let's eat at McDonald's!" How do you explain to a 4 year old that we are going to try to 1) eat healthier if possible and 2) eat local fare if possible. How long can we go before we "have" to eat at a McDonald's? Any betters out there?


• When we first entered I-40, which apparently starts in Barstow, we saw a sign: "Wilmington N.C. 2554 miles." A sense of humor they've got.


• When we finally reached our exit off I-40, the gas light in our car went on. Wow. We were really close to running out of gas and where we were today, there was nothing. NOTHING, between Barstow and Needles. I think we read about one Chevron in Ludlow on 66 but other than that, our trusty EZ66 guide was not kidding when it said to gas up in Barstow. We had done it back in Anaheim. I think we will be more conservative next time.

Some notes about road tripping with a 4.5 and 2.5 year old:

• I know we are lucky that our kids do as well as they do in the car BUT...


• I'm starting to realize that we are with these kids 24/7 and I don't get a break. I can't break for a nap because they don't nap at the same time as at home, where I can manipulate their sleep schedules better. We can't just shut the door on their bedroom at bedtime because we are in one room hotel rooms. We haven't pulled out the DVD player yet because that will open up a whole new world of whines and complaints about wanting to watch all the time. So all this time together means that there are that many more "opportunities" to have to deal with them. In the car is not too bad -- there are fights about who is touching whose toys and wanting snacks, etc. And Eli drops EVERYTHING from his carseat to the point that I have to be careful of the inevitable avalanche when I open his door at a stop. But despite all this, I'm hoping to hold out on the DVD until the plains states - TX, OK. And I'm still rationing all the great little surprises that friends gave us for the road trip.


• Speaking of sleeping, the kids are pretty well rested on this trip, especially Tobey, because they can't escape the hum of the car. If he gets a 1.5 hour nap in the car, that means he'll be up late at night, and also, ironically, up early in the morning. The best day was Disneyland when he didn't nap and had a really exciting day. He was out within 5 minutes of hitting the pillow.


• Never try potty training on the road. We're not trying to, Eli is doing it himself, so I'm just saying, if you ever think of doing it, WHY? The double potty breaks are killing me. Since Eli isn't really trained, it's hard to get him to go at the same time as the rest of us. And since he hasn't gotten the poop down yet, and the last time we tried Pull Ups he didn't think he was allowed to poop in those, we have to put a diaper on him standing up each time which is a pain in the bottom. The good news is he successfully pooped in a potty for the first time while we were in San Diego at my cousin's house. But his poops are only teeny poops, he's still holding something in, poor guy. He saves it all for when we settle in a hotel for the night. That can't be comfortable.


• I'm not sure how much the Route 66/Cars connection is happening inside the kids' brains. I guess I'm waiting for that first, "This is just like in Cars when..." kind of comment from Tobey. I've already thought that a few times as we made our first foray onto 66. I just want Tobey to say it and I'll be satisfied.

Summary of the trip so far: It's going well. I have a feeling that even though right now it seems like progress is slow, we are going to arrive in Boston and I'll look back and say, aww, it's over already? Don't all fun vacations feel like that?