Home Sweet Home

My own bed... nothing tops coming home to a happy family and your own bed. Operation V was successful, no headaches, emergencies, close calls- really I don't think a road trip could go more smoothly. The testament to that is the fact that none of us ever felt like saying, "get me out of this car, NOW!" Picture meeting your friends for coffee and having that conversation last for five days, continually changing, lots of laughs, but with breathtaking scenery and you have an idea of what our trip was like.

Traveling in modern times is awesome too- how amazing and wonderful it is to live in a time where we can call home almost any time we want, where we can text pictures to friends around the country and especially on Wednesday: get local weather reports so we could adjust our route. We had every intention of taking 40 across the south to see states and sights none of us had ever seen. Ultimately, though, we were destined to go north. I was tempted to say to all my Texas friends, gee you really know how to make a girl feel welcome, shutting her out with a storm like that. But it is hard not to see it as divine intervention. We were meant to see Utah and Colorado. We were meant to be able to sing with conviction, "I've been everywhere, man, crossed the deserts bare, man, breathed the mountain air man, travel I've a had my share, man, I've been everywhere..."

There are more stories to tell, though, because typing on a phone has its limits. We will work on that soon, but for today we are enjoying time with our families. Stella is road trippin' to Detroit to see her daughter honored as a Michigan Hero at tonight's Pistons game. Thanks to our families who encouraged us to go, who supported this spontaneous adventure, and who greeted us with open arms when we returned.

Back in Three Rivers, V seems to like it here. :)

Hello, Michigan! Wow, what a ride. Seriously, this road trip has ROCKED!

Waiting for a table so we popped into the junk- antique store. Looked really cute from the outside. Seriously, we expected the place to house all kinds of little treasures but it was well displayed over-priced junk.

Just arrived at Popolano's in Chesterton, IN. Viv's family ows the restaurant so we thought one last fantastic meal was needed

126 miles to Chicago. Can't hardly believe we've been in the car since Tuesday because this trip has gone fast.

Crossing the Mississippi and now officially in Illinois!!

232 miles to Chicago- we're in the driveway now!

Pictures!!!

We know you've been living vicariously through our travels so here are some views so you can visualize where you've been (and you've "been everywhere, man").

The traveling trio in Vegas

Cow catcher in Chloride, AZ (go Mudbugs!)

Stella gettin' her kicks on Route 66

The 'Vault of Heaven' - 'Veil of the Soul'

Vivian vamping with V

V- halfway through her Grand Adventure.

(she needs a bath now, so you aren't getting pics from Nebraska or Iowa)

MARS! Stopped in Underwood, IA for gas and Joni the cashier showed us we can see Mars tonight right next to the moon. Cool!

Leaving Kearney

Dinner at Quiznos and back in the saddle. Everyone should buy a car and get a vacation.

Looking out on a sea of white- all the fields dusted with a heavy frost. Not majestic like yesterday's view but still pretty.

Blue skies- sunshine- what more could you ask for on a road trip? Great friends to share it with? Got it covered.

Very brisk this morning

But what a view! Off to breakfast and then on the road again to see Denver in the daylight. So much we wish we could share! Must.. Find... Wifi...

Georgetown

Just arrived at our hotel outside Denver. Would love to ad pictures but for some reason I'm only getting wifi on iPod, not laptop. Roads were mostly good but Viv had a long spell of dense fog and another from Vail here with slightly snowy roads. It wasn't the snow as much as the speeding semis coming down through the twisty pass in the dark that made the last 30 miles seem to stretch on and on. But ladies and gents, I gotta say that Viv is da bomb and V drives like a dream.

I would love to shoot you some catchy V words tonight, but in all honesty my eyes are tired, iPod is almost out of juice, and I really want to wait until we can upload pictures. Thanks for the prayers for safe travels, we've definitely seen evidence that they are being answered.

Movin' movin movin'

Just left Grand Junction, looking to make it to just outside Denver tonight, then onward tomorrow. Grand Canyon today- wow. More once we have wifi.

Almost 8 hours without a cell signal! Hope to update tonight.

Had a fab dinner last night @ the Red RaVen. Got our kicks on rt 66, going to canyon then north... W/ eyes on the weather.

Errrrr- route change!

Need weather volunteer to text updates. It is looking like freezing rain all along 40 so now we are looking at heading north. Linda B- does it look fair in Colorado the next couple days?

Possibly stopping for night in Williams, AZ. None of us have seen the canyon before and so we'd hate to miss it.

Good morning, Vegas! Hello Visine!!!

Goodnight Vegas! What a vondervul evening!

Just had the best thin crust pizza @ the 4 Queens. Heading out soon to see the city. It's raining men... (the song is playing)

We have arrived! :-D

20 miles from Vegas. We can see the halo of light in the sky. Saw a coyote along hwy 15 earlier, donkies, and one bunny.

