DC to San Fran

Exposing Noah to the Finest Popular Culture

2009-12-23T10:04:00.000-08:00

The Only Way He'll Quiet Down...

2009-12-22T22:37:00.000-08:00

First Bath at Home

2009-11-27T15:29:00.000-08:00

Home From The Hospital

2009-11-25T23:30:00.000-08:00

Little Old Noah

2009-11-25T23:22:00.000-08:00

2009-05-01T06:42:00.000-07:00

Happy Belated Birthday...

2009-02-01T22:20:00.001-08:00

...to Renee who celebrated her (...) birthday this past Wednesday. Sadly, however, she has been under the weather for the past week so the celebration was rather muted. The below picture of the half eaten brownie with the cold medicine in the background sums up the evening quite nicely. Out of respect for Renee there will be no picture posted of the birthday girl.

The last few weeks have been rather low key. Renee started up again with school last week and has been busy finishing her applications for her practicum placement that begins next academic year.

We've also spent the last month seeing new things and people in the city. In other words, we have some semblance of friends! In January we had dinner at the home of a woman in Renee's program, went to a birthday party of another woman from Alliant, and just today watched the Super Bowl with yet another person from school. Renee's clearly doing all of the heavy lifting lately when it comes to our social life.

We've also seen new parts of the area we hadn't checked out before, including Twin Peaks where the views were as good as promised. For the second time we crossed the Golden Gate north to the Marin Headlands where we went for a short hike in the late afternoon on a Sunday. We need to spend some more time there as the scenery was absolutely gorgeous.

Two pictures above taken from the top of Twin Peaks

The above four pictures were taken from the Marin Headlands, Marin County

Christmas, Part Two

2009-01-09T00:03:00.000-08:00

After spending time in New York we were fortunate to spend time with the Lubbers/DePotty crew in Michigan for a week. Just like the Shands the Lubbers family was very good to us during our stay there. Also, Amy and Bryan were nice enough to rearrange their schedules to come home for the second time for Christmas in order to see us. Plus we got to see them one more day than we thought they would. Oh, and they brought their adorable and well-behaved puppy, Sadie. Sadie kept us on our toes to say the least.

Pictures below...

On New Year's Eve we went out for dinner at Boatwerks in Holland, the same place where we had a post-wedding reception last July for friends and family who couldn't make it to the wedding. Just days later we learned they're temporarily closing down until April. Hopefully they'll be able to make it as it's a great restaurant with a wonderful location on the water.

After dinner we made it back to Mom and Dad's just in time to ring in the New Year with Sadie.

Dad, Jeff and Bryan went to the "Born to Play Ball" baseball exhibit at the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids, which displayed old memorabilia and and presentations on the top 5 players at every position over the course of the game. Can you believe they listed Pete Rose as a better player than Rickey Henderson? Unbelievable.

Grandma and Grandpa came over for our late Christmas celebration and had a great time.

Amy C. came all the way from Ann Arbor to catch up with Renee and was also nice enough to spend some time with the Lubbers family before leaving.

And finally, one last picture of Sadie for no good reason.

Christmas, Part One

2009-01-06T23:26:00.000-08:00

After multiple airplane delays we have safely returned from our cross country Christmas tour. The first part took us to upstate New York to celebrate with the Shand family followed by a belated Christmas with the Lubbers crew in Michigan. A wonderful time was had with both families and it was great to finally celebrate Christmas together for the first time as a couple.

Below are some pictures from the first part of the trip in New York. We'll post Michigan pictures sometime after we finally finish unpacking.

Renee's parents waited until we both arrived in New York to decorate the enormous tree. Renee willingly served as Santa's little helper.

Janine's son Evan kept us very amused during his visits (and Renee on her toes while shopping).

No bones were broken while sledding/sleigh-riding. It should be pointed out that Ma Shand seemed more enthusiastic about going than anyone else.

It's not Christmas with the Shands unless you swim in wrapping paper after opening presents.

It's also not Christmas with the Shands without a ridiculously large tree ornament.

Joseph called from Scotland on Christmas making Renee's day.

Porter in one of his few calm(er) moments.

We took a trip to the home of the Orange County Choppers and saw some amazing bikes.

Jeff, Renee and Ma Shand played tourists in New York City on a 62 degree day. Hotspots visited included Times Square, Rockefeller Center, FAO Schwartz, and a horse-drawn carriage ride through Central Park.

Christmas in California

2008-12-14T15:12:00.000-08:00

The holiday season is upon us and sadly we had relatively little time to celebrate in California. With Thanksgiving being later this year and us both flying east later this week our holiday season here was rather brief.

