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Wow, back home at last. It sure does feel good to be home. Traveling, however, does highlight the additional effort it sometimes takes to live in Vermont, because you have to get home, especially when you fly out of Boston. Landing at Logan is just the beginning, and you have to get back up to the Green Mountain State and then home, which adds another few hours to the trip. Factor in the time changes and the fatigue, especially with the kids, and you begin to wonder how you do it.

Our last few days were the most challenging, and maybe that's to be expected. The weather was terrible the entire time that we were in Kansas, which is perhaps telling of our experience there. Not only were we rained out of what little camping there was, but we seemed to drive for hours before finding anything resembling civilization. I remember as we searched for the hotel that the state just didn't seem to want to let go of us, for whatever reason.

When we finally did find a hotel, the next morning I found our tire was flat. I couldn't believe it, my heart sank. In retrospect, it was lucky that it didn't happen out in the middle of nowhere, my worst nightmare realized, or should I say my Rocky Horror moment. The town we were in, Hays, happened to be fairly big, so finding a place to repair the tire was not a problem. Furthermore, we got some good final vibes on our last day there. I went to a gas station and he directed me to the quickest and cheapest place to have it repaired, which I greatly appreciated. I was in and out of there in ten minutes.

The trip home went fairly smoothly, though it seems we're always cutting it close in terms of catching the bus home. We landed around 4:30 and had about twenty minutes to get off the plane, get our luggage, and get to the bus stop. It never seems like enough time, but they are pretty efficient at getting your bags to you ASAP, and we had plenty of time. The bus ride home was fine though we flirted with motion sickness one last time, but it was a false alarm.

The bus ride home is actually nice, it's fun to watch the scenery and I especially like it was we leave the big city and enter into the Vermont/New Hampshire. The view changes considerably as does the mood. By the time the bus stopped, it was well past 8:00, and we had been traveling for at least 12 hours. Then, of course, we had to drive home.

It felt good to be back in Vermont. When you travel around this country, you really are reminded of what a great place this is, if it's your kind of thing. If you love shopping and malls and big box stores with lots of traffic, then it's not for you, though you can always find it nearby. But if beautiful, natural scenery with trees and grass and quiet living surrounded good people is your thing, then I can't think of a better place to be. Again, we feel lucky to be here.

Getting home was great, the cats seemed happy to see us, they snuggled and spent the night asleep in our laps. I'd heard cats begrudge your absence and will let it be known, but they seemed fine, if not a little skittish at first. The kids went right to be and I did what I usually do in the evening, I made something to eat. I think I lost weight on this trip, I usually do when we travel, and I'd like to try to tone down my snacking. When you're away from home you really begin to realize how much food you push into your mouth.

Speaking of food, it really struck me on this trip how much people eat. It's in marked contrast with what you see in Europe, where they tend to eat small, almost inconsequential breakfasts of bread and coffee, followed by a few cigarettes. What we saw at the all-you-can-eat breakfast buffets made my head spin. So much food being eaten, it's crazy. It's almost as if there is some sort of pathological problem here, but who am I to judge? Live and let live.

Whatever be the case, it's good to be home. Lots to deal with, and I have to touch base with my Mentor to restart my real man training. Somewhere in the near future a front patio with concrete is waiting for me. In the meantime, I'll cut the grass.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to iamwahid for the pic.

Final Thoughts on Travel and the Return to Civilization

The question is, how much can you pack into the back of a Toyota Matrix? We have all of our food, our clothes, our firewood and supplies in the back. The picture does not tell the whole story, because it doesn't show the sleeping bags, the tent, and all four of our backpacks. We really crammed it in there, and the car was really weighed down, but I give it two big thumbs up. We managed to fill the back and it performed like a dream. In retrospect, you begin to realize two things when you travel-you don't really need that much stuff, especially camping, and you can get by with less space than you realize. This became readily apparent to us on our travels out west, where you can't spit without hitting an RV. They are everywhere, and while I can appreciate the notion of traveling in comfort, at what point are you just bringing your home along with you?

A theme that began to develop on our trip was traveling light and making due with just the things you need, focusing more on the experience and the time spent together as a family. When you've got four people sleeping in what is barely a four-man tent, it doesn't get any more "together" than that, but there were no regrets. In fact, the time we spent together camping were the best. It was just about working as a team and not stressing over a clean outfit every day or having lots of toys or gadgets. Not bad for our first camping trip, it sets the tone for future endeavors.

