July 18

While not much else other than driving and getting home happened today, it was nice to spend the day with my favorite boys.

This trip was really, really fantastic. While there were some trying moments when I wanted to become a childless person again, I got over it and in hindsight, had a really wonderful time.

I was really scared about driving all that way by myself (ok, only one way completely by myself), with the kids, for three weeks. But everything worked out wonderfully.

Now we are back in Austin, have our new house and school starts on Monday (Today is Sunday, Aug 23rd). We have already made new friends on our block and the kids are super excited about school.

July 17

While we had three days to get back to Austin, we decided that everyone was tired of being in the car and there wasn't that much to see on the way back, so we put it in gear and (Ryan) drove like hell to get home.

We did manage to see a very cool Volcano in northern New Mexico. Capulin Volcano. You drive all way up to the top and then you can walk down into the cinder cone. Very cool, except for some crazy swarm of bugs which apparently really like white shirts. I found them for the next 2 days in the car!



We stopped in Lubbock and stayed at the only hotel with a room. Apparently there was a softball championship going on, so everything was booked. We got in pretty late and just beat a thunderstorm before crashing for the night.

July 16

We swapped co-pilots today.

First thing in the morning we drove Mom to the airport and dropped her off for a flight back to Calgary and we picked Ryan up.

The rest of the day we drove around Denver and visited old favorite spots.

We headed to the zoo for a quick visit (including Tropical Discovery, the kids' favorite).

Next downtown for lunch and a quick visit of the Judge's chambers where Ryan worked.

We got to see Nic Heinke outside the other courthouse where he works for a quick visit.

A trip to the new pool in Stapleton.

Then finally dinner with Diane at La Cueva.

So much fun to see everyone. I love Denver.

July 15

Today was mostly spent in the car. Wyoming is very boring between the beautiful mountains and the Colorado border.

On the plus side, we closed on the house today! Ryan had to sign everything 4 times (Ryan Bates and Ryan Bates for Susan Bates, attorney in fact), but now we own a house! Woo Hoo!

We finished the day in Denver and drove around the old stomping grounds of Stapleton. It was nice to see the old place again, although Pete was very sad to have missed his friend George (who was at Disney that week).

July 14

Yellowstone Day!

It was very nice to know that our only goal on this day was to see Yellowstone and get ourselves to Jackson, WY.

We rented a GPS device in Gardiner which was pre-loaded with a narrative about the things you could see in the park. It was really great as there were so many different routes you could go through the park to see everything.

We stopped in Mammoth first and enjoyed the amazing waterfalls (and bought a new sweatshirt). We spent the rest of the day going around the loops looking for animals and enjoying the Thermal Water Features.

The kids had a great time too and got really excited at seeing the mommy and baby bears. We had a nice lunch at the Lake Lodge and then headed over to Old Faithful about 3pm. After finding a parking spot (illegal) we sprinted to the geyser (because everyone else was) just in time to see it erupt! Great timing! We walked around a little and got some ice cream a the Old Faithful Lodge.

About 10 minutes after we got going again it started to rain, so we felt like we had been lucky with the timing for the whole day (although we never saw a moose!).

On to Jackson, WY.

July 13

Tragedy! The hotel we stayed in decided to clean their pool just the morning we were going to go swimming before heading out to Gardiner, WY! Damn you pool guy!

So, instead we stopped at Chico Hot Springs. Chico is a natural hot springs where they have two large pools, a hotel, restaurant, and a tee pee!

The pool was really wonderful and quite hot. You could see how this hotel would be very popular in the winter as half of the pool was covered and it would be great to swim in when it's cold and snowing!

Onto Gardiner, WY, the northern entrance to Yellowstone. We stayed at a motel which looked a little dicey until we went out onto the patio of the room. It overlooked the river and was fun to watch white water rafters go by.

We had a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant and then got some information about animal spotting from the visitor center next to the Roosevelt Arch.

July 12

Today we began the trip back to Austin. It was a wonderful week in cool Canada and we were sorry to leave (ok, Joe wasn't sorry to leave, there was my "homesickness" from him).

