Jim and April's Roadtrips

We are in Kansas City.  We made pretty good time  we stopped in St. Louis for a quick lunch at Banana’s Barbecue.  We hadn’t heard of them before and thought it was local, but it is a chain. According to their website they have multiple locations around Missouri and there’re even some in Evansville and Paducah.  I’d recommend them which is more than I can say for our current hotel.

It’s using the LaQuinta  name, but it definitely isn’t up to their usual standards.  The bathroom is cramped and the tub is stained.  I haven’t been able to access their WIFI although they claim it’s just a matter of opening the browser and accepting their terms.  I finally gave up on theirs and connected thru my hotspot.  They presented a disclaimer saying they just recently acquired the property and plan to improve it, so we’ll give them the benefit of the doubt this time. 

Jim is out looking for trains.  I brought the Roku from the bedroom and hooked it up.  I had to use my hotspot for it too.  They didn’t have Pandora on their menu, so I’ve added it.  When I opened it, it automatically pulled up my account and all my stations.  Nice that something worked well.  When Jim gets back, we’ll be watching the first episode of the new Outlander season.

Tomorrow we head out to Wyoming.  Our next reservation is in Cheyenne.  It’s another La Quinta, but I’m pretty sure it’s a normal one.  We’ll see.  We plan to lunch in Kearney Nebraska.  We’ll be trying to find a local place.  We usually do that for lunch.  For dinner we just eat at whatever is close to the hotel.  Today it was a Denny’s so we had breakfast for dinner.  It’s nice to be on the road again.

One week to go.  I plan to pick up suntan lotion and insect repellant on Monday along with any other last minute items.  Jim is working on making adaptations to the back of the vehicle so that we can fit everything.  I’ll do laundry next Tuesday or Wednesday and pack on Thursday.  

I’m picking Elaina up from her horse-riding camp in Evansville all week except Thursday when Jim will take over because I have a doctor’s appointment.  I may start packing on Wednesday, just to be sure of getting it done in plenty of time.

We’ll leave early on Friday morning and have lunch in St. Louis.  Our first overnight is in Kansas City, a train center.  I’m sure Jim wants to get there before dark, so we won’t be making a lot of stops along the way.  Hopefully, we’ll find time to post as we go.  Jim says every day.  I’m doubtful we’ll make that, but maybe every other day.

Well, we’ve revised the route, twice.  I think it’s all planned now.  We won’t spend much time in Seattle itself, although I am excited to see the  Chihuly Garden and Glass museum.  Mostly though we’ll just use it as a convenient spot to sleep while we range out.  Mt. Rainier one day, Olympic National Park & Rialto Beach on another, then off to Spokane by way of North Cascades National Park, then down to Yellowstone, an overnight stay with my grandson and his family in South Dakota, and, finally, Omaha because Jim says it’s a big railroad center.

Of course, he’ll be looking for trains all along the route.  A couple of places that have steam trains are disappointingly not active on the days we’ll be in their area.  He’ll probably just have to settle for diesels.

I’ve printed out maps for the points of interest and put together a file folder to take along.  I’m pretty sure I’ve got the packing list completed.  It looks like a lot of stuff, but we’ve done this before and I’m pretty sure I can fit it all into three bags. My big suitcase holds most of my clothes and stays in the car except for Seattle itself.  I’ll use the small suitcase to pack daily stuff and take it into the hotels overnight.  I’ll have a carry-on type bag for shoes & toiletries.  

I’m really excited about the National Parks.  I’m expecting to get some great new photos for my desktop monitors and Facebook header pictures.