5 more days 'til Portland

I was planning on buying diaper covers at a real diaper store in Portland, but I opted instead to buy them from a mom online. At the diaper store they would have been $5-$6 each (pull-ons, vinyl) but I was able to get instead 18 for about $20 and that included the shipping. Darn it- I liked the idea of visiting a real cloth diaper store, but the price couldn't be beat. There is a Steve & Barry's in Vancouver, though- but I don't think we'll be going, except that I'd like to. For whatever that's worth. I thought there was an AMC Theater in Portland, because we have this gift card and a few coupons for AMC but alas, the nearest ones are in the Seattle area. No such luck.

So- today I will continue to pack a week-long vacation bag, making sure that everyone has swimsuits, socks 7 shoes and everything else we need for our trip. How do John & Kate travel with their 8? I saw last week, they went to Utah, John & the kids went skiing and Kate went to the Spa. Amen, kate. You rock.

Yesterday, they went to see Oprah. Aunt Judy cracked me up. See, I've always known I'd meet Oprah, too. So when I get my call, I will be just as goofy as Aunt Judy. Just wait and see.

For now- we'll get ready for our trip. In 5 days. And thank heaven we're not traveling with 6 identical three year olds.

Use This car for free & they pay for the gas

Sound too good to be true? I found an agency that helps match cars with drivers. All you do is check the list to see where cars need to go from your area. Each car comes with a full tank of gas and most also come with a fuel allowance (although not always enough for the trip. I saw an F150 that needed to go from Portland to Texas for $100- Imagine that! Currently, Gas is almost $4 a gallon. $100 won't get you far. Anyhow- here's the list of cars and destinations, you'll figure it out! Have fun.

travel with teenager

traveling with my moody 14 yr old isn't something I am looking forward to. maybe she's just moody this week. generally speaking, she's not moody. every once a month though she drives me nuts. Maybe I'm more sensitive to it once a month. She'd freak out if she knew I was posting this. Especially this week. generally, though she's an angel, very helpful and sweet and funny and lovable. She's also upset that we're moving. I moved when I was 14, too and I was so mad about it. You just don't realize how short life is at that age. I can't tell her that, though. And she'll never believe that I understand her, either. Whatever- the trip will be good for her.

marriage

wow- he decides to film a travel video and look how much work i have to put into planning, it would be easier just to stay home, but lazy isn't my style. I wonder if I pretend I"m not considering all these details if he will begin to decide he has to think about things like food and what the kids will do to occupy themselves. No- he'd just get a tv for the car (or six of them) and buy fast food every day. He's more of a rock star than I am. I'm more like the indy singer. Except I can't sing. my oldest daughter can. she just got back from a bus tour to Portland, I should post pictures of multnomah falls, she had a great time.

food & drinks

I have a terrible problem with eating in the car on a long trip. I pig out. I could eat the entire time. Of course, last big road trip I took I was 7 months pregnant, so maybe it's not as bad as I thought. Still, I don't want to spend a fortune on food and I don't want to starve. I think we'll bulk-buy a lot of snacks before we leave and keep a cooler full of sandwich making supplies. We'll eat out less if we have access to camping cookware, I think I"ll start hitting yard sales to acquire a cook-stove and things like that. Will we have access to running water at all times? I don't know. I don't want to use disposable dishes, maybe we can select foods that don't require utensils...... maybe we can each carry our own utensils and clean them with drinking water? we'll need a lot of bottled water, have you seen those new canteen bags? they're disposable but they take up a lot less space than the bottles. I wonder if they're biodegradable.

clothes?

I'm thinking comfortable clothes, jeans and sweats. We won't be any place really cold- in fact, I guess we should be bringing shorts and swimsuits. I think if I limit our foods to things that don't make stains and try to have the kids be very clean when they are eating, things can be worn more than once. I just don't want to be all wrinkly and messy. When we're shooting, if the kids are in a scene, we need to have something that's... cute and not holey or stained. It's not a fashion show, but these things do need to be considered. So many things to consider...

Car-Schooling

If you have any copies of any educational books on CD that you don't want, sent them my way, please.

Mrs Hannigan
PO Box 11036
Yakima, WA 98902

Books are heavy, and books on CD take up less space, and we can listen to them in the car and learn while we're driving. We will be taking books, but mostly field guides to animals, flowers and insects. I'm hoping to find an ethnobotany book, too. I love learning about how native people used plants. We're also bringing math books (the kids are thrilled- just kidding)

Should we put a TV in the bus?

I'm thinking no way. Part of the reason we're taking this trip is for education, and what will they learn watching spongebob when the world is right outside their window. We'll have all the laptop computers, so they could conceivably watch a DVD or streaming online video content if we have a connection. I think I'd rather use the kids use their minds and bodies helping with the production and exploring the areas we're shooting instead of watching TV. We'll have school work and books to read if they get bored. Also, they'll be able to draw or write or something, to. This trip is about getting away, and TV would ruin it. I know I'll have to argue a bit with my husband on this, he thinks we should have a TV in the car for trips around town, too- he's all for the idea. It's a good thing we don't disagree more often.