Mom came with us to share the driving and enjoy a trip though Yellowstone.

Our first stop was an aircraft museum in Nanton, Alberta. It's on the side of the road and Joe got very excited when he saw the military aircraft. In the spirit of "let's stop and see stuff" we went in.
Joe loved all the aircraft and Pete thought it was very cool too. It was similar to the aircraft museum in Lowry, CO, but as Joe pointed out, "There's no X-wing" (they had a wooden life sized one in Lowry). We enjoyed it regardless of it's lack of Star Warsness.

Next was Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo-Jump in southern Alberta. It is a cliff in the prairie where the native americans would heard the buffalo over a cliff in order to have a large kill for food and skins. The building is built into the cliff and you start at the top and go down. It was interesting to learn about the preparations, see a movie about how it happened and then learn about the over hunting.

Onward into the US and a night in Great Falls, MT.

July 10

The kids went fishing with Dad today at Lake Minnewanka.

Meanwhile... Mom and I went into Canmore and had a relaxing day going to get a massage and a little drink on the patio of The Wood. Very calm. It was nice to have a few hours with no boys.

They came back totally exhausted and had a great time. They brought back two fish which Mom and Dad could eat later and seems to be very happy with the day.

July 9

The weather was beautiful today so we decided to do one of the common events at Mom and Dad's mountain house... walking into town.
It's about a mile into town (down hill most of the way) going through woods, near houses and along the Bow river.
There is a big playground along the way so we stopped along the way and enjoyed the view of the mountains while the kids monkey barred and slid.
Once in town we met mom for a great lunch (Canmore has a great collection of restaurants!)
Mom bought them each a new Webkins at the dollar store (they weren't a dollar, just everything is rounded to a dollar). Joe got a blue whale, which I thought was really boring until he thought up the name... "Whalmer". Pete picked out a yellow canary which is he calling "Birdy".
We started back to the house and walked a different way which took us over an old trestle bridge. We took the opportunity to walk in some out-of-the-way paths.. got a little lost and then back on the right track. We stopped at the playground one more time and then trecked back up the hill to the house. We probably walked 3 miles!

July 8 - evening edition

Today we went into Banff to watch "Ice Age the unnecessary 3rd sequel".

Afterwards we went to the rock shop and looked around. Joe bought a fossil and I avoided buying Pete the gookey necklaces he was partial to.



We then went to the Grizzly House in Banff. This restaurant serves fondue in all its forms and even had phones at the table just in case you want to phone an interesting party.

We enjoyed cheese, beef on hot rock and chocolate fondue. The kids enjoyed it (ok, Joe didn't like the cheese) and Pete ate more than anyone else!



Once we got home we had another bout of homesickness by the kids, but I decided we would stay until the originally planned Sunday departure.

July 8

Today was chilly in the mountains and it was kind of exciting to get out long pants for the kids to wear (pete refused).

We took a walk up to Quarry Lake up the hill from Mom and Dad's house.

This little lake is very cute and very cold.



The best part is the hill you have to cross to get to the lake... every time we walk up there we do the same thing...



We walked around the lake and once we got to the beach part the kids started playing in the water. I thought before we left that I should bring clean clothes, just in case someone fell in. Alas...



So we stripped the boys down to the driest stuff they had and we walked home.


A nice day.

July 7

Today we went white water rafting on the Kananaskis River!

The kids were totally excited when we were going to the entry point. We had seen an IMAX in Albuquerque about the Grand Canyon where they went white water rafting. Since then Joe had asked over and over again if we could go rafting.

It turns out that when you are 5 years old (and 7) you can only go on class 2 rapids. There are three main rivers around Canmore and the Kananaskis is the only one that kids less than 10 can go on.

We got there and changed into the wetsuits and flotation devices. Joe was totally excited, but Pete was a little apprehensive.

The boys sat in the front of the raft and experienced all the waves up front and personal. As the pictures show... Joe loved it and Pete didn't.

We had a great time and Joe can't wait to do it again, while we will have to convince Pete.

Day 10 - Suzy's Birthday

Today I slept in. After a super long shower I walked down to the playground in the communal background behind mom and dad's house.

