Daddio: Grand Caytion- Day 1.5

Well, just when I got done posting up the last blog post, half the kids needed to use the bathroom again, so we stopped in Tatum, New Mexico:

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There weren't many choices in Tatum, so we stopped at the unaffiliated Stripes station:

The place looked pretty new, so we were excited at the prospects that awaited us.  Indeed, when we got inside, the bathrooms were pretty big:

And there was even an even bigger condom dispenser (the "protocol" machine) than the last gas station we stopped at:

But, alas, the bathrooms were nasty.  Nasty, gross, dirty, awful, horrible.  It looked like they hadn't been cleaned at all in a few days.  I was worried I was going to catch ebola just walking in.  Here's Max holding up his hands in surrender at the grossness of the toilet:

Needless to say, this one was a BIG thumbs down:

Daddio: Grand Caytion- Day 1.4

As I type this, we are passing from Texas into New Mexico:

Roswell is only two hours away!

We stopped about 45 minutes ago in Brownfield, Texas:

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Several kids needed to use the bathroom, so we stopped at the Taylor/Phillips 66 station in the middle of town and topped off the car with gas:

In a single word, the bathrooms were terrible.  The bathrooms were dirty, gross and there was absolutely no toilet paper.  Worse, the men's room wasn't functioning and there were plumbers in it that wouldn't let me use it.  So I had to have Nana stand guard while I used the ladies' room.  I was so irritated that I left the seat up and refused to flush.  That will teach them a lesson!  As you can probably guess, the Taylor/Phillips 66 gets a giant thumbs down:

After we got back on the road, we broke out the lunches, which were sandwiches, fresh strawberries and yogurt pretzels:

Even Mommio at her sandwich while driving.  She's such an expert she doesn't have to follow the "ten and two" hands rule:

Nana was so happy with her rotisserie turkey salad sandwich that she practically inhaled it:

That's a great look, Nana.

Daddio: Grand Caytion- Day 1.3

I know what you're thinking-- "Kyle?  Another update so soon?  Wasn't your last restroom review only 30 minutes ago?"  Yes, gentle reader.  It was.  However, we approached Sterling City, Texas:

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And on either side of Sterling City are really cool wind farms with the giant turbines:

Cool, right?
Right?

Okay, the truth is that, after having stopped for gas and a bathroom break in San Angelo, I suddenly had to pee again.  I guess the coffee caught up with me.  It's unbelievable that we had to stop in less than half an hour for me, and not one of the kids.  Never fear, they all rationed me a ton of grief over it.  Anyhow, we stopped at the Shell/Stripes station- the only gas station on the main strip of Sterling City:

The bathroom was old, but was huge- 4 urinals and a couple of stalls.  And it was clean, but not sparkling:

So I'm giving it a tentative thumbs up.  But quite frankly, if you ever find yourself in Sterling City, you won't have another alternative.

Daddio: Grand Caytion- Day 1.2

We made another stop for gas in San Angelo, Texas:

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Our destination was the Star Stop just before we left town:

I don't know if it shows up in the picture, but when we were going through Llano (when it was still dark) we hit a swarm of giant bugs that left huge gross smears all over the windshield:

Nana and Avery worked hard to scrub all the bug guts off.  Here's Ava in action:

The bathrooms were a mixed bag.  The girls said that theirs was pretty clean, which they found surprising.  Ours wasn't gross, but it wasn't clean either.  Here's Max in the restroom-- note the giant condom dispenser on the wall to the left.  We gave it extra points for having such a wide selection:

There was disagreement over the rating we should give the Star Stop bathrooms, the girls said thumbs up, but the boys said thumbs down.  So we gave it a neutral rating:

Daddio: Grand Caytion- Day 1.1

Kiki had to pee, so we made our first stop at a McDonald's in Brady, Texas:

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The bathrooms were very clean and nice, however we also decided to order coffee for the adults. We ordered two large coffee for Nana and I, and a large Mocha for Jen.  When we got the order, they gave us a small mocha.  We complained that we ordered a large mocha, but the girl apologized and told us that she only charged us for a small-- if we wanted a large, we'd have to pay for it again.  The manager just looked on the whole time and said nothing.  We grimaced unpleasantly at them and left.  That will teach them!

