Well folks we are on the start of a great adventure. Yes this January I hit the big 4-0. A trip that has been in the works for several years. Back in my mid 30s over several cocktails I decided that it was time for me to do a big adventurous trip. After spending years as an accountant surrounded by office buildings and computers I wanted to do a trip that put me outside, seeing something I have never seen before, and was a once in a lifetime trip.
Originally I decided to do a trip to Antarctica. I figured a recently divorced single dude with poor Spanish skills and a terribly American accent, could tear it up on the Buenos Aires nightclub scene before heading on an Antarctic expedition. I figured by 40 I would have been to Africa and I could spend my 40th at the most southern tip of the world having seen all four continents. But after the alcohol wore off, my knees told me my dancing days were over, and I started thinking bigger picture I decided to bring along my kids. They were scared to death of our ship sinking in the south Atlantic and flesh eating polar bears and penguins (where in the hell did they see this at? 😱). So I realized my dream of a southern ice 40th were not long for this world. I also started dating and then marrying my future wife who has a severe allergy to anything cold.
So we decided to go on an African Safari adventure via Munich. The boys really wanted to see Germany where our family originates and from where their mother themed her restaurant. They may not know how to speak German but they certainly know German cuisine. So we booked it and off we went yesterday.
After getting up at 3am so I could get a full day of work in before we left, we crammed what we could in to our weight restricted bags and headed to the airport. My wife and I did an early morning Orange Theory workout so that our legs could do a little more work before we sat on a plane for two days. Our hamstrings and quads were so sore we almost had to call a wheelchair assist. But that would cost $50 and there was no way we were adding more expense to this holiday.
By a miracle of God there was no fog at our departure point and nothing but sun as we flew in to the Bay Area. It was beautiful.
We stayed at a Hampton Inn on points (yes, free!) and crammed in to our room. Character building.
We had a wonderful dinner and evening with Tami’s aunt and uncle (also free!) and went to bed early.
Only more adventure awaits tomorrow as we fly to Deutschland! ✈️🌎
As is inevitable during this time of year I get to take an all expenses paid trip to the American heartland. Hearty food (with cheese) and hearty weather. This week’s location? Columbus, Ohio.
Given it is the month of December, I am on my annual 12 days of Christmas bow tie run. Usually this means just showing my holiday cheer at our office but this week I had to take the professional risk of showcasing this at a few business meetings. It went over well as my colleague was wearing an equally edgy bright blue suit. We brought our A game to Columbus and ready to talk about performance presentation standards. If the content wasn’t entertaining at least our clothes would be!
Did you know that Columbus is not only the state capitol of Ohio but also the birthplace of Wendy’s Restaurants? I found the original site of the first restaurant where Dave first decided to not cut corners on his burgers. The restaurant is long gone now and in its place is a Catholic Charitable Foundation. Proving that all good burger joints go to heaven.
Finally, my colleague and I visited Schmidt’s Sausage Haus of Man vs. Food fame. We had to put our stomachs on the autobahn buffet where the only limit is the size of your gut and how much you are willing to suffer the meats sweats. And what do you eat after you eat several plates of sausage, green beans with pork, potatoes with pork, and spaetzle with pork? Why not a huge creme puff or chocolate cream pie. And to drink? A kale and berry smoothie or a shot of wheatgrass? No give me good ol machine made beer. Sorry Orange Theory, my all out speed is going to be a little light tomorrow!
I finally figured out something that only became clear to me this evening. Being from a midwestern family we always diverted away from “spicy food”. However growing up on the west coast I always attributed this to meaning hot (picante not caliente). In the Midwest spicy means flavorful. So I ate the “spiciest” sausage they had called the Bahama Mama and found it to be very tasty and not hot or burning at all. I can now feel superior when visiting my family in the Midwest and i ask for the spicy dish on the menu at the local diner.
It was my wife and two
boys (10 and 8) that went on our adventure. We rented a black GMC Yukon
XL and flew back home. We covered 4,025 miles over 15 days.
