Month: June 2023

Posted on

June 10 – Hydration on the Road – 40 ounce Hydro Flask Review

I’m not “extra.”

I live a simple life in a modest home in the rural Georgia countryside where, as they say, it gets so hot you can fry an egg on the sidewalk. I work as a Literacy Specialist in a school system, so I do a lot of reading and writing in my “spare time” – enjoying the quiet times. I love long walks with my three Schnoodles (a portmanteau for Schnauzer/Poodle designer dogs, who were popularly considered mere mutts up until recently) – Boo Radley (To Kill a Mockingbird), Fitz (F. Scott Fitzgerald), and Ollie (male-gendered name for Mary Oliver, my favorite poet). I also enjoy filling my birdfeeders with different types of seeds to be able to observe a variety of avian friends, and taking to full nature experiences in state parks on weekends in my small teardrop camper. I apply a thin layer of makeup with my own fingertips (no fancy brushes or sponges for me) only on days when it’s absolutely necessary, and I don’t filter my photos to make myself look ten years younger. I dont’ wear the latest fashions ~ my blue jeans are a store brand, not a name brand. And my travel mugs are not inspired by social media influencers – nor does Tik Tok govern my thinking (I think I’ve watched a grand total of 3 Tik Tok videos in my life).

I’m not “extra.” But this isn’t all about me.

It’s about high-tech hydration for a girl with heat sensitivity who is prone to dehydration and who happens to be road tripping from Chicago to Albuquerque along Route 66 in the mid-summer heat later this month.

A girl who must proactively bathe her organs in cool-flowing internal water fountains, who needs a little more than a salt tablet and a recycled plastic bottle of Dasani or Deer Park or Aquafina along for the ride.

I begin my review of the best water tumbler with the Hydro Flask 40-ounce tumbler, which I got on a Black Friday deal in November to replace a Yeti, which had replaced a Tervis before that. I bought two and gave a charcoal gray one to my son, who works on the rooftops of houses in the South Carolina sun along a lower latitude line, even closer to the equator than I am.

It doesn’t fit in this cup holder.

I have dropped this tumbler more than the Atlanta Falcons drop a football and slammed on brakes so hard once that I’m surprised it didn’t soar like a missile straight through the windshield ~ but still, no dings or dents in this plainest-colored bottle, white as a snow-topped Alaskan mountain from the view of a Lido deck over coffee.

It’s in great shape, but there are a few things that prompted me to seek a better tumbler fit.

One is the portability of the thing. It doesn’t fit in either of the front cup holders in my car or in the door holders, because the bottom isn’t tapered. While that may not be a big deal to most people, I often keep it in the front seat if I’m traveling alone, or in the back seat if I’m traveling with a passenger. When the driver happens to be my husband, who takes most curves on two wheels, the missile takes aim for doors and floors as he drives.

As he was driving last week, I reached into the back seat and secured it in the seat flap, to his great relief.

It doesn’t have a solid fit in the cup holder because of the non-tapered bottom.

I’m glad you got that thing under control, he thanked me. It was scaring me every time it hit the door.

I resisted the temptation to suggest that if he took our rolling hills and curves a little slower, it wouldn’t be hitting the door with such force. Trouble is, his words rang true. It was always in the foot somewhere, spinning and rolling around like a tantrum-throwing toddler, just enough to be annoying.

His words prompted my search for a better traveling tumbler. One that would stay put and get the job done. And so I gathered some cups for a full review of what will work best to keep me out of dehydration and help me avoid a heat stroke.

I’m not “extra.” I’m just needy, and slightly particular.

The Pros of the Hydro Flask 40 -ounce

It holds a lot of water.

It’s big, but not too big.

It keeps ice cold overnight, into the next day.

It comes in a variety of colors.

It can be carried inside a backpack without leaking.

It has a pop-up straw.

It’s durable, practically indestructible to the point that it might prove to be bulletproof.

The Cons:

It is bulky and heavy.

It doesn’t fit in any of my cup holders.

It has a handle that makes it awkward to carry. (But you can order a lid with a jug handle).

The opening is smaller than its thickness, making it harder to fill with ice.