Looking around at the other campers, we found we had definitely packed the lightest for a family of four. This makes the trip more economical, as well, because less stuff means less gas and a cheaper vehicle. I'm struck by how much stuff people bring along, but I won't get into it. This also made breaking down camp and hitting the road much more streamlined, and we fell into a comfortable routine where everyone was involved. The kids loved it, and I have to confess, it was a lot of fun.

Now that we are back in civilization, you get a new perspective on the state of our culture. Nowhere is this more apparent than in a suburban setting like the one that we're in. It's all about shopping and eating, and the marketing just pounds that into your head. Everywhere you go around here, and for that matter, just about everywhere, the message is the same: spend, spend, spend. It's amazing. I have to admit, I feel the seductive pull of their message, they are so good at selling it and make it look so appealing.

I'm glad we live in Vermont, where billboards are banned, and don't watch TV. We'd be doomed.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to the all-you-can-eat breakfast where the flat screen TV continually broadcasts CNN. What more can you ask for?

Until the next time, thanks for reading.

Heading Home and Scary Movie

Our last day of vacation and we are heading home. We are tired and worn out from the road, but had a wonderful time seeing the west and getting our feet wet family camping. We ended up covering a huge amount of ground, driving nearly 4000 miles, but in the end, it's a big country, and the only way to see it by either having a lot of time or covering lots of ground. We chose the latter.

We are in KC and will fly back to Vermont this morning. We drove straight through Kansas and couldn't seem to catch a break in that state. We had planned on camping the previous night but there are no forests (National or state) to speak of, at least none where we were traveling. We had cut up through Oklahoma and followed the highway north hoping to find a place to pitch out tent, and it was an interesting drive, to say the least. Besides being flat, it was dreary, if not depressing, and of course, flat. For whatever reason, places like Nebraska and Ohio are flat, as well, but not as much of a downer. Kansas was just bleak.

My Mentor said that Kansas is best seen at night, but I would beg to differ, with all due respect, of course. First off, at night you'd miss all those open spaces, and even though it is dreary, there is a surreal quality to the feeling of isolation you have when you're out in the middle of nowhere. We passed through these small towns that seemed to be abandoned, literally no sign of life. They were spaced apart with amazing regularity and all revolved around these massive, and I'm talking huge grain silos, as if the town and its people were just an afterthought. Kind of strange.

Furthermore, we passed by these incredible feedlots that spanned hundreds of acres and held thousands of cows. Makes you realize where all of our beef comes from. Just a quick note-their situation didn't seem as miserable as it is depicted by the media. Sure, there was no grass to speak of, but they were outside and not compacted like sardines. I'm not condoning the process of industrial beef, I'm just pointing out that they didn't appear to be as tortured as I'd imagined them to be.

Finally, driving at night in the Kansas prairie can be downright scary, mainly for the fact that there is nothing for hundreds of miles, and if you broke down, forget about it. You'd be smack in the middle of a horror movie. The setting is perfect, and we got to experience this firsthand. As I had mentioned, we had planned on camping on our penultimate night, but had a difficult time finding good camping. We checked out several places but they were all a little decrepit, and designed for day use. To make matters worse, we were in the midst of a serious thunder storm. The kids really wanted to camp, and who were we to deny them this?

We finally found a spot that was actually nice, though again, the storm made it hard to imagine setting up camp. There was a break in the rain, so we unpacked the food preparation stuff beneath a shelter and figured we'd at least have dinner and play it by ear. R cooked up a feast of hot dogs and pork and beans and we built a fire. By the time the food was ready, a steady rain was falling and lightning was striking all around us, which was kind of cool, actually.

In fact, it was the best view of lightning that I'd ever had, though at times too close for comfort. By the time we'd decided it was time to hit the road in search of a hotel, it was well past 8:00 PM, so we had to get moving. The drive back to the highway was torture because as I mentioned, we were out in the middle of nowhere, and there are no signs or houses or anything other than prairie grass and a random tree now and then. To add to the spooky effect, the lightning would strike with regularity and light up the entire area, just like in a scary movie. It was cool and eerie at the same time. I just kept hoping in the back of my mind that we wouldn't break down, or else live out our own version of Blair Witch Project, or for that matter, Rocky Horror Picture Show.

It seemed like hours before we finally hit the main interstate, and boy was I glad to be out of there and on a major road. We drove to the next big town, Hays, and got a room and went straight to bed. Even though the place was a dump, we were glad to hit the sack. And, they had a pool, which is always a bonus with the kids.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.

We're Still Going!

Hey everyone,

Sorry to have dropped off the face of the earth, but the funny thing about camping is that there are no internet connections and no AC outlets. Maybe it's for the best. We are currently in Taos NM, cool town, staying at a killer B&B called El Rincon that I can't say enough good things about. Taos is a really cool town, would like to spend more time here, but we have to get to Kansas, my Mentor's favorite place to visit (joke).

