Day 20: Chaska > Badlands

Blue Earth Giant

This was going to be another seven plus hour drive. I'd come to learn that Adler’s tolerance level was for a six hour drive max so I planned to break this up more than normal so that we'd both arrive sane. We made our first stop two hours south from Chaska in Blue Earth to see the Jolly Green Giant statue. It’s a 55 foot tall fiberglass replica of the cartoon character found on cans of vegetables in your cupboard. In case you’re wondering…

• His smile is 4 feet across
• His shoe size is a 78
• He weighs 8,000 lbs
• He only cost $48 K (1978 dollars)

Then it was due east on highway 90 to Badlands. Larry had advised us that we’d face incremental weather on the drive. I really didn’t care. I had already checked the weather at our destination in Badlands and it said partly cloudy. The drive was WAY much wetter than expected. And it seems like most of these states reserve road construction for the summer months. There have been miles and miles of single lane traffic. It sucks when you’re trying to get somewhere fast. I skipped the drive-thru so that we could make our second stop of the day for lunch at a DQ. Adler had seen commercials for the Blizzard before we left on the trip and kept asking for one. Today seemed no better day given that it was a long drive to reward him. He chose the s’more blizzard (of course) and criticized me for ordering the mini instead of the small. “You know I can eat a small, Dad.”

Posing with prairie dogs

The rain finally slowed down about 80 miles from Badlands. Our third stop was technically already in the Badlands but allowed us both to stretch a bit and play around with prairie dogs. The other people warned us when we arrived that they were full and not eating anything so we didn't buy any peanuts for them--just posed for photos.

I was getting worried that we’d not only be camping in the rain but that the prime star viewing location would be under cloud cover. I believe this area of the country has had a lot of rain this year because most of the farming land that we drove through was submerged in water. You’d see two feet of corn stock jutting out of small ponds along the drive. When we got to the campground my hear sank when I saw this site only to realize that we were site 47 across the road with no residual water. Whew!

Not our campsite.

Adler and I got the tent setup, played frisbee and catch with a baseball. Around sunset we jumped in the car to explore the Badlands and take advantage of the great sunlight and happened upon a rabbit. The Badlands are inexplicable. During the loooong drive here I was thinking it would just be a replica of Bryce Canyon just placed in the middle of prairie. I was having second thoughts about the wisdom of seeing the same thing again. It is not the same. Far from it. The Badlands got its name because it was almost impassible back in the day of horse and carriage. The place resembles a cross between a desert moonscape and sand castle. The buttes jut up from the prairie floor in magnificent fashion against the carpet of green prairie grass. Upon closer inspection the buttes appear to be assembled out of mud. You wonder if a heavy rainstorm could wash away this natural brilliance. I was wrong. This place is cool. I look forward to driving around and viewing more tomorrow.

Moonrise at Badlands

Our day wrapped up at the amphitheater for a ranger presentation about bats. Seriously?!? Don’t the rangers at parks have any other topics to talk about? I thought Adler and I had learned everything about bats during the trivia at Carslbad Cavern. Once again, I was wrong. Ranger Brad put together one of the most impressive Powerpoint presentations that I’ve ever seen. This park ranger was compelling and riveting to listen to. There was almost no redundant material. Kudos to Ranger Brad. But the real reason we were at the amphitheater was because at 8:45 when the ranger finished his presentation they opened it up to star gazing. Volunteers brought large, sophisticated telescopes to aid in viewing. We’d also crossed back into the mountain time zone during the day so this mean that it was closer to 10 o’clock and poor Adler’s internal clock just couldn’t stay up. We did get to view the moon and Jupiter through a telescope before he retired to bed complaining that he wasn’t seeing any stars because the moon was too bright. Tomorrow will be a day filled with short drives and several destinations...

Days 18 & 19: Chaska

These guys really enjoyed each other!

In other posts I’ve written about the failed attempts to catch a major league baseball game on this trip. This is because I was only thinking about the iconic baseball teams or fancy new stadiums. The day before we left Chicago I remembered that Minnesota has the Twins. Not only that, but they were playing a home game while we in town against the Rangers. For those of you unaware, I met Don Wakamatsu, the bench coach for the Texas Rangers, this past year and we're exploring ways that I can assist with some of his non-profit food and nutrition programs for inner-city children when he retires in a few years. Don has the warmest heart and has been very generous. When the Rangers played the As in Oakland he invited us on the field for batting practice and bought our family tickets to sit in players section at the stadium. He is aware (and jealous) of the trip that Adler and I are taking so I sent him a text asking if we could come to Saturday’s game. And that’s how are plans were made for Saturday. It was a boy’s day. Larry, Brooks, Adler, Connor, Penn and myself drove to downtown Minneapolis to watch the Twins and Rangers play. The game was fantastic with lots of hits and runs but the visiting Rangers pulled out a 9-6 win. Don told me after the game that the ninth inning rally by the Twins was a little close for comfort. The boys got to experience pizza, peanuts and cracker jack. They had a great time chatting with each other during the whole game.

"Golden Glove" outside Target Field

We returned to Karen and Larry's so that Adler could work some more on his Legos and then we enjoyed a Walleye Pike dinner with fish that Larry had caught the week before. It was delicious. Adler was pretty tired from the day’s baseball game so he retired to bed early and then we stayed up talking about all things late into the night accompanied by a couple of bottles of tequila.

On Sunday we accompanied Brooks and the boys to the Chaska Community Center to go ice skating. Because, what better place to ice skate than Minnesota? Adler and I entered the wrong door of the community center and walked almost its entire length where we saw a swimming pool, water park, basketball courts, gym, racquetball courts before ending up at the hockey rink. Everything was indoor and in immaculate condition. Adler had only ice skated once before at the downtown Walnut Creek rink last winter. In his first experience he relied entirely on the plastic “shopping carts” that you push around for balance. There were none of those to be found in Minnesota. He’d just need to learn to skate the old-fashioned way. By the end of the 90 minute free skate period he was able to make baby steps across the rink and didn’t want to leave. He was liking Minnesota more each day. Though to be fair, it wasn’t January. I'm not sure his opinion would be the same in the middle of winter.

