We hit Redmond late on Friday night after miles and miles of road construction and delays beginning in Olympia. I’ll say it’s surreal to drive into a town I lived in for over 30 years (my husband nearly his entire life!), and after being gone for just over 2 months, feeling lost. The amount of construction in Redmond alone was shocking; only intensified the following days when it was daylight; it’s a good thing we knew a few backroads to circumvent the chaos. Projects that were mere foundations when we left in June were nearly complete, businesses closed or relocated, and even more signage for projects yet to be started.
We spent 10 days in Redmond and took care of medical and dental appointments, saw lots of friends, took in some culture, and spent time with the grandkids and kids. We stayed at the Redmond Inn on the east side of town; the least expensive of any of our hotel rooms on the trip – they offer a discount for booking directly from their website (not through a travel site). They also have coupons for a percentage off any meal at the Family Pancake House just across the parking lot. They’ll hand you as many coupons as you like – FPH is open for Breakfast through dinner, has a fantastic menu, and great service. Redmond Inn also has complimentary continental breakfast and loads of parking. Plus, they had laundry facilities – you’ll need quarters and detergent, which they can sell at the front desk – which was really useful after our trip.
We had fun visiting with our friends from Redmond Historical Society as they presented their Saturday Speaker Series with a guest speaker talking about a decades-old unsolved murder. That evening we attended the 75th Anniversary celebration at Camp Gilead in Carnation. Sunday was church and communion with our church family, then an afternoon with all the grandkids and borrowed grandkids at the Outback Kangaroo Farm.
My oldest grandson had requested we make one last trip back in May before we left, but with everyone’s busy schedules, we just couldn’t swing it, so we planned it for our road trip. I’ve taken the kids there every other year since 2013 and they all wanted one last time to pet the ‘roos, tortoises, and llamas. It’s one of the best field trips we’ve taken over the years I nannied, and I enjoy it as much as the kiddos. Even our busy granddaughter and her boyfriend made it!
The weather the first week in Redmond was beautiful, in the mid-70s to 80s, but our last three days were overcast and wet with the PNW mist – we definitely have acclimated to the Arizona weather and missed the sunshine and heat.
We started planning this trip sometime in January of 2023, after deciding the dates for our cruise to Alaska. As we planned to be living in Arizona at the time of the cruise, the trip itself broadened to a pretty big deal including annual physicals & dentist appointments, a mammogram, trip with the grandkids to a kangaroo farm, lots of catching up with friends, church, a historical presentation, and a weekend anniversary celebration for a kids camp in Carnation.
That’s a lot to cram into one trip, and as the dates started to come together, we realized we would be packing for nearly a month of travel. Weather and temperatures leaving Mesa and traveling into California would be similar, but moving north to Oregon, Washington, then to Alaska for the cruise, would require packing clothing for 3 separate climates. Our ‘winter’ clothing was in storage in Washington State, and we only brought 3 suitcases with us when we moved. We also needed to pack things like vitamins, shoes, some dressier wear, as well as electronics, charging cables, and other ‘necessities’ for traveling. We purchased an additional large suitcase (thank you thrift stores!) and some other things to make the trip more organized and successful.
Road trip suitcase packing is different than for an airline trip; although we also needed to be mindful of the size of our cruise stateroom and living in a hotel. Regardless, we left Mesa packed with two large and two small suitcases, two laptop bags, a garment bag, a plastic tub, a case of drinking and one of distilled water (for the CPAP), a cooler with ice and snacks, and several boxes of things we wanted to put into storage in Washington.
Sorting, getting ready to packThe suitcase for cooler weather and the cruiseCar is mostly packed and ready to go!
So, for the vitamins, I made the decision to day pack them instead of carrying the individual bottles along with us (Hubby took his bottles). The benefit of this for me was I could throw the pack in my purse along with my collagen and probiotics and take them with breakfast. I bought these little plastic zip pill pouches from Amazon and labeled them for daily use. I stuck them inside these cute little bags I bought from the dollar store. They packed beautifully and I didn’t have to listen to the rattling every time I moved my suitcase.