Anyway, we've managed to camp in the Black Hills of SD, Badlands National Park, Big Horn National Park, Yellowstone, Bryce Canyon, the Grand Canyon. By far the best places have been the Black Hills and Big Horn. We've done Yellowstone and Grand Canyon and are pretty much over it, so we won't be going back there anytime soon.

The kids are having a blast, loving the camping, loving the dirt and the grime, loving the outdoors and the wilderness experience. We've camped in torrential rain (w/lightning and thunder), hurricane like winds, bikers, frat boys/sorority girls, preaching camp managers (in Utah-go figure) and near freezing temps, and through it all, the kids are loving every minute of it. We wanted to camp in Taos but it was late and the campsite was kind of yucky, so we went B&B. Serendipitous, mind you.

Time for me take a shower. It's been a few days. Hope you are well and I probably can only make an entry in the morning and then no more until we get back. Sorry about that.

Take care and thanks for reading.

Day 4 - Ready to Break Out

We are going on day 2 in Omaha, and boy are done with this town. It is way more sprawling and urban than I'd ever imagined, perhaps more so than any other town I'd ever seen. We went for a drive to see Council Bluffs, which is supposed to be some sort of major historical town where they advertise all this Lewis and Clark stuff and significant historical locations regarding the railroad and the Western Migration. We're always looking for some sort of homeschool angle over here.

Well, first off, the drive over was interesting. Omaha is huge, and we drove by what seemed like mile after mile of shopping center before we even got close to Council Bluffs. I've never seen anything like it, and can't imagine why they need so many shops and cheesy restaurants. Just suburbs and shopping, the American way, I guess. For all it's worth, the stores are reasonably new and they looked nice, but suburban sprawl for as far as the eyes can see. As far as our economic woes go, it seems that the problem is a lot worse than I thought. You figure that this scene is played our across thousands of neighborhoods across this country, so there is a lot of consumerism going on.

Then again, they say the economy is recovering, so what do I know?

We finally got most of our camping gear together, and I think we're ready for our maiden camping voyage into the great outdoors. We feeling better, eating solid food once again, and getting loads of sleep. You realize how sleep deprived you are when you start sleeping like a normal human being. I could get used to this. We are all in one room so it makes it more challenging for the early risers, or should I say early riser, like me. That's why I have to retreat to my office.

Oh yeah, before I forget, Council Bluffs. It was a little depressing, the town seemed shut down, with no people on the streets and all the shops shut down. The historical places seemed closed, and it really wasn't what I'd expected. Almost like a small town looking for a way to capitalize on it's historical setting, just waiting for sucker tourists like us. Hey, we were ready to hand over our money, they just weren't willing to take it.

We walked around a bit and then ended up in a nice park, even though it was filled with squirrelly people. Groups of teenagers with their shirts off and other groups of adults that I pegged as junkies. I know it's bad of me, but it immediately set me on edge. I personally wanted to avoid the place altogether, but the kids wanted to play, and the park did look nice. So we stopped, and I told the kids to stay away from groups of teenagers. Of course, I couldn't let them out of my sight. They ended up having lots of fun, but I couldn't help but suspect the people sitting around like they were waiting for someone or something. It just reminds me too much of people waiting for their dealers. It's sad, actually.

We decided we'd had enough of our glorious historical experience and headed back to the hotel. Enough of the urban/suburban environment, we wanted a change in scenery. We looked for a place closer to home to eat, which wasn't hard to find, and settled on some Southeastern style eatery. The place was hip, with hip people and hip food, but it was just okay. Maybe it was my frame of mind, but the bright note is that we all ate and could be past the worst of our stomach malaise.

Then it was off to bed where we'll have breakfast and hit the store to get provisions, and then head off into the wild frontier, just like Lewis and Clark. It should be fun, albeit challenging and different. The kids are thrilled to pieces, they've never slept in a tent before. This should be intersting.

On the note of camping, I don't think I'll be able to keep posting on this blog while we're in a tent, so we may be absent for a bit. I'll keep you updated as soon as I can. I feel like we're heading out into the Australian Outback. G'day, mate. We'll be in touch soon.

Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to Karunakar Rayker for the pic.

Getting it While I Can

Needless to say, when you travel, there are certain things that are just harder to come by. This includes healthy foods, showers, snacks, and exercise. I've found that you have to seize the moment when it arrives, because if you hesitate and think you'll just take care of it the next time it comes around, you could be setting yourself up for disappointment. With this in mind, get it while you can, because it may not come around again.

