Kennedy Family Travels

The days have flown by like Harry Potter chasing the snitch. Friday was our last day in Hollywood at Universal Studios. The boys were able to ride every ride on their list and mom took the studio tour learning where the movies and sitcoms are filmed. We even passed the Jabawockies filming a video on the old set of Tom Cruise’s War of the Worlds!  Here are a few highlights from Friday:

The set from The Grinch

The red carpet treatment 

Practicing magic with our wands!

Breakfast at Starbucks up the street from our hotel

All of the boys liked Transformers or the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey were their favorite rides. We took a mid-day break to go back to the hotel and do some laundry, and then it was back to the park to finish out our visit. The castle lights at night were stunning!  Joe and I enjoyed a beer at Hog’s Head Pub in Hogsmeade before closing out the night!

The next morning we literally did a drive-by of Hollywood before heading to Las Vegas. It was so busy! This is a trip I’ll need to do another time when I have time to explore!

This is the solar plant on the border of California and Nevada. The lights are so intense if a bird flies through the ray it incinerates them immediately. 

The Walk of Fame

We arrived in Vegas to prepare for the drive to Rachel, Nevada and Joe’s 51k race along the Extraterrestrial Highway. It was 101 degrees when we left out of Vegas, but due to all the storms it dropped to 60 by race time!  Storms. We are talking hail, winds, and downpours while trying to traverse through the mountains in pitch black conditions. There were so many interesting signs on this drive!!  From “cows on the road” to “Major Deer Crossing” these helped pass the time driving for two hours to literally the middle of no where for the race. One of the scariest signs was the “No gas for 150 mikes”; yep, middle of no where peeps. Our favorite sign was the flashing cow sign that made it look like the cow was being abducted by 👽 !!!

Once we dropped Joe off at the starting point(while I clapped and jumped looking for snakes-don’t ask, I thought it would keep them away!), the boys and I headed to the finish line.   This race is different; there are no people standing along the road and cheering. It’s just you. One way. The boys and I had to get 20 mikes ahead to Rachel and the finish line before the State Troopers closed the ET Highway for the race. And the off and on rain continued while we drove, while cows meandered into the road and a coyote tried to dart in my path. I had volunteered to help with the race; little did I know I would spend the entire 6 hours running the food distribution area. Seamus fell asleep in the van and slept all night. Max helped run the food booth until we saw Joe at mile 20, helped him change shoes and socks, gave him a snack and sent him on his way for another 12 miles. 

Seamus placed Joe’s finishing medal on him at the finish line!!!

The race finish line. You would look up the road and just see an never-ending line of headlamps coming toward you. Literally 6 hours of it!!

Max was the king of the applesauce for the evening!

Preparing to leave Joe on the side of the road

The next morning was rough as Joe and I both were exhausted from being up all night. But we made it back to the hotel safely and promptly went to bed. The boys were not into sleeping, and an hour later I found myself at the pool!  

This evening we hit Tournament of Kings at Excalibur. The boys loved it! We cheered for Ireland and ate some deliciously simple food. After Joe and I stopped at RiRa to listen to The Black Donnelly’s to listen to some authentic Irish music. 

24,777 steps today. That sums it all up. A lot of walking and getting it all done. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves today.   We also practiced our magic with our wands in Hogsmeade today.  Joe and the boys choked down on a Lard Lad donut from Springfield while I went on the Studio Tour. Long lines today but the boys agree that the Transformers ride was their favorite followed closely by the Harry Potter castle ride. 
Tomorrow we head to Las Vegas and tomorrow night Joe runs his 51k along Area 51. I promise there will be some good posts following that all-nighter!!!  Until then, enjoy!  And pray for no traffic nightmares too😂😳

Practicing our spells and Honeydukes!

Breakfast at Starbucks this morning!

And here is the famous donut:

The boys said they weren’t sharing with Uncle Todd this time😂😂

Early. That’s the way we started today. Early on the beach soaking up some sand and sun. Not going to lie, we struggled without air conditioning and open windows at our Air B&B, but the location made up for it. 

After I figured out how to use lock boxes (I didn’t know the act of using one could make me sweat as much as my kickboxing class, but I know now) we headed north into Los Angeles. Luckily the traffic wasn’t nearly as bad as I had pictured and we were there in under an hour. This was my first glimpse of downtown LA. 