Connor and Adler

Later that night the three older boys were at Meredith’s house with a babysitter while the adults and Tate drove to Wayzata for a dinner at a new French bistro called Bellecourre. The chef, Gavin Kaysen, has another restaurant in downtown Minneapolis called Spoon and Stable that has been wildly successful. This new restaurant which opened only a few months ago already is one of the hardest reservations to nab. The interior of the restaurant was beautiful and the dining room was staffed with an army of employees. I knew that it was going to be a good meal.

The menu reads so well that it’s difficult deciding what to order. Everything is classic French bistro food with a refined touch. Larry started the table off with a shared slice of a duck pate appetizer served with blackberry mostarda and grilled levain (they have their own bakery too). Its texture was lucious and so creamy that you could only faintly taste the liver. From there I ordered a frisee salad with poached egg. There were small pieces of double-thick cut bacon in the four corners of the plate and some pickled mustard seeds. The dish was really good but so rich that the vinaigrette could have used some more vinegar. For an entree I ordered a small portion of the sweet corn agnolotti which didn’t taste anything like corn but did have some chanterelle mushrooms in the broth (Thomas Keller's version is better). I also ordered a side of broccoli roti which was supposed to have a lemon and garlic dressing but it wasn’t that memorable. But the crispy fingerling potatoes with espelette mayonnaise may be one of the things I’d like to have for a final meal. The potatoes were par-boiled and then probably smashed with the bottom of a pan and deep fried with herbs until crispy. It’s a twist on pomme frites but so much better. Everyone else had exceptional meals and Karen even ordered an adult root beer float with Cognac. It was a fitting meal to end a much needed three day rest in Chaska before initiating the final third of the trip that would take us further west and eventually back home...

Day 17: Chicago > Chaska

At 8 am we piled our belongings into the SUV under pouring rain. The parking spot wasn’t too far down the street but we were both still drenched by the time the car was loaded. It felt good to be leaving Chicago and inside the car where it was dry. As much as I love the Windy City this hadn’t been my best trip here. We fought rain and traffic up highway 94 into Wisconsin for an hour until we were beyond both the natural elements and the concentration of commuters.

As we’ve crossed into each state Adler has posed next to each welcome sign. When the trip is over I’ll put together a scrapbook so he can remember all of the states that he’s visited. It’s something that he’s enjoyed doing almost every day. There was road construction when drove from Illinois into Wisconsin and the shoulder was barricaded by a cement wall. Given that we weren’t technically stopping or visiting Wisconsin I didn’t make too much effort to get the photo. Besides, the drive to Chaska was seven hours long and I wanted to make it as quickly as possible. 

I did see one of the craziest things ever on the drive. Wisconsin was installing about 90 miles of new electrical distribution lines parallel with the interstate. At one point I looked up and there was a helicopter hovering overhead with a worker leaning out of of the chopper attending to one of the lines. I’m not sure why they didn’t just use a lift and/or a boom. But any gust of wind was going lift that helicopter and cause its blades to slice into high power lines. The results would be spectacular and catastrophic--definitely worthy of a Darwin Award when it eventually happens.

We were driving to a town called Chaska about 30 minutes southwest of Minneapolis to visit my godparents Karen and Larry. They relocated from Danville to Chaska about five years ago to be closer to their daughter and her family. It was our first time visiting their new home. When we arrived Karen surprised Adler with a Star Wars Lego gift that kept him occupied for most of the visit assembling the 457 pieces. Larry gave him gummy worms. This kid was getting spoiled by his new grandparents and quickly grew accustomed to the preferential treatment.

That afternoon we drove over to Meredith and Brook’s house to let Adler meet their three boys. Their oldest boy, Connor, was actually born about a month before Adler so they were the same age. They also have Penn (3) and Tate (12 weeks). Adler has matured socially this past year and become less shy. That being said, I have never seen him take to a new friend as quickly as he did with Connor. They were immediately inseparable as if they’d known each other their whole lives. He was liking Minnesotta…

Day 16: Chicago

We'd had periods of rain on this trip. That was to be expected. They'd been brief and didn't affect our plans. They came and went did we. I had no idea that the National Weather Service would issue flash flood warning for downtown Chicago while we were there. That just doesn't happen. And when you have a bunch of outdoor activities planned you're screwed.

Adler's planetarium

Someone got scared when the wave crashed

For months Adler has heard about the Willis Tower. That stop was now out of the question and he was not amused. Not only was it a miserable rainy day but the city was engulfed with fog. You couldn't see the buildings. This meant that even if went up to the 106th floor we would only see grey nothing.

We'd planned on taking a ride in the Cetennial Wheel at Navy Pier. For some inexplicable reason they were doing a software update and it was closed. Wouldn't it be better to schedule maintenance projects like that in the winter when fewer visitors are around?

So I let Adler sleep in since there wasn't a huge rush to get anywhere. I coaxed him out of bed at 9 am for breakfast and more foosball. Then we took a Lyft to the Adler Planetarium. As the car got closer it was evident that a LOT of other families had the same idea of doing something inside on a rainy summer day. The line extended out of the building down the stairs. I quickly went to the website, bought two tickets on my phone and skipped the line and got us into shelter.