I have been enjoying the view of the mountains, even through the rain today. It's so relaxing up here.

I think we are going to dinner tonight somewhere to celebrate my birthday! I am really sorry Ryan isn't here to help me celebrate, and so he doesn't have to be all alone at home for another week.

Day 9

Last day of massive driving before we get to Canada!

We got up early (the sun comes up really early in the north!) and I gave the boys 2 options. We could get going and get to Grandma and Grandpa's as fast as possible, or we could go swim in the lake some more and hike around... the boys picked the former.

We drove back towards Columbia Falls on the west side of Glacier (not going all the way down the Going to the Sun road... I know, I know... but I was ready to be done with driving!).

We had a great breakfast in Columbia Falls where my hankering for a breakfast taco was met at the Montana Roasting Co. The kids were excited to get in the car and watch more Pokemon!!!

We made it to the border and crossed in less than 5 minutes. We drove up into BC and made good time to Radium Hot Springs in time to have some lunch and swim for about an hour.

The hot springs are really great! At this spring they have a hot pool and a cool one with slides and diving boards. The kids had such a great time, there's no surprise that they were rotten when I said we had to go. Joe was particularly beside himself when I said no to ice cream too. Screaming all the way to the car I had my only moment of "what have I gotten myself into" when I got them in the car. As we were pulling out Pete said that his seat belt was stuck (common since he likes to pull it all the way out until it clicks). This time it was totally broken. So I opened the back and rearranged all the stuff and moved Pete's chair to the third row and got him into the car. I was at the end of my rope, but I put myself in timeout (and told the kids so) and sat in the front and told them they couldn't talk to me.

I managed to calm down, even started singing some songs and we successfully made it to Banff National Park. Out the other side and into Canmore and we made it to Mom and Dad's!

2700 miles!

We hung out, had a really nice dinner that did not include a single french fry.

It was a treat to not share a room with the boys and not have to go to bed at the same time as they were. Mom and I stayed up and watched Miss Marple on PBS.

Day 8

Today we got up in Idaho Falls. I knew that we would be in the car for a long time, so we went for a quick swim before we left. The kids had a good time and were ready to get going after a quick breakfast.

We got going and drove north towards Montana.

We stopped in Dillon, Idaho and got a snack and coffee at a great coffee place called "Big Ass". The kids loved it (Joe giggled).

We made it to Missoula around lunch time and stopped at Fudrucker's for a burger. We hit the road again and started towards Kalispell.

Years ago my family had taken a summer vacation in Columbia Falls where I remember Dad teaching me to cast a fly rod on the golf course. It was nice to think of finally getting to Canmore where my parents have owned their house for 9 years!

From suzywbates

We made it to Glacier Park and rode up the Going to the Sun Road until we got to the Lake McDonald Lodge. We checked into the room (which wasn't in the Lodge itself, but the "motel"). After we got rid of our stuff in the (unairconditioned) room we went for a walk and to get some dinner. We checked out the casual restaurant near the lodge and decided to check out the nicer restaurant within the lodge itself. We had a great dinner (with a yummy huckleberry margarita) and even spotted some deer outside the window during dinner.

Afterward we went down to the lake side of the lodge and the kids played in a creek that emptied into the lake. They spent about an hour trying to block the flow of the stream with rocks and ended up totally wet (and happy).

We went back to the room and went to sleep. Happily Ryan called us in the room as there was no cell service in the park.

It was a long driving day, but a good day.

Day 7

Today was mostly driving, driving, driving.

We got up and got out the door, said a big goodbye to Grandma Pam and then hit the road.

The road from Moab to I-70 was really beautiful, lots of red rocks and interesting formations. We got on I-70 for only 20 miles or so and then headed through Price to Salt Lake City.

For lunch we stopped in Provo near BYU for McDonalds. (It had a great big playground).

Then another quick stop at the Walmart for new headphones for Pete and a new Pokemon DVD.

We made it to Idaho Falls, checked into a hotel with an indoor pool and collapsed (after the obligatory swim).