The bottleneck opening makes it a bit harder to clean (you need a bottle brush).

The suction is good, but the square mouthpiece is uncomfortable.

Tomorrow, I’ll review the Stanley Ice Flow 30-ounce tumbler.

Posted on

June 9 – Route 66 Hydration Planning

My husband thinks I’m over the top to be planning which cup to take for the best hydration on our trip. He chuckled one of his I’m going to keep my mouth shut, but my wife is crazy laughs when he saw a row of cups lined up on the kitchen counter.

“Look, I know you think I’ve lost my mind, but if I get dehydrated, I’ll make you lose yours,” I told him.

That got his attention, bringing back memories of the day I was at Six Flags Over Georgia with my daughter, her boyfriend, and my stepson. I got so dehydrated and overheated riding roller coasters that I went to the public bathroom and flung myself down on the floor in the stall to be able to put my cheek to the cool concrete. I was delirious and could not think straight, knowing only that I was fading fast and had to get my cheek temperature down pronto – and I needed a Coca Cola with ice. While my daughter got in line and waited for the Coke, I waited in the stall, rotating my cheeks, not caring one iota about all the germs. I was trying to survive the brutal Georgia heat – – face down on a public bathroom floor, doing what I had to do to prevent a red-light ride to the hospital.

I called my husband to come get me, since we only had one car at the park. We’d paid full ticket prices that summer, and since we’d planned to stay until the park closed, I didn’t want to take the kids away from the fun when they could drive home later.

When we’d first married, my husband drove a race car many weekends. Along with his brother and father, they competed in racing events as a team ~ Johnson Motorsports, or JMS Racing as they were known. We’d hang out at the race track all weekend, and by the time we were loading up to leave, someone would often warn me that my cheeks were red. Each of them knew to watch for that tell-tale sign, knowing that I’m heat-sensitive and dehydrate faster than a dog in the desert. On more than one occasion, I’ve had to get in the truck and keep my face in the air conditioning while the rest of the crew finished loading up.

So hydration is serious business for me. My skin tightens and I feel my heartbeat as if it were split in two, furiously waving checkered flags under each eye socket.

Over the next week, I’ll be reviewing an assortment of cups to determine the best one to take along Route 66. Mine needs to not only hold a lot of water, but also to be able to keep ice frozen overnight. Since 2022, I’ve been taking my 40-ounce Hydro Flask with the pop-up straw to work every day. I fill it with ice in the morning, add filtered water, and drink from it until lunchtime. After lunch, I fill it again and drink that before replenishing the ice and filling it a third time when I leave. This way, I have the pure, filtered water to last me through the evening until the following morning.

Tomorrow, I’ll begin my reviews with the Hydro Flask 40-ounce cup.

Posted on

Gratitude: Selena’s Birthday

My sweet daughter in law is celebrating a birthday today! She’s a homeschooling mom with four delightful children and another due in July. I wish I had a fraction of her energy and her patience. She shows her children how to appreciate the simple joys of every day, and she seizes every opportunity to show them love. She brings out the best in our son – and the best in all of us!

Soft-spoken and sweet

Easy-going

Laughing, loving

Eager to pitch in and help

Natural beauty

Adventurous outdoor kayaker!

Mother of the Year!

Always gracious

Energetic (even while expecting)

Posted on

Gratitude: Celebrating Mallory’s Journey along Route 66

One of my daughters is celebrating a special journey today, and it reminds me of the journey she took along Route 66 last year. She sent me pictures all along the way, and I’m sharing some of these today as I celebrate her. She truly enjoyed spray painting the cars at Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, and so we’ll create a similar scene and share the picture with her. when we drive half of Route 66 later this month. As I prepare, I’m taking the time to learn about these iconic landmarks prior to the trip so that I can more fully appreciate them when I see them.

She says of her trip, “It was one of the happiest weeks ever. I loved this trip. You can hear how windy Texas is in the Cadillac Ranch videos, and Oklahoma is the same. It’ll damn near knock you over.”

