Category: Travel

Eight dollars and sixteen months

We went out to Idaho (15th-21st) with Jacob’s Parents for Erin’s and Adam’s graduation.  We stayed with John and Tinell (she also graduated) Broadbent (they have two very adorable little girls, and stinking smart too).  John may be responsible for our potentially thinking about purchasing a Wii in the future.  We had a lot of fun in Idaho.  Not so much fun the four days in the car to get there and back. The trip was good; physically sitting in a confined space for four days is not so pleasant.

We were very lucky with the driving conditions.  We did see lots of tire marks where cars had gone off in the snow before we got to those points.  We are happy that the weather cleared up for us to make it there and back in safety and with out too much worry.

Now for the fun stats I know everyone is waiting for, knowing that I am mee and I do these things on car trips.  Just remember FOUR days of travel.

December 15th:

I counted up 30 places where cars had slid off the road in the earlier bad weather, not including cars still there.
There were 2 cars still out there, one was a mini-van and looked like it may have collided with a car not there any more.
There were 6 semi-trucks, 3 of which were flipped on the sides.
I just hoped and prayed that everyone was ok.

Watched Indiana Jones:  Raiders of the Lost Arc and Horton Hears a Who ( the newer one, I still prefer the older one).

Now for the Alphabet searches:

Start time 7:50am (finding the words in order)
Avenue Burlington Club Dane Equipped For Golf Hiring It’s Junction Kawasaki Lockridge Melrose National Orlando Peterbilt Quarter Right Stop Travel USDOT VanWyk Wisconsin Xpress (as in U.S. Xpress) Yanke Zooming
Stop time 9:44am

Start time 9:46am (finding the letters on license plates we passed)
668WWA SB3P2M  989CMQ  126TDX  490MLE TF4209  G598107  237SJH 894NIP  790JJA  KTYAHWK  206ALZ  CWM 995TLN 188WDO PS4404  951RQZ  6FBR122  795ESC  896TJY  U1462O  OVF776  435EWX  835RMX 726SYK  013NQZ
Stop time 12:10pm

Start time 12:56pm (finding the words randomly)
Airport Beatrice Class Downtown East Federal Grand Harley Icy Jery’s Knight Lincoln Mack Nation Oak Park Quest Ramada Sale Then University Vehicles Warning Xtra York Zoo
Stop time 4:05pm

We stayed the night in Laramie, Wyoming.  I did not make any lists the next day (the 16th) because I was too busy whining about the lack of data service on the phones as we drove through the rest of Wyoming.  I was also taking lots of pictures of the scenery.  It is beautiful even if there is not a single person who lives there to enjoy it!!!  We decided to stop briefly in Salt Lake City so we could take Jacob’s parents to see the new Conference Center.  It was a fun tour.  And wouldn’t you know it, the first person we see as we are rounding the corner to park the car was Brother Maynard.  He and his wife were serving a mission here in Macomb, and just left in August.  Driving through the mountains was very pretty.

We headed back early the morning of December 20th:

We watched A Christmas Story and Back to the Future I, II, and III

Alphabet searches:

Start time 8:55am (in  order)
And Blackfoot Comfort Diabetes Exit Fort Gas Highway (9:00am) Indian Just (9:19am) Kehoka (10:28am) Lots Miles North Ogden Price Quizno’s Restaurant Subway TechnaGlass Unleaded Villiage Watson Xtreme Yard Zone (no passing zone)
Stop time 12:54pm

Start time 2:42pm (finding the words randomly)
Area Benson Cross Draw Express FedEx Georgia Halliburton Interstate John Keystone Lays Marten Number Only Parking Quick Richfield Sswift Trading Ursus VanPack Winning Xpress (Ad Xpress) Yesco Zone (Auto Zone)
Stop time 5:10pm

We stayed that night in Ogallala, Nebraska.

December 21:

We watched Rigoletto and we stopped about 1:30pm in Omaha for lunch at Jimmy John’s in hopes of meeting up with a couple of friends.  Unfortunately, neither of them were able to make it.  Maybe another time.

Alphabet searches:

Start time 9:22am (finding words randomly)
Ants Bridges Coleman Drive Eagle Food Golden Hershey Inn Join Kearney Lodging Minimum Nebraska Oversized Penske Quit Road Simon’s Transport Utility Veterans Wallace Xterra Yourself Zumstien
Stop time 12:15pm

Start time 12:16pm (finding the letters on license plates we passed)
325OYA 421PAB PCO648  PGD520  8-E2706  18-F585  RGW007  917HLC  200PII  RDJ634  73682K PLW453  XGM676  17-N188  POM896  PVF7849  OYQ634  RCO658  584TTS T865260  HU51693  PV6347  OXW366  PXB761  14-Y427  66055HZ
Stop time 2:40pm

Start time 3:13pm (finding words randomly)
America Buckle City DesMoines Elk Ford Go Horn Immigrant Johnston Kum Limit Malibu Nissan Oldsmobile Pontiac Quality Ram Sunrise Town Up Value Wings Xtra Yukon Zeitner
Stop time 4:33

That is enough of my obsession for now.  Give me a day or two for pictures and holiday reporting.