I have some information below that I hope you will find useful. To be honest, while looking forward to some quality family time, I was dreading long days in the car with screaming kids, phones buzzing, and complete boredom. I was so wrong!
Route of Travel
Day 1: We decided to leave after work so that we could get some road hours in, so we weren’t driving 12 hours the next day. We ate an early dinner and drove 3 hours until we decided we needed to pull over and sleep in Corning, CA (The Olive Capital of the World?). The Best Western there actually had a cool indoor pool and hot tub.
Day 2: This was our longest driving day as we drove over 500 miles to Barstow, CA. We drove by Lodi, CA so I mandated listening to the CCR song for about 20 straight minutes. We stopped to say hi to a friend in Modesto and had a quick coffee then back on the road. There is an obvious airplane graveyard in Mojave, CA but when we stopped security immediately told us no pictures and to go to the visitors’ center. The visitors center was literally like two rooms and just had a model rocket in it. Pretty sketchy but cool to see all those old 747s and DC 10s just sitting out there. We finally got to Barstow in the latter part of the evening and found it to be the sketchiest town of any that we stayed in. There was a nice Italian restaurant (Di Napoli’s Firehouse) we ate at near our hotel (The Quality Inn) but we mainly wanted to go to bed early so we could get out of there earlier the next day.
Day 3: This was where we really got in to much prettier landscape as we entered Northern Arizona. We stayed in Flagstaff that night, but we did go outside of Flagstaff to the east about 25 minutes to the world’s largest preserved meteor crater (Meteor Crater National Landmark). It was a little expensive to go in there but was interesting to learn about meteors and see a large hole in the middle of the desert. We came back to Flagstaff that night, stayed in a decent hotel called the Little America Hotel. It had a great pool and restaurant. Flagstaff reminded us a lot of Bend, Oregon so we felt like we were home.
Day 4: Took us 300 plus miles from Flagstaff to Farmington, NM. You get to drive through Winslow, AZ (of Take it Easy song fame). You must stop at the Petrified Forest in eastern Arizona. Allocate 2-3 hours while you are there. There is a visitor’s center and about 22 miles of park driving (the speed limit is 35 or so. I wish we would have seen the whole thing, but it is very pretty and worth the stop. We got in to Farmington and stayed at Kokopelli’s Cave which you can find on the internet. It is a one-bedroom air bnb literally constructed in to a cave. It has two pull out sofas so there was plenty of sleeping space for the kids. It has a constant 64-65-degree temperature and we had a blast there. You can cook in the kitchen or go to a restaurant in town (10 minutes away max). You basically get your own side of a mountain to watch the beautiful New Mexico sunset.
Day 5: This was our first day where we could stay the night in the same place. We road horses and saw some ancient Puebloan artifacts up near Cortez, CO. We had a half day ride and had a great time getting to see some of God’s beautiful creation. On the way back we stopped at the Four Corners Monument and did the whole touristy thing with pictures. That place is bare and out in the middle of nowhere so gas up and make sure you have water. It’s a one and done thing though, I can never imagine going back there again. We spent the evening doing a taco bar in the cave, cocktail hour with sunset, and then watching a movie on Netflix.
Day 6: We left the cave and headed back south and east. We made a long detour though to the Chaco Culture National Historic Park. It is way out in the middle of nowhere so fuel up before you leave Farmington and make sure you pack a lunch. The Park was by far my favorite sightseeing on the trip. You can see and walk through ancient Puebloan cities. We would love to come back here and either camp or spend more time doing the hikes. They have ancient ruins and artifacts everywhere and it is all open to the public. After being dazzled we hit the road again. Now that I think about this it was probably our longest driving day. It took us 2 hours to get to the park from Farmington and then we decided to drive all the way to Amarillo, TX (450 miles from Chaco). We ate a bad dinner in Santa Rosa, NM and pulled in to the Hilton Garden Inn in Amarillo around 10pm.
