Oregon Trail - The Complete Story

Links fixed

Finally!  Dad finally got around to uploading all of our Oregon Trail pictures.  The trip lasted 82 days, but it took exactly 101 days to get them all online.  The impetus behind all of this: our friend from St Louis (Mache) is offering a new service with her business (creating photo albums for you from your photos) and wanted to use some of our photos to create a sample product. 

Hope you enjoy looking at the photos (some have been previously posted).

Dublin, OH

• Sights Seen: Friends, Friends and a mall
• Day(s) Visited: April 17th - 19th
• Photos

Lorain, OH (outside of Cleveland, but it's like a whole other world)

• Sights Seen: Friends, Beautiful Downtown Lorain, Friends
• Day(s) Visited: April 19th - 21st (we had to leave a day early, because I Dad had to start a new job)
• Photos

St Louis, MO

• Sights Seen: Grandma, Grandpa, Family Galore, Friends, Weddings, Zoo, ...
• Day(s) Visited: April 22nd - May 17th
• Photos (General from StL)  (Cousin Lisa's Wedding) (Mimi's Wedding)

Milwaukee, WI (We also went to Chicago)

• Sights Seen:Nana, Papa, More Family, Friends, Zoo (twice), made our own shoes...
• Day(s) Visited: May 17th - June 21st
• Photos (Photo Shoot by Felise) (Visit to Papa's work)

Oregon House Hunting (Dad left everyone in WI and went to find a house)

• Sights Seen: Houses, House, Mt St Helens, Rhododendron gardens, Rose Gardens
• Day(s) Visited: May 17th - June 7th
• Photos (General Photos) (Mt St Helens Hike)

South Dakota

• Sights Seen: Sioux Falls, Wall Drug, Badlands NP, Mt Rushmore, Wind Cave, Custer State Park, Prairie Dogs, Prairie Dogs, Prairie Dogs
• Day(s) Visited: June 22nd - June 25th
• Photos (Sorry there are a lot.  We loved SD)

Wyoming

• Sights Seen: Devils Tower National Monument, empty roads & prairie land
• Day(s) Visited: June 25th
• Photos

Montana

• Sights Seen: Missoula, Mountains, Whitefish, Friends, Glacier National Park
• Day(s) Visited: June 25th - July 4th
• Photos

Idaho!

• Sights Seen: 4th of July Parade, Lunch, 10+ different potties
• Day(s) Visited: July 4th
• Photos

Washington State

• Sights Seen: Mount Rainier National Park
• Day(s) Visited: July 4th - 6th
• Photos

Oregon - Welcome Home!

Last Day On the Trail - a Hike in Rainier

As you may know, we arrived in Portland Monday night (07/06/15).  After 82 days of travelling and driving over 7,000 miles (not to mention Dad flying 4,000 miles), our trip on the Oregon Trail has concluded.  While our Big Adventure continues, it shift from sightseeing to getting settled in our new environment.

Pictures from our journey are forthcoming, but in the meantime, I wanted to share this video from our last morning on the road.  Our final stop was Mt Rainier National Park and our final hike in the park was in search of Snow Lake - a backcountry lake accessible by a trail with a lot of stairs.  Unfortunately, while the hike was recommended for families, no one thought that 200+ dirt/mountain stairs each way is way too much for little legs (I had to walk - Amelia rode in the backpack).  We never made it to our final destination, but we did make it to a much closer lake (still a 1.5 mile hike + the .75 miles extra we did trying to make it to Snow Lake).  Yeah, Alpine Lake Swimming!  On the way, Amelia and Dad shot the following video of the hike - I thought it was cute and wanted to share.  Click here to view the video.  The white blob you see in the background at 1:07 & 2:01 is Mt Rainier - it dominated the skyline and we were on a hike going away from it. 

Peace out & See you in Oregon,
Phin

You still need to look good, even on the road

Just because we are on the road, does not mean we should look "shlumpy," as mom would say.  For the past three weeks, our wagon has been hitched in lovely Mequon, Wisconsin at Nana and Papa's.

While there, our Chicago family has come up for a couple of visits (and we've gone down there too for dinner).  During one of these visits, we go 'all dolled-up' and Cousin Lisa from Felise Pomerantz Photography.  Here are a few of my favorites; but you can check them all out here.

Peace Out,
Phin

Separate Paths

Today, Monday, marks the start of the 4th part of our Westward Adventure - The Split.