Stocked up in Victorville, because it was a V after all. In Nevada now, about 100 miles to Vegas. Get the party started!

On the road again!

Ok, one more

Aw, Vivian loves her new V!

Buy a car, get a vacation...

On the back of the complimentary US Air in flight magazine was Vivian's car, no joke, with the caption 'buy a car, get a vacation.' Oh, all right, if you insist! So we figured you'd need to see a picture of our vivacious beauty. Presenting V:

And the pit crew:

Pleasant surprise

Pleasant surprise... We dropped off the Volvo for a pre-voyage inspection and minor repair of steering column adjuster. We figured we'd eat somewhere nearby while we waited except when we turned on auto center boulevard it was clear there were no food options. Just lots and lots of cars. The folks at Volvo told us there was a cafe at the Toyota dealership so we walked around the block and figured we'd take our chances. It was fantastic! Baja wraps were big, fresh and delicious!!! The gentleman there who waited on us and prepared our food was so friendly, impeccable service. John Elway Toyota- who'd have thought??!

Now Vivian, Stella & I are waiting back at the Volvo dealership for her car, then it will be we three vixens headed to Vegas.

Arrived at dealership, first taste of freeway was fine. We almost grabbed a pylon for a souviennere- j/k!

We woke up in CALIFORNIA! Beautiful weather! venturing to volvo dealership for a final check then on toward Vegas

In phoenix, waiting to board flight to Ontario. Flight here was good, hope my bag enjoyed its $25 flight.

Vivian's got a vino, on vacation to voyage x-country for a volvo- then on to Vegas for victory, the Venetian, a video, and any other v's we can think of before we venture toward home.

Not quite 2 hours into the trip and Thelma has changed her name to Vivian. Vava voom!

Calendar Wisdom

A couple years ago, Thelma got me a girlfriend's adventure calendar. I thought a few from this week were especially appropriate...

Jan 24-
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
 ~Mark Twain

Jan 25-
Happiness is... opening the door to see the smiling face of an old friend.  (just over two hours, Thelma!)

Jan 26-
A life without adventure is likely to be unsatisfying.
~Bertrand Russell

Jan 28-
Adventures with your girlfriends build memories while nurturing a deep appreciation for their friendship.

Jan 29-
The more one does and sees and feels, the more one is able to do, and the more genuine may be one's appreciation of fundamental things like home, and love, and understanding companionship.
~Amelia Earhart

T-minus 5 hours and counting...

Thelma's got our e-tix printed and I can almost close my suitcase so I believe we are about ready to roll.

My poor friends are going to distance themselves from me once they see that instead of a backpack, I've loaded all my stuff for the plane into a soft-sided cooler. Well, what can I say? It will come in handy for the road trip. So I look a little goofy walking around the airport. They may make me walk 10 paces ahead or behind so that no one knows I'm with them. That's ok, when I'm able to keep drinks cold in the desert they will forgive my (lack of) fashion sense. I see myself in the back of Glamour now with the black bar across my face: "Don't -just don't."

Operation V's official theme song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11GYvfYjyV0

Would love to embed it but that feature has been disabled. You'll have to click the link, sorry!

18 hours and counting

I'm almost packed. I think. I could certainly take more, but I'm trying to pack light. I did throw in a pillow and small blanket for sleeping in the car (sleep? really? nah, I overpacked). Stella called me wondering what to take. Stella, I promise you- I've got my Mudbugs tshirt, a couple long sleeve tshirts, a hoodie and jeans for the trek from Vegas. I will clean up for Vegas, but the rest of the time it is all about comfort.

Mr. Louise had told me if we went the south route we'd head over to Memphis then go north from there. I finally took a moment yesterday to look at a map and I wondered if we wouldn't be better off to head north in Oklahoma. So I called a professional, my friend Terry who was a long haul driver in a previous life and he told me yes, by all means veer north east in OK. Okee-dokie. He was full of other info too.... like Nebraska and Iowa always get miserable freezing rain and that we might be interested in detouring to see the crater. Or Cadillac Ranch. Terry! We'll probably skip that last attraction, but hey thanks for the insight. Good to know it is just outside Amarillo. Wish you could see me rolling my eyes right now.

I should have called my man Terry sooner, though. I can think of so many great road trip songs but I don't have them and don't want to pay $1.29 per song on iTunes. He probably has them all, though. I bet I could have made a great trip cd. Speaking of which, that isn't going to burn itself. Time to quit yammerin' and get busy so I can try to herd all my ducks into a row AND make a cd.

Twenty Four hours

Let the countdown begin!

First it is the two hour trek to Detroit, then catch a flight to Phoenix, and finally arriving in Ontario. Does this gig really start tomorrow? Whoooo hoooo!!!