Pro & Prebiotics, CollagenDollar Store bagsDated so I didn’t lose track!
We also took a cooler with us to keep snacks and water cool. This was handy as most days of the road trip we ate breakfast at the hotel, then grabbed a food bar and water during the midday and ate dinner about 3 or 4 PM.
Being gone for 26 days meant we’d need to do laundry along the way. Fortunately, most of the hotels had a laundry room and sold rolls of quarters and detergent. I found it cheaper to buy a small detergent at the dollar or grocery store and carry it with us.
Trip hacks I’d recommend:
Map your route out using Google Maps or similar, then print the maps. It was helpful to see a broader picture of where we were going instead of just looking at the map on the car’s GPS. I printed one for the entire trip from Mesa, AZ to Redmond, WA, one for each day of the trip, and one for Redmond, WA to Boise, ID, and back to Mesa.
We purchased the “Route 66” app for that portion of the trip; it works with CarPlay and kept us on Route 66 from Flagstaff AZ to Santa Monica, CA. The GPS voice is a bit grating (there are other selections, but they’re kind of goofy). If you’re going to use this app for Route 66 travel, be aware that not all of Route 66 still exists, so you’ll be on other major freeways at times. There were also a couple of times when Route 66 was closed due to flooding or construction, but the app didn’t alert us and we had to back-track to I40 again. I would also recommend if you’re using this app that you select the “A” route, and select Points of Interest instead of city destinations. I found we missed some of the POIs by just selecting “Williams”, “Kingman”, etc.
Purchase an altimeter app, or have one in your car. Yes, elevations are posted on the highways, but there were times we wanted to know the elevation in between those signs. The one we purchased also had coordinates, wind speed, water boiling temperature, and weather. It did not work with CarPlay but was easy enough to keep running in the background and switch back and forth between map and altimeter.
Daily map Grants Pass OR to Redmond, WAAltimeter AppRoute 66 App
Check online to see if you’ll have to drive across toll roads. Some states have a pay-as-you-go function, or you can purchase a pass prior to your trip. California has a toll system you can pay online or by phone app after you’ve traveled through. You can also set your phone GPS to ‘avoid toll roads’ although this may make your trip longer (you should plan that out ahead of time).
Don’t be afraid to stop frequently for photos, snacks, or to just walk around. Yes, it adds to the length of the day, but it also makes the trip more enjoyable. Thankfully we took lots of potty breaks and photo stops, so it broke the day up into smaller chunks.
Russ is very spontaneous; I’m very much a planner. I booked hotels along the way based on how long I thought we’d want to drive, which made me less anxious that we would have a hotel of some quality to spend the night. He would have preferred we stop when we were done for the day. I promised we’d try that on the next trip (and we did on the trip to Albuquerque, NM a few weeks later). There are usually a lot of hotel/motel/inns available and unless you have to be somewhere at a certain time, it’s more comfortable and fun to stop driving when you’re tired of driving.
Try to eat at diners, cafés, or local eateries, not just fast food and chain restaurants. The small businesses will appreciate it, and some of the best meals we had were local places. Ask the hotel you stay at if they have a place that discounts meals for guests, and ask your social media contacts for their recommendations too!
Check that the points of interest are open on the days you plan on being there. Yes, Ms. Planner forgot to check the open days for museums in Barstow and Victorville, CA. Turns out they’re both closed on Tuesdays. Oh well, we’ll get there next road trip!
TAKE CASH WITH YOU! We live in a country with ATM machines everywhere, tap credit and debit cards, and even ways to pay with your phone. I was thankful we had cash with us when our credit card was shut down for fraud on the 2nd day of the trip (Thanks BECU!). Using the Debit card worked for holds at the hotels (we’d already pre-paid most of them), but paying with cash at gas stations earned us some discounts and it was nice to have the cash cushion so we didn’t have to use our checking account until we got the new card. I split the cash up into several places in my suitcases, camera, and laptop bags so I wasn’t carrying around a wad of cash in one place.