• Stage 1:  Sell House (box everything up, don't make a mess and certainly DO NOT fingerprint the windows)
• Stage 2:  Ohio (you've read the blog, you know we've been there)
• Stage 3:  St Louis / Weddings - there are blog postings to be written
• Stage 4:  The Split - Wisconsin for the 3 of us; house hunting for Dad
• Stage 5:  Reunited - In Wisconsin full of many hugs in (estimated date: June)
• Stage 6:  South Dakota (estimated date: mid June, hopefully)
• Stage 7:  Montana and beyond (estimated date: later in June)
• Stage 8:  Arrive in Portland (estimated date: Finally)

  

  Dad's sidewalk chalk map of our journey featuring all of the major destinations

Our time in stage 3 of our adventure has been marked by a roller coaster of events (that was Dad's phrasing).  Stage 3 ends with the same impact - excitement to move on and see Nana + Papa, but sadness to leave Grandma, Grandpa and the ton of people we have seen in St Louis, and sadness to be separated from Dad who is heading to Portland to buy a house.  While we will get to see him through the phone, I have been enjoying seeing him everyday (even if he was distracted by "job stuff"). 

Dad, here are my requirements for a new house (just for reference, we have already discussed them):

1. A Blue house (because blue houses are cool)
2. A garage (I just want one)
3. A basement full of toys (self explanatory)
4. Amelia wants either a hot air balloon or a monkey room (I vote a monkey room, but it may be tough to find a house with one already)
5. Also, please buy a house that has neighbors, so my Alexandria friends can move next door

Onward to Wisconsin!
Phin

PS - We love receiving mail, so please send it to me at my Nana and Papa's house (mom can give you the address)

Oregon Trail - Lisa & Doug's Wedding

There are only two commitments we have on our road trip - 1) Cousin Lisa & Doug's wedding, 2) Aunt Mimi & Uncle Wes' wedding.  Luckily, both are in St Louis and both are just weeks apart. 

With Uncle David's wedding just a month+ ago, I am quickly becoming a pro at attending/being apart of weddings.  I bet by the end of the summer, I could run a "being in a wedding" class for all of my friends.  Unfortunately, it will have to be a video conference class, since all of my friends will be on the other side of the country (in DC).

Cousin Lisa & Doug's wedding was so much fun.  We got to dress up in a lot of pretty and fancy clothes...

They had a special party room for people who got dressed up.  Check out all of this food!  Mom and Dad let me eat as much as I wanted to.  Amelia liked to try one bite of everything (before putting it back in the tray/bowl).

We also had to stand still and smile a lot while we had our pictures taken.  Amelia is still working on the smiling part, and I am still practicing standing still.

One of the best parts of the wedding ceremony was that I got to walk down the aisle holding my cousin Tyler's hand.  I was supposed to hold Amelia's hand, but she cried the entire time and had to walk down the aisle with mommy (it was just a little awkward and funny).

After she kept crying (it was late for her), Amelia had to watch the ceremony from the other room with Dad.  Dad said they still had a great time and had one of the best views.

You can check out all of the photos (that are about me) from Lisa and Doug's wedding here.

Peace Out,
Phin

Lorain, I wish they called it NoRain, because it rained most of the time

Stop #2 on the Oregon trail led us a little out of the way on the map, but brought us some "super fun" (according to MeMoo).

 

With a little navigating help from Amelia and I, we made it safely from the center of Ohio to Lorain (home of our friends Stella and Jack) - a little bit outside of Cleveland along the big lake (but not the same lake big Nana & Papa live near - so many lakes). 

Ohio is full of lots of cool things, like car factories, friends, trains and couches next to the road.  Dad thought it would be funny to sit on the couch and watch the cars go by.  I thought he was being silly, since it just finished raining.

Either way, we had a lot of fun in Lorain - Stella and Jack had a cool backyard with a swing set and we ate dinner by the lake in our own private dining room (which was great because no one cared that we ran around while we waited for dinner).  The next day, we went to Vermilion, OH where I saw train tracks, a light house store, and a freight train.  Oh, and mom saw another friend from college - it was a mini college reunion.

The reunion tour

Waiting for the train - which only came after I left the station. Phooey.

