Day 1 of the Drive East: Goodbye Las Vegas, Hello Grand Canyon

With our house sold, our possessions packed and shipped, and another season of softball over, the time has finally come to move east. We pledged to document our trip day-by-day through the blog, so if you'd like to travel with us virtually, we've got a seat for you here.


We started our last day in Las Vegas right, going to breakfast with our close friends the Piets so we could celebrate Alex's 11th birthday before we left. The Original Pancake House at Aliante Station served us well -- chocolate chip pancakes, pecan waffles, fresh squeezed orange juice, etc. We had a great and filling breakfast together, all 12 of us. After an emotional goodbye in the Aliante Station parking garage (an odd setting for a heartfelt and tearful farewell between two families that have grown so close over the years -- yet oddly appropriate for two families that have found joy together in all types of circumstances), we hit the road.



After eight years in Vegas, we had never made the drive to the Grand Canyon, so that seemed an appopriate place to start our cross country trip. We crossed Hoover Dam into Arizona at 12:52 p.m. on the dam clock, marking our official departure from Nevada and the end of a slew of dam jokes, including:

- "This is the best dam view"
- "Look at all the dam rocks"
- "Check out the dam bridge"
- "I'm getting tired of your dam sarcasm"

I'm sure you get the idea... plenty of dam jokes during a long delay across the dam.



One exciting detour was a much needed restroom stop at a roadside gas station outside Kingman, Ariz. The only problem was that we were heading southbound, and the only access was from the northbound lane. We were in the middle of nowhwere, and there was an urgent demand, so Jason did what had to be done -- he cut across the highway median. Dylan, who had dozed off earlier, woke up with a start as Jason turned our Suburban across the gravel center strip. Always calm and collected, Dylan asked coolly in a tired voice, "Dad, why are we off-roading?"

The drive the Grand Canyon was beautiful. We hiked along the rim and ventured along the many lookouts. We wanted to mark our long first day on the road with a view of the canyon at sunset...so we did. It was simply gorgeous...a great start to the long drive to Maryland.

Tomorrow, we're off to the ABQ: Albuquerque, N.M. We'll fill you in from there...

We are homeless – a farewell to a great house

It’s done…after eight years and three months, we are no longer homeowners in Las Vegas. The paperwork was finalized today and the sale closed.

We bought the house new at the end of April 2001, breathing deep from a purchase price that was nearly double the sale price of the Idaho Falls home we had just left. We grew from a small family of six (Melissa was 9, Colin 4, Carson 3, and Dylan just five months old) to a big family of seven (with kids aged 17, 12, 11, 8, and 4). It’s the only house Dylan or Levi have ever known – and the memories of others are faint for Colin and Carson.

Since our arrival we’ve poured a lot of time and energy and heart into making this house the home we wanted. It wasn’t our dream house, but it was a great house. It got its share of paint (and dents and dings), new (or new-to-us) furniture, artwork, and other elements that made it truly ours. We even designed and installed the landscaping (and then just this year converted the front yard to desert landscaping on our own, with all seven of us creating the design, stripping the sod, shaping the dirt, digging the holes, planting the plants, and placing the rocks).

We loved having friends and family over for barbecues on our patio or buffets spread on the kitchen island. The garage hosted a batting cage and an uncountable number of projects and repairs that included building pinewood derby cars, repairing bicycles, and finalizing school assignments. We played piano and guitar in the front room; in the family room we played Guitar Hero, watched movies, cranked the stereo, and hung out with each other and friends and family.

And we never got tired of the park just beyond our backyard (witness the path worn from our back door to the gate in the back fence). Melissa built up her right arm throwing and pitching across the park with Jason for hours on end; Colin, Carson, and Dylan followed suit. Yvonne chased two boys learning to walk and then run. We played baseball, wiffle ball, home run derby, Frisbee golf, lacrosse, football, tag, basketball, and many more games there.

We met our best friends in the world in that park, where a simple introduction just beyond our back fence planted the seeds of a friendship that grew into a relationship between two families that we will cherish and nourish for the rest of our lives.

There were many times, as the value of our house skyrocketed in the red-hot Las Vegas market (more than doubling over just a few years), we considered moving into another neighborhood to take advantage of our newfound “wealth” (and escape a certain set of boundaries). But the park was our set of “golden handcuffs” – no matter how nice the houses we looked at were, none could offer a backyard that compared to that @#$&%! park, so we never could pull the trigger on a deal.

In retrospect, that park finally helped make our move possible.

The “value” of our house plummeted back to earth in recent years, resting not far above where we bought it. If we’d have moved to a bigger house to capitalize on the mirage of equity gains, we doubt that we’d have been able to sell here and buy in Maryland.

We are happy that the house sold quickly, even though we didn’t make a lot of money in the current housing market.

