I planned a similar kind of trip earlier this year. DS was getting married in Vegas which is 25 hours of straight driving from us. I wasn't going to drive that far without seeing something. I had hoped to include Yellowstone but it would have added 5 more hours of driving to the trip and we were under a bit of time crunch. Also we were visiting in March and much of the park was closed. Things we did do (some of what may be too far south for your plans) Arches National Park Natural Bridges Monument We very much enjoyed both of the above parks. Lots of fun climbing and exploring but the "highway" from Bridges to Grand Canyon is brutal if you are afraid of heights (and even if you didn't think you were afraid of heights). I was so unnerved by the drive that I really didn't enjoy the Grand Canyon the next day. I think I would have if I had been in a better state of mind. Grand Canyon Hoover Dam Mt. Rushmore (we planned to go into the park but honestly, we were underwhelmed when we drove by, I had been told it was better from a far off anyways so we decided to skip going up closer) Custer State Park (bring carrots or apples and feed the begging burros) Corn Palace (this is more a of 15-30 minutes stop, create for taking a bathroom/stretch your legs stop but more interesting to look at than most stops) If you are going through St Louis and bringing kids, City Museum is a great place to burn off energy. But personally I find St. Louis unbearably hot in the summer so I would only do City Museum on Friday or Saturday night when they are open late. The AC in the place doesn't really keep up. As far as planning goes, normally I'm a wing it kind of person but I absolutely detest finding hotels on the fly so I planned out every aspect of the trip from what we were eating each day (we didn't have the budget to go out to eat so brought all the food from home with planned refills at Costco), to where we were staying and distances between stops etc. We hit a few snags (like the drive down the mountain in Denver chewing up our brakes and needing to get replacements) but having everything laid out with times, distances, and addresses made the trip so much more enjoyable and even relaxing for me since I wasn't stuck in the "mom" role of having to figure out every problem and make every decision while traveling. When kids said "what's for lunch", I told them to look at the chart. It was all laid out and so no one ever complained about food the entire trip because everyone knew what we were eating when and everyone had okayed those foods before we left home. As to the actually planning, if yellowstone is the "big" attraction, I'd start with a basic google maps of your place to it and back. Thern start looking at what other attractions are on that route or close enough that it's worth adding the extra drive time. Once I started filling in things we wanted to do, I started looking at drive times between and finding cities and hotels that fit. We started with two really long days of driving (because it's still new and fun and doesn't feel like such a drain) and then after that I tried to make sure long driving days were buffered with fun activities. Even though the upfront planning was a ton of work and yes even overwhelming at times, I was glad I had it all done and could just sit back and enjoy the trop.

I don't know much about flying as I haven't done any in over 20 years but my mom just took a flight and her cpap unit/bag was not counted as her carry on unit so in essence she was carrying two bags. I suppose it may depend on what kind of medical stuff you have but I would check if it's items that are "free" to take so you don't have to use your carryon space for it.

I'm shocked you have one that old. we built our house 25 years ago, we are on our 3rd, dishwasher, 3rd stove, 3rd set of washer and dryer and as of last week our 4th refrigerator.

Garlic is planted in fall and harvested the next summer. I forget the name of the process but it actually has to go through the period of sitting in very cold temps in order for it to make a bulb. So I would skip garlic for now, and when you find more pallets later this year, it would be a good time to consider planting garlic. Garlic is typically planted in October but can go in as late as November as long as the ground isn't frozen.

Nothing happening here yet. We had one glorious week that hit upper 70's - 80 and it's been cold wet and gloomy ever since. i have so many outdoor projects but I just can't muster the motivation to work outside on/in the cold damp ground when it's in the 40's. We've had a couple of nicer days but they have always been on days when I'm working in the greenhouse (I'm not complaining about it being nice when I have to work though it does make it hard to get stuff when I'm home). I've got about 50 feet of new raised beds that needs to be leveled. It's on quite a slope so I have to do a combo of digging one side in while raising up the back side. Taking a lot more effort than I planned since the ground didn't "appear" to be that uneven. Then I have to cut support rods and get them installed. I did a non standard configuration of the kits and so need a lot more support bars then they include with the kit. I went to order more bars and they are backordered till the end of July so now I'm making my own (well I will be when it's not damp and raining because the metal has to be cut outside). So till that part is done, I'm on hold prepping and planting those beds. But for things that are happening without my help: Last I checked the garlic had sprouted (first time growing it) and I know the rhubarb was looking nice (also just planted last year but the plants were so huge by the end of the season that I might pick some this year already if they look that nice), raspberries are starting to leaf out. I'm going to need to move my black raspberries as they decided to plant themselves in front of my gas meter. Which doesn't bother me at all except the gas company just notified us that they need to do equipment upgrades this summer so I know they will not appreciate them. Hoping I can push the upgrade off until August so I can at least enjoy their fruits before they get damaged. I see flowers on the honeyberries (flowers appear before leaves on these guys). I planted a cherry and peach tree from bare root. It's been so cold that they really haven't even started leafing it out. I also bought a potted cherry tree and 3 blackberries bushes that are patiently waiting for it to be warm enough to get out and get them planted.