On the plus side we were able to get a Christmas tree just two blocks away. Due to the size of our apartment we had no choice but to get a smaller tree which allowed Jeff to carry it home using one hand, a rather comical sight in itself. As of this writing there has just been a single cat-caused ornament mishap (so far).

We did get a chance to go downtown Saturday night to see the Macy's tree in Union Square. And tonight we'll be seeing A Christmas Carol before Renee flies to New York Monday morning (Jeff heads to New York on Thursday).

And finally, congratulations are in order for the woman of the house because as of this writing she is officially done with her schoolwork for the semester (her final paper needed to be turned in today). Below is a video of her celebrating. Amy C. put it best and made Renee's day when she reminded Renee that she will never be a first semester Ph.D. student again. (That role may be left to Jeff in the future.)

Thanksgiving in Arizona

2008-12-01T21:57:00.000-08:00

By virtue of moving west we now live a mere 770 miles from our closest relatives - Renee's Aunt Camille and cousins Anthony and Ashley in Phoenix. So naturally we decided to visit said relatives. After braving a downed power line on a major highway, a monsoon in Arizona, lighting storms in the desert, and rush hour traffic outside Los Angeles on the day before Thanksgiving, we made it to Arizona.

In order to survive many many hours together in the car, many steps were taken to keep ourselves amused, including completing multiple crossword puzzles, listening to our wedding reception music (including "I Love Rock 'n Roll" for loyal reader Janine) and listening to the Glenn Beck Radio Show to balance out our NPR-heavy radio listening habits. We were particularly enlightened by one caller's suggestion to aid the economy by eliminating all debt. Simple as that, right?

After sleeping in on Thanksgiving (which led to Renee missing the Macy's parade for the first time) we went for a run in the Arizona sun, during which we were confronted with the smell of barbecued turkey and chicken, not something either of us are used to in our midwest/east coast experiences. This was followed by a soak in Camille's hot tub, also a Thanksgiving first for us both.

Once Thanksgiving afternoon came and the Lions had lost to the Titans before our breakfast cereal was digested it came time for the meal. Anthony and Ashley cooked an absolutely wonderful Thanksgiving dinner and entertained us for many hours. Both Jeff and Renee became Rock Band experts and are currently taking offers from music labels across the country.

Additionally, Anthony and Ashley recently got two kittens - Gizmo and Lexi. Needless to say they kept us amused the whole weekend. As can be seen below they took a particular liking to Renee.

Even when Thanksgiving was over the fun was only beginning. In addition to starring in a Rock Band of one Jeff kept very amused with Aunt Camille's actual drumset (he clearly plays best with a cutoff t-shirt) and Anthony and Ashley's ping pong table (a spirited doubles match was enjoyed by all). We also starred in Anthony's soon-to-debut movie on YouTube.

Before leaving on Sunday morning we were able to enjoy some authentic New York pizza (yes, in Arizona) and also watch home videos of Renee and Anthony's Grandma on Saturday night. We made a rule on the drive home to stay at least 150 miles away from Los Angeles, which necessitated a trip through the Mohave desert. At the one gas station within a 100 mile radius we saw a sign that read (paraphrased):

This is a business

We do not choose to be here

It costs a fortune to operate in the middle of nowhere

You choose to be customers

Please do not complain to our workers

Does this mean there are government-subsidized gas stations? Does anyone know if these actually exist? Plus, at this station we encountered the most unfriendly worker we're seen in quite some time. Although we figured that if we had to drive 100 miles round trip to go to work at a gas station where apparently customers complain all the time we'd be grumpy as well.

But in the end we had a great time in Arizona and are very grateful to our Phoenix hosts.

Trail Run

2008-11-03T23:07:00.000-08:00

One of the great things about San Francisco is that we're very close to so many different outdoor settings. Yesterday we went for a trail run for the first time in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area north of the Golden Gate Bridge in the North Peninsula. It didn't take us more than 20 minutes to get there by car but it felt like a different world compared to our busy city life.

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-01T10:19:00.000-07:00

What more appropriate way is there to celebrate Halloween than by carving an Old English D into a pumpkin? Happy Halloween, everyone.

p.s. - Go Tigers

And they are still alive...

2008-10-25T07:47:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Amy DePotty!

Looks like it's been WAY too long since we last posted. We'll try to make sure that doesn't happen again. We don't want to lose our one semi-loyal reader (Sutter).

Much has happened since our last online update. Renee is a full-blown student and is very busy with school while enjoying it at the same time. Jeff's job is going well - it was nice to see my company (Knowledge Networks) get some nationally televised recognition by carrying out polls for CBS following all four of the Presidential/Vice Presidential debates (here's a link to the online story).