Crown Fountain spitting water

If Space Center in Houston was a dud then Adler Planetarium was the exact opposite. They tackled the same content but did so in a far better fashion. All of the exhibits were hands on. Adler and I spent several hours exploring, touching and doing. He was really happy. They had a craft section where kids could select materials to build a "hovercraft" that you placed into an air tube and watched it would fly. He loved it. The only regret was that in my haste of buying tickets I bought seats for the film without knowing that they have a flat screen theater in addition to the curved ceiling. He still enjoyed the movie. We had lunch (Adler ate sushi) inside since it was still raining and then bought him a hat with his name on it. This will probably be the only gift shop that he will ever go that has something with his name on it. We then walked along Lake Michigan as the light rain finally stopped and took in some of the Millennium Park sites like the Buckingham Fountain, Cloud Gate, and Crown Fountain.

Look closely and you may see a fountain amidst all the grey

We went back to our Airbnb for a quick change and then met Mark, another Flavor Studio customer, for dinner at a nearby restaurant called Fat Rice. This was the best meal of the trip so far. The three of  us shared chili roasted peanuts garnished with fried anchovies, bacalhau (salt cod spread) with a small loaf of warm bread, sardine escabeche that you wrapped with nori sheets, and the pork and ginger dumplings. Adler ate and loved everything. I think Mark was pretty impressed about how adventurous this young culinarian was. For an entree we ordered their namesake Arroz Gordo. Similar to paella this rice was topped with a creative fusion blend of protein: curried chicken thighs, char siu pork, linguiça sausage, whole head-on prawns, and a hard-boiled tea egg. The arroz gordo was served with a bottle of mushroom soy sauce and their own bottled ghost pepper sauce that they call Diabo. Mark and I both tried a couple of drops of the Diabo sauce, found it not too spicy and then applied it more liberally onto our plates. That's when the heat came through and I had to order another beer. Mark took us back to our house and we packed things up that night and got ready to make the next turn and start heading west. Next stop Minneapolis...

Day 15: St. Louis to Chicago

Lisa said goodbye to me at 4:20 am before jumping in an Uber and heading to the airport for an early flight home. Then her flight was delayed leaving St. Louis and it was going to be a tight connection in Dallas. In the end it all worked out fine and she was back home playing with the cats while Adler and I were driving in the car later that day.

The morning for us started at a company called Companion Baking who wanted to take a look at my Flavor Studio software. There were a thirty minute drive from our hotel and Adler was enthusiastic to watch my sales presentation. He even asked to wear a collared shirt like I did. The meeting was a success (they will be signing up soon!) but lasted a bit longer than we anticipated. Their VP was very generous and made sure that we left their offices with two sandwiches for the road. Thanks Price!

One medium Michael's Special

We then drove back into town for another meeting with Deli Star--the same group that I'd taken to dinner the night before. I did a a short 20 minute training session and answered some questions while Adler ate the sandwich, chips, and brownie he picked up at Companion. Well, he finished the chips and brownie at least.

We were finally on the road to Chicago by 11:30 am which was far later than I'd expected. And as luck would have it, this put us in the thick of the Chicago commute. We'd luckily avoided heavy traffic on this trip. There was one encounter in Houston but other than that it's been easy driving. Until Chicago. I think that we made it to the Airbnb by about 5:30 that evening. We had two nights in Chicago so I actually took the luggage and unpacked the car. And Adler loved the fact that our Airbnb came with a foosball table!

Adler and Harry Caray

Charles from Deli Star used to live in Chicago and told me that we had to get pizza at Michael's which wasn't too far from where we were staying in Bucktown. We ordered their Caesar salad and Adler said that it didn't taste like Caesar dressing. It was more like mayonnaise. Then we had the thin crust Michael's Special Pizza with sausage, mushroom, green peppers, and onion. Was it as good as Charles made it out to be? No. It reinforced my thoughts from the Memphis fried chicken experience at Gus's. It's all about place and interpretation. I've had better pizza at Round Table. But for Charles this was something special and I won't take that away from him. I just wouldn't go back.

Wrigley Field

If my meetings hadn't run long we'd hoped to get to Chicago early enough to take in the Cubs day game at Wrigley. We weren't even close to making it. But we did walk from Michael's down to Wrigley so that we could take a few photos of Adler at one of the nation's most famous ball parks. Then it was back to the Airbnb for several games of foosball before retiring for the night...

Day 14: Memphis to St. Louis

The primary reason we stopped in Memphis was to visit the National Civil Rights Museum. It wasn't until the morning of the day that we'd planned on going that I went to the website and discovered that the museum is closed on Tuesdays. Argh!! This was a big oversight on my part. But thankfully the museum is located at the Lorraine Hotel where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated and much is on display outside. They've done an amazing job preserving the appearance of the hotel from the same day that he died. It was a somber visit. I hope that we can bring Adler back someday when he's older to understand the importance of this location in American history.

Long way up - 630 feet to be exact!

We made the drive north to St. Louis where our hotel was directly across from the famous Arch. The Arch has recently undergone a massive redevelopment and expansion of the visitor center which is underground. The exhibits have yet to fully reopen which will happen on July 3rd. Even so, the arch is still accessible and we purchased tickets for the ride to the top. Adler wanted to know how fast the elevator went up. Answer: 3 miles per hour. We also learned that the ride up is a combination of elevator, escalator and Ferris wheel combined into one which meant that Adler wouldn't get turned upside down. You ride individual pods that are connected together like a tram. Each pod can squeeze up to five people inside. You have a small window that allows you to view the guts of the arch as you rise to the top. Once at the top you peer out of tiny 7 x 27 inch windows both east and west. I learned afterward that on windy days the top of the arch sway back and forth. Fortunately it wasn't a windy day because I'm not sure that Lisa would have enjoyed the extra movement. After about fifteen minutes we took the tram back down to solid ground.

Proof that he made it.