I know a lot of the hospitals around here work with photographers who donate their time and work for these situations and there is national group for this as well. Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep | Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep I would imagine that in one of these ways the pictures are covered. I can't imagine that any one would be sending out a surprise bill in this case.

That's cool that your insurance offers discounts like that, ours doesn't. So the cost of driver's ed is a pretty hefty expense (especially times 6 kids) for us so I'm very glad we have the option to sidestep that unnecessary expense. (remainder of post is just general commentary not directed at ScoutTN) I know some people don't have the disposition to teach their kids like this but my philosophy has been , I taught them to tie their shoes, I taught them to read, I taught them to do algebra (and this was way more stressful to do with my non mathy kids than teaching them to drive), I taught them to cook and do laundry, manage their money. Driving is just one more life skill that I teach them before sending them off on their own. I didn't find it very hard and for the most part not really stressful either but I get it's not everyone's cup of tea (and like a previous poster, I tell my kids upfront, I'm not chit chatting with them so every word that comes out of my mouth is important and they to listen and respond appropriately, and Stop means stop immediately no questioning/hesitating we can discuss why after the stop has been made). My most recently licensed driver did have a hard time understanding some of my directions (on parallel parking) so we watched a couple of videos on YouTube together and talked through what to do while watching the car moving. It was very helpful for her to "see" it happening from the outside. I had also googled the correct times to use turn signals on y turns as my memory was a bit fuzzy on that. My point is even though I learned to drive a very long time ago and yes some things have changed, it's easy enough to find current information so make sure the student has correct information.

$500-$600 was the going rate 6 years ago. I haven't bothered to check since.

Mine were 18 since our state laws require you to be enrolled in a driver's ed program to get your temps if you are under 18. Driver's ed is so expensive we opted to wait a couple of years so we could avoid that expense.

Like everyone else, I started with empty parking lots. The only thing I will add is that I insist my kids treat the end of the lane as "roads" and practice looking both ways, turning on turn signals etc. I'd much rather the habit is so engrained that they use them even when not needed than it's something they have to "think" about and end up forgetting to use them when they really need to. One of my kids only needed a couple of hours and he was ready to head to the streets (albeit quiet and/or very rural) others needed a month or more of daily practice (we typically only practiced for 30-45 minutes a day as that was all we had time for). But I just kept slowly increasing what we worked on. I found bigger parking lots at the community college that had a perfect setup for practicing y turns and backing up straight (and on Sundays it was deserted). Rural roads were great for practicing higher speeds (as long as there wasn't too many tractors heading out to fields). We drove city streets with stop lights later at night when there were fewer vehicles out. I also don't take them for the final test until their skill level is well past the bare minimum (for instance they are not required to parallel park on the test but I make all my kids practice it till they have it down pat because it teaches excellent control of the vehicle as well as awareness of the "space" of the vehicle which is very helpful for even in parking stall next to other cars). Also I know they will be nervous and make mistakes they don't normally make but their overall skill level is high enough to carry them through. So far we are 3 out of 3 passing on the first try (and we did not use any driving schools, just me and the kiddo that was learning). A couple of other things more related to the final test but good to think about now. See if you can find a list of what skills they will be testing on the final test and also if you can find sample routes and practice those. There is a little used road near our DMV that they frequently use for testing. It appears to be a country road and it would be easy to assume the limit is 45 or higher. There is no sign posted until about half way down the road that it is a 30. MANY kids have failed for speeding on that road (speeding is an automatic failure for us) because they assumed the limit had been raised from the lower in town speed by the DMV and it's not.

I can't make gravy either! At least not the way my mom did (pour juices in pot, make a slurry of flour and water and then slowly add to juices until thickened). I know the steps but the execution fails me everytime. I can however make a roux just fine so if I really want gravy, I put the fluor in the pan and slowly add tiny amount of juices until the flour is all moist and then continue to add juice till gravy is thickened. I have no idea why one method fails and one doesn't but I've stopped even trying and just do the roux thing. I only make gravy a couple of times of year since I'm the only one in the family who likes it anyways.

I would build a meal around rice (unless that is something that is often cross contaminated, I don't know that part). So something like stuffed peppers or a ham, rice and broccoli casserole.