I didn't take a single picture today!

Day 6

We convinced Pam to come with us on this day to Moab to make what would have been 2 REALLY long days into 3 longish ones. Plus we got to see Arches National Monument together.

I slept in a bit so we didn't get going until 10:30am. First stop was Four Corners Monument (which has recently been discovered to be about 2 miles off of the real corners, but whatever). It took a while to get there, but we did drive through Arizona for about 10 miles and then back into NM.

The monument is ok, the most interesting part is finding out that the iron work that is part of the monument was created by Ryan's Aunt RaeLee. We got a snowcone and some Navajo Fry Bread and then got on the road.

Next was the exciting stop on the road south of Cortez, CO where we sat for half an hour for what turned out to be road work. So frustrating!

We finally made it to Cortez and had the wished for Dairy Queen for lunch. We got going and headed towards Moab. On the way we stopped at "Wilson Arch" a windown in the rock on the side of the road. It was really pretty and a taste of things to come in Arches.

Finally we made it to Moab and decided to go straight to Arches as it was overcast and pretty cool at 5:30pm. We spent a little time in the visitor center and then drove into the park.

All I can say (and Pam kept saying) is... wow. "How come I didn't ever come here before?" she kept asking. She is a rock hound and kept pointing out how the formations were formed etc. Very exciting and really fun. The kids loved standing up out the sun roof and taking pictures (while we were stopped, of course).

We got back to the hotel and we all went swimming and then to bed. What a great day!

Day 5

Today we spent the whole day in Farmington, NM with Grandma Pam.

The best part was when we got in the SUV and went for an adventure out into the wilds of the Navajo reservation to look for petrified trees. We drove down dirt roads and then turned off of those onto dirt tracks (using the 4 wheel drive for the first time ever!) and ended up near a pump jack in the middle of nowhere.

We got out near some interesting formation and starting climbing around. I warned the kids about snakes and critters, but happily we didn't see any. We did climb around the sandstone and found a big tree that had been trapped in the sand however many years ago and it was petrified. Pam told the boys all about how this part of NM had been underwater or part of a riverbed. The kids really loved it. Joe was particularly excited when he found a bone just laying on the ground.

We headed back to the house and spent the rest of the day lounging. We had a nice dinner with Larry (Uncle) and Alyssa (cousin) and then hit the sack.

Day 4

Day 4 was quite fun. We got up and Grandma Loretta took the kids to the grocery store while I packed up the car. Around 10:30 we headed out to Sandia Peak to take the tramway to the top to look out over Albuquerque. The kids were skeptical until we got there and then they were jumping up and down in anticipation.

The ride up was fun and once we got to the top we had a picnic lunch and walked around a bit. Took lots of photos (have to wait for that faster connection.. sorry!). It was a great time!

We went back down and then headed back to Jim and Loretta's house to finish packing and head out to Farmington. We got going around 1ish and hit the road. One little sad moment... I stopped at the Starbucks to get a coffee for the road and realized it was the one we stopped at right after we found out about Josh 2 years ago.

Along the way we took a detour to Chaco Canyon to check out the ruins. It was really wonderful to see and exciting to drive on a dirt road. The ruins are so beautiful, even the kids were impressed. The most memorable part was when we were peeking in an covered room and I looked down and saw only dirt. Pete looked in and said he saw a bug. Joe looked in and saw a snake. I didn't believe Joe, so I looked in again and was quite surprised to see a large (3-4 ft) snake crawling across the floor. Like the girl I am and don't admit to, I screeched and ran in the other direction. Later when I was telling Ryan about it he asked "what did it look like, did it have a diamond patterns, blah, blah". I told him it was a large snake and I didn't wait to find out what kind.

We made it to Grandma Pam's around 7pm. It was really nice to see her again and she seems quite happy to see us.

Day 3

It was very restful to wake up this morning at Jim and Loretta's. Mostly because I could tell the kids had been up for a while and I got to sleep in.

We hung around for a while and then the phone rang... Ryan had won (like won-won-won) his case for the firefighters in the Supreme Court! So exciting!