Day 7: The Texas panhandle is flat and bare. We made it in a quick four hours to my birthplace of Oklahoma City OK. I will spare you the Uncle Richey personal tours/memory lane trip, but we did eat that night at Cattleman’s Steakhouse in Oklahoma City an old favorite of the locals and US Presidents. We came back to our room at the Home 2 Suites hotel and crashed.
Day 8: We stayed in Oklahoma City another day. We drove by the Oklahoma City bombing memorial, went to the Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, and ate some great BBQ at Earl’s Rib Palace in Bricktown. Lots to do in the city but we wanted some pool time as well.
Day 9: We drove 400 miles to our next step at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri (Sunrise Beach, MO). We stopped just over the MO border at Black Market Fireworks to load up on explosives that have been outlawed in Oregon since Bill Clinton was in the White House. We stopped by Springfield, MO which is a good place to fuel up, eat lunch, and buy cheap Missouri booze (Missouri sells booze in all grocery stores and has some of the lowest prices in the country, save Hilt, CA). My family immigrated to Springfield from Germany, so we went and saw the old farm and the old graveyard. I suggest you skip that part of the tour. We rented a house at the lake that had a dock with my brother. I have a ton of family there too with lake houses.
Day 10-11: We just hung out at the Airbnb and did BBQs, family gatherings, celebrated the 4th of July, did some swimming, and boat rides.
Day 12: Back on the road again. We left right around lunch time and headed to Memphis. Not much to note on that drive as we were mainly zoned out due to the 3 days of constant activity, stimulation, late nights, and hangovers. We stayed at the Embassy Suites in south Memphis and had dinner in the connecting restaurant. The family from The Blind Side was eating at the table across from us but Michael Orr was not there. (The mom does not look like Sandra Bullock!)
Day 13: Graceland and Elvis. We were on the first tour. I highly recommend visiting this and seeing his museum and planes. They have made the whole thing a spectacle of course, so was the King, but it is worth seeing. We ate ribs at the onsite restaurant and headed the 5 hours to Chattanooga. When we rolled in our host greeted us with dinner and a huge thunderstorm. We stayed at the DoubleTree in Chattanooga where we got free upgrades and cookies for all.
Day 14: I worked from the office, not very exciting huh? Tami and the kids had fun though eating various fried foods at Puckett’s and had a great time at the children’s Discovery Museum. That evening our host had us at his house for dinner. The steaks and company were excellent.
Day 15: We drove the two hours to Nashville and walked the strip. We even went in to a bar that let kids in and listened to some country acts. We ended the evening at the Grand Ole Opry and loved listening to some old and new country music artists. I highly recommend doing this as well even if you don’t like country. There is something about the atmosphere, history, and art all in one place that makes it very enjoyable.
Day 16: We threw away what we couldn’t take home and headed to the airport. As we flew home, we marveled that in 5 hours we would be home from a voyage that spanned 15 days.
Saving Serious Coin
If you are like me,
you love saving money when you can, especially on a road trip. I mean if
we wanted to blow money, we would fly first class overseas and stay at 5-star
resorts. This is a family vacation and what better way to bond then over
mediocre food, in the middle of the country, where they still serve drip
coffee? Here are some ways we kept our budget in check:
We always tried to stay at a hotel with a FREE breakfast. My Econ professor at the University of Chicago who told me that there isn’t such thing as a free lunch. He was right but he didn’t tell me that there were free breakfasts! If you stay at different brands you can vary what you are going to eat. Some hotels have full restaurants that you get vouchers to and others served you mass produced “patty eggs”. I figure this saved us at least $40-50 a day.
We packed a Styrofoam cooler for our trip (I know, I know, not environmentally sensitive but those guys at the factory need work!). We shoved this thing full of ice (a valued commodity on the road) and snacks. We would eat these snacks instead of lunch on some days. I mean if you have cold cuts, cheese, and some condiments you are good. Buy bottled water and snacks at Costco. This saved us about $40-50 a day too. Sure, we would be hungry by 4pm but that means we could beat the dinner rush at any restaurant we visited and could use the happy hour pricing! More savings.
