On the Road to Nevada Part II

We made it!

A quick Adelyn story: While we were on our hike at Arches National Park, Adelyn was walking ahead of me with Ben. She said that she needed to talk to mom, so she came back to walk with me. She said, "Mom, I want to get a tattoo." "Oh? Of what?" I asked. "Um. A purple flower on my tummy. Did we bring my paints so I can get a tattoo?" Ben and I had a good chuckle at this exchange. As did some people who were walking by.

Here's more of our journey.

Monday we had a low-key morning while Ben worked for a bit. Then we met up with our friends again for lunch. After lunch we headed to their place. They live on top of one of the mountains near Denver. Such a pretty view! From there we went straight to Lucky Pie Pizza to meet up with some other friends. We didn't go for their pizza. But their short ribs were very yummy. Right next door was an ice cream place, Sweet Cow. Both places were connected outside with a little park like area. It was astroturf with benches, flowers and gardens. Perfect for the kids to run around while the adults continued chatting. It was a very fun night. I was sad when it was time to say goodbye. After that, Ben brought the kids and I back to the hotel. We were beat. He went off for one final visit. I was sad that I didn't go see Jeff and Beth, but I did appreciate the little extra sleep I got.

Tuesday we went for a swim at the hotel pool. After that we packed up and headed to Grand Junction, CO. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but the drive was amazing. So many pretty colors. Strange rock formations. Mountains. Truly breathtaking. We got to Grand Junction and tried out Il Bistro Italiano for dinner. Our favorite was the mushroom pizza, although, I thought the pesto gnocchi was good too. We brought home a piece of fresh peach pie and chocolate cream pie for dessert. YUM.

We decided to take out our stop in Utah. We didn't hear back from the people in Eden, so we didn't know if we had a place to stay. And our friends there were out of town. So, we decided to skip that part and plow through to Las Vegas. So Wednesday we packed it up and hit the road. Once again the route was beautiful. Just when you thought that we were leaving the mountains, some more were there. We decided to take a detour to Arches National Park. It was nice that the road got you pretty close to a lot of the sites there. We did do a short little hike. The kids did great considering the heat and distance (maybe a mile) that we went. It would be a lot of fun to go back and spend more time there and do some more exploring. In a few years, I know the kids will love it. From there it was just a lot more driving. We got into Vegas around 10.

I did forget to add to the packing list that we brought one of our juicers. Today Ben and I decided to get back on the healthy bandwagon. We had mean green juice for lunch. My body was very excited to have some real food.

Now we just need to figure out where we are going to call home.

On the Road to Nevada Part I

We are on our first family road trip. Given the ages of our children, we decided to take things slowly. So, we are taking a week to get to Henderson, NV. Right now we are in Denver. This is how we got here.

We packed up and hit the trail Thursday. We meant to leave by 10. We left at 11. And had errands to run. So, we didn't actually get going until close to noon. But on the bright side, we were pretty well organized and fit with room to spare in the car. We made it to Des Moines without any stops. We checked into our hotel and then we were off to dinner with some friends, Chuck and Michelle. We ended up hanging out with them until after 10. Not too surprising, but what was surprising was that our kids were awake for the whole visit!

Friday Ben was going to hang out with another friend. But we decided that we wanted to hang with Chuck and Michelle some more, so we did that instead (it did help that he hadn't heard back from the other guy). While they worked, we found a nice park (Crossroads) and played there and had a picnic lunch. Then we headed off to their place for dinner. Around 8:30 we said our goodbyes and headed off to Omaha.

Saturday morning we woke up, had breakfast and headed to my cousin's house. He has his wife and new baby live just off of I-80. Unfortunately, his wife had to work. But it was nice to chat with Ryan for a while. Then it was off for our longest drive. Across Nebraska. What fun. Insanity hit just before North Platte. Ben and Adelyn were singing some made-up silly song and we were all laughing at nothing. We stopped for gas and a few necessities. Then continued on to our destination - Scottsbluff. I was so excited to see Chimney Rock. I loved playing Oregon Trail as a kid and Chimney Rock was in that game. On our way to our hotel we passed it. So we stopped. The visitor center was closed for the day, but we were still able to drive up to the scenic overlook. It was everything I was expecting. For dinner I made us go to Runza's. My friend Heather, is from Nebraska and she had me go there a few years back. I thought it was good. I'm not sure if he appreciated the cultural experience.

Sunday we were planning on going to Chimney Rock. But since we had already seen it, we decided to check out Carhenge up in Alliance. The kids were entertained. It was interesting. Before hitting the trail again, we stopped at Scotty's for lunch. The sign we saw outside of town said that it was the best burger in town. And it was pretty good. Then back on the road. We got to Denver around 5:30. We got to our room and then met up with our friend Chris and his three kids. We ended up in Golden, CO. There is a very nice walk along the river that ended in a nice park. The kids had fun along the way and then, of course at the park. Then it was pizza dinner.

I guess that's about it for now.

