stats and trivia

There have been a lot of comments made about how we ever survived such a long road trip with seven bodies in such close proximity. Well, it wasn't easy, but it wasn't as bad as one might think. There was a learning curve, for sure.

When we started out, the car was packed to the gills, there was a highchair strapped to the roof, the kids were in their car seats, Stephen & I were in the front, Nika (our dog) shared the second row with the kids, and the cats were in individual crates. By the time we got to Cleveland, though, one of the cats (Rosie) had made it widely known that she preferred to roam about the car, so we let her do so as long as it did not interfere with the driver's perspective or reflexes. After we left Cleveland, we discovered that our other cat (Al) had become acclimated to traveling enough that he also preferred to roam about, and since we had a little more room at that point, we allowed him to do so as well. The only difficulty with doing things this way was that we had to make sure the litter box was accessible in the car at all times. There was no smell, since Stephen did well to scoop it at almost every stop, but it does take up quite a bit of otherwise stackable space that way. I had Rosie in my lap and Al was under the driver's seat for probably a third of the total trip or more. All of the animals were very well behaved and we had little trouble with them at all.

Seren & Porter were happy enough in the back seat. We had a tote bag full of books, coloring books, crayons, and small toys for Seren to occupy herself with. Of course, this didn't keep her busy the whole way, but it was a big help. Once the contents of the bag started to lose her attention altogether, we had to be more creative and draw her attention to sights and sounds outside of the car. By the end, she was pointing out every train, track, boat, bridge, body of water, and wild animal that could be seen from the car. (Seren also did quite well with some of her favorite music. By the end of the trip, we could ALL sing almost all of the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack as well as her favorites by Peter, Paul, and Mary, Tenacious D, Queen, and Simon and Garfunkel. Naturally, I'm very proud of her musical tastes. --Stephen) Porter was a little more difficult, as he is not yet of an age where his attention can be captured for any extended period of time. We had a few toys in the car for him, but he was happier just to sleep away the miles. When he was awake, we tried to let him have healthy snacks (apple chips were a hit!) or play with Seren as well as he could with the limited range of vision that his car seat affords. Most difficult was trying to find ways and places to get them out of the car to get the exercise, stimulation, and interaction that they both needed. Canada has some very nice rest stops with playgrounds, but we were never able to stay very long and it always felt as though we were tearing Seren away from much-needed play time to get back on the road. Porter would get very upset if he didn't feel like he was able to romp and play with us and Seren enough. As I said, his car seat doesn't allow him to see much more than the seat directly in front of him, so there were a few stops made just to take some face-to-face time with him. All in all, they both did very well and made us both very proud parents for the way they behaved for the majority of the trip.

Stephen and I whiled away the hours taking in the scenery and talking about any silly thing that popped into our heads. We both enjoy road trips, so we didn't have many issues - with each other, or otherwise - the entire way. Sometimes we preferred silence, but mostly we had the radio* on in the background. We talked and played with the kids from the front seat as much as we could and I took a few naps in the passenger seat. We laughed at billboards, enjoyed weather changes, and dreamed together about the end of this long, long road to Sitka.

*By radio, I don't mean broadcasted stations. That would have been far too much work, considering all the areas we were passing through so quickly. Instead, I loaded over 1,000 songs onto a hard drive and plugged that into our stereo receiver. Once in a while we would tune in to see what kind of local stations there were, but never for long. We had the music we liked to listen to with us and it only just started to get old by the last leg of the trip.

Another thing we did was count license plates on the highway. Here are the game rules:

• Collect as many license plates from as many different places as possible.
• Plates only count if you are inside the vehicle when you see them.
• Plates on large commercial trucks (semis) do not count, but those on passenger buses do.

We did this collectively, not individually, on this trip to earn a more complete collection. We started the game on I-17 soon after we left Orme. The results? Inside the U.S.: ALL 50 states, plus a large number of tribal plates from Oklahoma. Canada: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador, Northwest Territories, Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Yukon Territory. Mexico: Chihuahua.

Finally, for all of you who have been with us since mile one, here's our total mileage. We left Orme with 78780 miles on the odometer. We arrived in Sitka with approximately 84650 miles. That's a grand total of...

5870 MILES!

(2 oil changes, 1 tire rotation, and too much gas to even think about)

a photographic pause

First, I want to give a special warm THANK YOU to Arty & Marcine Weiner (Stephen's great aunt and uncle) for putting us up for a night in their lovely home outside of Chicago the night before last. I had wanted to dedicate a post entirely to them and their amazing hospitality, but it seems we are putting the miles on faster than we can keep up with the blogging right now. Needless to say, we enjoyed the time we spent with them, but we were practically overwhelmed by the amount of food and familial welcoming we received. Thanks again, Marcine & Arty, for everything!

And now, PICTURES!

Porter enjoying a burger during the packing process.

All packed up and then some.

A quick stop in Holbrook on our way to Cleveland.

Passed out at a Super 8.

A visit to see Stephen's grandmother.

Passed out at Papa Nate's house.

Happy early birthday Sean Waxman & Porter Courtright (July 9th).

Culver's on the road.

Mac & AJ Courtright.

(Uncle) Kyle Koehs & Porter at Cascarelli's in Albion, MI.

Cleveland wrapup - we've been busy!