Second Amendment Cowboy
You can hear the Texas wind.
Cadillac Ranch, Amarillo, TX
Cadillac Ranch
My daughter at Cadillac Ranch, sporting her artwork in pink

You can hear the wind of Texas here in this video of the buried spray-painted Cadillacs
We’ll see this sign! We will travel into New Mexico as far as Albuquerque.
We’ll come back later in the year to see this sign. We’re taking our trip at a slower pace and only traveling half of the Route 66 roads from Chicago to Albuquerque.

Cheers to all the journeys we celebrate – both inward and outward. Life is full of amazing adventures, and I’m always fascinated by her energy, her humor, and her unique perspectives as she shares her travels with us!

Posted on

Gratitude: Saylor’s Birthday

Our Saylor Reese is having a birthday today, and today is all about celebrating this sweet girl!

Sunshine-loving sweet and sassy, she’s

All girl! Loves pink princess dresses and unicorns, a growing

Young lady, tough as nails as the only girl (for now, at

Least, which may change in July, she hopes)….

Our Saylor: always

Ready to chase fairies through the marsh or go kayaking or snuggle up and read books!

Posted on

June 5 – Route 66 Planning – Day 5

We’re ready to begin packing for our Route 66 trip later this month. I’m counting down the days, planning as I go so that our trip has a better chance of fewer hiccups.

Today I’m adding pre-addressed mailing labels and a roll of postcard stamps to my list. Whenever I travel, I love sending postcards, but I often find it time-consuming to address postcards and write them while on the road. A few years ago, I began purchasing blank mailing labels and addressing them ahead of time, and throwing in a roll of postcard stamps and a couple of pens in a Ziploc bag each time I travel (I also roll my pens with several layers of Duck Tape, using the barrel as the tape core just in case we need to repair something). This stays in my backpack so that if a store sells postcards, I can purchase them right there, write a quick message, stamp and label them, and ask if they have any outgoing mail. I did this in record time in Luckenbach, Texas in February 2022 so that I could get the Luckenbach postmark from their tiny post office rather than mailing them from a different location later.

Addressing labels at home before the trip saves a lot of time!

It makes sending mail from the road more efficient, and I like to send the grandchildren postcards so that they can see where we are in the world and learn a little history of the places we visit. Perhaps, too, they’ll catch a case of travel fever and we’ll be able to take them to a couple of places that spark their interest.

My love of travel hacks started years ago when I read on Pinterest that I should travel with my makeup and moisturizer in contact lens cases, and I realized that if I found ways of scaling back, I could travel with nothing but a carry-on bag. The hardest part is deciding which pair of shoes to take.

Other than pens rolled in Duck Tape, makeup in contact lens cases, and pre-addressed mailing labels, what are some of your favorite travel hacks? I can use all the handy tips you’re willing to share in the comments.

Posted on

June 4 – The Mother Road Planning – Day 4

This weekend, we’ll be making a list of all the things we’ll need to do around the house before we leave on our trip down half of Route 66 later this month. Since summer is here and we all come down with a case of wanderlust at some point, you may find that these are things you do as well as you plan to travel. I invite you to leave any of your favorite hacks and tips in the comments, particularly those I might have forgotten to add in this phase of list making.

We’ve already made our pet reservations at the boarding facility. One of our boys needed his heartworm injection, so I called the vet to be sure that all of their shots were up to date to avoid any last-minute glitches with boarding requirements. I have a backup plan with a friend’s daughter who can come to our home in case we were to need any last-minute Plan B put into action for pet sitting, even though we don’t anticipate that.

We’ve already reserved our rental car, too, and we’ll need to print the car confirmation information.

I’ve also gone online to USPS.COM to schedule our mail to be held during the days we will be gone, and then for all of our accumulated mail to be delivered on the day we return. I have a login and password to be able to schedule this service online anytime I need to have our mail held, and it’s so convenient to make these arrangements from my phone. One of the things I like best about it is that in the event that I had forgotten to do this ahead of time and remembered while sitting in the airport getting ready to leave, I could still arrange for the bulk of the mail to be held.

