Life with the Rogers

My life in the tundra with 3 dogs and a man

Archive for traveling

Snow follows us wherever we go

February 2, 2008 at 4:46 pm · Filed under north dakota, snow, traveling

Josh and I visited family and friends in Atlanta last week and guess what. It snowed. Now, granted it was GA snow which means that it doesn’t last for long and only causes some mild concern over ice. Well, mild concern for the northern states but for the south this means that people stock up on milk and bread and head indoors to wait it out. Oh, and they also cancel church the next morning. Needless to say, there were more than a few white little snowmen standing as a lone testament to the prior days snowfall. If the kids hadn’t built them no one would believe us that there was snow in GA. Unfortunately I forgot to get a picture.

Here Josh and I are squinting into the sun.

So it was cold in GA. A couple weeks prior to us getting there they had some unusual 70 degree weather days and the day after we left the weather channel showed a bunch of people out jogging in shorts because it had warmed to 50 degrees. We, however, arrived back in Minot to an Alberta Clipper which brought with it mighty cold weather. Let me explain:

Now, I grew up in PA. I know what it means to actually have a winter and actually get snow (ahem, unlike most of GA). HOWEVER, I was in no way prepared for waking up to the guy on the radio announcing that it was 25 degrees BELOW 0 with a 40 degrees BELOW 0 windchill.

Yes, you heard me right. 40 degrees BELOW. That means that you put a negative sign in front of the DOUBLE DIGIT temperature.  That means that I don’t go out to the store to get something just in case the car dies and I’m out there by myself. No thanks. I’ll let someone else do that. That means that your dog pees in the living room because he won’t go outside because it is -40 below!!!!

Welcome to the North.

By the way, today we are having a heat wave. The temp is 13 degrees.

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Wine Country, USA

November 1, 2007 at 10:01 pm · Filed under family, traveling

I just got back from my trip out west with my two sisters on Tuesday. It was my first trip to the Pacific ocean (which i didn’t actually get to set foot in). Both of my sisters went to San Fran which was a surprise since i was only expecting one of them to be there. Deb and I walked into the rental car office and i turn and see Kristin standing there…very weird feeling…i saw her and it didn’t phase me at first. I actually thought to myself- oh look, there’s Kristin - until it hit me that she’s not supposed to be in CA but in GA! Very cool surprise.

We drove along the coast by Monterrey and Big Sur on Saturday, visited with my aunt and uncle in Los Gatos Saturday night, went to wine country Sunday, and San Francisco Monday. So much fun! We also hung out with Deb’s friend, Nancy, whom we stayed with on Friday night (and our whole stay in CA). Very very fun night with the girls, some bottles of vino, and a dog named Atticus. :)

Some pics of our trip:


Along the coast near Monterrey Bay


Unti Vineyard in the Dry Creek Valley (Sonoma County, CA)


Who needs to go to Italy to get wine?!


One of the little sea lions from Pier 39 in San Fran


the 3 chicks

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37 is the new 24

March 5, 2007 at 3:20 am · Filed under north dakota, traveling


Once upon a time there was a 26ft Uhaul, a man, and a trailer. The man decided he was meant to move to the great cold north of Minot, North Dakota. Since he was a man who enjoyed company on great journeys he decided that he should bring along his wife and two beagles. Thus, one early Sunday morning, the man with his 26ft Uhaul and trailer (along with his car) took his wife in the cab and his two drugged beagles, Harper and Bo and set out on the long 37 hour trek north.

And so it began, a slow drizzle and no gas. We filled up the tank at a modest $100.00 in Loganville before heading out on the highway. Our beagles were beginning to feel the effects of the drugs and Bo even decided that he should disregard the D.A.R.E. training we’ve all received and drive under the influence. (see picture). Josh decided that that wasn’t such a good idea. (see picture for Bo’s hazy reaction, esp. the eyes with the film over them).

Up through Atlanta to Chattanooga and over to Nashville. Through Kentucky into Illinois and over to Saint Louis, MO. Across Missouri (and no I didn’t drive as it was dark when we arrived) and skirting Kansas and Nebraska we stayed the night in Sioux City, Iowa. Now, Josh was going strong the whole way into Iowa and past his grandmother’s house in Omaha so we continued on. All of a sudden the No Doze decided they’d had enough of working for the day and clocked out for the night. Josh needed to pull over to stop for the night (the night being 4:00 A.M.) in Sioux City. However, we of course have two dogs with us and needed to find a pet hotel. Since the original plan was to stay at his grandmother’s house I didn’t bother getting a list of where the pet-friendly hotels were on our map. Thankfully, we found one the only catch was that it wasn’t on the outskirts of town but downtown Sioux City. Just imagine me handling two drugged puppies in the lobby of the hotel and trying to relay directions to a parking lot big enough for a 53ft vehicle extravaganza while on a cell phone and you pretty much get the idea of our arrival in Sioux City. Add to that picture Josh outside driving around and around on barely plowed streets (because of course Sioux City just received 12 inches of snow that day and the snow plows were still out and about). The poor guy only found one parking lot his size (that is, the truck size) and it was 7 blocks away. Four hours later (and yes I said 4 hours) 8:30am we were back in the truck after a couple hours of sleep and ready for anything.