Then it was a short walk to Busch Stadium to where the St. Louis Cardinals play baseball. It's a great stadium that sunk the field to about thirty feet below street level so that when you're in the outfield you can look down into the stadium. Unfortunately the Cardinals were in Cincinnati that day so we couldn't take in a ballgame. Adler played briefly in a water fountain and then we went back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.

My software company has a customer based in St. Louis and I took the opportunity to take two of their executives, Charles and Larry, out to dinner. Since it was their town I let them select the restaurant--a place called Frazer's. It was the first "nice" meal of the trip: cocktails, appetizers, entrees and wine. We started with zuchinni rolls, carpaccio, stuffed dates and a cheese plate. Adler demonstrated that he has a good appetite and is willing to try anything. During dinner was an intense thunderstorm. Thankfully it has passed by the time we finished because we skipped dessert at the restaurant because my friend Brendan told me that I had to have the "best ice cream ever" at Ted Drewes Frozen Custard. He told me that he'd been to visited St. Louis five times and been to Ted Drewes eight times. He is so in love with this place, that upon returning to California, he had a special paddle made for his ice cream machine to replicate the custard at home. Someone else also affirmed that this was the place to go. And then when I Googled it after arriving in St. Louis learned that Jimmy Kimmel's guest the previous night was John Hamm (St. Louis native) and Jimmy surprised with with Ted Drewes. I normally pass on dessert but felt required to try this. I went for the savory version by ordering the Concrete with pretzels. The salty crunchy bits of pretzel were the perfect accompaniment for the custard. Brendan was right--it was specatular! It was also a bittersweet evening because Lisa would be flying home tomorrow. At least we sent her off in style with a good meal and a great dessert.

Adler's pretty good with the camera, too!

Day 13: New Orleans > Memphis

We thought that leaving NOLA would afford us relief from the heat and humidity. This was only half right. The humidity was no longer unbearable. The heat, on the other hand, was horrible. It seemed like a band of heat had parked itself along the entire length of the Mississippi River. We were stuck in it given that this is the route we were taking north.

Adler in the orange t-shirt and Giant's hat

By the time we checked into the hotel the evening was fast approaching. As luck would have it our hotel was adjacent to the Peabody Hotel. The Peabody is famous for its resident ducks that live their. In the 1930s a group of men returned from a hunting trip and after a lot of whiskey decided it would be funny to put their live duck decoys in the fountain. They started a tradition that is still in place today. At 11 am each morning the ducks come down the elevator from their room upstairs and waddle down the red carpet to spend the day swimming in the lobby fountain. At 5 pm the reverse of the procession occurs. We arrived fifteen minutes early thinking that we'd catch a good spot. Think again. There were more than 800 people lined up to watch the duck procession. Thankfully they let kids have a front row seat on the red carpet and Adler got a great vantage point for the duck march.

Beale Street before dark

We then walked down to Beale Street famous for its blues clubs and restaurants. At night the street glows with activity from the neon signs at every store, club, and restaurant. Not exactly the place for a young kid but we found an old-fashioned soda fountain at A. Schwab for some cool and refreshing beverages. At the Welcome to Las Vegas sign there was an Elvis impersonator and I tried to explain who he was but Adler was curious if he died why he was standing next to us. So I opted not to visit Graceland. But everywhere you go in Memphis you're reminded about Elvis.

Big Bass Pro Shop

There is a Bass Pro Shop (BPS) in Memphis which is probably the biggest BPS in the world. I enticed Lisa and Adler to walk down the Mississippi River to see it. The walk looked shorter on the map but was actually 1.5 miles without any trees to shade us from the heat. Adler was not enjoying it. Eventually we arrived at the Pyramid which feels like the same size as the Luxor in Vegas. Going inside you learn that this mecca to outdoor activities even has its own hotel. Inside though, is a pond with live fish, ducks, and an alligator. There is a large aquarium and enough taxidermy wildlife to fill a small zoo. Two floors of merchandise, restaurants. It is utterly amazing. And if all of that isn't enough there is an elevator that takes you to the observation deck at the top of the pyramid. It's unlike any place we'd ever been.

Posing with a large brown bear

From there we took a car to Gus's Fried Chicken to judge if it was the world's best fried chicken. We entered and selected our own table each covered with checkered tablecloths. For an appetizer we ordered fried okra that was cut into bite sized pieces and served with a ranch dipping sauce. It wasn't anything special. Then it was time for the real deal. I ordered the three piece dark meat while Lisa and Adler shared four chicken tenders. Both of our meals came with coleslaw and baked beans. The chicken is advertised as hot and spicy. My chicken wasn't hot but did have a nice spice kick to it. Even so used the Louisiana Hot Sauce on the table to provide more of kick. The chicken tenders were enormous and probably better than my dark meat. Can I make better fried chicken? Yes. Have I eaten better fried chicken? Yes. Purists will probably argue otherwise but there are many different ways to fry chicken. Gus's interpretation was just one way to make it. They've selected one thing and do it really well. It was good but not transformative. But it was a solid meal for a cheap price and their canned beers were amazingly cold. I would return.

Outside Gus's 

Day 12: New Orleans

These are good!

Adler had been asking since the first day when he was going to see mom. As often as he asked about her he also wanted to know when he was going to eat a beignet at Cafe Du Monde. Today was finally his day. We walked from the hotel passed Jackson Square and stood in a very long but fast-moving line on Sunday morning. He thought these were the best breakfast ever and was committed to not only consuming his beignets but also all of the powdered sugar that came with them.

Following breakfast we walked down to Canal Street to catch a streetcar out to City Park. Adler has been infatuated with streetcars for a long time and as close as we live to San Francisco has never enjoyed a ride on either a street or cable car ride there. Right before we boarded the streetcar Lisa eyed a jewelry shop founded in 1898 that we had to take some photos with. The drive down Canal was slow because we stopped almost every block. The weather was in excess of 90 degrees and very humid. Adler did not like this one bit. He coped better with the dry heat of the desert much better. NOLA's climate just irritated him because there was never relief. And the streetcar's frequent stopping didn't help matters.