After having virtually no social commitments for the first couple months that we lived here (and we certainly had no complaints about that) we've been able to see more of our family and friends in the last two months. In mid-September we had a great time in Roanoke, VA for Pete (Renee's brother) and Laura's wedding, despite getting stranded in Washington, DC on the trip back home. It was a beautiful wedding and we had a wonderful time seeing everyone there.

We've also been trying to see more of the city. We rode a cable car a few weeks ago. It was at night so we didn't get a lot of good pictures. But we were at least able to hang off the edge and channel our inner tourist. And last night during a run we visited Coit Tower, which just so happens to be celebrating its 75th anniversary today.

Speaking of channeling our inner tourist we had a wonderful time with Mom and (pre-knee surgery) Dad Lubbers a couple of weeks ago. As cliché as a double-decker bus tour sounds it really is a lot of fun and offers views of the city we've never seen before.

We had a great time with Mom and Dad as it was an excuse for Renee and I to learn more about our city and see places we had yet to visit. And who can visit San Francisco without talking about the sea lions they saw?

Overall we had a great visit with Mom and Dad Lubbers and we wish Dad the best of luck in his recovery from surgery so that the next time he's here he can join us on the famous hills during a training run.

And finally I just like this picture despite having no good reason to post it.

100 Days

2008-09-01T23:08:00.000-07:00

We hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day weekend. Although we didn't see any out of place wildlife this weekend, we spent the afternoon and evening at Pacifica State Beach about a half hour south of our apartment. It's an absolutely beautiful beach that's filled with surfers. We were there from late afternoon to sunset to allow time for Renee to get some schoolwork done.

Pacifica Beach

Labor Day sunset - the official end of summer

On Saturday we went to an Oakland Athletics/Minnesota Twins game in Oakland. Although it was essentially a meaningless game for Oakland, which is out of the playoff hunt, we were surprised at how into the game the fans were, maybe moreso than the Giants-Dodgers game we went to which is supposed to be a big rivalry. (And just for the record, there were two other people in our section alone keeping score. So yours truly was not the only one).

Saturday night was also Fireworks Night, which meant that we got to watch a very impressive fireworks display set to music from the outfield grass.

Finally, we just realized that today was our 100 day anniversary, and that we have been living in San Francisco for 52 days and sleeping in the same place every night. For the preceeding 48 days we managed to stay in 13 locations in 11 different states. Needless to say we've been enjoying the continuity.

Video of the Day

2008-08-24T18:35:00.000-07:00

While hanging out in the East Bay today (after going to church in a town called Kensington, just north of Berkeley) we pulled into a side street with what must have been million dollar homes to simply turn around. Instead we encountered a scene we thought was much more likely in west Michigan or upstate New York. But apparently we can't get away from deer even out in the hills of Northern California.

Gas Prices

2008-08-16T10:01:00.000-07:00

Gas prices decline for 30th straight day, 35 cents total - http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/16/news/economy/fuel/index.htm

So basically what this means is that we picked the absolute worst time frame in our nation's history to go on a road trip. That's superb.

On a completely unrelated note congratulations to Renee for scoring a 76 point word in Scrabble last night, a word ("sequoias") which also managed to use all seven letters on her tray.

Baseball Fever

2008-08-10T09:50:00.000-07:00

We have been in the city for almost a month now and it should be no surprise that the short list of things we have done so far includes attending a Giants baseball game.

This year the Giants are celebrating their 50th anniversary of baseball in San Francisco and before the game they had a ceremony honoring a variety of former outfielders for the team. We knew ahead of time that we would see Willie Mays however we did not know until we got there that Barry Bonds would be there as well, making his first (we think) return to AT&T Park since playing his last game with the Giants last year. Both Mays and Bonds spoke briefly to the adoring crowd before the game.

Jeff was at AT&T Park once before but it was Renee's first trip to the park. It is an absolutely beautiful stadium with views of the Bay Bridge and downtown San Francisco from the concourse areas. Renee likes it because of the scenery. Jeff likes it because it was financed with relatively little taxpayer money. Although we didn't try most of it they offer a wide variety of traditional ballpark food and less-than-traditional food (sushi anyone?).

Fortunately for us the Giants were playing their cross-state rivals (the Los Angeles Dodgers) meaning we were going to witness whether or not west coast rivalries match the ferocity of east coast rivalries.

We have to admit that we were a bit disappointed in the intensity throughout the ballpark during the game. While there were certainly many Dodgers fans throughout the park (especially in our cheap - relatively speaking - seats) the game just didn't seem to boil the blood of fans such as we have both personally witnessed at Yankees-Red Sox games. Whereas both Giants and Dodgers fans would start chants such that would change letters around in certain words to avoid using actual profanity, Yankees and Red Sox fans seem to make up chants for the sole purpose of including as much profanity as possible.