Then we arrived at Universal Studios and the fun began. By fun I mean in line for our first ride, Despicable Me, Seamus declared that his belly hurt. The next thing I knew I was holding puke in my hands. Yep. He threw up almost at the top of the line. So Seamus and I headed to the first aid center and we spent some quality time cooling him down and rehydrating him. The nurses were amazing. Once he was settled down and back on track we headed out to watch Water World. Great show!!!  Joe and I were becoming hangry as none of us had eaten yet, but we made a pit stop in Shrek where Seamus threatened to shower us once again, but he made it through. Finally we sat down to eat with the Simpsons. Here are some highlights of the daylight hours. 

After dinner we headed back out to see the Lower Lot of the park and check out more rides. 

The highlight of the evening was our stop at Olivander’s Wand Shop in Hogsmeade. We made a last show and it was without a doubt, the best decision. The boys were chosen for the wand experience, which meant they went in front of the crowd and the wands chose them. It was the highlight of the trip for sure. Max has a holly wand and Seamus a birch. They both have dragon heart strings from the same dragon as their core and they talked about how it strengthens their bond as brothers. Of course the first wands chosen didn’t work and Max made bells go crazy while Seamus made the lights go beserk. Then the wand master had them switch and all was well. The boys loved every moment and Joe and I both were amazed. Well done Universal. We weren’t allowed pictures or video during but you can see the joy on their faces. As I type they’re smiling in their sleep. And now I join them. 

Our day started splendidly at the Red Rock Casino in Summerlin. A nice, cheap breakfast buffet followed by some quality pool time. All was well. The boys were in heaven. 

Then we headed West. All was well until we hit Victorville, CA. Then we sat. I averaged 2 mph for TWO AND A HALF HOURS. Joe began to lose his mind. The boys were awesome and maintained their cool. They watched movies. No yellling-ok, maybe I yelled at a few cars. But the kids were great😍. Finally we started to move after traversing THREE WHOLE MILES. For construction. I can’t make this up. So, MUCH later than anticipated we headed for Long Beach where we rented a condo across the street from the ocean. And it’s beautiful. Worth every second of the drive. 

 Now my belly is full from the Belmont Brewing Co. and my heart is full. This was our view from dinner. 

Tomorrow the boys will play in the Pacific and then we will head to Universal Studios and Harry Potter World. This girl is ready!!!

Writing about our day has become my way of winding down each day and reflecting on the events that have flown by as we traverse down the Mother Road toward the Pacific coast. As I write this is my view:

But how did we end up in Vegas?  Well….

This morning started crisp and clear in our hotel in Williams, AZ. Now, I loved everything about this place. Cute little touristy town with fun microbreweries that we didn’t really get to enjoy. We will be back Williams!

After our breakfast we were off to visit the Grand Canyon at the South Rim. Joe and I had visited the North Rim 10 years ago and loved it. The South Rim is MUCH more crowded and to me, that distracts from the beauty of a place. Now, don’t get me wrong, my camera clicked every time another magestic moment caught my eye. This place is amazing. No pictures or words will ever do it justice. But I tried to capture just a glimpse of how awe-inspiring this place truly is. We hiked along the North Rim Trail for about two hours and these are just a few pictures I took trying to immortalize the beauty that surrounds us all in this amazing place. 

 Both boys have decided they want to ride the donkies to the bottom of the Canyon a la The Brady Bunch. I think we will wait a few years for that adventure; once the boys realize they can’t RUN toward the edge of a cliff. Yes, several heart attacks were on the horizon today!  Once we finished our hikes, we headed back to the car to start our drive to Oatman , AZ, a ghost town. 

It was at this time the storms began to blow in over the mountains. And I mean storms. The wind blew, the rain pelted, and the roads flooded. As we pulled into Kingman we realized these storms weren’t going to stop. So….

North we headed in 93 to Vegas(Summerlin actually) and Red Rock Casino. Along the way the temperatures reached 113 degrees. God love that van of mine; it’s a trooper. And then we had to drive across this baby:

Once we crossed we realized we might as well brave the heat and check out Hoover Dam. The kids watching Transformers in the back may have sealed the deal for us!  We braced ourselves for the heat and trekked out to see the damn dam!!!  Now I’ve been there several times, but oh my have things changed!!  From car security checks to entirely new roads and parking areas, it was a whole new experience for me too!  And the boys got to stand in two states at once:  Arizona and Nevada!!