Packed
One suitcase for our trip with clothes, toiletries
Two backpacks with laptops, chargers, etc.
Two kid backpacks with books and toys
One roller bag with camera gear
Pack n' Play
One roller bag of toys
One cooler
One box of snacks
One box with plates, silverware, and other picnic goods

Funny Gas Stations
Pit n' Spit
Loaf and Jug

I'm an Addict

I have always known that I have a major sweet tooth. Brownie for breakfast? Sure. Ice cream for dinner. You bet. But this past weekend while Ben was away, I realized that I'm kind of addicted to sugar. Granted, I was very tired and that makes it worse. But, I was still having a hard time convincing myself to read more of my book instead of finishing off the carrot cake. It was then that I realized that I might have a problem. I hate to call it an addiction, because for the most part, it isn't. Not really. I can go without goodies for days and not really think about it. And I know that there are plenty out there that truly are addicted to something. And I know that they struggle. So, maybe I shouldn't call myself an addict. But anyway.

I decided to go on a sugar fast. Absolutely no sugar. Which does mean no bread or peanut butter. Or strangely, a lot of our crackers. But I can eat fruit. And veggies. And other stuff that is actually good for me. I had decided to try this for a week. But then Ben's birthday came. I made it 33 hours before I had a giant cookie and ice cream with him and the kids. But now I'm back on track. Here's what I've had today so far:

Eggs
Bacon
Orange Juice
Carrots
Green Beans
Fritos
Mean Green Juice
Saltines

I'm eyeing up the peaches, but we're about ready to go to the farmer's market, so maybe that will be dessert tonight.

CSA Week 4

We went out of town last weekend, so we had a friend pick up our CSA. This time we lettuce, eggs and strawberries! The berries were good, but since they had been sitting in our fridge the whole weekend, I ended up freezing most of them so they wouldn't go bad.

I did forget to mention that Week 3 we got beets too. Haven't done anything with them yet. I'm looking forward to trying out a recipe that I found. Just have to figure out when!

Recipe Reviews and CSA Week 3

It occurred to me after my last post about CSA goodies, that I probably should have let you know what I thought of the recipes I tried. So here goes.

Rhubarb Pickles
This recipe I got from a magazine. It was ok. A little heavy on the cloves for my taste. But it was a nice change of pace from the usual rhubarb goodies. If you want the recipe let me know and I will get it for you.

Rhubarb Crisp
I LOVED this recipe. A lot of sugar, so of course it's good. :) I liked that there was the crumb topping on the top and bottom. I made this recipe again this week with our newest batch of rhubarb. This time I used coconut oil instead of butter and added 3 T of ground flax seed. I know that doesn't make this a health food, but it doesn't hurt to sneak in some good stuff.

Lettuce Wraps
This was ok. I didn't have mushrooms or water chestnuts,  but I doubt that made a huge difference. It tasted basically like teriyaki. Not exactly what I was going for. But it was fine.

This week we got lettuce, rhubarb and eggs for our CSA. I miss the asparagus already. As I mentioned, I used the rhubarb in another crisp. The lettuce... well, I've been meaning to eat it, but it's just been pretty busy around here since we got it. But I will be eating it soon. I'm sure just as salad. But if you have a tasty recipe that you would like me to try out, I would be more than happy too.

Chicago, Maverick Style

This past May we went to Chicago for a Maverick event. It was awesome that it was in Chicago because I got to spend some time with my sister while Ben attended the work sessions. I joined in on the fun stuff though.

Wednesday night was so much fun! And we almost missed it. Ben met my mom, the kids and I at the airport and went with us to my sister's. We left on the train to head back into the city. Well, there were signal issues on the tracks. The engineers had to manually change the switches, which took a long time. It started to get frustrating. We were literally 200m from the station, but we couldn't get off. And by the time we got to the station we had to RUN to the hotel to make the event. Luckily it was one where we were supposed to wear comfortable clothes. So glad we made it! It was a roller derby event. And since it was Mavericks, it was us doing the derby. We spent some time doing drills and learning how to safely fall and stop. Then we split into teams and had a few rounds. So much fun! I would almost think about joining a team. Almost.

Thursday morning I headed back on the train to my sister's to spend the day with her and Asher and my kids. I had a fun time with them. After dinner, Krys brought me to the station so I could head back into the city for some more Maverick fun. As we were approaching the station, I saw that the arms were down. Uh-oh. So I raced from the car, ran around the arms, raced towards the station, tore open the doors to the train and launched myself inside just as the train started to leave the station. Talk about excitement! But I made it.

Thursday night we were instructed to show up in costume. Usually there is a theme. Not this time. It seemed like you could dress up like anything. When we were dressed up (me in a school girl costume and Ben as a coach) we headed down to the lobby. And there the theme was revealed - zombies! They had hired make-up artists to come and make us all into zombies. Then we hit the town. It was so much fun! A little freaky, but fun.

Friday we had a lake tour and then went and played whirly ball. Another fun day. I love Maverick trips.

CSA Fun Weeks 1 & 2

For years we have been saying it. Now we're actually doing it. This year we have joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). We picked one that had a pickup at our local Farmer's Market. Not only is that close to us, it will also help us to visit the market weekly.

This year has been a slow start for farmers here in MN. Therefore, our CSA boxes have been pretty light so far. But it has been yummy! Both weeks we have gotten asparagus, eggs, rhubarb, and lettuces.

Here's what I've made with our goodies:
Rhubarb pickles
Rhubarb Crisp
Lettuce Wraps

Asparagus and eggs we have just eaten as usual.