There are a couple of possible explanations for this. First, the Giants aren't any good this year so the teams aren't exactly fighting for playoff position. However, despite the fact that the Dodgers aren't all that great either they are in the playoff hunt, which means that every game should be meaningful for them. Given that the game was important for at least one team we expected to feel a bit more electricity than we did.

We have a second theory as well. Our second theory is that fans (at baseball games at least) are less likely to spew hatred towards each other when they are too busy blowing on their hands to stay warm. The one thing the two of us are having a difficult time getting used to is the relatively cold summer weather in San Francisco. While we don't miss the upper 90's of Washington, DC we are a bit thrown off by the lack of summer heat. And at 9pm when the sun is down it gets downright cold in San Francisco. Consequently, the most popular stadium vendor at the game wasn't a beer guy (we don't even think we saw one) but the hot chocolate guy pictured below, who multiple times could not satisfy the demand in our section alone and had to leave to refill on both cups and hot chocolate.

Ed. note: If anyone leaves a comment with the word or even referencing steroids the comments section will be turned off until further notice

Barry Bonds and Willie Mays during the pregame ceremony

Barry Bonds addresses the crowd

The view from our Uecker seats

Gorgeous views throughout the ballpark

I'm not positive but I'm pretty sure this is the only ballpark where you can watch a game while sitting in a cable car

Renee at the stadium with the Bay Bridge in the background

Probably the most popular guy in the stadium after 8:30 p.m.

Trendsetting

2008-08-02T11:07:00.001-07:00

We're trendsetters!

http://ourjourneywest.blogspot.com/

Leaving The City

2008-07-26T23:43:00.000-07:00

After being in the city for all of two weeks we were faced with our first weekend during which we had nothing that had to be done. So naturally we left town for the day and headed south for the historic beachtown of Santa Cruz (for those of you who loved either of the Corey's you might remember it from The Lost Boys).

We decided to get in our semi-registered car and head down the Pacific Coast on Route 1 towards Santa Cruz. Along the way Jeff found a new sport to take up - sail surfing (see picture below). He should be an expert by the next blog update.

When we got to Santa Cruz we went to the 100 year old beach boardwalk and made plans to come back and ride the rides. In the meantime Jeff won a stuffed monkey in the toss-a-wiffle-ball-in-a-basket game. We enjoyed lounging on a blanket on the beach for awhile but didn't see a water sunset as the Santa Cruz beach is one of the few places on the coast in Northern California that doesn't face west.

In other news Jeff began taking public transportation to work this past week with mixed results. He's considering taking the bus and train still but instead of taking a shuttle bus riding his bike the three miles from the train station to work. Does anyone reading this know someone who takes a bus, train and bicycle as part of his or her commute? Well, you might soon.

Settling In Some More

2008-07-22T22:42:00.000-07:00

The final tally is in...and the Jeff and Renee gas-guzzling entourage of a Budget Truck, car and car carrier and a truck full of wedding gifts (oh, and all of our existing possessions) managed to suck up a grand total of 356 gallons of gasoline from Washington, DC to San Francisco. The final miles per gallon tally was about 10.3. We won't post the actual amount spent on gasoline but you can do the rough calculations. Essentially current gasoline prices can't be blamed on price-gouging or increased demand from China and India or environmental standards or even Al Gore. You can blame the two of us for sucking our country's resources dry.

In more uplifting news we managed to not break a single item on our whole trip. That is one fact we are especially proud of.

We posted a couple more pictures of our apartment below, because who hasn't been dying to know what our bathroom looks like?

There's also a picture of the building where Jeff works. His job is with a research firm called Knowledge Networks which is headquartered in Menlo Park, California but also has offices in 6 other cities. His position is working as a Research Analyst with the Government and Academic Group of the company. What that means is that government and academic clients hire Knowledge Networks to conduct surveys for them on the topic that they are interested in. The Research Analyst then assists in tabulating and analyzing survey data and assisting with the over implementation of the research. Here's a link for the actual position. A number of the employees in the group have backgrounds in survey research while others have backgrounds in the social sciences.

Anyone still with us?

The downside of the job is the commute - roughly an hour each way as Menlo Park is about 30 miles south of San Francisco. Jeff has become a fan of NPR in the last week and as a first-time automobile commuter has learned that he always needs to have something to eat and/or drink with him in the car. Trying out public transportation to and from work is next on the docket so hold on to your seats while you anxiously await that blog update.