Always buy the cheapest gas, but most people already do that I mean come on it is a rental. Warning: gas prices in California are ridiculous. Fill up at the border states if you can. New Mexico through Missouri had the cheapest gas on our trip.
Ever heard of a coin laundry? Use it if you don’t have relatives or friends you are staying with on the way. Having clothes that don’t smell like an Oklahoma oil field are worth the $.75.
I rarely have used my credit card miles or points in the past, but I did on this trip to help pay for the hotels. If you can use your miles or points or need an excuse why not now? There is something nice about going to sleep in a room you know was paid for by your hours of retail therapy.
Bring your shaving cream, female products, full tube of toothpaste, etc. You can always toss it before the flight home and will save you from the upcharge of buying travel sized amenities.
If you don’t already have a AAA membership, I suggest getting one. Not only do you get roadside assistance if you need it, you can get discounts at hotels, museums, and parks. These all add up and paid for my membership fees in discounts.
Motels/Hotels
I have Diamond status
at Hilton so when we stayed in a bigger city, I booked a Hilton nearby.
The best brands are the ones like Embassy Suites or Home2Suites. We could
get a suite, put the boys on the roll out sofa, and have some private time.
In the other towns we
searched when we arrived or decided to research 30 minutes out where we wanted
to stay. We stayed at Quality Inns and Best Westerns. We booked
rooms with two doubles or queens. There are some adventurous motels on
the drive, but we insisted on a minimum level of cleanliness.
Passing Time in the
Car
Now the secret sauce
moment you have all been waiting for. How in the hell did he keep his
kids entertained on the road for 15 days? Well here is what we did:
Our rental car did have a DVD system, so we did watch movies. But, since we would judge ourselves poorly if we did that all day, we limited the use of that to one movie a day. Uncle Richey has standards for the next generation.
We bought our kids grade appropriate workbooks to keep their little skulls full of mush learning during the summer. Costco carries these for like $8-9 each and covers all the subjects in elementary school. We made the kids do an hour of these a day and brought little flat pads for them to write on.
Books on tapes. Buy some classic or fiction books you would like to hear. Surprisingly the kids loved them, and they kill a ton of time.
Listening to music. We had a goal of getting through every song on my iPhone, we only got to the J’s. The Eagles, CCR, and Tom Petty are worth downloading for good road music.
Playing games. Some are verbal like alphabet games or I Spy. But there are also fun travel games you can buy like road bingo or hangman.
Napping. Either require it or fake it but don’t forget to allow time for shutting your eyes and having peace. Earplugs and headphones can help minimize hearing kids’ endless questions
Heart to Heart. Ever wonder if your son has kissed a girl? How does Nathan hide all his candy wrappers? What does your wife do when you are presenting on GIPS 2020? What is your dream job? What 3 wishes would you wish for? Get to know your family.
Work. The road provides undistracted time to make work calls, check in, or check emails.
Try to take a picture with every “Now Entering” State sign you see. It gives you something to look forward to besides your end destination. Do something fun there like eat a chocolate or take a shot of whiskey (for the non driver).
Staying in Shape
When you are sitting
on your fanny for hundreds of miles each day you need to be sure to exercise a
little. Each morning I tried to get some cardio or weightlifting done. A
couple of things you can do to stay in shape:
Pick a hotel that has a fitness center or gym, as long as the equipment was made after the dot com crash, you should be good.
When you are waiting for your loved ones to use the facilities, see if there are some nearby trails or non busy roads you can run on. Hopefully you do this trip in the summer and you have cool mornings to run. Great way to see the landscape too!
Join a 24-hour fitness, Gold’s gym, or Anytime Fitness that allows you to use clubs all over the country. I used Anytime Fitness. You can save $10-20 a visit by just having a membership.
Don’t forget to get your steps in. Instead of Princess parking, try Pauper parking in the back of the lot. Instead of taking the 1-mile trail, take the 2-mile trail. Remember more exercise means more beverages.
Every time we got in the car, we did 20 jumping jacks to get the heart rate up.
Richey's Travel Adventures 