Here are some other things we’ll be adding to our countdown to-do list:

We’ll want to charge our batteries for our home security cameras the week before we leave so that we can monitor what is going on here while we’re away. We’ll also test our home security system and notify our security company that we will be out of town and let them know that our alarm will be set while we are away.

We’ll also want to fill our birdfeeders and water our plants the night before we leave (and pray for rain to water the outside plants and replenish the bird baths naturally while we are gone).

We’ll need to go by the bank to get the cash we plan to take with us, and to notify our bank that we will be in other states so that if we want to use a debit card, the bank will approve out of state charges. We’ll need to anticipate toll roads and money for tips, so we’ll need some smaller bills and change for these costs.

We’ll need to be sure that our prescriptions and medications we need are refilled and on hand the week before we leave.

We will need to make parking reservations at the Atlanta Airport – and this is no small task at the world’s busiest airport.

We’ll make sure a family member knows how to gain access to the house and disarm the alarm in case we need someone to be able to get in and check on things should we need it.

We’ll need to make a packing list two weeks before the trip to be sure we have all we need. For things we need we don’t have, we will then have time to shop for those things or order them to allow delivery time. We will also need to make sure that our luggage dimensions are correct; since we only take carry-on luggage and never check bags, we have to be sure our bags meet the luggage specifications for the airline.

We’ll need to start a folder with important papers like our flight, hotel, and rental car confirmation numbers and trip itineraries (I will be doing this with a shared Google Doc so that all of us are able to access the information at any time).

We’ll need to gather our auto insurance cards so that we can provide these when we pick up the rental car.

We’ll need to set our thermostat to the temperature we want to keep our home while we are gone the morning we leave.

We’ll need to clean out the refrigerator and take the garbage to the dump two or three days before we leave.

We’ll want to remember to unplug our televisions while we are gone in case of any severe storms.

We’ll continue the list as we go, but these are things we need to create reminders for so that we can check them off and feel confident when we leave that we have not forgotten something important.

We can’t always control the little things that can go sideways on a trip, but one thing we can do is pave the way for the peace of mind that we’ve taken care of things on the homefront to buy those moments of resting assured we’ve dotted our i’s and crossed our t’s as best we can.

Posted on

June 3 – The Mother Road Planning – Day 3

Steinbeck coined the term “The Mother Road” in his novel The Grapes of Wrath.

Last summer, I’d spent weeks researching and planning a trip to Yellowstone National Park when we shifted gears at the last minute and cancelled the whole trip. I’d booked 3 hotels, purchased refundable airfare, and mapped out a route. I’d talked to friends who had made recommendations and offered all the best tips. We were all but packed.

But the rental car was the issue. The major airport into Yellowstone was closed for runway upgrades, so we’d purchased tickets to Bozeman, Montana and planned to drive down to the western entrance and work our way around the park. The only rental car I could find was one town over and cost $7 less than a week-long Alaskan cruise. The rental car alone, without gas or fees, without the airfare and the hotels and the food and the Uber ride – seven dollars less. So we backed out of the trip and opted for a trip that was within our budget.

Little did we know at that time that Yellowstone National Park would be shut down due to flooding and road washouts at the time we had planned to go. It turned out that despite our hopes and dreams to visit the park, the circumstances and costs didn’t seem feasible. As travelers, we have learned to follow our instincts and be flexible – and it often pays off in ways we’d have never dreamed. Where we missed driving through Yellowstone and seeing the bison, we stood on a hovercraft in Ketchikan watching bald eagles swoop down to catch fish.

This year, as we sat planning a trip to Glacier National Park in the local coffee shop with my husband’s brother and his wife, we discovered that one of the main attractions had no tickets available. We could not get tickets to Going to the Sun Road, and according to one friend, we should book a year in advance and make sure that we are able to do that if we make the trip to Glacier. We could not arrange to see one of the things we most wanted to see, so we returned to the destination drawing board.

That’s how we decided to travel part of Route 66 this summer. Driving The Mother Road, as John Steinbeck coined it, has been on my list of vacation hopes for years. It spans from Chicago, Illinois to the Santa Monica Pier in California and would take us a couple of weeks to enjoy from start to finish in full completion if we drove it all at once. We knew that time would prevent the entire trip this summer, but when we started talking about the possibility of driving half this summer and the other half later, we grew more and more excited about the adventure – knowing that we could make the trip at our own pace. And while rental cars are still expensive, we’d share the cost and the driving.