The outside of our building. It's along side a busy road but we have an inner unit so it's actually rather quiet. The view, however, leaves something to be desired.

Our bathroom. No, there isn't a mirror above the sink. It's a bit weird.

Knowledge Networks, Menlo Park, California

Settling In

2008-07-19T23:21:00.000-07:00

For anyone still looking at this we are settling into our new apartment and neighborhood in San Francisco. We have some pictures below of our nearing-completion apartment. If you’re wondering if it’s really as small as the pictures show…it is. But it’s a cozy place and we feel we’ve done a great job putting it together so far (let’s stop pretending– this is Jeff saying that Renee’s done a great job putting it together).

As you can see from some of the pictures below you may wonder if we’re actually just hiding all of our boxes while taking pictures of the other room. The kid who helped move us in and his Dad laughed at us as well when we thought we could fit everything. However, we proved them both wrong and have managed to create a good living space.

We’ve gone running a few times and have discovered a couple of routes (mostly along the water with spectacular views) that minimize the time spent up and down the famous hills. We definitely find ourselves more winded running here than we did in Washington, DC.

We didn’t even realize that right around the corner from our building there is a great neighborhood with lots of coffee shops (including one we already claim as our own that we’re writing from at the moment) and other independent shops. Renee is in heaven because there are organic food markets, vintage clothing and book stores, and a few antique shops. Not to mention, the nail salon that offers a 20 dollar mani/pedi combo that Jeff spotted on his way home from work.

Speaking of work, Jeff is officially a member of the professional work force again. He even has a business card. Renee registered for classes and met a few people at school so we now have some “friends” or people whose faces we recognize and names we know.

We enjoyed some quality time at the California DMV this morning and while we’re not completely done we both safely passed our written driving tests without studying (yes, we really had to take one). After the DMV we experienced Golden Gate Park for the first time and went to the Japanese Tea Garden and the Rose Garden – both were very beautiful.

Send Help

Renee is thoroughly enjoying her new All-Clad

Living Room

Kitchen

Eating area

View of the city from the Bay Bridge while arriving

We had to do the obligatory trip down Lombard Street during our first week.

Renee outside Alliant University where she will be starting school in August

Jeff enjoying a slice of pizza for one of his first San Francisco meals.

Photos from the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park

A bonzi tree, Amy DePotty's favorite plant

A rose from the Rose Garden in Golden Gate Park

San Francisco

2008-07-15T18:13:00.000-07:00

Is anyone still looking at this? Well if you are, we made it!

We arrived Saturday afternoon and moved in all evening. The biggest hiccup was having to drive through San Francisco with the Budget truck (and car in tow) after the first location wouldn't let me leave only the car carrier. However with the help of a teenager in the building we moved all of our stuff in Saturday night by 11pm.

Since then we've been unpacking and trying to give our apartment some shape. When we were done putting all of the boxes in we didn't think we'd fit everything. However it looks like we'll only need to get rid of a shelf and a coffee table (and maybe a stereo...oh, and maybe a couple of mirrors - more than we realized) in order to call it a living space.

Monday and Tuesday were spent, among other things, going to Renee's school, getting new Social Security cards (to reflect our new last name), grocery shopping, and a variety of other little tasks that have managed to take up 2 days. Jeff starts his job on Wednesday as well.

We'll put more moving in pictures (and maybe some road trip pictures as well) up soon and will put occasional updates on here to let everyone know what we're doing in The City.

Western States

2008-07-12T01:35:00.001-07:00

While most other days of the trip could have been considered sightseeing days, Friday was definitely a travel day. We traveled about 700 miles from Blackfoot, Idaho through Utah to Reno, Nevada, about 12 miles west of California and about 220 miles from San Francisco. As you can see from the pictures below the highlights were relatively few.

The children (cats) were again wonderful travelers and we've been amazed at how well they've held up the whole trip. For the second night in a row by the time we got to our hotel room and got the litter box set up one immediately started using it while the other was patiently waiting right next to it ready to hop right in.

We need to make it to our leasing office by 4pm Saturday in order to get our keys - if we don't make it there in time we can't get in our apartment until Monday. So if there's another update tomorrow it's a bad sign - it means we're stuck in a motel outside San Francisco with all of our possessions still in the truck.

Also, Jeff will be starting his job on Wednesday so we have a little more time to get settled. We'll post pictures of the new place when we can.

3,000 miles worth of bugs

Nevada sunset

Renee with the Great Salt Lake in the background

Bonnie and Tiger only get along when they're sleeping

Reno, Nevada

We gambled away all of $1.50 at this lovely gas station casino

White Utah Dessert

Beach of the Great Salt Lake

A shot from our fly-by viewing of Salt Lake City

Yellowstone

2008-07-11T08:51:00.000-07:00

Thursday, July 10

If anyone would care to leave comments on our blog we have now changed the settings so that you should be able to easily do so. Thank you to Cristin for alerting us of our incompetency.