My jewelry shop!

Eventually we found our way in City Park and took Adler on the carousel. There are also a number of other smallish rides like those you'd find at Happy Hollow in San Jose and an entire separate park called Storyland that brought to life the nursery rhymes. The three of us also took a long train ride around the park getting a chance to see more of it without having to walk. Sunday happened to be Father's Day and Lisa spotted a packed restaurant called Blue Oak BBQ from the streetcar ride to the park and coordinated a Lyft there for lunch. It was a yummy meal where I had a combination plate of ribs and brisket while Lisa and Adler shared a sandwich. They have a great sign that humorously reads "Vegan Free since 2012." We sat outside under their misters trying our best to stay cool. Can't think of a better meal to have on Father's Day!

It was obvious that Adler wasn't enjoying the weather so rather than fight it we spent a couple of hours that afternoon at the hotel pool letting him cool off and play. The hotel had a small courtyard in the center that provided some protection from the sun and the cool pool provided relief from the humidity. It was just what he wanted.

Later that night we met Darryl, a friend and Flavor Studio customer, and his wife for one of their favorite restaurants in the French Quarter called Evangeline. Adler was done with the heat and humidity and ready to leave. Tomorrow we'd do just that up with a drive to Memphis...

Day 11: Houston > New Orleans

We planned on breaking up the drive between Houston and NOLA with a stop at Avery Island in Louisiana. Avery Island is the birthplace of Tabasco hot sauce. I'd had dinner with Jud McLester, Tabasco's corporate executive chef, last year in Vegas and he coordinated our visit. Honestly, what couldn't be exciting about visiting a hot sauce factory? The locations is nestled far into the countryside away from everything. It's 90 miles from Baton Rouge and about 140 miles from New Orleans. Not exactly the place you make a quick trip to.

I'd first read about Avery Island history when Lisa gave me the book Salt more than ten years ago. Because Avery Island is not only the place that Tabasco hot sauce is made but it is also on top of one of the world's largest salt deposits and supplied salt to the confederacy during the Civil War.

Photo worthy opportunity

Jud had graciously coordinated our family tours of both the factory and Jungle Gardens at no expense to us. But the pricing was still posted and I was slightly skeptical at the affordable prices of the tours at $5 and $8 respectfully. I mean, we'd just dropped $84 at Space Center in Houston and left disappointed. Now I  was basically in the middle of nowhere where they valued their tours at the cost of a burrito. I was so wrong! This ended up being one of the top three destinations that we've stopped at on the trip so far. Right up there with flying over the Grand Canyon in a helicopter and descending into Carlsbad Caverns.

Once we picked up our tickets we went inside the museum portion of the factory tour. There on display was the entire genealogical lineage starting with Edmund McIlhenny who founded Tabasco in 1868 and all of his descendants that helped shepherd the company to where it is today. The number of preserved artifacts was phenomenal. Learning that Tabasco hot sauce and it's family members have been intertwined with much larger American history events was fascinating. And it's all there on display to learn about for the low, low price of $5. Lisa and I were speechless. Adler on the other hand was restless because the thunderclouds that had loomed over our drive had finally begun to unleash their fury. Lighting, thunder and torrential downpours were happening outside.

Lurking in the pond

Rather than make the unprotected walk to the other parts of the factor tour in the raging storm we retreated to Tobasco's 1868 Restaurant for lunch and to buy some time hoping that the rain would subside. The meal was delicious and each table had a tray of every available Tabasco sauce made so you can experiment with finding your favorite. And for the adults there's even a Bloody Mary with about a dozen options to garnish your drink with. After lunch the rain had subsided and we completed the factory tour where we got to see the barrels aging in the warehouse and the large vats where the aged mash is mixed with vinegar prior to bottling. Lisa and Adler also got to see their first food manufacturing line where the sauce is b
ottled, labeled and packaged. The tour deserves an A+.

Bird sanctuary

Then we got into our car for a drive through Jungle Gardens. Ned McIlhenny, a conversationist and naturalist, set aside 170 acres of Avery Island in the 1920s creating a tropical garden and lush environment for wildlife. The grounds were exquisite and perfectly maintained. And sage advice like, "Don't worry about the map--just keep making right turns," made navigating the land incredibly easy. We saw lots of alligators, birds, bamboo, oak trees, Spanish moss, and more. The rain had subsided but there were still clouds overhead so the weather was cooler than if we'd been roasting in the son. It was truly one of the highlights of the trip. Thanks Jud!

Got beads without having to do anything!

Then we drove the next 2.5 hours to introduce Adler to NOLA. Our hotel was safely one block off of Bourbon Street but in our walk to dinner that night we did cross that avenue of debauchery and Adler excitedly found a strand of beads. Shortly thereafter he saw his first brass band parade through the Quarter. We found a restaurant called Curio with delicious appetizers like Grit Tots (tater tots made with soft and creamy cheddar grits) and Shrimp Boulettes (fluffy shrimp hushpuppies) and Blackened Redfish. Our little six-year-old was curious at Curio and tried everything. He liked this town though he wasn't adapting well to the heat and humidity. We'd learn more about that tomorrow...

Day 10: Austin > Houston

A *real* spaceshuttle

This was Lisa's first day catching a ride on the Pathfinder Express. She'd need to adjust to the early departure routine because we had a relatively short  (<3 hour) drive from Austin to Houston where we were going to visit Space Center and show a six-year-old spaceships and everything else that a little boy should love. Upon arrival we took a picture of Adler next to the old 747 transport plane with the Space Shuttle on top of it.