My indoor potato harvest. 1.83 pounds Started with 3 potatoes that were too far gone with sprouts to eat. Planted in 2 5 gallon buckets. The grow light was hung over by primary bed of greens so the potatoes sat to the side and got the spillover light. I rotated them every few days. Plants died prematurely. The aphids found them just before I left for a 12 day trip. Since my fridge kindly died in that period I never got to deal with the aphids. Unchecked for that long, the pants were 3/4 dead when I returned and far too covered with aphids for me to do anything. There was at least 30 pea sized and smaller potatoes that had they had more time would have made a truly impressive harvest but all in all, I'm quite happy with the results since it was a complete whim to plant those potatoes (and I've never grown a potato before in my life let alone in my basement)

We recently got back from a 12 day trip where we stayed in 10 different hotels. Not only did we not unpack the suitcase each night we didn't even unpack the vehicle. We had 4 suitcases for clothes. Suitcase #1 was for days 1-4, Suitcase #2 was for days 5-8 and suitcase #3 was for days 9-12. Suitcase #4 was the dress clothes we needed for a wedding we were attending so I packed everything separate for that so it wouldn't get so wrinkly. Only that day's suitcase even came into the hotel. We still had bedding and food (we took all food for the trip with us with the exception of 3 meals), personal items and winter coats for some of the stops to haul in which was still a lot so no way did I want to haul in/out clothes that weren't even needed that day. Kids baulked at the idea of sharing the suitcase initially because we've never packed that way before. By the end of the trip they were thanking me for insisting on it because everyone was so tired of hauling stuff in/out as it was, no one relished the idea of having to do more..

I'm no expert on rice paper and I've certainly had my fair share of limp ones but here's what I do. Make sure all filling ingredients are chopped and ready to go. If including sauce, have bottle open. Take rice paper (I find the square ones easier to get the ends tucked in than the round ones and at my store they are the same price so I always buy square when they are available), turn on faucet and quickly run rice wrap under till that side is covered, flip and repeat with other side, immediately fill and wrap and eat. If I want more than two, eat the first two before making anymore. This is definitely not a meal I assemble for others since they would be too soggy before I finish. I took a class once which is where I was introduced to using rice paper and they would set it in a shallow dish of water but for some reason it would always get too soft that way so I switched to just using the running water.

yes it is!

Finally got my spring rolls made. Fresh cucumbers and carrots from my indoor garden and sprouts that I grew this week. I was planning to add chives from the garden but then it started snowing and I lost my desire to go outside to pick them so opted for some green onions from the store. I also roasted asparagus but the kids saw it before I got a picture and then it was gone.

@popmom I've been following Guten Gradening because he does a lot of indoor garden in actual soil (I'm not a fan of the taste of hydroponics). Happened to see this video and had three very sprouted potatoes in my basement plus a bunch of empty buckets sitting around outside and just a short while later I had planted potatoes. Since this was just an experiment, I didn't want to invest in lights for them so while I have a very high quality light in the room over my greens, the potatoes are just propped up next to the main growing area getting the light that overshoots the main area. So I do have to turn the potatoes about once a week because they definitely lean in. They spouted quite quickly 9I think it 3-4 days). I haven't harvested yet because the vines haven't fully died off but I have seen a couple of potatoes poking out of the dirt and I just cover them back up. I believe I planted them after Christmas or very early January so they've been growing 3 or 3.5 months now.

will do!

Well I'm sure everyone will have their own definition but I'm going to count the cucumbers and sprouts that I'm having later this week as both being "spring" vegetables because I grew them myself and picked them this "spring". I might even have some "spring" carrots depending on how they look when I dig down into their pot and I definitely have "spring" potatoes because I saw one poking out of the dirt in the bucket they are growing in in my basement. So hopefully no one will mind my liberal interpretation of "spring" but I'm just so happy to be eating fresh veggies from my indoor gardens!

Oh man that sounds so good right now. So good in fact that I just went and put some sprout seeds in water to soak. By the end of the week, I can make my spring rolls with fresh sprouts.

You get major kuddos for even showing up! I don't think I could have made myself do that.

I added several of those this spring. They aren't filled yet as there haven't been enough warm days that I was willing to work outside yet but I'm quite happy with them so far. I bought three kits but have assembled them in a completely different arrangement. I do need to buy extra rods too but haven't got that far yet.

I have an alternative profile for all sites that are nosey and want information that isn't necessary for them to have. I have no guilt about using some other info. You shouldn't either.

My relatives own a greenhouse. The year COVID hit, we ended up with a lot more tomato plants leftover than usual. I didn't have the heart to throw them away so I planted everything I could. Every nook and cranny of garden space was tucked with tomatoes, every empty pot I could scavage up got a tomato. I planted 84 that year. My land is smaller than yours, you can do this! On a side note, I'm still using up the tomatoes I canned that year.