Tomorrow we had for California and hope to spend a little time at the beach before the crazy of Universal Studios takes us over!!!  Oh. And we will be stopping at a ghost town too😍😬

Today we started in Albuquerque and we were ready to get out of there!  As we packed up the car we noticed the car two spots down had their window smashed out and glass was everywhere. So we headed out rather eagerly and ready to hit the road. On the way to the Route 66 exit we noticed the Petroglyphs National Park and jumped off the exit. It was a quick trip but successful. Seamus found several lizard friends to chase around the park. 
Next we hit the road in search of Gallup where we made a quick stop for lunch and picked up some souvenirs. 

Several rain storms slowed us down, but we kept the van rolling. Right into Winslow, Arizona where a girl, my lord, in a flat bed Ford, slowed down to take a look at me😂. Yep. We stood on the corner. In Winslow, Arizona.  It was such a fine sight to see. And yes, we did have our Eagles cd playing as we rolled into town. 

Next we were heading to Meteor Crater. This is a large indentation made by a meteor 50,000 years ago. Amazing place to see and hard to imagine something only 150 yards long could make such a large hole. The boys, all three of them, were enthralled. This is privately owned and operated and we were impressed with the entire place!  The boys found some space souvenirs and we were off again heading to Flagstaff. 

Flagstaff Brewing Co was the place for a quick dinner and taste of their amber beer. Joe wanted the Sasquatch Stout but they didn’t have it on tap today. Bummer. I love picking beers by their names!!  Tonight we are in Williams, AZ. I did some laundry and the boys hit the pool. Tomorrow it’s The Grand Canyon.  I’m hoping to stop into two cute breweries I found tonight and check out their selections too😍. Sweet Dreams!

A beautiful morning in Roswell greeted us yesterday. 

Joe was able to go for a 4 mile run while the boys slept in a bit. Seamus managed to crack his head on the side of the bed the night before and had a nice big lump!  

After breakfast we rolled into downtown Roswell and checked out the UFO Museum. Very interesting place to see!  And it was packed!  We need to watch the 1994 movie Roswell that depicts what happened in 1947. The boys have been taking pics too. I’ll upload their memories when we get home!

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After picking up some alien gear we headed  to Carlsbad to check out the Caverns. Max was able to get us all in with his 4th Grade National Parks pass. They do a really neat thing with that and the rangers mostly interact with the kids making them feel like they’re taking us on an amazing trip!  Lots of oil wells and pecan trees as we drove south!

It was 100 degrees on the surface when we arrived at the Park. 

We did the self-guided tour with some audio assistance and headed down into the caverns. The temperatures immediately dropped to about 50-60 degrees and it was very dark and wet. The smell of bat gano permeated the air; the bats leave the cave every night and fly about. We didn’t have time to see that but wish we could have!  It was beautiful but very steep and slippery to walk. Only one of us fell; yep, me. I slipped and went down on my knee. No big deal!  We saw the Bottomless Pit, the Fairy Gardens, and many more amazing stalagmites and stalactites decorating this immense cavern that was discovered by a 16 year old in 1926. 

The entire hike took us about 2 1/2 hours and was so worth it!  We left much later than anticipated but headed back to Roswell for dinner before driving a very long 3 hours through storms to Albuquerque where we stopped for the night. On the way we saw a white fox and an owl fly over us too!  Tomorrow we head into Arizona and toward the Grand Canyon 😍. Here are a few pictures of the McDonalds in Roswell!!

Day two led us from Oklahoma into New Mexico. So many fields of rolled hay throughout OK!  The east side is very flat and looked like Ohio; lots of beef cattle all around. In Oklahoma City we stopped to see the Oklahoma City bombing site; very hard to walk through. 

Next we rolled on through towards Roswell,  New Mexico.   But we rolled past this sign first:

On the way to Roswell we passed through Amarillo, Texas. As we drove big storms appeared on the horizon. This was good with us as we pulled into Big Texan to grab some steaks. It stormed the entire time we were there; no problem for us!

After our delicious meal we were on the road again!  You could see forever!  As we came over a hill we saw the lights of Roswell-more than 20 miles away😳. You can see forever out here!!!  We finally arrived to our room at Townhill Suites and hit the sack ready for our next adventure!

Just loaded the app on my phone to see how this will work too!  So far so good!  Now if my new debit card would just get here so I can get on with my day!  So looking forward to heading out!!!​

I’m not sure video will work on here😩. Bummer!​​

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Welcome to our Kennedy Family Travels blog!  Hopefully I’ll be able to update our progress throughout our cross-country trek as we head down Route 66.  Tonight we made some reservations and finalized some of our itinerary!  Hopefully now I can figure out how to post pictures here as well!I’m rolling now!  I can put pictures in and be ready to go!  Hopefully this will continue to work throughout our trip!  Here goes nothing!