So even though the bathrooms were super nice, the verdict for the Brady McDonald's is a thumbs down:

Daddio: Grand Caytion- Day 1

We're off on our way to the Grand Canyon!  Day 1 is going to be a looooong day- about 12 hours in the van.  But as you can see, we're excited and ready for our adventure!

So expect numerous updates throughout the day of our various bathroom stops!

Mommio: 11 People, 9 days, 1 car

Well, tomorrow is the big day when we all pile into Vango and start the two day drive to the Grand Canyon where we will be tent camping for 6 nights. With 11 people, 9 days away from home and all the camping gear there was a lot to pack.  It was a very busy week getting everything together but this morning it was finally time to pack the car.  We weren't sure how it would go but it worked!  Here is all the stuff that was ready to go in the car this morning.  I know, we all thought it was too much too.

And here's the space we have to work with in the back of Vango.

 Here are several of the Toes working hard to force things into any small space we could find.  It was actually pretty fun figuring it out.

We made sure to pack the important stuff first (tents, sleeping bags, clothes) in case we would need to leave some stuff behind.  But amazingly the only thing left were the scooters.  We've decided we can live without them and walk more.  Luckily the umbrella stroller did make it in so tired little Toes will get a ride once in a while.

Here is what Vango looked like when we were finished with "phase one" of car packing this morning.  No, the big trucks are not really necessary...but keeping the little Toes happy at the campsite won out over big kids having wheels.

But no, that is not all!  Phase two of car packing will involve fitting in all this stuff. Most of it is food and the rest is stuff for the road trip that will be surrounding our feet, laps, etc.  Yes--it will all fit.

 

What's left?  Hmmm. Clothes to wear tomorrow.

And road trip food.  Lots more of it than you see here.

And Nana's backpack (she got ALL of her stuff for the trip in ONE BACKPACK).  And a billion little  things that will get stuck in randomly at the last minute.  I think we are doing great!  We hit the road at 6 am tomorrow and hopefully we'll be able to blog our adventures while we are gone so watch for updates.  To the Grand Canyon!

Avery: Grand Canyon Count Down

We are going to be at the Grand Canyon in 3 days! I am sooo excited!

Gabe: Grand Canyon Count Down

We will be at the grand canyon in  four day. I really want to look over the edge of the grand canyon.

Kiki: Grand Canyon Countdown

Five more days until the Grand Canyon countdown is done!  I'm excited about us going to see the edge of the Grand Canyon.  We are going to go camping.

Marney: Grand Canyon Count Down

almost there we got to start packing for the Grand Canyon. Only 6 more days and we made lists and we are starting to pack for it.  I am so so so so so so so so so happy and I want to hike why we are there.  Also we are having  so so much fun packing.

Mommio: Grand Canyon Countdown

Well, this last week was really fun- thanks Grandma and Grandpa- and now it is time to start packing and counting the days until we get to the Grand Canyon.  I'll start all my list-making and planning today and with lots of help from the toes and Nana we will all be at the Grand Canyon in 7 DAYS!

Gabe: Moives

Today we went to Diary Of A Wimpy  Kid  2 we got popcorn, coke and candy.  We  went to the movies  with grandma and grandpa it was really funny. I liked it a bunnnnnnch .

Avery: Seaworld

Yesterday everyone but Mason went to Seaworld. We saw the Azul show! Connor, Marney, Kiki and I all sat in the slash zone where the clown splashes water all over you. We also went on the new little kids park. We all went on the Shamu roller coaster. Marney, Max, and Kiki went on the merry-go-round. Almost all of us went on a fish ride. And Jack played on the playground. Later Marney, Kiki, Mom and I all went on the Steel Eel! It's a roller coaster. It was the first roller coaster I've EVER been on. IT WAS AWESOME! Last we went on the log ride. When it was our turn we found out you had to have someone 14 or older with you. So Mom, Connor and Max went on log. People behind us volentered to take Gabe and Marney. And then more people volenteered to take Kiki and I. Even though we went with different people it was still fun! After Seaworld we got to get Mc Donald's.

Marney: Today

Today we went to the hotel to swim.  That was so much fun. I can go to the five foot now and that was cool. We did shows for each other and we also went to the park and we biked a bunch and that was fun too.  We tried to catch fish but we did not .  Here are some pictures of the park and of us at to hotel.