Mom and Adler at the Apollo exhibit

Inside, however, the exhibits were kind of boring. Most of them required reading but didn't *do* anything. There was a kids section with a lot of Angry Birds related stuff (sponsored?) which got the attention of young minds but I'm not sure what it has to do with NASA or the space program. They had an IMAX type screen where they played a sleep-inducing film that could have been set on loop at a trade show with everyone walking straight past it. They missed a great opportunity for story telling and creating passion around STEM education. Conjure up images of the NASA program from the 60s and it felt like they put one of those pocket protector wearing employees in charge. It was just a bunch of flashy exhibits that amounted to nada. And it cost $84 for the three of us to get in there. Remember the picture from above? That's a REPLICA of a space shuttle--not a real one. We left disappointed.

Making Castles on Gavelston

Adler's soccer and baseball coach, Billey, is from Houston and when I quizzed him about what we should do his recommendation was Galveston Island. So after a unremarkable few hours at Space Center we headed to the beach for some sand, surf and sun. It's been a couple of years since Adler was at a beach last and his fear of the ocean had subsided now that he's comfortable swimming in the pool. He befriended some other kids and together they spent time building a sand castle with an elaborate moat and wall. It was well past six o'clock when we had to pry him from the beach.

That night we stayed in a hotel in a small town east of Houston called La Porte. After checking in we found a Tex-Mex restaurant called Gringo's to eat dinner at. It's a restaurant chain in Texas and is notable for its large sign out front that is patterned after the iconic Welcome to Las Vegas sign that Adler and I had stopped at on the second day of the trip. Outside of the restaurant was a placard which messaged that regardless of Texas's open carry laws that weapons were not permitted in the restaurant nor was smoking or vaping. Strangely enough I watched two patrons walk out with sidearms as we waited for our table. They were both vaping also. So much for enforcement. The food was good but the experience and service were impeccable. And when you leave there is a soft-serve machine where guests can make a cone to take on the road. Brilliant!

Day 9: Carlsbad Cavern > Austin

Campsite neighbor

We awoke to road runners and wild rabbits running around our campsite which afforded Adler some wildlife to compensate for the disappointment from the previous evening's bat flight. We broke the tent down early and headed back up the mountain to explore deep into the cavern. You can elect to take an elevator down the 700 feet and "cheat" or you can walk through the mouth of the cave at the amphitheater where we'd been the night before. I elected the latter and it was the right choice.

On the walk from the visitors center to the amphitheater I spotted a rattlesnake off the path and pointed it out to Adler. I was doing my best to show that plenty of wildlife still existed in the area even if we hadn't seen the bats en mass. Adler enjoyed learning that the stalagmites and stalagtites were both members of the speleotheum family. Of which, there was also something called cave "popcorn." He then continued for a long time to point out all of the popcorn to which I asked him if it tasted like real popcorn and he replied, "No, it tastes like rocks."

The trek down is a trail with switchbacks that make the descent manageable for anyone. When you finally arrive at the bottom you're in something appropriately named the "Big Room" which according to the sign is the same size as fourteen football fields. But that only takes into consideration the breadth of the space. There is also the verticality and expansiveness that cannot be imagined unless you are in there yourself. It reminded me of a Gaudi's La Segrada Familia in Barcelon. But this was finished and entirely nature made.

Upon leaving that morning I asked Adler what his favorite thing was that we'd done so far. He quickly answered, "The cave." I asked if it was even better than the helicopter ride and he said, "No, the helicopter ride was better."

When we left Pleasant Hill and said our goodbyes the SUV was parked in the street and Lisa was on the doorstep waving. I had rolled down the back passenger window so that Adler could see her and say goodbye. Tears formed in his eyes and he bit his lip to prevent himself from crying. I'm not sure if she could see this because she was probably doing the same thing. The reality of the trip had finally settled in and he know knew that he'd be apart from him mother for longer than any time before. We pulled down our street made a right turn on Pleasant Hill Road and reached the stop sign behind our house when he said to me, "I miss mom." with moist eyes still fighting to hold back tears. It was a tough way to start the trip for both of us but I told him that mom missed him too and that it was okay to feel sad.

After the Cavern we started the longest drive of the trip. It was going to be an almost eight hour drive to Austin. We were traveling there to see Lisa. She'd flown in to join us during week two from Austin through St. Louis. It was something that he'd been excited about since the first day and asking me every day after, "When do we get to see mom?" I consistently answered that it would be the next Thursday but that didn't stop him from asking every day. Not only did he do well on the long drive but we only stopped once for gas, food and a restroom break. During the drive he said to me, "Dad, thank you very much for making this road trip. I really, really like it." Even being apart from his mother he still knew that both of his parents loved him equally and that he was getting to do something very special.

Lisa's flight beat us to Austin so she was already at the hotel room when we arrived. We had our reunion complete with long hugs and kisses and then a quick unpacking before the three of us enjoyed the first family meal together (albeit at a Mexican restaurant) in over a week and shared stories from our adventure. We went to bed ready to continue the drive across Texas in the morning.

Day's Mileage: 430
Total Mileage: 3110

Day 8: Santa Fe > Carlsbad Caverns

Adler outside of Meow Wolf next to a large wolf. 

Meow Wolf. That's what my friend Jeff told us not to miss. Along our road trip I'd explained to strangers our planned route and it seemed like everyone that we talked to had journeyed through Santa Fe before us to experience Meow Wolf. That's what it is--an experience. You can call it an art installation. Others have referred to it as being in Alice's Wonderland. It felt to me like the incarnation of a David Lynch film/show. There was a underlying mystery that you could spend hours attempting to solve or you could just meander through at your own pace. Either way, in the House of Eternal Return exhibit you start in a very normal house that leads you into a bizarre and creative alternate universe (which forces you to question what is real and what is imaginary) laden with clues about what may have happened. It's visual, tactile and visceral. It plays into all of the senses save for taste and smell. It's perfect for kid's though mine was oblivious to the side story. His interest was touching everything and exploring. That's where Meow Wolf succeeds on creating an experience that can be different for every guest. All leave satisfied and bewildered. Jeff was correct, go see it.