We didn’t raise a fortune on this house, but we did raise a family. We hope the family that bought our house is as happy as we were.

In the end, we are also happy to move on to a great opportunity and another house, in Maryland, armed with lots of ideas and motivation – and experience – for making a new-to-us house into our new home.

If you are interested in a barbecue on the patio, a buffet spread out on the kitchen island, or wiffle ball in the back yard, we’ll be less than an hour north of Washington, D.C. We’ll leave the light on.

If you need a Las Vegas Realtor, we’ve got the man

Over the years we’ve had mixed success with Realtors. For the recent sale of our house in Las Vegas, we got the right guy: Robert Reisman of Re/Max. He came recommended by some people Jason works with, and those co-workers were so right.

Besides being a great Realtor, he’s a great guy. He and Levi bonded from the day we signed the initial paperwork, and Levi would often ask when Robert was coming over. We had many conversations during the two months our house was on the market, and not only was Robert always right, he was always protecting our best interest, and he was always professional and honest. We trusted him, and he rewarded that trust. It’s fair to say that we view him not just as our Realtor, but as our friend.

(As proof that not all Realtors are created equal, see a funny – or perhaps haunting – story on Jason’s blog at www.legendaryfatheroffive.blogspot.com.)

Our Tooth Fairy needs an assistant

With five kids, the tooth fairy visits our house quite often. Unfortunately, she is a little scatterbrained and doesn't alway come when beckoned.

When Melissa was about 11, she left a threatening note under her pillow to the tooth fairy telling her she knows where she lives and where she sleeps and if she doesn't come soon, Melissa will find her. This note was left after weeks of leaving a tooth under her pillow with no visit from the tooth fairy.

Colin has left the tooth fairy a nice note under his pillow asking for her to please remember to come visit. This note was left after many nights, maybe a week, of leaving his tooth under his pillow and no tooth fairy showing up.

Carson is the lucky kid who only had to wait two days for the tooth fairy. He didn't need to leave a note, she just showed up.

A few weeks ago, Dylan finally lost a tooth. He is eight and has been disappointed that all his friends and classmates are losing teeth and he has only lost two. After much wiggling, he finally had Yvonne pull the tooth. He put it under his pillow anticipating the tooth fairy and the treasure he would find the next morning, but to his dismay, the tooth was under his pillow for several nights.

He was tired of waiting, so he too left a note to the tooth fairy, but he didn't leave it under his pillow. He left his note on the white board in the kitchen so the tooth fairy, mom and dad, and anyone else who visited our house would see it.





Needless to say, the tooth fairy showed up that night and left Dylan his much anticipated treasure.

So, if nothing else, we know the tooth fairy reads our white board.

Jason's New Blog

For those of you interested in reading about Jason's travel and life adventures, check out his new blog at:

www.legendaryfatheroffive.blogspot.com

You won't be disappointed!

Mel joins the club

Mel (the name Melissa is known by on softball fields around Las Vegas and other locations across the West) has been playing baseball or softball since she was five years old. Many years she has played more than 100 games. And in all that time there is one thing she has never done: hit a home run over a fence.

Until Saturday, that is.

She has hit home runs before, long shots in big ballparks that gave her time to race around the bases. As she’s gotten older, she’s also blasted some past outfielders on oversized men’s fields, but fast outfielders with strong arms have been able to hold her to doubles and triples.

Recently the power surge has been more evident. She started the high school season with a long fly that hit the top of the fence in St. George (she went “Manny” on that one, admiring the hit that she was sure was out, only to have to turn on the jets and slide into second base for a close double, something we’ve seen Manny Ramirez do many times).

She has also taken her fair share of good-natured harassment from Colin, who at 12 years old hit his first over-the-fence homer several weeks ago – a horrifying act of unfairness, in her eyes.

On Saturday, Mel’s team was playing in the Gold division of the huge Las Vegas Jr. Olympic tournament (Gold is the highest level of softball before college). In her first game, she hit a ball off the fence for a stand-up double. Jason was coaching at another field and missed the near-miss (he was out of town for work when Colin went yard, staying up until 1 a.m. Eastern Time so he could at least talk to Colin about it; missing Mel’s would have been supremely unfair).

Jason arrived in time for her second game and joined Yvonne and the boys. The opponent was a southern California team whose pitcher threw heat – she had been clocked as the fastest pitcher in the tournament during a clinic the day before: 69 miles an hour (at 43 feet, that provides about the same reaction time as a baseball batter would have with a 97 mile-per-hour pitch from 60-feet, 6-inches).

With a runner on third and one out, Melissa stepped to the plate. Jason wondered what pitch she was looking for – it’s a routine she has worked on: going to the plate having already decided what pitch she wants for her first strike. If the pitcher throws what she guessed, she's ready for it and swings with all she's got. If the pitcher throws something different, Mel takes the pitch and adjusts from there.

