Road Trip!!!

Roooooad Tripppppp! (Picture John Belushi in Animal House)

Day one of our Smith Family Road Trip 2011.

The destination is Camp Birchwood on the shores of Steamboat Lake, Minnesota. Blaire and Jenna departed for Camp last Monday, flying without parents for the first time ever.

Leslie and I embarked this morning at 8:00 a.m. from Long Beach with intention of arriving at Camp Birchwood Thursday night. We will then depart Sunday and wind our way back to Long Beach through Mt Rushmore, Yellowstone, Zion and possibly show the girls the lights of Vegas.

Incredibly we cleared the LA basin this morning with no traffic and made Las Vegas at noon. Finding a small Italian deli north of the strip it was with some angst, some anger and some bemusement that when we were ordering our sandwiches that my wallet had failed to make the trip!

Leslie began to text our house sitter about the situation to ensure the wallet was in fact at the house. I then fired up the laptop, connected to the internet via Verizon’s groovy wireless gizmo, and using the AAA travel site began to call hotels in Salt Lake City to get an address; not only for us to lay our heads down this evening but to be able to get FedEx delivery tomorrow. Evidently there is a rather large outdoor products convention in Salt Lake so rooms are scarce, thankfully we secured one!

Leslie, already sensing my desire now that we are on the road to push far and fast, giggled and said, “thank goodness the FedEx is before 10:00 delivery and not 8:00 so I can sleep in a bit tomorrow—we are on vacation!”

We have cleared St. George, Utah and are about 260 miles south of Salt Lake as I type this. Gorgeous country through the canyons and hills. Temperature has gone from 103 south of St. George to 80 degrees wherever we are now and where the picture above was taken. Big thunder clouds around us all day, a few flashes in the distance but perfect driving for us under high clouds and filtered sun light.

Looking forward to getting my wallet tomorrow!

Just Some Questions

Below are questions I have asked myself throughout the past week. Instead of writing what my answers to them would be I am interested in any answers you may have, or additional questions you have asked yourself.

For the week starting Monday September 28, 2009 here are some questions I have had:

Should the LA District Attorney be pursuing extradition of Roman Polanski?

Who goes further in the playoffs the Angels or Dodgers?

Did you answer that last question with your head or your heart?

Why is the worst time to have a meeting when you scheduled it?

How out of touch is Hollywood and its “stars?”

Do you care that Europe and others are upset that Polanski has been arrested and we are trying to extradite him to face his sentencing for the crime he is guilty of committing?

How many more election cycles will we have where the theme for any of the politicians is not “Change?”

Brush or comb?

Kid #1 Question: Do you think white clouds or grey clouds are prettier?

Do you regularly attend religious service?

Instead of flying to Copenhagen, would it not have been a more powerful statement for President Obama to cancel the trip to Denmark and instead actually go to Chicago, stand where that poor boy was murdered and make a statement there about bringing Chicagoans together, Americans together and if possible the world together in Chicago for the Games?

American or Import?

How is it that those who preach “open and honest communication” seem to accept it the least?

For Verizon: How much lower would my monthly bill be if you stopped sending us five mailers a week for each account marketing Fios—which we already have for internet and phone service?

Why is the minute you have to do something so much shorter than the minute you have to wait for something?

Baked or mashed?

Have those defending or apologizing for Polanski or criticizing the LA District Attorney for trying to extradite him lost all moral standing to speak in favor of women’s rights?
What act of random kindness did you do this week for a total stranger?

What memorable natural disasters/storms have you experienced?

Kid #2 question: Do you like to draw?

When was the last Olympics held in South America?

Isn’t this headline from the Press-Telegram, “LBPD Says Shooting Gang Related,”
equivalent to ‘Dog Bites Man’?

When was the last time you had pizza for breakfast?

Where does responsibility lie for juvenile delinquency and crime?

Cookies or Pie?

So those are the questions, what are your answers? Click on the comments button below and let us know what you think.