Before continuing to travel on Thursday we found out that Jeff was told by his future boss that he could start his new job a little later than the originally planned start date of Monday (July 14). As a result Thursday was a bit more of a leisurely day than originally thought and as a result we got to spend almost all of the day in Cody, Wyoming or in Yellowstone.

We started the day with a run in Cody, Wyoming. Judging by the looks we got from some of the locals they may not see all that many runners through the town. We then packed up and walked around town for a little bit. On the way out of town we visited the Buffalo Bill Dam which provided some great views of the area.

We coaxed our truck up the hills and a little past noon made it to Yellowstone National Park, the first national park in the country. We went in from the East entrance and through the day made a three quarters circle around the lower loop. The first part of our drive provided excellent shots of Yellowstone Lake, which we learned is the largest freshwater lake over higher than 7,000 feet in North America (the actual elevation is 7,732).

We then drove about 16 miles through the Hayden Valley, which is one of the areas where wildlife is most prominent. Early during our stay in the park Renee was upset when we were unable to pull over to the side of the road to view buffalo due to the size of our vehicle. An hour later when we passed another viewing of buffalo and I asked if we should stop Renee said, “Nah, they’re just buffalo.” All day long we were hoping for a bear viewing but we learned they’re most likely to be seen in the early morning or later in the evening.

Later we saw more of what are called Yellowstone’s hydrothermal features on the west side of the park, including hot springs, fumaroles, mudpots and geysers. Our Yellowstone stay concluded with a viewing of Old Faithful (of course) and we headed out of the park toward Montana and Idaho. We ended up staying overnight in Blackfoot, Idaho.

Thursday’s Quotes

“We’re not as good at the state capital game as we used to be in 5th grade.” (Jeff)

(After entering Idaho) “Where are all the potatoes?” (Renee)

“If you seek a bison, look about you.” (Renee)

(Renee talking to Tiger after he jumps on her lap and becomes generally needy in Yellowstone) “Buddy, you’re ruining mommy’s viewing pleasure.”

(After getting tacos at Taco John’s) “This is more grease than I bargained for at 11am.” (Jeff)

Random Observations

The Family Dollar store in Cody, Wyoming sells bear spray. What is that? (We have since learned that bear spray is essentially pepper spray. It doesn’t exactly work the same as, say, bug spray.)

For those of you who remember not going to JC Penney to order merchandise and instead going to a JC Penney Catalog Store to do so, rest assured that those stores in fact still exist. At least one does in Cody.

In Cody there’s a composting toilet system that’s waterless. It’s a little weird but apparently very environmentally friendly.

Commercials for butchers in Idaho show in rather graphic detail ground beef going from a hanging slab of cattle to a nice round hamburger patty. Maybe that helps sell beef in Idaho. We frankly found it disgusting.

Tiger (the fat one) and Bonnie (the less fat one) enjoying the Rocky Mountains outside of Cody.

Tiger and Bonnie enjoying Yellowstone Park.

The above 4 pictures are in Cody, Wyoming.

The above 3 pictures are from atop the Buffalo Bill Dam.

Yellowstone! (More details on the above pictures to come.)

Wyoming

2008-07-10T07:04:00.001-07:00

Wednesday, July 9

Wednesday started in the Black Hill Mountains and ended in the land of Buffalo Bill. We enjoyed sightseeing along the route and a favorite detour was visiting Devil's Tower. Devil's Tower, also known as Bear Lodge, is a large stone structure (volcanic neck) that rises 1,267 feet in the air (see pictures below). It was formed by intrusions of igneous rock and is considered sacred ground for many American Indians. The Native American author M. Scott Momaday mused, "There are things in nature that engender an awful quiet in the hear of man..." and Devil's Tower is one. Renee enjoyed some quiet reflection time while the kid in Jeff wanted to stay there all day and jump around the rocks but the critters in the car (who we should say have been excellent traveling companions so far) would have been none too happy with that.

Wyoming is an amazing sight to see. We were overwhelmed by the richness of the landscape from the rolling prairies to the soaring mountains. We saw many oil refiners, more cattle than we've ever seen and very, very long coal-carrying trains. Wyoming can also a bit scary at night when driving on a two lane road. We spent a couple hundred miles on the the interstate and near Buffalo, Wyoming got on Route 14 to heard towards Cody, WY where we stayed last night. The first part of Route 14 was gorgeous - in about 15 miles we climbed about 4,000 feet through the Big Horn Mountains. The truck didn't seem to like us for it but made it in the end. Hopefully it behaves similarly when we head to Yellowstone later today.