If you’re road-tripping, don’t be stingy on the clothing and shoes you take. I should have taken a 2nd pair of walking shoes with me for some of the trails we took. It’s easy enough to toss extra shoes and socks in a bag in the back of the car. We needed ponchos in Ketchikan because the rain was so hard it beat through our coats (in retrospect I SHOULD have taken my coat AND my raincoat). I could have taken another dress or two for the cruise.
Buy a case (or more) of water and take it with you. Water on road trips is EXPENSIVE and there were a lot of times we could pull over to the side of the road, take a short walk (and of course some photos), and drink water that we had in the cooler. We bought ice along the way to refresh the cooler.
Find your favorite snacks and pack them with you. We did buy a snack bar or two if we stopped at a gas station to use the restroom, but otherwise, we ate our own snacks from the cooler. Fruit, jerky, nuts, etc. are all great driving snacks. We did try to stay away from stuff that was too salty (oh jerky, why are you so good?), too sugary (candy bars, so tempting), or too spicy (Spicy Nacho Doritos require LOTS OF WATER).
Grab a container of baby/diaper wipes and throw them in the car. They’re great for wiping the Doritos off your fingers, or your hands after being out in the wind and fine sand.
Most hotels sell small packs of pain relievers at a pretty high charge. It’s cheaper to buy a small bottle at your local drugstore and throw it in the car. Bandaids/First Aid kit is a good idea too (you should already have one in there anyway). Hand sanitizer isn’t a bad idea, and lots of paper towels/fast food napkins/shop towels are useful.
Binoculars. Yes, I have a zoom lens on my camera, but it was nice to have the binoculars to look at things without bringing out the camera.
It’s snowing outside today – the first snow of the season for us, and the first snow in our new location. And, although I’m enjoying the snow, I’m more enthusiastic about the fact I did my errands yesterday and don’t have to drive amongst the stupid.
This morning, after I took photos of the pretty white stuff falling down, my mind went back to my vacation in September; 24 days of sunshine, humidity, airports, friendship, laughter, and experiences.
I’m a summer girl by nature, I prefer the heat and the sun to cold and clouds. My happy place is the beach, or pretty much anywhere with water and shoreline, so when I invited myself down to Texas and cajoled a friend into spending time with me (involving the promise of wine), she relented, offered to take time off work and take me to her family’s beach house on Padre Island.
We did, in fact, end up drinking wine that weekend, but we also walked the beach, saw wildlife, ate really well, and had a lot of laughter and deep discussions.
I visited my first Buc-ee’s and was suitably blown away. They quite literally have everything from breakfast (and lunch and dinner), to groceries, souvenirs, road trip needs, and every kitschy tchotchke a tourist could want.
Had my very first wine slushie at a delightful little winery on the trip down; it won’t be my last.
I learned there is tar on the beach and the only way to get it off your feet is with coconut oil generously applied and scrubbed. (I do hope the tar stain FINALLY came off the footstool, DB).
I learned about sea turtles, Herons, and roadkill. Specifically dead armadillos and hogs. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately for you, the reader, I don’t have photos of the roadkill.
We spent most of the time either walking the beach or relaxing on the deck overlooking one of the inlets on Padre Island. I’ve started my list of things to see and do next time I’m down there; that is if she invites me back or I can bribe her with enough wine to forget the tar on the footstool.
Visiting some friends in Texas and I had some days to myself; I’ve been researching places to visit in Texas, and along with asking the friends that live here about their favorites, I came up with a list of places to see. On that list was taking a tour of the Austin City Limits studio and venue.
A bit of history about ACL; the first show was in October of 1974 at the University of Texas and starred a relative newcomer, Willie Nelson. The show was such a hit PBS contracted for the following year as a series, and one of the longest-running music programs in television history was born.
Fun Fact: Austin City Limits is the first “Adult” show I remember watching on PBS. I don’t remember the artist or the year, but I do remember loving the show, the informal concert feel, the backdrop, and the music. Although the Austin skyline has changed in reality and on the show, and the venue has grown from a small and intimate gathering of 300 to seating over 2,700, the feel and excitement of performing on ACL has stayed the same. Artists are paid at scale, whether they’re unknown acts or stars in the business. It’s still a big deal to be on Austin City Limits.