Adler adjusting his glasses in a section of Meow Wolf

Before embarking on the long drive to Carlsbad Caverns we made only our third fast food stop of the trip at Taco Bell. It's been at least six years since I've eaten at a Taco Bell. Probably the last time was when the Doritos Locos Taco came out and I wanted to give it a taste. There hasn't really been a reason to return since then. But the convenience of fast food on a road trip especially before/during a long drive cannot be beat. After placing our order Adler selected hot sauces from their offerings. He chose two Mild packets and then looked at the one labeled Diabla Sauce and asked what that meant. I told him that Diabla was the Spanish word for devil. He followed that answer to inquire what the devil was. Even as mature and philosophical this trip has been so far I wasn't ready to introduce him to the concept of eternal damnation and the anti-Christ. I changed the subject and he quickly forgot about it.

We'd selected a campsite at a place called White's City that was adjacent to the entrance to Carlsbad Cavern because there ain't anything close to where we would be going. White's City was a destination for campers, RV travelers and anyone who needed a rest stop passing down a long rural highway. There was a variety of decorations inside to photograph and even a small gold panning exhibit. We selected our campsite, erected the tent and then made our way up the seven mile drive at 7 pm that night to partake in bat flight.

Inside White's City offices

Every night at dusk the bats inside the cave come out and normally in grand fashion. The park built an amphitheater to facilitate watching the nightly event. A park ranger with a microphone took questions from the 500+ person audience before having a few rounds of bat trivia. He invited two children to come to the front with him and asked them and the audience a number of questions. Did you know that the Brazilian Free-Tail Bat which lives in Carlsbad Caverns weighs the same as three nickels? Or that before oil was discovered in Texas that bat guano was their number one mineral export? Or that the agave plant is pollinated by three species of bat--two of which are now endangered. It was a very educational experience. But this trivia competition lasted far too long and, I think, made too much noise. For the bats never flew out in a mass wave blanketing the sky above our heads. Eventually as darkness had settled in you could see gray shadows moving about in erratic patterns but it did not meet our expectations. And I had a very disappointed child who didn't understand why he hadn't seen any bats. We drove the seven miles back to our campsite and went to bed anxious to delve into the cavern tomorrow...

Today's Miles: 316
Total Miles: 2691

Day 7: Mesa Verde > Santa Fe

Leaving Colorado felt like we were making a transition on our trip. All of the criss-crossing between Arizona and Utah was behind us. As was the high desert which had taken a toll on Adler's lips since we wasn't the most cooperative kid willing to apply Chapstick. Originally the driving route was going to take us through Albuquerque en route to Carlsbad Cavern. I asked my friend Jeff who is from Albuquerque what we should do there. His text back to me was influential, "Leave, immediately!" Instead he directed me to make a stop about 50 miles away in Santa Fe and recommended that we see Meow Wolf. I trust my friends and made the adjustment to our travel route and hotel.

This left us driving south from Colorado into New Mexico. Eventually the lush green dissipated and we ended up back in the desert but at a much lower elevation. We didn't have much planned this day other than to get from point A to point B. Adler decided that he wanted to eat around noon that day. So the plan was to stop somewhere and have a picnic with our leftover camping food. As luck would have it we pulled into another national park at 11:55 am called the Echo Amphitheater in northern New Mexico. Perfect!

You can see the "blood" at the top and left of the amphitheater

While there isn't a morbid tale baked into the place name like we'd seen at Dead Horse Point there is a similarly gruesome story about how the rocks became colored with red streaks. When two families of white settlers descended on the area many years ago the Indians took them to the top of the natural amphitheater and slaughtered them. Their blood forever stained the rocks. Years later more settlers arrived at the area and, hearing the story, took revenge upon the Indians by executing them in simliar fashion. When you look up at the top of the amphitheater there are two distinct regions with curious red veins that crawl through the rock. Hearing this story it was influential in affecting your perception about the place. But there also isn't any evidence to back up the legend. Once again, Adler got to her an unfiltered story about how a place got its name.

Not sure who this is.

After our picnic we hiked up to the amphitheater and Adler had fun listening to his echo. It was the unexpected stop on our very long trip that left us with some great memories. I'm glad that he wanted to stop at noon otherwise we would have just continued driving past it. We would have missed a great story, fun with echoes and even seeing New Mexico's state reptile--the whiptail lizard. And if you're knowledge about reptiles is a little hazy these guys run upright like dinosaurs whipping their tail for speed. And most interesting...they're ALL female.

New Mexico's State Reptile - Whiptail Lizard

Adler's deeply philosophical inquiry the day before about the first mother wasn't his only curious line of questioning. Perhaps he'd been planning this trip more than I had because he unleashed two additional theological questions on today's drive. His first heavyweight question came out of nowhere without a segue or introduction, "Dad, do you believe in god?" At least I was driving so I was seated for this question. This was immediately followed up with, "Do you believe in Jesus." I'm not entirely certain where these questions originated from. Could the kids at a school talk about this? I gave him my answers and then told him that Lisa and I would let him decide whatever he wanted to believe and we would support that choice. As with the previous day, this seemed to satisfy him and the inquiry stopped there. But I found it easier to talk about dead horses and executed settlers with my six-year-old son that deeply philosophical and complex idea. Oy vey!