One of the hardest things is healthy food, most notably fiber. There is plenty of cheap, starchy food that sticks to your guts, and though it's plentiful and tasty, for the most part, it really can come back to haunt you. So, every morning at the hotel breakfast, I make it a point to eat some bran flakes or some facsimile thereof, even though my heart is screaming for the waffles and sausage. Funny how that works.

When you're in a big city like Omaha, you can find all these things easily enough if you just do a little leg work, but once we're camping, I figure we'll be lucky just to find running water, so forget about showers. I'm still trying to decide what we're going to eat. On the bright note, I find that when we travel, I tend to lose weight, because I can't do the one thing I love to do back home: snack. No late night bags of potato chips or stuffing myself with M&Ms and cookies. If we really made the effort, we could keep a supply nearby to satisfy these desires, but that's missing the point, right? We're not trying to emulate our home life.

And though when we eat it tends to be heavy and unhealthy, it's just less than what we do at home. So, we'll see where this one ends up, but I'm thinking it may turn out okay. Also, I've got to practice my karate katas and my sparring because when I get back, I'll be testing for my green belt. Yikes! Also, I may need to use my hands as lethal weapons to protect my family. I'm ready... sort of.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Fleur Suijten for the pic.

Our New Hotel and The TV

Holiday Inn. What a catchy ring it has to it when you say it over and over again. It almost rolls off your tongue. We are even staying at one, and it's nice, but I'm struck by a few things. First off, it amazes me to no end how quickly you can turn a room into chaos within minutes of setting foot inside it. Secondly, it's interesting how homogeneous and generic the hotel experience is when you travel in this country, at least within a certain demographic, i.e., on the cheap, which is ours. And thirdly, I'm struck by how the room is really designed to revolve around one thing, which of course is a central figure in American culture: the TV. It is the most important fixture in the room from the looks of it. What's really impressive is how all hotels, even the lower end ones, have these massive, high end TVs. Our last one had two!

It makes me think I'm missing something here, but that's obvious. Now I know how I rail on TV and how evil I think it is and how it has no redeeming qualities, but since we're convalescing here in Omaha, we figured a little tube time might assuage our ailing hearts while we recuperate, or should I say, vituperate? Sorry, I just like the sound of that word.

Anyway, being the hypocritical parent and all, we turned on the tube in search of entertainment, i.e., cartoons. I'll tell you one thing, between the Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon, there sure are a lot more cartoon choices then when I was a kid. And you know what the most amazing thing about them is? They are all a bunch of garbage. Somehow the new technology has created these simply awful shows that we are force feeding the youth of America. Sponge Bob is a part of this problem, BTW. I'm not saying they were any better when I was a kid, but when I look at them now, they are just so bad. This cheesy Flash animation and so many flashing images, it gave me a headache. And don't get me started on the commercials.

Well, in a moment that warmed our hearts, A actually asked if we could turn off the TV because to her the programs were just silly and a waste of time. Wow, where did that come from? Not that I'm complaining, and it's possible she was just trying to placate her grouchy, uptight parents, but it was a nice moment. It's also possible that they were geared to a younger audience and she is more into the whole Manga thing. Either way, we shut it off, and it was nice having the beast silent. Those commercials really get to me.

In terms of the generic experience, I can honestly say that walking around the hotel, I think we could be almost anywhere in this country. I'm talking low to medium budget hotels, they are very similar. Though they are a step above Motel 6, it is only a small step.

One thing we look for is the complimentary breakfast, though again, these are generally the same, too. The food is the same, the people are the same, and the overall experience is the same. Which of course means lots of greasy food and as much of it as you can stuff into yourself. It can be a little discouraging when it's served with disposable everything, right down to the individual butter and syrup containers, but again, it's familiar. And very little in the way of fresh fruit and vegetables, and what little is there doesn't get touched. Not even by me! Then again, I don't count bananas as fresh fruit.

I'm guessing they have the drill down, and that they know people want the familiar experience to make travel more comfortable. I can understand the comfort part, because traveling is difficult, but I also wonder if you're simply relocating your living room, why travel? The trials and challenges are pieces of the puzzle, and rather than avoid them, embrace them as part of the adventure. When you confront and overcome them, you grow as a person, succumbing less to fear and realizing that the world is not such a daunting place. Sure, it isn't easy, but the alternative is always living in fear of a moment that more often than not, never arrives. And then you're left kicking yourself because you "should have" or "could have." Life is one big "what if?" and that's a terrible way to live.

I know this firsthand because it's how I lived most of my life, before I became a father and before I began real man training with my Mentor. I still have a ways to go, but I'm working on it.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.