G-Ma Goes East - Day 2

We are marching on... I think we are getting the hang of traveling with animals and the animals are getting the hang of traveling with us! We're pretty efficient during our 3-4 pit stops. Everyone is alive. Bonus points. :P 

I said this in the last post... but pictures do not do justice to the size of these mountains. Sometimes we are surrounded by truly massive rock formations. Very pretty.

By far the scariest part was this tunnel. Apparently it is called the Eisenhower Tunnel... and it is the longest tunnel and at the highest point on the Interstate System. At 1.697 miles, it is about 1.696 miles too long. It seemed to go on FOREVER. Scary.

Vail was really pretty even with the light dusting of snow on the ground.

We're currently in Silverthorne, Colorado at 9,035 feet and man, am I feeling it! My heart has been a little less than racing since we got here. Yes, I have been moving around, handling luggage etc... but even sitting here relaxing my heart is 109 - thank you FitBit. 

The view from the hotel room is pretty nice... if it wasn't snowing! 

Tomorrow we head to Junction City, Kansas :| 541 miles, 7 hours and 37 minutes minus stops.

G-Ma Goes East - Day 1

It's day one and TRAVELINGWITHANIMALSISHARRRRRRRRRRRRRD. Okay... that's out of the way... :) I think, as we head further east it will get easier. For one, it's going to get cooler. We can't leave any of the animals in the car for very long because it is so hot. Tomorrow will be a big shock as it is 30 degrees in Colorado with rain and snow. We also hope that the animals will get used to traveling and it won't be so chaotic. Towards the end, Silo actually wanted to get back in the car after going for a walk. 

The drive was mostly uneventful as it is all desert views... the only crazy part was a portion of Arizona. The road looked as if we were heading directly into a mountain. These two pictures do not even come close to how it felt to drive through the canyon. Apparently it is the Virgin River Gorge. Interesting side note - G-Ma's already seen this part! She drove up with Erik to Park City for a wedding. :) 

Ready for Spring

We recently went shopping for Emma's spring and summer clothes.. I think we are all ready for spring to arrive.. but I might miss some of Emma's winter clothes. As she gets older, she's growing out of the clothes that come in matching sets... like her adorable tracksuit. :P 

TableTop Fun: Zooloretto

Designer: Michael Schacht
Publisher: Z-Man Games

From BoardGameGeek:

In Zooloretto, each player uses small, large, wild, and exotic animals and their young to try to attract as many visitors as possible to their zoo – but be careful! The zoo must be carefully planned as before you know it, you might have too many animals and no more room for them. That brings minus points! Luckily, your zoo can expand. A zoo of a family game in which less is sometimes more...

Another fun, lighter fare game about building a zoo that uses set collection and tile placement. While it comes off as a kids game, it has a surprising amount of strategy. It's a logic puzzle about filling your zoo with animals and scoring points for filled pens. Any extra animals left in your barn will earn negative points. All I know is that once Emma is able to play it, her zoo will be nothing but pandas. :P

Being Silly

TableTop Fun: Forbidden Desert

Designer: Matt Leacock
Publisher: Gamewright

From BoardGameGeek:

Gear up for a thrilling adventure to recover a legendary flying machine buried deep in the ruins of an ancient desert city. You'll need to coordinate with your teammates and use every available resource if you hope to survive the scorching heat and relentless sandstorm. Find the flying machine and escape before you all become permanent artifacts of the forbidden desert!

A step up from Forbidden Island, this lighter family game has you digging through the desert for "flying machine" parts. It is a co-operative game but you're having to manage your thirst level and exposure to the sun while dealing with the shifting sands. I consider this to have a little more depth than Forbidden Island but still light enough to be classified a filler. As with Island, the art is fantastic and the components are amazing. Highly recommend this one - especially for gamers just starting out in the hobby. 

Panda Obsession

Ian and I are not sure where this obsession came from... Emma's never been attached to any items - blankets.. stuffed animals... except maybe binkies which we are slowly phasing out. But out of nowhere, she would light up whenever she saw a panda. G-Ma sent her a stuffed panda for Valentine's Day and it's been her constant companion...

The first day she sat him at her table...

She's a fan of dressing Panda up and pushing him around... (or making Uncle Drew do it..)

Panda's also helpful at getting her to smile..

...comforting in the morning...

..and, unfortunately for Panda, a good handwashing companion.

Emma and Pops

Last year Maureen pulled out a picture of Duncan as a kid. I see some resemblance. Especially the last picture. :P 

TableTop Fun: Yardmaster

Designer: Steve Armaini
Publisher: Crash (of?) Games

From BoardGameGeek:

The freight is rolling into the yard and it's up to you, the Yardmaster, to organize and manage it making sure everything is where it's supposed to be and readying the trains for departure.

Yardmaster is one of the games we backed on Kickstarter. It's a simple quick card game about building trains carrying different goods. Each freight car has a specific good and point value. Starting from your engine, you can add freight cars as long as either the color or card value matches the previous car. First to 16 points (in a 3 player game...) wins!

Update: G-Ma Goes East

So.. it's happening! G-Ma is going east ya'll! Kamber is taking a pass on traversing the US one more time. In 2 weeks it will just be me, G-Ma, a dog and 2 cats. Yay allergies! I leave for California on Sunday, April 17th and we depart the next day. The current plan is:

G-Ma’s House to St. George, Utah

• 429 miles 
• 6 hours, 13 minutes
• Taking it easy the first day... hoping we can get the process of traveling 3 animals down before the longer days

St. George, Utah to Silverthorne, Colorado

• 566 miles
• 8 hours, 6 minutes
• A little longer... this will probably be one of the prettiest stints of the trip. Also, the most risky areas for "weather". G-Ma actually said "I don't... really want to.. go through any weather." Ian's response "That's a good plan.... good luck with that". Lol :P 

Silverthorne, Colorado to Junction City, Kansas

• 541 miles
• 7 hours, 37 minutes
• Ugh. Kansas. Nuff' said.

Junction City, Kansas to Plainfield, Indiana

• 594 miles
• 8 hours, 40 minutes
• I don't really know what Missouri looks like... should be interesting.

Plainfield, Indiana to Kamber’s House

• 576 miles
• 9 hours, 1 minute
• Longest day but the finish line in sight! 

Then I get to hang out with the Pettys and Newly Minted Virginian G-Ma for a day before flying home to the 2 crazy monkeys. I plan on hitting up Target at least once... maybe twice. :D