After the game Melissa told us she guessed the pitcher would start with an inside fastball.

As she stepped into the batters box, Melissa signaled time, wiggled her hands, and then was set with the bat coiled above her right shoulder. The pitcher, close to six-feet tall, took a long stride from the rubber, windmilled her right arm, and as her front foot planted, released a wicked inside fastball.

Melissa’s swing was perfect – balanced, smooth, with full extension. The ball exploded off her bat, rocketing to a majestic arc above left field. We were sure it was gone, but we’d been sure before. The left fielder gave chase, but ran out of room. The ball crashed into the rocks beyond the left field wall.

We all went crazy. Melissa was coming into third at full speed, not realizing it was gone until her third base coach said, “Slow down, girl, you hit it out” (one “Manny double,” evidently, was enough for Mel). Her smile as she crossed the plate and high-fived teammates said it all.

As we cheered, one of the parents we’ve known and travelled to ballgames with for years asked us how much that home run would cost us – many parents give their kids money for big hits. After years of paying for registration, equipment, monthly dues, tournaments, and travel, Jason said, “Nothing, we’ve been paying for that home run for years.” We laughed. (Later we joked about that home run being on layaway -- we've been making the monthly payments for a long time and finally got to take it home.)

Colin jogged into the desert beyond left field and found the ball. Once the game was over, we congratulated and hugged Mel. Then Colin welcomed his sister into the club with a smile, and with the ball.

The stud with a fat lip

First, a little background on the boy we call “stud.”

Dylan has spent a lot of time at ballparks since he was a baby, watching his sister and two older brothers play softball and baseball. Since he was in a crib he has loved baseball – loves to watch it, and especially loves to play it.

When he was four years old, he would go to practice when Jason was coaching a rookie ball team with Colin and Carson – then eight and seven. One day while the team was split up into small groups and participating in a variety of drill stations with several dads, one of the dads brought Dylan to Jason. Dylan was crying because he got hit in the leg by a grounder.

Jason told Dylan he couldn’t be running around while the team was practicing its drills. The dad explained to Jason that Dylan wasn’t running around during the drills, he was DOING the drills. Dylan had put himself into one of the groups and did what they did. He got hit in the leg while taking grounders. Jason told Dylan then that if he was going to practice with the big boys, there would be no crying. Dylan wiped away the tears, shook it off, and returned to the drills.

As Dylan practiced with the older boys, the other coaches would tell him “you’re a stud, Dylan,” or “come on stud, make that play.” By the end of the year, when people would ask him what position he played (even though he was still too young to be on a team), he would simply answer, “stud.”

Fast forward to a week ago Monday. Dylan’s team had won its first two playoff games and was practicing for the last time before Tuesday’s championship game. Dylan played a key role in the first two games, with several hits and runs batted in, his usual good fielding, and a save earned by pitching in relief of the last game (he struck out the last two batters to secure the win).

While Dylan practiced with the team on Monday, Yvonne sat in the ballpark’s parking lot, reading. Her book was interrupted by a cell phone call. Dylan, using one of the coach’s cell phones, said calmly, “Um, mom, I need you to come here.”

Yvonne, unalarmed by Dylan’s calm tone, walked over to the practice field only to see Dylan with a bloody towel on his mouth. Minutes earlier the assistant coach hit a hard line drive that Dylan reacted to and got his glove on.

But not all of his glove. The ball glanced off the tip of the webbing and hit Dylan right in the mouth. The shot bloodied his lip, cut the inside of his mouth, and loosened his two front teeth (baby teeth, thank goodness). But Dylan didn’t shed a tear or cry at all. Coaches had him rinse his mouth out and call his mom. After several minutes, still spitting blood, Dylan said he was ok and jogged back to his shortstop position to finish practice. He took more ground balls and played fine, despite his tender top lip.

The next day, in the championship game, Dylan started the game at shortstop and batted lead-off. At a crucial point in the game, his team was clinging to a 2-1 lead but the other team had the bases loaded with two outs and one of their best hitters at the plate. The hitter lifted a fly ball to no man’s land in left-center field. The runners were off and running with the ping of the bat. But Dylan read it perfectly, pivoted to his left and sprinted into shallow left field, then jumped at the last second to catch the ball and end the rally.


That effectively ended the ball game (the opponent would not threaten to score again), and Dylan’s team won the championship despite being the number four seed in the playoffs. Dylan, fat lip and all, looked good with the championship medal around his neck.

Wednesday morning he went to the dentist to get his mouth checked out. The dentist confirmed that it was a hard shot to the mouth, but said there was no permanent damage and the teeth didn’t need to come out until they were ready to fall out on their own. He was impressed that Dylan continued to play – as we all were.

What a stud.