Category Archives: On the Road

Traveling with the Butterscotch Sundae clan.

National Blog Posting Month, On the Road

Six things I’d like to do in Sydney

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Hai Linh Truong photo

I try to go along with Rockford on one of his work trips every year. Last year it was Las Vegas; this year it was Chicago. Next year? Next year it might be a little farther away.

Yesterday Rockford found out that he might have to go to Australia next year. That’s a trip I would love to tag along on. He usually has a few international trips every year, and while I wouldn’t have minded going along to Brazil and I would’ve liked to go to China, those international flights are expensive. But I’ve always wanted to go to Australia, and it would be our first chance to see our friends Chris & Sinead in years.

So even though it isn’t even set in stone that he’s going — much less that I’ll be there — I’m going to go ahead and designate my piggy bank the Australia Fund. I spent a good bit of yesterday evening Google-dreaming my trip to Sydney; here are a few things I’d like to do there.

  1. Tour the Sydney Opera House. Or maybe it’s just Sydney Opera House. Whichever, I’d like to take their tour.
  2. See a performance at the opera house. There’s a contemporary ballet performance happening the week we’d be there.
  3. Take a tour via motorcycle
  4. Walk the Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach Pacific Trail.
  5. Stroll through the Royal Botanic Garden.
  6. Go on a whale-watching tour.
  7. Visit the Chinese Garden.

Have you ever been to Sydney? What not-to-be-missed sites are missing from my list?

menu plan Monday, Music, On the Road

Because I still love rock and roll

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What does Wilco have to do with my meal plan? Stick with me. We’ll get there.

I never thought I’d be the kind of girl who’d cash in all of her husband’s frequent flier miles to go half way across country for a musician. Turns out I was wrong about that.

Rockford and I were both psyched (yes: psyched) when we saw that my very favorite group, Wilco, was going to be playing an outdoor show in Columbia, Missouri, this year. We lived in Columbia for five years, and we made a lot of great memories there. Not the least of which were the four Wilco shows we saw there. So we bought tickets, booked flights and on Sunday we got up before 6am and were in CoMo by lunchtime. Which was lovely timing, because it meant we got to have lunch at Shakespeare’s Pizza with our friends B and Rachel. After lunch we went back to our hotel — also paid for with loyalty points! — for a nap before going downtown to wander.

I’d decided that as a responsible grown-up, I would be just fine if we weren’t directly in front of the state at this show. The front of the stage is for hip youngsters, not stodgy homeschooling moms. I would be fine near the back, where it’s less crowded and your ears don’t ring quiet as much after the show. And then we got downtown, and Wilco was doing their soundcheck, and we watched it from directly in front of the stage, and it washed away all of that responsible-grown-up business. As soon as the soundcheck ended I joined the other 10-or-so people who lined up at the gate to get a shot at the front row.

This was our 15th Wilco concert, and I’d rank it in my Top Five Favorite Concerts. It was worth the flight, all the points and sitting on the sidewalk for an hour.

However: All that jetsetting does not put dinner on the table. Nor does it plan dinner, which is why Tuesday morning found me still puzzling over just what we’d be eating this week. I’m afraid nothing on our menu this week is even a little bit rock ‘n’ roll, though.

Tuesday: Homemade Crunchwraps

We’ve tried this recipe once before, and it’s really tasty. I’m going to add some black beans.

Wednesday: Spaghetti & meatballs

This meal always raises the question: Will I actually make the meatballs? So suspenseful.

Thursday: Jambalaya

Zatarain’s was on sale for $1 a box this week.

Friday: Pizza

I’m still dreaming of the day I get a grill that’s up to the task of cooking a pizza. I stopped making my own pizzas because I got tired of setting off the smoke alarm every Friday night.
On the Road

An exhaustive look at our trip to Disney World

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I have been trying to take the kids to Disney World for about three years now. I’d browse the web site, we’d choose the dates, and we’d start saving money. And then inevitably something would come up and that money would have to go elsewhere and we’d be back at Square One.

The stars aligned a few months ago, though, when Rockford found out that he’d be attending a conference in Orlando the week of Poppy’s birthday. It seemed serendipitous at the very least, so we started planning the trip once again. And this time, it actually worked! I probably wouldn’t choose to go again in August — the heat was pretty terrible — but nearly everything else about the trip was just wonderful.

The view of Cinderella's Castle from the Swiss Family Treehouse at Disney World.
The view of Cinderella’s Castle from the Swiss Family Treehouse at Disney World.

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