We also discovered we're not the first people to spend 90 seconds looking at a map of Yellowstone, see that Cody is the closest town to the East and say, "Oh, we'll just stay at Cody." It took pulling into about 6 motels (which is none too easy with the truck) to find a place that had room and would accept cats that was less than $200. In the spirit of Dave Lubbers when the Super 8 told me their price I told the kind man that I had to go check with my wife. I didn't check with my wife. I left.

We also discovered that the truck has kind of turned into our child as we're finding ourselves taking an increasing number of pictures of it with scenery in the background. Maybe if the cats would sit still we'd take more pictures of them.

Jeff and his truck

Prairie Dog near Devil's Tower

Renee doing the pencil pose at Devil's Tower

Our baby (the speck on the left is Renee)

Renee: "I think I'm going to like Wyoming"

Lots and lots of cattle

Renee didn't want to stop here

South Dakota

2008-07-09T09:52:00.000-07:00

States Traversed
District of Columbia
Maryland
Pennsylvania
Ohio
Michigan
Indiana
Illinois
Iowa
Nebraska (brief stop)
South Dakota

Tuesday, July 8

Tuesday was spent entirely in South Dakota, beginning in Mitchell on the east side of the state and ending in Spearfish, 12 miles east of the Wyoming border.

After a couple hours of driving we took the scenic drive through the Badlands National Park. It was raining for the first half of our drive but the sun quickly came out and made for some beautiful scenery.

Following the Badlands we did the obligatory tourist stop at Wall Drug. Wall Drug inexplicably advertises itself well over 200 miles away on highway 90 and the expectation after seeing approximately 80 billboards is that you will walk into the greatest drug store on earth. Well, as probably should have been expected it was less than overwhelming. But on the plus side we got a free bumper sticker out of the deal so all was well.

Our poor Budget truck then begrudgingly took us up the mountains to Mt. Rushmore. We arrived just in time for the evening ceremony followed by the lighting of the mountain. We were surprised at the number of people still there at 9pm at night. Given our later arrival we did not get a chance to see all of the exhibits or see everything they had to offer there. However we saw the mountain lit up at night which was a great experience.

Our work in finding a hotel for the night was fortunately less eventful than the night before. Today we’re heading into Wyoming and planning to stay in Cody, just east of Yellowstone.

Jeff and his hay

Our poor truck

Badlands

Mary Poppins made an appearance at the Badlands

Hi Bryan (and Amy)! We made it to Wall Drug!

Wall Drug billboard #84 of 136

Mt. Rushmore before the lighting ceremony

Mt. Rushmore after the lighting ceremony

If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you

Quotes Heard So Far

"You ruined the road trip!"

"If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you."

"This is the most fun!"

"Meow"

Random Observations

- In Iowa and South Dakota, Super Unleaded (with ethanol) is cheaper than regular unleaded.

- We have not seen a Starbucks in about 6 states

- We perhaps over-idealistically thought that the cowboys of South Dakota would be rounding up the cattle on horses. Instead they were on quads.

Our First Update

2008-07-08T07:50:00.000-07:00

Our Home

Despite a late start in getting our road trip blog going, we’d like to keep everyone updated with our travels during our trip out west. Loaded with a budget truck, car carrier and two apprehensive cats we’re hoping to make the most of our cross country road trip as we resettle in California.

Monday, July 7

We started the day in Illinois, ended in South Dakota, briefly detoured through Nebraska and spent the rest of the day in Iowa. We crossed the Mississippi in the early afternoon and circled Omaha later in the day with a certain Counting Crows song playing in the background. We must not forget to mention stumbling upon the Bob Feller museum (Hall of Fame professional baseball player) in Iowa. Jeff was very happy! Renee spotted a sign leading to where we could have seen the bridges of Madison County in Iowa-Renee secretly loved the movie-but decided not to visit for fear of the causing a collapse beneath the weight of our Super Sized budget truck!

We stayed the night in Mitchell, South Dakota and learned two lessons about hotels in the state. First, many don't care for kitties. Second, if you pass a hotel along the highway in the middle of the night, it's best not to be greedy and keep looking, you will not see another one for about 50 miles.

Even in Iowa we can't get away from Holland, Michigan.

American Gothic

Sunday, July 6

Our time in Michigan on Sunday was short as we needed to hit the road. After a trip to church in the morning we finished packing our truck and hit the road mid-afternoon. Traffic in I-94 around Chicago was awful but once we hit I-80 it was smooth sailing the rest of the night until we stayed in Geneseo, Illinois, about 300 miles from home in Michigan.