This is not what I first typed!

So I had this good post about my root canal yesterday, but the internet said “no” so this is what you get.


Later:  I found it!  Originally this was titled “My brain is broken” because I was totally scatter-brained.  And this was the content of the post:

Yesterday I had a root canal performed.  I have curved roots on that tooth, so I had the privilage of going to a specialist.  Meaning it cost more money.  But it is nice to have it done.  He took the pain out of my tooth, and he was not hard on the eyes either.  Can I say that?  I am married, but I think he is too.  Any how, I am on my way to a happier mouth (read: healthier).  In the next couple weeks I will get a crown on that tooth, then I can tell people that I have a “royal” mouth!

In seriousness though, it was not that bad.  I had one done in Chile, and had no problems with it, though I think I must have blocked out some of the recovery experiences of it.  This time I want to remember.  It burns a LOT when the anesthisia wears off.  It is a really odd feeling when half of your ear goes numb.  This morning I felt what they were talking about with the whole “you will hurt for a while,” my jaw aches from being held open for an hour (half hour less than was expected!), it aches more on the left than the right, the proceedure was on the left side.  My head and neck ache too.  Other than that, I feel pretty good.

In this world of instant gratification

It has been a while since I posted a quiz.  I am not giving up on them.  I just have been lacking motivations.  So today I am presenting a quiz, though it is of a different sort.

It is a driving quiz.  There are 13 questions/situations.  Feel free to answer, or to describe any other questions that you think ought to be added to this set.  I know there were 2 more, that I had trouble remembering when I was putting this together.

Please select the multiple choice answers in a comment.

(I have edited this so that each question has separate comment spots.  It occurred to me that by having all of it in one post, it makes it harder to answer, especially if you only want to answer some questions, if at all.)

question two

driving02

The protected left (also called the left turn lane, though in this case it is not only a left turn lane) turn is about to not be protected and the eastbound traffic will get a green light in less than a second:

a-the red car turning right from the south side of the intersection should turn now since the eastbound traffic will need to go soon
b-the red car turning right from the south side of the intersection should wait until the eastbound traffic has gone and it is clear to turn with out cutting off any drivers
c-the red car turning right from the south side of the intersection should roll back and forth trying to hit the sensor to turn his light green

question four

driving04

Driving along you come upon an accident with emergency vehicles flashing lights:

a-slow down and drive around the wreckage, sometimes this means taking a detour route
b-speed up and drive in the next lane to get away from the accident faster to be out of the way
c-slow down as much as possible so that your passenger can strain his neck trying to see what happened and if anyone is hurt, possibly getting footage of the scene to sell to the local news

question five

driving05

Car on the south going straight has arrived at the intersection and a left turning car from the north is approaching:

a-north car should some to a complete stop and after the south car comes to a complete stop and then proceeds through the intersection, then the north car should proceed through the clear intersection
b-north car should speed up a bit so that it can roll through the intersection and turn to get out of the way, allowing the south car to come to a full stop
c-north car should wave his hand motioning to the south car to just roll through the intersection so that the north car does not have to come to a complete stop

question six

driving06

Driving on a street with no sidewalks and there are pedestrians walking on the left side of the road as they see it or there is a cyclist riding in the right lane (and properly wearing a helmet is a must on a bike):

a-the car should keep driving and never slow down, driving as close to the bike as they can, it is especially satisfying if the motorist can manage to run the bike off the road or hit it and hope that the bike will never resurface
b-the car should come up behind the bike or up to the walkers as close as they can and then blast the horn to scare them out of the way, or off the road
c-the car should move over and pass the bike or walkers with plenty of space (there is an Illinois law that states a motorist is to give a cyclist 3 feet of clearance at minimum) when the oncoming traffic is clear, slowing down as much as is necessary

question seven

driving07

Blue car on the south at a stop sign and green car eastbound approaching with no stop sign:

a-blue car should get off the cell phone and wait until green car passes though and then proceed when the intersection is clear
b-blue car should go ahead and turn because there is no time like the present
c-blue car should honk the horn and wave hand frantically indicating that the green car is going too slow (by obeying the speed limit)