Planning

Yesterday the three of us met for coffee to discuss a tenative plan. We got to talking about lots of other stuff too, but by the time we left we set up a time to leave town to catch our flight and discussed everyone's opinion on the best route. Thanks to Stella's brother who sent her great info on four different routes. We were able to discuss them and - YAY- we all prefer to take the same route. Of course, we're going where the best weather and scenery is so we reserve the right to go where the spirit leads us but a tentative plan is a good thing. We can always deviate dramatically should the need/desire arise. In fact, I just sent Thelma & Stella a text asking if I should pack my passport *just in case* we find ourselves on a wayward jaunt to Mexico. Hey, a girl's gotta cover her bases. Wonder if I need to pack a bathing suit in case we find a hotel with a hot tub?

After our pow-wow it was back to being mom. Last night was a school dance for me, basketball game for Stella, and family trip to Indianapolis for Thelma (road trippin' back to back, she's the bomb!). Today is was more kid/family time. Now I'm trying to catch up on a few things while they are all busy and hopefully I'll get a little packing done before family game night. I'm thinking that after this weekend they are going to have had enough mom time they will be glad to be rid of me for a week. Come Monday at noon I take my mom hat and shove it in my back pocket basically until Friday. I'll have to whip it out to call home every day, but the freedom of not being tied to a schedule, of not HAVING to do much of anything except drive, laugh, take pictures, and eat food other than mac n cheese/pizza/hot dogs is positively intoxicating!

Thelma just told me the biggest snow storm in 20 years hit Arizona. Lovely weather- rain in CA & Vegas... Hmmmmm.

Can I post a picture this way? Nope, guess not. hmmmmm.... my Virgin mobile phone is presenting a few challenges. I can send pics to facebook, really this shouldn't be so much different!

Testing posting from phone- convenience :) A++++ msg size :( tough. Maybe email works better than txt.

The Map!

I don't think it is quite as handy as Dora's, but I added a map. You'll notice it stops at Vegas. Now, that isn't because we don't plan to return, it is because last time we talked we were still kicking around which route to take back. Through Utah and Colorado and see amazing scenery? Or through the southern states where the weather should be warmer and hopefully dry.  The route might be a game time decision so keep checking to see what route we'll take. Which route would you choose? Vote in the poll.

Leaving, on a jet plane~

Monday is our official launch date. Woot! Tomorrow we are having coffee to discuss the trip and who knows what else.

There are probably tons of things I should be thinking about or looking at to prep for this trip but so far I have put my free moments into setting up this blog and next I want to create a road trip playlist. Do you know how many California songs there are? Of course we'll be headed to Vegas and parts unknown pretty quickly into our adventure so  I need to focus on songs about the open road. And V songs. Hmmm. wonder how many songs starting with V there are on itunes?

The goal is to update somewhat frequently from the road. Now, we will need to sleep at some point and you know: what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas so you won't be privy to ALL that we experience. But hopefully we can share a lot of our mid-winter's journey with you. So call shotgun, grab those sunflower seeds, and put your feet up on the dash. Follow us on a trip we'll never forget.

What is Operation V?

Quite simply, it is a car quest turned road trip a la Thelma & Louise. It started a few months ago with a hunt for a used volvo suv. Now, I'm going to spare you a lot of back story here and say that eventually, the right model was found for the right price. Oh, there were other contenders. Thelma was growing frustrated and disheartened by the search though, until a beauty from Hawaii popped up on the radar. For three weeks, no one wanted her. Thelma & her husband made an offer, it was accepted, then rejected over some red tape, and they were told to wait a week. It was while we were talking about shipping it from Hawaii that I, Louise, suggested meeting the car half-way. See, when you buy a vehicle from Hawaii, they have to ship it to the mainland, in this case Long Beach, CA. It might not save a whole lot of money, but it would sure be fun. Plus I have family within an hour of the dock so we have a free place to sleep in Cali.
Of course the husbands, being the practical sort, thought of lots of reasons why that might not be the best idea. It's a long drive. Do you really know the car will be ok? It's January- not the best time of year for a road trip. It isn't really going to save much money. Blah, blah, blah.

 But then something really fun happend: the timing of picking up the vehicle magically coincided with another friend's trip to Vegas. Ok, ok, I know I originally tried to sell Thelma's husband on the idea by claiming we wouldn't go to Vegas, but come on.

 Sadly, Hawaiian V slipped through their fingers. Amazingly enough though, another volvo surfaced in Riverside, CA. Then that one sold the next day, over budget. Crud!


Just when hope of Operation V seemed in vain, another volvo appeared in Riverside. Cue the heavenly laaaaaaa music! Could it be? Finally? After months and months of searching? so close... sooo close.... yes... Yes! YESSSS!

 To make it all even more fun, we managed to convince Stella to come along for the ride too. So there you have it: three friends flying to California and road tripping it back to Michigan, with a little detour in Vegas and lots of silly V jokes. Hope you'll come along for the ride!