The perfect Adler dinner

After a fun day exploring a new and unexpected place we arrived at the first hotel in a number of days. We quickly changed into swim suits and enjoyed the indoor pool and hot tub for a few hours. I was thankful that the pool was indoors because it was so hot outside that it wouldn't have been comfortable. We also found ourselves going to our first restaurant for dinner that night. I chose a BBQ restaurant within a nine mile walk and Adler was so excited that we could "walk" to dinner. We shared a queso dip with smoked cheese and diced hatch chilies. It was served with tortilla chips for dipping. Adler liked it so much that he asked me if I could make it when we got home. I encouraged him to have restraint and not eat it all so that when his macaroni and cheese entree arrived we could pour the last bit of queso on top and then we crushed the remaining tortilla chips for texture. He was in heaven!

Today's Miles: 258
Total Miles: 2375

Day 6: Dead Horse Park > Four Corners > Mesa Verde

We woke up from another night of windy conditions. Everything was covered in a thin layer of red dust. I'm no longer referring to it as sand (even though that's what it is). I dislike it so much that it will now, moving forward, only be known as dust. Sand is good. Dust is bad. The previous afternoon's  refreshing dip in the creek  to cleanse the red dust from our bodies was a memory long forgotten after waking up on Monday morning.

Narrow area where the horses were driven through.
Note the wooden "fence" on both sides.

Dead Horse Point is a state park in Utah. My friend Nicole, who lives in Salt Lake City and does a lot of camping/hiking/yoga with her husband, recommended that we add this destination to our itinerary. It just so happened to work out well. It's Utah's Grand Canyon and some would argue even more spectacular as the Colorado River winds its way through the area. The name of park, as legend has it, is due to the cowboys in the 1800's that took advantage of a point in the mesa surrounded by deep drops into the canyon below. The cowboys would drive the feral horses through a narrow neck in the mesa before it expanded into the wide open wedge. Once the horses were in the wedge the cowboys would put up a gate to permanently corral the horses who were surrounded by 1000+ foot cliffs on all sides. Supposedly the cowboys would selecte the strongest and fastest horses to keep. They inexplicably left the other horses to die--hence the name for the park. I shared the story with Adler when he asked how it got its name even though it was a cruel and gruesome story. We walked through the narrow neck at the point where the horses would be trapped so that he could understand how the horses felt. As morbid as the story was there were wonderful views of the canyon with the Colorado winding its way beneath us. This park even had its own "horseshoe" like the one that we'd hiked to in Arizona.

Colorado River Horseshoe at Dead Horse Point

It was time to put all of the grand splendor of the Utah parks behind us and make our way into Colorado for Mesa Verde National Park. We had a stop midway through that trek at the Four Corners Monument which is not a national park but instead on Navajo land. I can imagine that this place is crazy busy during the summer months because only one person/family can take a photo at any given time. However, maybe the Indian gods were feeling guilty for all of the punishment that we endured with the red dust over consecutive days and we walked up to basically a nonexistent line. After waiting three minutes Adler was at the marker ready to take photos:

Utah (top left), Colorado (top right), the rest should be obvious

This trip has consisted of a lot of driving. Adler has spent more time in the car than ever before. How does he cope? Mainly by playing with the iPad. His app of choice is a game called Inventioneers that occupies his mind for  hours on end. As we entered the Mesa Verde National Park a section of road traverses through a mountain tunnel for about 1/4 mile in complete darkness (save for your headlights). As soon as our car entered the tunnel Adler excitedly announced, "I can still see the iPad when it's dark and there aren't even any fingerprints!" Those were his priorities.

At one point along the drive he'd set the iPad down to have a deep philosophical conversation with me. The week before we left on our trip he'd asked Lisa where babies come from but I wasn't present for the conversation. He followed her answer with a question for me, "Dad, who was the first mommy?" His little mind had understood the chicken and egg paradox of needing a mommy to make a baby. I explained the theory of evolution to him and the contrasting idea of immaculate conception. When he pressed me for my beliefs I told him that I leaned towards evolution because if the Bible was true that meant none of the 100 million-year-old rocks and all of the geological wonder we'd marveled at on the trip could have existed because the Bible says the earth is only about six thousand years old. I left him to ponder that thought and eventually he went back to the iPad. 

Mesa Verde as the name implies is a green mesa. After spending time crossing between Utah and Arizona it was a relief to finally get beyond my dust nemesis. This area in Colorado had vegetation on the sides of the mesa that made it appear somewhat lush and hospitable. This also meant more wildlife like black bears! Thankfully we didn't see any.

Mesa Verde the national park ended up being the lowest rated stop on our trip. Sure, it was cool to see ancient structures with some dating back to around 500 AD. But you have to drive 20 miles once you enter the park to get to the first one. And did you stop at the Visitor's Center at the entrance and book your tickets for a tour? If not, you're SOL. I don't think the tour would have been appropriate for Adler but they do take you closer for a firsthand look of the structures. Otherwise you're left taking photos from the viewpoints that are often far away. Around this leg of the trip Adler developed a sense of humor and offered one "goofy" pose for every smile. His levity was keeping the mood just right.

The campsite at Mesa Verde is run by a company independent of the actual government and they had a lot of extra bells and whistles that made the night's camping even better: a full grocery store, individual showers, and even WiFi throughout the grounds. After selecting our site we got the tent setup and then Adler decided that he wanted to pick wild flowers for Lisa. He instructed me to text her the photo with the caption, "I'll see you on Thursday. I really, really miss you." What a sweet and loving kid.

Flowers for Mom!

Adler befriended the boy, Logan, camping next to us with his father. The two of them were on a similar father-son outing that started in Colorado Springs and was headed to the Grand Canyon. Adler and Logan tossed a frisbee around for hours while the dads talked about parenting. Later that night after dinner we shared popcorn and hot chocolate between the families and watched the stars. It was a fitting end to the night.

Today's Miles: 282
Total Miles: 2117