We’d decided on the basics – destination, budget, and main attractions, so we began mapping out our itinerary on the Roadtrippers app by entering our starting point and adding waypoints. We added an iconic motel – The Blue Swallow Inn in Arizona, and other motels – along with landmarks like The Gemini Giant and the Blue Whale of Catoosa, and also added a few restaurants recommended along the route.

This weekend and over the coming weeks, we’ll watch YouTube videos of the places we plan to visit all along Route 66, we may watch the movie CARS, and we’ll listen to the Route 66 Pandora station. I’ll probably revisit sections of John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath (1939), in which he named Route 66 “The Mother Road.” We’ll begin to immerse ourselves in learning more about the places we will see on the way – a strategy to engage in deeper learning about our culture and cultivating an appreciation of its rich history.

These are some of the ways we enhance the enjoyment of our trip as we anticipate the adventure!

Here is one of the You Tube videos we’ll watch this weekend on one of the iconic landmarks on the route, explaining some of its historical significance:

Posted on

June 2 – The Mother Road Planning Day 2

One of my favorite things to do in all the world is to plan a trip or a vacation – and there is a difference! Since it’s vacation time for families and teachers as the school year ends and summer break begins, I’m devoting my month of blog posts to the planning and the journey down half of Route 66, from Chicago to Aubuquerque. I kicked off the month introducing the Roadtrippers app as a great trip planning tool for trips that involve driving.

So if the first thing to do when planning any trip is downloading the Roadtrippers Plus app, the second thing is purchasing the Roadtrippers book featuring the chosen travel destination. I’ve purchased plenty of travel guides over the years, and my gold medal guides for international and large city travel are the Eyewitness Travel series of books published by Dorling-Kindersley because of the photography and organization of the layout. The Roadtrippers books, published by Roadtrippers LLC, have become my gold medal guides for driving destinations in the United States. For our trip, I like that the book and the app work together to provide a more technologically-enhanced global glimpse of the journey.

The Route 66 edition that I purchased came with a scratch-off code in the front cover of the book, activating a free month of the Roadtrippers Plus app. The organization of the book gives a simplified view of a long road trip, organized into six legs of the overall trip. One thing I particularly love is the playlists for each leg, featuring songs of those national regions. I have discovered, too, that there is a Pandora station entitled Route 66, which will make it fun to enjoy ahead of time and along the route.

And what song would be more fitting to begin a trip down Route 66 than Chuck Berry’s Route 66?

Posted on

June 1 – The Mother Road Planning Day 1

Roadtrippers App – the best trip planning tool I have found

This month marks vacation month once my 210-day contract ends for this school year, a few short weeks from when my next one is set to begin. We’ll fly out on June 24 from our home an hour south of Atlanta, Georgia to Chicago, Illinois to drive a little more than half of the east-to-west direction of Route 66, ending in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I’ve had a long-time dream of traveling the roadways to see a cross-section of The Mother Road just as Steinbeck and others with relentless resfeber have been enjoying in truck campers named Rocinante and other less-famous vehicles since it came into being.

I’ve downloaded Roadtrippers to map our journey, and I’ll be blogging and photographing it every step of the way. This month, every day (except June 17-21 when I write with Open Write) will be devoted to the planning process and the way we decided on this travel plan as our vacation for this year. The last week of the month will be the actual journey from Chicago to New Mexico following Route 66.

My first step in vacation planning: downloading Roadtrippers, experimenting with it, and deciding to upgrade to Roadtrippers Plus. I have created an account, and I’m ready to begin planning. The app will map my distance each day and actually calculate my mileage and projected gasoline costs based on the rental car for the miles per gallon and the cost of gasoline. I can’t recommend this app highly enough after using it for several “test drive” road trips with the free version. I have even shared the very beginning of the itinerary with those who’ll be traveling with me through the share feature in the app.

Hold on, America! Here we come!