I watched tv for a while watching for footage of Ryan and coverage of the case.

In the late morning we headed out to Sadie's for lunch and then to the Natural History Museum to see the IMAX of the Grand Canyon. We had a great time and then headed back to the house to hang out.

I ended the day by catching sight of my husband on the national news (surreal) and then reading some "World War Z", only more surreal when I got to the chapter where they were fleeing north to escape the zombies.

Good day!

Day 2

We woke up in Carlsbad, NM and after fighting off requests to swim in the morning, we headed to the caverns.

I had purchased tickets to the earliest, shortest guided tour available last week, so we had to be there by 9:30 or so to make our 10am tour.

The drive into the park is really beautiful with lots of hills and scrub. The day was much cooler (70's) and overcast, so it felt like another planet after the 100+ days we had been having in Austin.

We arrived at the cavern entrance and headed in with our fleeces (everyone else had one!). We killed a little time in the gift shop were Pete purchased an Indian bead necklace (which was broken before the tour even started). We headed to the elevator and went down the 750 feet to the underground entrance.

At the bottom we were told to meet the tour at a spot near the elevators. Having half an hour to kill, we decided to explore the "big room" self guided tour. Despite the fact that the ranger had said we didn't have time before our tour, off we went.

We started walking and it was really amazing. Lots of beautiful formations and cool paths. We got to the first turn around spot and decided to keep going. Luckily I had learned from my parents that speed walking through museums and points of interest is ok, so we started walking... fast. We saw a lot of the interesting formations with names I can't remember (one drawback to this type of sightseeing), but I did keep reminding the kids to "look up".

We made it back to the meeting place with 10 minutes to spare... apparently just enough time to impulse buy miner's hats for the kids, which they instantly dropped during the ranger's introductory speech. The ranger then implored us to not turn on the headlights during the tour as there is light on the path and the formations are easier seen without them. Sigh. Another example of the dichotomy of making money to preserve the park vs. people ruining the park just by being there (which was kind of the theme of his 1.5 hr tour).

We made it through the tour even though the kids were ready to be done about half way through. Pete got a little freaked out along the way, but they were real troopers. Joe made a friend of a teenage girl who had a dinosaur figure she kept putting on rocks and taking pictures. He managed a few shots too.

We finished the tour, headed to the top, one more trip through the gift shop for a geode for Joe and then into the car.

The rest of the day consisted of lots of dvd's for the kids, cokes and China Mieville's "The City and The City" on ipod for me, rain showers (only showers thankfully) and driving.

We did stop in "the Valley of Fire" outside Carizozo and walked the trails. It's a really cool lava flow in a valley which apparently did not come from a volcano, but holes in the valley. The kids liked it and wanted to take some lava (we didn').

On the road one more time and made it to Albuquerque to Ryan's Dad and Step-mom's house.

Day 1 recap

This morning we find ourselves watching the Fairy Odd Parents in a hotel room in Carlsbad, NM.

Yesterday was a pretty successful 8 hours-in-the-car day.

We started with a sad goodbye to Ryan. He's sad he doesn't get to come with us and that he's going to be alone for 3 weeks without us.
He helped me write on the car windows... we are crossing the country telling fellow travelers "CANADA! Fleeing Heat + Zombies".

We got out and walked around in Fredricksburg. The kids spotted a candy store, so we stopped for some morning ring pops and blow pops.

After some Pokemon movies and a quick McDonald's for lunch we made good time on I-10. The landscape was quite pretty with the mesas and scrub. I was quite excited to see the wind turbines on the mesas. They are really impressive!

In the afternoon we drove into Fort Stockton and detoured into town to see Paisano Pete, the giant Roadrunner statue. Joe and Pete's elementary school's mascot is the Roadrunner, so I took lots of pics of them in front of it.

The last part of the trip was on state highway 285 north towards New Mexico. The landscape there was much more boring and flat. Pete decided to watch Mamma Mia and listened to it without the headphones so I could enjoy the show!

We got here around 5pm (mountain) and went for a quick swim at the motel's pool. It's an indoor pool that was hotter in the building than the outdoors (and it's over 100 degrees!), so I didn't feel like staying long.