In the time we've been in Cleveland (since Monday), we've been able to see a lot of my family, including all three of my grandparents. My sister, mother, and wife were able to help my grandfather sort through my grandmother's personal items and I don't think there were any badly hurt feelings as a result. I got to see both of my uncles in the same place for the first time in a while and a number of people got to see Porter for the first time. We've worked out our route, then completely reworked it (I'll possibly post that later). We've had the car repaired. We've seen one of my best friends and given him several baby items and made arrangements to see my two other best friends tonight and Monday. We've finally gotten the bill for our move and have started paying that off. We've tried to catch up on sleep and let the kids have some semblance of a normal schedule (although we've really failed at the latter - poor Seren is desperate for regular naps and time to run around like a kid her age needs to do). We've confirmed that we can keep Verizon service through Canada and that it'll cost the same as our current plan. We've even gotten new insurance cards for our car.

Looking ahead, we'll be seeing some old family friends tomorrow and doing a lot of packing. Monday, we hit the road, with a stop planned in Albion, Michigan to get lunch with one of my best friends, see a professor I've been missing a lot, get some dishes, and enjoy a barbecue chicken pizza and some Oberon! After that, we're going to head for the Chicago area for our first night back on the road. Unfortunately, we'll be missing out on the stop we hoped to make in Churubusco, Indiana to see some of JoElle's family. We had to cut time out of our trip, and the Michigan trip only made the cut because of the dishes (much as I love Oberon, 'Relli's pizza, Kyle, and JimBall). Expect more frequent updates during the next week and a half!

last day on the road (headed east, that is)

Yesterday we made a somewhat unscheduled stop in Joplin, MO to see my second family, the Kirbys. We only stopped for a little over an hour for lunch, but it was definitely time well spent. We had about 15 years of catching up to do, but Mike & Edythe seem to be getting along just fine and Shauna has a brood of her own. I was hit with a few surprise events (deaths, retirement, and a few other things), but somehow even after all this time, it felt like we were to able to pick up where we left off. It felt like home. The fact that yesterday was Father's Day only made it that much better. So if there are any Kirbys out there reading this post, thanks for making me one of your own. I love you guys.

On a much less sentimental note, today will be our last day on the road before we reach Cleveland. The animals are doing well and have been great on the road so far, but the kids are both a little frayed around the edges. Sleep schedules have been thrown out of whack and diet requirements are never easy to maintain on the road. Add to that a round of summer colds for the whole family and you get four people who just want a soft bed to call their own for a few days. Today will be about another 8 hours in the car before about a week of endless running around to see as many people as we can before packing the car up again and heading west.

sometimes it's good to just be around the people you care about

I wanted to come straight home and write this post tonight because I wanted whatever remnants of this day to find their way into what you are now reading. Today was a dreadfully long day for all four of us and, at the same time, it was one of the best days I've had in a very long time.

We started out this afternoon at my sister's house for my niece's birthday party. It was nothing fancy, just a backyard barbecue and a whole lot of family. I've never been hugely motivated to go to family functions, but I was definitely reminded today of how important it is to see everyone whenever you can.

Our next venue was all the way on the other side of the Valley, at McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park in Scottsdale, AZ. This was where we held our farewell party for those who could be there to see us off. I have to recognize those who shared this day with us: Dad & Gail, Jimmy & Claire, Kristin & Dave, Jaime & Dave, Veronika & Viktor, Gordon, Glory & Jack, Doug, Julie & Todd, Heather & Tim, Roger & Becky, Amber, Don & Sarah, and ALL of their children who spent the evening making Seren feel special. I wish I had the words to express to you just how much tonight has meant to me, that my heart is somewhere between breaking from the loss I already feel from knowing that it will be some time before I see any of you again and bursting with the love and support I received from each and every one of you. My only regret is that we did not have more opportunity to see everyone more frequently before this enormous change came into our lives.

The most difficult part of today is knowing that we do not have any more opportunities to visit with any of you who did not make it out tonight. We wish there was more time, but we just can't manage another trip down to the Valley. The movers will arrive on Thursday and we will be on the road Friday morning.

But all is not sad. You will be able to follow our adventures here and continue talking to us by phone or Internet. We hope you will do these things and leave your comments on this blog so we can better share this Alaskan Adventure with you. This is not goodbye, only a heartfelt farewell until we see you next.

things i've learned or observed recently

In no particular order...

 1. Moving sucks
 2. Moving is made only a little less sucky by paying someone else to pack for you
 3. People will often surprise you
 4. Family members are not often among the people referred to in item 3
 5. Alaska is really, REALLY big
 6. Alaska is really, REALLY far away
 7. Kids are made of rubber
 8. No matter how minimalist you try to be with your possessions, you still end up with more than you need
 9. Family is stronger than distance and sometimes they just need to be reminded of that fact
10. It's only money
11. Alaskans are more friendly/helpful than the average American
12. There will ALWAYS be unexpected expenses (refer to item 10)

saying goodbye

We really want to be able to say goodbye to as many of you as possible, but there isn't much time left. We're having one last hurrah in Scottsdale for friends and family this Sunday, so if you haven't received an invitation contact us for details. (We're sorry if you are one of the few who we may not have already reached. You're not being snubbed, I promise!) Otherwise, we expect to be on the road before June 20, 2010, so check here for updates!