Due to a last minute change of plans, we only spent 1 night in Lorain.  On our way out of town, we stopped to break out the selfie stick and have dinner with Rafi and Leon (in addition to Stella, Jack, and their Mom).  Rafi taught me how to play rock-paper-scissors on the phone; he was also fascinated with the selfie stick.

You can check out all of my Lorain/Cleveland photos here.  Next stop - Cousin Lisa's wedding in St Louis.

Peace Out,
Phin

Oregon Trails - First Stop Dublin/Columbus, OH!

This post is nearly a month overdue, but as you can imagine, finding a reliable internet signal is tough when you are on a covered wagon in the middle of the country.

Departing under the cover of daylight, we headed west to our first stop.  Using well traveled dirt roads (and interstates), we made our first encampment in the lovely city of Dublin, OH.  Dublin, just outside of Columbus, is home to Wendy's, Jack Hanna (neither of which we saw) and our friends Ally and Ian. 

This picture is us playing in Ally and Ian's basement

Dublin is also home to a skate park - where I got to test my skills and go up and down some ramps... check out the video below.  Dad captured this video while I was just exploring; after a few minutes, I was taking some cool ramps, doing some grinding, and flipping off the high jumps.  Okay, I was not doing that yet, but I did do some really steep drop-ins and got stuck in a section that looked like a swimming pool.  I really loved it and look forward to visiting another skate park.


Mom thinks I'm going to be a pro-BMXer

After the park and Amelia's nap we had a great BBQ in Ally and Ian's back yard.  It was so exciting to have a friend with grass around their house!  In DC, no friends have a grass backyard (unless they live next to the park), just brick/wood patios.  Hopefully our Oregon house has a grassy backyard; I like grass.

The next morning, we hit the road for Cleveland, but not before stopping for lunch with our friends, the Dragins.

You can check out all of my Dublin/Columbus pictures here.

Peace Out,
Phin

The Great Line Up

We still need to assemble and post Ohio pictures, but this was too cute to delay sharing. 

One of the teachers at my school noticed that I like to line things up.  She suggested that I buy The Line Up Book (wow, you can get a used copy for only a penny, I could buy a few and line The Line Up Book up).  In this story, it is time for lunch and a boy (like me) decided to create an epic line of things through his house to the kitchen. 

Using that story as inspiration, MeMoo and I created an epic line-up through Grandma & Grandpa's house.  Dad estimated it was over 150 feet of cars, stuffed animals, books, art supplies, art projects, coasters (whatever those are), shoes, boots, Carebears...  Check out the video link below to see our entire line.

 

(email readers, click here or on the image to play the video)

Cannot watch online, click here to download to your machine 

 

 In case you are wondering, it was a lot to put away.

 

Peace out,

Phin & Amelia

Life on the Oregon Trail Can Be Tough

Our Convertible Wagon

Life on the Oregon Trail can be tough (and evidently sunny).  According to Wikipedia, 400,000 fellow travelers took the trail out of Missouri to Oregon.  While our route is a little more indirect than theirs (headed through Milwaukee), it is still arduous and difficult.  In addition to spending days at time in our covered wagon (also known as our Nissan) bumping up and down the dusty roads, I have been separated from my toys for months (Amelia also misses her baby's toy stroller and stuffed caterpillar) and have slept in 4 different locations since our voyage began (Dublin, OH; Lorain, OH; seat 2B of the covered wagon; and St Louis).  Alas, we are only in week 2 of our ~10 week voyage - many more challenges and beds await.

The Covered Wagon, I named her Bessie

There are some nice perks about being on the trail - there sure is a lot of ice cream stands on the way!




Peace Out,
Phin

Goodbye Washington DC

Dad called our departure "hitting the road."  But, luckily we did not hit anything (hands are not for hitting).  Instead, I call it leaving.

It has been a tough couple of months for me.  The house has been extra clean, my toys have slowly been disappearing, there has been a lot of stress, and strangers showed up randomly to see our house (frequently unannounced or on a short notice).  It has also been tough to leave my friends and school.  Amelia is probably too young to understand, but I know that moving means my friends won't be able to walk over any more, "our park" won't be ours any more, and for the next two months my room is my car seat and my closet is my suitcase.  Sure, Portland will be awesome and yes I'm excited to see friends and family; but leaving is still tough.

One nice perk, I got to drive the first stretch.  Now, I'm blogging from Columbus, OH - where we are having a ton of fun (more on that later).  Here are a few departure photos.

Peace out,
Phin