You can find a list of performers by season on IMDb including Rosanne Cash, Alison Krause, Emmylou Harris, and others. ACL early episodes were mainly country performers, but over the years artists have expanded to all types of music. You can view recordings of many of the shows on YouTube; PBS has a selection of videos as well (you may need to sign in and choose your local PBS Station).
Originally I wanted to attend a show at ACL, as well as the tour, but the list of performers I wanted to see didn’t match my schedule. I booked my tickets online and received an email with a confirmation of the date and time, then figured out how to get there and where to park. Parking is pretty easy to find in Austin (at least I had no trouble), although, of the 3 parking places I used, all three used different payment systems. Some were pay-as-you-enter, while others were pay-before-you-leave; all of them were done with either a credit card at a kiosk or a QR code on your phone (only one of them had an attendant, but he only gave directions and took no money). I parked at the lot on 2nd and Colorado streets and walked the few blocks to the theater.
ACL is located at 310 W Willie Nelson Blvd; the venue is also called 3TEN Austin City Limits Live, or ACL Live at the Moody Theater. There’s no one at the box office at the time you arrive for tours, just a small sign to wait for the guide. There were only two of us on the tour, allowing us plenty of time for questions, gawking, and all-out fangirling behavior (I may or may not have squealed, gasped, and shivered during parts of the tour). The venue was preparing for a multi-act performance the following night, so large black tour buses and trucks circled the block and there were roadies EVERYWHERE. (At one point in my young adult life I wanted to be a roadie – not for the sex and drugs, but definitely for the rock n’ roll, or in some cases, country.) The venue hosts over 200 events every year, including ACL performance tapings, fundraisers, concerts, and shows.
One of the stops was the mixing room, where David Hough, the Audio Director for ACL since the very beginning was mixing the audio from Parker McCollom’s ACL performance taping the previous night. Parker’s episode will air sometime in October on PBS (check your local listings).
Apparently, I’ve been living under a rock (or just don’t listen to radio stations anymore) and hadn’t heard of Parker McCollom or O.A.R. I’m always looking for new music, so was happy to look them up after the tour, finding a few songs from each to add to playlists.
Although the ACL Moody Theater venue has a strict no-smoking policy, there is a special spot next to the dressing rooms on an outside deck called “Willie’s Place” where performers are allowed to smoke and vape. There’s even a cutout of Willie Nelson looking out at the Austin skyline where tour guests or bands can take a selfie.
A large wall at one end of the venue has guitars representing artists with the most episodes on ACL. It’s literally a list of the greats in the business. Of course, Willie Nelson has the most at 15 (he’s also a financial supporter of the venue), but the other names on there aren’t too shabby.
Next up on the tour were two gallery areas where concert attendees can order drinks while ogling photo montages of artists who have been at the venue and watch the show on two large flat screens. The 2nd level gallery features photos from Scott Newton; photos of everyone from a young Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw, Steve Martin, and Lyle Lovett. A 3rd level gallery features photos from Jim Marshall, a photographer with credits ranging from Miles Davis, Muddy Waters, to Johnny Cash. No photos are allowed of the gallery featuring Marshall’s art due to a photo of Johnny Cash at San Quentin hoisting a non-family-friendly middle finger (not the image Mr. Cash’s family wants him to be remembered for).
The final part of the tour took us downstairs to some fairly impressive photo art in the bathrooms, including a large photo of Willie Nelson’s annual 4th of July Picnic, and a smaller basement venue that hosts Sunday church services, as well as smaller events.
The tour took just about 90 minutes, there’s no gift shop at the venue, or nearby (There is a nice ACL shop at the Austin airport with t-shirts, shot glasses, coffee table books, and other souvenirs). He recommended a visit to the Stevie Ray Vaughn statue at the Ann & Roy Butler trail, and the Buford Tower.
A few more links with information about the venue:
Paige's Place 