We have discovered that Tiger is a much better traveler than Bonnie. For the eight hour car ride today Tiger sat in exactly three spots the entire time. Bonnie, meanwhile, couldn’t sit still and was moving around every 5 minutes (or less).

Saturday, July 5

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad (Lubbers)!

Saturday morning we had our post-wedding Michigan reception for friends and family who couldn’t make it to New York for the wedding. Nearly 50 people showed up as we celebrated our marriage for what should be the last time-well until our first anniversary. The reception was at a relatively new restaurant called Boatwerks in Holland, Michigan which overlooks Lake Macatawa and was a beautiful setting for the party.

Following the party we took the boat out onto Lake Macatawa and Lake Michigan. Jeff and Bryan (our brother-in-law) both went water skiing and Renee enjoyed a chilly and brief dip in the lake!!!

Cake from our reception

The Lubbers clan outside of Boatwerks (location of the reception) while overlooking Lake Macatawa

Waterskiing on Lake Michigan with the Holland Lighthouse (Big Red) in the background

Friday, July 4

Happy 4th of July! We loaded up the family SUV and went to the Kentwood 4th of July parade. Bryan displayed his patriotism while waving a mini American flag, even when there was no apparent reason for him to do so. However, he also coaxed out of the parade participants what could amount to about 1,000 or so free donuts so we can’t make fun of him too much. Renee was very proud of the first piece of candy she caught during the parade as well.

Following the parade Grandma and Grandpa came over for lunch. Unsurprisingly the lunch turned into a trip down memory lane, and for whatever reason we decided to pull out Jeff’s 5th grade Halloween costume, which Mom inexplicably still has (presumably to pass on to the grandchildren). Little did we think that when we woke up that day that Jeff would have his picture taken looking like Garfield but you never know what you’re going to get in Michigan.

We also took the boat out in Holland later in the day and Jeff and Bryan jumped into the rather chilly (60 degrees of so) water of Lake Michigan. Following a boat ride we got ice cream and set up on the beach to watch fireworks over the Holland channel.

Recreating the 5th grade Halloween costume

Holland, Michigan

Renee celebrating her first piece of candy during the Kentwood, Michigan 4th of July parade.

Bryan DePotty (brother-in-law) displaying his patriotism for no apparent reason

Bryan and Jeff jumping into a chilly (60 degrees) Lake Michigan

Thursday, July 3

Thursday was a day of relaxation following two days of nothing but driving and packing. After taking our sweet time getting out of the house, we spent the afternoon in Saugatuck, Michigan, a beautiful town on Lake Michigan that we like to call the San Francisco of the Midwest. We climbed Mount Baldhead, which is a dune with 282 steps to the top and which overlooks both the town of Saugatuck to the east and Lake Michigan to the west. It also happens to be the spot where Dad Lubbers proposed to Mom Lubbers quite a few number of years ago.

We took a bunch of pictures on the beach and after eating dinner on the water we drove to Holland where we were able to see some of Jeff’s college friends, including Doug and Blaine, also known as Best Man and soloist from the wedding.

View from the top of Mount Baldhead overlooking Saugatuck, Michigan

On the Saugatuck Beach (Oval Beach)

Wednesday, July 2

Wednesday was a long day of driving from, Pennsylvania to home in Michigan. The drive was smooth through Pennsylvania and Ohio until we hit Michigan where we ended up driving through a nasty storm. Although we avoided the hail we did have to pull over a couple of times. Tiger, however, couldn’t burrow his head into Renee’s body far enough as he was not a big fan of the pounding rain hitting the truck.

A couple of important numbers from the trip:

9 – the number of vehicles we passed the entire trip from Washington, DC to Michigan.
10.5 – our approximate gas mileage for the first leg of the trip. Although this sounds pretty bad considering we’re carting all of our possessions (including our car), this really isn’t too bad.

Tiger was trying to make himself disappear during the Michigan thunderstorm

Tuesday, July 1

Tuesday turned out to be quite the long day. After we picked up our rental truck we spent the next 7 hours loading everything we have into a 16 foot Budget truck. Needless to say it took longer than we thought it would and didn’t end up leaving our now-former home until after 8pm. Bonnie and Tiger were pacing around the increasingly-empty apartment all day wondering what was going on. Unlike the cats, however, Renee was very happy to finally be loaded up and ready to take off in our truck for our BIG adventure west.

We each spent six fun years in Washington, DC (a little over three while knowing one another) but are ready to move on to our next challenge on the west coast.

Finishing packing in DC

Moments before leaving DC - Bonnie has no idea what she is in for