Josh did have his first Weighing in experience. We saw the sign that said all vans and truck rentals pull into the weighing station ahead. This is us getting the green light. (It was all very exciting on only 2 hours of sleep).

Soon we crossed the state lines into South Dakota where apparently the snow storm which we missed had dumped most of its snow onto the highways for us to cross. Again, Joanna is not driving as there was slush everywhere. Very slippery. We eventually made it into North Dakota and stopped in Fargo for some much needed hot dogs and bathroom breaks. Fargo is about 5 hours from Minot (maybe 4 if you aren’t in a big truck) so we were on the home stretch. After hitting Grand Forks, Josh decided that he needed a cat nap just until we made it to Devils Lake (about 45 min at this point). I’m up for the challenge especially since it wasn’t going to be a long stretch and he’d take over in less than an hour if I wasn’t comfortable. It’s a nice afternoon with clear skies and hardly anyone else on the road so I was feeling good. I made it from Mile Marker 170 to Mile Marker 169. Barely. If that.

Yes, that’s right. I didn’t even make it a mile before it got to the point that Josh was more scared to have his eyes closed than open and watching me drive. He said that I was playing Pong with the solid line and the dotted one. Well, I tried. Let’s leave it at that. (btw, it wasn’t even the trailer that was the worst part, the trailer was the least of my worries.)


So Josh had all traces of sleepiness scared out of him and he resumed driving. I played DJ and we rocked out the rest of the way to Minot to all our favorite music. I think we arrived around 7pm? It was good to walk in the door to my in-laws and smell beef stroganoff and have a warm bed waiting.

Next time I’ll write about the house. We have been BUSY. Here’s a taste: My First View

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North Dakota here i come

November 7, 2006 at 1:19 am · Filed under north dakota, traveling

March 2007 Josh, Harper, Bo and I are all moving to a place far far away…in the land of Oz…

I am going to keep a blog about all the unforseen humorous adventures we are sure to have as this moving process begins. Keep an eye out for it!

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Sorry for any inconvenience

October 24, 2005 at 12:48 pm · Filed under traveling

Every morning I wake up before at least 90% of the world so that I can make it to the train station on time. As anyone who lives in the Atlanta area knows, traffic is the #1 problem. I realized very early on that I DO NOT have the temperament needed to survive the daily commute, fighting the masses and masses of cars. I can’t even relate to people who put up with it every day because they have to “just accept it”.

So I take the train.

Even taking the train, I still have to combat the sea of cars in the evening for a good 30 minutes, but at least the train cuts down on the major Atlanta traffic. Marta, however, is getting old. Don’t get me wrong, I like having the time to read in the morning and drink my coffee. I like knowing I’m saving $50 a month or more on gas. I don’t even mind the odd people sitting next to me, even once having a seizure in front of me. I take all this in stride. However, every morning I have a fear of hearing one phrase that disrupts my whole morning.

“Due to technical difficulties, the Southbound train will be delayed. Sorry for any inconvenience.”

It’s almost getting to the point, why even rush to get to the platform? The train will be late, I should just change my schedule to accommodate theirs. The only problem today, was that it was FREEZING and of course, being that it’s Georgia, no one standing there with me had a decent coat on to keep warm. We all stood there shivering and waiting. When the train finally came, we all stumbled into the warmth of the Marta cars. One passenger right behind me muttering, “Marta’s new motto: Sorry for any inconvenience…”

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Sometimes you can’t make it on your own…

October 19, 2005 at 8:19 pm · Filed under family, traveling


…you need a little help from your sis. Last weekend I went up to the Big Apple to help Deb pack some of her things since she’s moving to the ‘burbs. She didn’t really need to give me an incentive to come help her, but the SWEET U2 tickets that she had just lying around didn’t hurt. We had decent seats, I mean they weren’t second row or general admission, but neither were they so far back that the band members were the size of peanuts when you looked down. They were decent. I had a BLAST of course, as anyone who knows me, knows that I *almost* idolize them. I said almost! Anyway, I went with Deb and she was also the happy owner of 4 sets of tickets so that she ended up going to 4 different shows.

I guess she can make it on her own.

I have to say, though, that she had some FANTASTIC seats, as they weren’t seats at all. She got to go on Tuesday night as General Admission which, of course, is the Floor. The Floor, ladies and gentlemen, is the place where all your concert-dreams come true. The Floor is where you can get there early and get in line to get a good place in the arena and not just depend on your place in the queue at Ticketmaster for a good seat. The Floor is where you could maybe, quite possibly, on the off chance, have Bono choose YOU out of the masses to go up on stage with him and…dance. Dance with your head on his shoulder (have to admit, a little weird) and sway to With or Without You. ah, the Floor. She said it felt like it was a intimate concert in some small venue and that Bono was singing directly to her crowd. She said that it was everything she thought it would be. And she’ll never go back.

sigh.

My other sister and I are going to the Atlanta show in November. In the nose bleeds. Section 300 something. Sigh, again. Still, with all the energy output from a crowd screaming and singing at the top of their lungs, 20,000 strong, it will still be an eventful evening. It always is.

These pics are some that Deb took with her camera phone, as she was about 3 ft away from the outer ring of the stage. Cheers, Deb.

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