Today we have a tour of the Caverns then we are driving to Albuquerque.

Day 1

Saturday, June 27th, 6:40am

Today we leave for the big 3 week road trip through the mountain west and up into Canada. I am very excited and scared at the same time as it will just be me and the kids (no daddy to dilute the crazy)!

Yesterday I spend the day panic buying at Target for snacks and games and packing said snacks and games. I am worried that we will all get bored and restless and then we'll have a bad time... or more importantly, the kids will start bickering and I will yell at them and then it'll FEEL like a bad time. But, thinking back to some of our road trips when I was a kid, I think that's par for the course.

While I was packing I finished watching "Into the Wild". It was quite good and I can see how people liked it, despite it's depressing premise. As Emile Hirsch whittled down to nothing at the end and died due to some mixed up edible plant eating, I had to laugh at my freaking out about having enough snacks. We have plenty of yogurt-covered-raisins and apples (ok, some oreos too) to make the 5000 mile trip, not to mention we can stop on the way.

So now all that is left is to put it all in the car, take a shower, have some breakfast with an already sad Ryan (the house being packed up for the move makes our being gone for 3 weeks even more lonely feeling), and get going.

More later!

Exhausted in an anticipation

The boys and I are going on a 3 week road trip to see grandparents, the mountain west, cross the border into Canada in a car, friends in Denver, do a switcher-oo of drivers and then back home again!

I am planning on documenting my trip as we go here on the 'ole blog. Hopefully it will be interesting as we go.

Retrospective Workshop

This last weekend I was thrilled to be involved in hosting a workshop on Agile Retrospectives.

Sharon Cichelli and I had a great time working together to get everything prepared and presented together in a really cohesive way which it seemed like everyone appreciated.

Retrospectives are my favorite part of Agile because it is cause for some reflection and growth. I find this the most difficult and most rewarding part of the Agile process.

It is difficult because saying to yourself "how could I have done this better" is a hard question to answer truthfully. While some of us spend, some might say, too much time obsessing about what someone meant or what that look was, there are others who don't have the observation skills needed to see that there was a comment or a look at all.

By meeting in a group (who have to provide a level of safety before true reflection happens), it's easier to see through the eyes of others what is the next most important thing to work on. And that's what Agile boils down to, right? Doing the most important thing next and putting aside the others until they are most important. And this sense of accomplishment is very rewarding.

I did learn a number of things while holding the workshop.
I wasn't as nervous as I expected I would be. I think presenting with Sharon, going through it beforehand, having a well organized outline and friendly participants helped, but I was still surprised that my introverted side didn't take over more.
While I knew this before we started, it was fascinating to see the difference between a bunch of technical people memorizing digits of Pi vs. verses of "The Charge of the Light Brigade". So much excitement for the first and a little apprehension for the second. To be fair, the poem was at the end of a three hour session.
Someone came up at the end and shared his view of Retrospectives which I feel needs to be a cornerstone of the next time we give the workshop: Retrospectives are not a problem->solution kind of meeting, rather a exploration and discussion type of meeting and it should be introduced, supported, and concluded that way.
He was basically saying that tech-like people will come at a meeting like this which is based on incremental improvements, safety, interpersonal skills and growth and slice and dice it into tasks with checkmarks and measures.

Sharon emailed me yesterday and asked if there was another topic I might consider hosting a workshop about. I am sure there's something out there I could focus my thoughts around, but with Retrospectives being my mental beacon for the last 6 months, I am having trouble seeing a single topic. Maybe Sharon has something she feels strongly about that I can provide some support and get energized about.

Thanks everyone for the great session, the wonderful support (hubbies Jonathan and Ryan) and all the "luck".

I need your help

I have created a new diaper bag which just might be considered over the top... or it could be something worth pursuing.

Please look at these pictures and tell me what you think.

It is a bag modeled on the dress that Aurora wears in Sleeping Beauty. I will post it on etsy.com, but I am not sure how much to list it for. Any thoughts?

It is made of polyester and will wash and has the usual fold out changing pad.